Elaine had absolutely no intention of turning back to human form; that much was obvious. Despite the questions tossed her way, she just kept bouncing around like a rabbit—or well, a fox—on Adderall, yipping and tagging them like it was some kind of game. And maybe it was, at least for now.

Isaac would have said something, maybe even tried to catch her, but decided against it. He remembered the euphoria of his first flight too well. Back then, he also didn't want to transform until he had slaughtered a small group of Wretched. So giving Elaine some time to play around and get used to her Legacy wasn't really a problem.

They couldn't move yet anyway.

Time to completion: 58 seconds.

Virus advancement. The third stage. What it would bring, he had no idea. But even if last time the improvement was small, it had definitely been noticeable. A boost to attribute efficiency alone had been solid. Now add to that the enhancement of pretty much every aspect of Viron… yeah, Isaac couldn't deny he was eager to see what came next.

More of the same, just better? Something completely new?

Guess I will find out soon enough, Isaac thought as the timer dropped to the final fifteen seconds. He stepped away from his team and leaned against one of the nearby trees. He knew very well what was coming next.

Pain.

It started from his heart, like a small flame trying to burn him from the inside out. Then, it spread, coursing through his veins like molten iron that wanted but couldn't spill out of his body. Still, the process was far from done.

The inferno inside his chest finally broke free, consuming his muscles, bones, and organs within seconds. Isaac grimaced, snapping his eyes shut as he fought to stay upright. By now, he had gone through much worse. This burning was nothing compared to how his flesh cooked from the Minotaur's flames.

As if agreeing with him, a slow melody began to play in his ears, the thrum of Symphony of Blood coming right from his Origin. It couldn't do much, not when his entire body was changing, adapting to the increased power of his Virus, but the noise still soothed some pain. He almost smiled.

You might love torturing me, but at least you don't leave me alone. Thanks…

Minutes, maybe more, passed as Isaac stood there rooted, his breath ragged. The pain ebbed, leaving behind a dull, almost pleasant ache. His Viron also returned under his control, its natural wildness waking him up from the trance the Symphony helped him to slip into.

He blinked. Once, then twice. There were people before him. A soft hand on his shoulder. He looked up, meeting a pair of warm brown eyes framed by long, dark hair.

Isaac leaned back, sighing.

"I'm fine," he muttered. "Just my Virus advancing."

Elaine pulled her hand back, narrowing her eyes. "Are you sure? You were out of it for almost ten minutes."

Huh… that's a record, he thought, stopping the surprise from showing on his face. Instead, he smiled and nodded at the trio gathered before him. "Yeah, I'm sure. It wasn't even that painful. Just a bit disorienting and tiring…"

"I can give you my buff," Marie offered. "It won't last long, but it should wake you up."

He waved her off. "I'm good, really. Thanks. Now, give me a moment. Need to check what this stage three changed."

And so, ignoring his team for the time being, Isaac called forth the one Interface notification waiting for him. It was quite a long one. Good.

Congratulations, Host! Your Virus has advanced to the Assembly stage. Viron potency, production rate, and storage capacity have been slightly enhanced. Your resistance to the Broken Strain has increased. Attribute effectiveness enhancement raised by 15% (Total: 20%).

You now possess three Mutagen slots. The odds of reawakening your Origin have significantly increased. Your Virus is now capable of forcing your Legacy to advance to its next growth stage. Do you wish to proceed?

Isaac's brow shot up. He definitely hadn't expected his new Virus stage to influence both his Origin and Legacy. This reawakening… it really had to be important if the Interface was starting to mention it more and more. Still, that was a problem for later. He had the next growth stage to obtain first.

He looked back at his team. "Okay, guys, back up a bit. I gotta check something real quick. And please don't panic if I look like I'm dying again."

Based on the looks he received from the trio, they had to be questioning his sanity. And well, he couldn't blame them. That said, being sane was overrated these days anyway.

Isaac grinned and gave the Interface his answer.

Yes.

Right away, his body shifted, turning into his raven form. Yet, the process was far from instantaneous. Just like the last time, pain erupted from his Origin and the spark holding his Legacy. He felt his bones breaking, muscles tearing, and other weird things happening to his body he couldn't even begin to describe.

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If this doesn't give me a tier of Pain Resistance, I don't know what will.

Little by little, the control of his body returned as the transformation came to an end. Isaac huffed and, with the help of his wobbly wings, raised to his feet. That was also when he took the first glance around him.

Oh wow…

This reaction didn't come because his sight changed again. No, that remained pretty much the same. Rather, thanks to the new growth stage, the world around him no longer felt quite so oversized compared to his human form.

Sure, there was still a difference, but as he hobbled toward his wide-eyed teammates, he now easily reached their stomachs with his beak alone. He pretty much doubled his size from the adult stage.

Sneaking might be a bit harder now. Nah, worth it.

