Tsukuru grumbled incoherently, as he walked back to his spot.
As he walked, the same, bulky man as before shoulder-checked him as he walked past.
"That's what you get for trying to be all tough." He sneered, before looking back at Tsukuru. "Don't worry, I'll show you how it's done."
The man continued walking until he was standing in front of Erin.
He was twice the size of Erin.
The man looked down at her with a cruel sneer.
"You may have beaten the pipsqueak, but I'll show you how a real man fights!"
The man charged at Erin, wielding his axe over his head.
When he swung it down, Erin spun her body to the side, avoiding the blow.
At the same time, she slashed at the back of the man's legs, causing him to stumble.
She then placed her blade towards the man's neck.
She looked down at him with a cold look.
She was utterly disappointed.
Compared to her previous fight, where she at least had to put in a little effort, this fight was a complete waste of her time and energy.
It was like fighting a toddler.
"That 'pipsqueak' lasted far longer than you did." She muttered.
The man gulped, a look of terror on his face.
"I give up!" He replied.
Everything had happened in an instant, and the whole room was suddenly silenced. Erin's proficiency with her sword amazed them all.
It was completely unexpected of a Level 5 Elemental Ability User.
Most of the time, they would rely on their Elemental Ability, and not focus on learning a weapon.
But it was clear that Erin had some practice.
After the "fight" was over, two men seemed to appear out of nowhere, wearing black military uniforms.
They grabbed the student by both arms, and escorted him to the doctor's office to get healed.
Another group of them had approached Tsukuru, who had rejoined Quinn and Layla, but he waved them away.
"It's a damn flesh wound!" Tsukuru muttered, mentally withdrawing one of his stockpiled Minor Healing Potions from his System's Inventory, the number dropping from "9" to "8".
Pixels began to appear in his hands, clustering together, before the potion appeared in his hand.
Although to those around him, they simply assumed that he had made the potion using his Ability.
After all, he was well-documented making his own food at the canteen.
Tsukuru brought the flask up to his mouth, and downed the potion.
Tsukuru felt the same, warm sensation flow though his body, and felt his surface level slash wound close up.
A System message appeared in front of him.
[Your HP has been restored. HP: 15/15]
The group continued to watch more fights, though none of them lasted as long as Erin's and Tsukuru's.
In fact, most of them seemed to be repeats of Erin's curb-stomp of the man with the axe, as most of the students were equally as adept with their weapons.
Even when Level 4s were fighting against Level 2s.
Since they couldn't use their Abilities, it all came down to skill and their physical conditioning.
The next fight that had caught Leo's attention was the fight with Layla.
Even though she could no longer use her Telekinesis Ability, she was still to shoot ahead using her bow and predict where the opponent would turn.
She had trapped her opponent multiple times, and continually asked him to give up.
But as her opponent was a Level 3 Ability User, his pride wouldn't let him.
He refused to admit defeat to a Level 2 student, even if he couldn't use his Ability.
That's when he got reckless, and decided to charge forward.
But a few arrows in the boy's legs stopped him dead in his tracks, before Leo decided to call the match himself.
"Next pair, Quinn Talen and Brandon Richardson!" Leo announced. "Please make your way to the arena!"
It was finally Quinn's turn.
He smirked.
With the weapons hall being indoors, Quinn was able to use his full stats, no longer hampered by the sun, and his opponent was unable to use their Ability.
Finally, it seemed like Quinn was in a situation where he didn't feel weaker than his opponent.
As Quinn walked up to the stage, he noticed that Brandon's watch indicated that he was a Level 3 Ability User.
If they had fought outside the weapons hall, where his opponent could use his Ability, there was no way Quinn could win.
But here in the arena, Abilities weren't allowed.
Due to Quinn's unique…well, not exactly "unique", as Tsukuru was in the same boat…situtation with the System, Quinn was stronger than most.
In the books Quinn had read about Vampires, it had said their strength had greatly exceeded that of humans before the introduction of Abilities.
A part of him wondered how Vampires, if they were so strong, weren't ruling the world.
Meanwhile, far away in an unknown location, a man with a black ponytail with glowing red eyes was doing research in a lab of some sort.
Sitting by his side in a rotary chair was a woman with blue hair who was dressed in robes, making her look like the medieval "mages" of old.
Suddenly, the man let out a loud sneeze.
The woman turned to her.
"Lenny, are you alright?" She asked.
The man waved his hand dismissively.
"I'm fine." He muttered, before returning to his work. "Someone must be talking about me."
The woman looked straight ahead.
"You have made a lot of enemies…" She mused. "Laxmus…Unzoku…"
Hearing this, the now-named "Lenny" let out an amused chuckle.
