The others in the Assembly Hall all stood there, stunned, at what they had just seen.
When Gobkiko reformed, she possessed none of the weariness or fatigue that she had been displaying just seconds ago, as a result of Quinn's attack.
Her damaged exoskeleton, the bruises on her skin, and the hole that the attack had torn in her clothing, they were all gone.
She looked just like she had before Quinn had landed the attack.
The room was quiet for a moment.
"He doesn't just have a personal army," Raten replied, a cold dread going down his spine. "He has an immortal one that never tires."
Layla gulped.
"No, they do tire," she replied, causing the others to turn to her. "They can just circumvent that tiredness by killing themselves and respawning. Like rebooting a computer."
Back behind the group of students, Sergeant Faye felt a cold sweat down her back.
Her previous theory of Student Hikiko's Beasts being able to respawn themselves were correct.
She was now glad that she had decided not to attack him that day.
For no matter how strong she was, even she could not fight off an army of Beasts indefinitely.
'Even if Sergeant Shizuka wasn't his sister,' she thought. 'Making an enemy of him would be a fool's errand.'
***
Back in the meeting room in Military Base 1, everyone stared at the metal cube that Head-General Paul had just placed on the table.
The Head-General saying that a Glathrium Alloy existed was one thing.
Actually seeing it in person was another matter altogether.
Oscar's gaze lingered on the cube for a moment longer, before he then shifted his gaze to Paul.
"Hikiko Tsukuru," Oscar replied, saying it with much the same reverence he would with the leader of an Original Family. "Are you saying…that he was the one who created this Beast Weapon?"
Paul let out a sigh.
"Well, yes and no," Paul replied. "It seems that one of the limitations of his Ability…"
Paul then looked to the side.
"...one of the very few limitations…" he muttered under his breath.
"...is that he seems to be incapable of creating Beast Crystals and Beast Gear with it," he replied. "He can only recreate already-existing Beast Gear."
He pointed at the Scordana Gunblade in Oscar's hands.
"The sheer fact that the weapon in your hand is only Intermediate-Tier is proof of that fact," he replied.
Oscar's eyes narrowed.
"Are you telling me that there was a Beast Forger among our First-Year Students skilled enough to make a weapon like this?" he asked in a sharp tone that was full of skepticism and doubt.
Paul's face hardened.
"It wasn't exactly…made by a forger," he replied.
Oscar raised an eyebrow in confusion.
Paul pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Apparently, it was made by Student Hikiko's surrogate brother, Logan Green."
Oscar's face hardened as he heard the last name of the student.
'The Green Family,' he thought.
He looked back down at the weapon.
"I take it you've tested the effectiveness of this weapon's ammunition?" he asked.
Paul's eyes narrowed.
"Yes, sir," he replied.
Paul reached into his pocket, and pulled out what looked like a metal spike with an ivory color.
One of the Sergeants lining the left wall reached forward, and held his hand out.
Paul placed the metal spike in the Sergeant's hand.
The Sergeant walked over to Oscar's side of the table, and held out his hand for the Supreme Commander to take the piece of metal.
Oscar took the spike, and began to examine it, holding it up to his, holding it between his thumb and index finger.
He could feel the Beast Energy coming off of the spike, indicating that it was some manner of Beast Gear, but he didn't feel himself getting any stronger from holding it.
"That bullet was fired through an Earth Wall that I made personally," he replied. "It punched right through it like a hot knife through butter and kept going, eventually embedding itself in the metal wall on the far side of the room. It was stuck in there so deep, we had to remove it with a pair of pliers."
Oscar's eyes widened at Paul's words, and he began examining the piece of metal even closer.
And what was truly startling him wasn't what he could see, it was what he couldn't.
There were no dents or deformation that one would see on a stereotypical bullet after firing.
If anything, this just went to show how durable this "Glathrium Alloy" was.
Oscar looked up from the bullet.
"Show me," he replied.
Paul blinked a few times.
