Isaac laced up a spare pair of his work shoes and threw on a thick hoodie he found in the back of his wardrobe. The dark fabric had long since faded to a pale green, but with his jacket now covered in cuts and tears, this was the best he could do. The fingerless gloves he received in the trial went on next, and with that, he was ready to go out.

  Now, if only I had gotten more than three hours of sleep, he thought, fighting back a yawn. Hopefully, some fighting will wake me up.

  The crimson tattoo on his arm shivered again at that, making Isaac snort. He still wasn’t sure how he felt about having a half-sentient weapon bound to his body, but he had to admit that its constant bloodlust was amusing. Even more so when his Symphony of Blood answered the Root’s call with its own eerie tune.

  The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, eh?

  Shaking his head, he ran through a few quick stretches, testing for any lingering pain. There was none. Whatever the gremlin’s slap did to his insides was fixed by his regeneration during his short sleep.

  The corner of his lips lifted slightly.

  With that, Isaac cast one more glance around his living room and approached the exit. Yet, just as his hand brushed the knob, a thought struck him. When was the last time he had checked his full status? Notifications of his progression were all nice and good, but maybe he had missed something in the heat of the trial.

  All right then. He pulled his hand away from the door. Give me the status, Interface.

  Name: Isaac Walker

  Origin: Blood | LVL. 6

  Legacy: Locked

  Virus Stage: I - Attachment (Phase 3)

  Virus Integrity: 100%

  Power: Developed - Tier I

  Agility: Feeble - Tier V

  Toughness: Feeble - Tier IV

  Regeneration: Developed - Tier III

  Insight: Feeble - Tier V

  Never mind, all’s good.

  Still, even as he thought that, his gaze never left the only locked part of his status. He even called up its description again, but just like the last time, it still showed the same thing. Legacy wouldn’t unlock without reaching level ten in his Origin. There was no way around that.

  “Only a couple more then,” he muttered, dismissing the status and opening the door before him.

  With almost no windows to allow the rays of the morning sun inside, the staircase was still mostly dark. That said, Isaac left the flashlight behind and made his way down to the third floor. To his surprise, a little girl was sitting next to the open door to Carol’s apartment.

  She turned to him and ducked into her oversized hoodie.

  He slowed his approach and crouched a few feet away from the girl. “Ella, right?” he asked softly, getting a small nod from her. “Does your mother know you’re here?” Another nod. “And where is she?”

  At this, Ella raised her hand and pointed her finger toward the broken window at the end of the hallway. Isaac stifled a frown and instead offered the girl a smile.

  “Thank you, Ella,” he said, standing up. “You stay here. Your mom will come soon.”

  This time, he got no answer from the young child. She just closed her eyes and retreated into her hood.

  That’s odd, he thought, walking toward the broken window. Why would she go out there? I told her to give me a few minutes. No reason for her to take unnecessary risks when it’s obvious her kid is scared. And that’s only one of them…

  Nonetheless, it wasn’t his place to question Carol’s choices. Maybe with her husband so close, she just wanted to get outside to hear better what was happening there. He was in no place to judge her.

  Let’s see.

  Careful to avoid the sticking-out shards of glass, he climbed through the window, his eyes instantly finding Carol. She was crouched at the edge of the fire escape, watching the dozen or so Wretched wandering the alley behind their apartment building.

  Honestly less than I expected, he commented internally as he crept toward the woman. Not wanting to startle her, he whispered, “Carol.”

  She still flinched at his voice but at least didn’t scream.

  “Isaac,” she murmured, barely audible. “They are getting closer. You can hear it too, right?”

  He nodded. It was hard to miss the noises of constant fighting in the distance. He wouldn’t even be surprised if the Hosts out there also encountered a horde similar to the one waiting in front of this building. The thing that got him, though, was the sheer number of gunshots he had been hearing since he woke up.

  Where did they get all this ammo?

  “You should go back inside,” he said after a moment. “I will handle things from here.”

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  Of course, Carol didn’t give in that easily. “Do you have a plan? There are too many of them…”

  Isaac shrugged. “Like I said, I will handle it. Trust me when I say that my trial was far worse than this.”

  Especially considering the threat of those things, he added in the safety of his mind as he activated Analyze on yet another Wretched.

  Potential Threat: Very Low

  Even the gremlins were stronger. So, despite the big number advantage on the Wretched’s side, he wasn’t too worried. He should be fine if he didn’t let them overrun him.

  “What about a weapon?” Carol pressed. “You plan to fight them with your hands? That’s suicide.”

  Isaac shook his head, and instead of answering with words, he summoned the Root of Blood into his hand. The woman’s eyes widened as she backed off a step.

  “Oh…” she muttered. “What… what is that?”

  “A gift from the Interface for finishing the trial. And let’s leave it at that, okay?”

  Carol nodded without a word, her eyes still on the crimson blade. The initial flicker of fear in her eyes had already faded, replaced by pure curiosity. He couldn’t even blame her for it. Though, the way the Root was preening under the attention was slightly weird.

