Vorden had just completed another lap around the arena.
Inside the dark space, Raten grabbed Vorden's shoulder.
"We're just going around in circles, Vorden!" He replied.
Instantly, Vorden snapped back to look at him.
"Don't you think I know that?" He asked, sounding slightly annoyed. "But it's not like we have anything better to do!"
Raten was about to retort, when footsteps was heard through the "screen" above them.
Back in the real world, Quinn heard them, too. Instantly, both he and Vorden turned their attention towards the two doorframes leading out of the training room, and into the halls. Footsteps could be heard echoing off of the walls due to the sheer emptiness of the training center.
Vorden clenched his hands into fists.
"Was there someone else here?" He asked.
Both Vorden and Quinn tensed, as the footsteps got louder, and louder. Eventually, Tsukuru walked out of the shadows. Due to his System's "Minimap", he was he knew exactly where the two of them were. And was thus able to take the shortest route there. Seeing him, the eyes of both Quinn and Vorden widened. The two boys looked up at Tsukuru on the upper level. In his hand, he had some strange, metal blob with white eyes.
"Tsukuru." Vorden muttered.
Down in the arena, Tsukuru saw the two boys. They were both standing on opposite sides of the arena. Additionally, Tsukuru could see a strange, black book in his hands. However, that wasn't what had Tsukuru's attention. It's what he could seebehind him. Standing directly behind Quinn was a man. He had long, blonde-hair, and piercing red eyes. Additionally, he was dressed in an aristocratic, red-and-blue outfit. The man's appearance screamed one word in Tsukuru's head. Vampire.
The man behind Quinn didn't appear solid, and didn't produce a shadow. To be perfectly honest, he was the closest thing to a "ghost" Tsukuru had ever seen.
'Who…is that?' Tsukuru thought. He tried to "scan" the figure, but his System's "vector" passed right by him. As if he wasn'tthere.
Back on the floor below, Vorden and Quinn looked up at Tsukuru, seeming him staring at them. The three exchanged glances for a moment.
Then, the sound of electronic interference began to echo through the room. Tsukuru's body began to turn light-blue, and began to break down into glitching pixels. Both of the two boys in the arena below knew what this was. It was Tsukuru activating his teleportation Skill. A moment later, Tsukuru glitched out of existence. Only for him to reappear on the far end of the arena.
As soon as Tsukuru reappeared, his eyes snapped towards Quinn. As he did, his System's "Vector" appeared on his face, and Quinn's information was shown.
[Name Quinn Talen
Race Vampire
Ability — ]
Seeing the information, on top of that strange man standing behind Quinn, Tsukuru's eyes narrowed.
'Quinn…what happened to you?' He thought.
There was a long pause. Quinn and Vorden watched, as Tsukuru's eyes shifted from one of them, to the other.
Eventually, Tsukuru's face fell, a look of deepsorrow appearing on his face.
"Hey, guys." Tsukuru replied, his usual enthusiasm in his voice now suddenly gone. It was as if someone had suddenly sucked the joy out of him. Tsukuru glanced away. "I'm…sorry it took me so long to find you guys. I got…side-tracked."
Vorden's eyes narrowed.
"'Side-tracked'?" He repeated. "Weren't you the one who said-"
"I know what I said." Tsukuru said, as if predicting Vorden's words. He was unable to look Vorden in the eye. He reached down, and placed the Metal Slime Spawn on the ground. He looked up at him, and produced the cute noise again. Tsukuru then walked past it. "I…I saw a vaguely humanoid shape heading out of the shelter and into the woods." He replied. "I…I thought it was another person." Tsukuru and Vorden were now standing face-to-face. "It…wasn't." Tsukuru replied, looking out of the corner of his eyes.
Vorden pinched the bridge of his nose, and let out a sigh.
"Unbelievable." He muttered. He let out a sigh, and then put the gentle smile back on his face. He patted Tsukuru on the back. "Well, you're here now." He replied. "That's all that matters."
Tsukuru glanced to the side again, as if Vorden's words just made him feel even more guilty. It was then that Tsukuru noticed the remains of Ian's bisected corpse. Seeing the lower torso of a man, with a blood trail leading up into the upper level, and out through one of the halls, Tsukuru's eyes widened.
"Damn." He muttered, unsure of what else to say in his shock.
