Once the story was done, Tsukuru let out a heavy sigh.
"I'm really sorry you guys." He replied, looking down. "If I hadn't followed that damned Palewalker into the woods, then I probably would have caught back up with at least one of you." Tsukuru then placed his hands above the ground in between them. "Here, take these." He replied. "It's the least I can do."
Quinn and Vorden watched, as two groups of pixels appeared on the ground beneath Tsukuru's hand. The pixels clustered together into the shape of two crystals roughly the size of tennis balls. The two recognized them instantly. They were Beast Crystals. But unlike the Basic-Tier Crystals they had come across so far, they were remarkably clear. While not as clear as the Advanced-Tier Crystal Ian had shown Vorden, it was a significant improvement over the opaque Basic-Tier Crystals.
Slowly, Vorden and Quinn exchanged glances. Hesitantly, they both reached out their hands, and each took one of the two Crystals. They then brought the Crystals up to their faces, to get a better look. As Quinn stared at the Crystal, a System message popped up.
[You have obtained an Intermediate-Tier Palewalker Crystal. Would you like to place the Beast Crystal into your Inventory?
[Yes] [No] ]
Quinn quickly denied the System's question. Maybe if it was just him and Tsukuru, he would have put it in his System. But Vorden was here. And despite Quinn telling him about him being a Vampire, he still wasn't ready to tell him about the System.
"Tsukuru…" Vorden replied, still examining the Crystal as if it was a precious jewel. "Where did you get these?"
Tsukuru let out a huff of air from his nose.
"Like I told you, I followed a Humanoid Beast into the woods outside the shelter." He replied. He then glanced up at Quinn. "Besides, I'm not the only one who's killed an Intermediate-Tier Beast." He said with a slight smirk.
It was at that point that Vorden glanced back past them. In the back of the room, the strange, metal blob creature was stillexactly where Tsukuru had put it down. As Vorden stared at it, he saw its white eyes blinking every once in a while.
"So, Tsukuru…" Vorden started, causing Tsukuru to turn to him. "What's with the blob?" He asked.
Tsukuru smirked. He twisted around so he was facing the creature. He motioned with his hands for the creature to "come closer". It let out that strange, cute noise again, catching Vorden completely off-guard. The creature's body then began to change. Rather than looking like an oval-shaped blob of liquid metal, it became a hardened sphere. Like a bowling ball.
Vorden watched, wide-eyed, his eyes following the creature, as it rolled itself across the room towards them. It rolled right between him and Tsukuru, and stopped a few feet in front of Tsukuru. When it did, it reverted to its original shape. Tsukuru picked it up, and set it down in his lap.
"This is my newest Summon." He replied. "While here, I unlocked a Skill that lets me switch places with one of my creations. So I created this to slip through the locked door of this building."
Vorden continued to stare at the strange creature.
"Huh." He muttered. "Yeah, I was wondering how you even got in here."
Meanwhile, back with Quinn, he placed the Intermediate-Tier Beast Crystal down on the ground next to him. Then, he looked down at the Ability Book still in his hand. Although the System AI had said that only Vampires could learn it, maybe there were other Vampires out there who had used the Ability in the past. There could be a record of it.
Quinn looked over at the other two boys. Vorden was staring at the liquid metal blob in Tsukuru's lap. Meanwhile, Tsukuru was rubbing it, like polishing a bowling ball.
"Hey…" Quinn replied, causing the two other boys to turn to him. "Have either of you ever heard of a type of Ability that uses Shadows?" He asked.
While Vorden's expression remained unchanged, Tsukuru's hand stopped, and he immediately stiffened. He looked up at Quinn, and when he did, Quinn felt his heart jump. Tsukuru had the same dark expression he wore when pissed off. Usually, due to being in the same proximity of High-Level Ability Users, like Mono, and the deceased Riley.
Hearing mention of that Ability made Tsukuru think back to the primary antagonist in Ray's Story. The Dragon Krad, and his Shadow Plague.
