Peter heard Quinn start to speak to him, breaking his concentration from Tsukuru's strange food, to Quinn, himself.
"Hey, do me a favor will you?" Quinn asked.
Peter turned to look at him.
"Keep an eye on Vorden when you're in the Elemental Class." Quinn replied, as he glanced over at Vorden sitting by himself.
"If anything happens, let me know."
Peter gulped.
"But if something does happen, it's not like I would be strong enough to help him." Peter replied meekly, before looking down at his food.
"And you can't exactly do anything either."
Quinn thought about Peter's words.
He was right.
Right now, Quinn could barely deal with the Level 2 first-years, let alone the second-years.
But at the same time, Quinn hated the fact that they had targeted Vorden just because he decided to hang out with them.
Perhaps there was a weak one in the group that Quinn could target for questioning.
These groups always had a weaker member that they used as a "pack mule".
To carry their things, and get their food for them.
"I'm not telling you to get involved." Quinn replied. "And I don't think Vorden is expecting you to help him anyway. Just…let me know what you see."
Peter looked around the room to make sure no one was watching before he gave a quick nod.
Finally, after breakfast had finished, it was time for their Combat Classes.
After registering which class you wanted to attend, the class's number would then appear on your watch.
Quinn and Tsukuru had chosen the Beast Weapons class.
Tsukuru used daggers in his fighting style, so the choice was a no-brainer, while Quinn was known as having no Ability, so it was his only option.
Well, aside from joining one of the other classes, and just sit in the back and do nothing.
The Beast Weapons class was popular among students who had an Ability that could enhance them.
Those who could see the future, like Mono, or those who had a Telekinesis Ability, like Layla, and Tsukuru, by way of his Video Stasis Skill, would attend this class.
But Quinn wanted to see if he could find a new pair of gauntlets, as he and Tsukuru had agreed last night that Quinn wouldn't use the pair Tsukuru had given him in public.
The Weapons Hall was away from the main school building, and off to the side in its own separate building.
It was a single, large building that had an Asian, palace feeling to it.
Although, to Tsukuru, it reminded him of the typical "fighting dojo" that he had seen in various anime.
To enter the building, a student would have to scan their watch under a scanner mounted to the wall, and the large doors would slide open.
The interior of the room was around twenty meters high, with multiple weapons lining the wall.
In the center of the room, there was a round, raised platform.
And standing at the back of the hall, there was a bald-headed man wearing leather armor and having a long katana strapped to his side.
This man was Sergeant Leo.
His katana looked rough and jagged, and it appeared as if it had been carved from the body of a wild animal.
Just like Layla's bow, Tsukuru's dagger, and Shizuka's rapier, this katana…was a Beast Weapon.
Tsukuru and Leo locked eyes.
Leo noticed something strange when he looked at Tsukuru.
Normally, his Ability caused him to see everything in a wireframe vision.
Although, when he looked at Tsukuru, the wireframe was blocky, pixelated, like the graphics of an old arcade game.
It was also glitching erratically.
Leo's gaze shifted to the boy next to Tsukuru.
He grew equally as confused.
While most people appeared in a white aura in his vision and Beasts appeared in a red one, this boy's aura was purple.
The room slowly filled with students.
Eventually, Layla walked in.
Looking over, she spotted Tsukuru and Quinn.
She immediately came over to them, and started chatting.
Tsukuru noticed that hardly anybody paid attention to them.
It wasn't surprising.
With Quinn as a Level 1, and him and Layla only being Level 2s, they were the bottom of the barrel, as far as the school's hierarchy was concerned.
"This class is more popular than I thought." Layla replied.
Looking around, Tsukuru noted that there were about thirty students here.
The other classes they had attended in school had around fifty, but there were still more students here than Quinn had expected.
Suddenly, Tsukuru's eyes narrowed as he locked in on a particular student.
"What the hell is she doing here?" He muttered.
Confused, Quinn and Layla looked at where Tsukuru was staring.
That's when they saw her.
A girl with a scowling, annoyed expression, whose long, golden hair shimmered in the light.
It was the same girl with the Level 5 Ice Ability from their Ability Level test, Erin Heyley.
Erin looked over and downwards, and saw Tsukuru staring at her.
Quinn and Layla watched as Tsukuru and Erin proceeded to have a staring contest, each of them glaring at the other.
Neither one wanted to be the one to look away first.
As the two continued staring, Layla turned to Quinn.
"So what weapon do you think you're gonna pick?" She asked. "I've already got mine." She said, reaching her left hand behind her right shoulder, pointing at her bow.