"Yeah, well none of them are around anymore, now are they?"
Back in the arena, Brandon held a large spear in his hands that had an exceptional reach.
The end of the spear had a long, curved blade.
Suddenly, a System message appeared in front of Quinn.
[An enemy Ability User has been detected. You have received a new Quest: Defeat the Level 3 Ability User Brandon Richardson
Reward: 50 Exp
An Ability Level difference of 2 has been detected. Bonus Exp will be awarded.]
Seeing the System message, Quinn smiled.
It seemed like Quinn's day just kept getting better and better.
"And…BEGIN!" Leo announced.
Brandon immediately lunged at Quinn with the spear, while Quinn took on a stance with both his hands in front of his face.
Tsukuru had an amused smirk, as he easily recognized it as the stance of the "boxers" of old.
When Brandon was in striking distance, he thrust his spear forward.
It was a fast and impressive strike to the people spectating.
However, to Quinn, who currently had 13 points in Agility, it was easy for him to dodge.
He avoided the spear strike and ducked down.
Then, before Brandon could pull the spear back, Quinn grabbed it with his other hand.
"What?!" Brandon yelled, as he tried pulling the spear out of Quinn's grip.
However, it was no use.
To Brandon, it felt as if he was trying to pull something out of dried cement.
'How the hell is a Level 1 THIS strong?!' He thought furiously. "Let…Go!" He yelled.
Holding the spear in one hand, Quinn opened his other hand and swung it out like a claw as hard as he could at the shaft of the spear.
Then, a few moments later, the spear had been sliced in half.
It looked as if a sickle had been used to cut down a bamboo shoot.
"What the hell?!" Brandon yelled, eyes wide in surprise.
His head snapped to Leo.
"Hey, my weapon!" He yelled. "It's faulty!"
Leo, however, remained where he was.
It seemed that he had no intention of intervening.
However, unknown to Brandon he had just made a huge mistake.
One that would cost him the match.
For as soon as he turned from Leo back towards Quinn in front of him, he saw Quinn dashing right towards him, with there less than a few feet between them.
Before Brandon could react, Quinn punched him in the stomach.
HARD.
The force lifted Brandon off of the ground, and it looked like he was about to fly away.
Quinn then looked at Brandon, activating his Inspect Skill.
[Name: Brandon Richardson
Ability: Wind Element
Ability Level: 3
HP: 5/15
Blood Type: O+]
Quinn knew that if Brandon flew out of the arena, Leo would announce Quinn as the victor, but his System would beg to differ.
So before Brandon could be lifted into the air, Quinn grabbed him and pulled him back down.
At the same time, he kneed him in the face, causing Brandon's nose to bleed, and for his head to be sent backwards.
Brandon collapsed to the floor.
Instantly, Leo's voice rang out.
"Winner, Quinn Talen!" He replied.
At the same time, a series of System messages appeared in front of Quinn.
[Opponent has been defeated. 50 Exp has been awarded.]
[You have successfully defeated your first Level 3 Ability User. Bonus Exp will be awarded. First Time Victory Bonus: 40 Exp awarded. Exp: 230/200]
[Congratulations, you are now Level 3. Exp: 30/400. You have gained 1 Stat Point.
New Skill Blood Bank has been acquired.]
Quinn looked at the messages.
Apparently, he received a bonus the first time he beat an opponent of a certain Ability Level.
He also noticed that the reward for beating a Level 3 was higher than the reward for him beating a Level 2.
The first time he and Tsukuru had beaten Riley, they had each received an extra 20 exp.
But this time, Quinn had received an extra 40 exp.
Quinn thought it was a shame the "bonus" only applied the first time he beat someone of that Level, for both Quinn and Tsukuru had only received a flat 25 exp when they had beaten Riley and his friends in the forest, as it seemed that when they defeated a single opponent together, they each received half the normal Exp.
Well, that plus the 20 bonus Exp they got for fighting together.
Quinn also noticed that there was another System message describing his newly-unlocked Skill.
Although Quinn didn't have time to look at it now, as he had to get off of the stage, he would look at it later.
As Quinn was looking away, he momentarily looked at Brandon, as a sweet smell caught his nose.
Brandon was lying on the floor, blood dripping from his nose.
'What a waste.' Quinn thought, as he walked away.
It was a shame that he couldn't store or drink Brandon's blood.
He knew from Tsukuru's blood that the O-type blood was the most valuable.
It gave him a free Stat Point that could be used on any Stat.
The two military men again appeared out of seemingly nowhere, and took Brandon away to the doctor's office.
But before Quinn could leave the area, a couple of boys shouted from the crowd.
"That's not fair!" A boy complained. "Brandon was obviously using a faulty weapon!"