Even ignoring his improved size, his entire body felt stronger, powerful. More than that, alongside the Viron coursing through every inch of his form, there was now something else next to it. An energy that dwarfed what he usually used. An energy he knew very well by now.

Immortal Mana.

Despite the questions coming his way from his team, Isaac ignored them and summoned the Interface. He was still in the clean mode of his transformation. Immortal Mana shouldn't have any access to his body, yet there it was.

Congratulations! Your Legacy has advanced to its final growth stage (Elder). Thanks to your newly improved resistance to Immortal Mana, a trace amount of it will now always course through this form, subtly enhancing your capabilities. This effect is now harmless.

Note: To further improve your Legacy, it must evolve. You have not met the basic evolution requirements yet. Good luck, Host.

Even though there was no mention of a new Inheritance, a weight dropped from Isaac's shoulders when he read that the Mana was harmless. Getting a time limit on his base form would have been a massive disappointment. Instead, he was just getting more power.

Nice.

Then there was the evolution. He was about to ask the Interface about those basic requirements, but just then, James crouched before him, waving a hand in front of his eyes.

"Oi, boss," he called. "You still with us?"

Isaac stifled a sigh and cawed with a nod.

James grinned. "Gotta say, if you keep growing like this, you will be giving us rides soon."

Isaac squawked. Like hell he would. He was a bird, not a damn horse. They could figure out their own way to fly.

James raised his hands in surrender. "Kidding, kidding. Though, now that I think of it…" His gaze traveled to Elaine for a moment. "You're now bigger than the princess' Legacy. You could be like a bomb squad. Come from above and drop an angry fox on a group of monsters. I'm telling you, tactical genius."

"Never gonna happen," Elaine protested, crossing her arms.

At the same time, Isaac felt an overwhelming urge to slam his head into a tree. Bomb squad, really? Where did the older man get these ideas?

Don't think about it. It's for the best, he thought. Interface, tell me what those basic evolution requirements are.

To his relief, the command worked.

First Legacy Evolution Requirements:

- Reach level 20

- Reawaken your Origin one time

This again…

Level twenty was simple enough. He just had to keep killing monsters, and sooner or later, he would reach it. But the reawakening? He still had no idea how to go about that aside from getting more Essence of Blood or something similar.

Isaac grimaced.

Trial and error it is, I guess…

After a quick explanation to the team about Legacy evolutions and what might come next, they moved out of the Rotborne Woods and into the plains. Just as planned, Isaac stayed in the air, scouting ahead and guiding them through the open land while keeping an eye out for trouble.

Most of the time, their tactic worked. But every now and then, for reasons he couldn't guess, small groups of monsters would break formation and head straight for his team. In those cases, they had to fight, and that was pretty much it. No other choice.

Not that anybody complained. As much as they wanted to get to LA fast, they also couldn't halt their growth and ignore every beast. That just wouldn't work, not when sooner or later, they would reach territories with monsters equal or stronger than them.

And so, they fought, killing almost everything that dared to step into their path. Over four hours into their faster-than-average jog, they only had to take a detour once. And that was because Isaac didn't want them to face over a hundred mutated deers.

Low threat or not, with numbers like that, it didn't matter. Especially not out in the open.

Just how big is this place? He wondered, scanning the lands ahead. Even now, after hours of flying, he still couldn't see the end of those plains. They stretched on and on.

Wait… Is that what I think it is?

Isaac paused, releasing a loud caw to tell his team to stop. Then, he pushed his wings faster, climbing a bit higher to get a better angle at his new discovery.

Yeah… Yeah, it is…

Far away, easily two or maybe even three miles away from his current position, he spotted something that didn't belong to the plains untouched by humanity. Until now, he had only seen forests, rock formations, or twisted natural structures that might have been monster nests. But this was different.

Buildings, modern buildings, or rather ruins of them. They stood bundled together, almost as if something ripped out a tiny part of a city and placed it in the middle of nowhere.

From this distance, it was hard to tell the exact details, but he could still tell there were about seven to eight buildings there in a varied state of ruin. Some were little more than heaps of rubble with a few walls still standing, while others were more or less whole, with some holes in the walls or with upper floors gone.

Isaac would have frowned if he could in this form.

He didn't want to sound paranoid, but there was no way the Overseer left a scrap of the old world here by accident. Either this was some kind of a trap, or they were finally getting closer to the next territory, and this was the first sign of it. Whatever it was, they couldn't just ignore it. Nests they could pass, but a total unknown?

Definitely not. Besides, the ruins were in their path. Sacrificing an hour or two to explore them shouldn't be that much of a waste. However, that really depended on what they found inside.

Gotta let them know first.

With that, Isaac dived toward his team. Maybe this was for the best. He had been growing bored of just flying forward and killing the occasional monster that got in his way. They might be getting stronger, but still not enough to give him a real challenge.

Soon though…

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