Tsukuru then felt Vorden apply more force onto his shoulder.
"Is this why you were so certain that Quinn would survive?" Vorden asked, his gaze steely. "Because you knew about this…'Vampire' thing?"
Hearing Vorden's words, Tsukuru's eyes widened in surprise. Instantly, he snapped his head towards Quinn.
"He knows?" Tsukuru asked in a low tone.
Quinn let out a sigh.
"Yeah, he knows." He replied.
This time, it was Tsukuru's turn to sigh.
"You bottomed out again, didn't you?" He asked. "Just like that time you bit Layla in the library."
Vorden grit his teeth, as he remembered that particular part of Quinn's story.
Quinn sighed again.
"Yeah." He replied, a weary smile on his face. "It was even worse this time."
Hearing this, Tsukuru raised an eyebrow in surprise. A moment later, he felt a sharp push from behind. Tsukuru's eyes widened, as he stumbled forward. He turned back around to look at Vorden. He now had his trademark grin plastered on his face.
"C'mon, we'll fill you in on what's happened so far." Vorden replied.
Hearing this, Tsukuru smiled.
"Right." He replied.
The group of three sat down in the center of the arena, as if they were all sitting in front of a campfire. Tsukuru and Vorden were sitting on the right, and Quinn was sitting alone on the left.
Tsukuru cleared his throat, causing the other two to turn to him.
"Before we start, I have something for you, Quinn." he replied.
Quinn raised an eyebrow in confusion.
Tsukuru extended his arm out, and pixels began to form. As the pixels clustered together, Quinn's eyes widened. Tsukuru was holding his school bag.
"My bag!" Quinn replied in a tone that was part excited, and part relieved.
Tsukuru smirked, and tossed the bag over to him.
Quinn caught the bag, and began rifling through it. Eventually, he felt solid metal under his hands. His smile widened, and he withdrew the Intermediate-Tier Knight Gauntlets out from the bag.
"There they are." Quinn replied, as he put them on. He then looked down at his hands, once again covered in Beast Gear. He felt the Beast Energy surge though his body, and a System message popped up in front of him.
[Intermediate-Tier Knight Gauntlets equipped. +7 Strength.
Strength: 15 [+7] ]
Tsukuru raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"What happened to your other gauntlets, Quinn?" He asked.
Quinn looked up from the gauntlets, to Tsukuru's face.
"I'll…I'll get to that." He replied sheepishly. Quinn then proceeded to describe his adventure on the planet to Tsukuru. It was a heavily shortened version of the story he had given Vorden. As Vorden had heard the whole story, all the way back to before the school year had even started. As he did, Tsukuru paid very close attention, taking in all the new information like a sponge.
As Quinn got to the part where he had taken out the pack of Rattaclaws on the stairs with his new "Blood Spray" Skill, Tsukuru's face developed an amused smirk.
'Well, at least now I know why those Rattaclaws looked like someone went at them with a shotgun.' Tsukuru thought. However, his eyes then narrowed. 'A spreadfire attack that hits multiple enemies.' He thought, as his "gamer" instincts took over, him analyzing the skill through the frame of him using it in a video game.
Tsukuru had used attacks like it before in games. But mostly just early on. Skills like that were great for dealing with large amounts of weak enemies with low HP. But against a single target, it'd be better off justin using a stronger, single-target attack. The only real reason for Quinn to use this "Blood Spray" Skill over his regular "Blood Swipe" was the Skill's knockback effect.
Tsukuru continued to listen to the story in earnest. He was particularly interested as he heard Quinn's tale of defeating the Scordana. Then, as Quinn described him laying on the floor of this very arena, dying of bloodthirst, and waiting for the end to come, Tsukuru clenched his fists.
'Peter…' He thought to himself bitterly. It seemed like while he had survived on this planet just fine, his two friends weren't as lucky. And Quinn had it the worst. Then, came the absolute worst part of the story. The Bloodsucker attack. As Quinn and Vorden described their two different perspectives of the event, Tsukuru's eyes widened, and he felt his heart racing.
'It's a very GOOD THING that Quinn found Layla when he did that day.' Tsukuru thought. 'If he had transformed into this 'Bloodsucker' thing on the BASE…' Tsukuru didn't even finish that thought, as he was terrified of the outcome.