This decision backfired on Numba's father spectacularly, as the Scatterbugs operated like an evil corporation that was so big that it knew that no one could stop it. So they could do whatever they wanted.
While the Howlers had offered Numba's father a relatively reasonable contract, the Scatterbugs had given him a deeply unfair, predatory contract that only benefited them.
And even after Numba's father had declined the Scattbugs' offer, they sent an army of thugs after them for Numba's father being "rude" during the meeting.
In the end, the father had come crawling back to the Howlers.
Tsukuru rolled his eyes.
'As a man in the old world once said, 'You get what you fucking deserve',' he thought bitterly. 'If Numba's father hadn't rejectedthe Howler's offer in the first place, he wouldn't even be in this predicament.'
Tsukuru brought his wristwatch up to his face and looked at it. In the upper-right corner, it read "20:08".
"Shit, it's already eight?" he muttered, his eyes narrowed.
"Tsukuru," Logan replied.
Tsukuru glanced up from his wristwatch and towards Logan.
"It's done."
Tsukuru placed the bookmark back in his book and closed it. He then put it back in his System's Inventory.
Once the book had fully broken down into pixels, Tsukuru got up from the bed.
He walked over to Logan's desk, and he saw it. It looked similar to his other daggers; however, this one also had a revolver cylinder bulging out of the side and a gun trigger at the bottom. Additionally, its handle looked more like the grip of a gun.
The whole gun also had a glossy, jet-black finish. In fact, it kind of reminded Tsukuru of the exoskeleton shell Gobkiko had on her arms and legs.
"You do that?" he asked, glancing over at Logan. "Or is it because of the Beast Crystals?"
Logan narrowed his eyes.
"It happened when I combined it with the liquified Beast Crystals," he replied.
He then glanced up at him.
"I take it the Beast had some sort of exoskeleton?" he asked.
"Eh, it was kinda like a person mixed with a scorpion," he replied, still looking at the Beast Weapon.
As he did so, his System's "vector" appeared over it, and a line stuck out. The line led to a square that showed an image of the weapon, with text written below it.
[Intermediate-Tier Scordana Gunblade
Beast Weapon
A hybrid Beast Weapon created using a composite Glathrium alloy and the Beast Crystals of the Intermediate-Tier Scordana and the Intermediate-Tier Palewalker.
+4 Strength
Creator: Logan Green]
Tsukuru reached down and grabbed the weapon. As he held it in his hand, he noticed its immense weight.
'Kinda feels like holding Galina,' he thought. 'Luckily, the Strength boost helps counteract the weight.'
As Tsukuru held the gunblade up to his face to get a closer look, a set of two overlaying System messages popped up in front of him.
[Intermediate-Tier Scordana Gunblade equipped. +4 Strength
Strength: 11 [+4] ]
[Would you like to scan the Intermediate-Tier Scordana Gunblade?
[Yes] [No] ]
Immediately, Tsukuru thought "yes".
The cone of light-blue lightshot out of his eyes and scanned the weapon up and down. As it did, the 3-D wireframe began to form in Tsukuru's vision. Once it was finished, the weapon rotated a few times.
Tsukuru's vision then returned to normal, and a new System message appeared.
[Scan complete. Blueprints for the Intermediate-Tier Scordana Gunblade have been uploaded to the System's mainframe. You can now replicate the Intermediate-Tier Scordana Gunblade with Skill Video Creation.]
Tsukuru smirked.
He slid down the tab on the top of the "handle". Instantly, the body of the sword snapped downwards at an angle, and the blade snapped backwards until it laid flat against the top.
Tsukuru re-oriented his hand so that the "gun" was now straight again.
His smile widened.
"I think I can confidently say that there is no weapon like that in the rest of the world," Reiju replied.
'Yeah,' Tsukuru thought back, as he pressed the button on the side to pop out the cylinder.
