As Ian and Vorden walked up the first fight of stairs, they saw more and more black blood. It was splattered everywhere along the walls. Then, when they had reached the very top, they were stunned at the scene before them. Lying on the ground were the dead bodies of ten Rattaclaws, completely still. Ian walked forward, and examined them.
"They've all got their Beast Crystals carved out." He muttered. "Just who did this?" He then looked back up at Vorden. "I'm sorry." He replied. "I thought that perhaps the Rattaclaw outside had been killed by one of your friends, but it looked like I was wrong. You would need at least a small team to take out ten of these things at once."
Even Ian, a well-established Traveler, felt like he would struggle taking on ten Rattaclaws at once. Although they were only Basic-Tier Beasts, it was still hard to imagine fighting a whole group of them, and coming out unscathed.
"You still think it was Quinn?" Raten asked from behind Vorden in the dark space.
Vorden let out a sigh.
"Probably not." He replied. "But, if there are others out there, then I'm a little worried. Where is Quinn?"
The two of them then decided to climb up to the roof. That way, Ian could get a bearing of where they were, and could decide where to head next. They stood on top of the roof, and looked down. That's when the two of them spotted something.
"Get down, quick!" Ian yelled.
As the two of them laid down on their fronts, they slowly looked over the ledge of the room. Verifying what they had just seen. It was a Beast that walked on six legs, three on each side. Its body stood upright, like that of a human, but its lower body looked like that of a scorpion. But where its head should have been, there was only a single, large mouth. The beast had four arms, two on each side, which each had a large claw in the place of a hand. It was a hideous Beast that was clearly not of Earth.
"What is that thing?" Vorden asked.
Ian grit his teeth, and narrowed his eyes.
"A Scordana." He replied, turning to look at Vorden. "An Intermediate-Tier Beast."
As they continued to watch the Scordana, they saw it slowly begin to shamble its way into a large building.
"Hey, what's that building?" Vorden asked. "Could there be a Portal in there?"
Ian shook his head.
"Nah, that's a storage building." He replied. "And I doubt there would be a Portal in there. Usually, those are the first place targeted by thieves. So they tend to not make the locations of the Portals so obvious."
Vorden stared intently at the building. The storage building was a single-floor building with a large floor, resembling that of a military hanger. The main purpose of the building was to keep equipment such as mechs, airships, and the sort. They were also used as a temporary room to store items for Travelers. Vorden then heard Ian gulp.
"Besides, even if it was in there, it'd be best if we waited for the Scordana to leave, first." He replied. "The way I am now, I would stand no chance against that thing."
***
Back with Quinn, he had left the other building, and was slowly making his room towards the storage building He had no clue when the sun would rise, and he needed a place to stay during the night. After fighting the eleven Rattaclaws, he was feeling a bit tired. Not only that, but he was hoping that he might come across some treasures inside the storage building. He just couldn't see the downside of trying to reach the building, him completely unaware that the Intermediate-Tier Scordana was now taking up residence inside.
As he walked, Quinn treaded carefully to make sure he didn't alert any more Beasts. Passing from building to building, he spotted a few Rattaclaws feasting on something in the middle of the street.
"Damn, there everywhere." Quinn muttered. "Just like rats back on Earth." However, Quinn then narrowed his eyes at exactly what the Rattaclaws were eating. "Wait, it that…a student's body?!" He muttered.
True enough, Quinn could see the rotting corpse of a teenager, wearing the same navy-blue and gray school uniform as him. Seeing it, Quinn gulped.
'Guess I'm not the only one who's been pushed in here.' He thought grimly.
If there had been only a single Rattaclaw, Quinn might have confronted it to get some Exp. However, there were three of them out on the street. Quinn didn't want to risk it. The Exp he would gain was tempting. But with three of them, there was a chance that he would have to use his Blood Swipe or Blood Spray Skills. Quinn continued to head down towards the storage building. Finally, he had arrived.
At the front, there were two large, steel doors. Afraid that they would make noise if he forced them open, and thus attract unwanted attention, Quinn decided to walk around the building to try and find another entrance. As he walked along the side, he had no such luck. But as he had nearly reached the back of the building, he began to hear strange noises. He slowly crept along the side of the building, making sure to not make any noise. With his back hugging the wall, he peeked inside to have a look. Inside, he saw another Rattaclaw.
However, this one was laying on its back, squealing in pain. Its cries were weak, and Quinn wondered just how long the Beast had been there.
After waiting a few moments, Quinn looked around. Seeing no sign of any other Beasts, Quinn walked out from his spot along the wall, and walked up to the Rattaclaw. As he got closer, the Rattaclaw heard his footsteps, and snarled at Quinn.
It tried to swipe its claws at him, but the attacks were far too slow, and the Beast could hardly move.
"Still trying to kill me, even in this state." Quinn muttered. As he got closer, the Beast continued to swipe its claws, despite it hardly being able to move. Its legs had been crushed by something, and it had a large wound in its stomach. "Here, let me put you out of your misery." Quinn replied, as he walked up to the Beast. With a single blow to its head, the Rattaclaw died. A System message popped up in front of Quinn.
[You have killed a Basic-Tier Rattaclaw. 100 Exp received. Exp: 1695/1600. Level Up. You are now Level 6. Exp: 95/3200.
You have received 1 Stat Point.]
Quinn immediately put the Stat Point into Strength, being his base Strength up to "15". Now, even without his gauntlets, Quinn could perform the Hammer Strike.
Quinn then turned his attention from the now-dead Rattaclaw, back to the building. He could now see a small hole in one of its corners.
"Did the Rattaclaw come out of there, then?" Quinn asked.
Before entering, Quinn gulped. The thought of running into whatever had injured the Rattaclaw sent a chill down his spine. Crawling on his front, Quinn made his way to the small hole, and poked his head inside. While the hole was big enough for his to walk through, he was afraid of what might be in the building. There might be a hundred more Rattaclaws, or something even stronger than them. Quinn looked around the hanger with his head poked through the hole.
Although the hanger provided no light source, and it was completely void of the light from the two moons, Quinn was able to see perfectly fine. After looking back and forth for a few minutes, it seemed like there truly was nothing inside. Quinn struggled for a few minutes, trying to figure out if he should go in or not. He hadn't had a mental struggle like this since he was trying to figure out whether or not to drink Riley's Blood after evolving into a Halfling. In the end, the possibility of getting a new piece of Beast Gear, or something equally as amazing, was too tempting for him. Quinn crawled through the hole, and entered the hanger.
As he got back up to his feet, he was quickly disappointed by the state of the hanger. Nearly everything had been destroyed, with piles of scrap-metal and rubbish everywhere. There were no airships, mechs, or Beast Weapons. Whatever was left was completely unusable.
However, the building was large, and Quinn wouldn't give up just from his initial view. He started to walk around the hanger for a while. Eventually, he came across a room stationed in the far corner. It was hard to tell how big it was, but it seemed to go along the entire length of the hanger.