Back with Muka and Faye on Pioletic, Faye turned to the heavily armored woman.
"Uh, Lady Muka?" Faye asked. Hearing her own words, Faye's eyes widened.
'Why did I call her that?' Faye thought in confusion. 'And why is my body telling me to treat her the same as I would the Head General?'
Faye shook her head to snap her back to her SENSES.
"What are those strange attacks you were using?" she asked. "I've never seen an Ability like that before."
Suddenly, Muka came to a sudden stop.
"When we return to the Settlement, I must ask you to refrain from addressing me like that.' Muka then looked back at Faye. "You are one of the few people who know that I am a woman. Not even my Vampire Knights know my true gender." Muka then turned her gaze back to the front. "And those are Blood Skills. Once we return to the Settlement and begin your training, we shall see what Skills you possess…"
Faye pursed her lips in confusion.
'What is this 'Settlement' Muka keeps referring to?' Faye thought. Her find flashed back to what Muka had said when she had been introducing herself.
***
"Welcome to the Ninth Family of the Vampire Settlement."
***
Faye's eyes narrowed.
''Vampire',' she thought, repeating the strange word. 'Is that the name of some sort of faction?'
Muka eventually led Faye to a strange hill. To the side of the hill, there was what looked like an entrance leading into a cavern. A cave of sorts. And near the end of the cave, there was a door. A man-made, metaldoor. A door that looked exactly like the door to the shelter's training center, passcode machine and all.
Seeing it, Faye's jaw dropped.
"Is that…is that a Glathrium door?!" she sputtered. "Wh-Wh-What's a Glathrium door doing in some random cave on a Red Portal Planet?!"
Muka stopped for a moment. Then, she turned back to Faye.
"The same reason why your comrades are dead," she replied.
Faye's eyes widened.
During the "fight" with Lexi, Faye's body had been in "fight-or-flight" mode. She was too busy fighting for her life to even wonder why they were being attacked in the first place.
"Your shelter on this planet was not destroyed by accident," Muka replied. "It was done by us."
Muka reached down to the passcode machine and began punching in a code.
"We Vampires use this planet to train our Direct Descendants. Humans having a base of operations here could potentially expose our existence and put the Settlement in jeopardy. Therefore, we had to…encourage you to leave."
Faye's fists tightened in anger.
"Then…why did that 'Lexi' kill all of those soldiers?!" she yelled. "She could have just chased us off! We would have left on our own!"
Muka let out a sigh, and her shoulders slumped.
"The Settlement is not a united front," Muka replied. "While there are some Vampires who view it as their duty to protect Humans, others view Humans in much the same way you would view a chicken or a cow." Muka then glanced back at Faye. "And unfortunately for your men, both the family sent on the mission, as well as the man who had given the order, fall into the latter camp."
Faye's eyebrow raised in confusion.
'The way Muka is talking about Humans is much in the same way a Dalki would,' she thought. 'She's talking about us as if she were a whole different species.'
Muka finished punching in the code, and an electronic beep was heard. The door swung open with a hiss. She headed through the doorway, and Faye was compelled to follow her.
Inside, the room looked similar to the "storage container" hidden inside the shelter's storage hangar. However, instead of containing bookshelves filled with Ability Books, this one was set up a bit…differently.
Pressed up against the far left wall of the room, there was a long rectangle with a clear front. It kind of reminded Faye of the "freezer section" in a convenience store. However, instead of containing frozen food or treats, it contained stacks and stacks of clear, rectangular, plastic containers filled with a red liquid.
Taking up a majority of the room was a long, two-tiershelf going across the room lengthwise. The top shelf had a long line of black, metal rectangles roughly the size of a laptop computer. They were positioned lengthwise on their backs, being arranged like books. Meanwhile, the second shelf was filled with several metal balls the size of softballs.
Faye glanced over at the strange "refrigeration section" pressed against the wall.
'Are those…blood packets?' Faye thought, recognizing them instantly.
Faye also felt herself feeling strangely attracted to the blood packets, as she could smell a sweet fragrance. Before she even realized it, Faye found herself being drawn towards the container, like a kid to the candy section in a store.
'What is…happening?' Faye thought, confused about her body's actions.
"You're drawn to them, aren't you?" Muka asked as she grabbed the first metal rectangle on the shelf.
Her words made Faye's eyes widen. Instantly, she snapped over towards Muka.
"Well, try to restrain yourself," Muka replied as she placed the metal device under her arm. "You don't want to develop a Blood Addiction."
Muka grabbed one of the metal balls and brought it up to her face, looking at it.
"What is this place?" Faye asked, still subconsciously staring at the container filled with blood packs.
"It's a storage room," Muka replied. "We use it to stockpile supplies in case any emergencies come up while the Direct Descendants are out on their trial."
She then turned to Faye.
"Well, that should be everything," she replied. "Time for us to return to the Ninth Family Castle."
***
Back in the library in Military Base 2, Quinn was deep in thought.
'Wait…he said that his System has an 'AI' now, too?' Quinn thought. 'Does that mean that he has an annoying voice in his head, AS WELL? And…what is this about it 'recalibrating his System'?'
Tsukuru tilted his head, a confused look on his face.
"Hey, Quinn, you still there?" he asked. "Looks like your…spacing out."
Quinn shook his head, coming back to his senses.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied.
Tsukuru raised an eyebrow.
"So…did you need something?" he asked.
Quinn's eyes widened in realization as he finally remembered why he had called out to Tsukuru in the first place.
"Oh, right!" Quinn replied. "I wanted to ask you how many Credits you paid for that Intermediate-Tier Dagger that you bought from your System's Shop while we were in the training center on the Red Portal Planet."
Instantly, the voice of Reiju rang in Tsukuru's head.
"'Credits'?" she asked.
'It's the new currency,' Tsukuru replied. 'They implemented a new cash system after the war.'
He then put his hand under his chin and began to think.
"Well, my new Dagger cost me four Platinum Coins, which translates to about 4000 Credits," Tsukuru replied before then looking at Quinn. "Although seeing as how my Basic-Tier dagger only cost me 1000 Credits, the number would probably be doubled if it were being sold in real life."
Quinn put his finger under his lip.
"8000 Credits," he muttered. "That's roughly the same as the more expensive Intermediate-Tier gauntlets that I've found on the Online Marketplace."
Tsukuru then glanced to the side.
"Although the only reason that it was so expensive is likely because it had a Skill," Tsukuru replied, catching Quinn's attention.
Tsukuru placed his hands together and activated his Ability. The sound of electronic interference filled the general area, and pixels began to appear between his two hands. The pixels clustered together into the form of a chestpiece with attached shoulder pauldrons, and faulds attached to the waist.
There was a bright flash of light. When it faded, Tsukuru was holding a reproduction of his Intermediate-Tier Cave Spider Chestpiece.
Tsukuru looked down at the chestpiece that he was now holding in his hands.
"For example, this piece of Beast Armor is just a piece of Intermediate-Tier Beast Gear. It doesn't have any fancy Skills. It only cost me 3000 Credits."
Tsukuru handed the chestpiece to Quinn, so he could take a look at it.
Quinn looked down at the chestpiece in his hands and used the Inspect Skill on it. Instantly, a System Screen popped up in front of him.
[Cave Spider Chestpiece
Intermediate-Tier Beast Armor
+4 Strength
+6 Defense ]
'So 6000 Credits is the going price for Intermediate-Tier equipment, then,' Quinn thought.
He then glanced back at Tsukuru.
"Hey, can I have this?" he asked.