Chapter 439: Merit, Originator, and Progenitor
There was no one who should know the name of the Quest. He hadn't shared it with anyone. The names the system gave to things were variable. It was based on a combination of what people used and sometimes hidden mechanisms that were far more complex.
For example, Sylas' first name was decided by the system purely based on what his legal name was. However, his true legal name was Sylas Brown, so why did it appear as Sylas Grimblade to the system?
He was certainly not the only one who was experiencing such a thing. And most importantly for this case, it wasn't just something people dealt with either.
There were certainly various names that people called this place. Some named it after the large number of Dire Wolves in the region, some extended the name of the Arctic Circle further north to this region, and there were some that even called it Evergreen.
But the last was not only the most rare of the names; to combine it with the word "Territory" was too on the nose for Sylas to have said it by accident.
Lucius had only learned of the official name of this region after receiving this Quest. It was simply impossible for Sylas to know it unless he was privy to the Quest as well... unless there was another wild coincidence that he wasn't aware of.
Not sure what to do, Lucius subconsciously checked his Quest notifications to ensure that he hadn't mistaken something. But that was when he saw something that shook him to his core.
When had Sylas become a part of the Quest's contingent? He was the Quest Originator; he hadn't approved of such a thing. How was this possible?
There was no denying it. Lucius was shaken.
And he realized now that the calmness of Sylas' reaction wasn't just because he was rich, and it wasn't because he felt like he could get away with what he wanted no matter what Lucius said either...
It was because he already had Lucius by the balls and he knew it.
The Title of "Originator," which Lucius was temporarily granted for this Quest, was fluid. It could change, only lasted for a short time, and was only applied to highly specific events like
this one.
However, the Title of "Progenitor" represented something wholly different. It ranked even higher than what it would mean to become the Emperor of a World.
A Progenitor could only appear before a World completed its Summoning. They were an existence akin to the Ancestor of a world.
Should a Progenitor be successfully born, their Path of Progress would become inextricably linked to the World.
On the one hand, this meant that a World's fate, whether good or bad, would directly be tied to this Progenitor.
However, by the same token... it would open up a secondary system, one designed not just to advance the Gene State of a person...
But of an entire World!
Unlike people, the talent of a World was practically set. It could be downgraded depending on external action, and it could be upgraded slightly with a great deal of effort, but such things took an obscene amount of resources and time that could only be counted in generations.
However, Progenitors unlocked the system's favor, allowing them to Level Up their worlds like they would themselves.
The Path of the Progenitor had been opened up to Sylas. Meaning... the day he managed to gain Earth's complete Favor would be the day he was nigh invincible while standing in its
midst.
And now, with a simple sentence, he had barely shown Lucius a part of his cards and forced him into a corner in a single move.