[1800 PSs bonus]

'Comprehend…' Sylas' eyes narrowed. Did this mean that he could read the Basilisk King's thoughts? But wasn't it an unintelligent creature? Or was it the case that, due to Aether, these beasts had already evolved beyond that point?

He turned toward the Basilisk King, who had remained curled up in a ball all this while. He realized that even in the darkness of the night, he could practically "feel" the Basilisk King's presence.

'Hm?'

Sylas didn't hear words when he moved his intention toward using Insight. Rather, he felt waves of emotions as though he were feeling them for himself.

Fear. Anxiety. Hunger.

Those were the three biggest ones, but there was another that was the undercurrent of them all. It was much more complex and harder to summarize in a single world, but Sylas felt that it was…

Embarrassment.

'I see… So it can't talk, but I can anthropomorphize it…'

After feeling around for a bit longer, Sylas felt that he had gotten the hang of it.

He called up the Basilisk King's Gene Sequence and almost immediately shut it closed.

'…'

His mind was blank. He truly didn't know what to think for a moment. He hadn't known what he really expected, but he thought that it would be something simpler, at the very least.

Until now, Genes were all so straightforward and simple. You killed a beast and you plucked them out. But…

It was only now he realized just what the Madness Key had meant by the fact that the system simplified things, because in the one case it didn't, his mind was almost overloaded.

And he also understood why the system had called it by a term he had yet to see until now.

The Gene Sequence was almost blindingly literal. Just now, he had seen a spiralling staircase of DNA, strung out into what felt like infinity.

Sylas' doctorate had heavily relied on mRNA, so he was quite familiar with how complex these matters got. But breaking down a sequence based on somewhat known scientific methods, with the help of computers to process large amounts of data, was one matter… but this was an entirely different ballgame.

What was he supposed to do? Read it? How could you even begin to analyze a string of data this large?

Sylas shook his head. After he got past the overload of information, he didn't panic. In fact, he was quite certain that he would be able to find a solution.

This system was so impossibly beyond anything mankind had ever created. Wouldn't they have methods far beyond what he had grown used to? In that case, with these Paths in hand, and some background knowledge to rely on, what did he have to fear?

---

[Taboo Bond]

[Level: 1]

[Experience: 0/200]

-

[Path Talent: Extricate Lv1]

-

[Extricate (Path Talent)]

[>Extricate <F-Rank Fragmented> Genes]

-

[Path Quests Available]

[>Document Contract Gene Sequence: 250 Experience]

…

[>Find an Evolution Trigger: 1000 Experience]

…

[>Modify Hibernation Realm into Laboratory: 10 000 Experience]

---

'200 Experience instead of just 100 is needed to Level up… and there's only one Path Talent with oddly vague parameters compared to the others. And what's this about the Hibernation Realm…?'

The Hibernation Realm was mentioned as an ability of the Beast Totem. He could use it as a place to not only store his Contracted beasts, but also accelerate their healing. He didn't know what creating a Laboratory entailed, and the Quest did not elaborate. But he assumed that if it was easy, it wouldn't be worth 10 000 Experience.

Sylas closed his eyes and took a breath. He would allow this matter to marinate in his thoughts for a while longer. He would rest for now, then make his way back to Casstle Main. He didn't know what the end of the Trial would entail, but he was looking forward to seeing his family again.

**

After a night of rest in the Hibernation Realm, the Basilisk King's Status had gone from Heavily to Moderately Injured. Sylas didn't actually think that this was because of the Hibernation Realm alone, but rather because of the insane Constitution of the Basilisk King. In another day or two, it should be back up to full health.

Sylas still took it out, though, for two reasons.

First, he wanted the Basilisk King to drag Brant.

He had realized that Strength didn't have a direct role on Speed, but the higher your Strength was in relation to your Speed, the more Speed you could maintain while carrying a heavy object. The Basilisk King only had 45 Speed, but its 110 Strength was so superior that it could maintain its peak even with Brant on its back.

The second reason Sylas had brought it out was deterrence.

He realized that the entire time he spent reading about his new Vipermancer Profession, they hadn't been attacked by beasts even a single time.

At first, he thought it was the defensive perimeter. But last night, while the Basilisk King was in the Hibernation Realm, he suffered two attacks.

He felt that it couldn't be a coincidence, and as expected, the journey was smooth sailing. He had to slow down considerably to allow the basilisk to keep up, both because it was still injured and because his own Speed had hit 100 after absorbing the Genes of the woman the Basilisk King had killed.

That wasn't all he had gained from them.

---

[Coins: 7294 (F)]

---

This was the total he had gathered from the two women in addition to what he forcibly took from Brant. Although he was keeping the latter alive, that didn't mean he wouldn't take his things. He was still having thoughts of the Bronze Nexus voucher he had. If he wanted to maximize it, he definitely needed more coins. After all, he could only use it once.

Sylas had underestimated just how much time he wasted fighting and avoiding beasts. He took three days to make it to this location originally, but even with him limiting his Speed to the same level he had been before forming Basic Aetherflow, he could already see familiar territory around him after just a single day.