Back in the training center, the group continued to test out Quinn's Shadow Space Skill. Through them, Quinn had discovered that not only could his own shadow be used for the Skill, but also those of Vorden and Tsukuru, as well as any shadow he could find. Whenever Quinn touched a shadow while using the Skill, it would start to wiggle and swirl, just like his own Shadow had done.
The next test was to see if they could store objects bigger than the shadow itself. Using Ian's Ability, Vorden stretched his arms up towards the stands and ripped a good ten chairs out of the upper level, attracting them down to him. He mashed them together, just like how Sil had done in his fight against the Bloodsucker. However, instead of forming a ball, he formed them into a giant, flat, disc. Vorden handed the disc to Quinn.
Quinn then reached up and grabbed the disc with one hand, while touching his shadow with the other, as he thought about activating the Skill. Almost immediately, the shadow under his feet began to expand, creating a large circlecentered on Quinn that easily accommodated the large size of the disc. Tsukuru and Vorden watched as Quinn slowly dropped the disc into the large, circular shadow. Instantly, the shadow shrank back down to its original size. However, it was stillswirling.
It seemed like the size of the object did not matter. And even better, the Shadow Space Skill didn't cost any MC to use.
It was then that the annoying voice of the man piped up in Quinn's head.
"Hey, try putting those gauntlets of yours in the Shadow Space." The man replied.
'What?' Quinn thought. 'Why?'
The man spoke up again.
"Just try it." The man replied. "Trust me."
Quinn thought about it for a second. Seeing as how he was able to retrieve the chair from the strange Shadow Space just by thinking about it, it was unlikely that he would lose them. And even if he did, he could just ask Tsukuru to make him another pair.
Vorden and Quinn watched as Quinn slowly slid the Intermediate-Tier Knight Gauntlets off his hands. As he did, a System message popped up in front of him.
[Intermediate-Tier Knight Gauntlets have been removed.
-7 Strength, -5 Defense
Strength: 15 ]
One by one, Quinn dropped the two gauntlets into the swirling shadow. They sank through, like stones being dropped into a bog.
A moment later, a new System message popped up in front of Quinn.
[Beast Weapon detected in the Shadow Space. A new Shadow Skill is now available.
New Skill Shadow Equip has been acquired.]
***
Back on the outskirts of the shelter, Leo lifted the end of the hose. As he did, a few droplets of water dribbled off the bottom, dripping to the ground.
"It's been in use recently." He replied.
"Huh." Del muttered before glancing back at the blackened trees. "So Hihiko caused a forest fire, and then went on to waste energy and MC… extinguishing the fire?" He asked. "Why? We're on a Red Portal Planet. Do you really think anybody is going to care if a forest burns down?"
Leo then turned to Del, his clouded eyes narrowing. A moment later, footsteps could be heard approaching them.
"Be grateful that he did." A feminine voice replied from behind them.
Both Leo and Del turned their heads towards the voice. When they did, they saw Faye standing behind them.
"With how close we are to the shelter, the fire could have spread into it." She replied, before narrowing her eyes. "And then…we really would be lugging back corpses."
***
A short distance away, Hayley was examining the three charred corpses. She suddenly heard footsteps approaching, and instinctively snapped her head back. As she did, she saw Shizuka coming from behind her.
"How's the autopsy going?" She asked. "Same as before?"
Hayley's eyes narrowed.
"Not quite." She replied. "These ones actually look like they werecarved upconventionally."
Shizuka put her index finger under her chin.
"Maybe whatever Skill Tsu-Tsu uses to extract the Beast Crystals requires physical contact." Shizuka theorized, causing Hayley to look at her with interest. "And seeing how charred these corpses are, that'd be like touching the coals of a recently doused fire."
Hayley raised an eyebrow.
"Then, how did he carve them up?" She asked.
An amused smirk appeared on Shizuka's face.
"Oh, that's easy." She replied. "He didn't."
