Leo remained quiet for a moment as he processed what had just happened. He had felt as if he had just tried to cut through solid steel, not human flesh.
Then, his smile widened.
"Ah, yes," he replied, suddenly remembering something from that meeting yesterday. "You possess that 'Hierro' Skill, or whatever it's called."
Starrk's face remained unchanged.
"That's right," he replied, verifying Leo's words. " We Arrancar possess a body covered by a layer of hardened Spirit Energy. It makes our skin as hard as armor."
Leo's eyes narrowed.
'This 'Spirit Energy',' he thought. 'It almost sounds similar to Qi…'
A moment later, Starrk turned his right hand so it was upside-down and placed his sword back in its sheath.
"I presume that was enough to satisfy you?" Starrk asked. "It's clear which one of us is the stronger of the two."
Starrk then glanced away.
"Maybe if I were at my full power, it would be different…" he muttered under his breath.
Leo nodded, and sheathed his sword as well.
"Thank you for indulging the whims of this old man," he replied.
Leo then walked away from Starrk and began walking around the room, checking on the other students.
Time continued to pass in the Beast Weapons Hall, and eventually, the bell was heard.
Hearing the bell, Tsukuru looked up from his most recently defeated opponent. He had managed to fight around eight people today, but only three of them had managed to give him XP.
Leo looked up as well, hearing the alarm.
"Looks like that's all the time we have today," he muttered. He turned to look at the others. "Alright, everyone! If you've borrowed weapons from the Beast Hall, please place them back where you found them! I'll see you all tomorrow!"
Quinn let out a sigh.
'What a waste,' he thought, dejected.
Just like yesterday, he hadn't gotten a single point of Exp, despite having defeated over six opponents.
Slowly, the people all began to disperse from the large room. Soon, it was only Tsukuru, Quinn, and Starrkremaining in the room.
They then proceeded to walk towards the door as a group.
Once they made it out of the auxiliary building, they came to an abrupt halt. Two people were standing in front of them.
It was Sergeant Faye and Sergeant Shizuka.
***
In another location at the school, Layla and Erin were walking around when suddenly, they saw Vorden in the distance.
Upon seeing him, Layla immediatelyturned her head away. Nearly every interaction with him on his own had not been a good one.
However, Layla then heard the sound of footsteps approaching them. They got louder and louder.
'No, it can't be,' Layla thought. 'Is he…walking over towards us?'
Meanwhile, with Vorden, his fists were trembling.
'Come on, Vorden,' he thought. 'You can do this. Just remember, you're doing it for Quinn.'
Once the three of them were in grabbing distance, Vorden stopped.
"I…I…" he replied, looking down.
For the first time in his life, he was stuttering. But it wasn't because he was scared. It was because Raten wouldn't stop screaming in his ear.
"I need your help!" he blurted out.
The look on Layla's face was one that she had never made before.
***
Back outside the Auxiliary Building, Sergeant Faye stared at Quinn. Seeing his umbrella, her eyes narrowed in confusion.
'Why does he have an umbrella?' she thought. 'Doesn't he have a ring?'
Her gaze then drifted down to Quinn's hands. However, they were currently covered by a pair of gauntlets. So she honestly couldn't tell if he was wearing a ring or not. But given the fact that he was currently huddled under an umbrella, she highly doubted it.
'No Vampire Ring…sloppy actions that could have revealed the existence of the Vampires…' Faye thought. 'Is it possible that he's not from the Settlement?'
Faye decided that this would be something she would need to discuss with Muka later. For right now, she had a job to do.
Her gaze snapped to Tsukuru.
"Student Hikiko Tsukuru," she replied in an authoritative tone. "We need you to come with us."
Immediately, Tsukuru and Quinn exchanged looks. They didn't know whether to be confused or concerned.
***
Back with Layla, Erin, and Vorden, the unthinkable had just happened.
Layla was finding herself struggling to stand, as she had just heard certain words come out of Vorden's mouth.
