This world was truly a cruel one.
It had been a while since the last time Sylas had thought that. At the start of his journey, it felt like even if he did everything as right as he could, something would inevitably go wrong.
There were too many things to account for, too many ways things could go awry. This world was too large, and it was impossible even for someone familiar with it to be ready for everything.
Maybe even the likes of Gralith never thought that he would run into a Rune Spark Master on a little Summoning World. Whoever was backing the destruction of Earth certainly never thought that they would be so close to failing. And Sylas… never thought that after completing such a feat of undisguised genius, he would end up dying like this.
It was too ridiculous.
Who else could translate an ancient language into a new one, distilling its meaning into a novel-length format, and then convert it all into the complexities of just a single Rune?
There were probably not many with Sylas' limited experience that could even complete the first step of such a thing. He had all the right in the world to feel confident in himself.
And yet, here he was…
It was a shame. He really wanted to strike a balance between his talents and what the Madness Key had said. But in the end, it seemed that everything really was worthless unless you were strong enough.
'… No… maybe I'm also just not smart or knowledgeable enough…'
Sylas' outstretched hand lingered before he clutched it.
If he could still think, his Will wasn't truly collapsed just yet. This illusion… he just had to break it.
'Be Strong… Be All-Knowing…'
The second phrase came to mind just as fluidly as the first. He had thought about relying on his intelligence to fill in the gaps until his strength could truly reign above all.
But that wasn't enough for him.
He had always taken pride in his intelligence, in his diligence, in his knowledge. Fighting was fun. He loved the way it made him feel. But he got just as much thrill from outsmarting and outscheming someone.
School had never made him feel fulfilled because nothing was challenging. Reaching tenure had never felt impressive to him because it was so casually done. Nothing on the Earth that he knew was enough to pull his true self out.
But this world… it forced him to face one challenge after another, and often, he was made to face the ugliest sides of himself, the shades of Sylas that even he wanted to pretend weren't there.
The man that was obsessed with control. The man that feared death. The man that had just as many inadequacies as anyone else, and just happened to have a little bit more talent to back it.
Biologists always said that there was only a sliver of a difference between the Genes of a human and ape, and yet it made a world of difference. But to a much larger world, with much stronger Races, did that difference mean much of anything to them?
He might be much smarter than a normal human, but was he all that different from another Earthling in the eyes of a superior Race?
What he had wasn't enough.
He needed more.
He wanted to be the strongest.
He wanted to be the smartest.
He wanted to stand on that dome of the skies the Basilisk in his visions had wanted to.
Raging pulses of Greed thrummed through Sylas' veins, but rather than consuming him, they only made his mind clearer.
Ever since he killed Lucius, his Demonic Will had no longer bothered him. But maybe it wasn't that it was no longer bothering him, but that he had begun to align more and more with its wishes naturally. As such, it had no reason to nudge him in such directions any longer.
And right now, he felt that even more clearly.
It was like with Demonic Will guiding him, the pressures of Greed and even Gluttony couldn't affect him.
Forging.
DENG!
A sound akin to a hammer hitting an anvil resonated through Sylas' mind.
—
[Title Upgraded]
[A Forging Will > A Forged Will]
[Your Will is truly one of a kind and has Forged its own Path. Steeped in the scent of Greed and Gluttony, a suffocating and dominating Pride and oppression of absolute Obedience, it steps out into the world. While immature and still growing, it has carved out its Place. Continue to temper it, young man]
[+500 Will]
[+500% Will]
[+500 Charisma]
[+500% Charisma]
—
Sylas' eyes snapped open and he found himself surrounded by a sea of slit eyes. The largest of them, looming overhead with an expression that was all too human, was a pair of golden ones.
Gogo looked down from above, worry written all over his face. He had tried to nudge Sylas multiple times, but nothing he had done worked.
When Sylas' eyes suddenly snapped open, a wave of pressure radiated outward.
Seas of Serpentes fainted, their bodies collapsing to the ground entirely out of their control. The disparity in Will was so great that before Sylas could rein in his Charisma, theirs had almost shattered to pieces.
With just the slightest bit of intent from him, they would die.
Gogo's worry vanished and he almost rushed ahead to give Sylas another nudge, but then seemed to think better of it just in case Sylas was still hurt.
Sylas, however…
He raised a palm to his forehead, a slight frown on his face.
That pulse just now wasn't just his Will. It was…
Madness.
What happened?
—
[Madness (Common)] - Progenitor
[The Madness consumes you, but does not control you. Instead, it becomes your tool to both control yourself and others. You, while steeped in Madness, maintain your wits about you. Your enemies, though, are not so lucky]
[+800% Charisma]
[+500% Will]
—
Sylas' gaze sharpened.
His Comprehension… its Grade had changed.