Vorden did not need to be told twice. As the two of them climbed on top of the fallen shelf, they could see that they were completely surrounded. All around the library, on the top of the ceiling, as well as on the sides of the walls, there were multiple, slug-like creatures everywhere. They each had a single, large eye on their heads, and had multiple tentacles sticking out from their underbellies.
"I thought you were keeping watch?!" Ian yelled to Vorden.
"I was!" Vorden shouted back. "But the small holes would only let me see so far!"
Vorden had been a bit distracted, deep in his own thoughts. But even so, it was hard to see Beasts like this. After all, they were able to scale up the walls and hang onto the ceiling. Vorden and Ian were not only surrounded around them, but above them, as well. A few of the slug creatures dropped down from above, while other ones reached out with their tentacles. There were too many attacking at once.
Ian then held out both hands with his palms open. Instantly, objects all around the library started to vibrate. Slowly, all the objects were being pulled towards Ian, as if being attracted towards him by an invisible force. Then, shards of metal from all over came flying towards the two of them at incredible speeds.
"Stick close to me, kid!" Ian shouted.
Vorden complied, and he watched as the pieces of metal from all along the library came flying towards the two of them. The fragments of metal formed a ball all around them, with them at its center. The slug-like Beasts fell from above, and landed on top of the "ball", causing them to slide off unharmed. The tentacles from the Beasts outside the ball started to attack the ball, making dents.
Ian and Vorden could hear loud "clanging" noises inside the ball, as the Beasts outside continued to attack. The force of the tentacles was similar to someone swinging a bat, and it would only be a matter of time before the metal ball broke.
"Repel!" Ian yelled. Instantly, the ball exploded into fragments with the force of a shrapnel grenade, the pieces of scrap-metal that Ian had gathered being launched outin random directions. It caused several puncture wounds on the Beasts, killing them as it pierced their brains and hearts. "Heh, good thing this planet is covered with metal, huh?" He asked with a smile. "C'mon, it'd be a waste not to extract their Crystals!"
The two of them went up to the dead slugs, and started to carve out their Beast Crystals. Now that Vorden could see them, the "slugs" were quite large, only being slightly smaller than the Rattaclaws. As they extracted the Crystals, Vorden caught a glance at his watch. It currently indicated that it was 8:00, indicating that it was the next day. He attempted to activate Peter's Earth Element Ability on one of the nearby corpses, but nothing had happened.
'Looks like my time with Peter's Ability has expired.' He thought. This also meant that this was now officially his second day on this planet. However, luckily for him, he still had Ian's Ability on hand. He had re-copied it while "helping him up" earlier, resetting the 24-hour timeframe. This meant that even if Ian became unable to fight, or if they got separated, Vorden would still be able to fight. At least until another 24 hours had passed.
'It may be inhumane, but maybe the 'Chained' do serve a purpose.' Vorden thought grimly. If he was back on the Blade Family Island, he'd never have to worry about not having an Ability on hand.
After gathering up the Crystals, Ian split them into two groups, and handed half to Vorden.
"Here, take them." Ian replied.
Vorden stared at him, confused.
"But…I didn't do anything!" He protested.
Ian's face hardened.
"Look, kid, these are only Basic-Tier Crystals." He replied. "I could earn these things in my sleep."
Vorden sighed. It was clear that he wasn't going to be able to change Ian's mind.
"Fine." He replied.
Once again, he grabbed the bag off of his back, and opened it. He dropped the around ten Basic-Tier Crystals inside the bag. Adding them to the other two Rattaclaw Beast Crystals he had collected.
Finally, it was time for the two of them to leave the abandoned library, and search for the Portal once again. The two of them made sure not to attract any more Beasts on their way, and to their luck, they hadn't come across any more dangers. It was then that the two of them spotted something.
"You see that?" Ian said, pointing to the large, dome-shaped training center. "Now, If I was going to put a Portal anywhere, I'd put it in there."
Vorden looked at the strange, dome-shaped building. He then looked back at Ian, a confused look on his face.
"Is that…a training center?" He asked.
Ian smirked.
"Yep, that's exactly what it is." Ian replied. "And it looks like it was well built. The Beasts around here haven't been able to so much as scratch it. And it's big enough to hide a secret base underneath!"
The two of them continued walking forward towards the training center. Just outside the large building, Vorden and Ian were preparing to enter the training center. The front of the dome was an open field filled with junk, making it look as if a battle had taken place outside. They carefully made their way along the field of broken rubbish and mechs, using it as cover, as they inched their way towards the entrance. After looking left, then right for any Beasts, they decided to make a mad dash for the entrance.
As they ran forward, they reached the hall, and moved towards the door. But, they soon came to a sudden stop, as something had caught their eye near the entrance.
Ian bent down closer to the ground, to get a better look.
"More dead Rattaclaws." He muttered.
Ian then dipped his finger in the black blood. Even though it was slightly dry, it seemed pretty new.
"Doesn't look like these have been dead for long." He replied. "Look's like someone'salready IN THERE."
Vorden didn't want to say anything, but he was hoping that it was either Quinn or Tsukuru. Preferable Quinn. However, as he walked past the dead Rattaclaws, if it really was Quinn, it seemed like the secret he was hiding from Vorden was bigger than he thought. It was then that Vorden noticed the keypad attached to the side of the door.
"A passcode machine?" He replied, before turning to Ian. "Do you know the combination?"
Ian glanced back at him.
"Are you kidding me?" He asked. "How the hell would I know? Do you have any idea just how long this place has been abandoned?"
He then held out both of his hands, and looked at the door. Vorden then watched as Ian began to concentrate. After a moment or two, Vorden could see a bulging vein appear on the top of Ian's head.
"Damn, this door is strong." Ian muttered in a strained voice. Ian continued to use his Ability, but the door was locked tight, and it wasn't going to be broken down so easily.
But then, slowly, a "creaking" sound started to be heard, and the locks behind the door started to bend. But it seemed that the sound of the metal door creaking had also attracted some unwanted attention. As soon, three Rattaclaws could be seen running towards the two, following the sound of the door.
The three approaching Rattaclaws soon spotted Vorden and Ian.
"Ian, I think you'd better hurry up!" Vorden replied, turning to him.
"I'm trying!" Ian said, as he put more strength into forcing open the door. Activating more and more of his body's Mutant Cells. "Just go deal with the Rattaclaws yourself!"
But as the door continued bending, the creaking noise only got louder. Attracting even more Beasts. Soon another four Rattaclaws joined the two already coming towards Vorden and Ian.
"I can't!" Vorden replied. "There's too many!"
He then turned towards Ian, and held his hands up towards the door as well.
Instantly, Ian snapped his head towards him.
"What are you doing?!" He yelled. "At least hold them off or something!"
But suddenly, the door was becoming easier to move. As if it had become more responsive towards Ian's Ability. Confused, Ian turned to look at Vorden. When he did, he could see that Vorden too was noticeably sweating.
'Could it be?' Ian thought.