'Damn it.' Quinn thought as he saw the score.
Knowing that he had a Strength Stat of "16" with the Black-Horned Gauntlets equipped, he had estimated that he would have had to use roughly half of his strength to match Layla's score of "8".
But such macro-level control was nearly impossible to get right, and he had gone slightly over.
Tsukuru glanced over at Erin.
"You know, taking the boost from his Basic-Tier gauntlets into account, he probably got the same score as Layla." Tsukuru replied, trying to do damage control.
Vorden turned to them, an excited smile on his face.
"It's still higher than the score he got in the placement test!" He replied. "He only got a score of 5 then!"
Vorden then turned to Quinn.
"You been working out or something?" He asked.
Quinn started to laugh nervously, as he tried to come up with an excuse.
"Actually, it's all thanks to that game you showed me." Quinn replied. "I met someone in the game who really helped me, and showed me how to activate my Beast Gear properly. I worked hard, hoping that I wouldn't be useless to you guys. When I threw that Beast Stone in the assembly hall, I realized how useful it would be if I learned how to activate my Beast Weapon."
It was a lie, but Quinn hoped it was a convincing one.
Erin narrowed her eyes.
"You're not the 'useless' one here…" She muttered, glancing over at Peter.
Peter shrank back from her gaze.
Vorden raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Didn't that second-year say that you need to 'treat it like activating your Ability'?" He asked. "I thought you didn't have one?"
Hearing this, Tsukuru narrowed his eyes, and turned to him.
"Mono's words come from a very biased source." He replied, causing the others to turn to him. "Of course people without Abilities can activate Beast Gear. Otherwise Pure wouldn't be able to use them, and they rely on the power of Beast Gear more than anyone else!"
Tsukuru's statement made Layla's heart race for a moment, a jolt running through her.
"Either way, a score of "11" isn't that impressive." Erin replied. "The only reason we're even talking about it is because you're a Level 1."
Tsukuru grit his teeth in irritation.
Worried that this might still not be enough to convince Erin, he decided to take matters into his own hands.
Instantly, he held out his hand in front of him.
"Summon." He replied.
Instantly, the sound of electronic interference could be heard.
The sound made the other five all turn to him. When they did, they saw pixels begin to form in the empty space a few feet in front of him. The pixels clustered together into the shape of his Haunted Knight.
There was a flash of light. When it faded, Tsukuru's Haunted Knight was standing in front of him in her "Knight Sentry" pose.
A moment later, she lifted her right hand off of her sword, and began to walk forward, her sword held by her side in her left hand. As she walked, her heavy steps could be heard.
The group watched as the Haunted Knight approached the strength machine. As she stood in front of it, her posture began to change. She held her sword out straight out lengthwise by her rib, assuming the same "thrust" stance that Erin had assumed while fighting her.
Instantly, Layla's eyes widened, as she realized what she was doing.
"Wait, is she going to-" She started.
However, she was cut off by the loud banging noise that resulted from the Haunted Knight thrusting her sword forward at the machine, as if trying to pierce it.
Instantly, the number began to climb.
The group watched in amazement as it easily shot past Layla's "8", and even Quinn's "11", and then kept going.
15…16…17…18
The number kept rising higher and higher, before it eventually stopped at "20".
Peter's, Quinn's, Vorden's, and Layla's jaws all dropped.
The Haunted Knight then shifted back to her "Knight Sentry" pose. A moment later, she began to break down into pixels, her job now complete. Soon, she had completely vanished from sight.
Tsukuru smirked in satisfaction, and turned to Erin.
"Even with Peter's…inadequate level of strength, my Summon can make up for the detriment." He replied, trying to reason with Erin.
Erin thought about it for a second.
"Fair enough." She replied finally. "Even with the extra baggage, I believe that with the three of you, me, and Vorden, we can still come out with the top score."
She then turned to Tsukuru, and held out her hand expectantly. Knowing what she wanted, Tsukuru rolled his eyes.
He activated his Ability.
The sound of electronic interference could be heard, and two groups of pixels began to form in his hand. The pixels clustered together into the shape of a pair of gauntlets.
There was a flash of light.
When it faded, Tsukuru was holding another set of the Intermediate-Tier Knight Gauntlets in his hand.
"Here." He replied, stretching his arm out towards Erin.
She instantly reached out, and grabbed them. As she put them on, she felt the Beast Energy surge through her like a sudden surge of strength.
'Interesting, I feel just as strong with these gauntlets as I do with my sword.' Erin thought.
On a hunch, she wrapped her hand around the handle of her sword, and slid it out of its sheath. As she held it up in front of her, Erin felt her strength explode, even more Beast Energy surging through her.
Slowly, she began to walk up to the strength machine.
The group watched as she assumed the same "thrust" stance the Haunted Knight did.
The same "bang" was heard, as her sword struck the machine. Instantly, the number began rising higher and higher.
It passed the "8" and "11" mark in the blink of an eye. Then, it passed Layla's score of "15", and even the Haunted Knight's score of "20".
Eventually, it stopped at "31".
Seeing the number, Erin felt a surge of satisfaction run through her. She placed her sword back in its sheathe.
After testing everyone's strength, the group decided to discuss a few things, such as formation, and what to do.
They decided that both Tsukuru and Layla would stay at the back, as they were their long-ranged fighters, and Erin, Vorden, and Tsukuru's Haunted Knight would stay at the front, as their strong melee fighters.
They all decided that Quinn and Peter would be placed in the center for their own "protection".
Erin felt it was quite useless to practice anything else after finding out how weak the other's Abilities were, as after herself and Vorden, the highest remaining Ability Level was Tsukuru, at Level 3, so the group ended their meeting early.
As Erin went off to train elsewhere on her own and Layla went off to practice in the archery range, the group of Tsukuru, Quinn, Peter, and Vorden had a "meeting" of their own.
"Well, if combat classes have been cancelled for the day, what are you two going to do?" Vorden asked, looking at Quinn and Tsukuru, who were standing next to each other.
The two of them exchanged looks, them both thinking the same thing.
"We're gonna go to the VR Room." Quinn replied. "I've been trying out a bunch of different Abilities in the game, trying to figure out which Ability I want to get in the future."
Suddenly, Vorden shuddered.
"You guys go ahead, then." He replied. "I'm gonna help Peter train his Ability."
Tsukuru and Quinn nodded, and they left the training room as a pair.
As the two left, Vorden turned to Peter.
"C'mon, Peter." Vorden replied. "Let's see if we can get you to at least Level 2 before we go through the Portal."
Peter looked around the room at the other students before answering.
"Yeah." He replied. "Sounds good."
But Peter's strange actions didn't go unnoticed by Vorden.
He had a bad feeling that it was somehow related to those "friends" he had seen Peter hanging around with lately.