"What do you mean, 'what'?" Peter squeaked out. "This is the 'Level 1' section! You don't have to sit here!"
Vorden tilted his head.
"But I want to sit here." He replied. "You're my friends. I don't care about this stupid power hierarchy."
Tsukuru glanced up at them as he ate his pizza.
Quinn noticed that there was a noticeable gap between their table and the other Level 1s. It seemed that everyone wanted to stay far away from Vorden after seeing his High Ability Level.
Well, "high" on paper. It seemed the watch was still displaying the "Level 5" he had after he copied Erin's Ability, and hadn't reset after Erin's Level 5 Ice Element Ability had been overwritten by Tsukuru's Level 1 Video Ability.
It seemed the watches weren't designed for a person's MC to go down, only up.
Tsukuru narrowed his eyes, and looked at Vorden. The slightly-indented "Ability 1" row of text for Vorden in his vision had reverted to "None".
'Looks like he can only hold on to an Ability for 24 hours.' Tsukuru thought, as brought up his watch to look at its digital clock.
Right now was roughly around the time that Vorden had copied his Ability yesterday, meaning that 24 hours had passed. So, as far as the rest of the school knew, Vorden was still a Level 5.
Vorden and Quinn looked over at Tsukuru's food, then down at their own plates, then to each other.
Instantly, they both shot their arms out towards Tsukuru's plate.
"Hey!" Tsukuru yelled in protest, as he saw his roommates stealing his food. "Eat your own food!"
An argument then ensued.
"No way!" Vorden yelled, stealing a slice. "That food sucks!"
The only one who was actually eating his own food was Peter. But this was most likely out of fear, as Tsukuru was a higher Level than him.
Tsukuru looked over, and saw him eating his food, dejectedly. He grumbled something, as his eye twitched with annoyance.
He repeated the same process as earlier, as he put his hand together, and activated his Ability.
Another plate of pizza appeared between his hands, and he got a message saying his MC had further dropped down yet again.
"Here!" He yelled, roughly shoving the plate towards them. "Now let me eat in peace!"
Vorden and Quinn didn't need a written invitation, as they devoured the plate like vultures.
Tsukuru noticed that Quinn was unnaturally hungry, wolfing down everything in sight.
Eventually, when the second plate of pizza was gone, he turned to his and Vorden's plate of military food, pushed away to the side, wolfing that down, too.
Vorden looked over and noticed that Quinn had grabbed 8 bottles of water.
This was for two reasons. First, it was to complete his first Daily Quest. Second, it was because the last time Quinn had been out in sunlight, he had sweated far more than usual.
The only reason he hadn't been completely dehydrated was due to the eight bottles of water he had drank before leaving his military-funded apartment to complete this same Daily Quest yesterday.
"Damn, you sure eat and drink a lot for a skinny guy." Vorden replied.
Quinn laughed nervously at Vorden's words.
Despite how much he had eaten, he still had this small pang of hunger that hadn't gone away since he healed himself yesterday, even after Tsukuru had given him that chocolate bar.
A System screen appeared in front of Quinn.
[Daily Quest 1 has been completed. 5 Exp received. Exp: 80/100]
'Now there's only 20 Exp I need to Level Up.' Quinn thought with a satisfied grin.
He couldn't wait to see what benefits that would bring him.
Thinking about the System, his memory flashed back to his new Inspect Skill.
Though Tsukuru had shown what his "Inspect" function had shown him about Vorden when he had drawn that image in the library yesterday, Quinn wanted to see what his Inspect Skill would show him.
He looked at Vorden, and activated the Skill. Like before, a screen appeared in his vision.
[Name: Vorden Blade
Race: Human
Ability: None
HP: 10/10
Blood Type: O-]
'Vorden has the same blood type as Tsukuru.' Quinn noticed.
Then his eyes shot widened open in surprise.
'Wait, did it just say Vorden had NO Ability? But Tsukuru said he had a Copy Ability!'
Quinn looked at the screen again.
It was true, his Inspect Skill showed Vorden having no Ability. Seeing that Quinn was staring at him, Vorden raised his eyebrow.
"Vorden…what Ability do you have right now?" He asked.
"Wow, I didn't know you were so interested in me." He laughed, as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Actually, my Ability resets every day, and I haven't touched anyone to copy their Ability yet. Except for you and Peter, but you two are both duds for my Ability."
The group of four continued to talk for a bit until a bell rang throughout the canteen, signalling that breakfast was over and that class would start soon.
As the four of them walked towards the door, Tsukuru, Quinn, and Peter looked over and spotted Kyle, who didn't look at all like he had been in a fight, much less lost it.
"Do you think he'll say anything to a teacher?" Peter asked.
"Doubt it." Quinn replied. "He'd be too embarrassed to admit that he had lost to a lower Level. Plus, it'd make him the target when word got out."
Tsukuru narrowed his eyes.
"The teachers wouldn't do anything, anyway." He muttered, causing the two to turn to him.
"They all turn a blind eye to the bullying, using the excuse of 'It'll make us stronger'." He explained in a bitter tone.
Their teacher of the day was Del, the same person who had shown them around school.
And, just like in the canteen, they all chose to sit close to those with the same Ability Levels. Aside from the group of four, who continued to sit together, in the back of the class.
