The system screen spread out across his vision.

Noah leaned back on the mech and just looked at it for a second. He’d been in the void store exactly once before, bought one skill, closed it and moved on because life kept happening and this kept getting filed under later. Now it was later and he had nowhere to be for the next hour except sitting on a metal shoulder watching his people train in red sand.

He started scrolling.

The first section was consumables. Standard stuff mostly, vials and tablets and extracts that did temporary things to his body or his output. He read through them with the detached interest of someone browsing a menu they weren’t particularly hungry from.

[CATEGORY: CONSUMABLES]

[Void Surge Vial]

[Effect: Void Energy output +40% for 30 minutes]

[Cost: 2,400 Void Coins]

[Hollow Mend Tablet]

[Effect: Accelerates regeneration rate x3 for 15 minutes]

[Cost: 1,800 Void Coins]

[Ember Root Extract]

[Effect: Resistance to heat and flame based attacks +65% for 20 minutes]

[Cost: 3,100 Void Coins]

He scrolled past them. Useful maybe in specific situations but nothing that changed the shape of what he was trying to solve.

Then one stopped him.

[Void Suppressant — Medical Grade]

[Effect: Suppresses onset of Void Entropy Syndrome. Activates when HP drops to 10 and Void Energy drops to 10 simultaneously. At this threshold the void begins consuming the host faster than regeneration can compensate. Suppressant maintains biological function for up to 20 minutes in this state. Single use.]

[Cost: 5,500 Void Coins]

Noah looked at that for a moment.

He remembered the Ego fight. The system warning appearing in red at the edge of his vision while he was lying on a throne room floor with his ribcage caved in.

[CRITICAL WARNING: VOID ENTROPY SYNDROME IMMINENT]

He had been at ten HP. Void energy burning just to keep him breathing. That warning had been real and he had been close enough to it that he still remembered the specific quality of what almost felt like.

’Something would have to strip everything first,’ he thought. ’The E.N.D armor absorbing and redistributing incoming force, the Undying Warden converting ambient energy, the regeneration running underneath all of it. Getting through all of that down to ten HP and ten void energy simultaneously would mean the fight had already gone so wrong that a tablet probably wasn’t saving me.’

He flagged it anyway. Filed it under the category of things you hoped you never needed and bought regardless.

Kept scrolling.

[CATEGORY: SKILL UPGRADES]

[Void Blink — Level 14 Upgrade]

[Effect: Blink range +35%. Cooldown reduced by 0.4 seconds]

[Cost: 28,000 Void Coins]

[Enhanced Null Strike — Level 11 Upgrade]

[Effect: Erasure radius increased. Secondary void burst on contact point]

[Cost: 31,500 Void Coins]

[Reaper’s Harvest — Level 2 Upgrade]

[Effect: Maximum active constructs increased from 5 to 8. Construct durability +40%]

[Cost: 44,000 Void Coins]

[Storm Call — Level 7 Upgrade]

[Effect: Storm duration extended. Lightning density +25%]

[Cost: 22,000 Void Coins]

[Void Barrage — Level 7 Upgrade]

[Effect: Projectile velocity increased. Penetration through energy barriers unlocked]

[Cost: 19,500 Void Coins]

He spent time in this section.

The Reaper’s Harvest upgrade made him stop properly. Eight constructs instead of five, durability up forty percent. He thought about what eight permanent void constructs looked like in an engagement on an unknown planet, eight things that didn’t get tired, didn’t need orders beyond the initial command, didn’t feel fear when a four horn Harbinger was standing forty feet away.

’That’s genuinely useful,’ he thought. ’Especially if we get split up on that planet and I can’t be in multiple places at once.’

He flagged it and moved on. His mind was set on this one but like a kid in a comic store, he didn’t want to buy a comic book only to find one way more interesting on his way out, so he took his time.

