Back inside, the group of three Level 1s, well, two Level 1s and a 1.3, walked down the halls towards their next class.
"I can't believe you did that!" Peter replied.
Quinn however, had a ghost of a smile on his face.
"Yeah, well they were gonna take our credits, anyway." Quinn replied, making Peter turn to him. "The least we can do is annoy them a little."
It was at that point that Riley barreled past them.
"Out of my way, you little shits!" He replied, shoulder-checking Peter as he ran past, knocking him into Quinn's side.
As He ran past, both Quinn's and Tsukuru's eyes were locked on Riley's retreating form.
They both had the same thought.
'You're gonna help me level up.'
As they walked, Quinn increased his pace so he was walking neck-to-neck with Tsukuru.
Seeing this, Tsukuru smirked. It appeared that Quinn wanted to speak with him without Peter in earshot.
"So, you get the same System Quest I did?" Tsukuru asked.
"Yep." Quinn replied.
Tsukuru glanced over at him.
"You wanna run after him now?" He asked. "Ambush him before he gets to the doctor's office?"
Quinn shook his head.
"Nah, it'd rouse too much attention." He replied. "Besides, with a guy like that, I'm sure we haven't seen the last of him."
Hearing his words made Tsukuru grit his teeth in annoyance. Quinn was right, and that was the problem. Riley was a bully. And people like him were like parasites. Once they got a hold of something valuable, they rarely let go until they sucked it dry of all its resources.
Time marched on for the three boys, as they continued the rest of their day.
The group went on their way for the rest of the day. As for the bullying situation, it seemed that nobody else had decided to bother them today.
At one point during the day, Mono was seen being escorted back to the second-year building by sergeant Shizuka. But he looked…different. His usual arrogance and confidence was gone, replaced with a look of horror and dread.
He shook like a leaf, as if he was shivering, despite the temperature being far too warm for that. He looked like a man who'd been to hell and back.
Once classes were done, the group returned to the canteen for dinner. Like breakfast, Tsukuru had just made his own food. This time, it was a dish that seemed rather strange to Peter and Quinn.
It was a dish consisting of pieces of chicken on top of a pile of rice, with a strange red sauce.
When questioned, Tsukuru had claimed that it was a dish from his family's now-destroyed homeland of Japan, a dish called "Sweet and Sour Chicken".
As they ate, Peter looked around.
"Hey." Peter replied, causing both Quinn and Tsukuru to turn to him. "I don't see Vorden anywhere. Do you think he's okay?" Peter asked, worried.
Tsukuru surveyed the room, but he was unable to find Vorden anywhere.
"I'm sure he's fine." Quinn replied. "Besides, we all know that he's safer around her than we are."
His statement made Tsukuru grumble under his breath.
They all continued to eat, and once they were done, they all headed back to their dorm room. To their surprise, Vorden was already in the room, laying on his bed.
"Hey, guys." Vorden said with a wave. "I've been waiting for you guys for a while." Vorden said, as he sat up on his bed. "I wanted to…apologize for my outburst earlier. I wasn't mad at you. I'm mad at this stupid system."
Tsukuru narrowed his eyes at Vorden, as he noticed a bruise on the side of Vorden's face, making it slightly red and swollen.
It was at that point that a loud grumbling filled the room.
Instantly, the other three boys all turned to Quinn, looks of confusion on their faces.
Seeing the looks, Quinn's cheeks flushed red. He let out a nervous laugh.
"Sorry." Quinn replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "Guess I'm still hungry from dinner." It seemed like his hunger had been steadily growing ever since he had healed after his fight with Kyle.
Hearing this, Vorden's face softened, and he smiled.
"Hey, why don't you go grab something from the convenience store?" Vorden suggested. "It's not far."
Vorden then walked over to Quinn.
Quinn looked at him confused.
Vorden then tapped his watch against Quinn's.
"Transfer of 10 credits successful." The notification sounded.
Quinn looked up at him.
"Don't refuse man." Vorden said with a smile. "Just take it as my apology, and go grab something."
Quinn smiled.
"Thanks." He replied.
As Quinn was starting to make his way out of the door, something caught Tsukuru's eye. He looked out the window, his eyes narrowing.
He saw Riley and his friends heading off into town, heading towards the store.
"Hey, Quinn!" Tsukuru called out.
Hearing his name being called, Quinn stopped in his tracks, and turned to him.
"You mind if I tag along with you?" He asked.
Quinn raised an eyebrow in confusion. It seemed like a bizarre request.
From earlier today in the canteen, Quinn knew that Tsukuru could simply make anything he wanted to eat, so he had virtually no reason to ever need to go to the convenience store.
"Uh, sure?" Quinn replied, prompting Tsukuru to head towards the door, as well.
Together, Quinn and Tsukuru left the dorm, and headed off towards the convenience store.
Once they were down the hall and out of earshot, Quinn turned to Tsukuru.
"So what's the real reason you wanna go with me?" He asked.
Tsukuru's eyes narrowed.
"I saw Riley and his friends head this way." Tsukuru replied.
Quinn immediately understood why Tsukuru suddenly wanted to head into town. It was time to "Level Up".
The convenience store wasn't that far away from the school, being a mere 20 minutes on foot.
In front of the school, there was a huge gate with two guards standing at the entrance at all times.
As Quinn and Tsukuru approached the gate, they both raised their arms, so the guards could see their watches on their wrists.
The guards nodded, and waved them through.
The two then ran to the convenience store.
Because they both had roughly 10 points in Stamina, they were both able to run over a kilometer in five minutes without either of them being out of breath.
Although, Quinn did notice that Tsukuru was slightly faster than him, as seemed to be even less winded.
This was primarily due to Tsukuru's Stats being slightly higher than Quinn's, as Quinn's Stats were all at 10, while Tsukuru's were all at 11.
However, it seemed that both of their Systems had their trade-offs.
While Quinn could see perfectly in the night, as if it was broad daylight to him, Tsukuru had noticed that a System message had popped up in front of him the second it got dark out.
[Night Vision Mode initiated.]
Tsukuru's vision turned into shades of green, and it was then that he could see as perfectly clear as Quinn could, almost as if Tsukuru was now wearing night-vision goggles.
As the two entered the convenience store, Quinn raided the shelves, grabbing his favorite snacks.
Some late-night ice cream, and even some bags of potato chips.
It was then that Tsukuru finally saw Riley.
"There he is!" Tsukuru muttered bitterly, causing Tsukuru to look in the direction that Tsukuru was staring.
They spotted Riley and his friends down another aisle.
The two ducked down under the aisle as the group passed so they wouldn't be spotted.
Quinn looked next to him, and saw that the aisle they were next to was filled with halloween masks.
Quinn smirked, as he grabbed one.
The mask covered the top of the wearer's face, only leaving the mouth visible. It also had a realistic blood-splatter design.
Seeing it, Tsukuru rolled his eyes.
"Whatever, man." He muttered. "You do you."
Tsukuru smashed his fist into his open palm.
"I ain't hiding! He's gonna know exactly who's knocking him off his perch!"