Transcendent Gene-Chapter 302: New World [2]

The evolution into Stage 2 came with many benefits. The main ones that mattered in this moment were all of those that related to the enhancement of his physical form.

From the new strength and elasticity of his muscles to the enrichment of his energy flow, every aspect helped him survive the second bolt that he wasn’t ready for.

The shock almost fried him, but he managed to pull himself together.

’Another one will overload me...’

He had to get rid of the excess energy as soon as possible.

The black lightning continued to invade the bloodline he’d just left alone, but he didn’t worry about it.

Though its spirituality was in a resting state, it had been awakened once by the very black lightning attempting to suppress it.

A force that was once prey could not become a predator. At least, not in the difference between two adjacent interactions.

The sparking current in his bloodstream was quelled and absorbed passively. At the same time, Gio’s focus moved throughout his body.

Nothing else was nearly as hard.

Any lighting that forced its way into his Aether Core practically submitted automatically. That space was created to store wild energy, after all.

The lighting that gathered there, which was a decent majority of it, came in contact with Gio’s Aether supply and started merging with it.

Aether was, at its core, a diluted version of the Genesis Energies of the world. Its properties were similar to theirs, and when the two came in contact, they felt no need to antagonize each other.

It was more like they were always meant to combine into one. They melded so easily that Gio almost wondered if something was wrong.

The lightning pulsing through his muscles, bones, and veins was almost just as easy to tame.

It didn’t need to be carefully integrated into any systems. He could merely grab the lightning and press it into his flesh and bones. It would nourish anything it touched without much trouble.

The energy going into the flesh wasn’t being controlled or corralled. It was not being forcefully fused anywhere, but was instead like butter on hot bread.

It melted into every little crack and crevice between his muscles. It flowed through his bone marrow and charred it a bit while strengthening his bones.

[Virtual Manifestation]’s energy was used so much in the cleanup that it was already used to the foreign force before Gio actively focused on it.

The Sequence grew significantly in power, but most of its enhancements were caused by a myriad of other factors and only improved slightly by the lightning.

The one eating best in his Gene Housing was none other than Hekat.

There was too much energy in the sky. Gio’s body physically could not handle more than five bolts of lightning, and everything that came after would lead to little to no improvement, even if he could handle it.

There were limits to everything, including abrupt growth. Eventually, a singular rush of pure energy would lose its effect and become redundant.

It was necessary to internalize the energy properly and adapt to it. It was necessary to get to know one’s Sequences and Bloodlines.

The body’s systems went through too many changes over the course of its evolution for it to be treated as the same vessel from step one to step one hundred.

Gio knew that. If Hekat didn’t exist, he’d be forced to act as a conduit for the energy after he stopped using it. After sending it back into the world, he could only mourn its loss.

Hekat was not a Sequence. It was not a living being. It was not a creature, but it was a creature that didn’t fall under the conventional laws of the world.

The storm of energy was a buffet for the small snake. It purred in Gio’s mind, expressing how overjoyed it was to receive such a meal after a long time.

Gio didn’t need to help it. Hekat protected its own space and grew while he brought the rest of his body under control.

As more of Gio’s systems reached equilibrium, more energy was sent to be housed in the Aether Core, and more excess was sent into the Gene Housing.

The necklace around Gio’s neck vibrated subtly yet strongly. The circular snake pendant decorating it visibly pulses, growing large and small and beating like a heart.

The excess energy was more in quantity than what Gio was absorbing. Hekat was not only getting stronger, but also healing.

Its true form, if manifested, would be growing to the size of a huge land snake. It was at least six to eight feet long and thicker than two human arms put together.

Its scales faltered away near the center of its back, giving way to two small stumps that would eventually grow into something greater.

The stumps that would become its legs grew as well.

Its true form was still far away, but the concept of getting closer made the Guardian Rune as gleeful as it could be.

BANG!

A third bolt of lightning eventually came down.

BANG!

Then a fourth.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

Then a fifth, a sixth, and a seventh.

Gio remained seated while nine total bolts of pure black energy flowed through his body.

The first five were his to use. He strengthened every aspect of his body, giving himself an impervious defense at the same level and a level of physical strength that could crush rocks.