She then looked forward to Tsukuru.
"What about you?" She asked. "You gonna use your daggers?"
Hearing Layla call him, Tsukuru broke eye contact with Erin, and turned back to her.
"Yeah." He said, a smile now on his face.
Instantly, he activated his Ability in both hands. The sound of electronic interference began to emit from his body, and pixels appeared in each hand.
The pixels clustered together into the shape of his daggers.
There was a bright flash.
When it faded, Tsukuru was wielding two identical copies of his Black Obsidian Daggers.
Quinn smiled, as he watched Tsukuru twirl the two daggers in his hands, before he turned to Layla.
"I think I'm gonna choose a set of gauntlets." Quinn replied. "I like to fight with my fists."
Layla raised an eyebrow in confusion.
'Wasn't he USING a set of gauntlets just YESTERDAY?' She thought.
Quinn looked around the room.
A lot of the students already had weapons of their own.
Even out of his own friend group, he was the only one not either holding a Beast Weapon or having one somewhere on their body.
Although Quinn still had the Basic-Tier Knight Gauntlets Tsukuru had given him, they had both agreed that he wouldn't use them in public.
It was at that point that Quinn heard other people speaking up.
"What is she doing here?" A boy asked.
"Isn't she an elemental user?" A girl asked. "Why would she be here?"
A boy then piped up.
"Who cares?" He asked. "Maybe if we beat her in a spar, we can ask her for a date!"
It seemed that the other students had noticed Erin's presence.
Quinn then heard Layla speak up from next to her.
"I wonder why she decided to go to this class instead of the Elemental Class?" Layla asked.
Even though Layla and Erin shared a room, they didn't talk much.
In fact, Layla wasn't sure if Erin knew that she even existed.
Suddenly, a powerful voice boomed through the hall.
"ATTENTION!" The voice snapped Tsukuru and Erin from their staring contest, and their gazes snapped towards the voice.
It had come from Sergeant Leo standing in the back of the hall with his arms crossed.
"My name is Leo, and I will be your teacher for this class."
Leo then pulled his blade out of its sheath, and pointed it out straight in front of him.
"Your first task is to pick your weapon." He continued. "Think carefully, your weapon is your lifeline. When your Ability won't work, the only thing you can rely on is your own skills. Now, go and choose a weapon from the walls around you."
The students then fanned out, and started to look at the weapons.
Even those who already had Beast Weapons were trying out new ones.
Quinn saw all sorts of weapons, axes, shortswords, scythes, whips, there was just about every form of weapon here.
At one point, Quinn had stopped.
He had come across one of the many random swords on the wall, and used his Inspect Skill on it.
[Korge Sword
Basic-Tier Beast Weapon
Strength +3
Agility -2
This weapon is incompatible with the Skill Blood Swipe.]
The sword Quinn was looking at was very big and likely very heavy.
If Tsukuru had been looking at it, he would have identified it as a "greatsword", as he had seen plenty of swords before, given how prolific they were in anime.
Queen mused about how he needed something fast, so a weapon that decreased his Agility Stat like this sword was a definite no-go.
He also noticed that unlike with the gauntlets Tsukuru had given him, the sword was incompatible with his Blood Swipe Skill.
It surprised Quinn how much information his Inspect Skill gave him.
Then he suddenly remembered that Tsukuru's "Inspect Skill" happened automatically.
He felt a slight pang of jealousy.
Quinn started using his Inspect Skill on every weapon he came across.
He quickly began to realize that every weapon on the wall was at the Basic-Tier level.
He started going along the walls looking for the perfect weapon.
He needed something not too big, not too heavy.
What he really wanted was a new pair of gauntlets.
Just then, a pair of black gauntlets crossed his eyes.
He ran over to them, and used his Inspect Skill on them.
[Black Horned Gauntlets
Basic Tier Beast Weapon
Strength +3
Defense +2
This weapon is compatible with the Blood Swipe Skill. When used while wearing the gauntlets, the Skill will have a 5% increase in power.]
Quinn smiled.
While it didn't give as high of a Strength boost as Tsukuru's gauntlets, it was close enough.
Quinn grabbed the gauntlets, and put them on.
Instantly, he felt a rush of strength run through him, similarly to when he wore the Knight Gauntlets Tsukuru had given him.
As he did, a System message appeared.
It was similar to the one Quinn had received the first time he had worn the Knight Gauntlets.
[Basic-Tier Black Horned Gauntlets equipped
Strength 12 [+3]
Defense [+2] ]