[CATEGORY: PASSIVE ENHANCEMENTS]

[Void Skin]

[Effect: Incoming void-based attacks reduced by 18%]

[Cost: 67,000 Void Coins]

[Predator’s Clock]

[Effect: High velocity attacks register 0.3 seconds earlier in perception]

[Cost: 55,000 Void Coins]

[Abyssal Lungs]

[Effect: Void energy cost of all abilities reduced by 8%]

[Cost: 88,000 Void Coins]

Noah looked at Abyssal Lungs and did the math without meaning to.

Eight percent of 312,000 was nearly 25,000 void energy saved per full combat cycle. That was almost his entire old pool sitting there as a permanent buffer on top of everything he already had.

’I’d never run dry,’ he thought. ’Not practically. Not against anything I’ve faced so far.’

He stared at it for longer than he should have.

’Later,’ he told himself, and kept scrolling.

[CATEGORY: LOCKED]

[Level threshold not met]

[████████]

[Required Level: 185]

[████████]

[Required Level: 190]

[████████]

[Required Level: 200]

[████████]

[Required Level: 200]

He looked at the greyed out names and felt the specific irritation of a locked door with no handle.

’Level 200,’ he thought. ’I’m at 171. Not that far really. Not given how fast I’ve been moving.’ He looked at the locked names sitting there refusing to tell him anything. ’But not today.’

He moved past them.

[CATEGORY: EQUIPMENT SCHEMATICS]

[Wraith Step Greaves]

[Classification: Mythic Boots]

[Effect: Short duration intangibility during movement. Phase walking capability]

[Materials Required: Category 5 Phase Wraith Core x2, Category four crystal x24, Null Iron Plates x6]

[Schematic Cost: 45,000 Void Coins]

[Sovereign’s Mantle]

[Classification: Mythic Cloak]

[Effect: Absorbs incoming energy attacks and redirects them. Redirection angle user controlled]

[Materials Required: Category 5 Energy Leech Core x1, Reinforced Alabaster Silk x8, Harbinger Plate Fragment x3]

[Schematic Cost: 62,000 Void Coins]

[Null Gauntlets]

[Classification: Rare Gauntlets]

[Effect: Physical strikes carry void erasure at contact point. Stacks with existing void abilities]

[Materials Required: Category 4 Core x5, Void stone x2, Compressed Steel Iron x4]

[Schematic Cost: 18,000 Void Coins]

He read the Null Gauntlets twice.

Physical strikes carrying void erasure at the contact point. He thought about VPT stacked on top of that. Force concentrated to a needle point and void erasure hitting simultaneously at the exact same location. The structure couldn’t distribute the impact because there was nothing left of the contact point to distribute from.

’That’s a horrible thing to be on the receiving end of,’ he thought, and meant it as a compliment toward the item.

’But two void stones? Where do I even find that?’ he thought looking at the requirements.

He flagged it and kept going.

[CATEGORY: COMPANION — DRAGON]

He slowed down here before he even started reading.

[Dragon Saddle — Void Bonded]

[Effect: Rider-dragon synchronization enhanced. Shared perception during flight]

[Cost: 34,000 Void Coins]

[Scale Polish — Grade A]

[Effect: Dragon scale surface hardened temporarily. Damage resistance +20% for 2 hours]

[Cost: 8,000 Void Coins per use]

Then the one below those.

[Dragon Growth Stone — Verdant Grade]

[Classification: Companion Enhancement]

[Effect: Accelerates evolutionary stage progression in system bonded dragons currently in developmental phase.]

[Eligible Recipients: Nyx, Storm]

[WARNING: Evolution outcome not guaranteed.]

[Successful progression probability: 61%]

[Regression to previous stage probability: 14%]

[Extended dormancy period probability: 25%]

[Note: Item is consumed permanently on use regardless of outcome. No refunds issued.]

[Cost: 120,000 Void Coins]

Noah stopped scrolling. He was getting excited but needed to check something real quick.

He pulled up Nyx’s profile.

