Down the hall, Tsukuru and Quinn were walking back towards the dorm, Quinn decided to use his newly-acquired Stat Point.
He brought up his Status Screen.
[Name Quinn Talen
Race Halfling
Level 3
Exp 30/400
Title —
___________________
HP 10/10
___________________
Strength 6
Stamina 5
Agility 6
[Stat Points: 1] ]
There was also a System message overlaying the bottom of the screen.
[All Stats are currently halved due to being in direct sunlight.]
The System seemed to be consistent with the last time he had leveled up, as he had gained 5 HP.
Although, one wouldn't be able to tell, as his HP was currently being halved like the rest of his Stats.
The fact that his Stats were always halved when Quinn was in direct sunlight deeply bothered him.
There would come a time when he would have to be at full strength, regardless of if he was in direct sunlight or not.
Thinking back to the Vampire books he had read in the library, he should count himself lucky that he could walk in the sun at all, as many of the books depicted Vampires burning to a crisp, or flat-out bursting into flames in the sun.
Despite the fact that Quinn's Stamina was lagging behind, he decided to put his Stat Point into Agility.
As long as he was faster than his opponent, he could hit them without having to worry about being hit back.
Worst case scenario, if he couldn't hurt his opponent, he could always run.
He would also need to be fast to get in close and use his hand-to-hand combat skills.
As he used the Stat Point to increase his Agility, a thin rectangular screen overlaid his System screen.
[Agility 14]
The next thing Quinn wanted to check was his new Skill.
A System screen appeared.
[Blood Bank - Lv. 1
Allows you to store up to 100 milliliters of blood in a special reserve. The Blood Bank will automatically be used if the user's HP drops to 5 or below. Every 10 milliliters of blood used will restore 5 HP. User can also use the Blood Bank to consume blood at any time for their own personal pleasure
You can only store 100 milliliters of blood.]
Tsukuru glanced over at the screen as the two walked.
He let out an amused chuckle.
"Well, that's certainly handy." He muttered.
Looking at the screen, Quinn couldn't help but agree.
The Skill almost seemed too good to be true.
Essentially, it acted like a second lifeline for Quinn.
As long as he kept his Blood Bank fully stocked up, he would always be able to restore 50 points of HP.
Not only that, but it seemed that it had also solved his "storage" problem.
His System wasn't like Tsukuru's, where he could just store away vials in his "Inventory".
And although Quinn had been using corks to stop the blood in the test tubes from oxidizing, it wouldn't stop the blood from spoiling for very long.
At most, Quinn would be able to keep the blood fresh for 8 hours without keeping it in some form of special storage container.
Quinn's eyes then darted over at Tsukuru next to him.
While Layla wasn't always around him, Tsukuru normally was.
But even then, Quinn didn't want to constantly rely on Tsukuru as a blood source.
Quinn suddenly stopped walking, causing Tsukuru to halt in his step as well, looking at Quinn with a look of confusion.
Instead of answering, Quinn reached into his bag, and pulled out the vial of blood.
Tsukuru's eyes widened, and his eyes darted from side-to-side.
Lucky for them, the halls were pretty much empty at this time.
Quinn looked at the vial of blood using his Inspect Skill. It seemed the vial was still viable for the time being.
Quinn then focused on the vial, imagining placing it in his Blood Bank.
The blood then began to shine brightly.
Tsukuru's eyes widened in surprise, as the blood inside the vial vanished into thin air, leaving the test tube empty.
A set of two overlaying System messages appeared in front of Quinn.
[Blood Bank: 10/100ml]
[Your hunger grows.]
Quinn smiled.
He was happy that his new Blood Bank Skill was so convenient.
Seeing the second message, he realized that he no longer had to worry about his HP decreasing every hour due to "hunger".
This meant that he would have to worry about a repeat of what had happened to Layla in the library when his HP "bottomed out", so long as he kept his Blood Bank topped up.
Quinn placed the empty test tube back in his bag.
Quinn then looked down at Tsukuru, who was slightly shorter than him.
Tsukuru raised an eyebrow.
"You done?" He asked.
Quinn nodded, and the two continued walking.
When Tsukuru and Quinn reached the dorm room, they found not only Vorden roughed up, but Peter as well.
