Genetic Ascension

Lorien was truly taken aback.

She had felt Sylas’ scouting Skill before, so she knew firsthand how weak it was. Unless he had a shocking amount of knowledge, there was no way he should be able to recognize that feather.

Identifying that feather was impossible on its face. Even if Sylas got a much more powerful scouting Skill, it would still be impossible. That was because, technically speaking, that feather was the vessel of a D-Grade being.

Unless Sylas somehow had the Aether quantity and quality to cast a D-Grade Scouting Skill, or someone in his corner with such power, that would be impossible.

And if Sylas really did have someone like that in his corner, then would he be struggling so much? Would he be trying to rely on her to find a way out of this mess that he had gotten himself into?

Unless maybe… the D-Grade didn’t want to interfere in the matters of this Galaxy too much? That was possible. Likely, even, in the case that this D-Grade really did exist.

But when would they have had the time?

So much had happened that it was easy to forget, but the two of them had only just finished the Progenitor Quest. Sylas didn’t have time to go and see a D-Grade to evaluate his feather unless he was just carrying them around everywhere.

But that was even more impossible.

Why else would Lorien take the risk of taking such an item out unless she was absolutely certain that there was no way in hell anyone would recognize it? Even if a D-Grade of this Galaxy’s Thryskai appeared, the odds that they would recognize the feather were low.

That was because this feather was from a Demi-God of their Race, while the Thryskai here weren’t just the Mortals of their Race, but they weren’t even the strongest of the Mortals.

The gap between them and the Demi-Gods was as vast as an ocean. They might as well have been a completely separate Race.

Adding onto that logic, if Sylas had really somehow relied on a D-Grade to do all of this, then this D-Grade would have to be at the level of the Demi-God Thryskai as well.

This wasn’t even just a matter of strength versus strength either. Races were fiercely protective of their Genes, so one could imagine how much more protective they were of the rest of what they could pass along.

By virtue of Taboo Bond and its levels, it was clear to Sylas, at least, that Genes were still the tip of the iceberg. Beyond them, there were still Gene Talents, and everything else that came with it.

That feather carried the Blood Essence of the Demi-God Thryskai. Of course it would be as fiercely protected as a Unique Gene, and then some!

Stopping someone from sensing or understanding what it was could only be said to be step one in protecting it properly.

So how in the hell did Sylas know?

The unfathomable image that Sylas was building in her mind practically formed a mountain on her chest.

She swallowed air, trying to moisten her throat but only coming up with dryness. It took quite a while before she finally managed to calm herself… or at the very least, calm herself enough to actually speak.

“… Those aren’t words that you should say out loud.”

Sylas didn’t reply, looking at her with the same, indifferent, placid gaze. One would have thought that he had no emotions at all.

“The feather… I…” Lorien took another breath. “I didn’t know what it was either at first. I stumbled onto it during my trial with the Golden Grove. I thought that it was just a slightly special feather. When it was around, it helped me to replenish my Will and Aether faster, and it even amplified my healing factor.

“But the changes weren’t enough for me to think that it was a groundbreaking treasure, not until I realized that its abilities seemed to increase along with my Level and my own personal strength. At that point, I felt like it might be a bit special, so I started looking into things.

“As you might expect… or maybe not… but either way, I found nothing. There were no clues to follow, so I could only continue using the feather as is. Until one day, a Demi-God visited the Golden Grove…

“I don’t understand why. Even for the Golden Grove, the Demi-Gods of the Thryskai are too far beyond them. I only know that it had to do with a conflict of some sort.

“Back then, I thought I would lose my life for sure. The feather began to react violently, as though it wanted to return home to something.

“Luckily, I was still in the trial world, and there seemed to be enough layers and protections between me and them. But that was when I knew what was in my hands.

“I remember using the opportunity to ask a senior about why the Demi-Gods were so powerful, and I can still remember the look on her face. All she said was that when they appear… the world obeys.

“That was all I needed to hear. The feather had always helped bolster my recovery, but what it was really doing was stripping things from the world around me and using it to help my body.

“Sometimes I even get the feeling that it’s sentient…”

Lorien’s voice trailed off as her shoulders shivered. That last part, she had definitely not meant to say out loud. But when Sylas broke her dam, it was as though a flood of words came out one after another.

However, Sylas didn’t seem to care how shaken she was.

“None of that answers my question.”

Lorien trembled again and forced herself to look up to meet Sylas’ eyes.

“… That feather appearing in the Golden Grove makes no sense…”

It was a simple line, but Sylas understood.

If the feather was valuable enough to be protected like that, one could imagine that the Thryskai Demi-Gods weren’t just birds of prey randomly shedding feathers all the time from a single flap of their wings.

That was all to say that for a Demi-God to be plucked of their feather… the Golden Grove definitely had a secret, and Lorien planned to use that.

Bold, indeed. Bolder than anything Sylas could have imagined.

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