Genetic Ascension

Sylas actually chuckled again. There was, indeed, someone else that used to make him smile. Though he never really laughed around her. He wasn't as comfortable with her as he was with his little sister, which was funny considering he had known her for longer than Elara had been alive.

Cassarae was an ex of his.

'Well, can she really be considered that?'

Cassarae was more like a childhood friend than an ex. They had dated for two months when they were 17 years old. Hadn't ended on bad terms… he thought, anyway.

But after that, they went from close friends to never talking. It had already been almost a decade since then, and he hadn't even thought to contact her about this Summoned Ascension matter.

'Would she even believe me?… Hey, Cassarae. It's Sylas, your high school boyfriend of two months. The world is ending soon, so you should probably prep for that…'

Sylas laughed at his own joke.

That was already three times in just a few minutes. It felt weird. He hadn't laughed like this in a while.

It was a shame, though. The girlfriends he had after Cassarae all pretty much ended the same. Fizzled out with no real drama. Though it was hard to tell if that was because he was always so stoic about things or not.

'Well, women probably prefer funnier men. If I was going to sell my body for power, maybe I should go for a more stoic woman like me…'

Sylas shook his head again, almost immediately.

He had tried that before with a certain Clarice. Who knew, maybe he had a thing for women with Cs in their names.

That breakup could be considered to be his most dramatic, meaning not really at all.

She was the kind of woman to make lists about everything, but he could respect that. Which was funny, again, because he had critiqued her list of reasons to breakup with him.

It wasn't as a ploy to keep her by his side or anything. He was a prideful man and if a woman didn't want him, he wouldn't chase after her needlessly. You couldn't make a person change their mind if they didn't want to.

Instead, it was because he had found the list truly ridiculous. His reply was that she could have summarized it in one sentence.

'You're not ambitious enough for me.'

That was pretty much the gist of it. A 26-year-old tenured professor at the most prestigious college in the country wasn't good enough for her.

In her defense, he wasn't tenured just yet back then. That, and…

'She's probably not wrong, though,' Sylas agreed.

Like he had said before, he had only casually chosen his doctorate, and it was taken in a field that was very unnecessary. No one needed venom vaccines.

He only really worked on things that interested him, and much like his parents, when it was time for him to check out of work, he never brought it home.

It could be said that he was curious about a lot of things, but not really passionate about anything. Clarice had picked up on that and felt like he was wasting his potential.

He didn't really have a goal for after securing tenure. Truthfully, he would have probably floated about until he found something else that interested him.

'She's still not tenured yet, though…'

A rare snide comment flew by his thoughts. It surprised him because he felt that he was pretty much over that breakup. Actually, he thought he got over it the day of.

Sylas sighed.

The world had just felt boring. How could he be ambitious about anything when there didn't seem to be a point?

Was it for money?

His parents were already successful and he could live off their wealth for the rest of his days without a care. Why should he strive for more money when he had more than enough?

He found comfort in the little things. He loved his family. He liked running, walking, hiking, and keeping himself in shape. He liked giving his life discipline and structure. He would probably like to find a wife to share his life with, but he didn't want to settle for any random woman, either.

He wanted a relationship like his parents had. One that was built on mutual respect, mutual competence, mutual love.

'In this day and age? Fat chance…'

Sylas suddenly chuckled again before his mind suddenly snapped back into focus.

He blinked in a bit of a daze. Had he fallen into a trance again? He had ended up thinking about himself more than the barrier. What a bout of déjà vu.

Subconsciously, he checked his notifications. There were only two lines.

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[Your understanding of <Maddened Meditation> has deepened]

[<Maddened Meditation> has reached Common Mastery]

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[Your Comprehension of Madness has deepened]

[Madness has reached Common Mastery]

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[You have Comprehended the Madness]

[+10 Will]

[+20 Charisma]

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[Madness (F)]

[The Madness consumes you, but does not control you. Instead, it becomes your tool to both control yourself and others. You, while steeped in Madness, maintain your wits about you. Your enemies, though, are not so lucky]

[+200% Charisma]

[+150% Will]

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[Name: Sylas Grimblade]

[Species: Human (F)]

[Affiliation: Grimblade Lineage]

[Level: 0]

[Titles: A Flexible Will; Skill Savant; A Patient Stalker; Middle Madness Slayer (Dormant); Little Madness Slayer (Dormant)]

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[Physical: 28]

>[Strength: 34]

>[Constitution: 9]

>[Dexterity: 19]

>[Speed: 50]

[Mental: 14]

>[Intelligence: 10]

>[Wisdom: 10]

>[Charisma: 22]

[Will: 44]

[Luck: 1]

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[Skills: Maddened Meditation (F); Little Madness (F); Middle Madness (F)]

[Comprehensions: Madness (F)]

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[Gene State: Soft]

[Fragmented Genes: Grimblade Lineage (F); (8) Dexterity (F); (4) Constitution (F); (9) Strength (F)]

[Common Genes: (3) Speed (F); (1) Strength (F)]

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[Gene Talents: Blade Aura (Mutated - Weakened)(-); Sudden Burst (Dormant)(F)]