Transcendent Gene
Chapter 75: The Foundation of Strength [5]

Chapter 75: The Foundation of Strength [5]

The rift in space was hardly visible within the light. It was also outlined in a pure white blistering halo, but the scenery on the other side of the portal was pitch-black.

In the distance, one could see the lights of stars shining in the cosmos. That portal led to the vast expanse of space, to a place that Gio could never find.

It started as a small thing no bigger than a coin before rapidly expanding until it was the size of a person. It looked like it would keep growing until it swallowed the whole building, but it stopped once it reached the ceiling.

Gio sat with his eyes closed, still meditating with his attention focused inward. He couldn’t see or feel the portal, but he knew his call had been answered.

Those pure sparks moving in the Empty Sequence became stronger and stronger with every passing second until the portal appeared.

And then, their fire was lit.

A line of electricity shot out of the portal and into Gio’s chest, connecting directly with the Empty Sequence in his Housing Area.

His body jolted as a wave of pain shot through him. He gritted his teeth and bore with it, knowing this was the consequence of trying to contain something above his league.

Bolts of white lightning shot out of the Housing Area and into his bones, muscles, and veins. He felt in every single nerve the paralyzing numbness that came along with it. His consciousness threatened to leave him, but he bit his lip and forced it to stay with his body.

The white flame that was lit in the Empty Sequence transformed. It created a helix before molding itself into the form that was most suitable for it.

In the end, it looked like a perfect circle of white energy. Only after going through several iterations to reach that form was it finally satisfied.

The white lightning in his body subsided, returning to the circle. The light around his body started to fade as well.

As his eyes opened, he was barely able to catch a glimpse of that portal before it completely vanished. Left alone on the floor of this random building, Gio had no choice but to look around.

’Nothing changed...’

It seemed that even if he did cause a commotion, it wasn’t enough to bring people up to the ninth floor. Either that, or the woman he paid off was much kinder and more powerful than he gave her credit for.

’I can figure that out when I get down there. First of all...’

Gio felt the difference in his body as it became a part of him. There was a sense of fulfillment that couldn’t be entirely explained, almost like gaining a limb one was born without.

It had been established properly. Well, if Gio had any concern that it hadn’t, there was an easy way to check.

"Come."

He already knew which rune answered his call. Each of them had their own characteristic colors, after all.

As for which rune was white...

Whoosh!

A small whirlwind appeared in front of Gio. A faint white hue illuminated "something" within.

Gio watched as the whirlwind slowly calmed down. When the hue faded, what was left was a...

"...garden snake?"

Gio looked down at it curiously.

It was no more than a foot or two long with pure white scales and green eyes. Its body was, at most, only several inches in diameter, and the look on its face was strangely innocent.

It looked at him with its head cocked. Really, it had the same expression on its face as Gio did.

"..."

Gio hesitated for a moment as he was seeing something completely new to him, but if this really was the rune that he thought it was...

"...Little White?"

The words came out of his mouth instinctively. The moment they did, the snake’s eyes perked up.

It raised its body into the air in a celebratory gesture before slithering over to him and climbing up his arm. Once it was properly resting around his neck, it shifted its form, becoming a serpentine necklace that adorned his body.

The necklace gave off a faint hue as some sort of energy melted into his skin. Once that energy had melded into his body, Gio felt a new connection open in his mind.

It was a link between him and that necklace, between him and the Guardian Rune.

He touched it with a surprised look on his face.

’The Guardian Runes...’

He called them the Laws of Matter as he was discovering them, but when he actually made contact, he started calling them Guardian Runes instead.

The reason for that was simple.

Their true forms were runes that existed within the Empty Sequence, but each and every one of them had a physical manifestation; a Guardian, if one felt so inclined.

These Guardians were the source of power and the medium that allowed Gio to use the power of those runes. Back then, they were incredibly powerful beings who could move mountains and flip the sky if they wanted to.

Little White was just what Gio called the snake in the past. It came to him so quickly because it recognized the name more than it recognized Gio’s younger self.

However, Little White’s true name was Hekat. It was the Rune of Change, and its true form...

’You used to be so big. What happened to you?’

He was connected to the rune now, allowing him to communicate with it using his thoughts. It could not communicate in words, but it could still transmit to him its intention.

He knew that there would be changes in the Guardian Runes, especially if he called them now when he was still so weak.

What concerned him was instead the aura of weakness he felt from Hekat.

It was as if the Guardian Rune was in an incomplete form.

Gio frowned as he listened to the rune.

"You’re saying you were damaged in the regression process?"

The affirmative response he received didn’t make him happy.

’Well, I guess it isn’t unheard of. The Guardian Runes were directly connected to my body and soul, so when those two things were torn apart together, it’s only natural that they’d be harmed too.’

"It’s still not a problem."

If the rune was incomplete, he only needed to fix it.

’Can you still function?’

An affirmative response.

Even if its abilities were severely limited, he would still be able to use them.

And, when the peak was as high as it was, "severely limited" meant something different. Hekat’s current form was still enough.

Gio touched the ground and closed his eyes.

A faint white hue left his hand as his mind connected to the Guardian Rune.

’I can feel it.’

He could feel the floor beneath him as if it was a part of his own body. If he just...

"Tch."

The light on his hand fizzled out. He looked at it with a bit of disappointment in his eyes before it struck him.

’Ah...’

He wasn’t at a level where he could just exert power and have things obey his will. Hekat was at a level where if he just put his hand on the floor and tried to use its power, it considered the entire building as the target.

’But if I use something smaller...’

Gio grabbed an empty can off the ground.

Once again, a faint white hue left his palm.

But this time, disappointment was not fated to follow.