Hearing the words of General Duke and General Nathan, Vorden turned back to Tsukuru, a confused look on his face.
"Something wrong?" He asked.
Tsukuru sighed, as he began to stand up.
"It's nothing to worry about." He replied, as he got out of his seat.
Back with Quinn and Layla, Quinn turned to her.
"What's going on?" He asked. Layla remained quiet for a second.
Then she spoke.
"Erin and Tsukuru's little Beast are going to fight." Layla replied.
Quinn's eyebrows raised in surprise.
In the section of the canteen reserved for the "Level 5" students, Erin slowly got to her feet.
Like Vorden, she also sat alone.
But unlike with him, this was not out of obligation.
Rather, Erin preferred to sit alone, and she actively shooed away anyone who approached her.
The more…obsinate individuals, usually boys, Erin shooed away more forcefully than others, them usually finding them at the business end of her Intermediate-Tier Knight Sword.
Both Tsukuru and Erin began walking down the canteen from opposite directions towards the two men.
Once they both reached the two Generals, Sergeant Shizuka walked through the door behind them.
She stood in front of the three, blocking them from view.
"Everyone, please remain seated until all preparations have been made." Shizuka ordered, her arms crossed.
A sadistic grin then crept across her face.
"But please, feel FREE to break this rule." She replied, a devious glint in her eyes. "I would love to have some disobedient children to…play with to sate my boredom."
At her words, the whole canteen had a collective, nervous gulp.
Each student looked from one to another.
Even the most arrogant among the High-Levels didn't want to test their luck.
Hikiko Shizuka's sadism was one world-wide from her various livestreams of…interrogating…criminals and Pure agents.
The former number 88 of Pure had just been the latest in a LONG line of victims.
Seeing that nobody was going to take her bait, Shizuka kissed her teeth in annoyance.
Meanwhile, Tsukuru and Erin followed the two Generals down the halls towards the assembly hall.
They remained eerily quiet the whole walk, but Tsukuru noticed that Duke would repeatedly look back at them.
With how his gaze constantly shifted between them, he couldn't tell if Duke was more interested in him or Erin.
Eventually, they reached the assembly hall.
As they walked in, Tsukuru marveled at how nicely they had fixed up the place.
Compared to the last time he had been here, it looked as if Raten's scuffle with the second-years had never happened.
The walls were all repaired, the columns and pillars had been fixed.
Hell, even the scorchmarks had been cleaned.
Tsukuru also noticed that there was a large circle drawn in the middle of the room in what appeared to be white, masking tape.
It honestly reminded Tsukuru of the "ring" in the Beast Weapon Hall.
In the back of the room, on the raised platform where the speaker for the assembly would normally stand, there was Sergeant Leo.
The group of four walked until they reached the back of the room.
The two generals instructed the two students to wait by the podium until the other students arrived.
Tsukuru sat down on the bottom steps while Erin leaned against the wall of the elevated platform.
Duke turned to Nathan, who nodded.
He brought his watch up to his chest, and spoke into it.
"Sergeant Shizuka, we're all set on our end." He replied.
Back in the canteen, Shizuka also had her watch up to her chest.
She nodded in agreement.
She looked up at the students.
"Alright, everyone." She said, jabbing her thumb towards the door behind her. "I want a nice and orderly line walking out that door. Separate into your homeroom classes, and make your way down to the assembly hall."
With her piece said, Shizuka turned around, and walked out the door, her hands behind her back.
It was clear that she wanted them to follow her.
Slowly, the students began to move.
Following Shizuka's instructions, they all separated into their homeroom classes.
This meant that Quinn, Vorden, and Peter stood along all the other students in Del's class.
As Shizuka led them down the same route General Nathan and General Duke had led Tsukuru and Erin, no one dared to speak.
Eventually, they reached the assembly hall.
As they entered the hall, they were giving strict orders to maintain a safe distance away from the ring drawn in the center of the room.
This resulted in the group of roughly 493 students clustering in a large group in the front section of the assembly hall.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Sergeant Leo slowly began to descend the steps of the elevated platform.
As he reached the bottom, he glanced back at Erin and Tsukuru.
"It's time, you two." He replied.
It was then that General Duke stood in front of the crowd of gathered students.
"All right, listen up!" Duke announced, his voice echoing through the room. "Next week you all will be heading out to your first portal outing! There, you will encounter Beasts that it will be your job to slay and harvest their Beast Crystals!"
