"Isaac?" James' voice pulled him back to reality. "You good, man? You look like you just ate something sour."

Isaac snorted, dismissing the lingering Interface messages from his view. "It's just my Sire," he said, looking back at his team. "For someone supposedly all-powerful, the guy's got one hell of a personality. Honestly… you two are kind of alike."

"Huh…" James blinked, scratching his head. "Not sure if that's a compliment or—"

"It's not," Isaac deadpanned. "Dealing with one of you is already more than enough."

The older man gasped, clutching his chest. "That hurt, boss. What did I do to deserve such cruelty?"

Precisely this, Isaac thought with a groan. He was about to retort out loud when Elaine's voice stopped him. Someone apparently grew tired of their bickering. He could sympathize despite being part of all that.

"All right, enough, you two," she said, raising her healthy hand. "You can play later. I would like to know what your Overlord told you, Issac… If you don't mind sharing, that is."

He shook his head. He had planned to tell them everything anyway. At this point in time, knowledge was nearly as valuable as pure power. As someone once said, 'knowing is half of the battle,' or something like that.

"For starters," he began. "The guy said I did well enough to satisfy him but not enough to impress. Gave me a performance review, of all things."

He rolled his eyes at the memory.

"But you passed? He will give you more missions?" James asked, even as his face fell a bit. He refused to raise his gaze.

Isaac noted that reaction for later and nodded. "I think so, yeah. Nothing new for now, but he will contact me soon enough. His words, not mine."

"I still can't believe the bastards who dropped us into this hell are now trying to help us," Marie commented.

"Help?" Elaine scoffed. "We could have died here. They aren't helping us. This is just their own sick little agenda. Be useful or be forgotten. That's it."

Isaac stopped himself from flinching at the venom lacing her every word. She wasn't wrong. He had no doubt in his mind that once Rakin judged him weak, he would never hear from the alien again. But until that day, they might as well use whatever scraps were thrown their way. Morals didn't mean much anymore.

"I guess," Marie's mutter filled the silence again. "Damned if you do, damned if you don't. I just wish…" She trailed off, shaking her head. "Never mind. Isaac, was there anything else?"

Put on the spot again, he gave a quick nod and explained Rakin's advice to hold off using his reward. This sparked a short conversation about manipulating their Origin without skills. They had talked about this a bit before, but nothing really came out of that discussion. Now, the others at least agreed that putting slightly more time into training couldn't hurt. Elaine didn't look too happy for some reason, though.

Then, finally, came the part about the cave. The reaction he got, however, was nothing like what he expected.

"No," Elaine stated firmly after he suggested checking out the Wyvern's home. "We aren't going there."

Isaac narrowed his eyes. "What? Why?"

She growled. "Why? Just look around. Two of us are in no fighting shape, and you want to head back there? What if something worse than that Wyvern is inside? We will be dead before we know it."

Isaac's fists clenched at his sides as he took a deep breath. "Fine," he said, trying to keep his growing irritation out of his voice. "I will go alone then. Quick in and out. I would rather not leave that place as it is, if even Rakin—"

"Oh, Rakin this, Rakin that," Elaine cut him off, scowling. "For fuck's sake, Isaac. Are you even hearing yourself? We agreed to use them to grow stronger, not to follow their every whim. We got what we wanted here. Let's just leave this place behind while we still can. Don't be stupid… please."

Stupid? The word echoed in his head, incredulous. What the hell is stupid about trying to gather more information? Rakin has nothing to do with this. I would have suggested the same thing even if he didn't mention it.

A quieter part of him—one he quickly shoved aside—muttered that maybe she wasn't entirely wrong. But he ignored it and stepped forward, a sharp retort ready to slip from his lips.

Yet, before he could say a word, James and Maire stepped between him and Elaine.

"All right, that's enough from you two," the man said, his easygoing tone gone. "This is not the time or place to argue. I get it. Nerves are at an all-time high after that fight, but what the hell? This ain't like you two."

Both Isaac and Elaine snorted. "You couldn't be more wrong," he muttered.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

James narrowed his eyes at him. "What was that?"

Isaac raised his hands in surrender. "Nothing."

The older man clicked his tongue. "That's what I thought…" He took a step back and looked at everyone. "Listen, I'm with the princess on this. We should just leave." Isaac wanted to protest, but a raised hand stopped him. "But, I get where you're coming from, man. You just could have phrased it better. So here is what we will do. If you're dead set on checking that place out, go while we recover. Just for the love of god, please be careful and don't try to fight anything there."

"You can't be serious!" Elaine protested.

James shrugged, his usual smile making a comeback. "Sure I can. We are a team, and just as Tyler trusted us, I trust you guys to do what you think is necessary. And princess… we both know this isn't really about our safety."

