As they exited the VR Room, the group of three noticed that it was getting late.
It was almost time for their curfew, so they all decided it'd be best to head back to the dormitory.
When they arrived, they noticed that the room's lights were out, and that Peter was already fast asleep.
Instantly, Vorden began looking over Peter, seeing if he could spot any marks on his face or body.
"Does he look okay?" Quinn asked.
Vorden turned to him.
"Yeah, he looks fine." Vorden replied, before glancing back at Peter. "Besides, even if he was being bullied, he could have always gone to the doctor's office before coming here."
Quinn looked at Peter for a minute.
"I still think we should keep an eye on him." He replied. "There's no way that a HighLevel would become friends with a Low Level for no reason."
It was then that Quinn looked from side to side, and saw both Tsukuru and Vorden giving him strange looks.
They each had their hands up to their necks and were pointing up at themselves.
Seeing this, Quinn let out a nervous laugh.
"Well, I guess there's always…exceptions." He replied.
The three of them all took a seat on their respective beds.
Once they were all seated, Vorden turned to Tsukuru, his eyes narrowed.
"Alright, so what exactly happened in there?" He asked in a low voice, so as not to wake up Peter. "Why were you radio silent for a full half-an-hour?"
Hearing this, Tsukuru let out a sigh.
"Alright, fine." He muttered, slumping his shoulders. "I'll tell you what happened…"
As Tsukuru saw Quinn and Vorden staring at him, Vorden far more intensely than Quinn, he let out another, longer sigh.
"Appearently, this 'System' of mine is…compatible with VR technology." Tsukuru replied, glancing to the side.
Hearing this, Vorden raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Go on…" He replied.
"When the VR Pod activated, there…was a lag." Tsukuru continued. "And just as I was beginning to think that the pod I was using needed to be looked at, a System message popped up in front of me."
Tsukuru narrowed his eyes.
"It seemed that me entering the VR Pod met some 'condition' in the System, and caused a new function in the System to unlock."
Quinn turned to Tsukuru.
"What kind of…'function'?" He asked.
Tsukuru gave him a quick glance, before turning back to Vorden.
"Something called the 'Battle Arena'." Tsukuru replied. "It's…similar to Power Fighters."
Tsukuru looked to the side, before he continued.
"However, instead of one-on-one matches, it's a single player fighting against continuous 'waves' of enemies."
Hearing this, Vorden put his hand under his chin, him taking this new information in.
He then turned back to Tsukuru.
"And how many of these 'waves' did you complete in the half-an-hour you were gone, exactly?" He asked.
In response, Tsukuru's head turned to the side, and he let out an annoyed snort.
After a minute, he spoke.
"One." He muttered in a low tone.
Vorden stared at Tsukuru, blinking a few times.
"I'm sorry?" He asked, quite confident that he had heard him incorrectly.
Tsukuru's head snapped back to him, an annoyed look now on his face.
"One!" He repeated in a sharp tone.
The room remained silent for a minute.
Then, Vorden spoke.
"How the hell did you only complete one wave in half-an-hour?!" He outburst in an incredulous tone.
Hearing this, Tsukuru's eye began to twitch.
"Okay, first of all, it took a full five minutes for the damn arena to form!" He shot back.
Tsukuru clenched his fists.
"Secondly, a 'wave' isn't just a one-and-done group of enemies." He replied. "It consists of multiple 'bursts' of enemies."
Tsukuru folded his arms over his chest in annoyance.
"And thirdly, the arena uses my Ability to create the enemies." He replied, before glancing away. "They take a while to form, like a video game loading screen."
Vorden narrowed his eyes.
"Even if that is the case, just how many enemies do these 'bursts' contain for you to struggle so much?!" He asked.
His words caused Tsukuru to turn to him, eyebrow raised.
Seeing this, Vorden continued.
"I saw you fighting the second-years in the assembly hall while I was stuck on that board." Vorden replied. "You had no problem blitzing your way through opponent after opponent in quick succession."
Quinn then turned to Tsukuru.
"Yeah, plus me and Layla saw how easily you took down Brandon in the combat classes."
Hearing this, Tsukuru let out a long sigh.
He put his knuckle under his cheek, a bored look on his face.
"Well, to be honest, the first two, as well as the final, fourth bursts were exactly like that." He replied. "Me mowing through enemies in quick succession."
Hearing this, Vorden raised his eyebrow.
"If that's true, then what was so different about the third burst that gave you so much trouble?" He asked.
Tsukuru narrowed his eyes.
"They were my Summons." Tsukuru replied, causing both Quinn and Vorden to raise their eyebrows.
They exchanged looks, before turning back to Tsukuru.
"You mean…your Beasts?" Vorden asked.
Tsukuru grit his teeth.
"Yeah." He replied, before glancing to the side. "Except they weren't ones I had access to."
Tsukuru's hand shot out, pointing at Vorden.
"And…they were just as big and strong as you!" Tsukuru replied, causing Vorden's eyes to widen in surprise. "And they could heal themselves!"
Tsukuru then turned to Quinn.