"I'm…sorry?" he asked, genuinely believing that he must have misheard the Supreme Commander.
"Bring the students responsible for this weapon's creation to Military Base 1," he replied. "I want to see them make this with my own eyes."
Paul let out a deep sigh.
"With all due respect, Supreme Commander, the students on the base are rather…preoccupied at the moment," he replied, looking away. "As you'll recall, we recently had an incident with one of the Base's Red Portals that has caused us to have to…delay the first Portal Outing."
Oscar narrowed his eyes.
"How long of a delay?" he asked.
"They'll be heading out on Monday," he replied. "As such, we've given them the day off so that they can use the next three days to train with their assigned teammates."
Oscar's face hardened.
"And…how long will they be gone?" he asked.
"The Portal Outing is scheduled to last for three days," Paul replied. "So they should be returning Wednesday."
Oscar's face tensed imperceptively.
"Hmm, I see," he replied. "Very well. But I expect to see them shortly after their return."
Paul nodded.
"Yes, Supreme Commander," he replied.
Oscar put the metal spike back down on the table, and looked back at Paul.
"By the way, what is the progress of that other matter?" he asked.
Paul tilted his head in confusion, unsure of what Oscar was referring to.
Then, a moment later, his eyes widened, as realization sparked in his mind.
"Oh, you mean the Salvage Mission to Pioletic," he replied. "Yes, we were able to salvage the material with no problems."
As he spoke, Paul's chest was pounding.
If it was discovered that he had lied to the Supreme Commander, he would end up facing dire consequences.
Paul pulled out a tablet from one of his side pockets, and slid it across the table to Oscar.
As Oscar's finger touched the screen, it lit up.
On the screen, it showed a manifesto, cataloguing all of the materials that Tsukuru had created, with included images.
"Let's see…thirty Basic-Tier Beast Weapons, one Glathrium picnic table, and one Glathrium sleeping chamber," he muttered, as he scrolled down the screen.
Oscar looked up from the tablet at Paul.
"Have the items been processed yet?" he asked.
Paul nodded.
"The thirty Basic-Tier Weapons have been sold for a 60,000 Credit profit, and the Glathrium is waiting to be melted down," he replied.
"Good," Oscar replied, before looking up and staring at Paul for a moment longer. "Was there anything else you wanted to report?"
Paul shook his head.
"No, sir," he replied. "That should be all."
Oscar gave Paul a nod.
"Very well," he replied. "You're dismissed, Head General Paul."
***
Back in the Assembly Hall on Military Base 2, Layla was recovering from her spar with Sylvia, trying to catch her breath.
As she looked over, she saw that Tsukuru was no longer creating items.
However, she could still hear the sound of his Ability being activated, with him hunched over the table.
Curious, she decided to get up and see what he was doing.
***
When Layla reached Tsukuru's table, she saw that he had a series of small figures in front of him, each standing on what looked like an oval platform that kept them from falling over.
There were currently seven figurines in front of him, and Tsukuru appeared to be in the process of creating a eighth.
Looking at the figurines, it only took Layla seconds to realize that they were scaled-down models of his Summons.
"What's all this?" she asked.
Rather than sounding shocked or surprised, Tsukuru let out a sigh.
"I'm trying to figure out what kind of Summon I should make next," he replied.
He placed the figurine of Demona down next to the figurine of Galina in her Humanoid Form.
"I've got a basic footsoldier," he replied, pointing at the Artoria figurine.
"An aerial scout," he replied, pointing at the Kujaku figurine.
"A ranged fighter," he replied, pointing at the Sylvia figurine.
"A brawler," he replied, pointing at the Rakshara figurine.
"An aerial scout who can double as a front-line fighter," he replied, pointing at the Demona figurine.
"And a versatile, sentient mass of liquid metal that can be whatever the current situation requires," he replied, pointing at the Galina figurine.
He put his hand under his chin.
"What's next?" he muttered.
Tsukuru and Layla then heard a set of footsteps approaching them from behind.
"An Elemental User," a voice replied.