Ian then pulled a small, clear crystal from his pocket, and placed it on the ground in the center of them. He tapped the stone, causing a warm, orange light to shine from it. The light wasn't very strong, but in the small room, it made a huge difference.
"Here." Ian said, reaching into his bag, and pulling out a circular pill. "Take this." As Ian handed the pill to Vorden, he looked down at it.
"Is this…a food pill?" He asked.
"Yeah." Ian replied. "Seeing as how you said you came here by accident, I bet you don't have any on you."
Vorden looked at the pill, before shoving it in his mouth. A "food pill" was something developed after the war. It was a pill the size of a pea that contained everything a human needed to function. All their nutrition and energy. As long as a person consumed one of these pills a day, they didn't have to worry about eating.
However, you would still need to find water, as the pill couldn't stop you from dying from dehydration or thirst. Luckily, in the shelter, it seemed like the waterworks in nearly every building was still working.
"You get some sleep." Ian replied. "I'll take the first watch. Afterwards, I'll wake you up and we'll swap. Sound good?"
Vorden nodded.
"Yeah." He replied.
***
Back near the edge of the shelter, Tsukuru continued to follow the white figure. As he got closer, he narrowed his eyes. It looked like the general shape of a human. But then, why did his System's "Automap" show it as a hostile threat?
Tsukuru grit his teeth.
"HEY!" He yelled as loud as he could, hoping to get the person's attention.
Instantly, the figure froze. Then, it slowly began to turn around, and face Tsukuru.
When it did, Tsukuru's eyes widened. The figure looked like a white, albino human, but it also looked wrong. Its arms and legs were abnormally long. With three digits each, and its hands and feet were black, looking as if they had been dipped in oil. Additionally, the person's body was segmented, like that of a bug. Finally, it had a set of large, yellow compound eyes, like that of a fly. And it had an insect's proboscis instead of a human mouth.
Tsukuru stared at the creature for a moment.
"That's…not a human, is it?" Tsukuru thought out loud. As if to answer his question, his System's "Scanner" function automatically activated, identifying the creature.
[Name: Palewalker
Intermediate-Tier Beast]
***
Back in the storage building, a wide grin split across Quinn's face as he heard the sound of the large, metal door opening.
"I love you, System!" Quinn said happily, as he entered the storage container. "I swear, I'll never talk badly about you ever again!" However, once he entered, his hopes of finding legendary Beast Gear, or stashes of Beast Crystals was soon dashed. For the room was simply filled with stacks of books. "Why would anyone hide books behind a locked door?" Quinn muttered. As soon as Quinn picked one up, he realized why. There weren't just any books. A System message popped up in front of Quinn.
[You have found a Level 1 Earth Element Ability Book.
You are unable to learn this Ability. Would you like to convert the Level 1 Earth Element Ability Book into 10 Exp?
[Yes] [No] ]
It was the same message that had appeared when he had been handed the Ability Book during the Ability Level Placement Test.
Quinn smirked, and he looked around the container with newfound joy. It was a storage container filled with Ability Books! Back when he had received the Ability Book in the Placement Test, he had been unable to convert it. He had eyes on him at that time, and if the book had suddenly vanished, it would have raised questions. But now, he was alone in this storage container. He had no such limitations. He immediately thought "yes", converting the Ability Book into Exp.
Instantly, the book began to vanish in his hand, similarly to how the book he had gotten his System fromhad. He felt a warm sensation fill his body, and soon, a System screen appeared.
[10 Exp received. Exp: 105/3200]
After absorbing the Ability Book, Quinn systematically began to pick up book after book in the storage container. After coming across two more identical"Level 1 Earth Ability Books", he came across a new book that looked slightly different. A System screen popped up in front of him.
[You have found a Level 1 Earth Element Skill Book. Would you like to convert the Earth Manipulation Skill Book into 5 Exp?
[Yes] [No] ]
It seemed that absorbing a Skill Book would only give Quinn half of the Exp that an Ability Book would.
However, the trade-off was that while there was only one"Level 1 Earth Element Ability Book", there were numerous different"Level 1 Earth Element Skill Books". Each focusing on a specific Skill.
Quinn smiled, and thought "yes".
Like before, the Skill Book disintegrated, and a new Systemscreen appeared in front of Quinn.
[5 Exp received. Exp: 110/3200.]
Quinn then continued raiding the bookshelf he was currently in front of. Most of the books were duplicate copies. Which he had discovered he couldn't convert, as the System message didn't even appear when he held the book. However, luckily for Quinn, there were quite a fewother Level 1 Earth Element Skill Books on the shelf. Including the one he had just absorbed, there were eight in total. Each describing a different Skill for the Level 1 Earth Ability. As Quinn absorbed the final Ability Book, a System message popped up in front of him.
[5 Exp received. Exp: 145/3200.]
Quinn looked towards the back of the storage container. There were three individual rows of bookshelves. Seeing as how Quinn has already absorbed all the books on the shelf currently in front of him, he moved to the second row. As he picked up the first book, a System message popped up in front of him.
[You have found a Level 2 Earth Element Ability Book.You are unable to learn this Ability. Would you like to convert the Level 2 Earth Element Ability Book into 100 Exp?
[Yes] [No] ]
Quinn smiled, and selected the "yes" option. Like the books before it, the Level 2 Earth Element Ability Book disintegrated. Another System message appeared in front of Quinn.
[100 Exp received. Exp: 245/3200.]
Like before, Quinn also found a collection of Level 2 Earth Element Skill Books on the shelf, as well. This time, there were only seven different Skill Books. As Quinn finished absorbing the seventh book, a System message appeared.
[50 Exp received. Exp: 595/3200]
Finally, Quinn moved on to the third and last shelf. It was the largest bookshelf out of the three in the container. As Quinn picked up the first book, the expected System message appeared.
[You have found a Level 3 Earth Element Ability Book. You are unable to learn this Ability. Would you like to convert the Level 3 Earth Ability Book into 1000 Exp?
[Yes] [No] ]
Quinn's eyes widened when he saw the message. Instantly, he put the book down, and picked it back up, making sure he had seen the System message correctly. However, when the screen reappeared, it looked exactly the same. Without a second of hesitation, Quinn absorbed the Ability Book. A new System screen appeared.
[1000 Exp received. Exp: 1595/3200.]
Like with the previous two shelves, this one was also littered with numerous Level 3 Earth Element Skill Books. However, this shelf by far has the highest amount of different Skill books. Holding Skill Books for eighteen different Skills. Level 3 must have been the point where you could learn more complicated Skills. Thus, the amount of available Skills skyrocketed.
Quinn began raiding the shelf, absorbing new Skill Books as he found them. When he came across a duplicate, he simply tossed it over his shoulder. Letting it clatter on the floor of the storage container. While Quinn would have loved to take the books with him, like with his Basic-Tier Gauntlets, he was unable to place them in his System's Inventory. After absorbing the fourth Level 3 Earth Ability Skill Book, a System screen had popped up in front of Quinn. Telling him that he had Leveled Up.
[500 Exp received. Exp: 3595/3200. Level Up. You are now Level 7. Exp: 395/6400. You have received a Stat Point.]