Tsukuru put the Intermediate-Tier Ice Amulet back down on the table, and reached for the Intermediate-Tier Frost Fan.
As he picked up the closed tessen fan and held it in his hand, both he and Layla looked at it with an intense, scrutinizing gaze.
"Is that the same fan that…'Yukina' was using in her fight against Erin?" Layla asked, taking a second to remember the name of Tsukuru's newest Summon.
She was actually the only one of Tsukuru's Summons that she knew the name of, as she had been standing right next to him when he named her.
Tsukuru flicked his wrist, opening the tessen fan.
A cold chill filled the air, like the front door had been cracked open during the winter season.
Inside, the leaf of the Intermediate-Tier Frost Fan had the same light-blue and white snowflake design that Yukina's tessen fans had.
"Looks like it," Tsukuru replied.
Layla glanced over at him.
"So, what's it do?" she asked, a look of genuine curiosity on her face.
Tsukuru narrowed his eyes.
"It seems to have a weaker version of the same Skill that your Frostnet Arrow does," he replied.
He held his arm out, and swung it through the air in a downwards diagonal line towards the table.
The sound of scraping metal could be heard, and the two watched as ice began to form on the table where the leaf of the tessen fan had scraped against the metal surface.
Ice began to spread out in a one-foot radius of the impact point, covering a small section of the table.
Layla looked down at it in surprise.
She actually had yet to use her Intermediate-Tier Frostnet Arrow, unlike Tsukuru, who had used it quite frequently in his System's Battle Arena.
"It also grants the same boosts as that bow I gave you," he replied.
Layla subconsciously glanced backwards at the Intermediate-Tier Elven Shortbow that was now back on her back, her no longer fighting, as she was trying to regain her expended energy from her fight with Sylivia.
***
Back in Head-General Paul's office, the Head-General had finally emerged from the swirling vortex of white energy.
As he did so, he looked around.
Standing at attention in front of his desk was Sergeant Leo, Sergeant Shizuka, General Duke, and Sergeant Dillon.
Paul narrowed his eyes as he saw the group, noticing the lack of two certain individuals.
The next moment, the sound of his door clicking open could be heard.
As everyone turned their attention towards the doorway, they saw General Nathan entering the room.
"You're late, dipshit!" Duke roared in a tone of annoyance and irritation. "The rest of us have been waiting here at attention for the last ten minutes!"
Nathan let out a sigh.
"Blame it on the private who delivered the message to me," he muttered as he walked into the room, standing to the right of Sergeant Leo. "I only got the memo a few minutes ago."
Head-General Paul felt the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose.
'That's what I get for sending a message to low-ranking military personnel to go and retrieve them," he thought, mentally kicking himself for making such a decision. 'I should have just sent a message to all of them directly!'
But, as the Head-General looked at General Nathan, he noticed that the man wasn't looking at him, as everyone else was.
Rather, he had his sole attention on what looked like a black golf ball in his hand.
For a split second, he considered asking the General about it.
But, he then let out a sigh.
'Never mind, I'll just bring it up during the 'emergency meeting',' he thought.
He had a more pressing concern, the sole remaining absence in the room.
"Where is Sergeant Faye?" he asked.
The officials on the First-Year side of the group all looked at each other, as if mentally asking each other if any of them had seen her.
But, they all pretty much had the same thought.
None of them had seen Sergeant Faye since the Head-General had left earlier this morning.
"Uh…I think she's…still in the Assembly Hall," General Nathan replied.
Head-General Paul raised an eyebrow in confusion.
He brought his wristwatch up to his chest, and looked down at it.
In the upper-right corner, his digital clock read "18:00".
'That group of kids is still in there?!' Paul thought in surprise. 'It's already 6pm!'
He brought up the contact lists on his wristwatch, and scrolled down until he found Sergeant Faye's number.
Paul pressed it finger down on the green "call" button, sending out a communication link.
***
Back in the Assembly Hall, Sergeant Faye hadn't moved from her spot against the right wall, standing like a sentinel, as she watched over the six kids and the nine Beasts.
In a corner of the room, far away from the others, she saw Peter training with his mud, a determined look on his face.
'I won't be a hindrance on the upcoming Portal Outing!' he thought, as he strained with all his might, shifting his mud into different shapes as quickly as he could, trying to replicate what Vorden had shown him on the day he had first learned the Ability.
Vorden's voice echoed in his head.
***
"When I copy an Ability, I also copy the person's Ability Level," Vorden had replied. "Everything that I'm doing right now you should be capable of doing yourself."
***
Peter knew that right now nobody trusted him, and several members of the group, especially Erin, had pretty much written him off.
'Since it's the weekend tomorrow, we won't have any more classes for the next two days,' Peter thought. 'I'll spend as much time as I can training with my Ability!'
***
As Sergeant Faye watched the boy furiously train with his Level 1 Earth Ability, the screen of her wristwatch began to flash erratically, and quick, rapid beeps began to emit from its speaker.
She brought it up to her chest, and looked down at it.
When she did, she saw Head-General Paul's name on the screen.
She immediately brought her finger down to it, answering the call.
"Yes, sir," she replied. "What do you need?"
Paul's voice soon crackled from the speaker.
"Sergeant Faye, I need you to make your way to the normal meeting room," he replied. "I've returned from my meeting with the Supreme Commander, and I want an update on everything that has happened in my absence."
Sergeant Faye's eyes narrowed.
"What about Student Hikiko and his group?" she asked.
"Send them on their way," Paul replied. "I think they've spent more than enough time training for one day."
Head-General Paul then ended the communication, causing the screen of Sergeant Faye's wristwatch to return to standby-mode, revealing the now-inaccurate number "6", a carry-over from when she had been a Level 6 Ability User prior to being turned.
Sergeant Faye nodded, as she looked down at her reflection on the screen.
"Yes, sir," she replied.
She looked up at the others in the room.
"Alright, everyone," she announced. "It looks like your allotted time is up!"
The others in the room all turned to her.
In one particular section, Erin was currently clashing swords with Artoria, a serious expression on her face.
It seemed that her "fight" against Yukina had lit a fire under her ass, and she was using Artoria as a sparring partner for some intensive training.
When Sergeant Faye's announcement was heard, both her and Artoria froze mid-sword clash.
They both turned to her.
Tsukuru let out a sigh.
He turned back to the two pieces of Beast Gear, and started reaching down, intending to place the two items in his System's Equipment Tab.
However, it was then that Layla's hand reached out and grabbed his arm.
Tsukuru turned to her, a confused look on his face.
"Hey," she replied. "Uh…do you mind if I…take those?" she asked, a somewhat pleading look on her face.
Tsukuru looked at Layla for a moment.
He really didn't need these two specific pieces of Beast Gear.
After all, he could simply create a new set at any time he wanted using his Ability.
Tsukuru raised an eyebrow.
"Why do you want them?" he asked, genuinely curious. "Don't you already have a bow?"
Layla developed a serious expression.
"It probably would be wise to have at least some kind of melee weapon on me," she replied. "After all, my bow will be pretty much useless if I ever find myself in a close-quarters fight."
She glanced over at Quinn.
"After all…I don't possess the same talent for fighting with my fists that Quinn does."
She turned back to Tsukuru.
"Plus, given the display that Yukina put on with her fans during her fight with Erin, I should be able to use it just as effectively with my Ability as I am with my arrows."