  Yeah, enough of that, he thought, dismissing the sword.

  Carol blinked as if breaking free from a trance. She let out an awkward laugh and slowly backed toward the window.

  “Take care, Mr. Walker,” she whispered just before she could step back into the building. “And if it’s possible… please bring my husband home.”

  Isaac nodded, and just like that, Carol left him alone on the fire escape, the screeching of Wretched from below filling in the silence. He took a deep breath and resummoned the Root of Blood.

  Time to get to work.

  First, he began by descending to the lowest possible level of the fire escape. There, still unnoticed, he took the count of all the monsters waiting in the alley.

  Sixteen. Could be worse.

  Without another thought, he nudged his Viron.

  The energy instantly dived toward his Origin and then out of his body, creating three clouds of crimson miasma that soon formed into daggers. Isaac’s eyes then locked onto the possible targets, and with a sharp yank, the blades shot toward the chosen Wretched.

  A moment later, three bodies dropped to the ground, with disintegrating blood daggers sticking out of their skulls.

  [Wretched x3 slain.]

  Isaac summoned another salvo of blades, and in return, three more Wretched joined their kin on the dirty alley floor. However, before he could call on more daggers, two monsters sitting below the fire escape finally took notice of him.

  Their low screech alerted every remaining Wretched in the area.

  Isaac clicked his tongue but didn’t stop his Viron from forming three more blades. On instinct, they sailed for the running Wretched, hitting two more in the head while the final one missed by an inch.

  Need to work on hitting moving targets.

  Yet, those kills still brought the number of Wretched down to eight. Sure, more were probably already coming with all the noise the monsters were making, but he would still take those odds.

  The Symphony of Blood roared to life in his veins.

  He stepped forward and vaulted over the fire escape’s railing.

  The Wretched below had no chance to react as Isaac dropped on it like a meteor. Its head hit the ground, cracking open like an egg.

  [Wretched (LVL. 1) slain.]

  So that’s why your threat potential is so low…

  He spun around and swung his sword at another Wretched waiting there. To his surprise, the Root of Blood cleaved right through the beast’s neck, flesh and bone alike. Its headless body fell to the ground, and the weapon in his hand thrummed as it tasted the blood of its first kill.

  No worries. More are coming.

  The final six rushed in from the far end of the alley. Isaac didn’t wait around and faced them head-on. Blood Daggers took down two of them before they even clashed, while the Root carved through another the moment they did.

  The remaining trio tried to reach him with their claws, but he parried with his blade, shearing off a few fingers in the process. Their pained screeches echoed in his ears as his blood sang.

  Weak, he growled, chopping off an overextended arm before finishing the beast with a Blood Dagger to the heart. Even though he mostly used them for range attacks, he found out they were also quite good off-hand weapons.

  Still, he should probably slow down with his skill usage. The daggers didn’t drain much Viron, but even with his abyssal sensing ability, he could already feel a small dip in his reserves.

  As such, he just leaned out of the way of a lunge and sliced the final Wretched across its back. A stab into the neck finished its pitiful life.

  The usual kill notification came as the beast fell, but Isaac ignored it and instead focused on the distant screeches coming from both ends of the alley. The horde had heard him, and at least a part of it was coming for him.

  Good.

  Within a few seconds, more Wretched entered the alley, about a dozen from each direction. The Symphony in his veins moved onto its next song—a stronger and louder one.

  Isaac headed its call and ran toward the nearest group, Blood Draw gathering on his blade.

  Die!

  The wave of blood that exploded from the Root cleaved through the entire front line and even a couple Wretched behind it. Their screeches were cut short just like their lives as they dropped to the ground, dead.

  Still, Isaac didn’t stop.

  Jumping over the fresh corpse in his way, he descended upon the remnants of the small group like a hungry hound. Bolstered by the Symphony and his improved attributes, the beasts could barely fight back as he sliced and diced them apart.

  Even when they found an opening in his assault and managed to land a small cut on his body, Isaac barely felt it. At this point, those transformed former humans were far too weak to harm someone like him. Especially when the blade in his hands cut better than any man-made weapon in existence.

  Then there was also the other thing the Root offered him—guidance.

  It was subtle—a nudge here, a quiet whisper there—but for someone who had zero experience in sword fighting, it was like a holy grail. With each second he fought, his steps grew a bit more confident, his cuts sharper, requiring less effort than before.

  All of this was far from enough to make him a match for someone like the Host he faced during the trial, but Isaac would still take it. Any improvement to his combat abilities was a win.

  And done.

  He grinned as the last of the Wretched in this group fell. A surge of strength rushed through his body, signaling another level-up. He ignored it for now and turned to face the small party coming at him from the other side of the alley.

  To his surprise, the Wretched there were no longer running. Instead, they came to a halt a good distance away from where their kin were slaughtered like pigs. Their yellow eyes flickered between him and the butchered remains of the other beasts.

  Hate still burned in their gaze. But now, there was something more there.

  Fear.

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