Genetic Ascension

Chapter 557: Sparking Will

[Your Will has reached 1999]

[Gene-Stat Limit Reached. Absorb a Silver Will Gene to increase your Will further]

—

For the first time, a Title change wasn’t enough to break the threshold of a Stat Limit. But then again, this wasn’t a Stat Limit; it was a Gene Stat Limit. His body truly didn’t have the capacity to improve any further.

Finally, Sylas noticed the changes to his Will.

He used his telekinesis on a bit of air ahead of him, only to notice the maze walls move away. He didn’t even try to touch them, but the walls were so afraid of his Will that they didn’t even want to be close.

‘It can’t be my Will itself, can it…’

Sylas didn’t even finish his thought when he saw the oddity.

His Will had always been green when it manifested. So where had this underlying darkness come from?

It didn’t feel sinister, but it felt… dangerous. Not to him, of course, but rather to those that might come into contact with it.

‘Scorpion Warlord… did my Will gain a poisonous character to it too?’

The realization overcame Sylas, and suddenly he had yet another breakthrough in comprehension. Though it didn’t elevate his Rune Mastery beyond Rune Essence, it did firmly solidify him in the camp.

‘The original reason for my breakthrough was observing the lance. Watching the liveliness and almost organic nature of the Runes made me realize that the reason I couldn’t analyze the scorpion warrior statue was that I was treating Runes too rigidly.

‘Runes can act like living organisms as well, and the gap between those at Rune Soul versus Rune Essence is dependent on whether you can manipulate this liveliness… with your Will.

‘This Scorpion Warlord Inheritance tainted my Will with this poison because this is the specific Path of Will I need to take on the Scorpion Warlord Inheritance.’

It all settled in for Sylas as he grasped one thing after another.

This was precisely what separated the strongest Rune Masters from the weakest. To incorporate Will into your Runes was one thing, but to have a unique signature of Will, one of its own Path, capable of Sparking your own Rune language…

That was a different matter entirely.

‘Then in all likelihood, what’s really scaring this maze isn’t my Will itself, but rather the specific type of Will I have… It fears my mastery over poison.’

The moment Sylas had this thought, he pushed out a palm and his telekinesis surged.

The maze walls collapsed one after another, rushing off to the sides to give him a clear line of sight ahead.

He no longer needed to consciously use Rune Soul to dispel poison. His Will seemed to now have dominion over the Laws of Poison themselves. Poison Runes behaved obediently around him because they had no other choice whatsoever.

So long as he didn’t run into any Poison Runes forged by a Will of a superior Poison Path to himself…

Poison would never be able to harm him again.

—

>[Basic Affinities]

[Poison (Gold)]

[Ice (Quasi Gold)]

[Ice-Poison (Silver)]

[Wood (Quasi Silver)]

[Wood-Poison (Bronze)]

[Wood-Ice-Poison (Common)]

[Earth (Common)]

—

His Poison Affinity had crossed the threshold into Gold.

Sylas rushed forward, reaching the end of the path swiftly.

—

[Spotted Salamander Master (FFF+)]

[Level: 35]

–

[Physical: 1121]

>[Strength: 1000]

>[Constitution: 1149]

>[Dexterity: 950]

>[Speed: 1288]

[Mental: 1247]

>[Intelligence: 1801]

>[Wisdom: 950]

>[Charisma: 994]

[Will: 911]

—

The creature was five meters in length. Flames of black and violet danced around it like motes of light, its tongue slithering out and slathering a toxic liquid onto the ground.

Sylas took a breath and his body was shrouded by a shuddering aura. His Will took tangible form and the Basilisk King seamlessly fused into him in no more than a blink of an eye.

There was the slightest trace of fear that flickered in the Salamander Master’s eyes before it attacked out of fear.

A spurt of liquid shot across the air, appearing before Sylas in an instant, but that very moment, Runes formed in the air and Sylas was suddenly shrouded by a second skin.

A blackened purple aura enveloped him. His Basilisk tail became covered in a carapace as an illusory scorpion tail snapped into place around it.

Sylas’ tail flickered, slapping the jet of liquid out of the air.

The corrosive attack that burned through even the ground was practically like a splash of water against him. Only the fire characteristics had a chance, but without the poison underlying it, it wasn’t even half as powerful.

Sylas shot forward and the lance appeared above the Salamander Master’s head at the same instant, smashing down with a great deal of force.

The salamander unleashed an ear-splitting screech, a defensive Skill activating as it sensed the danger.

BANG! BANG!

The lance fell first, followed by the heavy stone. But then…

BANG!

A second stone fell and the defensive Skill of the salamander cracked.

Sylas punched out, a fist aura shuttling through the air and colliding with the cracking defenses.

The salamander was forced onto its belly, its body losing control as its knees gave out beneath the overwhelming pressure.

And then Sylas finally closed in.

He dodged out of the way of a desperate attack with a spurt of <Phoenix’s Embrace>’s wings, sliding to the side and feeling the cobblestone ground beneath the soles of his feet.

His tail pierced out, fast and precise, right through the crack formed by the lance the very same moment the stones and lance vanished into his Madness Key once again.

PUCHI!

The pincer of his tail split the salamander’s head, jetting right through its skull.

Black veins appeared all across the salamander’s body in an instant. Foam bubbled from its maw and its body convulsed.

Once its eyes rolled to the back of its head, its last chance to live was over and done with.

The poison of Sylas’ tail was on a level the Woodland Poison simply couldn’t compare to. It turned even the poison inside the salamander’s body against it.

Just as Sylas was about to relax, his Luck sent blaring warning signs to his mind, and he hurriedly took a fierce leap backward.

BANG!