In another location in the school, Shizuka and Tsukuru finally reached the unused conference room on the west wing.
As Tsukuru entered the room, he noticed that it was empty. It had a long table that took up the majority of the room, with a row of about seven chairs on either side.
Bolted to a black metal frame attached to the far wall, a large 85-inch TV screen hung. The screen was purposely placed high on the wall, clearly visible to everyone at the table during meetings.
Tsukuru walked up to the TV. Looking up at it, his face scrunched up in annoyance. He then turned back to Shizuka.
"Shizuka, I need to touch the screen to activate the Skill," he replied. "Can you…lower it?"
Shizuka's face developed an amused smile.
"Sure thing," she replied, as she approached the far wall. "Little Tsu-Tsu."
Tsukuru let out an irritated huff. He hated it when Shizuka called him that. And Shizuka knew this as well.
On top of the metal frame, there was a set of two buttons going down vertically. Shizuka pressed the bottom button, and the middle part of the frame that held the TV began to lower, and the sound of an electric motor was heard.
Once the TV screen was level with Tsukuru, it stopped. Due to the TV being off, Tsukuru could see his reflection in the black, blank screen.
Tsukuru let out a sigh.
"Here we go," he muttered.
He reached out his hand and touched the screen.
As he thought about activating his new Skill, a System message appeared in front of him.
[Would you like to activate Skill Fictional Summoning?]
Tsukuru's eyes narrowed.
'Yes,' he thought.
***
Back in the Ninth Family castle in the Vampire Settlement, Faye continued to stare at Muka.
"What…is an 'Illegal'?" Faye asked, confused.
"Exactly what it sounds like," Muka replied. "It's an illegal Vampire. Due to the finite size of the Settlement. Each family is capped at only being able to create a certain number of Vampires. An 'Illegal' is a Vampire who exceeds that limit."
Faye gulped.
"And what happens…if I find an Illegal?" she asked.
Muka remained quiet for a moment.
"That's something for me to worry about, not you," she replied. "If the Vampire on the Base is an Illegal, it'll most likely require a Council Meeting to be called. In the end, it will most likely result in the Illegal being either imprisoned or killed, and the Family responsible for its creation beingpenalized."
***
Back in the unused conference room on Military Base 2, Shizuka moved back from the TV and took a seat in one of the front chairs.
Meanwhile, with Tsukuru, three rectangular System screens had appeared in front of him as soon as he had replied yes. Each rectangle showed the image of an individual. And each of these individuals was someone whom Tsukuru had immediately recognized. They were all characters from different anime. Two of the characters were female, while one was male.
The first individual was a young woman with black eyes and long red hair that reached down to her waist. Her hair completely covered her ears, and she had bangs that reached down to her chest. She also had thick bangs in the center of her forehead that reached down to just above her nose, slightly obscuring her right eye. Her torso was covered with a sleeveless, grey chestpiece with a large metal cross covering the whole chestpiece. The chestpiece extended upwards to protect her neck, forming a sort of turtleneck. She also had pauldrons on either shoulder and wore elbow-length gauntlets. The chestpiece also had a set of three triangular faulds.
Covering her lower body was a blue skirt that reached down to her thighs. Finally, she had black boots that reached up to her calves.
She stood in the image in the same "knight's sentry" pose as Tsukuru's Haunted Knights, and her hands were resting on a longsword that was piercing the ground. At the very bottom of the screen, there was a rectangle with a light-blue outline.
[Erza Scarlet]
The second figure was the only male among the three. He was a man with shoulder-length brown hair that reached down his sides, completely obscuring her ears, but leaving his forehead bare. He had an eyepatch covering his left eye that looked as though it were the fragment of a white, skull mask. White chains were coming out of the right side of the eyepatch, wrapping around the right side of the man's head.
He wore a white, long-sleeved jacket that covered his torso. There was a line of nine white buttons lining either side. There was also ash-gray animal fur lining the shoulders. He had the zipper of the jacket pulled down the middle of his chest. In the center of his sternum, a small, black hole could be seen. The man also had more ash-gray animal fur covering his sleeves from his elbow down to his wrists. He wore white gloves and held a black pistol in either hand. The pistols had a white plate lining the side, as well as a white trigger. He also had a set of two black straps reaching from his elbows to his biceps that resembled bandolier gun belts.
There was more animal fur extending down from his back, forming something akin to the back of a trench coat. The man's lower bottom was covered in black pants. However, he had a white belt buckle shaped like an elongated "X". More animal fur extended downwards, reaching down to his thighs. Finally, the man wore boots that reached up to his calves. However, the only part of his black boots that could be seen was the front of the boots. As they were covered from top to bottom in animal fur.
Like with the previous image, it had a rectangle at the bottom.
[Coyote Starrk]
The final image also showed a woman with red hair. She had long bangs on either side of her face, covering her eyes, and had a long line of bangs along her forehead that reached down to her eyes. Behind her head, the remainder of her hair was pulled into a long braid. The woman also had orange, soulless eyes. Compared to the other two, her outfit was somewhat formal. She wore a white, button-up shirt, a black tie, black pants, and brown sneakers.
She was viewed at a side profile, showing her facing to the right while looking at the viewer. She had her left arm held up high in the air. In it, she was holding a series of long chains that extended beyond the image. Meanwhile, she had her right arm extended out towards the viewer, as if gesturing to them to join her.
Her rectangle showed only a single word.
[Makima]
A moment later, a new System screen appeared in front of Tsukuru.
[Please pick one of the following three Fictional Characters to be your first General Rank Video Summon.]
***
Far away from the conference room, back in the Student Dormitory, Quinn had finally reached the dorm room. He was surprised to see that Vorden wasn't inside, nor was Peter outside. However, much like with Tsukuru, Quinn was too excited to wonder what had happened to them.
Once inside, Quinn placed the box on his bed and opened it. He then reached inside and pulled out his new boots.
Quinn let out an amused snort.
'Combined with the Intermediate-Tier chestpiece that I got from Tsukuru, I got almost a full set of Intermediate-Tier equipment,' he thought.
Quinn kicked off his sneakers and then pulled on the boots.
He felt a surge of energy fill him, and a System message appeared in front of him.
[Intermediate-Tier Black-Horned Wolf Boots equipped.
+4 Agility, +2 Defense
Agility: 16 [+4]
Defense: 12 ]
Quinn then brought up his Status Screen to check out his new Stats.
[Name Quinn Talen
Race Vampire
Level 10
XP 10/100
Title None
Ability Shadow Element
Ability Level 6
HP 55/55
MC 100/100
Strength 15 [+10]
Stamina 15
Agility 16 [+4]
Charm 5
Defense 12
[Stat Points: 0] ]
Quinn smiled, seeing the numbers on his Status Window.
'25 Strength and 20 Agility,' Quinn thought. 'Not bad.'
Quinn then activated his Shadow Equip Skill to place all of his Beast Gear back in his Shadow Space. It'd cause problems if he, a Level 1, were seen walking around with almost a full set of Intermediate-Tier equipment.
Instantly, Quinn's whole body below his neck became enveloped in a dense, shadowy fog. A few moments later, Quinn could no longer feel the solid metal of his Beast Gear, and he felt the Beast Energy in his body dissipate.
Then, when the shadowy fog covering his body dispersed, Quinn was standing there on his bed in just his military uniform and his socks.
Quinn's smile grew.
He put his sneakers back on and headed towards the door.
With his new equipment all set up and ready to go, Quinn was itching to test it out. And he knew the perfect place to do so. In the VR Pod.