Inside, he saw that the cylinder was filled with the six Intermediate-Tier Paleneedle Bullets. The original one he and Logan had made, as well as the five reproductions he had made with his Ability.
"How do I turn it back into a dagger?" he asked.
"There's a button on the back of the main body, just below the hammer.
Tsukuru looked and soon found the small, protruding round button on the butt of the gun.
He pressed it down with his thumb.
A moment later, the blade swung downward from its resting spot on the top of the barrel, laying flat in front of the gun. At the same time, the grip snapped upwards until it was lying straight against the body of the gun.
Two audible "clicks" were heard as the two pieces clocked in place with internal mechanisms.
Tsukuru then glanced down at the trigger. On a hunch, he pressed his index finger against the bottom of the trigger guard.
Almost immediately, he felt the trigger guard begin to slide upwards.
He applied more pressure to it, and soon, the trigger and trigger guard had completely disappeared inside the bottom of the main body. He heard a "click" inside, as if another hidden mechanism was locking into place.
With the trigger now hidden, it was even harder to tell that this Beast Weapon also doubled as a gun. The only part that still stuck out was the cylinder.
"It's amazing, Logan!" Tsukuru replied with an excited look on his face. "You really outdid yourself!"
A slight look of pride came across Logan's face.
"Yeah, well, I hope you like it," he replied. "I spent hours finalizing the design and making it."
"That's putting it mildly," Tsukuru replied with a smile, still admiring his new weapon.
A moment later, a hiss was heard near the desk on the other side of the room.
The two boys immediately turned towards the noise.
It only meant one thing.
Quinn was coming out of the VR Pod.
Tsukuru placed his new weapon in his System's Inventory. It turned light-blue, and broke down into pixels.
A moment later, his hand was empty.
***
A few floors below, on the first level of the Student Dormitory, Vorden was making his way back towards his dorm room.
He had both a quite aggressive posture as well as agressive look on his face.
This was because Vorden wasn't Vorden. He was Raten.
"Annoying little shit," he muttered angrily.
This had been the second day in a row that he had beaten Earl and his friends down. But even still, no matter how much he beat them, stabbed them with ice shards, they kept their mouths shut.
And Earl was the worst.
Just thinking of that look of rage and defiance on his face made Raten want to hit something.
In the end, the group had just scurried away like rats.
***
In the dark space of Vorden's subconscious, Raten sat in the chair while Vorden stood behind him. It was the exact opposite of their normal places.
"Maybe we should follow them next time," Vorden replied with his eyes narrowed. "They've made it quite clear that they won't tell us who they're taking orders from. But if we follow them, they might lead us to them."
Raten narrowed his eyes.
"Follow the rats back to the nest, huh?" he muttered.
Vorden then put his hand on Raten's shoulder.
Raten looked back at him.
"We've just about made it back to the room," he replied. "Let's switch back."
***
Back in the outside world, Vorden's stance completely changed.
His face relaxed, and he lost his aggressive posture.
Vorden then kept walking down the hall with his trademark smile on his face.
***
Back in Logan's room. Quinn finally emerged from the VR Pod.
Quinn smiled as he saw the two brothers.
"Hey, guys," he replied. "You guys do anything interesting while I was in there?"
Tsukuru glanced back at a metal cube of the Glathrium-Tungsten alloy on Logan's desk. After he had finished the Intermediate-Tier Scordana Gunblade, Logan had reformed what was left over into a cube the size of an apple.
"You could say that," he replied.
A slight smile appeared on Logan's face.
"Well, the more time Quinn spends in there, the more data I can acquire about his strange Ability," he replied.
An amused smirk crept across Tsukuru's face.
"Plus, he's not causing you to be constantly flooded with complaints from him using his strange Skills in the VR Game," he replied.
Logan's face scrunched up in a look of mild annoyance.
"That too," he muttered.
Tsukuru then turned to Quinn.
"So, you make any progress in there?" he asked. "I would hope that you at least have something to show for you spending the last two afternoons holed up in that thing."