“No, I awoke an ability. The voice called the monsters Soulless and said that they are attracted to people who are about to awaken abilities. That must explain why they were so intent on attacking me” Noah replied.

“Haha, I’m still the boss! Minion, what kind of ability do you have?” Joseph teased.

“The System says that it’s a spirit ability called Six Spirit Arms” Noah ignored Joseph’s goading.

“Go on then minion, show me!”

“I’m not sure how to…”

As Noah was speaking an intricate symbol appeared inside his consciousness which vaguely resembled six outstretched arms. He focused on the symbol then felt a flow of energy similar to what happened during the fight earlier flow down his spine.

“Woah!” Joseph exclaimed as he stepped back, he then rushed forwards in excitement to get a closer look.

“Can you move them?”

"What?" Noah asked as he glanced over his shoulder before exclaiming in surprise as he stumbled.

Six faintly glowing purple ethereal arms had appeared on Noah’s back, they were transparent and barely visible, making onlookers doubt their eyes if they were there or not. He tried to wave them around, the six spirit arms responded naturally like they were his real arms.

“They feel and move just like my real arms!” Noah exclaimed with awe.

As they were examining Noah’s new ability, they heard screams getting nearer. Both of them rushed to the doorway to see a group of five people running towards them being chased by three of the Soulless.

“We’ve got to help them!” Joseph cried out as he instinctively started to move towards the group.

“Where are you going, you don’t even have a weapon. Save yourself first!” Noah tried to stop him.

As they were debating on what to do, one of the people in the group. An overweight middle-aged man tripped over as he was quickly overrun by the pursuing Soulless.

“Help me!”

The fat man let out a panicked cry to plead to his companions before letting out a scream of pain as the Soulless began to bite into him. Joseph ran from the doorway towards the remaining four people, while Noah let out a curse as he followed him.

“Quickly this way, get inside!” Joseph yelled at the survivors.

“Noah, you guard the back!”

Noah ran past the group of people while holding his old blunt axe towards the feasting Soulless.

“What’re you doing minion?!” Joseph cried out.

Noah ignored him as he continued towards the Soulless who still hadn’t noticed his approach.

This is an opportunity, I have to try to kill some of them before the fat man changes into one of those things too.

Noah arrived beside the distracted Soulless then raised the old axe above his head before swinging it down on top of the head of the Soulless nearest to him. He felt the mysterious energy flow down his spine as he instinctively operated his new [Six Spirit Arms] ability. This time the axe didn’t get stuck as he pulled the axe free with the aid of his additional arms as the Soulless he had just effortlessly killed stopped moving.

The two remaining Soulless looked up from their meal with their pitch-black eyes and twisted faces as they simultaneously let out snarls before leaping towards him in tandem. Noah’s ethereal hands caught them mid lunge then held them back as he turned to begin to run for his life.

Noah didn’t have time to think as he started to flee from the gathering Soulless. He glanced over his shoulder in time to see the fat man ambling to his feet as his face contorted and he transformed into a Soulless. The fat Soulless initially ignored Noah as the strange effect he had on them in the beginning, was now gone. The other two Soulless pursued him hot on his heels.

Noah got an impulsive idea as he passed his axe to his new ethereal hands. With a thought, he began to swing the axe wildly behind him as he ran, using the glowing spirit hands to reach impossible angles. A short time later, he heard a wet thump as the axe successfully embedded itself into one of the chasing Soulless. The monster had closed the distance between them before it was intercepted by the axe-wielding ethereal arms waving recklessly about.

Noah looked over his shoulder to see that the creature was laying on the ground unmoving, but with one small problem. The axe was still buried inside its head, standing upright while the fat man from before was shambling past it. To make matters worse, he could feel the hot fetid breath of the second Soulless as it exhaled onto the back of his neck, almost within touching distance. Noah began to panic as his ethereal arms began to flicker and his stamina depleted. He hurriedly increased his pace.

***

Noah's adrenaline was beginning to wear off as he was beginning to feel unnaturally tired and sluggish. His breath had become laborious as he had now been running for a few minutes since losing his axe. His ethereal arms had also disappeared a while ago now. He had managed to create some distance between him and the Soulless nearest him as he lost sight of the fat Soulless a few blocks earlier as it struggled to keep up. Noah began to stumble, while the pursuing Soulless was steadily getting closer and closer.

I’m screwed this time, my bad luck has finally caught up with me.

Noah stopped running as he let out a sigh while mentally preparing himself to confront the final remaining Soulless creature. When he turned around, he found that the Soulless had stopped to stare at what looked to be an overgrown house cat, the cat perched comfortably atop an abandoned car.

The Soulless let out a growl as it began to move in the direction of the cat while forgetting about Noah's existence while he watched stunned. The house cat just lazily watched the Soulless approach before standing and arching its body into a stretch. He almost couldn’t believe what happened next, the cat casually swiped out a claw towards the Soulless which was still a few meters away from it, then ignored it.

A ripple appeared in the air rushing towards the Soulless as deep claw marks appeared across its torso, exposing its ribs. The Soulless let out a roar of rage before charging at the unconcerned house cat. The cat glanced disdainfully at the creature as it nonchalantly jumped off the roof of the car. The cat then ran in the direction of the nearest house with the Soulless mindlessly charging in pursuit.

After the pair disappeared from sight, Noah continued to make his way up the street for a while until he felt safe enough to enter a nearby house.

What just happened? Didn’t that cat already have an ability? That Soulless was looking at that cat-like the ones earlier were looking at me! Don’t tell me that it’s about to awaken a second ability!

Noah thought back on what he'd just witnessed with the cat effortlessly dealing with the Soulless.

I wonder, did Joseph manage to rescue those people? I hope he did, or I risked my life for nothing. I’m too careless. If they didn't know better, someone would think that I have a death wish.

Noah chuckled self-deprecatingly to himself at his own recklessness.

“I need to sleep. I’ve never felt this tired in my entire life,” Noah muttered to himself out loud.

Noah had found some food in the kitchen cupboard of the house he was currently hiding in shortly after he arrived. He had eaten it all without any hesitation because his appetite had become insatiable after exhausting his stamina from maintaining his new ability, along with running for longer than he ever had in his adult life.

He entered one of the bedrooms, where he pulled the blankets off the bed before finding a corner to sit with his back against the wall before wrapping himself. As Noah drifted off into an exhausted sleep, he heard the voice which didn't use words inside his head again belonging to the System.

[Omega Role allocated.]

[Omega receives a portion of lifeforce from any creature they defeat in combat.]