"Calm down already, will you?"

Noah grimaced, struggling to compose himself. The sight of hundreds of glowing green orbs writhing within his body, coupled with the persistent itching sensation, made his stomach churn.

The bulk of the parasites seemed to congregate around Noah's intestines, but scores of them wriggled and squirmed throughout his entire body.

"...H-how do I get those things out of me?"

"You're going to claim their essence."

"Huh...?"

"You already know that there are additional applications to our power, aside from commanding the dead, right?"

Noah was in no mood for riddles, he needed to be rid of these filthy parasites – now. "Just tell me already!"

"I've seen you give your essence to the two skeletons you have following around you, in order to make them whole again after fights. Now do the opposite with those little critters."

'Huh... it didn't work when I tried to heal myself, but just claiming the essence, though...'

Noah closed his eyes once more, envisioning his own body and perceiving both his essence and that of the parasites infesting him.

'Let's try it out with you...' Concentrating on a small green orb wriggling within his thigh, Noah mentally sought to seize its essence. The orb flickered but showed no sign of yielding.

'It's not going to work like this...' Noah thought back to the two times he had succeeded in raising the dead, even if he had used Silas' essence with Steve. 'I was domineering and confident.'

Noah channeled all of his fury and frustration at everything that had happened to him and directed it at the parasites infesting him. "Get the heck out of me!"

Stolen story; please report.

In an instant, the shimmering orb seemed to extinguish, transforming into a small cloud. Noah observed as it drifted toward his own essence core, nestled in his thorax and absorbed into it. The power that he derived from it was negligible, but that wasn't the point. 'I can get rid of them!'

"That's the spirit!" Silas laughed inside of Noah's head.

'Shut up, you motherlover... this is your fault.' Noah began snuffing out one orb after another.

It had taken Noah over half an hour to be rid of the parasites. He was exhausted, but already feeling better. Only one glowing orb lingered near his chest, close to his own essence core, larger compared to the others.

'You should have infested an easier target!'

"Whoa there, killer! That's me." Silas' voice resounded within Noah's mind.

There was an awkward moment of silence as Noah weighed his options. Silas had tried to kill Noah, as he openly admitted, and was responsible for everything that had befallen him since. In addition, Noah did not trust Silas at all. On the other hand, despite enduring hell and toughening up greatly in the last few days, Noah had never killed another person before, not to mention that he wasn't sure he could claim Silas' essence to begin with.

'Not yet...'

"What about the parasites? Aren't they going to rot inside of me?"

Silas chuckled, as though he could have guessed what Noah was thinking about earlier.

"Nah, they were invertebrates, they disintegrated when you reaped them."

'Huh... so only the bones remain when I use my power, like what happened when I raised claws.'

"You can just 'reap' the essence out of anyone you want?"

"Kid, if I could do that, I wouldn't be an amorphous voice inside your head... You managed to claim the little critters' essence because you were overwhelmingly more powerful compared to them. However, keep using your head. Our power is singularly unique compared to other Touched. I'll mentor you while we make our way back to The Arc."

"...What exactly is your goal? We're stuck being roommates now?"

Silas laughed. "No, we'll find another suitable vessel for me."

'What the heck...? I'm supposed to help him murder another person?'

As though sensing Noah's hesitation, Silas clarified: "Things aren't as urgent now. There are a lot of bad people in this world, kid. We'll find someone who wouldn't be missed, but also meets my requirements."

'Yeah... and you're a real saint, aren't you?' Noah had his doubts about Silas. 'I better go back to sleep, it's going to be another long day, tomorrow.'