Quinn and Layla watched as Tsukuru hovered the syringe over the first empty test tube in the rack.
He pushed the plunger down, and the syringe ejected its contents into the tube.
It filled the tube up to an inch from the brim with the red-colored liquid that exuded a sweet smell to Quinn's enhanced senses.
Tsukuru shook the syringe a few times to get the last few drops out.
Quinn and Layla watched as Tsukuru walked over to a nearby trash can, and dropped the now-empty syringe inside.
As he walked back over, he reactivated his Ability, using it to create a new, clean syringe.
"Alright." He said as he returned to them. "Time for the second dose."
Layla stood there dumbstruck.
It was as if the two had just decided that they were going to draw more blood without even asking her!
Tsukuru handed the empty syringe to Quinn, who then walked over to Layla.
"Do you mind?" He asked.
Layla's jaw dropped.
'Oh, so he asks permission NOW?' She thought, incredulous.
She looked away in annoyance, and held out her arm, not even dignifying Quinn's question with a response.
Layla felt a small prick on her arm, as Quinn began drawing the blood out from her vein, and into the syringe.
When he was done, he walked back over to where Tsukuru was kneeling on the ground.
Looking up, Tsukuru took the syringe from him, and repeated the process, filling the second tube with Layla's blood.
He then held out his hand, and activated his Ability.
The sound of electronic interference filled the area, and pixels appeared in his hand.
The pixels clustered together into the form of a diamond that was flat at the bottom.
There was a flash of light.
When it faded, Tsukuru was holding a piece of glass that was the same shape the pixels had taken on.
Tsukuru placed it on top of the first test tube.
There was a slight pop noise, showing that the piece of glass was a bottle cork.
Tsukuru repeated the process, making a second one, and corked the second test tube.
He then pulled both test tubes out of the rack, and handed them to Quinn.
As Quinn walked away with the tubes, Tsukuru put his first two fingers on the rack.
He thought about putting it into the System's Inventory.
The usual System prompt appeared, which he replied 'yes' to with a thought.
Instantly, the rack vanished, breaking down into pixels.
Tsukuru then got to his feet, and walked back over to Quinn and Layla.
When he reached them, Quinn was kneeling over his bag, putting one of the test tubes in one of the pockets in the front designed for pens and pencils.
Quinn then got up to his feet, holding the remaining test tube in his fingertips.
Looking at it, he activated his Inspect Skill.
[Blood of Layla Munrow. Blood Type A+]
Quinn then looked from the test tube to Layla herself, activating the Skill again.
[Name: Layla Munrow
Race: Human
Ability: Telekinesis
Ability Level: 2
HP: 12/12
Blood Type: A+]
Quinn's theory from the assembly hall was correct.
When using the Skill on a person's blood, it only showed their information if Quinn had already used the Inspect Skill on that person, in-person.
However, it only showed their blood type.
But if he used the Inspect Skill on that person, it would also reveal their HP, Ability, and Ability Level.
Back in the assembly hall, Quinn had tried to use his Inspect Skill on the different splotches of dried blood, but only received question marks.
This was most likely due to the fact that he hadn't used the Inspect Skill on those people in-person.
Quinn looked down at the remaining test tube in his hand, and gulped.
He popped off the glass cork, and sniffed the blood.
Layla gave him an…unnerved look.
"You're not going to drink it right here, are you?" She asked.
Quinn looked at her.
"Why not?" He asked. "I need to know if there will be any changes."
Layla looked away.
"I don't know." She muttered. "It just feels kind of…embarassing. I can't explain it."
Tsukuru rolled his eyes, and Quinn ignored her.
Quinn looked at the blood again. It had a sweet fragrance.
Suddenly, Quinn lifted the tube up to his lips, and downed the whole thing like an alcoholic shot.
Quinn noticed that rather than having a harsh, iron taste like he expected, it rather had a sweet, sugary taste.
Seeing it made a thought come to Tsukuru.
He suddenly found himself wondering if Vampires had specialized bars, where instead of stocking booze, they stocked vials of blood for Vampires to take shots.
Meanwhile, Quinn noted that the blood felt slightly warm, as if it had just been extracted from Layla.
This either meant that Quinn had grabbed the tube of blood he had just taken from Layla, or it meant that Tsukuru's Inventory had some sort of stasis effect, keeping whatever was put inside in the same exact state it was before Tsukuru had stored it.
A System message appeared in front of Quinn.
