As Tsukuru and Erin clashed blades, Erin quickly became aware of just how heavy Tsukuru's new "dagger" was compared to her sword.
With every clash, she felt her arm being forced back, and she was noticing a strain on her arm, similar to when she was lifting a heavy weight.
'That weapon is more like a hammer than a blade!' Erin thought.
She gritted her teeth as she parried another blow. Her arm was starting to feel soredespite the Strength boost from both her sword and gauntlets.
Although, even with the immense weight of his new weapon, it only slightly tilted the match in Tsukuru's favor.
The fact was, Erin was just simply physically stronger than Tsukuru. In fact, Tsukuru was one of the weaker members in their group, as far as raw physical strength was concerned.
While just like with Quinn, he had focused his Stat Points into Agility, Quinn had the added benefit of gaining Stat Points by drinking others' blood.
Tsukuru had no such ability. The only way he could improve his Stats outsideof Leveling Up was by consuming the special "pills" available in the "Exchange Corner" of his System's "Battle Arena". And a single pill cost a whole 2 BP, meaning that he could only purchase one for every "wave" that he completed.
Additionally, there were usually other, more expensive things in the Exchange Corner that he wanted to save his BP for, such as he had done with the Dark Elf and Hobgoblin Summon Races.
On top of that, he had been sidetracked trying to increase his Stamina Stat to allow him to use his Video Glitch more frequently.
Altogether, this meant that Tsukuru's physical strength was severely lacking.
In fact, if Tsukuru were to make a list of their group of raw, physical strength, it would go Erin, then Vorden, then Quinn, then him, then Layla, and finally Peter at the very bottom.
Essentially, he was stronger than both Layla and Peter but weaker than Quinn, Vorden, and Erin.
Plus, in this fight, Erin was getting a bigger boost from her Beast Gear. While they were both wearing a set of the Intermediate-Tier Knight Gauntlets, which gave them "+7" to their strength, the "+7" from Erin's Intermediate-Tier Knight Sword was superior to the measly "+4" from Tsukuru's Intermediate-Tier Scordana Gunblade.
It wasn't that the boost from his gunblade was low; in fact, it was pretty average. Intermediate-Tier Beast Gear typically gave stat boosts between "+4" and "+5". It was just that the Beast Gear connected to Tsukuru's Summons granted exceptionally high stat boosts.
Usually, a piece of Beast Gear wouldn't grant a "+7" unless it was at least at the Advanced-Tier.
And while, yes, Tsukuru also felt the strain on his arms from the weapon, he had grown used to it. He basically had his ownforty-pound weight in the form of Galina, which he had been carrying around in his arms for the first few days of her existence, before he had made that "bag" to carry her on his back.
Erin and Tsukuru continuedclashing blades.
At one point, Erin had jumped backafter parrying Tsukuru's blade to recuperate. Clashing with that heavy bladeover and over again was starting to stack up fatigue in her arms.
She let a few shallow breaths, as she felt her arms throbbing.
'How…' she thought through breaths. 'How can he swing that thing around so easily?'
Unknown to Erin, Tsukuru was in a similarboat to her. Because a moment later, a System message appeared in front of him.
[-1 Stamina. Stamina: 12]
It seemed that using the Intermediate-Tier Scordana Gunblade in a fight cost him roughly one Stamina Point every minute.
'Looks like I might have to start splitting my Stat Points between my Stamina and my Agility from now on.' Tsukuru thought.
Back over with Erin, as she was recovering, she looked down at her blade and noticed something. It wasn't just her arms that were strained. Several razor-thin cracks were appearing across her blade's surface.
Erin's eyes tightened.
'My sword might end up breaking if I'm not careful,' she thought.
It seemed that she might have to end this fight quickly before they clashed blades too many more times.
Erin applied pressure to the back of her heel and launched herself forward, her sword out by her side.
