Tsukuru looked up at the System message in front of him.
'Well, that's fine, I guess,' he thought. 'The 100 XP I would have gotten from beating Quinn wouldn't have even brought me anywhere close to Leveling Up, anyways.'
Tsukuru then noticed that he felt something soft under him.
Looking around, he realized that he was in the doctor's office. Seeing how he had already been in here three times already, he was familiar enough with it to recognize.
"Looks like you're finally awake, Lord Tsukuru," Starrk replied from over on Tsukuru's left.
Tsukuru glanced over, and saw Starrk sitting in achair next to the bed.
"Yeah, looks like it," he replied, as he sat up in the bed.
A moment later, the sound of the door to the doctor's office being opened could be heard.
They both turned towards the entrance, and saw Quinn appearing in the doorway. In his arms, he had Galina's carrying "bag".
"Hey," he replied, as he walked over to them.
"Master, are you all right?" Galina asked, once Quinn had reached Tsukuru's bed.
Tsukuru gave her a smile.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied.
He then turned to Quinn.
"So, you ready to go see Logan?" he asked.
Quinn nodded.
"Yeah," he replied. "You all set to go?"
Starrk then glanced over at Quinn.
"That woman who healed him said that he was 'free to go' once he woke up," he replied.
"Well," Tsukuru replied, as he began getting out of the bed. "That answers that question."
He then turned to Quinn.
"Let's get out of here," he replied.
Quinn nodded, and handed him Galina's bag.
Tsukuru put it on his back.
Quinn then tried handing Tsukuru his dagger back, but he refused it.
"Keep it," he replied in a dismissive tone. "I can always just make a new one."
Quinn stared at Tsukuru for a second.
"But…I don't use daggers," he replied.
Tsukuru shrugged his shoulders.
"Eh, you could always sell it like those other ones," he suggested.
Quinn looked down at the dagger for a moment. Then, he reached over his shoulder and unzipped his bag slightly. He dropped the dagger inside.
The three of them then headed out of the room.
***
As the group reached the door leading out of the main building, Quinn reached into his bag, and pulled out his compact umbrella.
Once he had popped it open and had it firmly placed over his head, the group walked out.
It was a short distance from the main school building to the Student Dormitory.
Once inside, Quinn collapsed the umbrella, and put it back in his bag.
The group then began their long trek up the three flights of stairs.
While the trek would be tiring on a normal person, both Quinn and Tsukuru had special bodies due to their respective Systems.
Eventually, they reached Logan's door.
This time, the door was actually shut.
A wicked smirk crept across Tsukuru's face.
He thought about equipping his Intermediate-Tier Knight Gauntlets from his System's Equipment Tab.
A moment later, pixels began to appear on his arm. They clustered together into the shape of the gauntlets.
There was a bright flash of light, and Tsukuru was wearing the Gauntlets.
Tsukruru wrenched back his arm for a punch.
Quinn's eyes widened as he saw what Tsukuru was about to do.
'Wait, is he really going to-'
"Tsukuru, I swear to god, I WILL blast you!" Logan's voice came out from the door, appearing as if it was coming out of a speaker, in a sharp tone.
Tsukuru's arm froze.
The group of three looked up. When they did, they saw what looked like a black, metal pill attached to the wall just above the doorframe going lengthwise. The pill had what looked like a round speaker on the right end, and a camera lens on the left end.
A moment later, the door opened.
Inside, they saw Logan at his workbench.
On his computer screen, a small square could be seen in the upper-left corner. The small square showed a live feed of the hallway outside of Logan's door.
Logan looked back at Tsukuru, an annoyed look on his face.
Tsukuru flashed Logan an amused smirk, and placed his gauntlets back in the System's Equipment Tab.
The gauntlets took on the likeness of a hologram, and then exploded into pixels.
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered.
"Well, I'm going back to the VR Pod," Quinn replied, making a beeline for the computer.
Tsukuru and Logan watched, as Quinn got into the pod.
Once the pod closed, Logan then turned to Tsukuru.