Elaine flinched at that, turning away. "Fine, whatever. Do what you want."

I'm having a Deja vu here, Isaac admitted internally as he let out a sigh. The growing irritation and bits of anger faded from his mind as he offered everybody a smile.

"I won't be gone long. And I swear I will be careful," he said, mostly directing his words at Elaine. Not that she reacted in any visible way. She even refused to look his way.

He stifled another sigh. Apparently, they were far from done with this argument. And to be fair, he got it. The Overlords, directly or indirectly, took away the last of her family and ruined their world. Hell, it was a miracle she even agreed to finish the Patron missions they had received.

Hearing him talk so casually about Rakin just after an intense fight must have been too much for her. In hindsight, he really should have phrased his suggestion better. There was no need to mention the Overlord there.

Live and learn, Isaac. Live and learn, he repeated in his mind. In the end, they were both in the wrong to some degree. I just hope she sees it this way, too.

For now, though, he pushed those worries out of his mind and gave James and Maire another nod. Receiving one in return, he turned to leave. However, today, the world decided to interrupt everything he planned to do.

Before he could reach for his Legacy and force the transformation, a searing pain erupted on his left wrist. It felt familiar, and a quick look down told him why.

There, just beneath his Storage Brand and half-hidden by his vambrace, another tattoo appeared. It looked pretty much the same as the one above it—a simple black band with unknown symbols at the edges. Still, just to make sure, Isaac activated Analyze.

[Storage Brand (T) | Grade: Mystic] A basic and temporary Viron tattoo gifted by the Overlord Chaos. It uses the Host's spirit to store a limited number of items without causing any harm. To access storage, channel Viron into one of the images on the brand. It cannot be used to store more items. Beware: This Storage Brand is temporary and will disappear once all items inside are taken out.

Oh… Isaac blinked. That's one way to deliver my reward, I guess. A one-time use storage…

Yet, as he inspected the Brand in detail, it quickly became obvious that there was more than just one item inside it. No, scratch that, a lot more than just one item. It also wasn't hard to guess what they were.

He looked up and called out to his team. "Hey, anyone want some fresh clothes?"

In the end, only Marie passed on the offer. Her outfit from the spider nest was still in decent shape, thanks to staying in her Legacy form for most of the battle. Elaine and James, though? Those two didn't dare to turn down a fresh change of clothes.

Sure, the woman only muttered a quiet and soft "Thank you" after she received her new stuff, but it was better than the glare from before.

Before long, most of them had swapped their scorched, ripped clothes for the new outfits Rakin had gifted him. They weren't anything special—just Normal-grade light brown trousers and plain white T-shirts. Still, with how much of that stuff was inside his new Storage Brand, they shouldn't have a problem with clothes for another two or three days.

A small, welcome comfort, even if its source left a bad taste in their mouths. Not that any of them were dumb enough to refuse free supplies, their earlier argument notwithstanding.

Now for the real reward, Isaac thought as he reached for the Brand again. He was already on his way to the Wyvern's cave. Let's see.

With a tug on the only image that wasn't a piece of clothing, a small object materialized in front of him. He snatched it from the air before it could fall, his hands closing in around a cold glass vial filled to the brim with crimson liquid.

This looks familiar. Very familiar…

[Perfectly Processed Essence of Blood | Grade: Arcane] Modified low-grade Origin artifact. Through careful and advanced processing, its properties have been altered. Drinking it won't improve the Host's connection to Blood. Instead, its perfect state grants a high chance of reawakening the Origin of Blood upon consumption. This item has no other uses.

Same grade as the feather. Isaac's eyes widened. And there is so much of it…

Last time, he received only a single drop of the Essence, but now? Now he had a full vial. Did quantity matter, given what the description said? He had no idea, but he liked to think it did.

His fingers itched to uncork it and drink it right away. Only the echo of Rakin's message stopped him. A moment later, he grimaced as the alien's words were replaced by Elaine's angry outburst.

Should I? Isaac asked himself, his eyes on the vial. Should I use it?

Elaine, maybe even the others, would probably say yes. That there was no reason to wait despite Rakin's words. But at the same time, he also didn't want to ignore them just because the Overlords were the source of the world's suffering. Sure, it was a good reason, but not good enough for him.

At the end of the day, Isaac wanted to maximize his growth. And if learning better blood manipulation before consuming the Essence could help with that, then the choice should have been easy. Only it wasn't. Not when his only guidance came from a being who treated the world like a game board.

I need a compromise, he decided, pushing the vial into his older Storage Brand.

Twenty-four hours.

That was how long he would give himself to perfect the manipulation of his Origin without a skill. If he succeeded in that time-frame and achieved a breakthrough, great. If not, he was using the vial anyway.

Isaac nodded to himself and transformed into his raven form. The cave was waiting.

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