Suddenly, Tsukuru's look of suspicion changed to an amused smile, and he let out a light chuckle.
"Looks like you didn't waste any time." He replied. "You get that new gear by selling those daggers I gave you?" He asked.
Hearing this, Layla smiled, and nodded her head.
"Yeah." She replied. "Me and Erin went to the library yesterday, and sold those Basic-Tier Beast Weapons on the marketplace." Layla glanced at the bow on her back. "Sergeant Leo was correct, they each sold for around 2,000 credits. Good thing, too. This new bow cost me 5,000 credits on the marketplace."
Tsukuru raised an eyebrow in confusion.
'Maybe my frame of reference is just out of whack but the Stats on that bow seem rather…lackluster for an Intermediate-Tier weapon.' Tsukuru thought. 'Hell, it has the same Stats as my Basic-Tier Black Obsidian Dagger!'
Tsukuru glanced to the side.
'Is it because it has a Skill that the Stats are so low?' He thought. 'Or is it my Beast Gear that's just really strong?'
Tsukuru narrowed his eyes.
He remembered back to when he had scanned Erin's Intermediate-Tier sword.
It had a Stat boost of "+5", so was that the average?
If that was the case, then the Intermediate-Tier gear created by his System, which gave "+7" boosts, must have been really good.
Tsukuru raised an eyebrow.
"So with 40,000 credits to spare, you only bought a bow and two special arrows?" He asked, sounding incredulous.
In response, Layla's face scrunched up into a scowl.
"These arrows were 2,500 credits each!" She shot back. "Together, they cost as much as the bow did!"
She then turned her head to the side.
"Besides, there's nothing wrong with saving credits!"
In response, Tsukuru let out a sigh.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." He replied.
His mind then flashed to last night, when he had created a replica of his Intermediate-Tier Knight Gauntlets for both Quinn and Vorden.
As long as he could mass-produce them indefinitely, there was no reason not to give them out to his "friends".
Tsukuru activated his Ability.
As the sound of electronic interference could be heard, Layla and Amelia turned to Tsukuru.
There, they saw him standing there with his left arm outstretched in front of him down to his elbow, his palm open wide.
A set of two groups of pixels began to appear in his open hand, clustering together into the form of a pair of gauntlets.
There was a bright flash.
When it faded, Tsukuru was holding a set of his Intermediate-Tier Knight Gauntlets.
"Here, put these on." Tsukuru replied, extending his arm out to Layla.
An eyebrow raised, Layla walked over, and took the gauntlets out of Tsukuru's hands.
As she put them on, he felt the Beast Energy flow through her.
She clenched, and unclenched her hands, trying to get used to them.
Tsukuru then created a second set of the gauntlets, and handed them to Amelia.
As Amelia put them on, she felt a rush of strength surge through her.
Layla looked up from the gauntlets to Tsukuru.
"So you're just giving these away, now?" She asked.
Tsukuru shrugged in response.
"Now that I know that I can replicate them, I see no reason to not give them out to my close friends." Tsukuru replied, looking away. "The only one left who I haven't given a set to is Erin."
Amelia continued to stare at the gauntlets.
"Does this mean we have to be close-combat fighters now?" She asked, slightly worried.
"No." Tsukuru replied, turning to her. "But the gauntlets provide a significant strength and defense boost, so there's no reason not to wear them."
Layla couldn't help but agree with Tsukuru.
As she wore the gauntlets, she couldn't help but notice how she felt twice as strong as normal.
And she would feel even stronger when wearing them while holding her bow.
Tsukuru then walked past them, and ascended the stairs.
"C'mon, let's go." He replied, stopping for a moment to look back at them.
Amelia glanced at him.
"Why are we heading into the school?" She asked. "Aren't we going to that same hall as yesterday?"
Tsukuru waved his hand dismissively in response.
"Nah." He replied. "I don't want to bug Sergeant Leo every day."
He then turned back to the two.
"Besides, the school has a perfectly good training area, and it'd be a shame not to use it."
The three of them began to walk though the hall.
Despite both Tsukuru and Layla knowing the way, as they had been there before, Amelia had never gone to the training room, so she couldn't remember the exact way.
She had only seen it when Del and Shizuka had given them that "tour".
Right now, the room was pretty much empty.
It was their last day off, so most students would be spending the day relaxing, not training.
Tsukuru narrowed his eyes, and he suddenly came to a complete stop.
Amelia and Layla watched, as Tsukuru's eyes scanned the entire training room.
Amelia raised an eyebrow.
"Is…something wrong?" She asked, worried.
"I kinda expected Erin to be in here." He muttered. "She seems to have an almost unhealthy obsession with getting stronger."
Tsukuru then heard a low chuckle from behind him, coming from Layla.
But it wasn't a happy chuckle.
It was a sad one.
"Erin…Erin is…preocupied at the moment." She replied.
At this very moment, the girl in question was sitting at one of the desks in the library.
She had a hardcover book held up to her face.
The book's cover was light-blue, and molded in a way where it looked like the cover was encased in thick ice.
On the front cover near the bottom, it had the words "Ice Element" written in big, blocky letters embossed on the cover.
The words were in a font that made them look like they were made of ice, with piles of snow at the top, and icicles forming at the bottom.
Underneath, it had the words "Level 6 Ability Book" written in a smaller size, but using the same front.
Erin scowled, as she focused intensely while reading the book.
Back in the training room, Layla glanced to the side, and grimaced.
'Ever since she bought that book, she's had her face buried in it!' Layla thought. 'She even reads it while she's eating!'
Tsukuru led the two girls to a large open space.
He then turned around to face the two.
"Amelia." He replied, causing the girl to look up at him. "Yesterday, I taught you the basics on how to use your magnetism to pull objects towards you and push objects away from you." He replied.
Amelia nodded.
Layla glanced at her.
'A magnetism user?' She thought. 'That's a rare Ability…'
Tsukuru's eyes narrowed.
"Today, I'm going to teach you how to use these two aspects in combination with each other."
Tsukuru extended his hand outwards, with his palm facing downwards.
He activated his Ability.
The sound of electronic interference filled the room, and three groups of pixels appeared in the air underneath his hand.
One appeared to the left of his hand, one appeared to the right of his hand, and one appeared directly in front of his hand.
The pixels in each of these three groups clustered together, forming three separate swords.
Layla recognized the shape almost instantly, as it was the exact same shape as the sword that Erin never let out of her sight.
There was a flash of light.
When it faded, there were three copies of Tsukuru's Intermediate-Tier Knight Swords floating in the air.
However, unlike usual, where he would grab them while mid-air with his Video Stasis Skill, he let them clatter to the floor.
They made a heavy, "clanging" sound, as they hit the floor.
Tsukuru then repeated the process, making another set of three swords.
When he was done, Tsukuru looked down at the now six swords on the floor.
"This should be enough." He muttered, before looking up at Amelia. "I want you to modulate both your attraction and your repulsion." He replied, as an aura of glitching pixels enveloped his hand down to his forearm.
The same aura enveloped the sword on the top of the heap on the floor.
Tsukuru curled his fingers inwards, and the sword began to shake.
He raised his arm upwards, causing the sword to begin levitating in the air.
Tsukuru held his arm up to the side of his head, and the sword floated in the air next to him, blade pointed down.
"Until you achieve an effect similar to telekinesis." He replied.