[Your HP is full. The blood will have no effect.
Blood from this person has already been consumed. No Stat Point will be given.]
'Ah, so it's like taking a health potion in a game with full HP.' Tsukuru thought with a smile.
This had also proven his theory that if he had used one of his "Health Potions" of Quinn during his "evolution" process, it wouldn't have had any effect.
Then, Tsukuru's eyes narrowed.
'Also, this proves that he only gets a Stat Point the FIRST time he consumes a person's blood.'
Suddenly, a thought came to Tsukuru's mind.
Now knowing that he could access his System through mental commands, Tsukuru thought about taking one of his stockpiled ten "Minor Health Potions" out of his System's Inventory.
The System prompt appeared in front of him, which he then thought "yes" to.
Instantly, Layla watched as pixels began to appear in Tsukuru's hands.
The pixels clustered together into the shape of a slender bottle.
There was a flash of light. When it faded, a red liquid in a small, glass flask appeared in Tsukuru's hands.
"Here." Tsukuru replied, passing the bottle to Quinn. "Hold on to this for me."
Quinn quirked an eyebrow in confusion, as he took it.
Looking at it in his hand, he activated the Inspect Skill.
His eyes widened in shock at what he saw.
[Minor Health Potion
A glass flask filled with a deep-red liquid. Restores 5 HP when used. Can be consumed or applied externally as a salve. The potion must be fully used to take effect.]
"Tsukuru." He asked.
Looking over, he saw that Tsukuru had created a glass beaker, similar to the ones used in chemistry.
He then also created another copy of his Black Obsidian Dagger, which he held in his hand.
Tsukuru turned to Quinn when he heard his name. "Where did you get this?" He asked.
Tsukuru raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"I made it." He lied, giving Quinn a look that said 'Do you want to keep these 'Systems' a secret or not?' for merely asking.
Quinn and Laya watched in horror, as Tsukuru used the dagger to slice open his palm as he hovered his hand over the beaker.
A System message appeared in front of him.
[Your hand has been cut. -2 HP. HP: 13/15. Your hand is now bleeding. Your HP will drop by 1 every 1 second until healing is administered.]
His blood began to pour out of the wound, and fill the beaker.
"There, that should be enough." Tsukuru muttered when the beaker was a fourth filled.
He turned his hand right-side up so it was no longer spilling into the beaker.
He walked over to Quinn.
"Here." He replied, holding out the beaker. "Trade ya."
Realizing what Tsukuru meant, Quinn put the empty test tube in his bag, and took the beaker.
With his hand now empty, Tsukuru took the flask back from Quinn.
The two watched as Tsukuru popped off the glass cork with his thumb, and downed the whole potion.
As Tsukuru did, he felt a warm sensation flood through his body.
Although he had never required healing, he assumed this is what it felt like to have the healing Ability used on him.
Layla watched in amazement, as Tsukuru's wound instantly healed up.
Instantly, a new System message appeared in front of Tsukuru.
[You have regained HP. HP: 15/15. Your hand has been completely healed.]
Layla started sputtering.
"But…but…but…WHAT WAS THAT?!" She yelled, borderline hysterically.
Tsukuru raised an eyebrow.
"You've never heard of a 'healing potion'?" He asked. "The military uses a similar compound all the time in their medibots."
Hearing this, Layla's eyes widened in surprise and realization.
She then glanced away sheepishly, embarrassed for suddenly forgetting something like that.
Meanwhile, Quinn was looking at the beaker in his hand.
He activated the Inspect Skill.
[Blood of Hikiko Tsukuru
Blood Type O-]
'I've never consumed an 'O' blood type before.' Quinn thought to himself, before lifting the beaker to his lips, and drinking the contents.
A System message appeared in front of Quinn.
[Your HP is full. The blood will have no effect.
O- Blood Type consumed. You have received one free Stat Point.]
Quinn's eyes widened. 'Wait, a FREE Stat Point?' He thought, excited. 'So O-type blood gives me a Stat Point that I can use on ANY Stat?'
Layla looked at Quinn's smile, an anxious look on her face.
Suddenly, a deep frown appeared on Tsukuru's face.
In his System's "Minimap", he saw two new signals approaching, one a grey dot, and one a red dot.
"Quinn." Tsukuru muttered, breaking Quinn from his stupor.
Quinn turned to him.
"We got company."
True to Tsukuru's words, the three of them then heard footsteps, as two people entered the woods from the playground.