Inside of the military dorms were a pair of students who were sitting in different rooms.
Specifically, Peter was inside one of the dorm bedroom, a place without a window, and was a little on the smaller end, but it was the first time he had ever gotten a bedroom to himself. He was reading his level 2 earth ability book, getting the fundamentals down.
Grabbing some soft soil from a plastic container, Peter tried his best to shape it into a weapon. In his mind, he was visualizing it turning into a bow.
Then he opened his eyes.
Nothing.
Gritting his teeth, Peter threw the earth at the wall, creating a loud thunking sound.
'Why!? Why can't I shape this into a stupid bow!' Peter yelled in his mind.
He choked back a sob, then covered his eyes with his hands.
'I'm worse than useless… Everyone has to pick up my slack… Even Fex is stronger than me.'
He didn't want to be useless, he always hated feeling that way, and yet Fex, despite being a level 1, had beaten someone with a higher ability level than him, but Peter himself had to get bailed out by Layla when he was attacked by Jerry.
It was a small hope that Peter could learn how to reach the second level of controlling earth to make Layla a bow. Something to be helpful, but he couldn't even do that.
Suddenly, the door creaked opened, and Peter stopped his sobs for a moment to see Fex in the door way.
"Yo, I heard you throw something," Fex commented, a little annoyed. He had been woken up from his nap.
"Why am I so useless?!" Peter blurted out before quickly covering his mouth.
"Huh?" Fex blinked.
Peter shook his hands, trying to distract Fex from what he just said.
"Forget it! Just— leave."
Fex groaned a little. He hasn't particularly liked Peter ever since the red portal incident, risking not only his own, but also Erin's life. Of course, that didn't actually get to the heart of the issue as to why he didn't like Peter.
"Yeah, you really are," Fex replied.
"Huh?" Now it was Peter's turn to blink.
"Actually, maybe I shouldn't put it like that," Fex tried to word his words better, "You're more like… not really able to do anything useful in the moment."
Peter sniffled, and his head drooped low, "Yeah, you're right. I could never be useful, I'm just a— *sob* waste of air, why would anyone likeee meeee?"
As Peter continued to speak, his words devolved into sobs. Watching him cry, Fex felt a little awkward.
"Um…"
Walking up to him, Fex lifted Peter's head by putting a finger on his chin, and staring deep into his eyes. Then, his own eyes began to glow red.
"Forget the past 2 minutes, just continue working on what you were doing before."
Peter's eyes glossed over, and he had completely ignored Fex leaving and closing the door. He continued as he was, trying to reach the second level of the earth ability. Fex was now back in the living room, and plopped himself back down on the couch.
As Fex was about to continue his nap, he found that his mood was slightly soured. Fex was just with the person who had made him confront his shame.
The shame of never legitimately completing his test.
'Dang, I'm not that much better than Peter in a way,' Fex thought, 'I had to pay other people to pick up my slack, but at least I didn't try to push my friend into a death planet.'
Digging between the couch cushions, Fex took out his personal pack of gum, and put one in his mouth. He originally got it because he wanted to see what the big deal with gum was all about, but despite it not being blood flavored, he found that he liked to chew on it as it distracted him from his thoughts. Plus, it helped him blend in more as a human.
—
Quinn and Layla were still in the traveler's hall, but this time, not as customers, but as sellers. Using his ability, Quinn made them a crude earth stand where he was selling some of his new sculptures to whoever was interested. At first they tried selling them for 50 credits, then 25, then 10, all to no avail.
"Come on guys! It's only just 5 credits!" Layla called out, with a tired voice.
"Man, we're selling these for peanuts," She sighed.
"What are peanuts?" Quinn wondered.
"I think they were some sort of snack you could grow or something. They went extinct a while ago," Layla replied, "They'd probably sell more than this…"
On their stone stand were Quinn's earth sculptures, all of various shapes, colors and sizes. However, due to the fact that Quinn really wasn't an artist, they looked nothing like what Quinn intended them to be.
"Be honest with me, no one is buying these because they look like crap," Quinn glanced over to Layla, deadpan.
"No, they aren't bad! You're an amazing artist, like uh, you made this really cool looking lamp." Layla quickly said, then picked up a sculpture that looked like an abstract lamp.
Quinn grimaced, "That's meant to be a person."
Layla cringed, and spoke in a strained high pitched voice, "Oh."
Quinn slumped over the stand, hand on his chin, trying to figure out a solution to their current predicament.
In the corner of his vision, he saw that Erin had opened a system window, apparently doing something with her ability, which had made him wonder about his own. He had recalled a time when he put a small indent in the beast spheres back in the assembly room. At the time, he was only a level 1, but what if…?
"Layla, man the stand," Quinn said before leaving the stand.
"Wha— you can't just—!" Layla sputtered out, watching Quinn run off, "… Who am I kidding? It doesn't make a difference if he's here or not, no one is buying anything."
—
Heading right outside the shelter, just near the entrance, Quinn dug his hands into the ground. This was a skill he had developed while trying to find beasts underground. It was easier to detect moving objects in the ground, than solid ones, but what Quinn was trying to detect were little anomalies. Things that he could control, but felt different than the sand. That was when he felt it
Bringing these anomalies to the surface, Quinn quickly saw little shiny jagged bits dig themselves out of the sand. He knew what this was, and it was scrap metal.