Genetic Ascension

Although Sylas was a bit stubborn about it, he wasn't a fool, either. He chose to pull back from the barrier for now and take note of how long it would take to recover.

Since the system listed Will, and just now he had entered a bit of a trance, it was obviously more important than he had given it credit for.

He was in a new world now and he had to do away with his old way of thinking about some things.

Sylas continued to walk around, getting a lay of the land.

'Why add all this extra space if the BOSS fight is the only thing of importance here?'

He came across a small lake. It didn't seem to have anything feeding into it, but it did give him a sense of calm. Taking a seat by its shores, he just sat there and stared out into it.

'There's nothing stopping me from staying here forever unless there's some hidden timer I'm not aware of… I'm not sure if it's possible to alert that python, but at this point, it would be better to fight it in all this than in that opening. At least I'd have a chance to run out here.'

Thinking to this point, Sylas began to build a fire. Once it was complete, he took out one of the two red fox carcasses, using the antler blade and the small lake to clean it up.

He didn't have any seasonings to pair it with, but it was still the best meal he had ever had. He ate the entire fox, leaving nothing wasted but its inner organs and bones.

'It's gone now.'

[Will: 11]

His Will had gone back to 11, but it didn't take the entirety of the hour or so he had just wasted. It took just under 20 minutes or so. It was just a rough guess he had. It wasn't as though he had a clock, he just felt he was quite good at roughly estimating that sort of thing. Though who knew, his sense of time might have already been distorted.

'I feel energetic.'

Sylas hadn't slept in over a day now, so he had already begun to feel some lingering fatigue. But after eating the red fox, it felt like he had just gotten a full night's rest.

He had wanted to take the opportunity to get some sleep in as well, but it seemed that was no longer necessary.

Sylas took note of where the lake was after taking another long drink, then began to walk around once again. He didn't even know what he was looking for. Maybe it wasn't a thing he wanted, but a flash of inspiration instead.

[Your Will has been influenced]

[-1 Will (Temporary)]

He ended up running into another barrier, part of the same larger whole but located in a different region. He had just told himself to not be so stubborn, but something about the fact something could impact his own willpower was annoying him. Or maybe it was just that this situation was really starting to get to him.

'It's just taking away and giving me back the same point it "gave" me in the first place.'

The only reason his Will was 11 was because of his A Patient Stalker Title. He found it somewhat amusing that it was this point that was being taken and given once more again and again.

It felt like a farce. It even made him a bit angry. He was Sylas Brown. He walked to the rhythm of his own beat—

Sylas shook his head. This wasn't like him.

He frowned.

[Your Will has been tainted]

[-2 Will (Temporary)]

The moment the debuff hit him, Sylas felt a wave of nausea. It came so suddenly and unexpectedly that he heaved. A burning in his throat overwhelmed his senses, and he felt that he was just moments away from throwing up the meal he just had.

'No, I can't…'

This thought consumed him.

He only had one fox carcass remaining. The only other food in the vicinity seemed to be that BOSS python. If he threw up here, the loss would be tremendous.

'Pull yourself together!'

Sylas couldn't remember being so agitated in a long time. Ever since he had left his formative years, he was used to being calm and in control. Maybe his greatest fear was losing that control.

He maintained strict discipline. He didn't drink, he didn't do drugs, he didn't even eat sugar because he didn't like the influence it had on him.

But now some mysterious force was pulling at him from all sides, playing with his mind, and he absolutely hated it.

"Enough!"

Sylas' red eyes returned, but this time it wasn't due to him staring at the barrier. It was rather something inside of them that spun wildly out of control.

This something wasn't natural. It was a product of the debuff that was pressing down on him. It retaliated against Sylas' Will, pressing it down even further.

[Your Will has been tainted]

[-1 Will (Temporary)]

[Your Will has been tainted]

[-1 Will (Temporary)]

The first time it appeared, it had said 'influenced.' The debuff of -2 Will, though, had come with a 'tainted' tag. Every time Sylas tried to fight back against it, it would lash out again, ripping out another piece of his Will.

Sylas knew that, logically, he should stop. He should stop moving, remove as much sensory information as he could, and hunker down. This was the smart thing to do, the logical thing to do.

The moment his Will fell beneath 10, the barrier seemed to have placed a suppressive effect on him, an effect he hadn't noticed earlier because his Will was too high.

Sylas hadn't even realized that the moment he chose a path, the challenge had begun. The reason there was no timer was because no one could stay here indefinitely, not without losing their mind and going to challenge the python in a fit of rage.

But Sylas had accidentally stumbled onto this hidden challenge all on his own.

Sylas' Will was blinking and flashing, and suddenly it hit a critical low.

[Will: 1]

Sylas' expression turned savage and wild. He bared his teeth as though he were a wild beast, veins pumping across his body as though individual pythons were squirming beneath his skin.