Eventually, Tsukuru's story had finished, and Leo allowed him to leave.
He had a lot to think about due to Tsukuru's…revelation.
As Tsukuru walked down the hall, he thought to himself.
He had a new Skill as well as a new Racial Slot for his Video Summons due to his Level Up as a result of his defeat of Brandon earlier.
But before he looked at any of that, he had to make sure Vorden, or whoever was in control of his body at the moment, didn't kill Layla in the heat of the moment.
He lifted his wristwatch to his chest, and opened up the "Contacts" list.
He scrolled down until Vorden's name was shown, and pressed it.
A few seconds later, Vorden answered the call.
"WHAT?!" A voice bellowed from the other end, making Tsukuru's heart jump.
'Raten must be in control.' Tsukuru thought. "Vorden, is Layla in the dorm with you?"
Back in the dorm room, Raten pressed his forearm harder into Layla's neck.
"Yeah, the little stalker bitch is here!" He snarled.
Layla looked down at the wristwatch.
"Tsukuru…" Layla choked up. "You live with this psycho?!"
Back with Tsukuru, his eyes narrowed.
He was afraid of this.
A deep sigh was picked up by the wristwatch, causing both Layla and Raten to look down at him.
"Vorden, I don't know what is going on over there, but I need you to let her go." Tsukuru replied.
His words stunned Raten, and caused hope to run through Layla.
"What?!" Raten yelled. "But you said-"
Tsukuru cut him off.
"I said we needed to 'wait and see'." He said in a steely tone, making Raten growl in anger.
Layla looked down at the watch.
"Layla has been very helpful to Quinn, and hurting her may cause…complications in your relationship. Do you really think that HE wants that?"
Both Tsukuru and Raten knew that by "he" he was referring to Sil, or as Raten and Vorden called him, 'the little one'.
Back in the hall, Tsukuru's mind raced.
He had to figure out a way to get Layla out of whatever danger she was currently in.
Then, a thought came to him.
It was an old and simple plan, but an effective one: Misdirection.
All Tsukuru had to do was steer Raten's attention and anger towards a different…and more deserving target.
And, thinking back to earlier today in the Beast Weapon Hall, he knew the perfect target.
After a moment, Tsukuru spoke again.
"And besides, which do you think would be more…productive?" Tsukuru asked.
Just like Tsukuru had hoped, this had caught Raten's attention.
"Wasting time taking your anger out on someone who's actually trying to help Quinn? Or, taking your anger out on the assholes actually responsible?"
A predatory grin crept across Raten's face.
He took his arm off of Layla's neck, causing her to take a deep breath.
"I'm listening." He replied.
Back with Tsukuru, he smirked.
"Good." He replied. "Meet me in the forest connected to the park."
Tsukuru then ended the call, and then returned to his "Contacts".
He scrolled down, until Shizuka's name came up.
Shizuka was in her office, playing a solo-game of an old game called "Paper Football", having a piece of paper folded into a triangle in between her hands with two needles pierced in the opposite side of her desk, spread wide apart, forming a "goal".
Just as Shizuka was about to flick the piece of folded paper, her watch began to beep.
Grumbling, Shizuka pushed the piece of paper aside, and booked at her watch.
She smiled, seeing it was Tsukuru, and eagerly answered the call.
"Tsu-Tsu." She answered happily. "What can I help you with today?" She asked.
Tsukuru's voice replied through the screen.
"I need a photo of a particular first-year student." He replied, piquing Shizuka's interest. "Richardson, Brandon. Level 3 Ability User. Wind Ability."
Hearing his words, Shizuka walked over to a filing cabinet, and began flipping through files.
"Ramaz, Remira, Ricardo, ah!" Shizuka said, pulling out a specific file. "Here it is! Brandon Richardson!"
What she pulled out was a large vanilla envelope, containing Brandon's file, as well as an included photo from his previous school, paperclipped to his file.
Tsukuru's voice then came through the speaker again.