"Alright, first of all, I'm gonna need you to take a huge step back," Layla replied. "And no touchy-touchy from you."
"I keep telling you to just kill this bitch!" Raten replied from behind Vorden in the dark space of his subconscious.
Vorden let out a long sigh.
"Look, I'm trying to be reasonable here," he replied. "I know that we don't have the best relationship, but Quinn said that you could help me."
Layla gave Vorden a hard look.
Every time she saw his face, all she could think of was being choked out by Raten. And it was not a fond memory. It made her whole body tingle all over every time he got close to her.
In fact, if it wasn't for Erin being right next to her, she would have bolted the second she had seen Vorden approaching her.
But Layla had to admit one thing. Vorden, for whatever crazy reason he had, seemed to genuinely care for Quinn.
Additionally, the two of them would soon be going out on that Portal Outing next week. It was important that they at least try to make up while they still could.
Eventually, she let out a long sigh and gave in.
"Fine," she muttered. "What is it?"
Vorden glanced away.
"It's about Peter, actually," he replied. "Quinn said that you tworan into him while we were on the Red Portal Planet. Did you manage to get anything out of him?" he asked.
"Nothing," Layla replied. "It seemed like he was too afraid of something. Even with Erin threatening him. Which meant that whatever he was so scared ofwas an even bigger problem than Erin."
Vorden's eyes narrowed.
'Like a General,' Vorden thought, remembering what Quinn had said about it possibly being General Duke.
"Well, I don't think that we can get anything out of Peter right now," Vorden replied. "He's broken more than ever. Perhaps the only thing that's holding him together is this last little bit of hope."
Vorden then glanced to the side.
"I was hoping that by outcasting him like this, that he would have gone back to the person who had originally put him up to this," he replied.
Instantly, Layla's gaze snapped up to Vorden.
"Wait, what?!" she asked. "You mean you've been doing this on purposethis whole time?! I understand that he needs to be punished, but don't you think this is going a bit too far?!"
Vorden gritted his teeth.
"'Too far'?!" he repeated, his voice taking on an agitated tone. "You don't even know what happened there! Were you almost killed by a bloodthirsty Beast, abandoned on a planet full of monsters everywhere?!"
Layla's eyes widened.
"'Bloodthirsty beast'?"Layla asked. "So did Quinn really-"
Just then, Layla stopped her line of thought. She turned to Erin, who was still by her side.
She had become so heated in their conversation that she had forgotten about her.
But, as the two of them looked at her, they saw that Erin was crouched down on the ground, examining a trail of ants traveling across the ground.
It seemed as if Erin was completely uninterested in the two's conversation.
Layla let out a sigh of relief and then turned back to Vorden.
"Anyway, if you can't get anything out of Peter, then why not try a First-Year Student named 'Earl'?" Layla suggested. "He's one of those so-called 'friends' that Peter's been hanging out with lately. Additionally, it seemed as if Peter was going to meet up with him the day we ran into him in the hall."
Back inside the dark space in Vorden's subconscious, Raten was still shouting in Vorden's ear.
"Oh, come on! That's it?!" he yelled. "She essentially just told you the same thing Quinn had suggested! This was a huge waste of time! We should kill her for that alone!"
However, Vorden ignored him.
"'Earl', huh," Vorden muttered. "Got it. Thanks for the help."
Vorden then turned his gaze towards Erin, still watching the ants.
"Hey, before I go, mind if I touch your hand, Erin?" he asked.
Vorden had remembered what happened the last time he had touched her without asking.
Erin got up from the ground and looked at Vorden for a few seconds.
When the two of them had first met, she had refused. She had believed that he was someone weak and beneath her.
But now, she was slowly starting to realize that Vorden was one of the strongest people in their class.
"I hope you use it well," she replied, holding out her hand.
Vorden grabbed her hand, and he felt a chilling sensation enter his body. It was similar to stepping outside in below-zero temperatures.
"Thanks," Vorden replied.