Genetic Ascension

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He still had the gnoll elite's Gene Core even though he hadn't gotten anything from Lurk, and he had the reward orbs of three more gnolls on top of that.

But Sylas was a bit hesitant.

The reason he didn't absorb Vorak's Genes was because, unlike with the Madness Key, he couldn't directly pass Genes from himself to the Gene Crystal. This seemed to be a unique ability the Madness Key was capable of, but the Gene Crystal could only absorb fresh Genes.

This wasn't actually entirely bad. That was because the Gene Crystal could absorb Genes with a 100% success rate, so there would be no loss.

However, the drawback was obviously that any Genes he gave the Gene Crystal, he couldn't take in himself.

Vorak had two Common Will and three Common Intelligence Genes. Only Intelligence was needed for unlocking Basic Aetherflow, but he needed a whole 15 of them. These three would obviously go a long way to helping that.

Unfortunately… he couldn't pick and choose which he took. It was either he tried to absorb all five, or he took in none of them. That also meant that the Gene Crystal would directly discard the two Common Will Genes and they would vanish.

That was a +40 Will gone into the wind. That was a huge amount, almost 50% of Sylas' current stat total.

'In base, that would be a whole +5 to my telekinesis' Strength. If I added +150% when Madness is activated, that would be an additional +25 Strength just from those two Genes alone…

'Of course, I also have to consider that the odds I succeed in absorbing both of them are only 25% considering my Soft Gene State only gives me a fifty-fifty chance…

'The hardest thing to ignore is the potential boost to my Intelligence. Madness Control runs out too quickly. If I could use it for longer...'

What made all of this harder was the fact Sylas had lost a gnoll elite corpse. If he had two of these Gene Cores, it would have been an easier choice to make. But scarcity made it more difficult.

On the one hand, he needed more immediate strength. But on the other, he needed to improve his future potential as well.

'Let's check the other stuff first to see if it'll tip things one way or another.'

Sylas took out the reward orbs of the three gnolls, crushing them one after another.

Between the three of them, he gained a total of 50 coins.

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[Coins: 220 (F)]

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Then there came the Gene Cores.

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[Common Gene: (3) Strength (F); (3) Constitution (F)]

[Common Gene: (3) Strength (F); (3) Constitution (F)]

[Common Gene: (3) Strength (F); (3) Constitution (F)]

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They were identical down the line, and also equally as disappointing.

Sylas ended up using two to feed the Gene Crystal, and as a result he wasted one Strength Gene and one Constitution Gene. There was no way to split Genes, and Basic Aetherflow only needed five Strength and Constitution Genes, so the sixth of each was dissipated.

Or so he thought.

The Madness Key vibrated and the dissipating energy was suddenly sucked into it.

'Hm?'

Sylas felt something change, but he wasn't sure what it was.

He looked inside the Madness Key and suddenly understood. The space inside had gotten bigger. From a one-cubic-meter space, it had become a three-cubic-meter space.

That wasn't all, either. When he used his intention to connect with the Madness Key, he felt like he was staring at those dancing snakes, each one completing a different sort of action.

'Is this what happens when I overfeed the Madness Key?'

He had never tested it out, and why would he? Genes were precious even if he had reached the stat cap. But he never expected that the Madness Key would have these hidden abilities.

Could he use it to improve his Madness Comprehension, then?

Right now, the insights were still much weaker than the barriers within the Dungeon, but if he fed it more that would change, no?

He looked at the last gnoll Gene Core he had and chose to take a gamble. It wasn't like he could increase his stats right now, anyway.

The Madness Key greedily swallowed.

The space inside grew once more, from three cubic meters all the way to nine cubic meters.

It was a shocking change. This size could already dwarf a small cabin or house, and it was much more space that Sylas even knew what to do with currently.

'Still not enough…' Sylas thought.

This was, indeed, a game changer.

According to his new scouting Skill, Madness Control was an FF+ rated Skill while Madness was an FFF rated Comprehension. Sylas could still remember how his Comprehension had helped <Little Madness> and the other Madness Skills to reach Legendary Mastery in a single bound. He felt that it could be able to do the same for <Madness Control>, but the problem was that it was a much higher-tier Skill.

Essentially, increasing his Madness Comprehension now was akin to killing two birds with one stone. Madness Comprehension was now at Common Mastery while <Madness Control> was still at Fragmented, but if the former rose to Bronze Mastery, he had a feeling that <Madness Control> would rise with it. And, an increase in Madness would raise the boost his telekinesis gained when it was activated, and thus be worth far more than any boost Will Stats could give him, while an increase in <Madness Control> Mastery would make his Intelligence stretch further.

With this thought in mind, Sylas made his decision. He passed the three Intelligence Genes to the Gene Crystal, knocking down the 15 he needed to 12.

The Madness Key acted again, absorbing the two latent Genes, and its size expanded again.

'Unfortunate…' Sylas sighed.

The space grew to 10 cubic meters, then stopped. There should have been enough to grow to 11, but it didn't do so. Instead, the rest of the energy was infused into the walls, but it still wasn't enough to surpass the barriers. Though, he could feel that it was already about 90% similar in strength.

Sylas had a feeling that if he wanted to go beyond Common Mastery, he would need to allow the Madness Key to absorb Bronze Genes. That seemed to be the adequate trade.

Still, he didn't regret the gamble. That was because he felt something else stirring.

<Madness Control>.