Looking at things this way, Sylas found it difficult to choose. After some thought, he chose to take a different route. It had been a while since he tread a grey line with the Madness Key. Maybe it was time to take a risk again.
—
[Madness Key (Treasure)]
– [A key leading to a fortune of Madness. Detects other Madness Disciples and enlightens your path. Contains small spatial world within. Can answer one question in exchange for <5 Common> Genes]
– [Curse Status: Glutton. <1 Bronze> Genes a day to maintain Happiness. Requirements grow by the day. <6 days> remaining until Hunger increases]
– [Curse Status: Cannot be unequipped]
—
Sylas took a breath. The Madness Key had finally crossed the Common Gene threshold, leaving it behind in favor of Bronze Genes. However, Sylas was no longer as flustered or worried about this. That was because he had a trump card…
Extricate.
Although he had seen very few Bronze Genes in the wild until now, that didn’t matter. He could use his body to farm Common Genes and then fuse them into Bronze Genes. Then, he could use Extricate on himself to form the Bronze Gene he needed.
Of course, there was a great weakness to this plan.
He had already reached the limit of Bronze Genes he was allowed at two, and both of them were Gene Talent-related Bronze Genes so he couldn’t give them up.
However, with this idea in mind, Sylas knew that he would just need to find a way to increase his Bronze Gene Limit by one and he would be home free.
In fact… it was possible that his Gene Limit had already increased thanks to his Class, though he had yet to confirm. The fact that his Genes had all suddenly disappeared like that, except for the special ones, was suspicious.
—
**[What are the Magecraft Titles of the FFF+ Grade that are available to me right now?]**
—
Sylas decided to be bold and direct. If he touched upon a taboo, fine. But this decision was too important to not even make the attempt. In fact, he even wondered if it might be possible for him to use his Luck to sense if something was going to be a Taboo ahead of time.
After his Luck helped him to perfect his Class, Sylas realized that maybe he was using it too sparingly.
So, as he asked the question, he focused his senses. He didn’t feel anything wrong with what he asked, so there was just one thing left…
—
[FFF+ Magecraft Titles available to you]
– [Charismatic Enigma…]
– [Mind Weaver…]
– [Willful Magister…]
– [The Meaning of Arch…]
– [The Meaning of Sage…]
– [Arcane Luminary…]
– [Unyielding Scholar…]
– […]
—
Sylas was surprised to find that there were actually so many. All of these Titles were available to him and also FFF+ in rank.
Taking a breath, Sylas prepared himself. He had a feeling that this question would be fine. It was the next one that would be… troublesome. The one he had planned afterward was likely even more of a red flag. But he was prepared for the risk.
—
**[What is the description of the FFF+ Title ‘Charismatic Enigma’?]**
—
As Sylas moved his intention to ask the question, he didn’t feel anything going wrong, but his guard was still up. Even so, what happened surprised him.
—
[Cost: 1 Bronze Gene]
—
Sylas was taken aback. This was the first time the Madness Key had ever changed the price on him. However, this was a good thing.
Before he even attempted to pay it, though, he prepared to ask his third question first anyway. If what he was attempting wasn’t possible, then there was no point in wasting the Genes to begin with.
—
[What is the Title Sequence for ‘Charismatic Enigma’?]
—
Sylas watched with focused eyes, feeling a heavy weight on his chest.
—
[Cost: 10 Bronze Genes]
—
Sylas released a visible sigh of relief. It seemed that even this was possible as well. That was great.
Even if the cost was high, he didn’t care.
‘This must be my fault. After I started running into Taboo questions, I stopped asking anything related to the system, so I never ran into this possibility. It seems that there’s a no-man’s-land between Taboo questions and normal questions where there’s an extra cost involved. It’s steep, but well worth it…’
Sylas wouldn’t necessarily find the Title Sequence he needed in a Nexus, but if he asked the Madness Key.
‘Let’s see if I can find out how to improve my A Burning Will Title…’
Sylas wasn’t a fool, he had noticed a qualitative change after he unlocked A Burning Will. Even when he used Aetherflow, his Will seemed to have become flickering flames instead of its usual glow of Aether.
On top of that, his telekinesis became able to move up to 50 pounds with greater ease, and his Aetherflow fists carried a greater punch as a result.
If he could upgrade it further, wouldn’t that be helpful? But first, he wanted to see the cost.
What Sylas didn’t expect was that the moment he was going to, he felt a blaring warning echo through his heart. He hurriedly stopped and exhaled a slow breath.
No doubt… it was a Taboo.
‘I see… Normal Graded Titles I can ask about just fine. But non-Graded, Upgradeable Titles are a no-go.’
Sylas noted this and accepted it. This wasn’t a bad result either.
There was just one thing he had to check before he truly left this place behind.
—
[Arctic Emperor Cobra]
– [Genes Detected]
– [Bronze Gene: (7) Intelligence (F); (7) Wisdom (F)]
– [Attempt Assimilation?]
– [Yes][No]
—
‘Wow…’
There was nothing else to say. If the Arctic Emperor Cobra was a human and not a beast, it would certainly have even more Genes to give. But Sylas had already become used to creatures only giving some stats. The fact that the Arctic Emperor Cobra could give two of a kind instead of just one was a testament to how special it was.
If a Bronze Gene gave 200 stat points… didn’t that mean that the Arctic Emperor Cobra had several stats in the quadruple digits?
