Transcendent Gene -
Chapter 76: The Foundation of Strength [6]
Chapter 76: The Foundation of Strength [6]
Gio grinned at the can-shaped object in his hand.
Hekat was the Rune of Change. In principle, this meant it had the ability to control "Change," however, such an esoteric and vague concept wasn’t meant to be intervened with by anyone.
The Rune of Change in Gio’s hands became a sort of alchemical gene.
In a sense, it gave him a power similar to what Alice used.
’The properties of these abilities were harder to master than a lot of the rest. It’s not an easy thing like just thinking of what I want and making it happen.’
The Rune of Change’s abilities could be split into two categories.
The first was alchemy. Gio could use the rune to change materials into different materials. Naturally, the law of equivalent exchange had to be followed. He also couldn’t transmute anything beyond his abilities.
In other words, not only did he have to make sure that the two materials were of similar class, but he also had to make sure he had enough energy in his body to facilitate the transmutation. On top of that, he could only transmute between materials he understood.
He spent a long time memorizing the chemical structures of everything he could get his hands on. There was an entire section of the [Memory Book] dedicated to these things, almost like a compendium he wrote during his travels through the Tower.
’If I had to start now, I’d spend an entire lifetime getting through the prerequisites of using this ability, but now that I’m here, it’s easy.’
He had that knowledge and he knew his strengths well. The can-shaped object in his hand wasn’t a can anymore, but a can-shaped piece of wood. It had the same thickness as the can and was still hollow on the inside, but aluminum was no longer a part of its structure.
’Good.’
That ability would become much more useful in the future than it was now.
Gio was confident in using this method to gain some power in the short term because every single rune, even those with supportive qualities, could be used offensively as well.
And that brought him to the rune’s second ability.
’Combat alchemy.’
It would give him the same abilities that Alice had. He would be able to control the earth and the world around him. He would be able to displace parts of the world and turn everything into a weapon.
’But that won’t be possible until I’m at her level or even higher. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, it won’t be anything like that.’
He’d need to train in this body to regain the sensitive touch he had in the past. As he experimented with transmuting the various things around him, Gio got an idea of how much power he could output. And, with that estimate, he was able to come up with several ways to use the power of the rune.
’Guardian Runes operate on Aether and stamina, so I need to train my body as well.’
Gene Sequences could draw from various sources of power. Unique Sequences often had unique energy sources, which made them much harder to deal with.
However, most common Sequences used stamina as their energy source. The stronger the body was, the longer abilities could be used.
It was enough to explain the need for Bloodline Sequences, wasn’t it?
’Are you going to stay in necklace form?’
Gio spoke to Hekat curiously. The runes used to appear as tattoos. Were they going to be jewelry from now on?
He listened to the rune’s words and interpreted them.
"I see..."
In the end, it was all related.
’Hekat can’t completely merge with my body until it’s complete. It’s in jewelry form because it can’t become a part of my body and it also doesn’t have enough energy to manifest itself in physical form often.’
That was also why it appeared as a little snake instead of its true form.
’It’s a precarious situation. Until Little White can properly function, I won’t be able to use its abilities to their full potential.’
After all, the Guardian Runes worked best when he was commanding their Guardians.
"Huu..."
’Anyways...’
Gio stood up and stretched. He only needed to jump a few times to realize that his body had changed much more than he was giving it credit for.
No, rather, wasn’t his reaction far too muted?
The connection he’d formed with Aether gave him a lot of strengths on top of what he gained from the rune.
Even putting all that aside, the fact that he had formed a connection with a Guardian Rune was already miraculous, especially in the current era.
’But it isn’t like that for me.’
He also felt like he should have reacted more giddily, but what could he do about it?
He had only been separated from the Guardian Runes for barely over a year.
To him, the reunion with Hekat was par for course.
’And it isn’t all good news, so I can’t be too excited.’
He treated it like it was easy, but he’d never had to "fix" a Guardian Rune before. He had a long road to walk from now on.
’It’s good that I decided to do this now.’
It was good that Hekat was the one who answered his call.
Because, as the Rune of Change, Hekat was the one most affected by the regression. Gio was sure that the others wouldn’t be this wounded.
"Good."
Gio shook his head and got his thoughts together.
’I have a week of freedom. I should use it properly.’
He looked outside and saw that the sun was still in the sky. It was certainly getting late, but there were still several usable hours left in the day.
Without thinking twice, Gio used the elevator to return to the ground floor. When he arrived, he saw that the lobby was filled with people. They were all silently staring at him, but nobody moved.
’I guess I did attract a crowd...’
His eyes moved across the room. Everyone present had a menacing aura around them, so why were they being so cautious?
Did his actions cause that much of a commotion, or...
"I appreciate the help."
Gio walked up to the reception desk again and slid another bronze card over to the woman, doubling the amount he paid her.
"I only did what I was paid for."
The woman took the card with a shrug.
"They won’t leave you alone once you’re out of here."
Gio nodded with a smile.
"I’ll handle that part on my own."
Unexpected situations had to be taken in stride. That was one of the biggest lessons Gio learned when he first became a Sequencer.
He knew he would cause a scene and tried to find a place where he wouldn’t be too obvious, but looking at these reactions, the scene he caused was far beyond what he prepared for.
’Well, they’re just Scavengers.’
And this was just a Rest City.
It was like a jungle gym, a jungle gym perfectly set up for Gio to test his new abilities.
’They’re definitely strong Sequencers, but if they were strong enough to catch me, I would be able to feel it.’
If they had that kind of strength, they wouldn’t have been waiting in the lobby to catch him when he came out of the elevator.
’Perfect.’
Gio grinned to himself as he turned around and walked towards the door.
"Now then..."
He stepped up to the door and pushed it open.
"...let’s play tag, I guess?"
It was enough of a provocation.
All that was left was for Gio to disappear.
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