Dammit…

Isaac groaned as consciousness crept back into his mind. He cracked one eye open, only to snap it shut again. He caught a glimpse of a dark wooden ceiling and a dim light off to his left. Unfortunately, that was all he managed to spot before the mother of all headaches hit him like a train.

Shit.

He had forgotten how this felt. So tired. Everything hurting or aching. Not even days without sleep during the invasion had left him in such a state. His body barely had enough strength to lift his eyelids. Still, he had no choice. He needed to know he was safe.

Okay, Isaac. Slowly… No need to hurt myself more.

Clenching his teeth, he forced both eyes open and pushed himself to sit up. Pain flared across his back, his arms, and his stomach, but he ignored it. He had gone through worse in the last few weeks. Some old injuries wouldn't stop him now.

Success…

This time, when the blurriness faded from his sight, he recognized his surroundings almost right away. Sure, the place looked to be in a better condition than before, especially the walls, but other than that, everything else was quite familiar.

Two makeshift beds. A table in the middle. A mess of supplies scattered everywhere. He had been here before. Slept in the same bed after overdoing it a bit in the Valleys of Whispers.

A sigh slipped past his dry and chapped lips.

So it was Marie after all. Good.

Isaac rubbed his temple, hoping to ease the headache. Obviously, that didn't work. Only his regeneration could help him now, and from what he noticed, it wasn't in a hurry to fix him. Which raised another question. Just how long had he been out?

Based on the condition he had woken in, he would bet no more than an hour or two had passed. Even if his regeneration decided to work a bit slower after everything he had put his body through, a full night of sleep should have still been enough to heal him. A bit annoying, but he could always go back to sleep in a moment.

First, though, he should probably let the others know he was alive and recovering. He could only imagine how Marie reacted when he appeared before her half-dead.

Better her than Elaine. He chuckled weakly, summoning his communication menu. This didn't work. The Interface provided him with a bunch of text instead. Right… makes sense.

Extraction successful. Enjoy your rest for now, Isaac Walker. The war is still far from over.

This was followed by another, much longer message. A strong surge of power washed over his body at the same time, pushing away all the pain. The relief didn't last long, though.

You have leveled up four times. You are now level 35. Distribution of Ascension Power has advanced the tier or grade of the following attributes: Power (Refined IV->Unbound I), Agility (II->IV), Toughness (IV->V), Regeneration (III->IV), Insight (I->II). No further changes detected.

Four levels…

If he had to be honest, Isaac wasn't even surprised. With how many monsters and Zerians he had slaughtered back in that Volcano… Well, four sounded like a decent amount of progress. He definitely noticed, though, that the growth of his attributes had slowed down recently.

Still, not bad, he thought, moving on to the next notification.

The following skills have advanced tiers: Obliteration (IV->V) Red Puppeteer (I->II) Mana Surge (I->III) Pain Resistance (XII->Max)

Isaac's eyes widened a bit. It might not look like much on paper, but he knew better. Pain Resistance finally maxing out was a big achievement on its own. And Mana Surge? Just how many times had he used it during the battle to advance it twice?

Might be why I'm hurting so much… oh well.

Then, another notification appeared before him, one he had been waiting for.

Your skill, Harden, has evolved into Maker's Shell with the help of Root of Blood and your Legacy.

[Maker's Shell | Grade: Relic | Tier I] A powerful symbiotic ability. By temporarily combining with Root of Blood and a piece of your Legacy, you may assume a new combat form. All attributes are greatly enhanced. Regeneration becomes nearly instantaneous as long as you possess enough blood and energy to fuel it. Beware: This skill requires both Viron and Mana to work. Some abilities may not be available in this form.

So that's what you really are, Isaac mused, his gaze falling to the tattoo on his right arm. The Root pulsed inside it, spreading warmth all over his body. Nice one, buddy.

The Relic grade was also something entirely new, and a quick check confirmed it was just above Eternal. Somehow, his sword had created an ability even stronger than itself. Impressive, and maybe a little scary.

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Anything else, or can I now contact my friends?

The Interface answered with something he hadn't expected or wanted. It did put some things into perspective, though.

Due to falling below 20% Virus Integrity, you have gained a temporary debuff. Regeneration effectiveness reduced by 95%.

Isaac winced. Yeah, that explained why he felt like complete shit. Between all the hits he had taken and Maker's Shell flooding his body with Mana, no wonder his Integrity had dropped so low. Still, ninety-five percent effectiveness? That hurt, a lot.

And how is it looking now?

Virus Integrity: 41%

"Could have been worse," Isaac muttered to himself. With some luck, a good night's rest would restore the rest and clear the debuff. Fighting anything without his regeneration at full power sounded like an awful idea.

Maybe a potion can he—

His thoughts came to a halt as his gaze landed on his left wrist. There should have been two Storage Brands there. One with all his important stuff, and the other with the clothes Rakin had given him. Yet, he could only see the latter.