'How does Quinn know of that Ability?' Tsukuru thought, his whole body tensing. Meanwhile, Vorden put his finger under his lip.
"'Shadows', Huh?" He asked. "My gut instinct would be 'no'." He then looked to the side. "Then again, you're not the first person my family has ever met whose Ability they couldn't copy."
Quinn raised an eyebrow.
"So, your family has come across…people like me before?" He asked, cautiously.
Vorden nodded.
"As you know, I'm an Original, so our Ability has been passed down through the generations for hundreds of years." He replied. "And each time our family came across a new Ability, my grandfather would mark it down in his journal. Since our Ability relies on others, my grandfather would log it."
Vorden then glanced to the side. "And…in one particular entry, he logged his account of the first time he had come across someone whose Ability he couldn't copy."
Quinn continued to stare at Vorden.
"So, is that the reason you were so interested in me?" He asked.
Vorden's face went a little red, as he was embarrassed hearing Quinn's words.
"Well, when you say it like that, it does sound a little strange." He replied awkwardly, looking away. "But, I assure you, I don't think of you in that way." He then turned to Quinn. "Why do you ask, anyway?"
In response, Quinn held up the Shadow Ability Book so the others could see it. As they saw the words "Shadow Element" written on it, their eyes widened.
For a second, Vorden had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. He thought that maybe Quinn had just heard of this "Shadow" Ability somewhere, and was just curious. But to actually have the Ability Book for it.
"Whoa, you actually found it." Vorden muttered. "I was sure that had to be some kind of Original Ability, but for there to be an actual Ability Book out there. That's crazy. Isn't it, Tsukuru?" He asked. However, he received no answer. Vorden turned his head towards Tsukuru. "Tsukuru?" He asked again.
Vorden's eyes widened when he saw Tsukuru's face. His eyes had widened to the point that his pupils had become pinpricks, and he looked like he had just seen a ghost.
'The Shadow Ability.' Tsukuru thought in utter shock. 'Krad's Ability. It exists. It truly exists.' This single fact proved, without a shadow of a doubt, that the so-called "fictional" story of Ray's tale…was 100% real.
Tsukuru then felt a sudden weight on his shoulder.
"Hey, Tsukuru!" Vorden yelled.
Instantly, Tsukuru snapped his head over in his direction. When he did, he saw a concerned look on Vorden's face.
"You…alright, man?" He asked.
"Y-Yeah." Tsukuru replied. He then turned back to Quinn. "Yeah, I'm fine."
However, Vorden continued to stare at him.
"Have you…heard of this Ability before?" He asked.
Tsukuru glanced to the side.
"Yeah…" He said, glancing away. "I've…heard of it before…"
Hearing this, Vorden's smile widened.
"The fess up, man!" Vorden said, smacking his shoulder lightly. "Is it a good Ability or not?"
Vorden's words made Tsukuru scoff internally.
'Is it a good Ability?' Tsukuru thought. 'That Ability allowed a single individual to cause a calamity equivalent to the DALKI WAR! OF COURSE it's a 'Good Ability'!' Tsukuru had always wondered if Krad had won, and the Shadow Plague would have taken over the would, would the Dalki have even stood a chance?
Tsukuru saw both Vorden and Quinn staring at him, waiting for an answer. He had to say something. Tsukuru gulped.
"That's…putting it mildly." Tsukuru replied. "If that is the same Shadow Ability that I'mfamiliar with, it could rival the Big Four Family Abilities."
Hearing this, both Quinn and Vorden stared at Tsukuru wide-eyed. That was a big statement.
Instantly, Vorden's smile widened. He snapped his head back to Quinn.
"Well, that settles it! Let's learn it now!" Vorden replied excitedly. "We have all the time in the world right now, and we're just stuck here doing NOTHING!"
Quinn smiled.
"Well, I really did want to learn it." Quinn replied. "But the problem is that if I learned such a powerful Ability, especially one that the world has never seen before, wouldn't people after me, just like they would if they knew that I was a Vampire?"