"Not only that, but they dodged my attacks just like Erin does!" He replied. "And the ones that I did hit, which was in their shins, they simply just pulled the daggers out and their wounds closed up!"
Vorden and Quinn sat on their beds, stunned.
Tsukuru's grip on his arms tightened.
"I had to kill them by stabbing them right through the head!" He replied. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to kill something you have a close, personal bond to?!"
There was another silence.
As Vorden looked at Tsukuru with his arms crossed, he raised an eyebrow, as he saw Tsukuru's wristwatch.
The big number indicating his Ability Level had increased from "2" to "3".
"Well, at least it looks like the struggle was worth it." Vorden said, pointing to the wristwatch.
In response, Tsukuru looked over at his wristwatch.
"Oh, yeah. That." Tsukuru said, seeing the new number. "My Ability Level increased when I reached 'Level 5' in my System."
Tsukuru said it in a nonchalant voice, that made it sound like an after-thought.
Hearing these words, Quinn's eyes widened.
'Wait, he's Level 5 now?!' He thought, both in shock and jealousy. 'I'm still only Level 3!'
Quinn grit his teeth.
While he was sitting on his ass watching Vorden fight in Power Fighters, Tsukuru was Exp Grinding in this 'Battle Arena' of his!
He'd have to really put in effort in Power Fighters tomorrow if he wanted to catch up.
Vorden kept staring at Tsukuru's wristwatch.
It was remarkable to him.
Just a week ago, Tsukuru was just a Level 1 Ability User.
Now, he was a Level 3 Ability User.
Eventually, Vorden spoke.
"So…did you get anything new from your Ability Level increasing?" He asked.
Vorden remembered how Tsukuru had seemed to pick up two new Skills in the last couple of days.
The morning after Quinn and Tsukuru had that fight with Riley, Tsukuru had shown off that strange "Telekinesis" Skill that Raten had used in the assembly hall.
And when Raten was leaving the school to meet up with Tsukuru to "deal with" Brandon, he had seen Tsukuru use some form of "Teleportation".
On top of that, Vorden had seen the Skill first-hand in the assembly hall when Tsukuru had saved that blonde-haired girl.
Hearing this, Tsukuru smirked.
"Actually, I got two new things." He replied, holding up his hand with his index and middle finger extended. "One Skill from reaching Level 3, and another Skill that I got from a Skill Book that I bought the System."
As Tsukuru heard his own words fill the room, his eyes narrowed.
He remembered that he never actually looked at what his new Skill could do.
'System, bring up Stasis Shift.' He replied, issuing a mental command to the System.
Instantly, a System screen popped up in front of him.
[Stasis Shift - Lv. 1
Active Skill
Allows you to teleport targets affected by Video Stasis to another location as if they were using Video Glitch.
Requires MC
-5 MC per usage
You can only teleport an affected object within a 5-foot radius of your current location.]
Vorden continued to watch Tsukuru.
To Vorden, Tsukuru looked like he was reading something in front of him, as if he was holding a book in his hands.
But the space in front of him was completely empty.
He then saw Tsukuru swipe his hand across the air in front of him.
Tsukuru glanced over at the row of anime figures lining his desk.
He reached his hand out towards them, and activated his Video Stasis Skill.
Instantly, the sound of electronic interference appeared on Tsukuru's desk, and Quinn and Vorden watched as one of the figures became enveloped in an aura of glitching pixels.
Then, Tsukuru activated his new Stasis Shift Skill.
The next moment, the figure became a mass of glowing, light-blue glitching pixels.
Instantly, the figurine vanished, glitching out of existence.
Quinn's and Vorden's eyes widened in surprise.
A moment later, the figurine reappeared in Tsukuru's hand, glitching back into existence.
The eyes of the two boys snapped from the now-empty space among the figurines on Tsukuru's desk to the figurine now in Tsukuru's hand.
Then, back to the empty space.
There was a long pause.
"You…You can teleport other objects now." He muttered in a stunned voice.
Tsukuru used the Skill again, teleporting the figurine back to its spot on the desk.
Quinn and Vorden watched as it reappeared.
"Only objects that I can affect with my 'Telekinesis' Skill." Tsukuru replied. "So, it only works on objects that weigh up to ten pounds for now."
Both Vorden and Quinn snapped their gazes back to him.
"A Skill that relies on another Skill." Vorden replied, his hand under his chin and glancing away. "Actually, I think I've heard of those before."
Vorden's eyes then narrowed.
"Wait, you said you bought a Skill Book from your System, now?" He asked, an eyebrow raised. "Man, that "Shop" of yours has everything."
Hearing this, Tsukuru let out a nervous laugh, and glanced to the side.
"Not…exactly." He replied. "I didn't buy the Skill Book from the Shop."
Hearing this, Vorden's face scrunched up in confusion.
Seeing it, Tsukuru let out a sigh, and continued.
"I got it from the 'Exchange Corner' in the Battle Arena." He replied. "Each time I complete a "Wave", I receive 'Battle Points' that I can exchange for prizes. The Skill Book was just one of those prizes."