"Good." He replied. "Can you bring that photo with you to the forest connected to the park?" There was a momentary silence before he continued. "The spot where-"
Shizuka smirked, as she interrupted him.
"The spot where you killed Riley?" She asked. "Yeah, I know. I'll be right there."
Shizuka ended the communication.
Back in the hallway, Tsukuru sighed.
"I really hate that she had to say it like that." He muttered, as he continued walking.
Meanwhile, back with Quinn, he had been following Fei from a safe distance for a while now, but it didn't look like he was heading out of the school, and Quinn was running out of time.
A System message appeared in front of him.
[HP: 12/20]
If he lost any more HP, he would have to go searching for Layla or Tsukuru, and would have to track Fei back down at a later time.
However, Quinn felt like he would never have an opportunity as good as this one ever again.
Very rarely was there a time when people would be on their own, and especially one that Quinn had a grudge against.
That's when Fei started to head upstairs, and eventually went up to the school roof door.
After reaching the closed door, Quinn quickly moved, and opened the door ever so slightly, and started to peek through.
Quinn glanced around the rooftop, feeling happy for his luck. Fei was the only person he could see up there.
'It seems that lady luck is on my side today.' Quinn thought with a smirk.
Crouching down and opening his bag, he reached in, pulled out the mask Tsukuru had made him.
He flicked open the latches on both sides, and it opened like a clam shell.
He placed it over his head with his head between the two halves, and clicked the latches shut.
He then reached into his back, and pulled out the Knight Gauntlets.
However, they looked different from the last time he had seen them.
They looked like they had been refurbished, with significantly less rust on them.
Confused, he activated his Inspect Skill.
[Knight Gauntlets
Intermediate-Tier Beast Gear
+7 Strength
+5 Defense
This weapon is compatible with the Skill Blood Swipe. When used while wearing the gauntlets, the Skill will have a 10% increase in power.]
Quinn's eyes widened in surprise.
'When did these become Intermediate-Tier?!' Quinn thought. 'They were only Basic-Tier when I fought against Riley and his friends in the forest!'
Quinn then thought back to when the Haunted Knight had appeared in the Beast Weapons hall.
Its appearance had significantly changed from when he saw it in the woods.
Maybe there was a correlation.
As Quinn put the gauntlets on, he felt a rush of strength flow through him.
A System message appeared in front of him.
[Intermediate-Tier Knight Gauntlets have been equipped. Strength: 19]
Seeing the message, Quinn smirked. '19 Strength…that's almost twenty…' He thought.
With these equipped, he was now almost twice as strong as he was when he had first unlocked the System.
Quinn got up, and prepared to walk through the door.
With this new mask completely covering his head and hair, and the gauntlets covering his wristwatch, there was no way that Fei would be able to recognize him.
Quinn knew that the second he opened the door, the metal creaking sound would notify Fei that someone was there, so he needed to do everything as quickly as possible.
'Ready, set, GO!' Quinn thought, and pushed the door open, running over to where Fei was in an instant.
As Fei turned around, he saw a figure in a black mask that was spraypainted to look like a skull, wearing slightly-rusted metal gauntlets.
He saw the figure swipe his left hand, causing red lines of aura to extend from his hand.
"What the?!" Fei gasped, but he was too slow to react, and all he could do was lift his hand to block.
However, the blow was far too powerful.
The lines of aura slashed through his hand like blades, leaving his hand mangled, and causing blood to drip down.
To Fei, it felt like a set of five, sharp blades were cutting into him at the same time.
Not only that, but the blow had so much force behind it that it knocked Fei into the air, and knocked him back.
Due to the combination of his now 19 in strength and the 10% boost to his Skill, the attack was far stronger than Quinn had predicted.
Fei kept going until he slammed his back against the guard rails, denting it slightly.
On impact, Fei collapsed to the floor, and passed out.
As Quinn looked at Fei laying on the floor in front of the guard rails, a System message popped up in front of him, showing him that his HP had decreased again.
[HP: 11/20]