Tsukuru turned his gaze from the now burnt corpse of Riley, and up towards the sky.
'I should probably try to locate either Quinn or Vorden and reconnect with them as soon as possible.' He thought. Tsukuru held his hand outstretched in front of him.
"Summon!" He replied, while imagining summoning his Harpie.
Instantly, the sound of electronic interference could be heard. Pixels began to appear in front of him. The pixels clustered into the shape of the Harpie. There was a bright flash of light. When it faded, Tsukuru's Harpie Summon was standing in front of him. Like usual, she bowed in front of Tsukuru. Her eyes closed and wings folded in front of her in the same "curtsey" pose she always assumed.
"Greetings, my liege." She replied, as she opened her eyes. "How may I be of service?" She asked. However, as she took in her surroundings, her eyes widened in confusion. "This…This doesn't look like the island where you normally take up residence." She replied, looking around. "Where are we?"
Tsukuru let out a nervous chuckle, causing her to turn back to him.
"Yeah, about that." He replied, scratching his cheek nervously. "Me and my friends kinda…ended up on a Red Portal Planet." He replied.
The Harpie raised her eyebrow in confusion.
Seeing it, Tsukuru sighed.
'Right.' He thought. 'She doesn't even know what that is.'
He then narrowed his eyes.
"Can you just…look around to see if you can find Quinn or Vorden?" He asked. "I need to find them."
The Harpie brought the "talons" of one of her hands to her chin, appearing to be deep in thought.
"Those are the boy with the black, curly hair, and the boy with the blonde hair, correct?" She asked.
Tsukuru nodded.
"Right." He replied.
The Harpie nodded. She applied pressure to the back of her "talons", and leaped into the air. As she did, she began flapping her wings to get higher altitude. Once she had reached a height where she was hovering above the ruins of the shelter, she began to fly around.
However, as she flew, she seemed to be drawing…unintended attention. For on the very edges of the shelter, there was a large, black Beast. It resembled a bat, but was several times too big. Instead of looking like a small rodent, the Beast was gigantic. Towing over even General Duke's imposing stature. In its hand, it had one of the Basic-Tier Rattaclaws, thrashing and flailing around. Ironically, the size difference between the two Beasts made the Basic-Tier Rattaclaw actually look like a rat.
The creature opened up its mouth and brought the Rattaclaw closer to it, intending to bite its head off. However, he then looked up, momentarily distracted. There, he saw Tsukuru's Harpie flying around, looking like a human-sized bird. Instantly, the bat-like creature's mouth twisted upwards into a predatory grin. It immediately released its grip on the Rattaclaw, which fell to the ground. Now free, the Rattaclaw instantly scurried away.
The bat-like creature spread its wings, revealing a full 6-foot wingspan. It then applied pressure on the back of its feet, and lunged into the air. The bat-like creature flapped its wings, as it made a bee-line for the Harpie.
After a few minutes of flying, the Harpie hovered over a large building. The Harpie quirked an eyebrow in interest.
'That structure.' She thought. 'I've seen a few similar ones on the Island. I believed my liege called it a 'warehouse'. Apparently, it's used for stockpiling resources.'
The Harpie narrowed her eyes, and glided down lower, allowing her to get a better view of the building's interior. When she did, her eyes widened. Inside, she saw Vorden conversing with an unknown man. Initially, the man had put his hands up in a sign of surrender. But a moment later, he then held his hand to his side, obviously nursing an injury.
'There he is!' The Harpie thought. 'I have to tell my liege that I-'
The Harpie's thoughts were cut off abruptly, as she heard the sound of flapping wings…that weren'thers. Instantly, a huge shadow overcast her. As she looked upwards, she saw the bat-like creature hovering above her. A vicious smirk on its face. The Beast swung its wings outwards like a "slap".
The Harpie's eyes widened, and she coughed up black blood from the impact. It fell as if she had just been smacked by a wrecking ball. Instantly, she began to plummet from the sky. The Beast looked down at her falling body, and its smile widened. Showing off its sharp fangs.
This was its plan. It intended to knock the Harpie clean out of the sky, and feast on its heavily injured or even dead body once it fell to the ground. However, due to the Harpie being one of Tsukuru's Summons, it exploded into pixels before it ever even reached the ground. Seeing this, the Beast's eyes widened in surprise. Then, they narrowed in anger. It spread its arms wide, and let out a screech of anger.
Back on the ground, Tsukuru heard the scream, and he instantly jumped.
"What the hell was that?!" He yelled. The sound reminded him of a character he had seen from a cartoon once, a man with the ability to transform into a monstrous bat. A moment later, a System message popped up in front of Tsukuru.
[Your Pawn-Grade Harpie has been killed. Would you like to revive it?
Costs 2 MC.
[Yes] [No] ]
Tsukuru stared at the message in shock. His gaze then snapped up to the sky.
"She was killed that fast?!" He thought. "Sure she was the equivalent of a Basic-Tier Beast, but still!"
Tsukuru then gritted his teeth. He glanced over at the side.
"Well, I guess 'aerial recon' is out." He muttered, as he swiped away the System prompt. He then began to walk forwards. "Guess I'll just have to find Quinn and Vorden the old fashioned way."
***
Back in the warehouse, Vorden's eyes narrowed, as he took in the man's appearance. Vorden could immediately tell that he was a highly-skilled Traveler. His body was covered in Advanced-Tier Beast Armor, and he had two shortswords strapped to his back. Despite him obviously being in pain from his injuries, he exuded an aura of confidence. Suddenly, a loud, piercing screech could be heard from off in the distance. Hearing the sound made both Vorden and the Traveler jump.
"What was that?!" Vorden yelled, now on-guard.
Meanwhile, the Traveler's eyes widened in fear.
"Oh, god no." He muttered, as his body began to shake slightly. "Not another one…"
Vorden snapped his head
"Wait, what do you mean…'anotherone'?" He asked.
The man gulped.
"I…I was commissioned to retrieve the Beast Crystal of a specific Beast that only lives on this planet." He replied. He then glanced down at his ribs. "As you can see, it messed me up pretty bad. Name's Ian." He replied, as he slumped down on the ground, leaning against a crate for support. He then looked up at Vorden.
Vorden was cautiously approaching him. Running into a Traveler in a place like this was rare. And given the dangers of a Red Portal Planet, Vorden couldn't be sure of Ian's true intentions.
Seeing this, Ian let out a shallow chuckle, as not to exasperate his injury.
"Relax, kid." He replied. "I won't bite."
However, his eyes then narrowed.
"But…I do have to ask…what's a kid like you doing in a hellhole like this? I didn't think the military was desperateenough to send students into a Red Portal Planet alone."
Vorden tensed.
"It…was an accident." He said cautiously. "I got stuck here, and now, I'm trying to find my way out."
As Vorden drew closer, he got a better look of Ian. He had short, spiky, purple hair, and had several scars across his face. And the way he clutched his side suggested he had several broken ribs, or at least some serious internal injuries.
Ian chuckled again.
"Looks like we're in the same boat, then." Ian replied, his voice strained. "I came here through my own Portal." Ian glanced to the side. "But during my hunt, I wandered too far away from its location, so I decided to come to this abandoned shelter to recover." He replied. "I was hoping to maybe find medical supplies or even a Portal here."
Vorden narrowed his eyes.
'If Tsukuru was here, he could heal him in an INSTANT with one of his 'Healing Potions'.' Vorden thought. 'Add that to the list of stuff to ask Tsukuru for if we ever meet up again.'