Genetic Ascension

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The next day came swiftly. This time, Sylas didn't go out for a morning run in preparation for the event that was soon to come. Though this meant he couldn't go and see Professor Fembroise, he could only hope that a day's delay didn't change things too significantly.

The group left the residence together as the sun set. A silence pervaded the car, the shadows and warm colors of dusk rolling by their windows.

Soon, Bloom pulled up into a warehouse. The inside was completely bare, it didn't seem to be in use for anything.

"This place is under our ownership. The target is near the city limits and there's tight security as well, so we'll need to go the rest of the way on foot.

"I'll brief you on the task. Our only job is to get close enough to use the system to analyze the metals they're working on. Once we've confirmed, we can consider other things."

Sylas nodded. He still felt that this was a waste of a trip if that was all they wanted to do, but he wasn't going to push his luck. Obviously, they didn't want to tell him the real purpose.

'So it is possible to use the system to analyze normal things, huh?'

"Won't it be impossible to use the analysis Skills without Aether?" Sylas asked.

"You can trigger it first, and once we're in an Aether-rich environment, the analysis will finish."

Sylas nodded and the trio left the car.

By this point, the sun had already set. The warehouse was in the middle of a southern desert, the land was dried and cracked, and aside from the long stretch of asphalt that was the road, there were no other markers of society.

It was hard to tell how they'd sneak in like this, they'd be seen from a mile away… literally. But Sylas soon got his answer.

Bloom was being a bit too casual with their approach for a reason.

This wasn't a covert operation; they might as well have gone in guns blazing.

By the time Mark was laughing and Sylas registered what happened, the sound of blaring alarms had already pierced their ears.

Sylas didn't have the words to describe what was happening. What was the point of all the caution, all the radio-tapping, if this was what they were going to do anyway?

He sent a glance toward Bloom to find that she had indifferently taken out her spear, rushing after Mark, who was going full tilt with his shield in hand.

In the end, Sylas could only comfort himself with the hope that Bloom had chosen this day for a good reason.

Three kunai appeared around him and he rushed after them, lagging behind a bit.

It seemed there was no escaping it. After this, he would be an enemy of the government, a fugitive on soil that had once been his home.

Sylas exhaled a breath and got ready for a ride, but he was immediately taken aback.

The instant they entered the range of their target, waves of Aether bloomed in the surroundings almost as though they had just stepped back onto the Aether Plane.

A hint of relief calmed Sylas' heart. This should at least mean that they wouldn't have to deal with guns.

But on the other hand…

[Lilah Bell]

[Level: 4]

[Victor Curx]

[Level: 5]

[Bella Murrow]

[Level: 5]

Just from a far-off distance away, Sylas saw a wave of high-

Leveled existences. The more he saw, the more incredulous he felt about the whole thing. Was the plan really to just rush in like this?

Was this a test? Were they testing his bottom line? Were they trying to thrust him into a dangerous situation just to see how he would react? Was it for the sake of his loyalty? Or to understand his stats?

Sylas could no longer hold back.

[Mark Grimblade (FF)]

[Level: 9]

[Bloom Grimblade (FF+)]

[Level: 9]

Sylas' pupils constricted as both Mark and Bloom looked back toward him at the same time.

Without Madness activated, this was all he could see. Even their stats were obscured to him. But he had a feeling that the two would assume that he couldn't see anything at all.

Sylas met both of their gazes, not hiding the frown on his face at all.

He refused to believe that there were more than a few dozen Level 9s. For these two to be classified as FF and FF+ among them should mean that they were in the top half of skill even amongst Level 9s.

Even if he was wrong and there were a few hundred at most. It was entirely different to Sylas, who was a Level 0 among billions of Level 0s right now. It was simply too easy for him to become amongst the 99th percentile.

"If the two of you are trying to play with my life, we can end this farce right here and now," Sylas said calmly. If they expected him to rush in and risk himself without information, they were sorely mistaken.

There was a flicker in Bloom's eyes and it was only now she seemed to relax.

Favorability seemed to be a cheat code, but the reality was that there were too many variables involved. Just having low Favorability didn't mean that a person was going to betray you, and having high Favorability didn't mean that things couldn't just change on a dime.

The reality was that among all the draftees, the average Favorability was around three or so. The highest wasn't even at five.

Intelligent and talented people didn't trust others so easily, and all of them were smart enough to understand many of the shady dealings the Browns had been involved in.

What they wanted to understand wasn't whether Sylas' Favorability was high or not, that was meaningless. What they wanted to understand was whether his Favorability was low due to a healthy skepticism, or if he would stand opposed to the family no matter what.

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