Genetic Ascension novel Chapter 11

Chapter 11 50-50

The crack was resounding, the stone blade in Sylas' palm even splitting once more as the elk collapsed, skidding along its front knees before one of its antlers was caught in the ground, sending Sylas flying off.

Sylas' shoulder rolled forward and he popped back up swiftly.

The first thing he did was scan the area. It was hard to see anything at all, so he listened carefully.

His breathing was even and his heartbeat was slow despite the situation he had been in. Everything felt slow as the seconds ticked by, but ultimately, there was nothing.

'It seems that the night might come with some extra safety. It would be best to be nocturnal in this situation, but if I sleep in the day where the animals are most active, won't I put myself in danger?'

Sylas had already not slept for over a day. He hadn't had anything to drink either, and other than some bugs he had conveniently eaten while stalking the elk, he hadn't had anything to eat either.

He wasn't worried about food. This was a matter of survival, so he wasn't grossed out by eating insects if he had to. In addition, he had a good understanding of what was and wasn't poisonous in terms of the plant life after observing the elk for a day.

However, fatigue wasn't something he could ignore.

Sylas shrugged this off for now and walked to the elk, putting a hand on it.

[Irish Elk]

[Gene Detected]

[Fragmented Gene: Speed (F)]

[Attempt Assimilation?]

[Yes][No]

Titled Genes like the Grimblade family's Grimblade Lineage were on the rarer side. Most Genes were like this one, bolstering a certain aspect of one's Physical stats.

Between Titled Genes and Physical Genes like this one, there were Attribute Genes which were a little rarer and could give one control over a certain type of Aether or other mysterious abilities.

The rarest Genes of them all, though, were Genes that could grant Gene Talents.

His grandfather had been very vague about any more specifics than this, but he had said that the world of Genes and how one could learn to use and manipulate them were endless. It was a topic that there was the least amount of information on, and yet one should strive to learn the most about.

Regardless, Physical Genes had their usefulness as well, that being that they were the easiest kind of Genes to stack. So long as they shared the same name, they could be fused.

In addition, they were repeatable. In this forest, it was doubtful that there'd only be a single elk. In that case, it should be true that so long as he kept killing elks, he would continue to get the Speed Gene.

[Yes].

Sylas held his breath. For the first time, he actually felt some of his nerves getting to him.

He hadn't felt nervous jumping into this death trap; he hadn't felt nervous stalking an animal that could kill him with a few kicks; he hadn't even felt nervous when he moved to strike it dead.

But this 50/50 chance he was staring down right now had a lot riding on it.

He had wasted an entire day on this elk, just for this chance right here. That was already one of his seven days.

If he let the seven-day timer run out, he would be back to a Rigid Gene State and have a 0% chance of absorbing any Genes. Well, aside from that unexplained 10% boost his Title gave him.