Justin tensed, waiting for something to happen, but after a few seconds he couldn’t feel anything.

  At least, nothing except for the refreshing feeling from the level up leaving his body.

  No grand reversal of bodily control came, no war over his mind broke out.

  The system window just hung silently in the air waiting for him to acknowledge his Feat, which he finally did after nearly a minute of hesitation.

  ‘Maybe I was overly worried about the points affecting the parasite? Perhaps my body really has become just my body, now and forever.’

  Based on his current, captivating appearance he wasn’t so sure if that was something to celebrate, but the idea that he might not have to fight for control in the future was relieving nonetheless.

  Besides, perhaps things wouldn’t always be so terrible now that he had true control over his body.

  Justin’s recent evolution came to mind. While similar to volta class promotions in that daemon evolutions only occurred once at the beginning of each major grade, barring E-Grade, the myriad paths that they afforded might theoretically allow Justin to return to a form resembling his prior self.

  But Justin wasn’t vain enough to prioritize that over power.

  Power, strength, and everything that came with it was still the end goal of all creatures with the system, Justin knew that well enough. Forget evolution, with enough energy acting as he willed, there would surely come a time where such a thing could be changed at the snap of his fingers.

  Devastating battleship fleets in the hundreds of thousands, tearing surface-civilizations asunder, incapacitating galactic trade routes, all of these things awaited him at the limits of individual strength according to what he had heard.

  Though such stories mostly came from voltas who were acting outside of the law, as civilizations nearly always kept their most effective warriors under secrecy as strategic resources.

  Regardless, that was the level he aspired to reach. That all ambitious lifeforms desired: the truest freedom derived from being at the pinnacle of individual might.

  Until then however, he resolved to make the most use of his daemonic system’s benefits.

  Justin opened the Feat window and at once was greeted with a full menu of options not too dissimilar from how the evolution window had been.

  [Talent Selection]

  [Leathery Flesh (E)]

  [Strength Talent: Transmutes the daemon’s outer layer of flesh into a leathery hide. Depending on the inherent qualities of the daemon’s race this can further its toughness by up to a factor of three, as a non-variable flat bonus. Life level promotions will not improve this talent.]

  …

  [Modular Scarification (E)]

  [Endurance Talent: Allows for the conversion of scar tissue from a typical wound to another kind of tissue. Life level promotions will have an unpredictable effect on this talent and the body of the Origin.]

  …

  [Carrion Digestion (E)]

  [Strength Talent: Allows the daemon’s anatomy the ability to digest the dead organic matter of other species and use it to slowly refill their cellular energy stores. Life level promotions will affect digestion efficiency and speed.]

  …

  [Foul Breath (E)]

  [Intelligence Talent: Refits the each pore of the daemon’s body into an aerosolizer for hazardous gases, converting normal waste matter of the body into fumes that can induce special ailments. Life level promotions can improve this effect to incubate disease in conjunction.]

  …

  [Uneasy Presence (E)]

  [Charisma Talent: A portion of the daemon’s energy is cycled to exude a threatening aura, allowing it to ward off or scare lower level creatures, or instill them with negative mental effects. This talent is not strengthened by promotions in life level.]

  Justin hadn’t gotten halfway down the list before cursing his past self for never having received a talent.

  ‘They all seem so strong, I can’t believe this is just within E-Grade.’

  Perhaps if he had owned a talent before the fight against the Herald, they might have pulled through easier. Perhaps Heinrich, the real one, and himself might have made it off this rock.

  But there was no use in getting caught up by regrets, thought Justin as he returned to the menu.

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  ‘The subtle indicator that each one is aligned with a certain attribute is interesting. Though I’ve never seen this kind of display, I’m not thick enough to not understand what it means.’

  Each of the talents had a word next to them: charisma, intelligence, strength, and so on that put them in relation to one of the seven attributes, sometimes called stats. This meant that the efficiency of these talents likely rested upon the degree of investment into the relevant attribute that the daemon had, which unlike with skills was variable.

  Skills, on one hand, could not normally be chosen from outside of one’s specialization. A Courser who specialized in Dexterity could have a speed related skill, but not a skill for reading minds. However, as Justin was realizing, these same limits did not apply to Talents, which were the other side of the coin. Talents were basically the system-rewarded passive bonuses to the energy-fueled actions that were Skills.

  Talents could be chosen outside of one’s specialization, but unless that person had a significant investment across multiple attributes, this would be a waste. It was probably the reason why multiclassing across volta classes was so rare, Justin realized.

  As for the choices presented to him, Justin immediately had his own opinions on what was viable.

  Leathery Flesh, to begin with, was completely infeasible for Justin as a defense-oriented skill. He had enough points in strength for it to be effective, but the description made it sound like it only improved the durability of his skin, or his outermost layer.

