Quinn smiled as he looked at his new Stats.
'Alright,' he thought in approval. 'Just four more Stat Points to go before I can unlock the Influence Skill.'
However, Quinn's excitement was short-lived, as he soon heard voices talking all around him.
"Holy shit, he beat Hikiko!" one boy muttered.
"How'd a Level 1 beat a Level 4?!" another asked.
"Yeah," another replied. "Only Erin has been able to beat him up to this point!"
Quinn felt a cold sweat run down his neck, and his eyes darted from face to face, a nervous look on his face.
'Crap,' he thought. 'Maybe this fight wasn't a good idea.'
These kinds of murmurs always started whenever somebody beat someone "out of their weight class". The same thing had happened when Quinn had defeated Brandon.
Usually, Tsukuru would pipe up and say something to the growing mob. Usually, something along the lines of "get over yourselves".
…Speaking of Tsukuru, he wasn't getting up.
"Uh, Tsukuru?" Quinn asked, getting closer. "You alright, man?"
Still, Tsukuru was unresponsive.
Starting to feel worried, Quinn used his Inspect Skill on Tsukuru, causing a new System message to appear in front of him.
[Name: Hikiko Tsukuru
Race: Human*
Ability: Video
Ability Level: 4
HP: 0/55
Blood Type: 0+ ]
Seeing the "0/55" next to his HP, Quinn's eyes widened.
'Oh, crap!' Quinn thought in worry. 'I…I didn't kill him, did I?"
It was then that Quinn heard footsteps from behind him.
Looking back, Quinn saw Sergeant Leo approaching.
"Well, now," Leo replied, an amused smile on his face. "What happened here?"
Leo then turned his attention to Tsukuru, lying on the ground.
Quinn turned to Sergeant Leo.
"Sergeant Leo," he replied. "Is he…alright?"
Sergeant Leo turned back to Tsukuru.
Using his Ability, he could still see Tsukuru's aura fluctuating through his body at a steady rhythm.
"Don't worry, my boy," Leo said with a smile. "He's perfectly fine."
Leo's smile widened.
"Besides, if he was in some sort of critical condition…"
Leo then jabbed his thumb behind him.
"I'm pretty sure he would have vanished or something."
Quinn looked back behind Leo, seeing where he was pointing.
He then spotted Starrkleaning against the wall.
However, a moment later, Starrk then blurred out of existence.
Quinn's eyes widened.
'Wha?' he thought. 'Where'd he go?'
He began looking around the room, looking for him.
And when he turned back to Tsukuru, he saw Starrk kneeling in front of Tsukuru.
Starrk pulled off the white glove covering his right hand and brought it to Tsukuru's neck, touching it with his first two fingers.
"He's fine," Starrk replied, as he felt Tsukuru's heartbeat.
He then looked over at Quinn.
"You just knocked him unconscious."
Quinn then stared at Tsukuru's body in disbelief.
'Did I really hit him that hard?' he thought. 'Or…is it because he lost all of his HP?'
Quinn didn't get much time to think about it, as a moment later, the two soldiers appeared on either side of Tsukuru.
One of the soldiers wrapped his arms around Tsukuru's waist, while the other wrapped his arms around Tsukuru's calves.
Just as the two were about to teleport, Starrk clasped his hand down on the right shoulder of the man, lifting Tsukuru's front.
He had seen enough students getting teleported out over the last few days to know what was going to happen.
The man then turned his head back to Starrk.
"I'm going, too," Starrk replied.
The two soldiers stared at Starrk for a moment and then turned back to Sergeant Leo.
Leo gave them a nod, silently telling them to allow it.
The two guards nodded back, and a moment later, all four of them vanished.
***
Moments later, the four of them reappeared in the doctor's office.
As they appeared, Starrk took his hand off the soldier's shoulder.
A short distance away, Hayley was busy healing another student on a bed when she saw the flash of light indicating that a new student was being teleported in.
She let out a weary sigh and looked up.
However, her eyes widened when she saw Tsukuru's unconscious body.
She just stared at him, mouth agape.