Shit.

For a brief moment, the pain and worries about Virus Integrity vanished. His eyes darted all around the room searching for his stuff. Maybe his Brand simply ran out, and Marie placed the items somewhere?

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

With effort, he dragged himself to his feet and shuffled to the table in the center of the room. There, he found the Lesser Communication Shard and his Mask of Silent Oath. Nothing else, though. No Blueprint Shards. No Virality Gems. And no weapons from the invasion.

A sorrowful whine filled his mind, followed by a pulse from the Root's tattoo.

Oh… Isaac's eyes closed. You needed the power? So that's what I felt?

Another pulse answered him.

No… It's fine. Really. Without Maker's Shell, I would have died. You did well. Thank you.

Warmth spread across his arm again. Isaac smiled and pocketed the Communication Shard while leaving the mask for now. He planned to go back to sleep anyway. After he messaged his friends, of course.

The communication menu activated, and he quickly fired off a short note to everyone. Just that he was fine and recovering in Silent Oasis. Marie received it without issue, but according to the Interface, James and Elaine were out of range for now. On second thought, he also messaged Daryl. Better to let the man know he was still alive.

And now, sleep.

He could go out and check how the Oasis was holding up, but he simply had no strength to do that now. As such, he returned to the bed. Just before he could sit down, though, the door cracked open. A gasp reached his ears, followed by another familiar call of his name.

"Isaac! Thank god, you are really awake."

Then, in the span of about five seconds, he was hugged tight and released. When did Marie become so fast? Or was he just that slow? He didn't get to dwell on it, as the woman started ranting.

"Don't you ever dare to appear before me like that again! I might be a healer now, but I'm not qualified for shit like this. Almost gave me a heart attack when you collapsed."

Isaac blinked, his tired mind barely registering all the words said.

"I'm sorry?" he said, unsure.

Marie took a deep breath. "No, no, no. Don't mind me…" She exhaled loudly. "I'm just glad you're okay. It's… a lot to process. You were gone for days, and then your live stream appeared. And I think I've been awake for like th—"

Isaac raised his hand to stop her. "Wait, what? Go back a moment. My live- what?"

Marie froze, then closed her eyes for a moment. "Right…" she muttered. "You have no idea. We better sit down. I bet there's a lot we both want to know."

And sit down they did. Marie also offered him a Normal-grade healing potion when she noticed he could barely move. That was also when he discovered he had been asleep for almost a full day, not just a few hours. Calling it a surprise was an understatement.

Apparently, the debuff to his regeneration was much stronger than he had thought. Even worse, according to Marie, her healing did almost nothing to help him when he first returned. Thankfully, the potion worked right away. Small mercies.

From there, they moved to the more important topic. His invasion.

Isaac gave Marie a quick rundown of his journey. The first hunts and struggles. Meeting Harry. Hunting with the strange man. And then the final few hours before ascension to Infamy S-rank.

There, Marie stopped him and told him exactly what happened. What Fisk told them.

By the end of it, he could barely keep his eyes open.

"So they showed you everything," he muttered, more to himself than to Marie.

Yet she still answered. "To us, at least. Not sure about other planets. It was… quite the experience."

Isaac snorted, looking down at his hands. "That's one way to put it. Honestly, before I got that new skill, I thought that might be it. That I finally bit more than I could chew."

"But you didn't," Marie said, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. "You survived and even gave us a lead… well, for a few hours at least."

Isaac's head never moved up so fast. "What? Lead?"

She nodded, smiling. "For over twelve hours, Earth was in first place. Shows we aren't so far behind after all."

"That's…" he began, only to trail off.

Going into it, he had never thought his invasion alone could change the tide of the war. A million points were a lot, sure, but this was a conflict on a planetary scale. Countless Hosts were earning points every second. And yet, somehow, he had managed to push Earth over the line, to give it a temporary lead.

"Wow," was all he managed in the end.

Marie chuckled. "Wow is right. According to James, total chaos took over the Battleworld when the ranking changed. You did this, Isaac. Everyone is now fighting twice as hard because they finally believe we have a chance."

"But we still lost the lead," Isaac said, feeling like he had to point out the obvious.

The woman just shrugged. "And so what? There's still plenty of time left to regain it. And now we know we can. I even heard that some of those who refused to go out into the wild are at least trying now."

Isaac smiled at that. The points, the level-ups? They were good, great even. But hearing about the impact his invasion had? That felt like a true victory.

"I see…" he muttered.

Marie patted his shoulder again and stood up. "Get some more rest. You deserve it, Isaac. When you wake up, I will see about getting you some real food."

Just then, he yawned. "Thanks."

Before long, Marie left the building again, leaving Isaac alone in the darkness. He closed his eyes and allowed the sleep to take him. It did so in a matter of seconds, but instead of letting him rest, a familiar field of crimson flowers greeted him in his dreams.

He sighed.

"Rakin."

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