[Name: Nyx]

[Species: Red Death Dragon]

[Evolutionary Stage: Mid Adolescent Developmental Phase]

[Maturity Level: 77%]

[Abilities: Partially Activated]

[Ability 1: Inferno Storm - ACTIVE]

[Ability 2: Red Mist Cloak - ACTIVE]

[Ability 3: Dive Bombing - ACTIVE]

[Ability 4: Fear Aura - ACTIVE]

[Ability 5: Volcanic Roar - ACTIVE]

[Ability 6: Molten Core - ACTIVE]

[Ability 7: Magma Bomb - ACTIVE]

[Additional Abilities: LOCKED]

Dimensional Breach

Primordial Fusion

Quantum Immolation

Void Resonance

[Special Buff: Brothers in Arms]

Damage Amplification: +35%

Damage Resistance: +25%

He looked at the locked abilities for a long time.

Void Resonance.

’What does a Red Death Dragon do with void resonance,’ he thought. He tried to picture it, dragon fire and void energy combining into something that had no clean name yet, something that the system had locked behind a developmental stage he hadn’t reached. ’What does Nyx look like when he’s actually grown.’

To be honest, he couldn’t picture it because the other red death he’d have pulled a clear picture from was deemed an adolescent by Egor’s men as well when they fought on that mountain.

So there was no way of truly knowing just how powerful or big Nyx could get. But he always likes to assume Nyx would be bigger than the rest of his companions give current status. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

He checked Storm.

[Name: Storm]

[Species: Hollow Blizzard Monarch]

[Evolutionary Stage: Prime Maturity Phase]

[Maturity Level: 67%]

[Abilities: Fully Activated]

[Ability 1: Arctic Shroud - ACTIVE]

[Ability 2: Lightning Dash - ACTIVE]

[Ability 3: Winter Vortex - ACTIVE]

[Ability 4: Blizzard Legion - ACTIVE]

[Ability 5: Frost Carapace - ACTIVE]

[Ability 6: Thunderbolt Strike - ACTIVE]

[Ability 7: Glacial Domination - ACTIVE]

[Additional Abilities: PARTIALLY UNLOCKED]

Storm Minion Summoning

Atmospheric Manipulation

Thermal Negation

Electrical Surge

[Special Buff: Eye of the Storm]

Movement Amplification: +70%

Cold Resistance: +95%

Lightning Attunement: +60%

Noah looked at both profiles sitting side by side in his vision.

He thought about what he had already seen from both of them. Storm travelling through two planets in a fraction of what, seconds?

Nyx stepping through a portal and making an entire settlement of Razorbacks freeze mid-movement just from existing in the same airspace.

And that was partial.

’61% success,’ he thought, going back to the growth stone. ’14% regression. 25% dormancy.’

The dormancy one was the problem. He could live with regression, that just meant going back a stage and working forward again together. But dormancy meant Nyx went to sleep before they went to that planet.

’Walking into whatever is waiting on that blue world without him,’ he thought. ’Against Kruel. Against a Harbinger that has had two years to evolve on a world that couldn’t push back against it.’ He looked at the 25% one more time. ’I can’t risk it. Not before the mission.’

He thought about Nyx’s locked abilities one more time.

’After,’ he decided. ’If we come back from that planet in one piece, first thing I do is stand in front of this store and buy that stone and whatever happens happens. But not before.’

He closed the profiles and kept scrolling.

The section at the bottom had no header.

Just items sitting in a space that felt different from everything above it, the interface background deeper here, the way certain rooms in large buildings felt different from the rest without being able to explain exactly why.

[Dragon Sanguine Forge Stone]

[Rarity: Ancient]

[Classification: Bonding Artifact]

[Single Purchase. Maximum 10 Bonds.]

[Description: A forge artifact of draconic origin. When activated, the stone reads the blood of a willing participant and constructs a weapon or armor piece uniquely suited to their nature, fighting style, and biological composition. No two items produced are identical. The bond is permanent. The item cannot be transferred after creation.]

