Noah awoke after an unknown amount of time had passed. Black-Rock was calling to him. His eyes came into focus, still staring at the sky. It was daylight with the sky filled with shifting colours in front of the fiery clouds as a backdrop. His face felt itchy. Reaching up, Noah scratched his cheek, pulling his hand away in surprise. He had grown a beard that was longer than the one he had shaved off before entering the Fallen Citadel.

How long was I meditating? It would have to be at least months, maybe even years if I judged time off the length of my beard. I don't know, I've never grown one this long before.

Looking around, Noah could see that moss had grown to cover parts of his legs and armour like a blanket. The small plants had grown into fully-fledged bushes and ferns, shimmering with purple-lifeforce. Hiding Noah from view in his small clearing on the peak.

『Noah!』Black-Rock continued to call his name.

"What is it?" Noah asked as he pried himself free of the moss blanket.

『We have reached a city filled with soulless. What do you want this one to do? Turn back or do you wish to enter? This one can wait here. My earth-attuned body has developed to the stage that this one will not be easily recognizable to predators.』Black-Rock informed him.

"You have an earth-attuned body? How can you continue to develop it?" Noah asked.

『This one had the good fortune of finding many treasures among the trees to allow this one to evolve an ability to become [Natural Fortitude]. It enables this one to convert the earth into vitality and develop an earth-attuned body.』Black-Rock replied.

"I don't think that's a possibility for me. Oh well, I will have to find another way to increase my wind-attuned body," Noah muttered to himself.

『This one shall wait here. Inform this one when you are ready to leave.』Black-Rock stated.

"Take this, it's not much, but it's my last one," Noah said, withdrawing his last dull origin crystal taken from the garden of horrors.

『This humble one shall accept, 』Black-Rock said as he absorbed the dull origin crystal.

The large tortoise lowered itself to the ground above the high tide's reach. Noah stood atop its back until it settled. Pushing aside the leaves and ferns, Noah hopped off the tortoiseshell to land lightly on the stony beach. In front of him was a scene that reminded him of an alien world. Ruined buildings and roads extended from the rocky shore into the shadows of colossal mushrooms.

Mushrooms towered above the city pressed together to block all light from above. They were different from other vegetation, which had a subdued glow that only flared when disturbed. The mushrooms emitted a constant soft glow, becoming a light source for the city's surviving inhabitants. Noah could see the twisted form of soulless wandering naked through the streets. Some even crawled along the walls of still-standing buildings. Giving Black-Rock's shell one last pat, Noah sighed as he prepared himself to enter the mushroom city.

***

Noah sprinted across a street in a crouch to the cover of a nearby alley. He hid behind the rubbish skip stationed there. A soulless in the centre of the road had its back turned until it was alerted by the noise. Pausing its patrol to look around. After discovering nothing in front of it, the soulless resumed its prowling of the streets for surviving Users.

Noah noticed something behind him as he turned away from peering at the soulless after it disappeared from sight. It was the skeleton of a homeless man holding an empty whisky flask. The skeleton held it in a hand that was wearing gloves with the fingertips removed. The flask had a few specks of rust. Due to being exposed to the elements for so long, but was otherwise shiny. It was most likely made from stainless steel or a similar material.

Noah could see reflections in the flask's surface under the light from a small cluster of white mushrooms growing from a crack in the brick wall. Kneeling, Noah gently pried the flask from the skeleton's grasp. He heard a sloshing sound as he picked it up. Something was still inside. Giving it a shake to confirm. Noah removed the stopper before pressing it to his lips. The familiar burn of cheap whisky stung his throat as he swallowed down the last mouthful with a sound of satisfaction.

"Ah, how I've missed you. It's been too long since I've had a drink. Far too long," Noah muttered to himself.

He had been inside the city for more than a week now. He had been unable to find any survivors this entire time. But he didn't know that for sure. The colossal mushrooms overhead provided constant light, which made it hard to track the time. Although, he had discovered early on that if he looked at the base of the giant fungi. There were strange glowing worms that emerged from their network of shallow tunnels at night to squirm in the air.

He once saw a bird land to eat the worms. As it feasted, a shadow suddenly appeared from above to trap the bird. A worm about the thickness of an adult man's fist wrapped the bird and dragged it inside the colossal mushroom stalk growing from the centre of what was once a highway. After that, Noah never dared to approach the giant mushrooms for fear of ambush, but he did learn to use them to determine the days. It had been eight days since then.

If I can't find anyone soon, I'll have to abandon this city and return to Black-Rock. I'm getting tired of this constant vigilance. Hold on, could I use my new flask as a mirror? Strange, the skeleton doesn't look like it's been disturbed, but it doesn't have an origin crystal. Did they die before the Arrival, and no one found them because of the Pylons in the sky?

Noah raised the empty flask for inspection. Tilting it side-to-side to find the best angle. The slight curve in the surface distorted his appearance by a small amount but otherwise worked. His hair grew down to his shoulders, with a beard reaching down to his chest. The strange part about it was the faint, purple-light radiating from his hair.

"Shit! No wonder it was so easy for that soulless to see me when I thought the shadows hid me. I was basically standing right in front of their face!" Noah cursed.

Withdrawing his shaving razor from the [Zero-Space Dimension Ring], Noah immediately began to dry-shave away his beard. Using the metal flask as a mirror, he was able to get a close shave with minor cuts.

Gathering his shoulder-length hair in one hand, Noah sawed through it to cut his hair short. Looking at the handful of hair, Noah discovered that once he removed it, it no longer glowed.

"I should be a lot safer now. I can't believe that I've been walking around with a beacon on my head. Anyone with any sense isn't going to come near me," Noah muttered to himself.

Noah put away the flask and razor inside the [Zero-Space Dimension Ring]. Looking down at the skeleton of the homeless man, he came to a decision. He removed the outer layer of clothing. Placing on the worn-out gloves and beanie before holding up the coat.