As soon as Quinn "accepted Tsukuru's challenge", a System message appeared in front of both of them.
[You have received a new Quest: Defeat Rival System User Hikiko Tsukuru.
Reward: 100 Exp]
[You have received a new Quest: Defeat Rival System User Quinn Talen.
Reward: 100 Exp]
Quinn's smile widened as he saw this System message. Even if he currently had 0 Exp instead of his current 65, he would still get enough Exp to Level Up after this fight.
However, before starting the fight, Tsukuru decided to switch his weapons. Especially after seeing how damaged Erin's sword had gotten in their fight.
Tsukuru thought about placing his Intermediate-Tier Scordana Gunblade back into his System's "Equipment Tab", and the expected System prompt appeared.
Tsukuru thought "yes" to it, and his current weapon took on the appearance of a light-blue hologram beforebreaking down into pixels.
A System message then appeared in front of him.
[Intermediate-Tier Scordana Gunblade removed.
-4 Strength
Strength: 11 [+7] ]
Once the weapon had vanished, Tsukuru then thought about taking one of his Basic-Tier Black Obsidian Daggers out of his System's "Equipment Tab".
Quinn then watched as pixels began to form in Tsukuru's right hand. The pixels clustered together, forming the shape of another dagger.
There was a bright flash of light.
When it faded, Tsukuru was now holding one of his Basic-Tier Black Obsidian Daggers.
Tsukuru felt the weapon's Beast Energy flood through him, and a new System message appeared.
[Basic-Tier Black Obsidian Dagger equipped.
+3 Strength, +4 Agility
Strength: 11 [+10]
Agility: 15 [+4] ]
His new weapon in hand, Tsukuru took on a fighting stance. Quinn did the same.
The "Battle Mode" of Tsukuru's System was activated, causing a "Health Bar" to appear in the upper-right corner of his vision, as well as a smaller one to appear floating over Quinn's head.
Tsukuru applied pressure on the back of his foot and lunged towards Quinn.
Quinn's eyes widened as he saw him move. Usually, most of the people in this class that Quinn fought looked as though they were moving in slow-motion, due to just how high Quinn's Agility Stat was.
However, Tsukuru was different. He was one of the few people Quinn knew with speed relatively close to his own.
Technically, Quinn had a higher Base Agility than Tsukuru, with Quinn having 16, while Tsukuru only had 15. But Tsukuru's daggers always seemed to focus on increasing Tsukuru's Agility, with a Strength boost being an afterthought.
By sheer System Stats, Tsukuru had an Agility Stat of 19 while Quinn only had one of 16.
So Tsukuru had a three-point advantage.
While it wasn't a super high difference, it was enough that Quinn had to put all of his focus into this match just to be able to keep up with Tsukuru.
As Tsukuru lunged through the air, he crossed his right arm over his chest, bringing it to his left shoulder.
Fortunately for Quinn, though, Tsukuru had essentially choreographed his attack. With his arm crossed over his chest like that, it didn't take a genius to predict that he was planning to perform an arcing sword slash towards the right.
Seeing this, Quinn crossed his two, gauntlet-covered arms in front of him to form a makeshift shield.
When Tsukuru reached Quinn, just as Quinn had predicted, he swung out his right arm in a long arc.
A sound like scraping metal was heard, as his Black Obsidian Dagger clashed with Quinn's "Best Standard" Gauntlets.
But since the dagger was only Basic-Tier and the gauntlets were Intermediate-Tier, the dagger's blade didn't so much as scratch them.
Once Tsukuru's arm had fully extended to his right, Quinn pulled his arms apart.
He then clenched his right hand into a fist and drove it into Tsukuru's gut.
Tsukuru's eyes went wide as Quinn's fist connected.
He felt as if he had just been hit by an iron ball.
In Tsukuru's "Battle Mode" vision, he saw his "Health Bar" decrease by a little over 30%, and a System message appeared in front of him.
[-20 HP. HP: 35/55]
Tsukuru grit his teeth, trying to fight through the pain.
As he felt himself being pushed back by the force of Quinn's blow, he reoriented the dagger in his hand so he was holding it in a reverse grip.
