Genetic Ascension

Sylas pushed his mind as far and as hard as he could. The world had slowed down around him by a factor of dozens, and his new Rune Spark Mastery made drawing Runes feel as though he was painting onto the world directly with his mind.

It was like the world wasn’t just responding to flashing images in his thoughts, but the intent behind them as well, the underlying intricacies and subtle meanings that every word, emotion, and expression carried.

It felt like he was communicating to the world in a language far more profound than Ancient Ithkuil, a language far more pronounced and perfect than even Gogo’s Ancestors’... and that was because it wasn’t a language at all. It came from the heart, the soul, his own personal Spark Seed.

And yet it still wasn’t enough. Not even remotely.

There wasn’t enough time.

92.5%.

Another person would have already been cursing up a storm. In fact, even Sylas would be if he wasn’t a strictly rational person. He knew that if he spent any time at all on anything other than drawing the next Rune, he would be ruining himself.

He didn’t even make it to 93% this time.

He had already slowed the world down to a crawl. He was drawing every Rune meticulously with that lagging speed. And yet it still wasn’t enough.

Trying to form all three Layers was too difficult. This was also a Rune Armor no one had ever taught or guided him in. He was flying completely blind, and even if Gralith wasn’t so focused on his suicidal task, there was nothing at all he could do to guide him either.

However, he didn’t have the luxury of forming one Layer after the next, and he had already pushed his Temporal Delay Progenitor Flame to the very limit.

Although he could push it further, if he did so he would be taking up the mental space he needed in order to actually draw the Runes.