He improved his energy, allowing him to call upon denser, purer, and more powerful energy with much more efficiency than before.

His Sequences improved, his perception improved, even his Original Gene saw a bit of improvement.

[Memory Book] opened faster, and when Gio called for a memory based on a vague recollection, it was able to discover and display the memory much quicker.

Gio didn’t give up on the Density and Purity of his Bloodline after a single rank up. Consecutive rank-ups were impossible at the moment, but one more was not out of reach.

By the time he was done, he sat confidently in Origin Level 1-5, an entire two levels above where he expected to be by the end of the Scenario Quest.

The remaining five bolts were eaten by Hekat. The snake didn’t let a single drop escape its reach, seeming unsatisfied when the storm dispersed.

’You’re the real monster here,’ Gio thought with a smile as he finally stood up and stretched.

He could already feel a new lightness that he’d have to get used to. Even breathing was easier and smoother than before.

’There’s only one more thing.’

In fact, it was already over. As Q mentioned, the answers to the scenario would be present within its energy. Those answers were displayed to Gio while he was busy controlling the energy in his body.

He had no way to pay active attention to them without sacrificing himself. He understood why Q phrased it like he’d have a hard time getting what he wanted.

He wanted to call himself lucky, but the feats of the [Memory Book] simply weren’t luck. It was something natural that Gio was born with and a part of his skill set.

’While this black space fades...’

The labyrinth was gone. The lightning cloud was gone. Q was gone.

Gio was left alone in a completely black space that was fading into pure whiteness.

Before it could fade away completely, he looked into his own mind.

He saw what he’d perceived just barely in the corner of his mind several minutes ago.

The sixth and final clue of the scenario, as well as the answer that appeared when they were all put together...

’...I get it.’

Gio was able to put it all together.

[Humans have entertained relations with beings beyond their current understanding for as long as time in the human eye has existed.]

[The world’s history has been fabricated.]

[Not all fabrications are created with intention. They are sometimes created through fate and happenstance.]

[The otherworldly beings of the past never returned to this world.]

[There are two worlds telling their stories, but only one to receive them.]

"...[When one world vanished, another took its place. When history was erased, history eventually began again. The cycle of the universe...is endless.]"

There was a world in the past.

’No, it may have been an entire complex like this one.’

It was complete with living beings, its own existential threats, magical abilities in the form of Sequences, and a history completely separate from the Gehenna Complex.

’But if this is all telling the truth, and if my thoughts are accurate to what the end of this scenario is...’

...then Earth and its surrounding worlds were formed in the place of an "Earth" that once existed and was destroyed.

’The otherworldly beings from that world came here during an age before humanity. The scenes from the scenario are of them in the other world.’

Then, they must have made contact with the humanity of both worlds for the first clue to be true.

The fabrication of the world’s history hid the world whose foundation Earth was built on, but it was a natural process and not something any living being influenced.

’So, there was another world, and its history and fate are somehow tied into Earth and the Gehenna Complex somehow. There are other living beings out there past the Great Barrier Wall apart from us and the Monster Race...’

There was an entire universe filled with mysteries, and with his current knowledge, Gio didn’t necessarily know what to do with the final conclusion he’d reached.

’At most, I now know that this world isn’t as simple as it seems. It may look like we’ve conquered most of nature, but there’s still a lot of buried knowledge left out there to find.’

If he wanted to comprehend the significance of the mysterious world that this scenario was based around, then he had to investigate more on the outside just as he needed to for Vita.

"Huu..."

It wasn’t an empty conclusion.

’This knowledge was hidden by the people who found it first.’

Perhaps the Vita override wasn’t even activated. If it was, he didn’t believe anyone else would have reached 80% or higher to receive Vita’s message.

But someone definitely found the six clues of the scenario and extrapolated the meaning behind them.

Someone allowed everyone to escape the Godspark Mountain Range.

’And that someone did not want us to investigate this...Mirror World.’

As the whiteness faded away, Gio’s senses spiked like he’d been revived. His eyes shot open to view the ceiling of the lab space he’d left behind.

The scenario would be over as soon as he said the word and confirmed the clue he’d found in the system.

It was about time for him to expand his scope of activity outside of the First Institute.