Isaac wanted to get to his new Inheritance and Ultimate right away, but the Interface had other ideas. He could have dismissed the incoming messages—one thought would have done it—but he knew better. If the entity thought something deserved his attention first, it was probably worth a glance. Besides, two minutes was more than enough to get through whatever it had queued up.

What do we have here…

Name: Isaac Walker Origin: Cursed Blood | LVL. 21 Legacy: Alpha Bloodraven (Fledgling)

[Legacy of the Alpha Bloodraven - You have inherited the spark of a creature of Pure Blood. It's still growing, but now the power of Death is in your grasp while Life flows through your veins. Cultivate this strength, become one with it, and nothing shall stand in your path.]

Isaac hummed in his head. A change in status was expected. He just hoped his return to the Fledgling growth stage didn't mean he would be small again. James would never let him hear the end of it.

And the description… Not exactly helpful. Pure Blood, though? Is that important? Guess I will find out sooner or later.

With that, he dismissed those notifications and allowed the next one to appear before him. He would have smiled if he could. This was what he wanted, after all.

Third Inheritance unlocked, Duality of Blood. It shall become active the moment you leave the egg. As with all Inheritances, it will grow stronger with your Legacy. Congratulations.

[Inheritance: Duality of Blood] As a creature of Pure Blood, the crimson liquid in your veins can be a blessing or a curse. If you wish so, you can now feed your blood to your allies, greatly speeding up their recovery. At any other time, it shall become a weapon, enhancing all attacks and causing struck enemies to lose Virus Integrity over time. Note: This ability has no effect on monsters of the Broken Strain. Excessive consumption of blessed blood can become toxic.

Holy shit… Isaac thought, his mind racing a hundred miles per hour. He had thought that his next Inheritance would just enhance his body further, yet here he was, gifted with something much… different.

The healing? It was a welcome surprise. He wasn't sure how often he would get to use it, but having the option to save someone's life? That was a game-changer. As long as nobody minded drinking his blood, anyway.

The second part, however? That gave him a pause. After all, for the first time since this apocalypse began, he was gifted with an ability that was only meant to be used against other Hosts. A curse to be inflicted upon them, one that would see them transformed into the very monsters he had spent so much time and effort fighting against.

It was a strange thought, to say the least.

Sure, he understood that once the Virus Wars began for real, he would have to face and most likely kill other Hosts. Yet, with that still some time away, he didn't really think about it that much. He simply saw no point in such a thing.

It is what it is. I will do what I have to survive, he vowed to himself. And if this Inheritance can help me with that, then so be it. A tool is meant to be used.

With that grim thought, Isaac dismissed the long description and allowed more notifications to manifest before him. Once more, he wasn't disappointed.

Second Ultimate ability unlocked, Blood Moon. Thanks to your evolution and current Virus Stage, you may now use two Ultimate abilities per 12 hours without causing serious harm to yourself. Well done, Host.

[Ultimate: Blood Moon] A domain that places a limited area under the power of the Blood Moon. While active, the Host's attributes and Origin-related abilities are significantly enhanced. Additionally, the Host cannot lose Virus Integrity while inside the domain. Note: The affected area and the duration of this ultimate depend on the amount of Mana used.

For a short second, Isaac felt a twinge of disappointment that his new ultimate wasn't something similar to what Elaine could do. But as he read the description again, those feelings vanished. While throwing around mini-nukes could be fun, getting an ultimate to boost his already powerful skills and overpowered regeneration was more than good enough.

And then there was the secondary effect. Immunity to Virus Integrity loss.

That could be huge against hordes of monsters. Well, maybe not now, since his regeneration always kept his Integrity above any dangerous thresholds, but he knew how ugly things could get if it dropped too low. The fact that the penalties varied from person to person made it even worse.

One Host could get their attribute efficiency cut in half after falling below twenty percent of Virus Integrity, while another could lose access to their Origin at fifteen. Marie even told him that one guy in Galt lost the ability to level up for two days after almost getting killed by an ambush of Wretched.

So yeah, while Blood Moon's secondary effect didn't seem that important now, it could be the thing that saved his life down the road.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

And that's it, Isaac thought as the Ultimate's description vanished. In its place, a timer appeared, one that only had a few seconds left until it ran out. Guess it's time to get out.

3…

2…

1…

Commencing egg release.

The moment the final notification flashed before his eyes, Isaac heard a loud crack echo around him, followed by another and another. A moment later, the shell blocking his sight and movement shattered all at once, and he stumbled as light invaded his vision again.

"Fucking hell." He heard James mutter somewhere close by, but for now, the man went ignored. He had better things to take care of, like the feeling of his new body.

