'I was wondering what Titles were… if this is the case, then Titles should also be a method of evolving your species in a way. It was applied after the Gene boost, so my base Intelligence moved from 5 to 14, and that capped my Mental at 50. But then Skill Savant activated and my Intelligence doubled, causing the Stat Limit to be raised as well.

'But if this is the case, I won't get another chance like that again… Even so, that's something that I can take advantage of in the future.'

Sylas immediately took stock of his Titles again and noticed many things.

He had managed to absorb all three Intelligence Genes because Skill Savant didn't just give him +100% Intelligence, but it also gave him a +50% chance of absorbing "related Genes".

And due to Madness Conqueror, he had a permanent +10% success rate in collecting all Genes, so aside from Intelligence, he actually had a 60% chance on everything else.

He took stock of his Titles again as though he was seeing them all for the first time again. He wanted to make sure that there weren't any loopholes he missed.

When he finally pulled his mind away, he found another silver lining.

He had been wondering why Will wasn't incorporated with the other Mental stats. It seemed to fit in with them perfectly.

Could the reason why be purely because it wasn't subject to Stat Limits?

Sylas really hoped that this was true. He had entered this world gung ho, he even remembered being pissed off by the fact Will even had a stat of its own, how could you even measure that?

But now he was just hopeful that he wouldn't be limited.

'This world's already whittling me down, huh?'

Sylas looked up toward the skies, his green eyes flickering with a depth of calmness. Deep within, there was a flame burning.

These limits… he really wanted to break them all.

He stood, moving forward and pressing a hand on Jared. He hadn't seen the man's stats before he died, so he was a bit curious.

---

[Jared Cooper]

[Gene Detected]

[Common Gene: (3) Speed (F); (2) Dexterity (F); (4) Intelligence (F); (3) Charisma (F); (1) Will (F)]

[Attempt Assimilation?]

[Yes][No]

---

'They were brothers…' the thought caused Sylas' eyes to dim a bit. The odds that they would share the same last name and not be related felt… slim. They were lucky to find each other in this Trial, and yet unlucky in the end, anyway.

Sylas gave all the Genes over to the Gene Crystal. The one Will Gene ended up being "wasted", but it was quickly absorbed by the Madness Key. Just in time too, since it was just about for its hunger to kick in again. Now there were only two days left before the feeding requirements increased.

Other than Max and Jared's Genes, Sylas also gained their remaining coins.

---

[Coins: 3185 (F)]

---

'It's time to return.'

**

Sylas reached Casstle Main in the dead of night. It was both the furthest it could be from dusk and dawn.

---

[Quest "Plight of Casstle Main (Bronze)" Completed]

[Clearance Level: Bronze]

[Rewards]

[>Bronze Mastery Crystal]

[>Bronze Nexus Ticket]

---

'Oh?'

---

[Bronze Mastery Crystal (Treasure)]

[Absorb to instantly raise any Skill or Comprehension to the Bronze Mastery level]

---

There was only one thing that Sylas would use this on, and that would obviously be his Madness Comprehension. It was his strongest ace and the core of his strength right now. Although he felt that raising <Maddened Enlightenment> right from Fragmented to Bronze was enticing, it still wasn't the best use of his resources. In fact, raising Madness could have a positive impact on it as well.

'I'll have to find a safe region to do it. Every time my Madness progresses, I enter that contemplative state and I'm pretty sure my Madness uncontrollably leaks as well… It also doesn't help that there's potentially a spy here…'

Sylas checked in with the militiaman on duty and entered the village. Things had mostly settled down, but he hadn't been gone for more than an hour to begin with.

Torches lit the paths and people cobbled together some semblance of peace so that they could rest for the night and work again come the morning.

Soon, he had made it to Cassarae's shack, and he knocked.

A groggy voice that was trying its very best to not sound groggy came from the other side.

"Come in."

Sylas opened the door and realized that it was just Cassarae. Olivia had likely already gone to bed, as had the other adventurers. Cassarae, who was probably the most tired of them all, had to keep up appearances by, at the very least, napping on her desk.

"I come bearing gifts," Sylas said, a light smile tugging his lips.

Cassarae rested her chin on her desk, looking up at him. She was much too lazy to raise her head any further, but her eyes did light up a bit at the words.

Sylas took out the Den, Class Stele and City Stele.

"Holy shit," she mumbled. "… I was wondering why the Quest Reward I got made this a Bronze Quest. I've never even seen one before. But this is probably why…"

"Can you use them?"

Cassarae sat up so that she could talk easier.

"The Class Stele is huge, and it's probably a method of controlling the Rotten Wolves, too. The problem is the villagers. They're much like normal people… no, maybe they are normal people. They're not just NPC's, they have their own biases and everything. If a normal village like mine starts using zombies… well, public perception would plummet."

Sylas nodded. "But…?"

"But I can use this stuff to upgrade the Nexus. With them, we could probably unlock F+ materials, maybe even FF-… they're so valuable. And with the City Stele, there's a chance we can upgrade from a Rudimentary Village to a Village and build some real walls, finally."

"That's good. Then I should probably also tell you that I was attacked."

"By beasts?" Cassarae asked, already frowning.

"People."