Hayley continued to stare at Shizuka. As she did, her memory flashed back to the discussion when they had come across the picnic table. More specifically, Sergeant Leo's doubts about Tsukuru's "Knight" even needing to eat.
"The Knight, then." Hayley replied.
"Yep." Shizuka said with a smile. "Seeing as how it lacks a physical body, heat would mean nothingto it. Tsu-Tsu probably just handed it a Beast Dagger and told it to extract the Beast Crystals for him."
Hayley then turned back to the corpses.
"Adding these to the ones we found in the clearing, it seems that he killed thirteenIntermediate-Tier Beasts." She replied. Her voice traveled, causing the others to turn to her. "That's quite impressive for a First-Year."
***
Back in the training center, Quinn arched an eyebrow, seeing the name of the new Skill he had somehow unlocked just by putting the Beast Gear into the Shadow Space.
''Shadow Equip'?' Quinn thought. 'What does that do?'
This had been the only Skill in his Shadow Tab that hadn't had a "Skill Points Requirement" to unlock it. Additionally, like the Blood Ritual Skill, it hadn't given him any information about the Skill.
"Just try it and see." The man's voice replied.
Quinn thought about activating the new Skill. A System message popped up in front of him.
[Skill Shadow Equip has been activated.]
The group of three all watched, as shadows engulfed Quinn's arms from his hands down to his forearms like a black fog. Even though Quinn couldn't see anything, he could feel something forming on his arms. He felt solid metal on his hands, as well as Beast Energy surging through him. Slowly, the shadows began to dissipate. When they did, the Intermediate-Tier Knight Gauntlets were revealed. Another System message appeared in front of Quinn.
[Intermediate-Tier Knight Gauntlets equipped.
+7 Strength, +5 Defense
Strength: 15 [+7]
Defense: 5 ]
Vorden and Tsukuru looked at Quinn in amazement, their eyes widened.
"It is just like my System's Inventory…" Tsukuru muttered in awe.
Meanwhile, Quinn was looking down at his arms.
'It's like an instant equip.' Quinn thought. 'With this, I don't need to wear all of my equipment all the time and arouse SUSPICION. I can hide my Beast Gear from the eyes of others, and be ready to fight any time.'
Quinn then thought of putting the gauntlets back in his Shadow Space. Almost immediately, his arms became enveloped in the same fog-likeshadows. Quinn then the the solid metal of his gauntlets begin to fade, as well as their Beast Energy. A System message appeared in front of him.
[Intermediate-Tier Knight Gauntlets have been removed.
-7 Strength, -5 Defense
Strength: 15 ]
Quinn then deactivated the Shadow Space Skill. As he did, his shadow ceased its wiggling and spiraling, reverting to normal. It was finally time to test out his last Skill, the Shadow Control Skill.
***
Back with the Retrieval Team, they had finally made it out of the forest, and into the walls of the shelter.
"Well, would you look at that?" Shizuka said with a smirk as she looked down at the screen of the tracker.
Sergeant Faye looked down at the position of the three dots on the screen, then out towards where that location would be in the shelter.
"It seems that the signals from the three wristwatches are coming from the same location as the training center." Faye replied, with her eyes narrowed. "That's convenient for us, if nothing else. That means we don't have to scour the entire shelter looking for them."
Sergeant Faye then turned to the others.
"Sergeant Leo, take the lead." She replied in an authoritative tone. "I believe I speak for all of us when I say that I don't want to stay on this Planet for a second longer than NECESSARY. I also don't want to find out what destroyed this shelter in the first place."
With the sole exception of Shizuka and Leo, they all nodded.
***
Back in the training center, Quinn felt excited as he prepared to try out his final Skill, Shadow Control. It was the Skill that he was looking forward to trying out the most. It had shown a rather lackluster description when it had been unlocked. As Quinn thought about using it, a System message popped up in front of him.
[Skill Shadow Control has been activated. -1 MC for every minute of continuous use.]