Mono loomed over Peter.
He reached out his arm, and grabbed the front of his shirt.
Instantly, the two boys restraining Peter let go.
Mono lifted Peter off of the ground, bringing Peter to his face.
"You and I are going for a little trip." Mono replied coldly. "There's a certain somebody who wants to meet you."
Mono waved his hand dismissively over his shoulder.
Seeing it, Earl gritted his teeth in rage.
He turned to his friends.
"Let's go." He muttered.
A moment later, the group of boys began to walk back towards the dormitory.
Meanwhile, Mono drug Peter by his shirt, carrying him as if he was lifting a bag.
As Mono carried him, Peter noticed that he was heading towards the second-year building.
However, instead of entering through the main entrance, Mono went through the back, going up the emergency stairs.
The walk was long, but eventually, Mono stood outside one of the second-year building's interrogation rooms.
Mono extended his right arm out, and knocked on the door twice.
Eventually, General Duke's voice could be heard from the other end.
"Come in." He replied.
Mono opened the door, and walked in.
Just like every other interrogation room, the room was a completely white, windowless room, with only two seats with a long table between them.
In the far seat on the opposite side of the table, sat General Duke.
Mono walked in the room and approached the table.
When he reached it, he however his right hand, which was holding Peter's shirt, over the empty chair.
Mono released his grip, and Peter fell down into the chair.
"Oof!" Peter groaned as his rear fell into the chair rather harshly.
Mono then walked forward, and stood behind General Duke to his immediate left, standing at attention.
General Duke looked Peter dead in the eye, and then began to speak.
"Peter, would you like to have the power to fight back against those who keep bullying you?" He asked.
Suddenly, Peter's dead eyes gained a flicker of light when he heard those words.
"I looked into your file." Duke said in a casual tone. "You had no Ability when you came here, and unlike that fool Talen, you accepted the Earth Ability we graciously gaveyou." Duke put his hand under his chin, propping his head up.
"Right now, you're only a Level 1, but I can change that for you."
Duke then reached down on the floor.
When he lifted his arms back up, he was holding a stack of hard-cover books in his hands.
He plopped the books onto the metal table, causing a loud "thud".
Peter stared at the stack of books as if it was a stack of gold.
'Are those…Skill Books?' He thought, wide-eyed.
"I know you've been trying to save up credits to buy these." Duke replied, snapping Peter's attention away from the stack of Skill Books, and back to him. "With these Skill Books, you can finally break through to Level 2. And with that, your trouble would go away."
Duke's smirk became predatory.
"You would be able to graduate from the school with a high grade, join a company as an Adventurer to go hunting, and earn a good wage for the rest of your life! Doesn't that sound…appetizing?"
Peter gulped, as his gaze shifted back and forth between Duke and the Skill Books.
Because the military had a monopoly on the Earth Ability, only they could divey out Earth Ability Skill Books.
And since Peter now had the Earth Ability, the only way for him to increase his Ability Level was with those Skill Books.
Only then would he no longer have to live in fear.
"Of course, these things don't come for free." Duke replied, causing Peter's head to snap back to him. "The world doesn't work like that. After all, ALL power comes with a price."
Duke motioned out his hands towards the walls outside the interrogation room.
"Every single one of those men and women out there on the second-year campus work for me." He replied. "They do as I say. And in return, I offer them my protection. Both inside the walls of this base, and the galaxy beyond."
Duke reached up to the top of the stack of Skill Books, and held it out in front of him, looking at it.
"You're going on your first Portal Outing this week, aren't you?" He asked nonchalantly, not even looking at Peter. "Let me tell you…'accidents' happen all the time, and every year, there's at least a handful of students who…don't make it back."
Peter gulped.
"Now, rumour has it that this year, there's going to be a couple of students from that team of yours that will go missing."
Duke's smile widened.
"You're a smart boy, so I think you understand what I'm saying. Maybe you will be part of that…unfortunate group. Maybe not."
General Duke finally looked up from the Skill Book, and looked at Peter.
"So, what's your choice going to be?"
Peter felt a cold chill run down his back.
It was obvious from Duke's words that either he did what Duke told him to, or he was going to be the one who went "missing".
