The others looked at Shizuka, bewildered.
"You can smell blood?" Del asked, slightly put off. "Wait, what am I saying? Of course, you can."
Shizuka narrowed her eyes.
"Technically, anyone can 'smell blood'." She replied, glancing away. "It does have a rather… odorous smell, after all. However, I am more accustomed to it."
It was at that point that Hayley bent down, examining the floor. The others all looked down at her.
"That's why I told you to stop." She replied. "There's blood on the floor. And it's leading in that direction."
Hayley pointed towards the living quarters.
"It's coming from the arena, as well." Del muttered under his breath.
Shizuka's face scrunched up in annoyance.
She stomped over towards Del.
Looking up at her, Del's eyes widened, and he began to tremble in fear.
Shizuka reached out and karate-chopped him on the head.
"Ow!" Del complained, bringing his hands up to the top of his head.
Shizuka then looked down at the scanner. The three signals could be seen in the direction of the arena. However, she also glanced down at the trail of blood from when the Bloodsucker had dragged Ian's torso out of the arena and into the living quarters.
'That blood could be from any of the three students.' She thought, before snapping her head back at the scanner. She clearly saw the three dots on the screen. But like Del had said, all that meant was that the wristwatches were there. If the emergency beacongot sent out before they arrived, they would have no way of knowing.
Shizuka glanced over at Leo.
"Sergeant Leo, how far can you see with your Ability?" She asked.
"Not that far." He replied, solemnly.
Shizuka grit her teeth.
"Alright, let's split off into groups." She replied, causing the others to all turn to her. "Sergeant Faye, Hayley, and Del, let's go follow that blood trail."
Shizuka then turned to Leo.
"Sergeant Leo, you go check up on the students in the arena." She replied.
The others all nodded, and they split off. While the bulk of the group headed off towards the living quarters through the reception room, Leo headed down one of the hallways towards the arena.
***
Back in the arena, Vorden gave Tsukuru a suspicious look.
"Wait, you can tell when people are nearby?" He asked. "How?"
Tsukuru glanced at him.
"Oh, right." He replied, realizationdawning on him. "I never got around to telling you. After I Leveled Up after our fight with Riley in the park, I unlocked a 'Minimap' on my System."
Vorden raised an eyebrow.
"'Minimap'?" He asked.
Tsukuru nodded.
"Yeah, you know." He replied. "Those tiny maps that appear on the side in games that show you when enemies are nearby."
Vorden continued to stare at Tsukuru.
Tsukuru then realized that while Vorden had played Power Fighters, he probably hadn't played the type of "Sandbox" games that "Minimaps" were typically seen in.
"It's kind of like…a radar." He explained. "It lets me see people around me as colored dots depending on their threat level. Grey is neutral, green is an ally, and red is an enemy." Tsukuru's eyes widened, and he then turned to Quinn. "Oh, except Vampires." He added. "Vampires are purple."
Tsukuru's sudden inclusion stunned Quinn.
'Why would Vampiresappear as a different COLOR?' He thought.
However, Tsukuru's eyes then narrowed.
"What's wrong?" Vorden asked, his expression hardening as he saw Tsukuru's reaction.
"They're splitting up." He replied. "Four of them are heading off in that direction…" He pointed towards the hall where the Bloodsucker had dragged Ian's torso out of the arena. "While the last one is heading towards our direction."
***
Back with the bulk of the Retrieval Team, they followed the blood trail towards the living quarters.
"Let's hurry up." Sergeant Faye replied as she took the lead. "It could be one of the students."
They followed the trail until they finally reached the living quarters. They saw a room with a broken door, and a ripped apart chair.
Faye and Shizuka peeked their heads inside, and they immediately snapped their heads back to the group.
"Hayley!" They both yelled in unison.
Hayley walked past them and headed into the room.
Curious, Del made his way towards the door.
"Rowan." Shizuka said in a sharp tone.
Del turned back to her.
"You really don't want to look in there." She replied.
Del scrunched up his face in annoyance and took a look inside, anyway. Immediately, he turned away.
"Told ya." Shizuka muttered.
