Genetic Ascension novel Chapter 16

Chapter 16 Choice

'I need to target small animals, ones that are at best 10% of my body weight, at worst 50%. Until I have the strength to go up against much more dangerous creatures, I will have to stick with what I can comfortably deal with even if I have no Aether or extra Genes.'

Sylas laid down his pride and realized he couldn't be some big game hunter if he wanted to survive. If he could just eat bugs on his way to gaining Genes, he would do so. But he had killed a few while stalking the elk just for a meal, and there was never anything to gain.

He assumed that the system had some sort of minimum size requirement, or he was targeting the wrong kind of bugs.

There was some good news aside from the blow to his ego.

For one, the corpses of the two red foxes he had killed were much more manageable than the elk. If he used his Blade Aura to target a small part of it, he could even cook them without starting a fire.

'Grandfather said I should look for a dungeon soon as well. Reach 20 Physical as quickly as possible and enter a Dungeon…'

There were only two ways to gain items and treasures aside from Genes in this gamified world. The first was to steal from spawned cities, and the second was Dungeons.

These spawned cities were different from the System Cities that would appear after the trial period was over. They were challenges created for those that chose the Common City Stele. Though there was no rule that said that Sylas couldn't attack one even without a City Stele, it's just that he would have a death wish if he tried to do so.

The second and more manageable challenge were the Dungeons. That wasn't to say that they were easy, but rather that the variables were tightly controlled.

Unfortunately, entering a Dungeon was easier said than done. According to his grandfather, Dungeons gave off a dense concentration of Aether. Due to that, more powerful creatures tended to flock around it even though they could not enter. 20 Physical was more of a requirement just to lay eyes on it than it was a minimum to enter.

Sylas took a breath. 'Sleep.'

He broke out into a light jog, taking a more roundabout route back to the elk's territory.

He found a natural gourd hanging from a tree and ripped it off. Then, he entered the region of a familiar lake.

Gourds needed to be carefully dried and prepped for a long while before they could be used like containers, but Sylas had a convenient shortcut for that. At this point, Blade Aura felt far more useful for miscellaneous matters than it was for actual combat.

This would be the only convenient time he would be able to come to this lake, so he had to take advantage.

Sylas froze.

He looked down at the clear waters and couldn't believe what he was seeing. Aside from the dirty reflection that looked back at him, beyond that, deep within, there seemed to be something radiating a dense pulse of Aether.

It was a Dungeon, Sylas was certain. But what he couldn't understand was how he could possibly be so unlucky.

If the Dungeon was in the water, wouldn't that mean that all the most powerful beasts would flock here after their evolutions were complete?

Even if he followed down the river, because of what he had learned from his grandfather, he knew it would be useless. With this level of Aether being pumped out, it would definitely follow the current and raise the concentration for countless kilometers. The longer this Dungeon went unfinished, the worse the situation would get.

How would he get water?

'Fruits? Rain? Blood?'