Noah had been unable to access his [System Interface] since Ronan had withered his lifeforce. The distress of learning of Alex and Mister Kim’s deaths had shocked him into recovering enough lifeforce that he was no longer weaker than a blank.

“I’m undergoing [Rite of Awakening],” Noah mumbled quietly.

“Did you say something, Noah?” Louis asked.

“Ahem. I said that I’m going to awaken another ability,” Noah cleared his throat before speaking louder.

“Why didn’t Basil react?” Louis questioned Roger.

“He did,” Roger stated.

“So, if the [Rite of Awakening] is because you face your anguish. How do you turn it into an ability? Time?” Louis continued.

“I think I can answer that. Time won’t do anything. My second ability didn’t awaken for weeks after the Arrival of the Pylons. I holed up in a warehouse for weeks. It wasn’t until I got trapped in the middle of a horde of soulless with nowhere to run that I awakened.” Noah answered.

“Pylons? Wait, second ability?! This is your third trial?”

“Pylons are what the aliens call their spaceships. Yes, this is my third trial,” Noah patiently replied.

“Can you tell me your abilities?”

“I only have control over one of them, but my other one is a higher tier. So arguably more powerful.”

Noah couldn’t resist the impulse and stepped back as the forgotten feeling of lifeforce surged from his Origin Crystal into his spine. Six flawless, glowing, ethereal arms sprouted from his back in a burst of purple light. He felt complete once again, he had a long way to go for a full recovery, but that didn’t matter right now. Noah had reclaimed the limbs he lost.

“Woah!” Louis exclaimed as the people gathered all stared at the [Six Spirit Arms] emerging from Noah’s back.

“This is my first ability, called [Six Spirit Arms]. My [Rite of Awakening] began right at the beginning of the [Trial Phase]. I was a target from the onset. The ‘facing your despair’ theory makes a lot of sense. During the Arrival, I was midway through a date. To sum things up, she disappeared with the bartender.”

“Oh, Noah. I’m sorry to hear that!” Louis exclaimed.

“It happens to the best of us.” Avery agreed sympathetically.

“Ahem, yeah. Well, the next day, a soulless had me pinned beneath it while I struggled to hold it at bay. That’s when I awakened the [Six Spirit Arms] ability. My second ability helped me stay alive and fight amid a crowd.” Noah cleared his throat when recalling the feeling of rejection.

“Your ability gave you extra hands to hold the soulless off you?” Louis asked.

“Yes and no, before I could activate the ability. A friend of mine rammed it off me with a table.”

“You know how my ability was awakened, and my [Rite of Awakening]...” Louis glared at Zane, who had looked up to make eye contact, blowing Louis a kiss.

Louis lost control as green-lifeforce began to gather below his skin while he screamed in a foreign language. Avery perked up as he seemed to understand what was being said. Louis began to charge, splashing in Zane’s direction. His body began to morph with steam coming off him as his overheating body became dyed red and horns grew from his brow with his teeth elongating. Noah caught Louis with his ethereal arms as stormed past. Louis struggled helplessly in his grip as he restrained him.

“Calm down! He’s not worth it.” Noah tried to placate the enraged boy.

Louis seemed to hear his words as his ability deactivated to return his horned and twisted form to normal. Noah released him from his grip then turned to see the white guard’s smug grin. Noah’s eyes narrowed as a dangerous smile came to his face.

Noah began to advance on the white guard who stood upright and puffed his chest out with a mocking glint in his eye. Avery spoke to the white guard in the same language Louis had used. The man looked taken back for a moment. Noah continued to advance.

The white guard got into a low fighter’s stance, indicating he intended to take the brawl to the ground. Noah’s fist arrived a moment later. The man was thrown savagely across the room onto his back with a splash in the shallow water. Noah had recovered more of his vitality during his mental breakdown. His appearance was still withered, but he no longer looked ancient and frail. But now looked like a man just past his prime. His strength was now almost at his grade-two peak. More than enough to overcome the grade one ability-user.

Before Zane could push himself out of the shallow water, Noah leapt on top of him. His purple glowing, ethereal, spirit hands pinning both of the white guard’s arms to the deck as he rained down heavy punches into the helpless man’s face. It didn’t take long for the man to lose consciousness as Noah’s fists began to distort the man’s face as he caved in the side of his skull.

Red lifeforce appeared beneath the white guard’s skin as his unrecognizable face began to regain shape. Seeing his fists becoming ineffective, Noah pushed the white guard’s head into the ankle-deep water in an attempt to drown him.

The remaining ability-users watched on silently as they witnessed purple light appear once more through Noah’s clothes as his withered state improved once again. Noah felt his rampaging emotions drain away as he felt Zane’s body become limp under his grip. Noah straightened his posture as he hauled the white guard’s limp form out from the water to dangle bonelessly in his grasp.

“Yah!” Noah let out a cry as he suddenly turned and threw the white guard’s body savagely headfirst into the wall with a sickening crack.

The white guard slid down the indented wall, leaving a thin trail of blood as red lifeforce appeared once again to recover his injuries as his ragged breathing returned to normal. The white guard was still alive, but Noah felt his killing intent disappear as weariness overtook him.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, what language is that?” Noah diverted the topic from his outburst.

“French,” Avery answered before Louis was able to.

“Why are you able to speak it?”

“My uncle had a lot of business interests there before the Arrival. Uncle Stuart insisted that I learn as I’m next in line to inherit the family business as he has no children.” Avery answered.

“What’s the other language they speak?” Noah asked.

“Afrikaans, I presume,” Avery stated.

“You would be correct,” Roger confirmed.

“So I take it that the unfortunate fellow leaving the stain on the wall gained his ability after receiving a beating?”

“We could say that.” Noah agreed.

“Desire is driven by necessity. After I was unfortunately caught in bed with the girl I had been courting’s sister, my first awakening happened. She was her twin. How was I supposed to know that it wasn’t her? She insisted that they’re fraternal and not identical twins. But I fear that the wine may have gotten the better of me as I was unable to see any difference between the pair. The scorned woman pursued me with a knife while I clutched my clothes, running naked down the hall. I was cornered at a dead end. That’s when my [Ethereal Form] ability awakened, allowing me to escape. Coincidentally right where the Tyrant had stashed the wine. My prayers had been answered,” Avery recounted his own experience fondly.

“Uncle Joey gained his ability after we become stranded with no food.” Uncle Joey said.

“I was granted the ability to manipulate the wind after we built the sail.”

The boss asked Roger to translate a summary of what had been said. The boss then said something in Afrikaans for him to translate to those gathered.

“The boss says that he needed to reinforce the boat against the threats of the ocean and awakened his [Metal Manipulation] ability after we salvaged wreckage from a drifting boat.”

“How did the girl get hers? She said you already knew.” Avery suddenly asked.