"I already checked the room to make sure there weren't any microphones or cameras." Layla muttered. "Guess the Original Families really did put on pressure to make sure the Military couldn't invade the student's privacy."
Layla then tapped the top of the sphere, and a clicking noise was heard. A white ring appeared on the black ball, glowing faintly. The ring spun around and around the top of the sphere, until it was now brightly glowing. Soon, a voice could be heard from the sphere, sounding like someone speaking through a receiver.
"Agent 83, what seems to be the problem?" The voice replied. "Does it have something to do with your mission?"
Layla sighed.
"I have found someone who would be of great help to our cause." She replied. "However, it appears that he is stuck somewhere. Can you please check to see if we have any agents on a planet called 'Pioletic'?"
There was a slight pause.
"Stand-by." The voice replied. "Let me check.
Layla watched the sphere with waited breath.
"Checking…checking…Unfortunately, it seems that all of our agents have left that particular planet a short time ago." The voice replied. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"
Layla's face fell.
"No." She said, looking down. "That is all. Thank you."
After a moment, the voice continued.
"Then I wish you good luck with your mission." The voice replied. "May Purebe with you."
Layla sighed.
"May Pure be with you." Layla replied back.
***
Back on the Red Portal Planet Pioletic, time passed as the group of three lost students and one Traveler all slept.
In the storage container, Quinn's body was pressed against the cold, steel floor. Slowly, his eyes started to flicker open. For a moment, Quinn had thought that maybe everything that had happened to him had been a dream. But, as soon as he looked around and saw the interior of the storage container, he knew that it wasn't. Rather than being in the safety of the school, he was currently in a storage container on some Beast Planet, most likely lightyears away from home.
Quinn got up, and stretched. He wasn't exactly sure how long he had slept, but his body felt good. It was a surprise to him that he had slept so well on a hard, metal floor, and not a bed. It seemed that he had grown more exhausted than he had thought. And not just physically exhausted, but mentally exhausted. The constant fear of the unknown was a terrible thing that slowly ate away at you. Suddenly, a System message popped up in front of him.
[Daily Quest 2 has been completed. 5 Exp received. Exp: 600/12800.
Your hunger grows.]
Seeing the System message, Quinn looked down at his wristwatch. In the upper-right corner, he saw the time "7:48" being displayed, indicating that it was the next day. The second message also informed him that it was now time again for him to need to consume blood. Luckily for him, he still had 50 milliliters of blood remaining in his Blood Bank. As long as he didn't get into any fights, he would be fine. The most important thing for him to do right now was to find the Portal back to the base.
As he went to open the steel door leading out of the storage container, Quinn half-expected to be greeted by a flashbang of bright sunlight in his face. The clock on his wristwatch did say that it was the next day, after all. Then again, that clock was linked to the Earth time-cycle. Also, his second "Daily Quest" seemed to reset every night at midnight. But "midnight" was a subjective term. If you were in another country, what time it would be "midnight" could change drastically. And right now, he was on another planet.
But, as he opened the door, he was surprised to see that it was still night outside. However, his mind was quickly distracted by something else. Immediately, he closed the door back in his face, sealing the container once again. He placed his hand over his chest, and could feel his heart racing.
'What was that?!' Quinn thought. 'That wasn't a Rattaclaw, that's for sure!'
Quinn opened the door again. This time, he opened the door very slowly. When he did, he saw a large Beast inside the hanger. It was the Scordana that Ian and Vorden had seen before. As Quinn looked at the strange beast that seemed to have a humanoid torso, but the lower body of a scorpion, he activated his Inspect Skill. Instantly, a System screen popped up in front of him.
[Name: Scordana
Intermediate-Tier Beast]
Seeing the words 'Intermediate-Tier', Quinn quickly closed the door again. He felt like facing against an Intermediate-Tier Beast would be impossible for him. Even the weakest Intermediate-Tier Beasts were at least ten times as strong as a Basic-Tier one. Of course, this could vary from Beast-to-Beast. Some Beasts were just easier to kill, regardless of what Tier they were at. But looking at that creature, Quinn could tell that it would be a tough battle.
Instead, Quinn decided to stay inside the safety of the storage container until the Beast eventually left. It was there when he had first entered the hanger, so there was always a chance that it would leave on its own. After waiting for what felt like to Quinn to be a considerable amount of time, he decided to open the door again to check. Unfortunately, the Scordana was still there.
However, that's when Quinn noticed something else in the hanger. There were three round objects right next to the Scordana, which it had placed in a large pile of scrap-metal, like bird eggs in a nest.
"Wait…are those…eggs?" Quinn muttered. He activated the Inspect Skill, causing a System screen to pop up in front of him.
[Name: Scordana Egg
Intermediate-Tier Beast]
Instantly, a horrible thought filled Quinn's head. Seeing as how Quinn hadn't noticed them before, it meant that the Scordana must have justlaid them while he was inside the container. And that meant that the Beast would be protecting them until they hatched. Which meant it wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.
Quinn gulped. He now had two opinions. He could continue to try to wait it out, hoping that the Beast would eventually go back out to hunt for food. But, the body of a Beast was significantly different than that of a Human. Sometimes, a single meal could last them weeks before they needed to go hunting again. This felt like a risky option for Quinn, as time was not on his side.
Then, there was the second option. If the Scordana had justgiven birth, odds were, she would be weak. And if Quinn was going to choose the second option, he'd have to make up his mind fast. The more time he waited, the more time the Scordana had to recover. In the end, Quinn hardened his resolve, and stepped out of the container. Before even thinking of fighting the Beast, he was going to see if he could at least try to sneak out of the hanger unnoticed.
The front entrance of the hanger had been completely destroyed. The Scordana had ripped apart the two metal doors before coming in. And, unfortunately for Quinn, the Beast was currently blocking that exit. But there was always that small hole that Quinn had used to get in her in the first place.
Carefully moving between pieces of scrap-metal and rubbish, Quinn slowly made his way across the room towards the hole. When he had finally reached the hole in the wall, he could see something else entering through. It was another Rattaclaw.
'Crap!' Quinn thought in panic.
As soon as the Rattaclaw pushed its way through the hole, it looked up at Quinn. Before Quinn even had a chance to move, the Rattaclaw started screaming like mad.
"Shup up, you!" Quinn whispered. "Why did you have to come though now, of all times?!"
That's when Quinn could hear the sound of footsteps coming up from behind him. Quinn's heart jumped. He knew what was coming up behind him, but he looked anyway. When he did, one of the Scordana's giant claws swung down towards his head.
"Flash Step!" Quinn replied, activating the Skill.
At the last second, Quinn moved out of the way, avoiding the Scordana's attack.
However, the same could not be said for the Rattaclaw. It had been completely smashed into the ground like a pounded-down nail.
Quinn tensed.
"Well, I guess we're doing 'Plan B', then!" He replied.