'If there's one thing I've learned from our fights, it's that he's a strictly melee combatant without his Ability,' Erin thought, her eyes narrowed. 'Every time he's tried to hit me from a distance, he's had to resort to throwing his weapon like a dart. I'll close the distance before he can react. Worst case scenario, he throws his weapon, and I can twist my body out of the way.'
However, as Tsukuru saw Erin leaping towards him, he smirked. He then held his dagger straight out towards Erin.
Erin's usually stoic face took on a look of slight confusion at his actions.
'Is he trying to predict where I'll attack?' she thought.
However, a split-second later, Tsukuru slid the tab on the handle of his "dagger" down.
Erin's eyes widened as she saw it begin to change. The handle tilted downwards at a diagonal angle, causing the whole weapon to tilt downwards, and the blade broke off and flipped backwards.
Tsukuru then tilted the weapon back up. And when he did, Erin saw something that she had only ever seen in history books.
The barrel of a gun.
'Wait, is that?" she thought.
Tsukuru's smirk widened as he pulled the trigger that had popped out of the bottom of his sword.
A loud, resounding "BANG" echoed through the Beast Weapons Hall, causing everyone to snap their heads towards Tsukuru.
Erin's stone face took on a look of pure shock, the pupils of her eyes becoming pin-pricks.
While most people wouldn't be able to react to a gun being fired at them, Erin was not "most people". And she could tell exactly where Tsukuru was aiming, at herright shoulder.
Seeing this, Erin grit her teeth.
Instantly, she pulled her body over towards the left, causing the bullet to whiz past her.
Just as Erin thought she was safe, she saw Tsukuru's hand shift slightly. This time, aiming at the left side of her body.
Another gunshot was heard.
A moment later, Erin felt a sharp, piercing pain in her right rib before ripping out through the other side.
The force of the blow knocked Erin back slightly.
In the "Battle Mode" of Tsukuru's System, he saw Erin's "Health Bar" plummet, going down by a half.
'Damn it!' Erin thought, gritting her teeth.
It was hard enough for her to move while in mid-air. And she hadn't been fast enough to twist her body again.
Additionally, the closer she got to him, the less distance his bullets had to travel. Thus, she would have even less time to react.
Erin's left arm snapped downwards, clutching at her wound. She could feel the cold, wet bloodgushing out.
Tsukuru smirked.
Another gunshot rang out.
Erin felt the sharp, piercing pain shoot through her abdomen, right above her navel. The bullet ripped through her body and came out the other end.
The force of the blow completely knocked Erin back in the air.
As she began flying back, Erin gritted her teeth, blood dripping down from her lip. A moment later, she crashed to the floor on her back.
In Tsukuru's vision, he saw Erin's "Health Bar" fully depleted.
A System message appeared in front of him.
[50 XP received. XP: 375/8000]
Erin laid there, a pool of blood forming under her as it gushed out of her two gunshot wounds.
A moment later, Erin heard footsteps approaching her. Once they stopped, she heard a voice.
"Here, Erin," Tsukuru replied with a smile as he handed her a Health Potion. "Have a pick me up."
Erin hissed in pain as she sat back up on the floor. The two bullet wounds on her lower torso sent a searing pain through her body at the movement.
"Where the hell do you get a Beast Gun?" she asked, before snatching the potion.
Tsukuru's smile widened.
"I had it custom-made," he replied.
Erin craned her neck back and downed the potion. As the last drop of the red liquid went down her throat, she felt a warm sensation enter her body.
Moments later, she could feel the pain in her lower body beginning to lessen.
As she looked down, she saw the two wounds closing up, leaving nothing but bare skin showing through the holes in her uniform.
She continued to stare at the tears in her clothes for another minute.
"I thought bullets stayed in the body when you were shot?" she asked, her eyes narrowed. "Those things tore right through me."
Tsukuru let out a nervous laugh and scratched his cheek.
"Well, I kind of designed them to be able to pierce Beast Armor," he replied. "Looks like I might have overcompensated."