’I need Sis’s cloning skill now.’
He would spend the next few hours dealing with the Sinkhole Worms. During that time, he wouldn’t be able to process any of the harvest. The delay would slow the city’s growth, and they were already on a tight schedule.
As for delay that would happen by his death, Isaac wasn’t worried about it.
Alice was still at home. He doubted she could take more than two minutes to revive him. After that, Isaac would have Catherine’s skill, and he could handle his harvest, and deal with Sinkhole Worms at the same time.
’Alright. Let’s start upgrading everything.’
He took another breath and focused.
’System, share the SSS-rank Talent Fragment with Alice.’
Isaac had earned three SSS-rank Talent Fragments after completing his trial. Two had gone to Emily and Celia. The last one had been set aside for Alice.
As soon as he gave the command, new text appeared in front of his eyes.
Talent Upgraded: Saintess (SSS) → Saintess (SSS+)
A new skill appeared under the Talent.
...
Third Talent Skill: Divine Retribution (SSS) (Unlocked at Initiate rank, Level 10)
Skill Level: 1
Effect: Calls down a pillar of holy fire on a designated target or area. Damage scales with the target’s sins (killing, soul corruption, etc.). Undead and demons take triple damage and are banished if defeated.
Cost: 1200 Mana
Cooldown: None
...
Isaac inhaled sharply.
Damage scales with sins like how many people you’ve killed?
In this world, every awakened fighter had killed hundreds of monsters. The higher their level, the more they had killed to reach that point.
So the stronger the person, the greater the damage they would take from this skill.
And because it scaled with sins and corruption, it would practically melt undead and demon-type enemies.
He grinned.
’System, share the skill! Share the Talent Fragment I gave her and the upgraded Talent too!’
Text flooded his vision again.
[Divine Retribution skill gained.]
[Talent Fragment SSS+ x1, Talent Fragment SSS x1 gained]
[Would host like to combine Talent Fragments?]
"Yes."
There was a short pause before the system responded.
[Total Talent Fragments: Transcendence x1, SSS+ x2, SSS x1]
[Fusing Talent Fragments...]
[Total Talent Fragments: Transcendence x2, SSS x1]
Isaac smiled.
Now I just need two more Transcendence Talent Fragments to reach the next Talent level.
He didn’t waste time.
’System, upgrade Alice’s Miracle of Grace with the skill improvement card I have.’
The changes appeared immediately.
...
Miracle of Grace (SSS → SSS+)
Radius: 50m → 100m
Targets: 15 allies → 30 allies
Revival: One ally → Two allies (Cooldown unchanged: 20 days; requires two Divine Stone Fragments)
Passive: When an ally is healed to full, they gain:
• Defense: +20% → +40%
• Movement Speed: +20% → +40%
Duration: 1 minute → 2 minutes
...
Isaac raised an eyebrow.
The skill became twice as strong.
Radius doubled, number of targets doubled, buffs doubled.
The only thing that didn’t change was the revival cooldown. Even so, gaining two resurrections instead of one made the entire ability far stronger than before. It wasn’t what Isaac expected, but it was still a solid improvement.
’System, share Alice’s upgraded skill!’ he thought. The feeling of growth always brought a rush of excitement through him.
The notification appeared instantly.
Miracle of Grace (SSS) has been upgraded to Miracle of Grace (SSS+).
Isaac smiled to himself.
’I wonder how surprised Alice is right now... She’s probably staring at her status screen in shock.’
’Now her skill cooldown should be finished.’
Which meant one thing.
’I can kiss Professor Catherine.’
He wasn’t planning on dying again if he could help it.
Before that happened, he intended to test whether he could share her bloodline or physique. If he could share it, then the death penalty from the kiss should be negated.
As for rank progression, that was something he needed to think carefully about later.
If he didn’t max out each rank before moving on, he’d lose out on stat boosts, titles, and evolution bonuses from his physique. That wasn’t an option.
He pushed the thought aside and returned to work.
’System, share the Skill Improvement Card I used on Alice!’
Skill Improvement Card gained.
’Use it on Seed of Providence!’
The screen shifted again.
...
Seed of Providence (SSS+ → Transcendence)
Active Effect (New):
• Group Germination — instantly germinate and mature all seeds of a single crop type.
Passive Effects (New):
• 20% chance of producing a double harvest.
• 5% chance of producing a rare variant crop.
...
Isaac froze.
He had expected the ability to germinate large batches at once. That part was logical. But the new passive effects...
They were insane.
The chances—20% and 5%—looked low at first glance. But Isaac wasn’t planting a few seeds at a time. He was planting hundreds. Even thousands.
With those numbers, he was guaranteed successful triggers every harvest cycle.
’If I get rare variants, I can use my Class skills to extract their genes and feed those genes into the normal crops. That will upgrade them even further.’
’And those rare crops give seeds too... meaning I can evolve everything at a ridiculous speed.’
This was his first Transcendence-rank skill, and he couldn’t help feeling satisfied. The effects were simple, but powerful in a way that mattered long-term.
He licked his lips and leaned back a little.
He couldn’t wait to deal with the Sinkhole Worms, finish his Lord Quest, and then test his new skill properly.
For now, there was one more thing he needed to handle.
Isaac turned toward the empty space behind him.
"Professor, there’s something I want to talk to you about."
Silence filled the room for about two seconds.
Then she appeared.
Catherine materialized behind him, and without hesitation, wrapped her arms around his neck. She leaned down so her hair brushed across his cheek. Isaac tilted his head back a little, meeting her eyes.
Their faces were close enough that their noses almost touched.
She gave him a small, teasing smile.
"What did you want to talk about? Don’t tell me it’s about last night. Did you get addicted already?"
Isaac returned the smile. "Yes. I did get addicted to you."
Her expression froze for half a second.
The reaction wasn’t dramatic, but it was enough. She didn’t expect him to say it so directly.
Before she recovered, Isaac moved.
He raised his hand and placed it behind her head. His fingers slid into her hair. He didn’t hesitate.
He lifted himself slightly and pressed his lips to hers. Her lips were soft, and plump. Isaac could taste a faint sweetness.
The system activated the moment their lips touched.
[Bonded Blessings System activated.]
[Marriage Contract formed with Catherine Lorraine, the Devoted Celestial Shadow.]
The effect hit both of them instantly.
Vitality surged out of Catherine. At the same time, Isaac’s vitality surged out of him. But the amounts were nowhere close.
Catherine had reserves beyond what most people could ever dream of. Isaac did not.
Everything he had was stripped from him in less than a second.
Their vitality mixed between them, forming something new, something he didn’t even get the chance to look at.
Catherine jerked back and stared at him, eyes wide with shock and fear. Her hands tightened on his arms.
"Isaac—"
He couldn’t hear the rest.
His vision warped. His thoughts broke apart. There wasn’t even enough time to try sharing her bloodline or physique. There was nothing except blankness as his body collapsed from the sudden loss of all vitality.
He didn’t even had time to feel pain.
His skin split in thin lines. Blood slipped from his nose, ears, and eyes.
He had no strength left to stand or even breathe.
He died instantly.
His body fell forward, and Catherine reached out on reflex, her expression twisted with panic she’d never shown to anyone else.
And the world went dark for Isaac.