One’s purpose in life was to ensure that your core Genes were passed on to the next generation.
And during this moment of evolution, Sylas felt that feeling more intimately than he ever had in his life, and for a brief moment, he almost felt like he couldn’t control those thoughts at all.
Luckily, it only seemed to last for a short while, and though there was still a slight burn in his lower belly, he felt that that too would go away quite soon. Especially since there would be nothing but battle left for him quite soon.
—
[Name: Sylas Grimblade]
[Species: Human (F)]
[Affiliation: Grimblade Lineage]
[Level: 0]
[Titles: A Flexible Will; Skill Savant (FFF+); Madness Conqueror (FF-); Common Arts Enthusiast (F-); A Patient Stalker (F-)]
—
[Physical: 77]
>[Strength: 89]
>[Constitution: 71]
>[Dexterity: 78]
>[Speed: 68]
[Mental: 73]
>[Intelligence: 45]
>[Wisdom: 31]
>[Charisma: 142]
[Will: 116]
[Luck: 1]
—
[Skills: Madness Control (FF+); Basic Scouting (F-); Maddened Enlightenment (FF+)]
[Comprehensions: Madness (FFF)]
—
[Gene State: Soft]
[Fragmented Genes: Grimblade Lineage (F); (8) Dexterity (F); (6) Constitution (F); (4) Strength (F)]
[Common Genes: (3) Speed (F); (4) Strength (F); (3) Constitution (F); (3) Dexterity (F); (1) Wisdom (F); (1) Will (F)]
[Bronze Genes: Basic Aetherflow (F)]
—
[Gene Talents: Blade Aura (Unranked); Sudden Burst (F); Tail Whip (F-); Aetherflow (F+)]
—
The first this Sylas did after regaining his bearings was check his stats. Everything was as expected, but he couldn’t help but fall into thought when he saw his Mental. He was already so close to its limit, and he wouldn’t have much of a chance to change things.
He needed higher Wisdom, because it was what would allow him to split his mind more and focus on several things at once. If he could control numerous daggers at once, how much greater would his strength be in battle?
However, at the same time…
‘I want to take advantage of the loophole my Titles give me. If I hadn’t purged my extra Intelligence Genes first, my Intelligence would have skyrocketed to over 100 before I could take action. By then, I would have already reached the stat limit before I could take advantage of the loophole.
‘Just now, Basic Aetherflow gave me +20 Intelligence and Skill Savant immediately doubled it. If I absorb the elite Spitting Cobra corpse right now and succeed in taking half of its six Intelligence Genes, that should give me +60 Intelligence… Skill Savant would give me another +60 Intelligence on top of that…
‘That would break the Stat Limit and put me at 113 Mental with 165 Intelligence total.
‘But… doesn’t that also mean that I won’t be able to increase my Wisdom until the next time I raise my Stat Limit…?’
Sylas fell into deep thought.
The extra Intelligence was huge to him right now, and it felt more important than just being able to control multiple daggers. His daggers were already fragile enough to begin with. He couldn’t afford to use one at a time, let alone more.
Plus, the dagger he had used to kill this particular basilisk had shattered due to the stacked strength he placed on it. With his increased Strength output, not to mention the boost his telekinesis had gotten and was about to get, how long would it be until he could actually afford the weapons he needed that could actually withstand it?
Sylas thought for a moment, then asked the Madness Key a question.
—
[How to naturally increase Wisdom?]
[There are two methods to increase Wisdom. One is by rote memorization of a large number of materials and practices, and another is meditation and visualization. Some methods are capable of combining the two and they are naturally the best. Techniques such as the Memory Palace are a good starting point]
—
‘Seems the question was a bit too broad, so it could only answer like this, but this is… good.
‘The Common Wisdom Gene I got from Maximillion’s corpse already rose my Wisdom to 31, more than double what it was before. For now, that will have to be enough.’
Sylas had learned already that when one was in a State of Wealth and had more Genes than Stats, it was possible to improve your stats through training alone.
He had yet to see such a thing happen, but he had also only spent a short time around here.
Right now, his Stat Limit might only be 100, but he could gather 20 Common Genes of a type and one Bronze Gene as well. 20 Common Genes was already the equivalent of 400 total stats. It likely wasn’t possible to unlock them all through training alone, at least not without decades, or maybe even more with how things in this world seemed to work.
But, much like weight training, there should at least be a “newbie gains” period that he could take advantage of.
‘If those techniques exist, then if I use that bronze nexus voucher that I received as a reward for the quest, maybe I can find one in there…?’
Sylas made a decision. At this point, his priority should be his Intelligence. Even if he could control dozens of daggers, would his Aether be able to keep up with them all if his Intelligence was too low?
He took out the Spitting Cobra corpse and pressed a hand to it.
—
[Spitting Cobra]
[Gene Detected]
[Common Gene: (6) Intelligence (F)]
[Attempt Assimilation?]
[Yes][No]
—
[Gene Assimilation Starting…]
[Gene Assimilation Triggered]
—
[Genes Successfully Assimilated]
[Common Gene: (4) Intelligence (F)]
—
[Genes Failed Assimilation]
[Common Gene: (2) Intelligence (F)]
—
Sylas shook and quaked. A BANG! echoed through his mind, and he felt like his brain was being ripped apart. The world swirled around him, and as strongly as he tried to fight back against the urge, knowing he had to protect himself in this world, he just couldn’t hold on. All the Will in the world felt useless, and he felt his body shut down.
His vision went black, blood spurting from his nose as he fell once again.
