Genetic Ascension

[Castle Bonus---Big thanks to Readable and RolaySalt!! (10/10)]

"Of course. Whenever you're ready to hear about my own traumadick experiences, I'll lay it on you."

Cassarae snorted. "Traumadick?"

"The male species needs their own word for what they put us through!" Olivia said righteously. She stuck her chest out and spread her arms akimbo as though she was truly a valiant hero.

Cassarae laughed, truly feeling better this time.

"You sure I can't cut it off?" Olivia suddenly asked.

"Liv." Cassarae said, trying to be serious.

"How about just a little piece of it?"

"Liv."

"Liv!" Cassarae couldn't hold back her laughter, and this time it came in waves.

"Look at those tits go." Olivia clicked her tongue. "We're going to find someone who appreciates those knockers, I promise."

The laughter of the two women went into the night.

**

Sylas' eyes opened, and he was immediately alert.

This was the first time he had had some real sleep since he came to this world. It could be said that cities had their benefits after all. He wasn't sure about the specifics, but Cassarae probably had scouts and things of the like.

But he wasn't really thinking about this. His mind was on that dream he had just had. It had been a while since he dreamed about Cassarae. It threw him off for a moment. If not for this situation injecting some blood into him, he might have laid here a much longer while.

He gave a quick glance around, and it seemed that the only one gone was Lauren. Alex and Morgan were still sleeping. That was a bit surprising to Sylas considering he felt that he was up quite early. The sun wasn't even peeking through yet.

After some thought, he laid back down and checked on his Gene Crystal. Previously, he had already done as the Madness Key stated and found a "foundation" for his future Unique Gene. Although he had some options, there were only really two options that made sense.

The first was <Madness Control> and the second was Madness the Comprehension.

The obvious choice was clearly Madness. It was the foundation upon which <Madness Control> was built upon, and intuitively… a Comprehension just felt like a more solid "foundation" to use. He had even confirmed this with the Madness Key, though such a specific question felt like a waste.

The trouble was that he still wasn't sure what path Madness wanted him to take. At first, he had thought it was best used to attack the minds of others, but now he felt that it was best used to control himself, but then there was also the telekinesis aspect that seemed tangential? He still wasn't quite sure if that was an ability he gained just because his Will and Charisma were so high, or if it was something else.

This sort of confusion made it hard to bet on it, especially since it was quite clear that the best he could get out of the Gene Crystal was a Unique Bronze Gene.

By comparison, <Madness Control> had a clear and obvious purpose to him. It improved his Dexterity considerably. Having a related Unique Gene would be of obvious help.

He could have made all of this clearer just by asking the Madness Key, but the last time he asked a Madness-related question, it had snapped back. Considering this Madness Key liked ramping things up, the next time he asked one, it might be an even worse punishment. He was on his own for this.

But in the end, Sylas stuck with the obvious choice. He wasn't going to try to outsmart a system that was clearly beyond him. He would try to stick with what was obvious to him, and if he made a mistake, he could only do his best to try to correct it later down the line.

Plus, he had had another thought when he decided on this…

Wouldn't the Evolution Tree that the Common Gene Crystal formed give him some clues as well?

And he was definitely right about that. It had given him three options.

---

[Basic Aetherflow (F)]

[>Fragmented Gene]

[Raise Genetic Limit to (5) Common Genes of a kind]

[Raise Stat Limit to 60 Relative Stat Units]

[Gene Talents: Basic Aetherflow (-)]

[Raise Genetic Limit to (10) Common Genes of a kind]

[Raise Stat Limit to 75 Relative Stat Units]

[Gene Talents: Basic Aetherflow (F)]

[>Bronze Gene]

[Raise Stat Limit to 100 Relative Stat Units]

[Gene Talents: Basic Aetherflow (F)]

---

[Psyche Warp (F)]

[>Fragmented Gene]

[Raise Genetic Limit to (5) Common Genes of a kind]

[Raise Stat Limit to 60 Relative Physical Stat Units]

[Gene Talents: Psyche Warp (-)]

[>Common Gene]

[Raise Genetic Limit to (10) Common Genes of a kind]

[Raise Stat Limit to 75 Relative Physical Stat Units]

[Gene Talents: Psyche Warp (F)]

[>Bronze Gene]

[Raise Genetic Limit to (20) Common Genes of a kind or (1) Bronze Gene of a kind]

[Raise Stat Limit to 100 Relative Physical Stat Units]

[Gene Talents: Psyche Warp (F)]

---

[Harmonic Puppetry (F)]

[>Fragmented Gene]

[Raise Genetic Limit to (5) Common Genes of a kind]

[Raise Stat Limit to 60 Relative Stat Units]

[Gene Talents: Harmonic Puppetry (-)]

[>Common Gene]

[Raise Genetic Limit to (10) Common Genes of a kind]

[Raise Stat Limit to 75 Relative Stat Units]

[Gene Talents: Harmonic Puppetry (F)]

[>Bronze Gene]

[Raise Genetic Limit to (20) Common Genes of a kind or (1) Bronze Gene of a kind]

[Raise Stat Limit to 100 Relative Stat Units]

[Gene Talents: Harmonic Puppetry (F)]

---

Basic Aetherflow, Psyche Warp, and Harmonic Puppetry, these were the three Unique Genes that it had created for him. But the requirements weren't cheap either. As for the names, they were decided by him after he read their descriptions.

Each one had the exact same limit increasers. What really set them apart was hidden in the weeds.