The old-lady-now-monster's face was getting closer and closer to Noah's. He lost himself for a second as he gazed into her pitch-black eyes. As the beast's snarling mouth drew closer, he could smell the creature's putrid breath as drool began to drip onto his face. Noah's face contorted as he turned his face away in disgust.

Noah was lying on his back with the creatures atop him. He closed his eyes for the second time in just as many days as he resigned himself to his fate. He could no longer face the monster looming in his vision as it threatened to end his life while he struggled to hold it off with the axe handle.

I guess this time, my time's up. Lousy luck really seems to be following me around.

"Hah!"

The weight atop him fell off, Noah opened his eyes to discover that the two monsters seemed to have disappeared. He blinked towards the ceiling in confusion, only to notice that he was staring at the worn underside of a table.

"Don't just lay there, get to work! I think you owe them something, like an axe to the face!" Joseph said as he dragged him out from under the table and helped Noah to his feet.

Noah hefted the axe as he turned around to see that one of the monsters was now crawling unnaturally across the tabletop. The second monster was struggling to emerge from where he was lying prone beneath the table previously.

He let out a heroic roar as he brought the axe down hard on top of the second monster's head, crawling across the ground. This time Noah successfully managed to make contact with the demonic creature. The beast let out a final twitch before it stopped moving, but he couldn't pry the axe free as it became stuck in the creature's skull.

"Are you kidding me?" Noah muttered darkly to himself as he tried to free his old woodcutting axe.

The remaining monster regained its feet while Noah rocked the axe in an attempt to extract it from where it was held fast in the monster's skull, the head just flopped around lifelessly as it followed his motions. The monster atop the table was suddenly interrupted. The creature was struck by a frying pan to the face as it was about to lunge. The beast was knocked over flat onto its back with a screech of displeasure. The monster appeared dazed for a second as its limited brainpower attempted to process where the attack had come from.

As the two monsters apparently only seemed to be focused on Noah, Joseph had gone to the kitchen where he had found the frying pan. When Joseph returned, he saw the pair of monsters pinning the hapless Noah, just in time to use the table to clear the monsters off him. The beasts still focused all of their attention on Noah, utterly oblivious to Joseph's existence. Giving Joseph a chance to charge to the side of the table then surprise the second monster with a frying pan to the side of the head.

The dazed monster was now recovered as it snarled at Joseph while slowly standing back up. Joseph began to frantically smash the side of the cast-iron frying pan into the monster's face repeatedly until the handle broke off. The disorientated monster feebly attempted to push itself to its feet again. Joseph watched helplessly while holding the broken panhandle. Noah felt a surge of strength flow down his spine as he pulled the axe free from where it was wedged inside the first monster.

Noah brought the blunt axe down on top of the second monster's neck with a mighty roar. Completely fragmenting the table beneath the beast as he decapitated the second monster in a shower of splinters. Blood trailed behind the monster's severed head as it flew unimpeded across the room.

"Woah, they really did seem to have it out for you. It was almost like I wasn't even here," Joseph muttered as he looked down at the headless corpse of the second monster Noah had just killed.

"Wait, what's that?"

Joseph squatted beside the second monster's head as he prodded the wound before turning to speak to Noah.

"Take a look at this, what do you think it is?"

Noah looked at where he was pointing before moving closer. What they were looking at was a faintly glowing hexagonal black crystal the size of a thumbnail.

"I don't know, it seems to be flickering like the lights on the side of those spaceships."

"What should we do with it?"

"What are you asking me for? That's still someone's head. You can dig it out if you want to but otherwise stop playing with it," Noah replied in disgust.

"I'm going to dig it out. I think we should see if the other monster has one as well."

"Suit yourself, I'm going to get some water. Do you want some?"

"Mmm"

Joseph was busy focusing on prying the crystal from the neck of the decapitated head, suddenly he stopped moving with a look of surprise. Joseph held up the black crystal in front of Noah. The crystal was no longer flickering like before as it crumbled into dust.

"What happened?" Noah asked curiously.

"I started to zone out, looking at the crystal, the lights drew my attention. Then a wave of energy came out of it into my arm, then I heard the voice again. It said that I had been allocated the role of Alpha based on my performance. I always knew that I was an alpha male!"

Joseph puffed out his chest in an exaggerated, heroic pose. Noah looked at his posturing in amusement.

"What does Alpha role mean?" Noah asked him.

"The System said that a portion of lifeforce acquired by any subordinate users I have will go to me, looks like I'm your boss now"

"Who's following who? This is my house."

Noah went over to the other monster corpse of the old lady to investigate. He found that he could also see another black crystal resting at her skull base through the horrific open wound. He managed to remove the bloody crystal from the cut after a bit of effort.

As Noah looked at the crystal in his hand, he felt his consciousness lose focus as it was drawn towards the single flickering light inside the mysterious crystal. He hesitated a moment before allowing the mysterious force to draw his mind in. A refreshing flow of energy came from the crystal. The power entered through the palm of his hand to spread through his body. The unknown energy flowed through his arm into his spine to the base of his skull. A strange tugging sensation appeared inside Noah's head, it was the location he had felt the pain earlier

[Take caution: the Soulless are attracted to users who are about to awaken abilities due to the unstable nature of the User's lifeforce acting as a beacon.]

[User has completed the Rite of Awakening.]

What's an ability? Besides, that warning is a little bit late.

[Rare Spirit ability awakened: Six Spirit Arms. Six ethereal hands emerge from your back that can become solid when the User wills it to manipulate objects like corporeal hands.]

[Abilities consume the User's stamina, it will deactivate if the User cannot maintain them or falls unconscious.]

The mysterious black crystal in Noah's hand crumbled to dust as he stared at it. Although he knew what to expect, he was still surprised. Joseph was waiting impatiently for Noah to finish absorbing the lifeforce inside the black crystal.

"What about it? Are you an Alpha now too?" Joseph impatiently asked.