Wizard: The exploration panel keeps me pure.

"Hey!"

Ron cursed inwardly as he watched the flock of red-feathered birds approaching him, and took off running. At that moment, he wished he could grow a pair of wings; running on two legs was really too much for a boy who had just turned fifteen.

He had only run a few steps when he stopped. There was no sound behind him, which made him feel a little strange. He turned around and looked back at where he had been standing.

Then he saw a scene that surprised him: the flock of birds behind him stopped behind the rock where he had just hidden, motionless, with only their pairs of crimson eyes fixed on the seal on the ground.

Then, flames slowly began to burn all over the birds.

Dozens of red flame birds, as if performing some kind of mysterious ritual, all rushed towards the "Phoenix Mark" on the ground.

A series of red streaks of light flashed by.

Upon contact with the emblem, it was instantly absorbed and vanished.

The originally gray-black emblem became even brighter after absorbing the red light transformed from the red flame birds, and then slowly floated up.

Ron stared intently at the scene, completely forgetting about his plan to run away.

As time passed, after the last red flame firebird transformed into a streak of light and flew into the emblem that had turned into a brilliant gold in mid-air, a dazzling light shone on Ron, the only human present.

He wanted to dodge, but his eyes saw it, but his body couldn't react in time.

The brilliant golden light instantly merged into his body, and crimson runes appeared on his forehead, eventually forming a bird-shaped pattern.

The "Phoenix Pattern" that had been floating in mid-air had disappeared without a trace.

After the golden light merged into his body, it wasn't long before Ron felt a burning sensation spread throughout his body, as if he were soaking in lava.

Then, a few sparks flashed across the rune on his forehead, and his body seemed to undergo some unknown change.

A faint smoke rose from his body, and the hair on his eyebrows, head, and all parts of his body began to curl. Even the light-colored areas on his wizard robes gradually began to turn yellowish-brown.

Lines of prompts kept appearing on the panel:

[Morok Firefeather Bird bloodline modification in progress... 1%, 2%...]

[Constitution +0.3, Mental Strength +0.1...]

Physical pollution +0.1%, mental pollution +0.01%...

As more and more blue smoke rose from the body, the information on the panel began to change faster.

But Ron was completely unaware of all this; his consciousness was gradually fading, and he lost all awareness of what was happening in the outside world.

With a loud "boom," a pale golden flame erupted from the top of his head and then spread throughout his body, bringing him back to a slightly clearer state.

Endless pain followed.

"ah."

A scream echoed through the underground space, and strange changes began to occur on his body.

The fur that was originally on its body has now been replaced by red feathers, long claws have begun to grow on its limbs, and its eyes have changed from light green round pupils to reddish-gold vertical pupils.

Images began to appear before my eyes.

A large, golden-red bird stood on one leg atop a giant tree that looked as if it were cast from gold. Below it, countless creatures lay prostrate, seemingly in worship or performing some kind of sacred ritual.

And he himself was among them.

Ron didn't know what had happened, but subconsciously, he began to feel awe for the great bird on the sacred tree and wanted to imitate the actions of the creatures around him, worshipping the great bird standing on the tree.

Just as he was about to kneel down, a familiar scene appeared, stopping him in his tracks.

A towering flame lit up his eyes, and apart from him, the surface of all the densely packed creatures around him was covered with flames of varying sizes.

"Hey!"

A piercing scream echoed through the space. He stared blankly at everything that was happening. The firelight illuminated the area above in a fiery red glow, and his consciousness began to blur again, unable to distinguish whether what he was seeing was real or an illusion.

Looking directly at the figure of a great being increases physical pollution by 10% and mental pollution by 1.

The scene abruptly ended there, and the suddenly appearing panel in front of him pulled him back from that hazy, unreal feeling.

The moment his consciousness returned to his body, Ron immediately noticed the changes in himself. He was being scorched by raging flames, but he did not feel any discomfort.

"What's going on?"

Ron murmured to himself, while simultaneously opening his control panel. Upon looking at it, he immediately understood his current situation:

Ron Seraphim

Age: 15/81

[Energy: Magic 7/7]

[Attributes: Constitution 4.28 (6.12 after bloodline activation), Spirit 3.82]

[Strength: Low-level Wizard Apprentice]

[Skills: Basic Meditation, Eye of Truth, Wizard's Hand, Lesser Low-Energy Fireball, Fire Feather, Fireball...]

[Pollution Level: Physical 57.3%, Mental 2.43/3.82]

[Bloodline: Moroccan Firebird (Activation 12.4%)]

[The following measures are recommended to reduce mental pollution]

[Option 1: Increase the activation level of the Moroccan Firebird bloodline within the body; Option 2: Learn the Scarlet Eye Meditation Technique; Option 3...]

Looking at the drastically changed panel, Ron was first stunned, and then overjoyed.

"They obtained the inheritance so easily? And improved by so much?"

As he carefully observed these changes, he heard faint calls in his ear: "Here..."

Ron frowned, thinking that the hallucination from before had not completely dissipated.

"here......"

But the continuous sounds in his ears made him change his mind. Once might have been a hallucination, but so many times meant there was definitely something going on.

His mind was racing, and he was considering whether he should follow the voice's instructions and go to the small island in the middle of the lava lake.

Indeed, after confirmation, the sound did come from the wooden house on the island.

He looked thoughtful, but his feet had already begun to retreat in the direction he came from.

I have already achieved my goal and obtained the inheritance, so there is no need to create any more trouble.

Moreover, based on his years of experience reading novels, this voice sounded very strange and didn't sound like a good person at all.

So Ron decided to run away.

Unfortunately, things were clearly not as simple as he thought; the owner of the voice obviously didn't want him to leave so easily.

"here......"

This time, the voice in his ear was louder, and the tone changed from persuasion to seriousness, but Ron remained unmoved and quickened his pace.

Just as he turned to run, the voice seemed to become angry:

"come over......"

This time, the other party did not repeat the previous words, but spoke directly in a commanding tone.

Ron stopped running back the way he came, and instead turned and walked like a puppet toward the island in the center of the lava lake.

"Damn it!"

He cursed inwardly; clearly, this was not his own choice.

At this moment, his body was completely out of control.

Ron walked all the way to the lava lake, and just when he thought he would stop there, a pair of fiery wings suddenly appeared behind him.

"When did this come about?"

Staring in horror at the thing that had suddenly appeared on his body, Ron tried his best to control his body so that he wouldn't make any movement.

However, it was all in vain in the end.

With a gentle flap of his wings, he took to the air and flew towards the island.

Ron kept thinking about what might happen next and how he could escape. But even as he landed in the cabin, he couldn't come up with a solution.

Just then, the voice entered his ears again, but this time, the other person's words were no longer just the two repeated words from before:

"Go home, go home!"