Quinn let out the Hammer Strike, activating his Blood Spray Skill at the same time. Instantly, a loud gunshot resounded through the arena, audible even in the stands.
Quinn's 25 in Strength, plus the additional 5% increase to his Blood Spray Skill due to his new gauntlets, caused the combination of the two Skills to create a powerful attack.
As his fist hit the Earth Wall, the wall instantly started to shatter. It was like a cannonball being shot through a wall of glass frames. As the Earth Walls shattered, they sent fragments of the Earth shooting all across the arena. Fragments of the Earth were also shot towards the surrounding stands.
Some of the people in the audience dodged to avoid them, while others remained still.
"Idiots," Nate muttered under his breath. "You do remember that this is just a game, right? The attacks from there can't hurt us."
The strike continued to blast through the series of Earth Walls. Underneath his helmet, the Earth User's eyes were widened.
This was something that he never expected to happen.
"Fine!" the Earth User snarled. "Guess I'll just have to tank it! I'm wearing a full set of Beast Gear! There's no way that I'll-"
His words were abruptly cut off, as his body immediately burst into pixels from the attack, ending the match.
A moment later, the voice of the announcer boomed through the arena.
"Winner, User ID Blood Evolver!"
However, at that moment, Quinn collapsed to the floor. His constant usage of Blood Swipes, as well as the combination "Blood Hammer" attack, had taken up all of his stamina.
However, he had a smile on his face. For there was a System message in front of his face.
[25 Exp received. Exp: 35/100]
Finally, after having defeated a Level 4 Ability User, the System had rewarded him for his hard work with some Exp.
As Quinn sat there, collapsed on the ground, he looked down at his hand. And as he did, his eyes widened. His hand was starting to break down into pixels.
'Looks like that match took out even more of me than I thought,' Quinn thought with a slight smile.
Moments later, Quinn had completely vanished. Having been sent back to the White Room to recover. There, his strength would return.
As the crowd in the stands looked down at the now-empty arena, they were completely silent.
They didn't know what to say about what they had just seen. The whole match, the Earth User hadn't even been hit once. And yet, even though he had been wearing a full set of Beast Gear that no doubt increased his Defense in addition to his Strength, he had lost from a single attack.
"Just who was that guy?" someone asked.
"I told you he was strange," another replied. "And…did you see that weird 'Red Energy' Ability?"
Another person nodded.
"Yeah," they replied. "I've never seen anythinglike that."
He then turned to the person next to him.
"Have you?"
The person next to him shook her head.
"Hey, maybe one of us should upload this match and put it on the forum!" someone in the crowd suggested. "Maybe an Original managed to get their Ability in the game somehow!"
Meanwhile, while the others were talking, Nate's whole body was shaking. He had goosebumps and shivers running all over his body after seeing that last attack.
"That…was not the same attack he used against me," Nate replied. "It looked the same, but it's clearly different."
After seeing the attack smash its way through the long wall of Earth Walls and then one-shot the Earth User, Nate knew that if he had taken that attack during their match, he wouldn't have just lost half of his "Health". It would have been depleted in one fell swoop. Even with his Ability, he wouldn't have fared any better than the Earth User had.
"Man, you really did get stronger, didn't you?" Nate replied with a smile. "Well, I guess then I'll have to get even stronger!"
***
Back in the real world, Logan stared intently at the video on his computer screen. Even though Quinn had been teleported back to the lobby minutes ago, he couldn't pull his eyes away from the feed.
Suddenly, Logan got up from his seat. And long last, he had made up his mind.
"Blood Evolver…" Logan muttered. "I think it's time for us to meet."
Logan then slowly headed towards the door of his dorm. And for one of the extremely rare times since arriving on the Base, he left his room.
***
Back in the white room in the VR Game, all of Quinn's Stamina Points had been restored. With it now fully recovered, Quinn was no longer gasping on the floor as if he had just run a whole MARATHON.
"Man, that 'Blood Hammer' takes up a lot of Stamina," Quinn muttered, his hand pressed against his chest.
Although he had performed the "Blood Hammer" countless times while he had been practicing in this white room, he hadn't felt exhausted while using it. It seemed that only during matches would he lose Stamina Points from using the attack. Additionally, that had been his first time using the combination attack in an actual fight.
And although Quinn wasn't physically tired from his last match, it had taken quite a toll on him mentally. He found it hard to think about going into a match after a fight that intense. It was fine when he was fighting Low-Levels and the fights didn't take very long, but I was different for tough fights that took a lot out of him.
Quinn subconsciously glanced up at the timer in the upper-right corner of his vision. It read "08:29:29".
Seeing the number, Quinn winced slightly. He had already been in the VR Pod for an hour and a half. Meaning that it was significantly closer to curfew back in the real world.
"Well, I wanted to take a break anyway," Quinn replied with a weary smile. "Guess this is as good an excuse as any."
As Quinn logged out of the VR Game, his body began to break down into pixels from the top down.
***
Back in the real world, Quinn's VR Pod began to open.
Quinn let out a groan as he slowly lifted himself out of the VR Pod. As he did, he reached over and grabbed his bag, which was lying on the ground inside the pod. He slung it on his back and stepped out.
As he did, he looked down and noticed that a small boy was standing in front of him. Similar to Tsukuru, the boy only reached up to Quinn's chest. The boy had short, green hair and noticeable bags under his eyes. It looked as though he hadn't seen sleep in days.
The boy looked up at Quinn.
"Hello, Blood Evolver," he replied. "I think it's time you and I had a little chat."
It took a few moments for Quinn's mind to process the words that the boy had said. And when he did, his eyes widened.
Quickly, Quinn's eyes darted back and forth in the VR Room. However, it seemed as though they were the only ones in the room. Everyone else had either retired to their rooms or was still in their pods.
"So how did you do it, huh?" the boy asked in a slightly aggressive tone, him taking a step forward towards Quinn. "How did you break my game?"
Quinn just looked down at the boy, stunned.
"Uh…" he replied, not sure what to say.
Without waiting for a response, the boy brushed past Quinn and started to examine the VR Pod he had been using.
The boy placed his hand on the VR Pod and closed his eyes.
"There doesn't seem to have been any modifications done to the Pod," the boy muttered. "But then, how?"
While he was talking to himself, he heard Quinn speak up from behind him.
"Uh…who are you?" Quinn asked.
The boy turned back to Quinn.
And, as he did, he noticed that Quinn's wristwatch displayed the number "1".
"What?" the boy muttered, his eyebrows raising in surprise. "That's impossible. You used such powerful Skills in the game. You should at least be a Level 5! I could have sworn you were an Original!"
Quinn, in turn, glanced towards the boy's wristwatch. And as he did, his posture stiffened.
The boy's wristwatch displayed the number"8". The highest number the wristwatch could show. At that moment, looking at the number sent a jolt of fear through Quinn's body. Immediately, he froze.
'Crap…' Quinn thought.