As Tsukuru stood in the darkness, the System's computerized, feminine voice rang in his head.
[Night Vision Mode activated]
Instantly, Tsukuru's vision turned to shades of green. However, he could now see the area around him.
Suddenly, his eyes widened, as he saw one of the Hobgoblins rushing towards him.
Tsukuru narrowed his eyes.
'So my Summons can see in the dark, as well!' He thought.
However, Tsukuru was only half right. While not being "Skills" exactly, his Summons possessed several innate abilities. It was similar to how just being a Vampire allowed Quinn to heal himself.
Some of these "abilities" were restricted to a specific Summon Race, such as the Haunted Knight's "Spectral Body" that made them impervious to harm, or the Harpie's "Eagle Eyes" which gave them incredible eyesight.
However, one of these abilities that all of his Summons possessed was something called "Darkvision". It allowed them to see in the dark, but it wasn't exactly their normal vision. Rather, it was like seeing the world as if it was a grainy, black-and-white movie, with them being incapable of distinguishing colors.
The Hobgobin's left arm wound back next to her ribs, aimed to perform a gut-punch.
Her fist surged forward, and made contact with the Glathrium-Fiber Robes, resulting in a loud clang being heard.
Both Tsukuru and the Hobgoblin gritted in pain, the Hobgoblin from the pain of striking the metal, and Tsukuru from the kinetic energy of the attack.
Tsukuru pulled his arm back by his side, and threw out a gut-punch of his own, striking the Hobgoblin in her lower abdomen.
The Hobgoblin's eyes widened, and she staggered back.
Tsukuru wasn't surprised.
With both the Gauntlets and the Sword equipped, he had a Strength of "25", so he probably hit like a truck.
Tsukuru used the opportunity while the Hobgoblin was momentarily staggering to thrust his right arm up and forward.
He pierced the Intermediate-Tier Knight Sword through the Hobgoblin's chest at an upwards, diagonal angle.
The Hobgoblin's eyes widened even more, her pupils becoming pinpricks as she felt her heart being pierced.
Her whole body froze up.
"God…damn it…" She muttered.
A moment later, she exploded into pixels.
A System message appeared in front of Tsukuru.
[You have killed a Hobgoblin. 60 XP received. XP: 692/1600.]
Tsukuru let out a sigh of relief.
However, a second later, he saw the last remaining Hobgoblin rush towards him in the darkness, her spear extended in front of her, as if she was trying to run him through.
However, as the spear came into contact with the Glathrium-fiber outfit, the spear tip was stopped dead in its tracks.
However, Tsukuru did still feel a blast of kinetic energy rush though him.
He grit his teeth, and held his left arm out at his side, and imagined the Basic-Tier Hobgoblin Spear appearing in his empty hand.
Instantly, a System message appeared in front of him.
[Would you like to withdraw the Basic-Tier Hobgoblin Spear from the Weapons Tab?
[Yes] [No] ]
Tsukuru thought the word 'yes', and pixels began to appear in his hand.
The pixels clustered together into the form of the spear.
As Tsukuru held it, he felt even more Beast Energy flood into him, bumping up his Strength Score to "28".
The Hobgoblin's eyes widened, as she saw the spear appear in his hand.
Tsukuru wrenched his arm back, tilted it up slightly, and thrust it up into the Hobgoblin's chest at an upwards, diagonal angle with all his might.
A blast of air shot out from behind the Hobgoblin, the immense force of the spear distorting the dense fog.
The Hobgoblin's body stiffened, and she fell forwards towards Tsukuru, the movement driving the spear even deeper into her chest.
Her grip loosened on her spear, and it clattered down on the floor.
As her upper body hung there limply above Tsukuru, she exploded into pixels.
Immediately after, a System message appeared in front of Tsukuru.
[You have killed a Hobgoblin. 60 XP received. XP: 752/1600.]
As the Hobgoblin's body finished disintegrating, Tsukuru reached down and grabbed the spear still lying on the ground.
