As Leo watched the group of Tsukuru, Quinn, and Layla walk out of the door of the Beast Weapons Hall, he looked down at the ostrich egg-sized chunk of raw Glathrium in his hand.
'I should probably get this to Head General Paul as soon as possible' He thought.
He brought his watch up to his chest.
"I need a teleporter here." Leo replied into the watch's screen.
A moment later, there was a flash of light, and a soldier appeared next to him.
"Greetings, Sergeant Leo!" The soldier replied, saluting to him. "Is there an injured student that needs urgent attention?" He asked, looking around.
At this, Leo smiled.
"No, not this time." He replied, causing the soldier to become confused. "I require emergency teleportation to the Head General's office."
The soldier saluted once again.
"Yes, sir!" He grabbed Leo's shoulder, and they teleported away.
Leo and the guard reappeared in Paul's office.
Like usual, Paul was sitting at his desk, going through paperwork.
To his right, stood his secretary, Martha, still as a statue.
Despite having his head down looking at paperwork, Paul still saw the flash.
Looking up, he saw Leo and the guard appear in his office, the soldier then teleporting away, once again.
Seeing the Sergeant, Head General Paul put down his paperwork, and clasped his hands on his desk.
"Sergeant Leo." Paul said with a smile. "Do you have something to report?" He asked.
Leo smiled.
"Not this time, Head General." Leo replied, placing the chunk of Glathrium on Paul's table. It made an audible "thunk" as it touched the desk's surface. "I'm just here to make a delivery."
Paul looked down at the chunk, his eyes wide.
His gaze then snapped up to Leo.
"Is this…" He asked.
Leo nodded, not needing Paul to finish his question.
"Student Hikiko Tsukuru sends his regards." Leo replied, answering Paul's question.
As Paul began to examine the chunk of Glathrium, Leo continued.
"He also said to 'consider it an 'early delivery'', and that you could just 'wire the funds when he receives his normal 10 credits at midnight'."
Paul simply nodded to Leo, as he examined the Glathrium.
Leo stared at Paul a moment later, before turning around.
"Well, I'll be off, then." He replied, walking out of the room.
However, Paul didn't hear him, as he was deep in thought.
"Hihiko Tsukuru." Paul muttered to himself. "It seems like every day there's some new situation with you at its center."
Paul then looked up.
"Let's hope you don't cause any trouble today."
Meanwhile, on the floor directly above him, the group of Tsukuru, Quinn, and Layla had just entered the main building after leaving the separate building where the combat classes were held.
As they walked, Tsukuru mentally accessed his System's Shop.
He mentally scrolled through his new items, until he finally came across the item he was looking for.
[MC Potion
Consumable Item
A flask filled with a liquid of a deep, blue color. Consuming the potion will fully re-energize 30 Mutant Cells. Can be consumed or applied externally as a salve.The potion must be fully used to take effect.
Cost: 3 Silver Coins]
Three silver coins was roughly 300 credits.
But right now, Tsukuru was too impatient to wait another fifteen to twenty minutes waiting for his MC to regenerate naturally.
He converted 300 of his stored credits into 3 silver coins in his Shop's balance, reducing his number of credits from "10,890" to "10,590".
As he completed the purchase, he heard the Shop's "cash register" ring in his head.
Quinn and Layla watched in surprise, as pixels began to appear in Tsukuru's open hand.
The pixels clustered together in the form of a strange structure.
Just like with the "Health Potion" he had used to heal Raten, it was thin at the top, before widening out at the bottom, in an almost "upside-down diamond" shape.
There was a flash of light.
When it faded, Tsukuru was gripping a strange, glass bottle in his hand, filled with a deep, blue liquid.
It had a glass top that looked like a beast's claw gripping the bottle, with a triangle at the very top.
Tsukuru grabbed the top with his under hand, and wrenched it off, throwing it behind him.
He then downed the whole potion.
As the last drop slid down his throat, a System message appeared in front of him.
[30 MC restored. MC: 40/40.]
