[750 GTs bonus]

"You're going to kill me anyway… why should I tell you? Isn't that my… only useful card to play here?"

Sylas didn't respond to the question immediately. "Who is she?"

"A… teammate…"

Brant was too muddle-headed to even understand the implications of the question.

---

[Brant Collin (FF)]

[Level: 4]

---

[Physical: 67]

>[Strength: 91]

>[Constitution: 97]

>[Dexterity: 38]

>[Speed: 42]

[Mental: 51]

>[Intelligence: 131]

>[Wisdom: 9]

>[Charisma: 12]

[Will: 87]

---

Sylas was astonished by the stats.

According to what he knew, if you were without a Class, every Level should only give you a +10 to your Stat limits and an immediate +3 to all stats without absorbing Genes. That meant that as a Level 4, if Brant was classless, and since he wasn't a member of those great families, then he should at best have a Stat Limit around 70 or so.

Mental stats worked in conjunction with one another, so they could be ignored. But for his Strength and Constitution to be so high, it could only mean this man either had gained a Gene Crystal like Sylas had or he had unlocked a Class.

A Fragmented Class was the same as the classless in that they gained only +10 to all stats per Level, while a Common Class only gained +15. With a modifier of 0.1 for Fragmented and 0.2 for Common for specific, Class-related stats, that was +11 or +18.

It couldn't be the former. That was too low. But with the latter, assuming a Class that focused on Strength and Constitution, and assuming his original Physical limit was around 30, then he would've a current Stat Limit of around 100.

Sylas walked by Brant. The latter shivered when he heard the steps but couldn't see them. However, Sylas paid him no mind as he pressed a hand on the woman.

---

[Aria Winters]

[Gene Detected]

[Common Gene: (3) Speed (F); (4) Dexterity (F); (3) Intelligence (F); (2) Wisdom (F)]

[Attempt Assimilation?]

[Yes][No]

---

Sylas shook his head inwardly. He had realized by now that when you killed a fellow human, the Genes you gained from them should be pretty much all of their accumulated Genes. You could make far more progress killing humans than you could killing even the BOSS of a Dungeon, and that realization had probably caused its fair share of massacres already.

However, he hadn't pressed on Aria's body for this sake.

He asked Brant who she was because he wanted to check what their relationship was. Were they really just teammates? Or more than that? At the very least, it didn't seem that they were husband and wife because they neither shared a name nor a hyphenated name.

The reason he wanted to know was quite simple. If they were really so close, he would rather kill Brant than find out about this mysterious person who seemed to be messing with him.

However, if he wasn't that close with Aria… then maybe it would be possible to make use of him. In exchange for his life, Brant just might spill the beans on many things….

---

[Gene Assimilation Starting…]

[Gene Assimilation Triggered]

---

[Genes Successfully Assimilated]

[Common Gene: (1) Speed (F); (2) Dexterity (F); (1) Intelligence (F); (1) Wisdom (F)]

---

[Genes Failed Assimilation]

[Common Gene: (2) Speed (F); (2) Dexterity (F); (2) Intelligence (F); (1) Wisdom (F)]

---

[Name: Sylas Grimblade]

[Species: Human (F)]

[Affiliation: Grimblade Lineage]

[Level: 0]

[Titles: A Flexible Will; Skill Savant (FFF+); Madness Conqueror (FF-); Common Arts Enthusiast (F-); A Patient Stalker (F-)]

---

[Physical: 77]

>[Strength: 89]

>[Constitution: 71]

>[Dexterity: 100]

>[Speed: 88]

[Mental: 126]

>[Intelligence: 205]

>[Wisdom: 31]

>[Charisma: 142]

[Will: 116]

[Luck: 1]

---

[Skills: Madness Control (FF+); Basic Scouting (F-); Maddened Enlightenment (FF+)]

[Comprehensions: Madness (FFF)]

---

[Gene State: Soft]

[Fragmented Genes: Grimblade Lineage (F); (8) Dexterity (F); (6) Constitution (F); (4) Strength (F)]

[Common Genes: (4) Speed (F); (4) Strength (F); (3) Constitution (F); (5) Dexterity (F); (6) Intelligence (F); (2) Wisdom (F); (1) Will (F)]

[Bronze Genes: Basic Aetherflow (F)]

---

[Heavy Net (F)]

[Level: 5]

[Ability: Suppress]

[Flow of Aether is 50% slower when enveloped by net]

[Durability: 20/20]

---

Sylas checked the net and raised an eyebrow. He didn't know that tools like this existed, but it was good to know.

The variables in battle were too numerous. He wasn't the only one with a trump card that could take an opponent off guard. What if the object Aria had thrown out had been a bomb instead?

He reached down and picked the Heavy Net up, but what he didn't expect was that it would actually burn to ash an instant later.

'… Really?'

He had never expected for the Scorned Wraps to also consider this a weapon. Was its definition so loose? In that case, did it mean that he couldn't touch Brant's shield, either?

Sylas had to admit that he was quite interested in the shield. It looked like an excellent item and it might have some use.

After gaining Basic Aetherflow, the weight of the items he could control had increased. That was why he could control that spear so well. Although Brant's shield should have been so powerful mostly due to his Skills, Sylas had still been interested in seeing if he could make use of it.

But if he couldn't even use an item like a net, then there was no way the Scorned Wraps would let a shield slide.

---

[Bulwark Leather Shield (FF+)]

[Level: 5]

[+110 Constitution]

[Ability: Repel]

[Reflect 20% of damage for every one point of Durability]

[Durability: 26/30]

---

As expected, it was truly an excellent item. It was no wonder Brant was so difficult to deal with.

'Things like Skills and treasures like this make checking someone's stats almost useless. I'm not sure how Constitution is applied when a treasure is used like this, but if it's an overall boost to his stats in general, with this shield equipped, he had 207 Constitution. There's just no way to compete with that.

If I hadn't sneak-attacked him with that spear, I'm not even sure my fists could harm him.'