They sat with Tsukuru on the far right, with Quinn to his left, Vorden next to him, and finally Peter on the far right.
The other students noticed this, and began talking amongst themselves, particularly, the higher Level students.
"What does he think he's doing with those bottom feeders?" One asked in a borderline snarling tone.
Upon hearing that statement, Tsukuru's eyes narrowed.
He opened his hand wide, and activated his Ability.
Back with the higher-Level students, another boy spoke up.
"I saw him sitting with them at the canteen, as well." He replied. "You think this will cause a problem with the hierarchy in school? If he keeps it up, the second-years will get involved."
The first boy was about to speak up, but suddenly, they heard a whistling noise coming from behind them.
Before they could question the noise any further, something whizzed past them, moving too fast for them to make out any fine details. All they knew was that it was black in color, and shaped like a blade.
The object finally stopped when it hit the wall, embedding itself in it. Del's attention from taking attendance was abruptly halted, as he heard the noise of the object hitting the wall roughly ten feet to his left.
He turned his head to look at it.
There, he saw that the object was a dagger made of a black, glossy material, almost like volcanic glass. Its guard and handle looked like they were molded with beast-like properties, including a lizard's head on the guard, with a lizard claw on the right, and a lizard's tail on the left.
Seeing it, Quinn's and Vorden's eyes widened, as they saw it. It looked virtually identical to the Beast Gear dagger Tsukuru had shown them in the library yesterday.
Instantly, the high Levels stopped talking.
The one who had made the "bottom feeders" statement felt a slight sting on his cheek, and felt something wet run down it.
Slowly, he brought his hand up, and felt a cold sensation.
Bringing his hand to his face, he saw his finger that had touched his cheek was covered in blood.
A look of horror briefly appeared on his face, until a look of pure rage overtook it.
Instantly, he whirled his head around to the back of the class.
He saw Tsukuru staring at him with a death glare.
Back up at the class, Del stared at the dagger in the wall.
'Is that…a BEAST WEAPON?' He thought.
He then looked back at the high Level student with the cut cheek. Tsukuru had thrown the dagger in a perfect line, aimed so it would just barely graze the boy's cheek as it passed, slicing it open like a razor.
'You gotta be kidding me with an aim that good!' He thought in shock and astonishment.
Del suddenly deeply resented the fact that the creation of Beast Gear firearms was impossible and impractical.
Del let out a long sigh. The class watched as Del walked over to the wall.
"Can we at least pretend to be civil while in class?" He asked, as he wrenched the dagger out of the wall, and showed it to the class.
As he held it in his hand, they all saw the blade and etchings glow, making it look like running lava.
Everyone stared at the dagger, wide-eyed.
It had clearly gone deep in the wall, as the blade was covered in drywall dust a good two to three inches down the blade's tip.
"And Hikiko." Del replied, causing Tsukuru's gaze to snap to him. Del sighed in defeat. "I'll have to mention this to your sister."
Del walked back to the desk, and placed the Beast Gear dagger on it, producing a louder clatter.
Del coughed loudly to get everyone's attention. He flipped open a book, and began his lecture.
"Now, when we were about to lose the great war with the Dalki," Del began, his voice rising to capture the rapturous moment, his eyes brazing. "That was when they stepped forward, the 'Originals'. These humans had kept their Abilities secret for hundreds of years, passing them down from parent to child."
Del paused to look around, making sure each student was paying attention.
"Thanks to them sharing the knowledge of their Abilities with the rest of Humanity, we were able to reverse the tide of the war, and beat back the Dalki. When we talk about an 'Original' today, we're either talking about a founder of that Ability, or a member of one of the groups who have refused to share their Ability with the rest of the world."
Instantly, everyone turned and looked towards Tsukuru.
His face changed into a look of pure rage and indignation.
"Hey!" He shouted.
His three friends looked in surprise, as Tsukuru jumped to his feet.
"I am the originator of my Ability, and I am under NO OBLIGATION to share it with the rest of the world!"
His death glare shot from student to student.
"ESPECIALLY not in this wretched, disgraceful caste system the world has built!" He replied, slamming down in his seat.
A silence then washed through the class.
Del coughed to get everyone's attention. They noticed he suddenly had a serious look on his face.
"We might live in a time of peace for the moment, but who knows when the war will start again?" He asked. "That…is why you are here. To train you for when the Dalki inevitably return."
Once the class had ended, it was time for the students to take a break.
The group of four walked outside to grab a snack.
Well, Quinn, Peter, and Vorden walked out to grab a snack.
Using his Ability, Tsukuru could make a snack whenever he wished. As soon as Quinn walked outside, a System message appeared.
[All Stats have been halved.]
As Tsukuru looked at the message, his eyes narrowed.
'I KNEW it!' He thought. 'His Stat's were suppressed during that test!'
The group all walked to a nearby bench, and Quinn once again felt weak.
"Hey, are you alright, dude?" Vorden asked in concern. "You're sweating like crazy."
Quinn waved his hand dismissively.
"I'm fine." He replied. "I just get hot easily."
The four of them continued to talk about the experiences they had at their previous schools, until a group of six approached them.
Each of them wore a black arm badge indicating that they were second-year students.