Erin glanced away.
"I need to up my training," she muttered.
"You did avoid one of them," Tsukuru replied, trying to make her feel better. "That's better than most people can say."
Erin's grip tightened around her sword.
"And I got hit by two of them," she retorted, a note of annoyance in her voice.
It was then that the two of them could hear footsteps approaching them.
The two turned back and saw Sergeant Leo approaching them, an unreadable expression on his face.
Leo's eyes lingered on Tsukuru for a moment before he then turned to Erin.
"Student Heyley, are you fit to continue?" he asked.
"I'm fine," Erin said bluntly, as she got up off the floor.
She looked down at her sword.
"Can't say the same about my sword, though," she muttered, her eyes narrowed. "Whatever that strange weapon is made of, it certainly did a number on it."
As Erin held up the sword to the light, numerous cracks became visible, as the light bled through the fractures.
Though Leo couldn't see the cracks, he could feel that the Beast Energy in Erin's sword had lessened substantially.
He glanced over towards Tsukuru.
"Student Hikiko, may I see that weapon?" he asked.
Tsukuru handed the Intermediate-Tier Scordana Gunblade over to Leo.
As soon as Leo held the weapon, he instantly became aware of its heft.
"Well, that's certainly an interesting weapon," Leo said with an amused smirk. "It feels farheavier than a weapon of this size should be. I'd wager between two and three times heavier."
He then turned back to Tsukuru.
"Exactly what kind of materials were used to make this?" Leo asked.
Tsukuru rubbed the back of his neck.
"It's made of a special composite alloy I made using my Ability," Tsukuru replied. "It's essentially an ultra-hard, high-density metal created using Glathrium and Tungsten."
Leo stared at Tsukuru for a moment.
"Ah," he replied. "That explains the weight."
Leo continued to examine the Beast Weapon.
"The strength and intensity of the Beast Energy radiating off of this weapon leads me to believe that it is at the Intermediate-Tier," Leo muttered.
Tsukuru nodded.
"Yes, sir," he replied. "I had both it and the bullets created using some Intermediate-Tier Beast Crystals I obtained on the Red Portal Planet."
Erin's eyes darted over to Tsukuru upon hearing this.
'So he's taken down Intermediate-Tier Beasts,' she thought.
"Hmm, yes," Leo replied. "I do recall seeing quite a few Beast Corpses when we found your camping site in that forest clearing."
Tsukuru then turned to Erin.
"Hey, Erin," he replied. "Let me see that sword so I can fix it up for you."
Erin's gaze shifted from Tsukuru to the heavily cracked sword, and then back to Tsukuru.
"You can do that?" she asked, a tone of doubt in her voice.
Tsukuru's face took on a look of slight annoyance, and he narrowed his eyes.
"Hey, do you want the sword fixed, or not?" he asked.
Erin handed the sword back to Tsukuru.
She figured that if he was offering to fix it, there was no point in arguing with him about it.
Tsukuru gripped the sword's handle and held it in front of his face horizontally, the blade facing his left.
A moment later, he activated his Video Transmutation Skill.
A System screen popped up in front of him.
[Skill Video Transmutation has been activated.]
A moment later, the entirety of the sword's blade took on the appearance of a light-blue hologram and became heavily pixelated.
A moment later, there was a bright flash of light.
Once it faded, the sword looked good as new.
Erin's eyes widened in surprise.
Additionally, Leo narrowed his eyes.
'The amount of Beast Energy radiating from that sword has returned to normal,' he thought.
A new System message appeared in front of Tsukuru.
[Alterations complete. -5 Energy.
Energy: 175/180]
Tsukuru then handed the sword back to Erin.
Erin held up the sword in the light and inspected every inchof it with the sight of a hawk.
However, she couldn't find as much as a single chip.
She turned back to Tsukuru.
"How'd you do that?" she asked with a skeptical look on her face.
Tsukuru rolled his eyes.
"The same way you freeze boys to walls," he replied. "A Skill."
Erin continued to stare at him.
