The Ancestral Halls of the Seeing Eye Guild were deathly silent.

No one complained about Salivar's choice to go in alone. At this point, it seemed like the smartest idea. If he was struggling so much to keep up with Sylas, what would the others have done?

However, they weren't panicking as much as one might expect either.

"This child is truly an exceptional Rune Master. I can see why that lazy Fanelei of all people took him on. What dog shit luck she has," the Royal Blue Troll who interrupted Ancestor Entrim was the first to speak.

After Ancestor Entrim's outburst following the first exam, they had all settled in. They knew all too well that for the Weaver Guild to send Sylas here, he couldn't be anything short of a monster.

Now… how they planned on getting him out of here was another matter they would certainly have to worry about once the time came. There was no way that they would sacrifice such a talent, right?

But honestly speaking, even though they could feel and had the eyesight to understand what Sylas was doing, they found it hard to fathom that someone could reach this level of Rune Mastery in the F-tier.

Could that be why Sylas was so old? Was he trained like this and forced to remain in the F-tier specifically for this purpose? How had Fanelei managed to hide him for all this time? Was this why she had been in seclusion for so long?

So many questions… and so few answers.

"He is undoubtedly the best F-tier Rune Master beneath Demi-Godhood," an old, wizened man said slowly.

The gazes of the Seeing Eye Guild Ancestors all flickered at once. The man had a very familiar set of blackened peacock feathers and he was known as Ancestor Zeekr by the people.

Just because they were an Aether-first Guild didn't mean that they didn't have Rune Masters. It would be foolish of any power to not have their own army and division of Rune Masters. Rune Mastery was far too important.

And Ancestor Zeekr… he was the very best Rune Master of their Guild. His skill rivaled the best of the Weaver Guild, and in terms of fundamentals and theoretical knowledge, he was better than many of them.

For him to say such words, it was undoubtedly true.

The best F-tier Rune Master beneath Demi-Godhood. It was hard to put into words just the kind of weight this level of praise held.

"Are you certain?" Ancestor Entrim asked slowly.

"This is already the second time he's made a mockery of our exams with his Rune Mastery alone. He knows his weaknesses and doesn't attempt to make them strengths, instead forcing the world to conform to him. This is the most fundamental ability of a Rune Master, but it isn't why he is so good.

"What he did for this exam was maybe even more impressive than the first. He has an artificial secondary set of Aether Pathways, one likely formed through an item like the Glyphspire Crucible. This test is designed to force you to use your own Aether capacity, but if you have an artificial container within your body, it is theoretically possible to use it as an external vessel, thus allowing you to offload the difficulty through other means.

"In this case, this Sylas Grimblade used his artificial vessel, filling it with Aether formed spontaneously from his crafted Runes. Thus, from start to finish, he never once had to use his own reserves or place pressure on his own Pathway channels.

"The hardest part of this method is making the vessel work for you. Technically, though I've been calling it artificial, it is a very real part of your body. For him to be capable of this, he has to have the ability to manipulate the Layers of his body, and control aspects of himself to a fundamental layer.

"He almost certainly has a Sealwright Profession under his belt, and a powerful one at that. It is at least of Silver Grade, and if I had to make a guess, I wouldn't assume anything lower than Gold Grade. That is the only way such manipulation would be possible."

A cold breath was the only response. The strongest variation of the Seeing Eye Guild's Profession—and the Weaver Guild's Profession, for that matter—was Silver.

To say that Sylas had a Sealwright Profession of Silver Grade at worst probably meant that he had at least two Silver Grade Professions, and that was ridiculous enough.

But to say that it might be Gold…

Yet, Ancestor Zeekr wasn't finished.

"But what makes this such an impressive feat of Rune Mastery is that his comprehension of his own body's layers is deep enough that he knows exactly what to target, by how much, and with enough precision to not irreparably harm himself.

"If I had to guess, he can almost certainly draw Genes of his own. I dare to say that he can draw at least Gold Genes."

A silence fell. Ancestor Zeekr seemed to have one more thing to say, and yet what he had already said left a heavy air in the room.

They realized then… there was simply no way the Weaver Guild would let such a talent go. What would be the fallout of this, then? What had they already prepared?

Spark Masters, to the laymen of the universe, were known to be the best of the best.

Amongst Rune Masters and experts, though, Perfect Spark Masters were the true monsters amongst monsters, individuals who made mere Spark Masters look like they had just started the race.

And yet, without even mentioning Pure Spark Masters, or even Void Spark Masters beyond that, there was a third category of Rune Masters that was mainstream enough to be known in these circles, and yet still shocking enough that too few, if ever, mentioned them.

Creation Rune Masters.

These were Rune Masters capable of forming, drawing, and casting things that usually only the system and the universe itself could give life to.

An F-tier Creation Rune Master…

Was almost entirely unheard of.

In this section of the universe?

Sylas was the only one.

"To hold so many thoughts in his head at once… and to make the drawing of 100 Foundation Aether so simple to the point of being carelessly easy…

"There is no one that compares to him," Ancestor Zeekr finished. "Regardless of what happens, we cannot let him live. I'm sure that Salivar has already come to an understanding of what he must do."

…

All this time, Salivar hadn't been reacting like someone who was being destroyed and humiliated should have. He hadn't said anything to Sylas after the beginning of the first round. He didn't say anything when it took him three days to finish the first round and almost lost his life, nor did he say anything when Sylas surpassed him in the second round and then left him far behind.

He was calm in a way that was simply unnatural for someone usually so bombastic and full of life, focused in a way that left his grandmother nodding with satisfaction.

In his mind, no matter how impressive Sylas was, this would only end in one way.

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