[Materials Required per Bond: Category 4 Core minimum. Category 5 recommended.]

[Note: The stone does not create. It reveals. What emerges is what was always meant to exist for the person who bled into it.]

[Cost: 150,000 Void Coins]

’Wait,’ he thought, sitting up slightly. ’Wait wait wait.’

He read the description again.

’Uniquely suited to their nature, fighting style, and biological composition.’

’No two items produced are identical.’

’The stone does not create. It reveals.’

He thought about Excaliburn. About the first time he had held it and felt it reshape itself in his grip, responding to him specifically, to how he fought and moved and what his void energy felt like running through it. He thought about Knight’s Grace absorbing hits that should have broken him and converting them into something he could use. About E.N.D sitting on his frame like it had always been there, like someone had looked at him and built exactly what he needed before he knew he needed it.

’What if everyone had that,’ he thought. ’What if Lucas had something that worked the way Excaliburn works for me. Built from his blood. His genetics. Everything he is distilled into a weapon that exists for him and nobody else.’

He thought about what the stone would pull out of Lila’s blood. A girl who had been designed as a weapon by people who treated her like raw material and had spent every day since proving them wrong. What did the forge reveal for someone like that.

’Or Diana,’ he thought. ’Someone who held three buildings for sixteen minutes with nothing but her ability and her will. What does a weapon look like when it’s built for that.’

He almost laughed.

’They could be walking around with their own Excaliburns,’ he thought. ’Their own Knight’s Grace. Something nobody else can use, nobody else can take, something that fits them the way mine fit me.’ He looked at the cost one more time. ’And I’ve been sitting on enough coins to buy this whole time.’

He looked at the Dragon Growth Stone above it. At the Abyssal Lungs. At everything he had flagged.

’Later,’ he thought, and meant it genuinely this time rather than as a deflection. ’All of that is later. This first.’

He selected purchase.

[Confirm purchase: Dragon Sanguine Forge Stone]

[Cost: 150,000 Void Coins]

[YES / NO]

He selected YES.

[Purchase Confirmed]

[Dragon Sanguine Forge Stone: Acquired]

[Remaining Balance: 94,847 Void Coins]

[Deployment: Initiating]

The store closed.

For a second nothing happened at all.

Then the sky above the desert about fifty meters from the installation did something that skies weren’t supposed to do. The darkness deepened in a shape that had edges, deep purple void energy bleeding into the night air and spreading outward from a central point, and something began descending through it.

It was enormous.

The size of a transport ship, maybe larger, dark stone shot through with veins of deep red that pulsed with slow steady rhythm as it came down. It didn’t fall. It descended, with the deliberate weight of something that understood exactly where it was going and had been patient about getting there for a very long time. When it hit the desert floor the impact sent a shockwave of red sand outward in a perfect circle, a deep resonant sound traveling through the ground and up through the installation’s structure, rattling tent poles and waking people who had already been asleep.

The forge stone buried itself into the desert and stopped.

The void energy dispersed slowly around it. The red veins brightened as they settled, pulsing with something that felt less like a machine powering up and more like something waking after a long sleep.

Across the installation heads turned. People came out of tents. Training stopped mid-rep. Fourteen hundred people staring at the thing that had just landed in their desert with expressions ranging from reaching for weapons to complete paralysis.

Noah dropped down from the mech.

He hit the sand and walked toward it, the forge stone ahead of him throwing red light across the desert floor in all directions, the warmth reaching him from thirty feet away, then twenty, then ten.

He stopped in front of it and looked up at the full scale of it and put his palm flat against the surface.

The veins responded under his hand, the pulse quickening, the stone reading him through the contact the way it had been built to read people, slowly, thoroughly, without any particular hurry.

Noah looked up at it.

He was grinning.

"Interesting," he said.