The thrown Beast Stone was lined up to hit the girl in the face.
She watched with wide eyes, as the ball sped towards her like a speeding cannonball.
However, it was then that something happened.
The girl heard a strange sound behind her.
It sounded like electronic interference from a TV.
She then heard screaming on either side of her. The two second-years holding her suddenly released their grips, going down on their left knee.
The girl then felt the lower back of her uniform's blazer being tugged.
The girl let out a short "eep!" of surprise, as her whole upper torso was yanked back, causing her to lean backwards.
As she leaned back, she watched as the Beast Stone sailed over her head, missing her by mere inches.
The ball continued flying through the air until it eventually ran out of kinetic energy, and fell to the ground near the back end of the assembly hall.
A loud thump was heard as it hit the floor.
It was so deathly quiet, one could hear a pin drop.
The girl took in a few deep breaths.
She then slowly looked down, looking for who had saved her.
It was then that she saw a boy standing behind her.
The boy was short in stature, being roughly two-thirds of her height.
He had blonde hair and blue eyes, and wore a black and blue hoodie over his military uniform that was 3-D printed with the design of a circuit board.
Seeing the boy, the girl's eyes widened.
Her gaze continued to linger on Tsukuru for a few moments longer.
"Thank…you." She whispered.
It was so low, that it was virtually imperceptible.
Tsukuru nodded, and released his grip.
Feeling the force holding her backwards being gone, the girl straightened herself so she was standing straight again.
Meanwhile, up on the stand, a pulsing vein began to appear on Mono's temple.
"That…little…" He gritted under his breath.
He then took a deep breath, as he tried to relax.
He would NOT let a little runt like this Hihiko Tsukuru cause him to lose his composure in front of a bunch of first years.
"Get that BITCH out of my sight!" He yelled.
Instantly, the two second-years who had been holding the girl and were now on their knees, hands wrapped around a Beast Dagger that was now embedded in the back of their left calves, turned and looked at the two first-years, a look of pure rage on their faces.
Tsukuru glanced at the two.
He had two choices, he could fight them off, only for more second-years to come to their aid.
Or he could teleport back to his original position between Quinn and Layla.
Tsukuru then looked up at the girl he had just saved.
He couldn't just leave her here.
Suddenly, an idea came to Tsukuru.
He had no idea if it would work, but he had to try something.
He pressed his hand on her back, and activated his Video Glitch Skill.
However, he also imagined taking her with him when he teleported.
His heart raced, as he saw his body begin to turn into a mass of glitching, light-blue pixels.
But then, he let out a sigh of relief, as he saw the glitching pixels begin to spread out on the point of contact on the girl, her turning into a mass of glitching pixels, as well.
The girl looked down at her hands, fear running through her.
Instantly, she snapped her head down at him.
"What are you-?!" She started, but was instantly cut off, as the two literally glitched out of existence.
Instantly, the eyes of everyone in the assembly hall began to widen in surprise.
Even Mono looked dumbfounded.
Back with Tsukuru's group, Erin's eyes narrowed, while Layla frantically looked from left to right.
"What the?!" She cried. "Where'd he go?!?"
A moment later, the sound of electronic interference could be heard in the space slightly in front of them.
Instantly, the two figures reappeared, as if glitching back into existence right in front of them.
The girl had a look of utter shock on her face.
Meanwhile, Tsukuru was panting heavily, him suddenly out of breath.
"Really…glad…that worked." He replied through deep breaths, holding his chest.
Instantly, he saw a System message pop up in front of him.
[-10 MC. MC: 30/40]
Seeing the message, Tsukuru narrowed his eyes.
'So taking others with me costs me the Skill's MC cost per person, huh?' He thought. 'I guess that makes sense.'
Tsukuru then felt a hand on his shoulder.
Looking back, he saw Layla looking at him, worry on his face.
"Are you okay?" She asked in concern.
Seeing this, Tsukuru let out a gentle smile.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied. "Using that Skill in quick succession just…takesup a lot of Stamina."
Hearing this, Quinn narrowed his eyes.
Any normal person would assume Tsukuru was talking about his body's natural stamina.
His endurance.
However, Quinn knew from his own System that Stamina was one of their stats.
Up on the podium, Mono's fist tightened in anger.
He then turned to the crowd of first-year students.
"Next!" he yelled.
The next student was male, and he had an Ability Level of 2.5, meaning he was at least as strong as Fei and Riley.
When he held the Beast Stone in his hand, he managed to change the color from black to green, activating the power of the Beast Crystal inside.
Unlike the female now at Tsukuru's side, he didn't hesitate. He had more time to think about what he needed to do.
He threw the ball hard, and the ball managed to hit Vorden square in the stomach.
The impact was hard, and it made Vorden cough up blood all over the floor.
Seeing this, Mono smirked in triumph.
"Yes, perfect!" He replied, applauding the student. "That's exactly how each of you should throw the ball!"
His head then snapped towards Tsukuru.
"You see that?" He asked with a sneer. "At least some of youknow your place!"
Tsukuru grit his teeth.
"Just because some of us are whimpering COWARDS doesn't mean the rest of us are as spineless!" He muttered under his breath, looking at the male student in contempt.
On either side behind Tsukuru, Quinn and Layla exchanged glances.
Even though Layla had her issues with Vorden, she knew this wasn't right.
"Those bastards." Layla hissed. "How could they do something like that?"
Her head then whipped towards Quinn.
"Quinn, go call Leo! If it's him, he might be able to stop this mess!" But, halfway through speaking, she noticed that Quinn was no longer next to her.
If Tsukuru had been in a BETTER mood, he probably would have commented on how if this was a TV show, there would have been a flashing, dotted line in the outline of Quinn.
Just then, Quinn's voice rang out.
"Hey, pick me!" Quinn replied.
The group of Tsukuru, Layla, Erin, and the girl Tsukuru had just rescued all snapped their heads towards the front of the crowd.
"I don't mind having a try."