Tsukuru then drove his arm downwards, sinking his dagger's blade deep in Quinn's shoulder.
Quinn's eyes widened as he felt a sharp, piercing pain in his shoulder.
As Tsukuru was sent hurtling backwards, the last thing he saw was Quinn's "Health Bar" in his "Battle Mode" vision also going down by 30%.
A moment later, a System messageappeared in front of Quinn.
[-20 HP. HP: 35/55]
Quinn grit his teeth as he tried to swallow a scream that was trying to escape his throat.
He then reached over with his right hand and gripped the handle of Tsukuru's dagger.
'This is going to hurt like Hell, isn't it?' Quinn thought, thinking back to the last time he had to pull a blade out of his body, that time when he had been stabbed by Fei.
Quinn ripped the dagger out of his shoulder, causing another round of pain to course through it.
Another System message appeared.
[-5 HP. HP: 30/55]
Quinn held the dagger in his hand and looked down at it with an irritated look.
Part of him wanted to throw the dagger away out of sheer annoyance.
However, Quinn then felt the dagger's Beast Energy flood into him, followed by a new System message.
[Basic-Tier Black Obsidian Dagger equipped.
+3 Strength, +4 Agility
Strength: 15 [+9]
Agility: 16 [+4] ]
Seeing the message, Quinn's look of annoyance quickly morphed into a smile.
'You know, it'd be a shame not to use what Tsukuru just 'gave me',' Quinn thought.
And even though he didn't know how to use a dagger, he didn't need to use it. He just needed to hold it and take advantage of its Stat Boosts.
Quinn reoriented the sword in his hand until he was holding it in a reverse grip. That way, he could still throw out punches without the blade getting in the way.
Quinn then dashed at Tsukuru.
And, just like how before Quinn had been the one struggling to keep up with Tsukuru; Tsukuru was now the one having trouble keeping up.
Not only had he lost the Stat Boosts from his dagger, but that very same dagger was now boosting Quinn.
With it, Quinn now had an Agility Stat of 20, while Tsukuru's had dropped down to its base 15, giving Quinn a five-point advantage.
In Tsukuru's perspective, he saw Quinn appear in front of him in a blur of motion.
'Ah, crap!' Tsukuru muttered as he saw Quinn winding back his arm.
"Hey," Reiju replied in his mind. "This was your idea."
'Yeah, yeah,' Tsukuru muttered.
He crossed his two arms in front of him, mirroring Quinn's earlier actions.
However, the result was…not nearly as successful.
Since Tsukuru's arms were currently bare, he had no defense against Quinn's Vampire strength. Not to mention that strength was being augmented by two different pieces of Beast Gear.
As Quinn's fist connected with his arms, Tsukuru instantly felt the bones in his forearm break, and a snapping noise was heard.
Tsukuru felt an immense pain shoot through his arm, but he fought down the scream.
In his System's "Battle Mode" vision, he saw his "Health Bar" drop to almost zero, and a System message appeared in front of him.
[-30 HP. HP: 5/55.
Your arm is now broken.]
Before Tsukuru could go flying again, Quinn threw out his right arm.
This time, he hit Tsukuru square in the right shoulder.
Tsukuru saw his "Health Bar" fully depleted in his vision, and he was sent flying backwards.
A final System message appeared.
[-30 HP. HP: 0/55.
You have fainted]
He landed on his back a few feet away, unconscious.
A System message appeared in front of Quinn.
[Quest completed. Quest Reward: 100 Exp. First Time defeating a Rival System User. 100 Bonus Exp awarded. Exp: 265/100 Level Up. You are now Level 11. Exp: 165/200.
You have received a Stat Point.]
Quinn was ecstatic that he had finally gained enough Exp to Level Up. And while he was tempted to put his new Stat Point into his Agility like normal, he remembered the voice of the blonde-haired man. About how he would unlock that "Influence"Skill once he had 10 points in his Charm Stat.
With that in mind, he thought about putting the Stat Point into the Charm Stat.
A new System message appeared. It was a portion of his Status Window. The very bottom portion. The part that only showed his Stats.
[Strength: 15 [+9]
Stamina: 15
Agility: 16 [+4]
Charm: 6 ]