Eventually, after they had been flying in a straight line for about twenty minutes, the training center came into sight. As it did, two little dots blinked into existence on Tsukuru's "Minimap". Tsukuru smirked, as this proved that his little hunch was right. Also, seeing that one of them was blue, Tsukuru let out a sigh of relief.
"Well, at least Vorden found him first." He replied in a sigh. However, Tsukuru's eyes then narrowed. Quinn's dot had changed. While it was still purple, it was now a deeper purple. Before, while Quinn had been a Halfling, it was a moderate violet color. Now, it was a deep indigo. 'Quinn…' Tsukuru thought in worry. 'Did something happen to you?'
As the two of them hovered above the training center, they saw a group of four Rattaclaws around the entrance. They seemed to be feeding on the dead bodies of other Rattaclaws. Tsukuru narrowed his eyes seeing the corpses. It was proof that the training center was now occupied.
"Go hover above the entrance." Tsukuru replied.
The Harpie looked back at him, and smiled.
"Of course, my liege." She replied.
The Harpie flew forwards, until she was flying directly over the door of the building. Once she was there, she flapped her wings to keep herself air-born. She remained stationary.
Tsukuru then unlatched his two hands from around the Harpie's neck, and activated his Ability. The sound of electronic interference could be heard, and pixels began to appear in his hand.
Hearing the sound, the Rattaclaws shifted their attention from their meals, to the creature hovering above them. They all growled, and their hair stood on ends. Meanwhile, with Tsukuru, the shape of that same "stick grenade" he had used on the Palewalkers appeared in his left hand. There was a bright flash of light. Once it faded, Tsukuru was holding another stick grenade.
Rather than throwing the grenade, it simply released his grip, letting it drop. Gravity did the rest. The Rattaclaws all watched, as the strange object fell down from the sky. When it hit the ground, the nitroglycerin inside the "stick grenade"ignited, creating a large explosion. The force of the explosion sent the four Rattaclaws flying in opposite directions.
A large cloud of dust was picked up. When it faded, Tsukuru could see that the ground was slightly scorched from where the stick grenade had hit the ground, and the four Rattaclaws were now lifeless on the ground. A System message popped up in front of him.
[You have killed four Basic-Tier Rattaclaws. 400 XP received. XP: 17436/25600.]
Tsukuru continued to stare at the ground below him for another second, before he then turned to the Harpie.
"Alright, let's go." He replied.
The Harpie nodded, and began her slow descent. Once they touched the ground, Tsukuru jumped off of the Harpie. Tsukuru then turned to the Harpie, and gave her an appreciative nod.
"Thank you." He replied. "You can go back to recovering now."
By "recovering" he meant her regaining her strength from the all-nighter against the Palewalker. Hearing this, the Harpie grit her teeth. It reminded her of her own limitations. Unlike the Haunted Knight, she still suffered the drawbacks of having a living body. She needed to eat, drink, and sleep. And worst of all, she could get exhausted. The Harpie forced a smile on her face, and dismissed herself.
Tsukuru watched as the Harpie broke down into pixels right in front of him. Then, he turned to the door. He let out an amused snort, and rolled his eyes.
"Oh please." He muttered.
He instantly activated his Video Glitch Skill. His body began glowing light-blue, and it began to "glitch" out of existence. However, when he glitched back into existence, he was notinside the training center as he had planned. Instead, he reappeared right in front of the door. So close, in fact, that he smashed into the door like a wrecking ball when he appeared.
Tsukuru stumbled a few steps back, and held his hand to his head. A small bump had formed. Tsukuru grit his teeth, and looked up at the door.
"Hey, what the hell?!" He yelled. "I meant to teleport into the damned building!" As if to answer him, a System message popped up in front of him.
[Notice: Skill Video Glitch cannot be used to teleport you to a location that you do not have a clear image of.]
Tsukuru read the System message, his eye twitching in annoyance.
"What?!" He shouted back at the System. "Are you telling me that I can only teleport to a location that I can physically see?!"
***
Back in the arena within the training center, Vorden turned to Quinn. He had a look of almost disappointment on his face.
"You know, it's a shame that you can't use your Vampire powers at the Base." Vorden replied. "If it was a normal Ability, my family could offer you protection. The military wouldn't even try to hurt you!"
Hearing this, Quinn let out a nervous chuckle. Although he could try to pass off his Vampire powers as a regular Ability, there were problems with that. First of all, there was no other Ability like his Vampire Skills. They would assume that he was a "New-Gen Original", just like Tsukuru. However, there was something else that concerned him. What the man had said in that video.
He had said that there would be others looking for him. Was he referring to other Vampires? If that was the case, then he needed to keep his powers a secret more than ever. And judging from the man's tone in the video, the other vampires would not be welcoming to him.
Suddenly, something clicked in Quinn's mind. He just remembered that there was something else he could learn. Something that wasn't a part of his Vampire powers. The Level 6 Shadow Ability Book.
***
Back outside, Tsukuru put his hand up to the door, examining it. As he did, he noticed the passcode machine built into the frame. The "vector" of his System locked onto the passcode machine, and his "Scanner" Skill automatically activated.
[Military Training Area Main Entrance
A set of Glathrium doors connected to a passcode machine. Inputting the correct code will cause the doors to open.]
Tsukuru stared at the System message with a deadpan expression.
'No shit, Sherlock.' He thought. He looked back down at the passcode machine. It wasn't going to be a simple 8-digit code to unlock the door. From his knowledge of the military from Shizuka, he knew that Military passwords tended to be exceptionally long. Between ten and twelve digits. He could stand here all day punching in random codes and still be nowhere even close.
Tsukuru grit his teeth, as the memory of Shizuka's Soul Weapon flashed in his mind. If she was here, she would have simply just transformed into dirt and gravel, and slid through the edges of the door frame. Then. Tsukuru's eyes widened. He remembered one of his Skills. A new one that he had seemingly unlocked by Leveling Up his "Summon" Skill. A memory of his own voice flashed through his head.
***
''Video Exchange', huh? Sounds like my Stasis Shift Skill, except for my Summons.'
***
Instantly, a wide smile crept across his face.
"If I can get one of my Summonsin there, I can just switchplaces with them!" Tsukuru said to himself. But, he then narrowed his eyes. That brought up another problem. All of his Summons would have the same problem that he would. They were all humanoid. They couldn't just walk through the door.
"Wait a minute…" Tsukuru replied, putting his hand under his chin. "Don't I have a few unassigned 'Racial Slots'?" During his time here, he had leveled up approximately three times. Additionally, he had unlocked two new Racial Slots. "Hmm…not what would be a good creation to get me through that door?" He muttered. Instantly, his eyes widened in realization, as a memory from an old movie flashed in his head.
***
A well-built man in a leather jacket held out his right hand towards a woman on the floor. In his left hand, he held a shotgun. She had long, blonde hair, and wore a white tank top and white jeans.
"Come with me if you want to live." He replied.
The woman looked up at the man in utter fear. Next to her, there was a young boy with short, brown hair.
"It's okay, mom!" The boy said, holding the woman. "He's here to help! It's okay!"
The woman looked at the boy with shock, before looking back up at the man. She began taking short, deep breaths. Slowly, she reached forward. The woman accepted the man's hand, and he helped her get back up on her feet. The man's gaze lingered on the woman for another moment longer, before it snapped up towards the hall behind her. Footsteps could be heard.