[975 GTs bonus]

They didn't understand what he did, but given how things had ended, they could piece some things together. They had been betrayed by not just one, but two of their own. And for reasons beyond their understanding they had seen it fit to silence Alex.

Sylas' gaze dimmed.

He reached down and pressed a hand to Alex.

[Alex Reynolds]

[Gene Detected]

[Common Gene: (4) Speed (F); (4) Dexterity (F); (2) Will (F)]

[Bronze Gene: (1) Strength; (2) Constitution; (1) Intelligence]

[Attempt Assimilation?]

[Yes][No]

Sylas didn't say a word for a long while. It was the first time he was seeing a Bronze Gene, and the realization made him not know what to think.

How could that little blade cut his neck if he had two Bronze Constitution Genes? Was it because he was in a State of Wealth? Or was it because the method he and Lauren had used to conceal their stats dampened them as well?

There were too many questions too many unknowns

"Cassarae tell me" Sylas asked softly.

Cassarae hesitated for a moment, then sent him a message through the system, something he didn't even know was possible until now. If it was, why hadn't she contacted him earlier?

'It was a Luck stat treasure it was able to increase your Luck Stat by 400%.'

Sylas fell into silence once more.

Thinking about the changes to himself when his Luck stat increased, he realized that this was a huge deal.

He had gone from believing that humans were far too weak in one moment to suddenly feeling lost in another.

But was all of this a good thing or not?

**

The atmosphere of Casstle Main was odd. It was too quiet given the situation they had just survived, but there were also a sea of eyes that were wide awake nonetheless.

Many of them stood huddled together near the center, half evacuated and half not. They seemed to have been corralled beneath Gregory's soothing words and whatever fear they might have had was washed away.

A group consisting of Sylas, Cassarae, Olivia, and Morgan, as well as the militiamenof which Sylas had noticed two were strikingly missingwalked toward them quite somberly, having left the battlefield half cleaned.

Gregory looked back toward them with a bright smile on his face.

"Our heroes are back, everyone."

The cheers of the villagers only sounded now as though they were ignorant of what had just happened.

Cassarae took it in with a smile, the worry that had weighed her down being whisked away into the cool night air.

The night passed quickly, but not without its share of trepidation. The villagers might have been in a relieved state, but the higher echelon of the village was in shambles.

They had just lost two supporting pillars, one by death and another by betrayal, their location had been revealed to those that were likely enemies lurking in the dark, and now it was unknown when they might face their next assault.

The gnoll village had fallen just over half a week ago now. The time for the next humanoid village to spawn was quickly coming up, and yet they were stuck in this precarious situation with the end of the Trial looming over their heads.

It was unknown if there would even be a temporary relief to look forward to either. Once it was confirmed that a part of the population had suddenly gained powers, who knew what would happen to the world?

How would the people in power try to maintain their power? And what would happen to those who suddenly had more power than they knew what to do with? Would the normal boundaries of the world even remain?

It was with these thoughts swirling in their minds that a morning meeting was held.

Cassarae, Olivia, Morgan, and Sylas were present. There was also Gregory, mostly out of necessity rather than a willingness.

Cassarae couldn't treat Gregory like an NPC as much as she wanted to. If she tried to hide things from him, he would know. So, even though their worries were related to a world Gregory had no understanding of, Cassarae had him participate anyway.

She gave everyone a look, her gaze lingering on Sylas who looked like a mess.

Well, a mess compared to his usual self.

He had taken a bath and had even replaced his pants with a new pair of linen. He had even found a simple linen shirt to wear. However, even this couldn't hide the sheer abuse his body had been through.

Just on the parts of his skin she could see, he was covered in deep bruises and half-healed cuts. His eyes were somewhat sunken as though he hadn't gotten enough rest, and the Sylas she remembered had been clean-shaven for all his life. Now, however, there was a distinct shadow gathering on his handsome features.

Had he been around for months like they had, this shadow would have already become a full-blown bush, but even now it felt out of place.

'I kind of like it,' she thought to herself with a smile before she met everyone else's gazes.

"Soon, the Trial will end and we will return home. Honestly, I have no understanding of what this means for Casstle Main, but I think we should probably address the elephant in the room."

Morgan's gaze dimmed somewhat. In this place, he was the outsider. He half expected to suffer a great amount of scrutiny. Who would have thought that two of them would be spies?

"I partially blame myself," Cassarae said with a sigh. "I trusted the Favorability ratings too much. As with everything in this world, it should all be taken with a grain of salt, so I want to incorporate some new guardrails to hopefully avoid such a thing in the future.

"But for now, this isn't what I want to consider. There isn't enough time, or nearly enough of us to put my thoughts into action. And after my necklace was stolen well, many things will become far more difficult."