Genetic Ascension

Chapter 776  Fission

Sylas crossed into the third door, his eyes calm and placid. He measured the Runes in the surroundings. They fell in a silence, Glass Will crackling around them and solidifying them into place as Sylas observed them. 
After a quick glance around, Sylas nodded. Then he looked toward the challenge before him. 
There were a series of beasts, a single nest of snakes wrapped, wound, and twisted around one another. It was a mating ball and it was something that Sylas was quite familiar with even back on Earth. 
His task was to deal with this mess and pair the beasts that had the best Genes together. Expectedly, there were two paths he could take for this. The path they wanted for him to take, and the path his Legendary Profession showed him. 
Of course, he easily took the former. 
He cleared the room swiftly and then moved on to the next. 
The rooms alternated between challenges tailored to general Beast Master tasks and challenges that were more focused on specializations. After yet another specialization challenge, this general task was more difficult for Sylas, at least normally. 
It projected an image to him of a certain scenario. In this case, it was a wolf beast who seemed to be particularly agitated by something but didn't dare to take a step out of its cave. 
It was dusk, and the wolf was trembling in fear, wanting to step out but not daring to. 
Then the image stopped. 
Sylas could replay it as many times as he wanted to figure things out. This test was about reading the intentions of animals as though they were human, feeling out their intentions and grasping them. 
For this, Sylas didn't even need his Beast Mastery Profession at all. He just needed his ability to sense Wills and Ancient Ithkuil to translate. 
He only watched the scene once before he grasped what was happening. Then he read through the intentions of the Runes with his Rune Vitality again. 
Although this skill of his had nothing to do with his Profession talent, there was no need to take the risk on a misunderstanding. 
He had already decided that he would take what came with making it into the top three. But, that didn't mean he needed to expose the bottom line of his Profession. 
This, though, also revealed something else to him… 
The gap between his Profession and what those of the Skai Galaxy could match up to. 
At the very least, in this corner of the world… 
He was on another level. 
… 
Sylas stepped into the ninth door and looked up. A towering King Cobra loomed over him, menacing and imposing, and yet oh so fragile in Sylas' eyes. 
Ironically enough, this door was the absolute hardest for Sylas to fake. All F-Grade Serpentes were simply inferior to him. At the very least, beneath the Silver Grade, they couldn't even think about resisting. Some above that might be able to try, only to fail. A Gold Grade Serpentes might be able to put up a real fight, but once Sylas raised his Paths to Level 50, even they would only be able to whimper. 
Soon enough, Sylas would be at a stage where only Legendary Serpentes stood a chance against him. And even then, he would be able to suppress them greatly. 
So, this challenge, albeit the simplest—only asking him to tame this beast… was also the most challenging. 
If he activated his Beast Totem or leaked the slightest bit of his aura, this cobra would probably die of a heart attack. 
But if he didn't, he would probably suffer quite a bit. 
And, from the looks of it here, it seemed that whoever was targeting him hadn't given up. 
On his way here, Sylas had noticed several traps. He avoided them all deftly as though they weren't even there, but they became more frequent, more clever, harder to detect. 
But now, this challenge was the exact opposite. 
This wasn't an FF- Beast, it was a Quasi Bronze Serpentes, a very clear and obvious flouting of the rules to Sylas at the very least. 
To others, they probably couldn't even tell the difference, not unless this beast summoned its crown. 
The cobra beast roared, its spittle flying as it rattled against the chains that held it down. 
CRACK. 
CRACK. 
These chains acted like a timer. The slower Sylas was to tame it, the more of these chains would shatter. Once they were all gone, well… the outcome was obvious. 
There was a certain danger to the Beast Master Secret Realm. Although he hadn't entered with his real body, a harm to his Will would inevitably come back to haunt him as well. 
However… 
Sylas had already expected this. 
The challenges for every Beast Master Secret from F- to FF- had been the exact same. He had already deduced that the best way to target him would be an open scheme like this one. Either he would expose himself, or he would fail to enter the top three. Either way, it would be a win for whoever was in the shadows. 
This sort of thing was also precisely why the geniuses at the top of the rankings would only ever take on this challenge in a controlled environment. 
However, the higher up you went in Secret Realms, the more and more expensive it was to buy them through the system. As such, many of the less fortunate had no choice but to do what Sylas was doing right here and now. 
It was a good thing then… that Sylas already had an answer. 
There was a flash in Sylas' eyes and his Will suddenly split. 
<Astral Will Fission>. 
His Will projection split into two under the shocked gazes of those watching, and one of them plunged into the mind of the cobra beast. 
The beast froze for a moment before it began to writhe and quake. 
It suddenly roared and the ice forming over its body shattered. 
The beast froze for a moment before it began to writhe and quake. 
It suddenly roared and the ice forming over its body shattered. 
Sylas was blown back, his Will almost collapsing as a Crown appeared above the beast's head. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om