And the two students that Duke decided where to go missing…were Quinn and Vorden.
***
Tsukuru stared at the swirling, red vortex of the Portal, his heart pounding.
He wasn't worried that Quinn couldn't handle himself.
He knew that Quinn would manage just fine against the Beasts of the planet, as long as their Tier wasn't too high.
What Tsukuru worried about…was Quinn's blood situation.
He knew that Quinn needed to drink blood once every two days.
And the more his body had to heal itself from injury, the quicker her needed to "feast" again.
But…with no portable Portal, it was completely unknown how long Quinn would remain stranded on the Red Portal Planet.
And if Quinn didn't drink blood within that required time, he wouldn't just start getting hungry.
He would lose 1 HP every hour.
And something told Tsukuru that this time, there wouldn't be some human to miraculously show up once Quinn ran out of HP, like Layla had in the library.
Additionally, Tsukuru had no idea what would happen when either of them ran out of HP.
In video games, a "game over" could range from the character just fainting to flat-out dying.
And Tsukuru was not planning on flipping that coin.
Tsukuru was snapped out of his stupor when he heard Vorden's voice.
"What the hell have you done?!" Vorden roared, turning towards Peter.
Instantly, Peter started crying.
"I'm sorry!" He replied, rubbing his eyes. "You don't understand! I had to do it!"
Vorden grit his teeth.
"Let me guess, because you were being bullied?!" He roared. "Because you were being threatened?!"
Vorden began to walk towards Peter, and at the same time, Peter began to step back.
"Do you think Quinn hasn't had to go through the same exact thing as you?! He's a Level 1, just like you! And do you think they haven't tried threatening me?! When I was tied up, and placed on that damn board?!"
Peter kept stepping back, and Vorden kept advancing.
"So what if they hit you, punch you, and make you bleed?! As long as you're alive, you can always fight back!"
Vorden then snapped his hand out towards the Portal.
"But what you just did, you just essentially signed Quinn's death sentence! No matter what, there is nocoming back from death! He can't fight back now! Did you even try to fight back!"
Peter then fell to his knees, as his mind was a mess.
Did Quinn and Vorden really know what it was like to live his life?
All Peter wanted was a normal school life.
To get through it without any trouble.
And General Duke had offered that to him.
Maybe he took the easy way out, but he didn't feel that way.
He had already gone through his own suffering at his previous school.
Why did he have to be the one targeted by Mono, Earl, and the others?
But there was one thing that Vorden had said that struck a chord with him.
Did he truly ever try to fight back?
He always thought that it was useless.
It was a losing battle.
He would only just get hurt more.
Perhaps that's what made Duke and the others target him in the first place.
They saw his as an easy target.
Tsukuru reached down, and picked up Quinn's bag off of the floor.
As Tsukuru heard Vorden's words, his body began to shake.
"Don't act like he's already dead." He muttered.
Instantly, Vorden whirled around towards him.
"WHAT?!" He yelled.
Tsukuru whirled around, as well.
"DON'T ACT LIKE HE'S ALREADY DEAD!" Tsukuru screamed, causing the two boys to look at him, surprised.
Tsukuru then turned back to the Portal.
"Don't write him off so easily." Tsukuru muttered, as he traced his hand along the edges of the Portal, as if deep in thought.
His eyes teared up, and his face felt wet, as he felt his tears slide down his face.
"As his friends, we have to keep hope alive. Hope and faith…they are one of the very few things…that they can't take from us!"
Tsukuru snapped his head back to the other two, and when he did, Vorden could see Tsukuru's face twisted in anger with tears welling his eyes.
"Until I see his dead boylaying in front of me, I refuse to believe he's dead!"
Vorden and Peter stood there, stunned.
Tsukuru turned back towards the Portal.
As he stood there in front of it, his back towards them, Vorden could see Tsukuru's body shaking, his fists clenched.
"If you want to write him off so easily, that's your prerogative." Tsukuru muttered. "But, I'm gonna go in after him!"
With that, Tsukuru applied pressure on his back foot, and leaped through the Portal.
Instantly, Peter's and Vorden's eyes widened.
"Tsukuru!" They both yelled.