Layla turned to look at him, her eyes widened in surprise.
"Wait, aren't you going to be participating, as well?" she asked, genuinely stunned.
Tsukuru let out a nervous laugh, and scratched the back of his neck.
"Actually, I've been putting off replenishing my stockpiles for a while," he replied, glancing away. "And it's probably something that I should take care of before we leave."
Erin's face scrunched up in slight confusion.
"'Stockpiles'?" she asked. "You mean like your Potions?"
Muka glanced over at Sergeant Faye, an eyebrow raised in confusion.
"'Potions'?" she asked.
Sergeant Faye let out a sigh.
"Among the many things that he appears capable of creating with his Ability is a special 'Potion' that can be used to heal injuries," she replied. "It's one of the two things that he…sells to the base on a weekly basis."
In the video feed, Tsukuru let out a sigh.
"Among other things," he replied.
Tsukuru walked over to another corner of the room, Galina following after him.
Once he was a significant distance away from the others, he held his hand out in front of him.
The sound of electronic interference could be heard again, and pixels began to appear in the space directly in front of him.
However, instead of forming a Humanoid figure, this time, the pixels took on the shape of a square table.
There was a bright flash of light, producing another glare on the screen.
Once it faded, there was a table made out of black metal in front of him.
Tsukuru then tilted his hand downwards, making it closer to the floor.
The sound of electronic interference was heard again, and more pixels appeared, this time, taking on the shape of a chair.
Just like before, a flash of light-blue light created a glare, obscuring the screen.
When it faded, there was a chair made out of the same black metal in front of the table.
The group all watched as Tsukuru sat down in the chair, and began a process of making one object after another using his Ability.
These objects ranged from daggers, to bows, to strange, glass cylinders filled with a green liquid and an iron rod attached to the end, to even these strange, slender flasks filled with either red or blue liquid.
The two Vampire Leaders remained silent for a moment.
"I…I now see what you meant when you said that this boy contains an Ability similar to that possessed by the Tenth," Muka finally replied, not sure what else to say.
Edward merely nodded.
"Indeed," he replied. "He does seem to possess a rather…powerful Ability."
If Shizuka's words from earlier were correct, and this "Tsukuru" would at one point join the Tenth Family alongside the "Talen" boy, Edward would never have to worry about the family every having a shortage of blood packs among the Vampires in the "Pooling Area" outside the castle.
At least, assuming that he could create blood using his Ability.
While Sergeant Faye had mentioned that he seemed capable of creating his own food, she had also made a point to mention that he didn't seem capable of creating "living" things outside of his Summons.
And blood was very much a "living" thing.
The group all watched as the four students still remaining began to pair up with different Beasts.
Initially, Erin had approached Artoria to fight against, but before Haunted Knight could even draw her sword, she felt a hand on her left shoulder.
She turned her head back, her armor making an audible "creak", and saw that Starrk was now standing behind her.
"General Starrk?" she asked, her voice resounding and seeming to echo, as if her helmet was completely empty.
Starrk cracked the right side of his neck with his other hand.
"Why don't you sit this one out, Artoria?" he asked, before his face hardened, his look of bored laziness taking on a more serious expression.
Erin's face remained unchanged, as she watched the two converse.
Artoria looked at Starrk for a moment.
Eventually, she took her hand off of the handle of her sword, and bowed to Starrk.
"As you wish, General Starrk," she replied, before taking a step back.
She walked away from the two, them staring intently at each other, as they tried to size each other up.
Erin tightened her grip on her sword.
"I saw you fight against Sergeant Leo the other day," Erin replied, her eyes narrowing. "I don't think I caught your name."
Starrk's face tightened.
He reached his right hand over, and drew his katana out of its sheath.
"Coyote Starrk," he replied. "Do try not to make this…too boring."
Back in the group, Vorden looked from one Summon to the next, appearing as if he was trying to decide which one of them he was going to fight.
For a moment, his gaze seemed to lock on Gobkiko.
At least, that was until Raksharta was seen approaching him, a wide, predatory smile on her face.
"So you're 'Vorden', huh?" she asked, her smile widening and she took up a fighting stance. "I hear from Artoria and Kujaku that you're pretty strong. Why don't you show me?"
Layla could be seen watching Vorden and Raksharta interact, a noticeable look of fear on her face.
However, one of Tsukuru's Summons was then seen approaching her, as well.
Looking over, Layla watched as Sylvia began walking over towards her.
"A fellow archer, huh?" she asked, a look of amusement on her face.
Her right hand reached down to her side, brushing away the right side of her black cape and revealing a quiver attached to her waist, going down diagonally across her back with the opening near her right hip.
She pulled out a wooden arrow with an iron tip from the quiver, and began twirling it in her hand.
"Don't hold it against me if I come off too strong," she replied, her smile widening slightly. "The only experience I have fighting is against my liege."
Layla's face tensed, and she reached behind her back for the Intermediate-Tier Elven Shortbow.
***
As Vorden and Layla both went in separate directions towards an empty space in the Assembly Hall, with both Raksharta and Sylvia following each of them respectively, that left only Quinn still standing near the front entrance of the room.
He could be seen looking from one Summon to the next, trying to pick an opponent.
"Looks like the 'Talen' boy is going to have a hard time," Shizuka replied, a tone of amusement in her voice as she wore a grin that matched. "All of the easy Beasts have already been spoken for."
Sergeant Faye nodded.
"Indeed," she replied. "Of the remaining four Beasts, two of them have the capability of flight. And given how student Talen is recorded as being a close-range fighter, that would make fighting either of them…difficult."
Shizuka's smile widened.
"Additionally, he'd be a fool to try and fight Artoria," she added. "It'd just be a exercise in futility."
Sergeant Faye turned to Shizuka, her eyebrow raised in confusion.
"Who?" she asked.
Shizuka pointed at a certain point at the screen.
"The knight," she replied. "The one that student Heyley initially tried to fight."
Sergeant Faye continued to stare at Shizuka, looking at her as if she had suddenly grown a second head.
"Wait," she replied, her look of confusion transforming into one of surprise. "Are you saying…that these 'Beasts'...have names?! And…how do you know them?!"
Shizuka let out a snort of amusement.
"Of course they have names," she replied. "How else what you give orders to a group of ten Beasts? Just point and say 'you'? And to answer your other question, I was there when he named them."
She pointed back at the screen.
"Their names, in order, are Artoria, Kujaku, Sylvia, Gobkiko, Raksharta, and Galina," she replied, pointing at each of the other Summons in order. "The only one whose name I don't know is the big one there."
She pointed at Demona to show the others who she was referring to.
"She must be new."
Sergeant Faye looked at Shizuka, completely stunned.
Or at least, she was until the voice of Edward snapped her out of it.
"Wait, why would fighting this…'Artoria' be an 'exercise in futility' for him?" he asked, an eyebrow raised in confusion. "Just because she's wearing armor?"
A wide, amused smirk split across Shizuka's face.
"She's not wearing armor," Shizuka replied. "She is armor."
Muka and Edward both looked at Shizuka, confusion clear on their faces at her words.
"What do you mean, 'she is armor'?" Muka asked after a long pause.