  To Justin, using this opportunity on defense wasn’t worth it unless it protected him comprehensively. Unlike the starfish, he wouldn’t have the weakness of a single point like his eyes, but he would still be vulnerable to internal damage. Small cuts from creatures within his grade might not be a problem, but any blunt attack would still rattle him like a drum, and the talent didn’t seem to improve as he evolved either.

  ‘Though it could have come in handy during the fight against that slime’s acidic coating, I wouldn’t trade the others on the list for it. Tentacles regenerate anyways.’

  The next one was Modular Scarification, which had a description as creepy as its title.

  ‘I don’t think I’ve ever fought a creature or daemon with this kind of ability before. Is it another defensive one?’

  No, it didn’t seem so.

  It was worth noting that while its inclination was toward Endurance, that didn’t mean it would have anything to do with defense.

  While Endurance-oriented skills and the Clerics that used them could be extremely proficient at defending, it was really the Strength-attribute specialized Pugilists that was best known for it.

  Investing in endurance mostly allowed for the withdrawal of one’s cellular energy to become more efficient, and work faster in conjunction with the body’s natural processes. In that way Clerics earned their moniker as a mix between Puglists and Espers, as they combined the heightened machinations of biology with the mysterious energy that Espers used for an endless range of abilities.

  Yes, Justin hadn’t aspired to the class for no reason. Clerics were just as strong as they sounded.

  But the Talent had an odd description, so despite his past enthusiasm toward the class he felt averse to choosing this one. There were surely others that were better, right?

  ‘Carrion Digestion. This one looks similar to my Consume skill.’

  The largest difference between Talents and Skills was their consumption of cellular energy. While activating Assimilation and Consume both cost him a little bit of energy each time he did so, he was able to regenerate it in a relaxed setting quickly enough.

  But in a fight? That was tougher.

  Justin didn’t have any skills that were strictly offensive at the moment, which suited him as a hive controller, for now. Yet in the future when he doubtlessly would gain some, having a way to recuperate energy in a pinch could be pivotal. This Talent was his best bet for now.

  ‘Next is…Foul Breath?’

  The presence of this option sort of upset Justin. He wasn’t unhappy with its method of use, not completely anyway, but with its resemblance to the foe who had struck him down.

  Justin was no newcomer to the world of conflict, he recognized any advantage he could gain on his enemy couldn't be discarded without consideration first, but the idea of inflicting disease as he grew stronger disturbed him.

  Was it so long spent with Harriet that had affected him? Who would ramble on and on about the unjustified costs of life-saving treatments and the honorable work being done to cure plagues? Or was it remnants of his own sense of morality, something deeply human within his daemon body, that felt the purposeful spread of disease was beyond his ability to accept?

  Justin wasn’t sure, but a part of him felt glad to be feeling disgust at the idea. If anything, it might have represented that a large part of him hadn’t been changed by the parasite’s fusion, that at heart he was still Justin Locke.

  Because again, this was a Talent, not a skill. It wasn’t something he could toggle on and off.

  Fed by his increasing intelligence stat, his pores would become a factory for life-stealing fumes from then on if he chose it. Despite its potential lethality to his opponents, Justin couldn’t rationalize choosing it. Not when his goals all revolved around returning to civilization in a benevolent manner.

  The final one was something just as bad, and it didn’t take long for Justin to come to the same conclusion. He couldn’t very well approach humans with good intentions if fear was the first emotion they felt from his presence.

  ‘That just leaves Carrion Digestion.’

  It had been a much easier decision than evolution. Justin held his finger to the system window, when he stopped above it before selecting.

  ‘It may be the most rational, but is it really the right choice?’

  Perhaps he had needed the reminder that his goal was not to just survive, but to prosper. Whether that meant as the leader of a vast hive, or as an independent daemon, he had to take risks if he wanted to ever return to a level of power resembling his former self.

  That couldn’t be done without putting himself in peril. The threat of death was the most influential motivator for growth, and making himself more safe in a potential conflict wouldn’t allow for that.

  He couldn’t see how the digestive skill would allow him to escape this planet either, but as for another Talent…

  ‘It’s risky, and I don’t understand it at all, but it's also the only Talent on this list that mentions the scourge race, and the Origin. Almost as if it was trying to get my attention.’

  As much as that unnerved Justin, it also assured him of its possibilities.

  He didn’t want to follow any path set for a scourge, but maybe just for a little bit, it wouldn’t hurt to do so.

  [Talent Learned: Modular Scarification (E)]

  [Endurance Talent: Allows for the conversion of scar tissue from a typical wound to another kind of tissue. Life level promotions will have an unpredictable effect on this talent and the body of the Origin.]

  Gestalt. You can visit the artist's page over on and see what other cool things they've done.