"Your Ability is weird," she replied bluntly. "Handy, but weird."
Tsukuru's eye twitched in annoyance.
'Was that supposed to be a compliment?' he asked.
"I…think so?" Reiju replied.
Erin then turned to Sergeant Leo.
"I'm going to find my next opponent," she replied.
Leo nodded.
Tsukuru and Leo watched as Erin walked away.
"Student Hikiko," Leo replied, looking back down at the gunblade.
"You can make another one of these, correct?" he asked.
Tsukuru glanced over at him.
"If you're asking, 'can I keep this', then sure," he replied with a wave of his hand. 'Go right ahead."
Tsukuru then held out his left hand and activated his Ability.
The sound of electronic interference filled his immediate area, and pixels began to appear in his hand.
The pixels clustered into the shape of another Intermediate-Tier Scordana Gunblade.
There was a bright flash of light.
When it faded, Tsukuru was holding a new gunblade in his hand.
"Alright," he replied. "I'm going to go look for a new opponent, too."
Leo's eyes followed Tsukuru as he walked in the opposite direction.
"Student Hikiko," Leo replied after a few moments.
"Yeah, yeah," Tsukuru replied, waving his hand behind his back. "I won't shoot anybody else."
Tsukuru's eyes narrowed.
'Besides, Erin's like one of only two people in this room that I would need to resort to that anyway,' he thought.
Everyone else, he was fully confident that he could take them down using just the dagger part.
***
Back with Leo, he looked back down at the strange weapon in his hand.
'Just who would be skilled enough to create such a weapon in the first place?' Leo thought.
It wasn't a Skill that allowed it to switch from one weapon type to another; it was pure mechanical design. It was well out of the wheelhouse of a First-Year Beast Forger.
Leo brought his wristwatch up to his chest.
"This is Sergeant Leo Suiyan," he replied into the speaker. "I would like to request a meeting to be scheduled to be held later tonight."
A moment later, a feminine voice came through the speaker.
"Your request has been acknowledged, Sergeant Leo," the girl's voice replied. "What level of importance should I flag this meeting?"
Leo's eyes narrowed.
"Classify it under 'urgent'," he replied. "It's not exactly an emergency, but it has a high level of importance."
There was a pause.
"Yes, sir," she replied. "Your request has been processed and will be sent to the Head General's office for approval."
The screen of Leo's wristwatch then returned to normal, showing a large "8" in the center of the screen.
***
Back with Tsukuru, he continued looking around for a new opponent. However, most people who saw him looked immediately away, a nervous expression on their faces.
Apparently, they all had seen his match with Erin. And they didn't want to be the next one shot.
Tsukuru clicked his tongue in annoyance.
'Gutless cowards,' he thought.
However, it was then that he saw Quinn deliver a powerful gut punch to a student wielding a sickle.
The boy was knocked back from the force, landing on his ass.
However, Quinn had a look of irritation on his face.
Slowly, a smirk crept across Tsukuru's face.
'Looks like Quinn is still having trouble getting Exp in here,' he thought to himself. 'Maybe I should give him a hand.'
***
Quinn looked down at the student who was now sitting on the floor, rubbing his bruised posterior.
He let out a sigh.
'That makes six,' he thought in frustration. 'Six people whom I have defeated today, and I haven't gotten a single point of Exp from any of them!'
Quinn then heard footsteps approaching him.
He let out an even deeper sigh.
'And looks as though that's going to be number seven,' he thought to himself, already predicting that this fight was going to be a waste of time too.
"Hey, Quinn!"
Quinn's eyes widened as he heard Tsukuru's voice.
Slowly, Quinn turned around and saw his smaller friend and roommate standing a few feet away from him.
"Why don't you and I have a go?" he asked. "I don't think we've ever had a proper spar in here before."
Slowly, Quinn's look of frustration morphed into a grin.
Tsukuru was a Level 4 now. That made him just low enough for Quinn to gain Exp if he beat him.
"Yeah, sure," Quinn replied, his smile widening. "I don't see why not."