Genetic Ascension

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'Conduit of the All sounds great, but how would I even go about procuring these Legendary Beasts? They say that the Basilisk King is a Legendary Beast, but is it? Why would a Legendary Beast only be in control of an FF+ Dungeon? The Path would be entirely dormant until I stumbled upon beasts that met the proper criteria.

'Gaze of the Master would practically give me immunity to all beasts and make gathering Genes a matter of waving a hand, but it's also the Path with the narrowest scope. It can only do one thing and it enhances nothing. In addition, the most dangerous enemies in this world aren't the beasts that can't organize themselves, but rather the humanoid villages.

'Tamer of Elements… it describes Elemental Aether as being something extraordinarily powerful, but I don't know how seriously I can take these descriptions. Conduit of the All praised being a Master of All while One Kind For Me claims doing so is impossible. It seems that these descriptions are only designed to increase the prestige of the Path. Any embellishment should probably be ignored… I would posit that Elemental Aether is only as powerful as you make it, much like everything else.

'Were-for-the-Invincible… it's a bit harder to figure out a perfect rebuttal to choosing it. Overall, it's excellent, and other than Gaze of the Master, it has the most straightforward ability as well. Any trouble with probably be more hidden…. What does fusing with a beast even mean? Will it influence my mind? Will we share a body, or will I be firmly in control? Or, worse, the opposite?

'Tamer of Dimensions feels a lot like Conduit of the All to me. It sounds great, but where would I be opening these gates to? And even if I knew exactly where, what good would it do me? Would I have the power necessary to grasp that chance?

'Divine Protection is another one that is difficult to pin down as horrible with any immediacy. Offsetting damage would be huge, especially since my greatest weakness currently is a lack of armor and defenses. If I could offset damage to the Basilisk King… However, the "Blessings" seemed like a hidden pitfall. It once again clearly relies on the Legendary status of beasts, which makes the other half of its abilities only as useful as the beasts I'm lucky enough to get my hands on.

'Beast Sage is probably the most well rounded and perfect of them all. In fact, because of this, it would synergize especially well with the Paths that demand Legendary Beasts. Its weakness would probably be the time and likely resources I'll need to follow up on it.

'One Kind For Me has an extremely narrow scope, and focusing on just one kind of creature would greatly limit my battle style. It would be very easy to counter me if there were individuals who had information about me and could plan ahead… Though that would also depend on how broad the definition of One Kind was to begin with.

'Then, finally, there's Taboo Bond. The fact it's the only one with an ominous warning is enough of an issue…'

Sylas' brows furrowed as he got lost in the quagmire. But the more he thought about it, the more he felt that he saw a clear path forward.

'The Madness Emperor… Slithering Madness… The Taboo…'

Sylas rolled the key around his neck through his fingers, feeling its pattern etched surface and running past both its sharp edges and smoothed out corners.

'I think that the best choice is… Were-for-the-Invincible, One Kind For Me and Taboo Bond…'

There were so many choices pulling him in all sorts of directions, but Sylas felt that if he wanted to maximize everything he had, this was the best path forward.

He had been curious about something for a while…

Why snakes?

The Slithering Madness Dungeon had introduced him to the Madness Comprehension. He guessed that it didn't have to be snakes. For all he knew, this was just a single branch of the Madness doctrine and it just happened to be the one he stumbled upon.

But he still took note of it…

And then there was the Basilisk King. He didn't think much about it… until it lost its pride.

The description of the Basilisk King falling and the description of the Slithering Madness Dungeon were so similar…

Snakes that were once high and mighty, but were now forced to crawl on their bellies rather than soaring through the skies.

It was a tale as old as time, one that had been told in a million different ways through a billion different mouths. But it struck a chord, nonetheless.

And then there was the Taboo. It was something that kept haunting Sylas again and again… and yet, every time he managed to step on some toes and cross into the Taboo, he learned things that maybe for this current iteration of Earth… only he knew about.

That was the foundational reason for his choice. He felt like he was stuck in a quagmire, and accidentally at that. Back then, he had just been trying to survive, but he had ended up wrapped up in what looked like a war between systems.

There was simply no getting out of it now. He was a Madness Disciple.

These Scorned Wraps were unequippable.

This Madness Key was unequippable.

The Madness Comprehension was his strongest reliance, and he had no intention of handicapping himself and abandoning it.

And since he wouldn't and couldn't, there was only one choice: to dive in headfirst.

Were-for-the Invincible would allow him to put himself in the shoes of those slithering serpents. He had seen the images of them roaring, of them copulating, of them battling…

He always got the feeling that the Madness wanted him to put himself in their shoes, but he was still far away from understanding exactly what that meant, and he felt that this would open up the door.