Out of all of the students in the school, Hikiko Tsukuru was one of the last people she expected to see in here.
The last time she had seen him in here was that "incident" with the Second-Years in the Assembly Hall.
A moment later, Hayley regained her composure.
"Place him on a bed," she replied, before turning back to the student she was healing. "I'll get to him when I'm done with this one."
The two soldiers nodded and placed Tsukuru down on the nearest empty bed.
They then teleported out.
Starrk pulled up an empty chair next to the bed and sat down.
***
A few minutes later, Hayley was finally done healing the current student and had sent him off.
Then, she approached Tsukuru.
She began performing her first aid check.
However, as she lifted his arm, she noticed just how flimsy it felt.
"Hmm," Hayley muttered, her eyes narrowing. "His arm is broken."
She then brought her open hand up to the arm and activated her Ability.
A small circle of green light appeared in the air under her hand, enveloping Tsukuru's arm.
"I'll have to heal this first before I continue the check-up, so I don't end up exacerbating the injury."
Starrk watched as the strange, green light enveloped Tsukuru's forearm for a few minutes.
However, since his arm was still covered by his sleeve, he had no idea how well the healing was going.
Every once in a while, Hayley would lightly pat his arm.
Once the arm had regained its rigidity, a relieved smile appeared on her face.
She deactivated her Ability, causing the green light to die down.
Hayley then continued her check-up.
As she lifted his shirt, she saw two rather largebruises on his body. One on the left side of his stomach, and the second on his right shoulder.
"All things considered," she replied, catching Starrk's attention. "He has relatively light injuries compared to what people normally have when they arrive here.
Hayley then reactivated her Ability and began healing the first bruise.
Slowly, the bruise got smaller and smaller.
"It seems that the extent of his injuries includes just a few surface-level bruises and a few broken bones," Hayley replied, before letting out a weary sigh. "If only everybody who came through those doors was this easy to treat."
Hayley continued healing Tsukuru's body using her Ability. Once the bruise on his stomach was healed, she moved on to the one on his shoulder.
"There," Hayle said finally, as she lowered his shirt. "His injuries have all healed. Once he regains consciousness, he is free to leave."
***
Back in the Beast Weapons Hall, the class continued as normal.
And, just like how it had been for the last few days, Quinn didn't get a single more point of Exp, regardless of how many people he fought.
Eventually, the class came to an end.
As Quinn grabbed his bag on the floor against the wall, he saw that "bag" of Tsukuru's was right next to it. The one that he used to carry around that ball of liquid metal.
The said ball of liquid metal was still in the bag, and looked up at him.
Quinn picked up Tsukuru's bag as well.
It was then that he heard footsteps approaching him. Two sets of footprints, to be exact.
Turning around, Quinn saw Erin and Layla standing behind him.
Erin was staring intensely at him. It was something she had been doing ever since Tsukuru had been taken away.
It seemed that she, too, was curious about how he, a Level 1, had defeated Tsukuru, a Level 4.
Layla turned to Quinn.
"So, what are you going to do now?" she asked, a look of concern on her face.
Quinn smiled at her.
"I think I'm going to go to the doctor's office to check in on Tsukuru," he replied. He then looked down at the "bag" he was holding in his hands. "Besides, someone's got to take this back to him."
Quinn's eyes then darted down to the Basic-Tier Black Obsidian Dagger that he was still holding in his right hand.
'Plus, I have to return this to him, as well,' he thought.
Layla nodded.
"Alright," she replied with a smile. "Well, I guess I'll see you two tomorrow."
With that, she and Erin headed towards the door.
Quinn let out a sigh.
"C'mon," he replied, looking down at Galina in her "bag". "Let's go find Tsukuru."
***
Meanwhile, back in the doctor's office, Tsukuru let out a groan as he stirred.
Hearing the noise, Starrk's head snapped over to him in his seat next to the bed.
Tsukuru's eyes fluttered open.
And the first thing he saw was a System message.
[Quest Failed. Consolation XP awarded. 40 XP received. XP: 365/8000]