Genetic Ascension

[525 GT Bonus]",

Her frown deepened, not liking the implication.

This Quest had called up everyone in a hundred kilometer radius. Of course, it was possible to just directly ignore, but then you wouldn't get any details, nor would you get the compass leading here. There was also a penalty involved for accepting and then flaking in the end, though this penalty wasn't worth your life.

"You think it's one of them?"

"I don't know. It could be a coincidence, they could have gotten the information through other means, or any number of things.

"There's definitely the possibility that there were some who ignored the Quest that could use where it pinged them as a clue for which areas to check on.

"You said it was 100 kilometers, right? That's quite a large area… but it's not impossible, given the strength of those people."

"How strong were they?"

"Level four. F-level threats. Two of them." As he spoke, he took out their equipment and placed them down. They were useless to him as well, so he might as well pass them on to Cassarae as well.

Cassarae took a breath and exhaled slowly. She took a moment to gather herself before she spoke.

"You really don't need to give me these, you know. Don't treat me like that same little girl. I have a little strength of my own, you know?"

There was a hint of irritation in her voice, but Sylas knew it wasn't really aimed at him.

"If you have a method of trading them in, do so," Sylas said. "I'm not giving them to you out of pity. I just quite literally can't use them."

Cassarae's frown returned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Sylas held up his hands. "I can't take these off. They're bound to me. I can't unequip them, and while they're in my possession, I can wear any armor or wield any weapons."

Her eyes widened. "No way, I've never heard of something like that. Is it a really powerful item, then?"

Sylas blew out a breath and shook his head. He wished.

"It just gives plus ten percent Constitution, and only on my fists. I'm not even sure it would apply if I used a palm attack or something like that."

Cassarae fell into her thoughts. +10% Constitution felt weak but… if it was a permanent stat boost like it seemed, it could very quickly roll into something much more substantial.

Now that she thought about it, she had never seen a treasure item give a percentage boost at all…

The only reason Sylas brushed it off was because he had two methods that gave him far better and far more permanent stat boost. So many of his Titles gave better boosts, while his Comprehension current gave +150% and +200% boosts to respective stats.

It was hard for him to take +10% seriously, especially since it was just to a single stat.

"I don't know what you've gotten yourself into, but that's kind of gross." Cassarae looked at the blood-soaked wraps in mock horror.

Sylas shook his head. That was a gripe he had as well. But at the very least, it wasn't itchy, and it didn't seem to give off any foul smells. Oddly enough, it felt "self-cleaning" as well. He had gotten it soaked in much more blood than this over time, but it seemed to revert back to this condition every time.

Cassarae stood to her feet and rounded her desk.

"Come. Watch this," she said with a grin.

"You sure you want to advance your village right now? I think you should make a spectacle of it."

Cassarae rolled her eyes. It wasn't much of a surprise if he guessed what was going to happen before she did it.

"You're no fun, but now that you say so, you're probably right. This leader stuff just isn't for me."

"I don't think so."

Cassarae looked over, about to say something quippy, when she realized she had misconstrued his words.

He didn't mean to agree with her, he meant the opposite.

"Your temper is a bit of a problem—"

"Excuse me?"

"—But you have a very good feel for people. You can come off as very endearing to many. And from what I see, your spawned villagers don't have any ingrained biases as women leading, so you're in a good position.

"If you took the role of War Lord, you'd do very well. Appoint others to do administrative stuff if you don't want to deal with it and lead the people's spirit, not their minds.

"You're ranked number one right now for a reason, no?"

"How can you make such nice stuff sound so annoying at the same time?"

Sylas smiled. "Good night, Cassarae. Get some rest."

Cassarae watched Sylas walk away, huffing out a sigh.

'I guess he's right. After this upgrade, instead of a Professional, I'll try for an Administrative-type Spawn instead and hope I get something good…'

She looked at her Luck stat. Hopefully, it would come through again.

**

The center of the village was filled with hustle and bustle, but it wasn't unruly. It felt quite warm and home-like, filled with hope and expectations for the future.

After surviving such an encounter, many of the villagers were in high spirits. They looked no different from normal people, everything from their skin tone to mannerisms perfectly mirrored the people of Earth. They even spoke the same language.

The only thing that stood out was the fact they were all around the same age, somewhere between their twenties and early thirties. There were no children around, and there only seemed to be tentative relationships between the people. Although there were some who no doubt shared a bed at night, none of them were husband and wife.

Sylas took silent note of all of this, but he didn't say much. He knew that Cassarae wasn't a fool. Administrative stuff might annoy her, but she really understood people. At the same time, her education was just as good as his own. They had attended the same schools, after all.