Genetic Ascension

Professor Fembroise's pupils trembled under Sylas' gaze, feeling as though a weight was bearing down on her.

Everyone recognized this black-scaled man by now. His face was all over the Nexus, and so long as you had one opportunity to enter one, there was no doubt that you'd know who Sylas Grimblade was.

However, before Professor Fembroise could speak or try to explain herself, it was a man who stepped forward with weapon in hand, his aura quite valiant and dangerous.

[Masquerade (???)]

'Hm?'

Sylas was a bit surprised by what he saw when he scanned the man. Rather than a real name, for the first time he saw what was probably a pseudonym of some sort. On top of that, even the man's Grade was obscured.

'How does the system decide what your name is... Maybe...'

The system always called him Sylas Grimblade even though his government name was officially Sylas Brown. The only reason Sylas could think of for this to have changed would be because of his Affiliation with the Grimblades.

'Interesting. I'll have to look into this more. Maybe this man used his Affiliation as a proxy to change his name.'

However, the veil over his Grade and stats was useless against Sylas, not after his time in the Split Realm.

'Should be around FFF+, but that means nothing because Earth's Grades are so skewed now and won't mellow out until generations after the Summoning. What's most important is that he's Level 32.'

Sylas could feel some pressure from the man, but not enough to fear for his life. The real problem was that he wasn't the only threat here and that Sylas was outnumbered.

But...

Even the man didn't dare to attack Sylas.

As Professor Fembroise had expected, Sylas was too famous and the weight of his name was beyond his raw strength itself, especially since no one knew what his official Level was. Rumors that he was secretly Level 50 already, or that he was still Level o, circulated around in equal measure. Unfortunately, no one, not even the man before them, could even scan him. What made Sylas strike the most fear in their hearts was the fact that they could tell that he wasn't relying on a Treasure to rebuff their scan attempt. He was relying on his Mental stats alone, and that was truly what scared them.

Just how high were Sylas' Mental stats?

Of course, what they didn't know was that the real reason they couldn't scan Sylas wasn't because of his Mental stats, but rather the quality of his Will.

Even so... Masquerade had to show a strong front to everyone else.

"You've encroached on our territory." He said slowly.

"I came here for someone. Let me speak to them and I will be on my way. I'm sure you know that I'm not an ally of the government. Of course... if you want to exchange for the bounty on my head, you're free to try."

Masquerade's pupils trembled and a cold sweat matted his back. He had watched Sylas crush a General of a System City, a feat that no one had been able to replicate since, and that was already over half a year ago.

Just how strong was he now?

"We of the Second Flame are of one mind and heart." Masquerade said slowly. "If you came to just speak to one of our own, that is fine. But if you came to kill or harm them..."

The man's grip on his sword tightened.

"Just talk." Sylas said calmly.

Masquerade sighed an internal breath of relief.

"Come." Sylas spoke again, looking toward Professor Fembroise.

Masquerade's expression changed, suddenly becoming hesitant. He had been so filled with

Fear that he didn't consider who it was Sylas wanted to talk to.

Now that he thought about it, it was obvious. This was the woman even the government was after. But how did Sylas recognize her?

"It's fine." Professor Fembroise said slowly, stepping forward herself.

"Flame, this-."

Professor Fembroise shook her head.

"I know him." She said.

The gang members were taken aback by these words, leaving them unable to recover even as the two disappeared down a cave nearby.

Masquerade slowly calmed after the danger of the situation settled down. As his thoughts organized themselves, he became harder to read. No one around could tell what he was thinking.

...

Sylas and Professor Fembroise stood across from one another in silence. The latter seemed slightly uncomfortable as though she had done something wrong, but soon that discomfort became determination.

From those split few seconds, Sylas could tell that the Professor had already thought through everything for months during his absence. A smart person's mind wasn't easy to change because they already felt like they had already considered things from all angles. A smart person's mind was even more difficult to change when they were already set on their path for

So long.

This small change in expression told Sylas everything he needed to know.

"So you did betray Earth."

Professor Fembroise's determination froze over, her pupils beginning to change once more.

It was clear and obvious to Sylas that just joining a gang wasn't enough for Professor Fembroise to react like this. Likewise, a mere gang affiliation wasn't enough for the Grimblades to place the Professor as an A-Level target.

Professor Fembroise exhaled a slow breath.

"Betrayal assumes I received any sort of loyalty."

"In that case, I should just kill you."

The Professor froze again. Her eyes widened as a suffocating killing intent came from Sylas, so powerful that her knees trembled. All of her plans, all of her thoughts of escape, all the experience that she thought she had built up by now was crushed by a single gaze.

The Runes that danced in Sylas' eyes made her inner organs shudder and shift out of place, and her lungs couldn't seem to take in enough air no matter how hard of an inhale she took. There were a lot of ways Professor Fembroise thought that this would go. Maybe Sylas would try to convince her to change her ways, maybe he would capture her and attempt to slowly torture the benefits he wanted out of her, or maybe any number of other things might be forced onto her.

Never did she think that Sylas would make the decision to kill her so swiftly.