Inside Quinn's mind, it felt as though something had clicked. He now felt like he had a new set of limbs that he could control. Tsukuru and Vorden watched as the shadow underneath Quinn started to wiggle and spasm. As if it were now alive. Quinn thought of making the shadow move, and it began to rise. The shadow extended up, creating small spikes on the surface of his shadow. Then, pieces of the shadow would break off.
Tsukuru and Vorden watched on in amazement. The broken pieces of shadow took on a mist-like consistency, making the whole process look similar to watching a lake evaporate into STEAM. The pieces of shadow mist then began levitating in the air, coalescing on the left of Quinn's left shoulder. As it did, it took on the form of a thin oval. The oval swirled in the air, just like when Quinn was using his Shadow Space Skill.
This process carried on for a few more seconds, with more and more of Quinn's shadow "evaporating" into the shadowy mist and joining with the swirling oval. As this continued, Quinn's shadow got smaller, and the swirling oval got bigger. Eventually, when it was done, the swirling oval was the size of an oval shield. It remained stationary in place as it swirled, as if unaffected by gravity.
Vorden and Tsukuru stared at the swirling oval of floating shadow, eyes wide.
"Alright, I've to admit." Tsukuru said, causing Vorden to glance over to him. "That is pretty cool."
If there was one elemental power Tsukuru had always loved in anime and video games other than lightning…it was shadow. Tsukuru then glanced down at the floor of the arena. Seeing as how Quinn's shadow was currently taken on the form of that floating, swirling oval, his body no longer produced a shadow on the ground.
"I guess the Skill is limited to just your shadow for now." Vorden noted. "It's like a Level 1 Earth Ability."
Tsukuru turned to him.
"Well, he did justlearn it." He replied, causing Vorden to turn to him. "Even though it was a Level 6 Ability Book, people don't just start as Level 6 Ability Users."
Hearing Tsukuru's words, Vorden put his index finger against his chin. He was soon deep in thought. Then, his eyes lit up.
"Hey!" He said, snapping his eyes towards Tsukuru. "Doesn't that 'System' of yours allow you to tell what Ability Level someone is?" He asked. "Just use it on Quinn. Then, we'll know for sure!"
Hearing this, Quinn's heart jumped.
Tsukuru glanced over at Quinn. As he did, the "scanner" function of his System automatically activated.
[Name: Quinn Talen
Race: Vampire
Ability: Shadow Element
Ability Level: 6 ]
Tsukuru and Quinn stared at each other for a moment. As they did, Quinn's heart raced.
There was a long pause. Then, Tsukuru spoke.
"Like I said, he's only a Level 1 Ability User." Tsukuru replied, turning to Vorden.
Internally, Quinn let out a sigh of relief. Tsukuru's words were a bald-faced lie. Quinn's System, as well as his high MC Stat could attest to that fact.
Tsukuru then glanced back at Quinn.
Quinn internally thanked Tsukuru for not blowing his cover.
"Anyway, let's see what that Skill of yours can do, Quinn." Tsukuru replied. "Let's see how it compares to the mud that Level 1 Earth Ability Users can use."
Glancing over to his right, he saw that there was one of the metal chairs nearby. Immediately, he focused on picking it up with his shadow.
The swirling oval trembled and spasmed. Then, it uncurled like a coiled snake, taking on the appearance of a shadowytendril. The tendril lashed out towards the chair on the ground. The end of it wrapped around one of the nearby chairs, and lifted it into the air. To Quinn's amazement, he felt as if he was holding the chair in his own hand.
Quinn then continued practicing with his new Shadow Control Skill. As he did, he got used to the Skill. He could move the shadows, causing the swirling oval to move over to any point on his body. Additionally, just like how the shadow had become a long tendril to pick up the chair, he could form the shadows into whatever shape he wanted. Even weapons. However, when he formed a shadowy sword and tried cutting the chair, the sword, the chair simply went through the sword, due to the shadow's mist-like properties.
At one point, Vorden smiled.
"Well, not that you've seemed to have gotten the hang of that Ability, you want to spar a little?" He asked, causing both Tsukuru and Quinn to turn to him.
***
The Retrieval Team began walking through the shelter. As they did, Leo walked in front of the group. With his Ability, Dragon Eyes, the group would be able to avoid trouble. Through his wireframe vision, he was able to see through the walls of the buildings in the shelter. Additionally, he would be able to instantly recognize nearby Beasts due to their red Aura.
Walking directly behind Leo was Sergeant Faye. If the group were to run into a Beast, both she and Leo would attack the Beast as a pair. Leo with his katana, and Faye with her longsword. Finally, standing in front of the remaining two, Hayley and Del, was Shizuka. Should a Beast somehow get past Leo and Faye, Shizuka would kill it with her specialized needles, all the while guarding the two non-combatants.
However, as the group got further into the shelter, they began to wonder if that would even be necessary. On a quite frequent basis, they would come across dead Rattaclaws. And they all had one thing in common. A Beast Dagger piercing their skulls. A Beast Dagger…that Del immediately recognized due to the fact that he had his own copy strapped to his waist. Tsukuru's Basic-Tier Black Obsidian Daggers.
"Well…" Del said, causing the others to glance towards him. "If anything, at least we now know one group that's not going to have any problems dealing with Beasts on the Portal Outing."
***
Back in the training center, Quinn was deep in thought.
'Seeing how my Shadow Control Skill only costs me 1 MC a minute, that means that I can use it for roughly an hour and a half, provided that I haven't used any of my other Skills.' Quinn thought.
Currently, he still had 93 out of 100 MC, having spent the other 7 MC using the Shadow Cloak and experimenting with his Shadow Control.
On a hunch, Quinn tried seeing what would happen if he were to activate his other Shadow Skills while also using Shadow Control. First of all, the Shadow Cloak just refused to activate. And when he tried accessing his Shadow Space, the swirling oval immediatelyplummeted to the ground, reverting back to his normal shadow. It was as if someone had dumped a pail of water from a high height.
Quinn stared at the shadow once again at his feet for a few seconds.
'So that's what happens…' Quinn thought.
Quinn and Vorden then walked over to the wide, open area that Vorden had gone to for his spar with Tsukuru. The two of them now stood opposite each other, ready to have a friendly fight. Hovering around Vorden, he had a set of about five metal balls that Tsukuru had made for Vorden to use in the fight. These balls were metallic-silver in color, and were the size of a grapefruit. Vorden had two hovering on either side of him and one floating above his head.
Seeing the metal balls, Quinn let out a nervous laugh.
"Well, at least they're not Glathrium, right?" He asked.
Tsukuru smiled.
"Yeah, don't worry, Quinn." Tsukuru replied. "I made them out of Aluminum, one of the lightest metals. If you get hit, it'll hurt, but no more than getting hit by a plastic bottle would."
Quinn nodded, and let out an internal sigh of relief. While his words had been meant as a joke, he knew Tsukuru's personality. He wouldn't put it past Tsukuru to intentionally make Vorden Glathrium balls for the fight with the excuse that 'since he had Healing Potions, it didn't matter if Quinn got hurt'.
However, if Tsukuru had tried pulling that, it would most likely be himthrowing hands with Vorden in this fight, instead of Quinn.
Tsukuru then held his hand out, and activated his Ability. The sound of electronic interference could be heard, and pixels began to appear in his hand. As Vorden and Quinn saw the shape that the pixels were forming in his hand, the eyes of the two boys widened. They felt their hearts jump. The object being formed was a handgun.