GENETIC ASCENSION

The snowy plain reacted as though a bomb had erupted beneath its surface. A violent uprising fueled by power and pulsing Aether shot out in all directions.

Beneath his Glassvolt Comprehension, Sylas’ Aether capacity had increased by over 10 times. But it wasn’t just the Comprehension. The widening of his Aether Pathways made him feel as though he could truly begin to manifest the real strength of this Comprehension.

He wondered… was this the true limit… or was he still being limited by his body?

What would happen when he managed to become an E-Grade Race?

Splinters raged through. The scene over hundreds of meters was that of pure, unbridled carnage.

Sylas knew that it looked far more impressive than it was, at least to him. This wasn’t raw power, it was a combination of Aether control and Rune Mastery.

With his affinity having reached this level, it was like moving snow with a snow plow.

And then he finally sensed it.

Buried deep underground, consumed by large plumes of snow, he found an array that spanned hundreds of meters.

No, it wasn’t an array. He had seen it once before—so well and so perfectly hidden.

The bearman mage from earlier that had helped the crew of workers stack blocks of ice to form walls had outfitted each one with a special rune capable of absorbing large amounts of Ice Aether from the air.

Under the right circumstances, this Ice Aether could be concentrated into cannons to fire. But from what Sylas could tell, this was a move that would only be made in desperation.

The main function of the walls was defense, as that was something Ice Aether was quite good at.

The structure of ice was strong and solid, and because of its chemical structure, it had an exceptionally high specific heat. Of course, according to normal Earth physics, it was liquid water, and not ice, that had this great ability.

But Frostbane in particular, especially since it was tagged with a strong poison, had far more liquid water characteristics than it would otherwise, making its defenses exceptional even compared to other methods of ice.

This was all to say that it was very good at absorbing and withstanding energy. Such large formations of Frostbane weren’t meant to attack. They were meant to protect, to shield…

And it was no wonder Sylas didn’t sense anything. There was an entire cloud of Aether identical to all of his surroundings blocking it all.

An unmanned, underground city.

No, it was no longer unmanned.

—

[You have entered the Territory of City Lord Stormveil without Invitation]

[You have been marked by the Bane of Ice Subsidiary City as an enemy]

[You have entered a Warring State]

—

A string of notifications popped up on Sylas’ screen. He knew that each one was important, but he didn’t have the context to decipher what about them was so special.

But he could feel one thing very clearly.

Much like when he entered a Field Dungeon, he could leave.

But that much was fine. He hadn’t had any intentions of leaving in the first place.

There was a dense pulse, and Sylas felt as though he was locked on from all sides. However, unlike what was likely the expectation of the one below, Sylas didn’t fall beneath the effects of gravity.

He held out his hands, his telekinesis rising him into the air as large mirrors of Glass began to take shape around him.

BANG! BANG!

Two beams of Frostbane Aether shot into the skies.

‘They’re weak.’

Sometimes, Sylas forgot something very important… he was probably the only one in the Skai Galaxy that used Runes above 40 Foundations at all.

In fact, the only reason he hadn’t been invincible beneath F-Grade at least in this space was because of his lack of Mature Aether.

Once again, he had lost his Mature Aether after being forced to regress. But these Frostbane Runes… they weren’t even 40 Foundations, they were 30.

They were worthless before him.

To not only be so weak, but to hold back at the same time as though to try and lure him in further…

Was he being looked down upon?

‘Then suffer for it.’

The beams of Frostbane Aether rammed against the mirrors of Glass, only to find themselves trapped within, bouncing through its layered depths until they were suddenly redirected.

But not before their Runes were coopted and transformed.

Time and space shifted in Sylas’ thoughts, his perspective on the Mesh of Reality twisting. In kind, the Frostbane Runes reacted.

Before whoever was below could even understand what was happening, beams of concentrated blue were sent back, sparks of lightning writhing across its otherwise smooth surface.

The two beams combined into one at the point of attack, shearing through the defenses down below as though they weren’t there at all.

BOOM!

The earth rumbled.

Sylas stood in the skies, his expression calm but his senses sharp. His gaze narrowed as the walls of the underground city began to collapse.

Reaching out a hand, he released a pulse of his Will. Large blocks of ice and snow that formed the network of the wall rose up.

He stripped them of their Runes, pulling them into his control and then inserting them back into the blocks as though he was the one that had constructed them in the first place.

Each one of these blocks was heavy, easily being over 5000 pounds or so. And yet Sylas now wielded them as though they were light as a feather.

A streaking arrow cut through the air, but a block zoomed forward to block it, smashing it to pieces. Not even the slightest dent was left in the chunk of the wall.

Another arrow came, only to be dealt with just as easily.

Down below, in the darkness and destruction of the city, Aurion’s heart felt truly shaken for the first time in his life. Was this what a Titan was? Was this what it meant to be on that leaderboard?

He took a shaky breath, pressing a palm to his chest.

It seemed that he had… overestimated himself.

Calming down, Aurion accepted the truth before him. Then, changed tactics.

He knew that he would face off against enemies he couldn’t fathom here. But how could he not have come prepared?

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