The students glanced at one another.
This was pretty much common-knowledge, as they all knew this.
"However!" Duke's voice boomed again, snapping everyone back to attention. "Many of you likely have never even SEEN a Beast! Therefore, we have decided to put on this demonstration!"
Duke turned around, and motioned to Tsukuru and Erin.
"Begin!" He bellowed.
As his words left his mouth, Erin began to walk forward.
She walked into the circle on the floor, and stood on the left side of it, waiting with her arms crossed.
Tsukuru simply extended his hand out in front of him.
"Summon." He replied.
Instantly, a low hum reminiscent of the electronical sounds an old TV would make when trying to tune into a broadcast channel began to emit from his general area.
Then, translucent, light-blue pixels began to appear in front of him.
The students all watched in awe, as the pixels clustered together.
There was a flash of light.
When it faded, Tsukuru's Haunted Knight stood in front of him, standing in her typical "Knight Sentry" pose.
The students looked on in awe.
For many of them, this was their first time seeing her.
Tsukuru then snapped his finger.
The Haunted knight took that as her signal.
Instantly, her posture began to change.
She lifted her right hand off of her sword, and began to walk forward, her sword held by her side in her left hand.
As she walked, her heavy steps could be heard.
Duke's eyes narrowed, as he watched her move.
"An Intermediate-Tier Humanoid Beast." He muttered, causing Nathan to glance over at him. "Let's see how strong it is."
The Haunted Knight walked into the circle, continuing to walk until she was standing on the far-right side, opposite of Erin.
She then turned around to face her.
Erin and the Haunted Knight stared at each other.
Due to them being relative in height, albeit the Haunted Knight being slightly taller, causing Erin to have to slightly look up, they were able to look at each other eye-to-eye.
Erin stared into the Haunted Knight's visor.
All she could see was glowing light-blue.
It looked similar to if one looked into the grate of a roaring furnace.
Instantly, both Erin and the Haunted Knight turned their heads to look at Leo.
It was clear that they were waiting for permission to start.
"Seeing" this, Leo coughed into his fist.
"This fight will be in accordance with the rules of the Beast Weapon Hall!" He announced. "This means that any and all use of Abilities is strictly prohibited!"
Both Erin and the Haunted Knight nodded their heads in understanding.
After a moment, Leo then let out a loud bellow.
"BEGIN!"
Instantly, the two began running at each other, both holding their swords by their sides, both hands on their sword's handles.
As the two met in the center, their swords clashed.
The sound of scraping metal filled the room.
The students watched as Erin and the Haunted Knight were in a deadlock.
They both strained, trying to overpower the other.
Erin gritted her teeth, surprised at just how strong the Haunted Knight was.
She felt as if she was fighting a trained fighter.
She pushed with all her might, and sent her sword hurtling upwards.
As the two swords were locked, this sent the Haunted Knight's sword upwards, as well, leaving her chestpiece momentarily exposed.
Erin used this opportunity to strike.
She held her sword out straight by her rib, and thrust it forward in a piercing motion.
The sword collided with the chestpiece, the clashing metal producing a few sparks.
And while it left a small scratch, there was no other effect.
The Haunted Knight looked down and Erin.
She held her sword above her head using both hands, and swung it straight down.
Erin leaped backwards, causing the sword to collide with the ground in the space Erin had previously been standing.
As Erin touched back down on the ground, she looked at the Haunted Knight, gritting her teeth.
She then momentarily glanced down at her sword.
'If this sword is ANYTHING to go on, that Beast's armor must be at the Intermediate-Tier, as well!' She thought. 'It's going to be HARD to break through that armor!'
It was then that Erin saw a shadow looming over her.
Glancing up, she saw the Haunted Knight in front of her, mid-motion in a horizontal swing with her sword.
It appeared that the Haunted Knight had taken advantage of Erin's momentary distraction when she was looking down at her sword to advance on her.
Erin leaned back, causing the blade to slice though nothing but air.
'Right, I can't get distracted.' Erin thought. 'This Knight, it's not like the others. It's strong. And it's JUST what I've been looking for! Something to put me through my paces!'
A slight smirk crept at the corner of her lip.
Erin jumped back again, landing at the edge of the circle.
However, she looked up at the Haunted knight, an excited smile on her face.
She held her sword out in front of her face, held in a slight angle.
'It's time to see how I fare against an Intermediate-Tier Beast!' She thought, before lunging forward, back into the fray.