Chapter 103 Evolution

Chapter 103 Evolution

The creature teetered, then collapsed, puffing up a cloud of dust in the dull boom.",

Sylas exhaled a long breath, <Maddened Enlightenment> already circulating at full tilt.

'I feel like I'm able to use Sudden Burst easier the more I use it. That's interesting...'

Before, he could only use Sudden Burst once in a battle. But now, he could use it twice without issue.

Gene Talents, unlike Skills, felt like a new limb of sorts, one you got more comfortable with the more you use. Also, rather than using Aether, they relied on your physical stamina.

Whether it was Gene Talents or Skills, each one had their own strengths and weaknesses.

A Gene Talent would immediately be at the same level of a Legendary Mastery Skill of the same Grade, but it would also be more difficult to scale its usage. Skills, on the other hand, while they had to be mastered, could be used almost without cooldown so long as you had enough Aether to burn.

Still, all things considered... Sylas felt like he leaned toward Gene Talents. It was a shame that they were so rare, and even if you ran into one, they might necessarily suit you.

'First, follow the plan...'

Before going to the creature, the first thing Sylas did was sacrifice his Intelligence Genes to the Madness Key, causing his Intelligence to plummet back to 5 stat points. Then he walked forward and pressed a hand down on the creature.

—

[Basilisk Minor]

[Gene Detected]

[Common Gene: (3) Intelligence (F); (3) Charisma (F)]

'Although the abilities alone are powerful, without the boost to stats, it makes them less appealing. So if we're splitting hairs here... it's not worth it.'

Thinking to that point, Sylas made his decision.

His hand squeezed down, and he sacrificed the Gene Crystal.

Sylas' body seized. Veins bulged all across his body, and he keeled over, suddenly beginning to vomit.

His expression twisted in horror when he saw that his vomit was actually a grotesque dark green, as though it had been blackened by something.

Unfortunately, he couldn't linger on the realization for long before his body seemed to violently self destruct...

At least that was what it felt like.

He fell to the ground, his muscles spasming and his inner organs shifting as though he had just been hit by a speeding truck.

His pores dilated and a foul stench pooled out from them, his body quickly becoming covered in layers of dirt and grime that seemed to come from nothing else than himself.

Sylas lay there gasping for breaths minutes after, a sudden feeling of euphoria washing over him. It was so intoxicating his eyes rolled back. Blood rushed into places it certainly shouldn't have and an embarrassing scene pushed against his simple linen pants.

Sylas had spent his entire life avoiding drugs. He didn't put anything into his body that he didn't feel was perfectly natural, and he was always meticulous with his own arbitrary standards of discipline.

But at that moment, he would have given anything to feel this feeling again.

Slowly, his vision cleared and flushed skin and rushing blood ebbed like a tide.

They said that one felt the greatest desire to pass on one's Genes during a near death experience. It was a physiological response of the body, a reaction to evolution, a natural fact of life and reality.