As the glare of the sun—apparently, it was daytime already—faded after a few more blinks, Isaac took his first real look around. The very first thing he noticed? He was larger than before. Not by much, but now his head easily reached James' shoulders. He breathed a sigh of relief—no teasing about his size then.

All right, let's see.

Still ignoring James, who was gawking at him like he had grown a second head, Isaac craned his long neck to take in this new body of his. And what a body it was.

Before, his Legacy didn't really differ much from a normal raven—aside from color and size. This wasn't the case anymore. Sure, he still had the general build of a bird, but that was where the similarities ended.

For one, he now had a second, smaller pair of wings sprouting from the middle of his torso. Tucked in tight against his sides, they barely showed next to the primary set, but Isaac could feel them, use them whenever he wanted.

Not yet.

His gaze drifted lower, to his legs. Still avian, but no longer the thin, sticky limbs of a raven. These were thicker, longer, and more muscular. The talons also felt sharper, sinking into the ground like it was paper.

And then, finally, there were the feathers, if he could even still call them that.

To Isaac, it was like his entire coat was made up of freshly spilled blood. Even though the liquid was shaped into countless crimson feathers, he could feel it. Even better, he could see the droplets flowing across his form before finally sliding from the final feather in their path and dropping to the ground.

There, they would vanish with a low hiss, like they were never there.

What in the—

He never got to finish that thought as, at that moment, the voice of his teammate reached his ears.

"Isaac? You good there, man?"

Isaac blinked, lifting his head to meet James' eyes. Now that he noticed it, the world itself seemed brighter, sharper, every color more vivid. It didn't take him long to realize that his first Inheritance must have grown stronger with the evolution.

"Hey!" James called again, waving a hand in front of his face. "Stop ignoring me."

"Sorry," Isaac muttered. "It's just… a bit much."

Instantly, James' eyes bulged as he pointed a shaking finger at him. "Y-you… you can talk!"

Isaac froze as the realization also hit him like a sack of bricks. The older man was right. He just heard himself talk. Without changing back into his human form.

"Oh…" was all that left his beak.

"Oh?" James repeated, throwing his arms up. "That's all you have to say?! Oh?! Dude, you're a goddamn talking animal now!"

Isaac nodded, slowly tilting his head. "I mean, yeah… but is it really that big of a deal? Just think about all the shit we had gone through since the Breakout began. Is this really where we draw the line?"

James opened his mouth only to close it again. His shoulders then slumped. "I guess… I guess you're right. But still, you can talk!"

"Yes, you have already said that," Isaac drawled, rolling his eyes.

"And you have horns!"

That gave Isaac a pause. "What?"

"Horns," James repeated, jabbing a finger at the top of Isaac's head. "Honestly, they look kinda cool. Gimme a sec."

As the man quickly ran to his torn-up bag, Isaac focused on the apparent additions to his body. He hadn't even noticed them before, but now that James pointed it out, he sure could feel something growing out of the top of his head. Well, two somethings really. Not quite like his human ears, but not completely alien either.

Huh… strange…

That said, before he could dwell on this discovery any further, James returned, his sword in hand. He raised it high, placing it right in front of Isaac. It wasn't hard to understand why. Not that it helped much. The blade was far from clean or polished enough to show a proper reflection. At best, he could see some blurs and vague shapes.

I guess those are my horns? I think?

Like the rest of his body, they were deep crimson with maybe some speck of gold thrown in. Other than that, they seemed to be about as long as a human finger and slanted backward, almost like a cat's ears when it was angry.

"So I have horns now, nice," Isaac said, averting his gaze from the blurry reflection.

James snorted. "Of course you would say that. I swear, man, you give the worst reactions in the world."

Quickly transforming back into human form, Isaac arched an eyebrow. "What did you expect from me?"

"I don't know…" The man shrugged. "Something more? You just evolved! That's gotta be a big deal, right?" At Isaac's blank stare, he sighed. "Whatever. Why do I even bother… I miss Ari already. She would understand me."

"Sure she would," Isaac muttered, glancing toward the sun. "Just how long was I out?"

"No idea! Didn't count. The sun came up about an hour ago, so at least we didn't waste much time."

Isaac hummed in thought. Beforehand, he had hoped that the evolution would take a couple minutes. Obviously, he was wrong, and if his math was correct, he was inside that egg for about six hours.

Good to know for the future.

Isaac looked back at his teammate. "We good to go then?"

James frowned. "You sure you don't want a short break after well…" He vaguely gestured at Isaac's body. "That?"

Isaac shook his head. While it still felt like there was some kind of fog placed over his mind, it was slowly fading. He could recover and get used to all the new changes on the road. They had already wasted enough time due to his evolution.

As such, once they gathered their stuff, their journey began once more.

Los Angeles had to be close now.

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