"Holy shit!" Del muttered, his face pale. "That body…it was ripped in half! Guts spilling everywhere!"
Shizuka rolled her eyes.
'You shouldn't have looked in there, you idiot.' She thought. 'Maybe next time, you should think before you act.'
Back in the room, Hayley continued to examine the body. She went around Ian's neck. Underneath his Beast Armor, she pulled out a platinum-colored dog tag. It was similar to the one Tsukuru wore. This was because Shizuka had merely copied an already-EXISTING idea when she had made Tsukuru's. All Travelers who were part of the Big Four Families wore one of these tags, and they were color-coded to each family. Red for the Sunshield Family, yellow for the Greylash Family, black with gold trim for the Bree Family, and…platinum for the Truedream Family.
"Shit…" Hayley muttered as she went back to examining Ian's neck. And that's when she spotted something. Something that gave her a sense of deja vu. 'Again, two puncture wounds on the neck…just like with those other three STUDENTS.' Hayley's eyes narrowed. 'Could there really be a Beast loose inside the academy? And did it come from this Beast Planet? Or…is it something else?'
Hayley then walked up from Ian's torso, and back towards the door where Shizuka and Faye were waiting.
"You want the good news, or the bad news?" She asked.
Faye narrowed her eyes.
"Just tell us everything." She replied.
Hayley sighed.
"Well, the good news is that it's not one of the students." She replied, before holding out the platinum-colored dog chain.
Seeing the dog chain, Shizuka's eyes widened.
"The bad news is that it's a Traveler from one of the Big Four." Hayley replied.
Immediately, Sergeant Faye's and Del's faces fell upon hearing this.
"Which one?" Faye asked.
Hayley was about to respond, but Shizuka beat her to it.
"The Trudream Family." She replied, causing Del and Hayley to turn to her. "It's one of Jack's people."
***
Back in the arena, Tsukuru saw the solitary green dot getting closer and closer. Eventually, footsteps could be heard coming from the hallway leading to the right side of the arena.
Instinctively, all three boys looked up towards the source of the noise. Soon, Sergeant Leo could be seen emerging from the doorway.
Tsukuru's and Quinn's eyes widened as they saw the old, blind man appear. However, Vorden had a look of suspicion on his face. Despite the man wearing the military base's uniform, he had never seen this man before.
Leo overlooked the three boys, one by one. However, once his eyes fell on Quinn. His gaze sharpened. Intensified. Just like with the Minimap of Tsukuru's System, Quinn's aura had taken a deeper color in Leo's wireframe vision.
The three boys watched as Leo slowly descended the stairs leading into the arena. Soon, he made his way towards the table in the center of the arena. The whole time, his eyes remained squarely on Quinn.
As he approached, Tsukuru's eyes widened as he came to a realization. His memory flashed back to how Ray had discovered that Jack Dem was a Werewolf before even Jack had known. During an intense fight, Jack had used up so much of his massive amounts of Qi that the red, Beast-like aura underneath had become visible to Ray. And Leo…had Ray's eyes. Which meant…he probably saw exactly what Tsukuru saw in his Minimap. He could see that dark-purple aura of Quinn's.
"Oh…shit." Tsukuru muttered.
Both Quinn and Vorden turned to him.
"What?" Vorden asked, now suddenly on edge. "What's wrong?"
Tsukuru gulped.
"Sergeant Leo's Ability…it allows him to see the auras of people." He replied.
Vorden's face scrunched up in confusion.
"I…I don't follow." He replied.
Tsukuru narrowed his eyes.
"Let me put it in another way." He replied. "He can tell when something's not Human."
Both Quinn's and Vorden's eyes widened at the insinuation.
Vorden's eyes hardened.
"In other words, he knows." He replied.
Instantly, a tense atmosphere filled the area. While Quinn grew nervous at this realization, Tsukuru's face bore a look of deep calculation. And with Vorden…he was putting on an aggressive stance.
***
Inside the dark room of his mind, Vorden glanced back at Raten.
"At the first sign of trouble, we swap, agreed?" Vorden asked in a low tone.
Raten nodded. "Agreed." He replied in the same low tone.