"Damn." Tsukuru muttered as he looked at them, causing Quinn to turn to him. "We miss a party?"
Quinn turned to the two.
"What happened?" He asked. "Was it the second-years again?"
Vorden snorted, and waved his hands dismissively.
"Nah, this is just from our Combat Classes." Vorden said nonchalantly. "The teacher made us do sparring sessions on our first day."
Tsukuru put his hand under his chin.
"You guys too, huh?" He mused, causing the two to turn to him.
"You guys had to spar, as well?" Peter asked.
Vorden leaned forward, now interested.
"How did it go?" He asked quickly.
At his words, Tsukuru's eyes narrowed, as the memories of his "fight" against Erin flashed in his head.
Of how she easily overpowered him, despite him having two weapons, while she only had one.
He grit his teeth.
"I don't want to talk about it." Tsukuru muttered.
Vorden and Peter stared at him.
Then, Vorden glanced at Quinn.
"He lost, didn't he?" Vorden asked in a matter-of-fact tone.
In response, Quinn let out a sigh.
He brought his hand up to his face, and began to shake his head in disappointment.
"Someone decided to fight Erin." Quinn replied.
Vorden and Peter just stood there, stunned, for a moment.
Then, Vorden spoke.
"Erin?" He asked, as if trying to confirm what Quinn had said. "As in our Erin?" He asked. "The one we took the Placement Test with?"
In response, Tsukuru narrowed his eyes.
"Do you know another Level 5 Ice Ability User around here named 'Erin'?" He asked.
Instantly, Peter stepped forward.
"Why on earth would you challenge Erin to a fight?!" He asked in shock and surprise. "She's three Levels above you!"
Tsukuru grit his teeth.
"Somebody had to knock her off her pedestal." He muttered, looking away.
Tsukuru had always despised high Levels, due to how they tended to treat others who weren't as strong as them.
In response, Quinn glanced away.
"Well, you sure showed her, didn't you?." He muttered in a deadpan tone.
In response, Tsukuru began muttering obscenities under his breath, hunching over.
Quinn then looked at Peter and Vorden.
"Any problems on your end?" He asked.
Peter sighed, and looked away dejected.
"Not really." He muttered. "I was humiliated and lost my fight, of course. I still can't control my Ability really well, and I got nervous." He explained. "When I brought my mud out of my pouch and molded it into a spear, everyone laughed at me, and I
got distracted."
In response, Tsukuru shrugged his shoulders.
"Eh, don't worry about it." He replied, attempting to cheer him up. "Even my sister still uses the mud aspect of the Earth Ability."
In response, the other three all turned to him.
"She does?" They all asked.
Tsukuru smiled.
"Most people find the mud of the early levels of the Earth Ability to be weak and unreliable, but she found a rather…effective use for it." He explained.
"She created her own original Skill, 'Muddy Terrain'. She turns the terrain around her into a muddy bog, causing them to get stuck in the mud and making fighting effectively difficult. Meanwhile, she simply hardens the areas she uses as footing."
The three all stared at Tsukuru in surprise.
It was such a simple aspect of the Earth Ability, but they could all see its effectiveness in Tsukuru's explanation.
Peter cleared his throat, and continued his explanation of their class today,
"Vorden was amazing." Peter replied, a smile on his face. "He told those who laughed at me to 'shut up', and then used my same Level 1 Earth Ability to beat a Level 3 Ability user!"
Vorden punched Peter lightly on the shoulder.
"Oh, shut up." He replied. "You're embarrassing me!"
Despite his sore shoulder from where Vorden had punched him, Peter still had a beaming smile on his face.
"But it's true, Vorden." Peter replied. "You were so cool back there."
The four of them continued to exchange stories from their combat classes.
While Tsukuru didn't want to talk about his defeat at Erin's hands, Quinn eagerly talked about how he had defeated Brandon, a Level 3 Ability user, just like Vorden had.
At first, they were surprised.
But after Quinn had explained that Abilities were banned during the spars, they understood.
The three of them were exhausted from the first day of Combat Classes, and decided to get some rest.
Like usual, Tsukuru completed his Daily Quest by playing his handheld for 10 minutes before going to bed, increasing his XP from "150/200" to "160/200".