Minutes later, Sylas was still standing on the icy lake. However, he now had one Arctic King Bear in his right hand and an Arctic King Cobra in his left.
Blood dripped down from his fingers and drizzled into the lake, forming crystal shards of violet blood as they froze over.
Both were Level 19s… and they didn’t last very long in his hands at all.
Sylas raised up the Arctic King Bear and squeezed down.
PA.
Its head shattered into a rain of blood. Though, while it looked like he had done it with pure strength, it was instead because of Winter’s Edge.
In a region of such high ice Aether concentration, the Gene Talent was far stronger.
What Sylas also noticed was that it flowed much more smoothly in the past, likely because of a combination of his Dual Class Constitution and the fact he had gotten rid of Blade Aura, giving him far more space to maneuver.
Slowly, Sylas raised up the Arctic King Cobra.
The snake writhed, but its eyes were clearly pulsing with fear.
Sylas had been gone for a quarter year, and it was clear that while these beasts were more intelligent than normal, it wasn’t to the point of truly being human-like.
Though, honestly, even for humans, such a time was already enough for them to forget.
Sylas’ Will bore down and the Arctic King Cobra had its ability to resist fall to nothing.
—
[Your Will has completely suppressed
[Contract of Subservience has been formed]
[A Taming Contract has been formed]
—
[Contracts]
[1. Basilisk King: Lv5]
[2. Nosphaleen Tideborn: Lv6]
[3. Arctic King Cobra: Lv19]
—
[Arctic King Cobra]
[Status: Injured]
[Loyalty: 9/10]
–
[Skills]
[>Arctic King’s Domain]
[>Chilling Scythe]
[>Arctic Howl]
–
[Gene Talents]
[>Fleshly Swallow (Dormant)]
—
[You have subdued a beast of Common Lineage]
[10 Free Experience Earned]
—
[Arctic King Cobra (FFF)]
[Level: 19]
–
[Physical: 580]
[Mental: 651]
[Will: 603]
—
Sylas took a breath as a large amount of information filled his mind.
‘Interesting…’
The history of the Arctic King Cobra was far shorter. It was a beast native to Earth and seemed to have only mutated into existence thanks to this Ice-Poison pool.
But what was fascinating was how they had gotten here in the first place.
According to the Ice-Poison venom pouch introduction he had read back in the Nexus, the Arctic King Cobras had evolved first and then migrated to cooler regions.
That made sense. After all, snakes were cold-blooded creatures; they couldn’t handle the cold unless a mutation occurred first. So, Sylas had accepted this explanation without much pushback.
However, according to his One Kind For Me Legendary Path, this wasn’t what happened at all.
‘Someone created them on purpose. And they did it in order to protect the Dungeon down below.’
Sylas looked toward the Dungeon, his eyes narrowing.
There was only one group that could do this. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. But, Sylas was still more than 90% certain, given the information he had now, that the culprits were Azrael and whoever was backing him.
In all likelihood, it was related to the System City that was nearby.
But why?
‘This isn’t the only oddity. How did Aurion know that I would come out with a Clypsian? How did Lauren know that Cassarae had the Luck Necklace? How did Licirius know where the Paradise Portal would appear?’
He had run into such situations many times in this world by now, situations where his enemies seemed to have almost omnipotent knowledge about things they should have no understanding of.
Sylas wouldn’t even be surprised if Guiz City had only been targeting Cassarae so harshly precisely because they knew of her Quest.
‘Four months…’
Losing so much time meant that not only did he have much less time to work with, but Cassarae was really riding a razor-thin margin. He had to make sure his family was alright and return as quickly as possible.
If that meant falling out with Lucius… then so be it.
There was a reason Sylas hadn’t made the decision to go nuclear on the Grimblade family just yet, and that was because he knew that Lucius’ thoughts and that of the Grimblade family might not align.
The Grimblades were looking for the best and most trustworthy heir; that’s why they were choosing between those three. However, Lucius wanted to make sure that he was that heir.
If the Grimblades were making the decisions, then there was no way they would choose to alienate Sylas. At least not so overtly.
Lucius was putting his foot down because that was his chosen approach, and because he felt that he had to. The more Sylas struggled out of his control, the less of a chance he would have of maintaining the pecking order when the time came.
However…
Four months or not, Sylas had long since slipped out of his control.
Sylas turned back to the Arctic King Cobra.
It had been chosen by the person that forced its evolution precisely because of its higher-than-average intellect and its high Constitution.
However, this person had neglected one thing.
The King Character of the Arctic King Cobra.
The Arctic King Cobra was similar to the Clandestine Apes, but for completely different reasons. The Clandestine Apes adapted to any extremes, but the Arctic King Cobra suppressed all extremes.
Meaning…
Sylas pressed a finger to the forehead of the Arctic King Cobra and closed his eyes. He breathed in slowly and exhaled.
If one could see inside the body of the Arctic King Cobra, several of its Genes were being rearranged, shifted, and changed. At the same time, Genes from the Arctic King Bear were rising up and fusing into it along with Sylas’ own personal Ice-Poison Runes.
He had already felt a moment of clarity when he used Insight on a Mesmeryx. But compared to that, it was leagues easier on a Common Beast… to the point where the complicated Genes that Sylas couldn’t even begin to manipulate in the past were like clay putty in his hands.
And in just three hours…
—
[Arctic Emperor Cobra (FFF+)]
[Level: 19]
–
[Physical: 942]
>[Strength: 1075]
>[Constitution: 1023]
>[Dexterity: 790]
>[Speed: 821]
[Mental: 933]
>[Intelligence: 1523]
>[Wisdom: 831]
>[Charisma: 545]
[Will: 996]
—
A subtle smile curled Sylas’ lip. It was that very same giddy feeling he used to get as a child when he completed a difficult puzzle… long before they became too easy for him to care about anymore.
The feeling of accomplishment was something he hadn’t felt in a very long time.
What truly made him happy wasn’t the fact his Intuition had worked so well. No. The reason he was so happy was because he was correct.
When he first saw the list of Legendary Paths, he hadn’t been sure which to choose. But after reading the cumulative total of all possible Beast Master Paths, he came to the conclusion of choosing Were-for-the-Invincible, One Kind For Me, and Taboo Bond, not because they were individually powerful, but because he knew that together they would be a truly monstrous combination.
And now, he was proven more than correct.
Without the Insight Talent One Kind For Me gave him, it would be impossible for him to see through such complicated Runes at his level.
But, without Taboo Bond, even if he could sense those Genes, he wouldn’t be able to directly change them.
And even if he had those two Talents, without the Hibernation Realm, it would take years for his new Arctic Emperor Cobra to adjust to its new evolution.
But now… it wouldn’t even take five minutes.
With a wave of his hand, the Arctic Emperor Cobra vanished.
It was time to return to the Grimblades.
