The alien merchant silently regarded the shimmering origin crystals held in Noah's outstretched hand. It remained silent for a moment longer as it stared at the shimmering red ability crystal laced with intricate golden light. It wheezed out a strange sound that was not translated by the System. Noah understood that the merchant had just sighed.

『A hero origin crystal. You are surrounded by mystery. You are the first low-grade User I have encountered that has left me speechless. Will you consider selling the hero origin crystal to me instead of using it to augment your armour? I can offer you one-million Merit to purchase it.』the alien merchant spoke as his voice wavered with barely contained greed.

"It's not for sale," Noah said firmly.

『Please reconsider. It's a fair offer. The System moderates all transactions within zero-space. It will prevent any dishonest trades while issuing appropriate punishment.』 the merchant said in an attempt to persuade him.

"This is not something that money can buy. It holds special importance to me," Noah said, once again rejecting the alien's proposal.

『I am surprised that you chose to exchange an origin crystal for Merit after informing you of its true value. One moment please.』 the alien merchant spoke in resignation.

"I need to survive more than I need the lifeforce right now," Noah replied.

A ray of light shone onto the origin crystals in Noah's hand. The dull origin crystal vanished as the shimmering red-and-gold one floated upward toward a set of armour taking form. The hero origin crystal settled inside the armour's padded-lining as it took the shape of a metallic breastplate with a shallow neck-guard. A pair of matching metal bracers hovered beside the breastplate. The armour set was designed to avoid attention. It was matte-grey without any lustre or ornamentation with the [Inferno] ability crystal hidden inside.

Once the armour finished taking shape. It split apart as it flew toward Noah, reassembling on his torso and arms. He lifted his arm to examine the bracer up close.

I don't see any signs of it being made with tools on the surface. When I look at it close-up, it's obviously been crafted by the System. It'll have to do. I need to make sure that no one can look at it properly. I don't want a repeat of the last time I wore System armor. How much Merit do I have left?

[Current Merit value: 8]

"I want to use my remaining Merit to buy grade-one rations," Noah said.

『Very well. Is there anything else?』the merchant asked as another beam of light containing a neat stack of rations appeared in the weightless darkness.

"No. That's everything," Noah replied while storing his purchases into his [Zero-Space Dimension Ring].

『Farewell and good luck.』 the alien merchant said as the dark surroundings became illuminated by blinding light, forcing Noah to shield his eyes with his arm.

When his vision cleared, the humanoid silhouette of the alien merchant had been replaced by an unwelcome sight. The beam of light representing the Store entrance had disappeared. Noah was currently balanced precariously atop a rocky wall on the opposite side of the crossroads from the ruined building. He could see the panicked expressions of his companions through the crumbled opening of a collapsed wall. The cause of their distress was the horde of hell-hounds with soulless sporadically mixed in. They were all facing Noah silently.

The large grade-three sheepdog, Alvis, glowed with orange-lifeforce as he barked at the undead, ignoring it. There was no reaction from the horde. Until Noah reappeared, drawing their attention in unison. He nervously gulped as the horde surged toward his unsteady perch. The was a flash of red-light at the edge of Noah's peripheral vision a moment before the wall beneath his feet collapsed.

As Noah fell amid the shower of bricks, his [Battle Instinct] activated to trigger his other abilities. Dust surrounded him to slow his fall while he backhanded away the mutated jaws of a leaping hell-hound with his armoured forearm. There was a clang of metal-on-metal as elongated teeth broke, scattering toward the exposed eyes of a giant grade-three soulless. The hulking monster involuntarily stepped back to swat the injured hell-hound out of the air, roaring in annoyance as Noah lightly landed on his feet.

Six ethereal arms sprouted from his back in a burst of purple-light. An archaic-styled stone sword was held in each spirit-hand. Purple-lifeforce shimmered through the ornamental etchings on the blade. Noah's hair and clothing were unnaturally still as the dust was stirred up from the crossroads by a gale-force wind. He had drawn out his full potential to combat the sudden ambush, even applying his new wind-attunement to create a thick dust cloud to obscure vision.

Noah could see his radiantly glowing eyes reflected as he made eye contact with the grade-three giant soulless until dust gradually hid it from view. He didn't need his eyes to see as his body instinctively shifted to dodge a lunging hell-hound a moment before catching a second by the throat with an empty hand. Noah began to dance among the countless soulless as flashes of purple-light from his slashing swords lit up the dust. Killing hell-hounds and severing limbs with each swing.

He felt a strange impulse to pour more lifeforce into his surroundings as he continued to move without even disturbing the air. The open mouth of a hell-hound appeared in front of his face. One of his independently moving swords skewered it through the base of its jaw. The monster's skin had been eroded by the dust, similar to what had occurred in his vision of the Shepherd of Dust.

The crumbling of freestanding walls echoed through the thick cloud cover. Noah was too preoccupied with butchering any creature which attacked him to be able to investigate the cause. An unknown amount of time passed, Noah's stamina began to wane. The thick cloud of dust that had protected Noah from the horde started to thin. Standing opposite him in the centre of the crossroads amid the broken corpses of hell-hounds were the grade-three soulless. The erosion of Noah's ability had exposed its muscle and sinew, leaving it unable to regenerate fast enough to prevent any bleeding.

Surviving soulless and hell-hounds were gathering from every direction through the haze. Noah long longer held back as he dropped his active abilities. The stone swords dramatically crumbled as his ethereal arms faded away in a flash of purple-light.

"It's time to get serious," Noah said as lifeforce began to flow into his newly-forged armour covering his chest.