He was the man who appeared before Sylas after the Frostbane Dungeon concluded. Because of Sylas' appearance, he ended up being replaced as a participant of the Dungeon by the system. But this was hardly relevant to how strong he was or wasn't. In fact, there was no doubt that among the four leaders meant to take on the task of heading groups that day…
Aurion without a doubt stood above them all.
Sylas had no real interaction with this man, but he would recognize the name regardless. This man was ranked highly on the Dustspark Dungeon rankings, taking his place firmly amongst the top 100 at 96th.
This ranking might look pitiful and even almost pathetic compared to Sylas' own… but what could one do when Sylas had a Legendary Profession to rely upon?
To clear that Dungeon so fast, Sylas all but cheated.
Phyrex, however, relied on his own power to be ranked among the hundred best Lightning Aether users in the quadrant.
His power was something that spoke for itself, but more importantly than that was his age when he challenged the Dungeon.
Back then, he had been just 11 years old. And for some reason or another, he never chose to return.
An oath sworn to the system itself. The fate between Sylas and this man spoke for itself, and there was simply no need to rehash it.
It seemed that the story of Sylas and Thryskai was far from finished. It was even more unlikely that Ulrik would be the last of them either. Sylas hadn't forgotten that Aki had only borrowed Professor Broussard's body…
That man was very much alive.
If Sylas had been able to see the list, as much fire in his gut as he held for Ulrik, maybe this name would have caught his attention the most.
Sylas didn't lose often in his life. In fact, most times he did, he did so on purpose.
Before the Summoning, most in the world would claim him to be successful. Only he knew just how much he cruised through life, doing the bare minimum.
It was odd of him, especially as a man who prided himself on discipline so much. But the world had simply been too boring.
He was disciplined because it was ingrained in him from a very young age, but there had never truly been anything there to stoke flames within him. As a result, he might have worked diligently, but he had never pushed himself to the absolute limits.
Losing while doing his best… that was simply unfamiliar territory to him.
And this Lorien Myst had caused such a rare occurrence.
Whenever Sylas took such a loss, whether it was in the volcano that day or in the Rune Mastery Tower of the bazaar, it stuck with him.
He felt fury for Ulrik.
He felt endless passion for Lorien.
He had never said the words aloud, but when he met her next…
He had no intention of losing again.
In fact, he would do everything in his power to make her feel how he felt that day. He would grind her to dust, burying her beneath his heel until there was nothing of her left.
He wouldn't lose again.
Sylas stood before the core of the Earth, the notification hovering before his face. He adjusted himself, slowly comprehending what he was seeing until he nodded.
Then, he turned and left slowly, going back the way he came with a calm expression on his face.
There was only one question weighing heavily on his mind, and it was entirely unrelated to whether or not he would be able to pull this victory out as well.
He wondered: were the three days he received tailored to Earth time, or to the time outside?
Judging by the rate the ticker was going, he would receive exactly three days. But if the time was dilated, did that mean that those on the outside would receive a few split seconds at best? Or did they all receive the exact same three days while the system performed some time magic of its own?
The shower-thought sort of question almost made Sylas smile.
His mind was finally working like it used to. A burden he hadn't known to be there was oddly gone all of a sudden.
He felt his Progenitor Mastery Madness circulating through him.
This thing… it always forced him to face his weaknesses. It was odd for something called Madness.
Just where was the maddening part of it?
A giggle rang in Sylas' ears again.
His steps paused, but only for a moment. He shook his head.
He had tried to find where that laughter was coming from many times already, but it seemed to like teasing him. Not once had he ever come close to finding it.
All he could guess was that it was either the Madness Key itself or one of his Seeds. If it was the latter, it was certainly the Gluttony Seed. He could at least feel that much.
As for why it was approaching him and then vanishing like that, he had no real idea. He could only guess again and assume he had yet to meet some requirement.
Sylas reached the surface of the blood lake once again, looking to find that Archibald was standing and waiting for him. Seeing him wearing what could only be described as some sort of miniature mech suit, Sylas raised an eyebrow.
The presence of Archibald right now was certainly great. It seemed that maybe he hadn't needed to go so all-out before, after all.
Still, for the sake of his own psyche… he was actually quite happy that he hadn't needed Archibald's help.
It was a peculiar feeling, but it was clearer to him than anything else right now.
"It seems I've still underestimated you," Archibald said after looking Sylas up and down. "But… why haven't we been pulled through the Summoning yet? Is it as I feared?"