The reason why this Skill felt so much like telekinesis to him was because it was! He almost couldn’t believe that he hadn’t noticed it earlier.
‘Just a different form of it… in which case…’
Sylas suddenly stopped gliding backward, his hips dropping as he erupted with a punch.
The air clapped as though something had just compressed it to an extreme, and right then, an entire ten meters away, the basilisk’s head snapped back, a roar of pain coming from its maw.
Sylas’ green irises lit up. Just now, he had broken through his usual ten-pound limit. However, the drain on his Aether had been substantial. He felt like he could only send out less than ten of those attacks. Even with
But that was a problem for future Sylas. Right now, he wanted this victory.
He sent out another two quick punches, putting his entire strength behind both before he suddenly unleashed Tail Whip.
It felt like a scythe had cut through the air. The telekinesis-fuelled kick landed with such strength that the basilisk’s head snapped downward, rebounding against the ground.
Sylas exploded forth, stepping onto the head of the beast and pressing downward. It was as though his weight had increased by a factor of a hundred, the freeness of his Aether under the control of his telekinesis making him feel as though he had the strength to level mountains.
The jaw of the basilisk shattered as it was pressed against the ground. Its tail tried to reach Sylas, but the angle was far too awkward for it to aim at its own head… and Sylas took full advantage, driving a fist right through its eye that sent a pulse rippling through its skull.
Sylas’ eyes shone like two bright orbs. That feeling was amazing.
Honestly, even until now, this world felt so grounded. Even though he could control flying daggers with his mind, he never really felt that fantasy world he was in until now.
Using his Aether and telekinesis together felt like he was making his Will more tangible. He could directly transfer the strength of his body to any target within his original 20-meter range. The difference was that unlike his telekinesis, the power output diminished the further away from him it was as it ate up its own momentum.
—
[Basic Aetherflow]
[Aether comes naturally to you, even when it’s outside of your body. Your ability to extend your Aether away from your core, attaching it to objects to control and wield, far exceeds others]
—
The description of Basic Aetherflow came to Sylas’ mind, and he felt that he had overlooked the obvious for too long. Basic Aetherflow was clearly a clue in this direction, but he had overlooked it.
‘The other two Bronze Genes I had to choose from… Psyche Warp and Harmonic Puppetry… They’re both also abilities that I already have access to.
‘Psyche Warp is an assault on the minds of others, and my Comprehension can naturally do that. Harmonic Puppetry is an elite control over the body, and I can also do that already as well.
‘I should have seen this already.’
Sylas felt like kicking himself. Had he realized this already, he wouldn’t have struggled so much until this point. There was so much more potential in his telekinesis than he had gotten out of it until now.
These Bronze Genes weren’t just a method of unlocking new abilities. In fact, by definition, they were designed to enhance abilities that he already had. That was why a foundation had to be chosen first.
Aetherflow was already an ability he had. He just hadn’t used it yet because it hadn’t occurred to him. If he unlocked the Bronze Gene Basic Aetherflow, this ability of his, and its clear limitations, might be alleviated substantially. At the very least, it would become far more powerful than it was now.
‘I want to understand this first…’
Sylas did a few calculations and had a small Q&A with the Madness Key before he felt that he dialed everything in. In the end, he had come to understand a few things.
A Skill required a circulation pattern to activate. This circulation pattern was essentially a message to one’s Aether to perform in a specific way. However, with telekinesis, Sylas could bypass this necessity, directly dictating the actions of his Aether to act as he wanted it to. Essentially, every time he did this, he was using a Skill without necessarily using a Skill.
That said, there were drawbacks to this as well.
Without the form of a tried and tested Skill, his Aether was reliant on what was essentially Sylas’ crude projections. Well, the projection of his Will was actually near perfect because of his ability to visualize his surroundings. The problem was actually a limitation of training.
Sylas was still a layman in terms of combat, and though he was improving greatly every day, he still had a lot to learn. As such, whenever he threw out a punch or kick, his Aether was mapping onto his limited skill and thus the power output was limited as a result.
As things stood, if his punches were to rank like a Skill, they wouldn’t even be F-.
Even so… they were extraordinarily powerful. The combination of Sylas’ Physical, his Aether, and his combined Will and Charisma stats, made the output, or his Aetherflow, incredibly powerful.
When his Madness was activated, his telekinesis could output 82 Physical. His own Physical was 50.
Without accounting for the scale of diminishing returns as his Aetherflow got further from him, in its maximum range, the output was the average of the two, which was 66.
However, there then came a multiplicative effect due to the addition of Aether.
One could essentially expect around a 10% boost in ability from an F- Skill at the base Fragmented Mastery level, and could go to around 40% upon reaching Legendary Mastery.
