Genetic Ascension novel Chapter 369

369 Missing

Sylas, of course, didn't know what any of this meant. Rune Breath was already described as something that separated the talented from the talentless, but it was still only a matter of a few seconds for him to grasp. So, he had no appreciation for the difficulty.

Rune Soul wasn't just one level above Rune Breath, it was two. Rune Breath was preceded by Rune Flesh.

Rune Flesh was a state of being able to incorporate Runes into one's very body. Of course, there would be limits, but it was essentially known as the state where one no longer needed to use Aether as a medium in order to use Runes. This meant that even in regions where Aether wasn't dense, Sylas would still be able to make use of Runes, and observe them clearly.

Rune Flesh was actually something that Sylas had personally experienced before. It was precisely what happened every time a Gene was absorbed!

Extricate made this experience all the more potent and allowed one to benefit from the comprehension of said Genes as well, while the system streamlined the process.

Rune Soul was an even more powerful version of this. It allowed one to incorporate Runes right into their very soul. There was no simple one-to-one comparison for it… at least not on current Earth.

Sylas could vaguely feel these changes, but he was quickly distracted by the world around him. He made a note to ask the Madness Key about such things later… but right now, there was only one place that was of interest to him.

The world of ice-blue seemed to, ironically, gain color in Sylas' eyes. It was as though it had gained true life.

Everywhere Sylas looked, there was one Rune after another. He saw several iterations of what he thought was the Ice-Poison Rune, but many of them were weaker than the Ice-Poison Rune he was familiar with, and there were several that were stronger than the Rune he was familiar with.

'All of them are Ice-Poison? Are they bits and pieces of a whole? Something else?'

Sylas never thought that there were multiple iterations of the Ice-Poison Rune because he had already seen it in two completely different states. One was from the much weaker venom sack of the Arctic Emperor Cobra's son, and the other was from the Arctic Emperor Cobra itself.

The Ice-Poison Runes on both venom sacks were the exact same.

'Were they, though…?'

Sylas frowned for a moment and then backed out of the Mancer Wand's world. He quickly took out one of the corpses of the Arctic King Cobras that remained in his Madness Key and cut out the venom sack.

He didn't need to be nearly as careful as he had been in the past as he was immune, so the process was quick. Soon, he was observing the venom sack closely.

'Another…'

Sylas began to cut out venom sack after venom sack, but the result was the same.

'They really are the same, I knew I wouldn't make a mistake like that. But why does the Arctic Emperor Cobra's feel so different?'

A realization came over Sylas.

Aether.

The maturity and strength of one's Aether could influence and change Runes as well. The Arctic Emperor Cobra was on the verge of an evolution, so even though it had the same Rune, its presence, power, and aura were entirely different.