"Finally." Tsukuru muttered.
The two other students continued staring at Tsukuru for a few more seconds, hoping that he would elaborate.
When he said nothing, they just continued walking.
As they walked around, they noticed that they and several other first-year students had been stopped.
The people stopping them were wearing those same black bands on their uniforms, denoting them as second-year students.
They asked the first-year students to gather back up in the assembly hall.
Although, "asking" would be far too generous.
It was more like a demand spoken with kind words.
The second-year students were far stronger than the first-years, and they had no choice but to agree.
Even the high-Levels among the first-years seemed afraid.
Layla turned to Quinn and Tsukuru.
"What's going on?" Layla asked.
Quinn raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"No idea." He replied. "Maybe they're having another demonstration?"
However, as they looked over at Tsukuru, they instinctively jumped back.
He once again had that dark expression on his face.
'This is it.' Tsukuru thought, clenching his fist in anger. 'Mono Black, just what are you up to THIS time?'
Around a hundred, roughly a fifth of the entirety of the first-year students, had gathered in the assembly hall.
As Tsukuru glanced around him, he didn't see a single adult in sight.
No teachers, no Sergeants, nothing.
Just a shitload of second-year students.
There were nearly thirty of them.
Up on the stage, the curtain was drawn, hiding whatever was behind them from view, and Mono stood at the very front.
Seeing him, Tsukuru narrowed his eyes.
'I knew it.' He thought bitterly.
Mono turned to one of the second-years.
"Have all the students arrived yet?" He asked.
The second-year nodded.
"Yes, Mono." The student replied. "Everyone from Del's homeroom class, and the Beast Weapon Hall combat class should be here."
Looking down, Mono's gaze zeroed in on Tsukuru.
Seeing his livid expression, Mono let out a cold smirk.
"Well then, time to show everyone what happens when they break our rules." He replied, before stepping forward.
"Welcome, every single one of you." Mono replied. "Today, we have a special event, a special message for all of you first-years. You see, there has been a certain someone going around, trying to go against us, thinking that he could beat the precious system that has been around for years in this school."
Every single word coming out of Mono's mouth just made Tsukuru madder and madder, his expression getting even darker.
As far as he was concerned, Mono's words were nothing but filth.
Mono was everything wrong with this world, and Tsukuru would love nothing more than to have his Haunted Knight slice his head off, the same way she had done with Riley.
Glancing back and forth, Tsukuru noticed that his Haunted Knight hadn't manifested.
'Well, at least now I know it won't act out my mental desires.' Tsukuru thought.
Mono smiled wickedly.
"Today, we will show you what happens when you try to..defy the proper, natural state of this world."
Behind Mono, a second-year student pulled a long rope.
Instantly, the curtain began to open.
As the curtain slowly moved to the side, it started to reveal a student who had been tied up, and placed on a large piece of wood.
The student was bloody and had markings of being beaten everywhere.
Instantly, Quinn's eyes widened, as he, Tsukuru, and Layla instantly recognized him.
"Vorden!" Quinn yelled.
Tsukuru's eyes narrowed, and his fist tightened, his nails starting to cut into his skin.
"Goddammit…" Tsukuru muttered.
Vorden was tied to a large, wooden plank.
Both of his hands were slotted into holes, while his body was made to stand, his legs looking like they were wired down by some sort of Ability.
Just then, several second-year students pulled out carts that seemed to be filled with large, black, circular stones.
Seeing them, Tsukuru's eyes shot wide open for a moment, before they then narrowed once again.
"They wouldn't dare…" He hissed through his grit teeth.
The scene in front of him reminded him of a scene in his fantasy book.
It took place during Ray's arc to the second school in the world's setting, the "bronzeland" continent, a school for mages called "Roland Academy".
In it, the upper students had a student tied up similar to how Vorden was right now, and forced the weaker students to throw metal balls at him in a twisted "target practice" exercise.
'Looks like it's true.' Tsukuru thought, bitterly. 'History really DOES repeat itself.'