Genetic Ascension

It was hard to grasp. It was like it was both there and not, almost like a limb one wasn’t exactly looking at but could feel and move in space nonetheless.

The feeling of proprioception was quite strong, but it wasn’t to the point of feeling as real as a limb… more like he had grown an extra one he had no idea how to control at all.

And then it clicked and settled down for him. There was a sharpness that radiated from the depths of Sylas’ eyes as he seemed to become a different person once again.

Another Progenitor Flame. But it wasn’t so simple.

No, instead it felt like his original time-based ability had been incomplete. But now that he thought about it, wasn’t that only natural?

He had chosen two halves for his Ice Poison, not just one. Slow and…

Freeze.

The former had been related to time, although just vaguely so. The latter, however, was tied to space. Still, much like his Slow Progenitor Flame Ability, this one wasn’t what one might expect either.

Slow worked on his perception, allowing him to, well, slow things considerably. It also had the "secondary" effect of speeding up his thought. Truthfully, it was probably less accurate to say that it slowed his perception and more accurate to say that it sped up his processing speed.

Though, most accurately, both were true as they were happening simultaneously and working together to create the ultimate result.

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This Freeze Progenitor Flame Ability was reading the stream of space. Essentially, it could feel out the changes to space that were not only happening currently but had happened in the recent past.

Meaning… Sylas could use it to take a peek into the past of the Runes he was gazing at.

Before, he wouldn’t be sure how useful this ability was. But right now, wasn’t that exactly what he needed?

He could use his Space Progenitor Flame Ability to peek into the previous states of the Rune. Then he could use his Time Progenitor Flame Ability to slow his perception so that predicting what would happen in the future would be easier.

When they came together, they seemed like the perfect combination to do exactly what this Inheritance wanted of him.

The question was… what exactly did this Inheritance do?

He knew what it wanted of him, but he still didn’t quite know what the benefit was.

Obviously, interacting with the Mesh of Reality, being able to sense it and its changes, was a huge deal. But from what it sounded like, this was just a natural ability of the Rune Spark level. So why was it so special?

Well, setting aside the number of Rune Masters who would want Sylas’ head for even being so flippant with his current level of Rune Mastery to begin with, not everyone could reach Rune Spark to begin with.

Obviously, an Inheritance that could simulate some of its abilities in other ways was huge. Any Rune Master would jump at it.

But Sylas had never been a person who measured himself by the success or failure of others. He had his own standards, and if this tome wasn’t useful beyond this, while he would be grateful that it had helped him take this final step, he still wouldn’t be able to help his disappointment if that was all there was to it.

"You’ve seen it," Gralith said, more a statement than a question.

"Yes."

"And?"

Sylas showed his ability and explained what he thought of it.

"Fascinating," Gralith nodded. "Explain your other Will Ability to me."

Sylas seemed to realize something, but he complied nonetheless.

"Mm. Your understanding of them is somehow both too shallow and too complex, but I think that that’s just how your mind works from what I see. Your deductions are excellent, but sometimes the simplest path is the one that makes the most sense. If you try to grasp at the edges so much, you’ll miss the forest for the trees.

"You described your time ability as perception slowing and thought accelerating. This is technically true, but the difference is more subtle than that.

"Your perception is being slowed, but only because you’re viewing time from an angle that others cannot. Your thinking speed is increasing for the very same reason.

"And by extension, the reason you can feel the imprints on space is because you can view space from an angle that others cannot.

"This is the foundation of your two abilities."

Gralith looked at Sylas deeply, his thoughts spinning into a storm. His face might look calm, but his heart was anything but. There was definitely something odd going on here, definitely.

The thing was, even if Sylas told him where he thought these "Will Abilities" originated from, Gralith wouldn’t believe it.

Once again, Sylas was missing the forest for the trees. What was important wasn’t the fact he had chosen Slow and Freeze in the first place. What was more important than any of that was…

How had a Sylas who barely formed Rune Breath back, who was completely new to the Rune Profession, possibly sense as far ahead as to guess that two 40 Foundation Runes could evolve to gain time and space abilities?

That… that certainly didn’t make any sense.

There was a huge piece to this puzzle that was missing. And if Gralith had to guess, it wasn’t related to an affinity or anything of the sort. Instead… it should be that Sylas’ natural comprehension abilities were simply too shocking.

He had already been reacting with the Mesh of Reality from the very start, and judging by how quickly he reached Rune Spark, this could only be confirmed.

Because…

What else could the Mesh of Reality be if not the fabric of spacetime?

Right now, Sylas could only see it, but who knew how long it would take before he could begin to interact with it? And then once he could interact with it, how much longer until he could control it? Then wield it? Then master it?

The more time Gralith spent with Sylas, the more he realized that he had still underestimated the young man.

"I assume you want to know how useful this Inheritance is to you now?" Gralith finally spoke again after he felt like Sylas had digested everything.

"Yes."

"You’ve noticed already just how much faster your Micro Rune Mastery grows when you use your perception to observe them at a slow pace. You’re even able to speed draw your Runes, making it feel like they appear in an instant.

"Now take that…" Gralith pointed up. "… And dial it up 10x."

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