Sylas appeared in a world of white.

He didn't panic, as he knew exactly what this space was. Although the Training Ascension had no "training wheels," it didn't throw you out like bait to the sharks either. He knew his choice was stupid, but he also wasn't kicked-in-the-head. If this chance didn't exist, regardless of how excited he was by the prospect, he wouldn't have come.

A screen flashed before him.

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[Name: Sylas Grimblade]

[Species: Human (F)]

[Affiliation: Grimblade Lineage]

[Class: —(Empty)]

[Level: 0]

[Titles: —]

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[Physical: 7]

>[Strength: 5]

>[Constitution: 5]

>[Dexterity: 10]

>[Speed: 8]

[Mental: 6]

>[Intelligence: 5]

>[Wisdom: 10]

>[Charisma: 2]

[Will: 10]

[Luck: 1]

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[Skills: —]

[Comprehensions: —]

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[Gene State: Rigid]

[Fragmented Genes: Grimblade Lineage (F)]

[Common Genes: —]

[Bronze Genes: —]

[Silver Genes: —]

[Gold Genes: —]

[Legendary Genes: —]

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[Gene Talents: Blade Aura (Mutated - Weakened) (-)]

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Sylas analyzed every line of this screen. This would be about the only place he could calmly do this. It would be the last chance he had for a while.

Much of the information he used to analyze his stats came directly from his grandfather, as the Grimblades mostly spent time teaching them how dangerous the world on the other side was.

For one, the stats of this Ascension Realm weren't an objective metric of strength, but were rather relative stats.

10 represented the pinnacle of humanity and 1 represented the bottom of the barrel. Essentially, any stat Sylas had a 10 in placed him in the 99th percentile. On average, you'd fall about ten percentile points down for every loss of one.

This would become the new standard for the duration of the trial, and also a scale to help you understand just how much more powerful the surrounding creatures were. However, there were some exceptions, with Intelligence, Charisma, Will, and Luck being the main culprits.

According to his grandfather, these were the only objective stats.

Intelligence wasn't in regard to the normal definition of the word, but rather referred to one's ability to allow the flow of a special energy his grandfather called Aether.

This ability was mostly decided upon by your Race and your Genes. The human race was middle of the road in this sense, and the Grimblade Lineage Gene didn't help.

Well, technically, the Grimblade Lineage did help. The trouble was that it wasn't strong enough to add to the stat, especially not Sylas' weakened version. After all, he was two generations removed from the purest Grimblade bloodline.

Charisma was similar and relied on Race and Genes. It wasn't a matter of looks or sweet-talking, but rather how well one could impose their Will onto another party.

Sylas apparently had high Will, but he could not exert it onto others, at least not with any great effectiveness. He didn't have the methods to do so.

Will was the first one of these stats that Sylas had thought about, that actually meant what it stated. It referred to a person's tenacity and mental toughness.

For the moment, Sylas wasn't sure why the stat needed to be listed. It didn't seem as pertinent as the other stats. But he was sure that he would eventually find out.

Finally, there was Luck. It was the only stat that started off at 1 no matter who you were, what race you came from, or what Genes you had.

However, it was also the stat both most difficult and most important to improve.

Sylas continued to scan the list.

The Physical stats were straightforward, with strength meaning Strength, Constitution referring to one's durability, Dexterity one's flexibility and Speed one's, well, speed.

The final of the Mental stats, Wisdom, was the one that focused on his IQ, his flexibility of mind, his ability to learn new things and adapt, as well as his EQ.

There were only really two other things of interest on the screen, the first being his Affiliation and the second being his Gene Talent.

The fact his affiliation already said Grimblade Lineage was something his grandfather had warned him about.

Normally, by default, he should be unaffiliated. Because he had an affiliation meant the head of an affiliation could check in on him and his status.

The good news was that this couldn't be done before the establishment of a City, and he would have time to shed this affiliation… though not without price.

Abandoning your affiliation would activate a hidden line in the stat screen that would make things very difficult for him. His grandfather hadn't had more information than this, but he had been warned about it.

Next, there was his Gene Talent. As expected, it was both mutated and weakened. The dashed line was there because it wasn't even good enough to be F-grade. As for what was beyond F-grade, Sylas had no information about this.

That aside, his grandfather had warned him about this as well.

Magnus had a child with someone his father didn't approve of. And then, Sylas' father had a child with his mother, who was presumably also someone the Grimblades wouldn't approve of.

It could be considered a small miracle that Sylas even had some portion of this Gene Talent.

Sylas slotted these things to the back of his mind and then looked toward the three floating objects before him, the real reason he was in this world of white. He already knew what they were.

One was the option to pick a weapon of his choice, the second was an option related to his Genes, and the final was the option of a Common City Stele.

Without hesitation, Sylas chose the second of the three options and he felt something burrow into his body.

This option wasn't for a new Gene Talent or even a Gene upgrade. Rather, it would change his Gene State.

According to his grandfather, this would be the easiest method of changing his Gene State. There would never be something so good obtained so casually again.

Gene State represented one's ability to accept new Genes into the body. The weaker the State, the more difficult it was to absorb Genes and mutate existing ones.

Rigid, Inflexible, Brittle, Soft, Flexible, Malleable, Chaotic, and finally Free. These were the available Gene States.

At Rigid, it was impossible for you to change anything about your Genes no matter how many chances you had.

At Free, your body was practically like clay in your hands, ready to change and be molded to your wishes.

This Gene State enhancer would allow him to have a Soft Gene State for a one-week period before wearing off. In that State, any Gene he absorbed would have a 50% chance of being successful.

Now it was a question of if he would manage to get his hands on any.