While the rest of the class was busy wondering why the Portal Outing had been suddenly canceled, Layla had more pressing concerns.
'Why didn't Del say anything about Quinn, Vorden, and Tsukuru being absent?' She thought. 'I know that it's not because they're injured and recovering from a fight! Quinn can heal himself, and Tsukuru has those 'healing potions' that he could use to heal himself and Vorden!'
Later, as the class had ended, the students continued to talk amongst themselves.
It turned out that Erin was just as concerned as Layla was, at least about two of the missing boys.
"Where's Hikiko and Vorden?" Layla heard Erin ask from behind her, making her jump.
"I have no idea." Layla replied. "Do you want to help me go look for them?" She asked.
"Not really." Erin muttered. "I'm sure at least Hikiko and Vorden will be fine. Now that the Portal Outing has been delayed, I'm not really in a rush to find them."
Erin narrowed her eyes.
'Even if Hikiko does run into trouble, he's got Intermediate-Tier equipment and that Intermediate-Tier Beast to bail him out.' She thought.
Erin then looked at Layla, a somewhat serious look on her face. "I only came over here to tell you that I overheard some students talking earlier."
Layla raised her eyebrows in interest.
"Talking about what, exactly?" She asked.
Erin crossed her arms, and glanced to the side.
"Earlier, while I was walking by two students, one of them said they overheard one of the Sergeants yelling while she was passing past the General's office." Erin replied. "Something about three students wandering their way into a Portal. That's probably why the Portal Outing got delayed."
Layla then jumped up from her seat.
"Wait, what did you say?!" She gasped.
Erin's head jerked back suddenly, being slightly startled and confused by Layla's outburst.
"Those three must be the missing students!" Layla gasped. "No wonder Del didn't say anything about them being absent!"
Suddenly, Layla's eyes widened in realization.
Instantly, her head snapped over at Peter.
As she turned to face him, she looked him dead in the eye.
Seeing the look, Peter gulped.
It felt as if Layla was staring into his very soul.
This whole time, he had been worried.
Had he been seen when he bolted from the training room last night?
What if the other first-years reported him?
He had been so nervous that he could get any sleep last night, and today, he couldn't concentrate on anything.
That was when Layla had spoken to him earlier before class had started.
He had been trying so hard to act naturally.
But when Layla grabbed him, he panicked, and slipped up.
And now, the look in Layla's eyes told him that she had figured out something.
However, as soon as Layla took a step forward, Peter got out of his seat, and bolted.
Layla clicked her tongue in irritation.
"C'mon, Erin!" Layla replied. "We have to go after Peter! He knows something!"
Erin turned to her.
"What makes you say that?" She asked.
Layla turned back to her.
"People don't just run for no reason!" She retorted. "Let's go see what he's hiding!"
However, as Layla took a step forwards, she noticed that Erin hadn'tmoved.
"Erin!" Layla shouted.
Erin glanced away.
"I see no need to get involved in your affairs." Erin said coolly. "Aside from Vorden and Tsukuru, I don't really care what happens to them. And aside for Tsukuru, I hardly even know them."
Layla grit her teeth.
Then, she got an idea.
"You know, I saw something rather interesting in the assembly hall last friday." She replied, causing Erin to turn to her.
"You know those gauntlets Tsukuru's giving us all? Well, I saw him take the pair that he had given to Quinn back so he could use them himself!" Layla replied. "It seems that he's capable of taking back the gear he gives out! If he really is stuck on a Portal Planet, he might have to take back that sword you're so attached to back so he can defend himself!"
It was an outright lie.
Layla knew that Tsukuru was capable of just creating new swords on the spot.
But, Erin didn't know that.
She didn't spend nearly as much time watching him use his Ability as Layla had.
However, Layla's bluff seemed to have worked, as Erin then snapped her head towards Layla.
"Wait, he can what?!" She yelled.
She then grit her teeth in annoyance.
"Fine!" She muttered. "Let's go find the rat!"
