Sylas really had tried to use his time efficiently and find a moment to return to the Scorpion Warlord Inheritance, but there was simply too much going on all the time.
Now, there was no other choice.
If his Scorpion Warlord Armor worked properly in this world, he would instantly gain +6 in Physical the instant he used it for Essence Mastery.
Honestly speaking, that should be enough to steamroll things. The only reason he hadn't was because he wanted to understand more about what he was facing, and also because he didn't want to use his Will too freely since it was his best trump card.
He had only just recovered from terrible injuries. If he ended up in that state again, there wouldn't be a chance to be healed.
Now, however, he knew he couldn't waste any time at all. The trouble was that finding these enemies would take too long. It only took a second for Lorien to leapfrog him by a factor of three, and Ulrik might have already surpassed him in the time it took him to enter this place.
If he wasted all his effort finding them, he would end up facing off against enemies he couldn't even begin to battle.
There was only one way forward.
His original plan was to gather up enough Genes to unlock Progenitor Professional. This way, he could activate his Professions without paying millions of Silver Genes.
Of course, it would be unlikely to allow him to use them at their full power, but he didn't need to. Just being able to summon Gogo would be a huge deal. If he could fuse with him, even better.
Matching his contracts with his Scorpion Warlord Armor would be a game-changer. Even if he couldn't fuse and use the armor at the same time, using Gogo and the others as a spearhead would make things far more efficient.
It was just that he needed 50,000 Silver Genes to unlock Progenitor Professional. Which, quite frankly, was actually far less than he expected, but still a substantial tally nonetheless.
While this plan would work, it was no longer efficient enough for Sylas' taste. So he chose to gamble… gamble on the one thing that hadn't been able to be sealed or locked away.
His Rune Mastery.
And now, he was in a world without the same restrictions as Earth. Now, he would finally be able to feel the truest extent of prowess a Spark Mastery had to offer.
"You returned sooner this time than I expected," Gralith said lightly.
"I need to learn the second and third layers of the Warlord Armor," Sylas said, getting right to the point.
Gralith raised an eyebrow and then looked off into the distance before looking back at Sylas.
"Interesting, you've been suppressed quite considerably. This is rare, and there are only a few events that could trigger something like this. World War, is it?"
Sylas nodded.
"Fascinating. I didn't expect that you would turn out to be a Progenitor. But in the end, this sort of thing is far less shocking than reaching Spark Mastery."
Sylas didn't reply this time.
Before, Gralith had thought that his Progenitor Flame Abilities were Will Abilities. But now… he seemed to know the truth.
Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about that. Whether to trust Gralith fully or not was up in the air, but if he failed his Quest, Earth's Summoning would also fail.
There were no longer any System Cities. He had to light Earth's Core Flame in order to succeed now. There could be no room for failure.
And he needed a quick, decisive, and dominant victory.
Seven days… no, three days. That was all he could give himself to successfully clear this Progenitor Quest.
If he could do it in one, he would do it. But he planned to at least use this first day to master the second layer.
Gralith motioned with his hand, and Sylas took a seat.
"Describe your understanding of the Warlord Armor's layers to me."
"There are three layers, the first being formed by pieces of 20 or so Foundation Runes—68 for the limbs, and 32 for the torso for a total of 2300 Foundations.
"The second layer is formed as a link between them all, like a chain of sorts that helps them work together far more seamlessly. It doesn't necessarily have Runes or Foundations, but almost like a cursive script, it requires drawing the first layer as though it was just one big Rune—but not truly.
"Even so, the second layer, objectively speaking, probably has around 2500 Foundations to it nonetheless. That was just my way of describing it.
"The third layer is a mesh that combines everything into a single cohesive form, locking them into place. It completes the total Armor, allowing it to have over 9000 Foundations."
"Cursive script, huh…"
Gralith muttered to himself for a while. He had realized long ago that teaching Sylas wasn't just a way to help him improve, but using the mind of a Spark Master to his advantage was shockingly useful even to him.
Especially now that the restrictions of Earth were no longer there.
Things would flow more smoothly for Sylas now. He truly wanted to know how fast Sylas would be able to learn these layers.
"Attempt to draw them for me," Gralith finally said.
Sylas looked at him for a while, seemingly a bit skeptical. If he had come here just to draw, he could have done it on his own. After all, he remembered the Runes already—ever since the first time he laid eyes on the statue. But in the end, he did as he was told.
The result, though, surprised even Sylas.
He had only been drawing on a sheet of paper, but the moment he began the Strokes of the second layer, forming the chain links of the first, he found that each and every one came out naturally at Flesh Mastery.
However, drawing individual Strokes to Flesh Mastery was worthless if they couldn't come together well. But…
By the time he completed the second layer, Sylas stared at the paper burning in violet flames in silence.
He had already formed the second layer to Breath Mastery on his first attempt.
"I think you've underestimated what it means to be a Spark Master a little too much. But this isn't your fault… your world was too restrictive.
"If there's ever an F-Grade Rune you're unable to draw to at least Breath Mastery on the first attempt, I would maybe suggest seppuku."