Genetic Ascension novel Chapter 168

Chapter 168 Extricate (2)

He felt a vague sense of where the tug was coming from. Rojan, or rather his corpse, seemed to be fighting back against him.

Sylas felt that he could overwhelm this force easily, but the problem was that he was only pulling on a single Gene right now. Would he be able to pull on another afterward?

'It doesn't matter,' he thought to himself. 'My current Gene Stat is Rigid, so I can't absorb any Genes. Even if I could, I've hit all my Stat Limits already.'

He was being too cautious; he instead chose to approach it like an experiment and pulled enough to overwhelm the force fighting back against him.

Something miraculous appeared.

A bundle of energy floated out of Rojan's corpse. It looked like a series of catalyzed fusions and expulsions were occurring within it. It reminded Sylas of what he had learned about the atom in high school, and yet from time to time, it would solidify and become a double helix, though incomplete.

Sylas didn't know where the thought came from, but he almost felt like he was staring right into the jaws of the beginning of the universe.

'What do I do with it?'

Sylas actually wasn't sure. The ability was known as Extricate, but there didn't seem to be any other function.

He could tell this was a Gene from Rojan; he also knew that it was a Strength Gene as well, though he wasn't sure where that intuition came from. But other than that…

He brought the bundle of energy toward himself, and he surprisingly felt resistance immediately.

He knew that he was in a Rigid Gene State, but he had never felt it so tangibly until now.

What was interesting, though, was that this resistance felt similar to the tug, almost like he could overwhelm it just the same.

'Can I?'

He pushed, bringing the Gene closer and closer to himself. But as he did so, the resistance increased exponentially until he felt that the Strength Gene was actually about to collapse beneath the pressure.

'I do have…'

Sylas hadn't taken them because there was no point, but he had accumulated a few lesser Gene State Elixirs. Maybe if he used one, the result would be different?

An Inflexible Gene State Elixir appeared in Sylas' hand. It would allow him a 10% success rate in absorbing Genes for the next three days.

He swallowed the bitter Elixir, almost feeling as though it was packed with impurities, unlike the Soft Gene State Elixirs he had taken in the past.

A feeling of release overwhelmed him, like his body had been bound off tight and only now got the chance to relax.

This wasn't a feeling that he had felt so clearly before; it was certainly because Extricate was active and he could feel the previous resistance of his body clearly.

Once again, Sylas brought the Gene close, but the resistance was still great. He kept pushing, but it looked as though the Gene was still about to shatter.

'Did I waste an Elixir?'