Sylas closed his eyes, the rhythmic beating of his heart becoming all the more powerful. As the energy flooded into him, though, he wasn’t paying attention to the improvement to his foundation, but instead something else…
His Will and the Runes.
This Dungeon was fascinating. It had a read-and-react sort of feel to it that made it like the real world, and yet it felt artificial at the same time. It was like it was trying to mimic the real world but wasn’t quite capable of being one.
However, this “weakness” of the Dungeon was exactly what was so fascinating, because it allowed Sylas to observe something that wasn’t nearly so obvious in the real world…
Just how alive Runes were.
They moved around like they had emotions, as though the Dungeon could truly get angry.
Sylas always thought of Runes as so logical, but when he watched the Runes of this Dungeon toss around like they were throwing a temper tantrum, or spin around one another like they were kids on a playground, or stomp around in a fury as though they had truly been enraged…
He saw another side of them.
It was odd. His two Progenitor Flame Abilities both broke down Runes into their most logical states, and he had already been through the entire Golden Grove Library of information… he had simply never seen such things before.
Was it possible to reach such a high state of attainment? And what did it even mean for a Rune to have emotions? What was the logic? Or was he foolish for even asking about a logic to it all in the first place?
There was an even more obvious question he should be asking…
Was he really seeing emotion? Or did he just think he was seeing emotion, personifying something that wasn’t there?
But when Sylas thought of this question, he actually had another thought…
Did it matter? Did the answer to the question matter if there was actually some underlying truth to it?
Sylas didn’t believe that his eyes were tricking him. His Runic talent was something that spoke for itself. After the upgrade to his eyes, and then the subsequent upgrade to his Race allowing them even more freedom, the way he saw Runes now was far clearer than he ever had before.
Even if he was mistaken, there was some secret here hovering right before his face.
’The way it moved, as though they were one, but not truly of one. It’s…’
Sylas’ eyes flashed open.
Everything felt like it had come full circle in that moment. Was he an idiot that couldn’t see something that had been right in front of him the entire time?
His Scorpion Warlord Armor… wasn’t the only reason he could draw it so fast, and to such a shocking level of mastery, precisely because of emotion like what he was witnessing here?
Well, maybe emotion was the wrong word… or maybe it was the exact right one.
A flicker of confusion danced in Sylas’ eyes before he became more assured.
The Strokes that made up the Foundations of the Scorpion Warlord Armor were all distinctly… Scorpion-like. They told of sacrifice, of cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s enemies, of a savagery that underlied what it well and truly meant to be a Scorpion.
In a lot of ways, that concept was far more complex than the “emotions” Sylas had seen from this Dungeon.
But why was it that he was only using “emotion” in such a limited way? If he dumbed it down, then wouldn’t it be more powerful?
Why did it take Will to form Runes? Wasn’t it inherently an emotional process? Wasn’t it something inherently connected with his sense of personhood? Of what it meant to be Sylas Grimblade?
Sylas’ gaze turned from focused to a bit dull as he lost himself in his thoughts.
The most powerful individual Rune in the F-Grade was a 100 Foundation Rune, but it was ultimately just that. Compared to a matrix of much weaker Runes that could collaborate with each other to form an enormous mesh or formation, a single 100 Foundation Rune wasn’t enough to change everything.
Right now, Sylas couldn’t even use it how he wanted to.
The best way to use a 100 Foundation F-Grade Rune was definitely to absorb it into his body and allow it to improve his Aether. But if he did that, he would definitely explode.
It went to show just how powerful a 100 Foundation F-Grade Rune was. Even as a D-Grade Race, even with not just one, but two Silver Gene Classes, he couldn’t withstand Level 50 Aether forged with a 100 Foundation Rune.
However…
Sylas flipped over a palm, intricate lines forming as a three-dimensional Rune of flickering transparent emerald and sparks of evergreen lightning charged over it.
It was beautiful—the most beautiful Rune he had ever seen.
For a moment, there was a welling up of pride in Sylas’ chest. It was a pride he hadn’t felt when he wiped out a Demi-God Clan, not when he successfully fused three True Chosen marks, not even when he had unlocked the Royal Hero Line.
But right now, in his own little silent corner of the world, staring at a Rune of his own creation, he almost smiled.
And then the world began to shift and change. Runes spontaneously formed around Sylas’ Glassvolt Rune. At first, it felt random and chaotic, but then Sylas took a step as though to hurry forward. A swarming tide of Runes came together as though eager to help him accelerate his movement.
Eagerness.
An emotion, like the Runes were bowing down to his presence and obeying his every command.
Anger flashed as they swiped Runes that weren’t helpful out of the way, gathering more competent Runes.
Then came happiness, as a single step of Sylas’ became worth five of what it would have normally—almost like they wanted to do it again, and then again.
Rune Spark… it was just the beginning…
Sylas’ eyes glowed with a radiant focus.