***
Back in the ruins of the shelter on the Red Portal Planet, two Rattaclaws were fighting over the remains of a headless corpse.
The corpse was that of a rotting teenager, who had died within the last two weeks, judging by the state of decay.
Additionally, the corpse was wearing the same navy and grey uniform as the rest of the students from the military bases.
Suddenly, there was a "whooshing" sound.
Instantly, two Black Obsidian Daggers shot out towards the two Beasts.
Once pierced a Rattaclaw through the back of his head, and the other one pierced the second Rattaclaw right between his eyes.
Suddenly, Tsukuru approached, walking out of the shadows.
"...And that makes eighteen." He muttered. "Damn, this abandoned shelter has a serious vermin infestation!"
Instantly, a System message popped up in front of Tsukuru.
[You have killed two Basic-Tier Rattaclaws. 200 XP received.
XP: 2236/3200.]
As Tsukuru walked forward to extract the Beast Crystals from the Rattaclaws with his new Plunder Skill, two individuals watched him, standing on top of a large building.
Once was a man wearing a black cloak that completely obscured his face.
The only thing that could be seen was fragments of his black hair, and his glowing, red eyes.
Standing next to him was a woman with blue hair wearing robes that made her look like a medieval mage.
The woman turned to him.
"Nice touch adding those 'Swarmers' to Hikiko Reiju's 'Arena Mode' in the Video System." She replied. "You've subconsciously trained him to be able to hunt down these Rattaclaws with ease."
The man let out an amused chuckle.
"Yes, well I figured that we'd 'arrange' for him to end up here at some point." The cloaked man replied. "Honestly, I can't really take credit for that. It was already an enemy from one of Hikiko's favorite games. I just took advantage of an opportunity."
He then turned to the woman in the robes.
"How are things on your end?" He asked. "Is it done?"
The woman nodded.
"Yes, I placed it with the rest of the military's Ability Books and Skill Books." She replied. "I'm sure the Talen boy will…come across it."
She then glanced up at him.
"Where did you even get that from, anyway?" She asked in confusion.
"Didn't Bryce have all of those books burned after the Punishers left the Settlement?"
The cloaked man smirked.
"I have my ways." He replied.
The woman then smiled at the cloaked figure.
"Seeing as how Hikiko was so…drawn to that last book you placed in the school's library, I even decided to leave him a gift to find, as well." She replied.
The cloaked man chuckled.
"Well, what do you know?" He asked, amused. "Who said Celestials don't have a heart?"
The woman then slammed her staff onto the ground.
Instantly, a complex, magic circle appeared on the ground.
The magic circle lit up, and the two began to break apart, turning into particles of light.
Within moments, they were gone.
Down below, Tsukuru had finished extracted the Beast Crystal from the second Rattaclaw.
A System message popped up in front of him.
[One Basic-Tier Rattaclaw Crystal has been extracted. Basic-Tier Rattaclaw Crystal has been placed in your Inventory.]
Tsukurur then looked down at the body in front of him.
Despite the fact that most of his flesh had either been eaten away by Beasts, Tsukuru had a pretty good idea whoit was.
After all, there was only one military student that he knew of who was killed by decapitation.
As if to verify his suspicion, his System's "Scanner" function automatically activated, identifying the body.
[Name: Riley Blake [Deceased]
Race: Human
Ability: Stone Transformation
Ability Level: 2]
'So my System can even identify the Ability of a dead corpse, huh?' Tsukuru thought, before he narrowed his eyes. 'Or is it because I scanned him while he was still ALIVE?'
It wasn't out of the realm of possibilities.
Quinn was able to Inspect the blood of a person if he had Inspected them prior.
Maybe this was a similar situation.
Tsukuru grit his teeth, as he looked down at the rotting body of the bully.
He had been the second major annoyance Tsukuru had the displeasure to come acroos in the school, second only to Mono, himself.
"Riley…" He spat, the name feeling like poison in his mouth.