"So, what are you going to do today?" he asked, before narrowing his eyes. "Need help with another 'project'?"
Tsukuru smirked.
"Nah," he replied.
Pixels began to appear in his hands, clustering together into the form of a sleek helmet.
The bright glowing of the pixels then died down, revealing that Tsukuru was holding the special VR Headset that Logan had made for him.
"I'm gonna finally try this out," he replied.
He then glanced over at Logan's bed.
"You mind?" he asked.
Logan let out a sigh.
"Go ahead," he replied, as he headed back to his workbench.
Starrk watched as Tsukuru walked over to Logan's bed, kicked off his shoes, and laid down on it. Then, he slipped the VR Headset onto his head.
The second he did, the two, square lights positioned along the left temple lit up. The whole visor then lit up bright green, completely obscuring Tsukuru's eyes. It seemed that, rather than including an actual power button, the helmet was designed to automatically activate when it sensed the brainwaves of the person wearing it.
In Tsukuru's vision, a System message appeared.
[A Virtual-Reality Simulation Device has been detected.
VR Headset is compatible with the System.
Would you like to be transferred to the System's Battle Arena?
[Yes] [No] ]
'Yes,' Tsukuru thought.
Tsukuru then felt his mind being transferred to the System's Battle Arena.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself standing on the concrete platform that served as the arena.
A System message then appeared in front of him.
[Wave 1 will now begin. Would you like to proceed?
[Continue] [Retire]
Tsukuru pressed the "continue" option, causing it to light up, and for a beep to be heard.
Instantly, the sound of electronic interference filled the arena, signaling the start of the first wave.
The groups of pixels appeared on the far side of the arena. Each group of pixels clustered together into the form of a spider the size of a small cat.
There were three successive flashes of light, and the three Swarmersfully manifested. They all raised their front legs aggressively, and let out a "scree!".
Tsukuru's face hardened, and he held his right arm out to the side. He retrieved one of his Intermediate-Tier Firebomb Arrows from his System's Equipment Tab.
Pixels clustered together in his hand, forming the shape of the arrow.The bright glow of the pixels then died down, revealing the arrow.
Tsukuru threw the arrow at the ground in front of the three Swarmers. The arrow exploded on impact, causing it to burst into roaring flames.
The three Swarmers shrieked in pain as they were being burned alive.
A moment later, they all exploded into pixels, one after another.
A System message popped up in front of Tsukuru.
[You have Killed three Swarmers.]
Tsukuru let out a sigh.
"Yeah, I figured as much," he muttered. "If defeating Level 2s out in the real world didn't give me any XP, why would these things be any different?"
A moment later, the sound of electronic interference was heard once again.
Looking ahead, Tsukuru saw seven groups of pixels. The first four on the left clustered together into the form of the Swarmers, while the three on the left clustered together into the form of the base Goblins.
There were seven successive flashes of light.Then, all seven enemies manifested.
They all let out their own war cry.
Tsukuru removed another Firebomb Arrow from his System's Equipment Tab. Just like before, he flung it in front of the Swarmers, causing a large fireball to be created.
A System message appeared in front of him.
[You have Killed three Swarmers.]
The three goblins then lunged at Tsukuru.
This time, instead of an arrow, Tsukuru took his Intermediate-Tier Scordana Gunblade out of his System's Equipment Tab.
More pixels appeared in his hand, taking on the shape of the weapon in its "dagger mode". The glowing light from the pixels then died down, revealing the gunblade.
Tsukuru slid the tab on the top of the handle downwards, causing the body to tilt downwards, and the blade to swing backwards.
Tsukuru then pointed the gun's barrel at the head of the first Goblin, and fired.
The sound of a gunshot rang through the arena, and the Intermediate-Tier Paleneedle Bullet pierced through the Goblin's head like a hot knife through butter.
The Goblin froze, as the force of the bullet tilted it backwards. Then, it fell on it's back.
A moment later, it exploded into pixels.
A System message popped up in front of Tsukuru.
[You have killed a Goblin.]