For some strange reason, the weapons wielded by his Summons here didn't disappear until all of the enemies in the group had been dealt with.
As Tsukuru held it in his hand, he felt the Beast Energy once again surge through him.
A moment later, the dense fog around him began to slowly dissipate, as if it was being blown away.
Seeing this, Tsukuru narrowed his eyes.
'Seems like this 'fog' generated by that strange arrow has a time limit.' He thought.
Tsukuru and the two Dark Elves exchanged glances.
They narrowed their eyes, and loaded new arrows into their bows.
Seeing this, Tsukuru reoriented the spear held in his left hand so he was holding it in a reverse-grip.
He pulled his arm back, holding the spear like a hunter.
In Tsukuru's vision, he saw the System's targeting vector lock onto the chest of the Dark Elf on the right, the vector changing from light-blue to red as it did so.
Once he was locked on, Tsukuru threw the spear with all his might.
The spear shot through the air with the speed of a high-powered rifle shot.
The spear punched right through the chest of the right Dark Elf, her eyes widening as it did so.
Instantly, her legs buckled, and she fell on her knees.
The left Dark Elf's eyes widened, and she snapped her head towards her now fallen ally.
The fallen Dark Elf glanced down at the spear now sticking in her chest, as if just now noticing it.
A moment later, she exploded into pixels, causing a System screen to appear in front of Tsukuru.
[You have killed a Dark Elf. 60 XP received. XP: 812/1600.]
Tsukuru and the remaining Dark Elf exchanged looks, as if caught in a staring contest.
There was a long pause, like a Texas showdown.
Eventually, Tsukuru broke contact, and dashed forward.
He already knew that those arrows would just bounce off of his outfit.
The Dark Elf grit her teeth in annoyance.
"Don't get too ahead of yourself, my liege!" She hissed through gritted teeth.
She released her grip on the drawstring, launching the arrow.
As the arrow flew closer and closer, Tsukuru noticed that the arrow was flying dangerously close to his face.
Or to be more specific, his right eye.
As the arrow closed in, Tsukuru tilted his head slightly to the left, moving his eye out of the arrow's path.
The arrow grazed the right side of his face as it flew by.
Tsukuru felt a slight sting of pain, and he saw his health bar go down by a sliver.
Tsukuru grit his teeth in annoyance.
'She aimed for the spot that the robes aren't covering.' He thought to himself.
Tsukuru stretched his right arm over to the left side of his body so it was in front of his left shoulder.
As Tsukuru came closer to the Dark Elf, he then applied force to the back of his feet, and launched himself at her while she was reaching back for another arrow.
The Dark Elf's eyes widened in surprise, as she saw that Tsukuru was suddenly looking at her at eye-level.
Tsukuru grit his teeth, and swung his right arm in a long, horizontal arc, slicing the Intermediate-Tier Knight Sword through her neck.
Instantly, her eyes widened even more, her pupils dilating, and she fell backwards.
She hit the concrete floor with a thud, and exploded into pixels.
As Tsukuru fell back to the ground, a System message appeared in front of him.
[You have killed a Dark Elf. 60 XP received. XP: 872/1600.]
Tsukuru stood there, panting heavily.
As he did so, he glanced up to the timer shown in the upper-right corner of his vision.
It now showed "00:25:00", meaning that he had been in here for a little over a half-an-hour.
'I wonder if Quinn is having as hard of a time in Power Fighters as Iam here?' Tsukuru thought between deep breaths.
Tsukuru was broken from his musings, as the sound of electronic interference filled the arena.
Looking forward, he saw ten groups of pixels begin to appear, littering the far side of the arena.
The pixels clustered together into the shape of the Swarmers.
There was a bright flash.
When it faded, the ten Swarmers fully manifested.
They all let out cries, and lifted their front legs aggressively.
Seeing the Swarmers appear, Tsukuru's face cracked into a smirk.
He let out a roar, and lunged towards the group of ten Swarmers.