Far away from Military Base 2, back on the Red Portal Planet Pioletic, a group of around eight military privates laid dead in a large open space between a few of the old buildings in the shelter. A pool of blood could be seen beneath each body.
In the very center, Sergeant Faye could be seen, the bodies of her dead subordinates all around her. She was kneeling on her right knee. She had her longsword stabbed into the ground, using it to support herself like a walking stick. Her left hand was clutching her right shoulder. Like the other soldiers, her body was covered in lacerations, and her military uniform was shredded.
'Damn it,' she thought, as she took several deep, labored breaths. 'How did it turn out like this?'
She gritted her teeth in frustration. This "Salvage Mission" was supposed to be easy. Just retrieve some Glathrium, Beast Weapons, and Beast Crystals. General Nathan had deemed it to be such a low-difficulty mission that he had only sent around a dozen or so Level 2s to complete it. The only reason Faye was here was to supervise.
But the mission had turned into a complete disaster. Not long after their arrival, they had been ambushed and attacked. It was as if someone was waiting for them.
Faye glared at the figures standing in front of her, a cold fury in her eyes.
It was a group of about ten. Females, judging by the curves on their bodies. They all wore black, form-fitting garments, with their eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses. The figure in the very front stood in a very confident, authoritative stance that made Faye immediately recognize her as the leader.
"Consider yourself lucky that you're not a man," the leader replied in a sardonic, almost musical tone. Despite the tone, Faye could still hear the disgust and contempt in her words. "Otherwise, you'd end up like them."
She swung her arms out in a wide arc, symbolizing that she was referring to the dead privates.
The woman then slowly reached up and took off her sunglasses. When she did, a set of piercing red eyes was revealed. Despite the eyes being the only part of her face that could be seen, Faye had spent enough time around Shizuka to be able to recognize an evil grin when she saw one.
"Now…" she replied. "I have some questions for you."
Instantly, her red eyes began to glow even brighter, and Faye felt her mind becoming clouded.
***
Back in the Beast Weapons, all on Military Base 2, Tsukuru and Layla continued their fight.
As they did, Layla could help but feel amazed by how much stronger and faster she seemed to be. The arrows and the bow felt significantly lighter in her grip, and she felt twice as fast as before.
However, Layla wasn't the only one who had noticed the changes.
Tsukuru had as well.
He quickly jerked his upper body to the right as an arrow came towards him. As the air passed, he felt a strong gust of wind blow against him.
'Geeze, it's like a shot from a fucking firearm!' Tsukuru thought. 'Maybe giving her that bow was a bad idea.'
But then again, letting her keep using the Starling Shot would have been an even worse idea. After all, the next time that Passive Skill tagged him, it might hit him in a place that would actually be a lethal shot. Like through the left side of his chest, or even worse, through the back of his head.
Tsukuru applied pressure to the back of his foot and propelled himself forward, lunging towards Layla.
***
Back in Shizuka's office, she leaned forward in her chair and repeatedly tapped the surface of her desk with her index finger.
'I swear the worst partof missions to Beast Planets is not knowing if anything has gone WRONG,' she thought, looking to the side.
The "Salvage Team" to Poiletic had left early this morning. And since Poiletic was a Red Portal Planet, there were no "Communication Towers" built to allow communication between it and other planets, like with Green Portal Planets.
Shizuka flashed back to earlier this morning…
***
Shizuka leaned against the corner in Nathan's office. Standing in front of Nathan's desk was Sergeant Faye, with a group of ten men of the rank of "Private" standing behind her. Each man had a large number "2" displayed on their wristwatches, marking them as Level 2 Ability Users. After all, this was a simple mission. Just search and retrieval.
"Alright, you've all been briefed," Nathan replied, looking down at a piece of paper in his hand. "The eleven of you are to head to the Red Portal Planet 'Poiletic' to retrieve some things left there during the recent 'incident'. Specifically, Glathrium, Beast Daggers, and Beast Crystals. All courtesy of First-Year Student Hikiko Tsukuru."
Nathan then looked up at the group.
"Fortunately, the mission only requires you to explore the shelter, as well as the small forest clearing on the outskirts," he continued. "When you're done, use the Portable Portal to return home."
A man in the very back of the group gulped. He had a large rucksack on his back that was identicalto the one Del had worn when he was part of the "Retrieval Team".
"Due to the recent incident, the number of Beasts within the shelter and nearby forest has been significantly diminished. There should be nothing that you could run in that you or Sergeant Faye could not handle," he continued. "Dismissed."
The group nodded and began to exit the room.
As Sergeant Faye passed Shizuka, Shizuka turned to her.
"You want me to come with you?" she asked.
Faye froze for a moment.
"That…shouldn't be necessary," she replied. "As General Nathan said, there shouldn't be anything there that I can't HANDLE."
***
Shizuka then snapped back to her senses. She looked to the side, a look of worry on her face.
'I really hope those two didn't jinx themselves,' she thought.
***
Back in the Beast Weapons Hall, Layla's eyes widened as she saw Tsukuru flying towards her.
He had had his right arm crossed over to his left shoulder.
As he began to swing her arm out towards his right, Layla extended her arm, holding the Elven Shortbow out in front of her, using it as a shield.
Tsukuru's Basic-Tier Black Obsidian Dagger clashed with the Intermediate-Tier Elven Shortbow.
Despite the fact that the bow was of a higher Tier, Layla still quickly felt her arm being forced back, despite the strength boost from her new bow.
'Is he just really STRONG…or, am I just incredibly WEAK?!' Layla thought, her own feeling of inadequacy from constantly being around people like Quinn and Erin rearing its ugly head.
While Layla was distracted trying to push back against Tsukuru's dagger with her bow, Tsukuru swung his left arm out.
It slashed across her abdomen in a horizontal arc to the right, cutting a line in her military uniform.
Layla winced slightly from the sudden, stinging pain.
In the "Battle Mode" of Tsukuru's System, he saw Layla's "Health Bar" go down by half.
"How are you…so strong?!" Layla asked, as she strained. Despite her efforts, she still saw her bow being slowly forced back.
Tsukuru's eyes narrowed.
"Quinnhas his secrets, and I have mine,"he replied in a low tone.
After leaving Layla with his cryptic statement, Tsukuru caught one of the sharp edges of the bow's segments with his blade and swung his arm upwards.
Layla's eyes widened as she saw her arm being forced up, leaving her front exposed.
Tsukuru then brought his right dagger back down, performing an upward slice, going diagonally up Layla's left.
In the "Battle Mode" of Tsukuru's System, he saw Layla's "Health Bar" go all the way down to zero.
Layla let out a slight yelp as the force of the slice sent her flying back. She landed on her back on the ground.
"Ugh…" Layla muttered.
She subconsciously brought her hand towards the diagonal slash, but pulled it away a moment later from the stinging pain of her skin's contact with the open wound.
She then heard a small "clack" noise near her right elbow. Looking down, she saw that one of Tsukuru's Health Potions was now placed there.
However, as she looked up at Tsukuru, she now saw the same look of disappointmentthat Quinn had when he had beaten her.
Meanwhile, with Tsukuru, he was deeplyconfused.
For the first time since getting the System, he hadn't received any XP.