Sylas blinked and shook his head as things seemed to morph around him.
—
[Progenitor Flame Abilities Upgraded]
—
[Temporal Delay (Silver) (Progenitor Flame Ability)]
[Warp your perception of time, seeing through the lags and changes in the Mesh of Reality as it changes around you]
—
[Astral Stutter (Silver) (Progenitor Flame Ability)]
[Feel the warps and changes to Runes and their interaction with the Mesh of Reality. Feel what they have been and what they might become]
—
'Hm?'
It was the same exact screen again. But this time, there was a Grade in place of the question marks. What happened?
Sylas' heart seemed to leap to a conclusion before even his mind did, and he hurriedly pulled out the Worldshard Jade.
—
[Worldshard Jade (Legendary) (Ascended World Treasure)]
—
Sylas' eyes narrowed.
He hadn't upgraded his Scouting Skill, and yet he was able to see things now that he had never been able to before. Was this because he was on Earth?
But seeing this here, he felt almost… ridiculous.
It was no wonder the Madness Key had made him pay so much to learn about what this thing was. He was holding the one and only Legendary treasure he had ever seen, and it wasn't even just a normal treasure, it was an Ascended World Treasure.
If anything, the Madness Key didn't make him pay nearly enough for it. But that also meant…
—
[Thryskai Refined Demi-God Feather (Gold) (Gene Treasure)]
[The fallen feather of a true powerhouse. Taken and refined by an expert of …]
—
The explanation was so long that Sylas couldn't even take it all in. That was even with the fact he was reading everything in Ancient Ithkuil.
It almost made him wonder…
He blinked immediately, his eyes shutting down. The explanation for his Progenitor Flame Abilities became even longer than the Demi-God Feather's had.
But it was too complicated, so much so that it was impossible for him to take it all in.
Sylas took a breath as he seemed to understand that he was being rewarded. Even if everything wasn't spelled out for him like it usually was, there were likely many abilities that he had gained without even knowing.
Who said he didn't get any rewards?
'This Path of the Progenitor… it's most likely something from the old system, or maybe it existed from a time even before then. I can't expect everything to be spelled out for me. I'll have to see what changes there are personally.'
Realizing this, Sylas began to look around more intently. What he didn't expect to find was that his World Scepter abilities… he had thought that without it, he would be out of luck.
Who would have realized that he could move around Earth as he pleased right now?
Sure, it would take his own energy and it was no longer as free and easy. But he could still do it. And the cost wasn't nearly as much as he thought it should be.
The second thing Sylas noticed were the Runes… they were healing.
But they were healing in a very peculiar way.
For one, the speed of the healing was definitely unnaturally fast. It didn't seem like something that should happen so instantaneously. It should be the case that this was part of the reward.
Because Earth was upgrading, a lot of its problems were being fixed at the same time.
What stirred Sylas' heart the most was that as Earth was upgrading, the Runes were becoming more complex, and the weight of his Spark Mastery was becoming heavier—worth more.
He knew that Earth was a Grade 10 Bronze World. Could it be that they were upgrading to Silver now?
Sylas shook his head. 'I can't get distracted by this…'
There was a counter looming overhead. He didn't have the time to consider anything else right now. Speed was what he needed.
As though on cue.
—
[The Madness Key has not been fed]
[The Madness Key's Hunger has increased]
[The Madness Key's Wrath has been stoked]
—
Sylas felt a wince of pain as though something had just taken a bite out of his soul.
No, it wasn't his soul, but rather his Will itself.
He could already feel his Will repairing itself. In as little as three hours, he would be fine. But how much more would the Madness Key take next time?
This was also the first time he had seen "Wrath" come up in one of the Madness Key's messages.
'Wrath… another one of the seven sins…'
Sylas didn't know exactly what this meant, but he knew that it was not good. But at the same time, he knew, somehow, that the Madness Key was trying to help him. Or, at the very least, that giggling thing inside of it was.
If not for this, he would have suffered such a backlash long ago.
The Madness Key's Hunger only increased once every week. But he actually had to feed it every day. It was just that he knew that if he didn't feed it properly by the end of the week… that was when the real punishment would descend.
Once that happened, it wouldn't just be taking a single bite out of his Will…
It would be taking the whole thing.
'It's time to leave.'
Sylas pulled out a ticket. This ticket was for none other than the Beast Master Garden.
There was no other way for him to get off of Earth quickly. This ticket was his only path in that direction. He didn't have a ship, or a strong enough Nexus to use as a teleportation hub. And even if he did, he doubted that it would be smart to use them.
Sylas knew that there was only one solution to all of his problems. He had known it from the very start.
Collecting Gold Genes was a fool's errand. Even if he could find them, it would just get him killed. Instead… he would have to do something else that would probably get him killed.
He had to piss the system off enough that it would give him a Gold Demerit.
And right now, while the world was teetering on a knife's edge, afraid to do anything that might tip The Eye's ire…
Sylas was truly about to play with fire.