Sergeant Leo then turned to General Nathan.
"How are the preparations for the portal outing for first-years coming along?" He asked.
"Everything is all set up." Nathan replied. "A Green Portal has been selected for the students to go through, and the base has made preparations for their arrival. It should go smoothly next week."
Head General Paul glanced over at Nathan.
"What Planet is it this time?" He asked.
Leo turned to Nathan.
"Yes, I would like to know, as well." Leo replied. "That way, I will be able to better prepare my students."
Nathan smirked.
"Tell them to pack some sun cream and sunglasses." Nathan replied. "They're going to Planet Caladi."
Planet Caladi was a planet that was mostly covered in a vast desert, and contained mainly Basic-Tier Beasts, with the rare Intermediate-Tier.
Additionally, unlike Earth's 24-hour day-and-night cycle, Caladi had a 72-hour cycle.
It was perfect for those who loved sunlight and heat.
General Duke glanced over at Head General Paul.
"I have one last thing to discuss before we conclude this frivolous meeting, if that's okay with you, Head General." He replied.
Paul raised an eyebrow.
"By all means." He replied in a bored tone.
General Duke cleared his throat.
"For those unaware, I was the one who interviewed Hikiko Tsukuru in last night's incident." He replied.
Hearing this, Sergeant Leo raised an eyebrow in suspicion.
"You interviewed a first-year?" He asked.
Duke let out a sigh.
"Yes." The way he spoke was almost as if he had expected that response. "And I discovered that while student Quinn Talen defeated his second-years by throwing Beast Stones at them, Hikiko Tsukuru created Glathrium balls to throw at his."
His statement made the eyes of everyone aside from himself and Shizuka, who were there in the interview room with Tsukuru, widen in surprise.
"I recommend we…salvage these discarded Glathrium deposits from the assembly hall for our stockpiles." He replied.
Head General Paul put his hand under his chin, thinking.
Almost immediately, Cecelia jumped to her feet.
"He was hitting them with Glathrium balls?!" She yelled, incredulous. "No wonder so many of the second-years were injured!"
Head General Paul ignored her outburst, and turned back to Duke.
"How much Glathrium are we talking about here?" Paul asked, suddenly very interested.
In response, Sergeant Shizuka produced a small, black metal ball from her jacket's lower pocket, and held it up.
The ball was roughly the size of a tennis ball.
"I took the opportunity to salvage a sample when me and Sergeant Faye arrived on the scene earlier." She replied.
Shizuka tightened her hand around the ball and threw it at General Duke like a baseball.
Due to his heightened reflexes from years in the military, he easily caught it.
Duke held the ball in his hand, rocking it back and forth.
"Feels like about…half the weight of that last chunk he made." General Duke replied, referring to the ten-kilo Glathrium chunk Head General Paul had provided in their first late-night meeting. "So about five kilos, give or take."
Paul narrowed his eyes.
"And how many of these 'balls' did Hikiko Tsukuru make?" He asked.
Cecilia let out an annoyed snort.
"Based on the injuries on the second-years, I'd say around seven." She muttered.
Hearing her words, Paul's eyes widened.
"40 more kilos of Glathrium…" He muttered under his breath, his hand under his chin.
He then turned to General Duke.
"Granted." He replied.
Duke nodded, and pocketed the ball in his own jacket's pocket.
With that, Paul called the meeting to an end.
Everyone in the room then left the meeting room, and headed off into their respective building in the school.
As Head General Paul walked down the hall, he had his hand under his chin, thinking.
"How many credits does it cost to make one of our healing syriums, again?" He thought out loud.
He was trying to figure out exactly how many credits to wire to Tsukuru for that batch of potions he had made for Hayley.
Eventually, he just let out an annoyed sigh.
"Whatever." He replied with a dismissive wave. "I'll just wire him 500. That should be more than enough."
Hours passed over the base, and finally, the next day arrived with the rising sun.
It was now officially the first weekend of the year, meaning that the students were free to do whatever they wanted.
It was essentially a free day, as there weren't any classes.
Tsukuru stretched, as he rose out of bed.
As per usual, the group of four did their morning ritual of taking turns in the shower.
Afterwards, Tsukuru put his wristwatch on. As he looked at it, his eyes narrowed. His credit balance now displayed "20,800".
'Damn.' He thought.
Meanwhile with Quinn, he was deep in thought.
After the incident with the second-years yesterday, he now realized that although he had gained a lot of strength compared to what he had before, there were still others that he stood no chance against.
Although Mono was strong among the second-years, he was nowhere near the top of the food chain.
There were many with higher Ability Levels, and even Originals whose powers couldn't be measured.
And there were even powerhouses among the first-years, like Vorden and Erin.
Quinn knew that compared to them, it was no contest.
He had to get stronger.
The easiest and fastest way for him to get stronger was by drinking as many different people's blood as possible.
But there was a problem.
After so many deaths in the past week, as well as the incident with the second-years, security around the academy had been increased.
More soldiers were put on patrol, and it seemed like they were keeping an eye on everyone.
For now, while tensions were so high, it was best for Quinn to lay low.
So that left Quinn with one option.
To improve his fighting skills.
Quinn still hadn't learned the two combat moves that had been unlocked in his System yesterday, the Flash Step and the Hammer Strike.
But even if he had, learning them wasn't going to be enough.
After watching Vorden fight yesterday, Quinn realized that he needed to learn how to usethem.
He needed experience.
Fighting experience.
It was then that he heard Vorden speak up.
"Hey, I'm going into town to get supplies." Vorden replied. "You guys wanna come with me?" He asked.
In response to hearing Vorden's question, Tsukuru let out a nervous laugh.
"Actually, there's something else I wanna do today." He replied, scratching the back of his neck, and looking away sheepishly.
Hearing this, Vorden raised an eyebrow in confusion.
It was then that Quinn spoke up.
"Sure, I'll go." He replied, causing Vorden to turn to him.
Originally, Quinn had planned to meet up with Layla to run some tests.
But at the same time, he hadn't been able to relax in a while.
Also, in his last school, Quinn had never made any friends.
But now, he had the opportunity to go out and have some fun.
'One day couldn't hurt, right?' He thought.