“You’re worried, aren’t you?” Fex said.
Judging by how long Quinn had remained silent, Fex could tell that he was deep in thought, deciding whether or not to trust him. And, Fex really couldn’t blame him; if he was in Quinn’s situation he would have done the same.
“Is there a risk to this?” Quinn asked the system.
After losing to Fex in battle so easily, and seeing him go toe to toe with Leo. He felt like learning the military martial art and the vampires would put him at a big advantage.
“I think you should go for it,” The system replied. “In terms of other vampires, you’re a bit weak and on the wimpy side. I think this would be major progress for you.”
“I know that!” Quinn snapped back a little annoyed at the system’s words. He knew he was weak but, the system didn’t have to remind him every time.
“I’m talking about him taking control of me; what happens if it becomes permanent?”
“It won’t be, vampires can’t have other vampires as their puppets permanently. It was why he was so interested in your friend. If you want to remove the strings, you can forcibly cut it. Though it may take some time depending on your strength and it causes extreme pain.”
“So there is the possibility he could use me to hurt those around me, even for a short period if he wanted to?”
That was when Quinn came up with an idea of his own. While in the normal gaming pods, both his and Fex’s ability wasn’t selectable. That was because these abilities seemed to be unique to vampires. However, it was different when using Logan’s pod.
With his pod, he was able to program and record abilities, and perhaps find a way so the two of them could link up and use their abilities together.
Inside the game, there was no threat, no danger.
“Let me think about it for now,” Quinn replied. “Why don’t I show you how to play first?”
Quinn then showed the basics of how to use the game’s interface. He also explained the matchmaking system and the process to select an ability.
Fex was pretty upset when he found out he wasn’t able to use his strings-ability in-game but, his mood quickly changed when he realised he was able to customise his in-game avatar according to his preferences.
Fex designed his character in full-black clothing. He looked like an ancient ninja with a face mask and hood, only allowing his eyes to be seen.
He spent more time customizing his character then he did anything else, and he had already used his money card to buy a few extra items of closing to get the full set.
When comparing the Avatar’s Quinn’s now looked incredibly plain. Since he was only able to use the free items that were available to everyone. He could spend the money he had, but he still remembered how he was struggling even getting ten credits not too long ago.
Finally, it was time for them to search for opponents. While doing so, Quinn went for the ‘Quick Selection’ option since he no longer gained Exp from low levels. The opponent would at least need to be at the level three mark for him to gain any Exp.
A match had been confirmed and Fex was transported to the seating area in the arena. He could see Quinn standing on one end while his opponent stood on the other. His opponent was skinny, tall, and seemed to resemble a tree.
What surprised him though was the fact that when he was sat in the seating area, he wasn’t the only one watching Quinn’s fight.
“Hey, you’re new,” Nate said, looking at Fex.
“What is all this?” Fex asked, looking confused. “Is everyone here to see the two of them fight? His opponent must be pretty special.”
He looked at the stand, noticing the crowd that had formed. There were fifty people in total, all dressed up in different avatars. Judging by what Quinn had said about the game, this was optional. Meaning, all the people that had appeared had chosen to do so of their own volition.
“Of course, it seems like Blood Evolver has gained quite a following,” Nate replied.
Since the last fight between Quinn and the level four user, people had become fans of him. They added him to his watch list; so, they would be notified whenever the Blood Evolver was online.
Originally, most of them were watching Quinn’s matches for different reasons. He was known as a hacker, someone who was able to use abilities not programmed into the game. No one knew how he was able to do this.
But, after witnessing his stellar performance from the previous match, they had quickly forgotten about everything else and solely wanted to watch all of the Blood Evolvers upcoming fights.
Nate had watched all the fights of Quinn so far; so, he recognised the regulars and the irregulars, which why he was able to spot Fex right away.
“So, are you implying that all these people are here to see the Blood Evolver?” Fex asked. “What makes him so special?”
Nate thought about that for a while, looking deep in thought. After some time had passed, he finally came up with an answer.
“At first, it was his skills that interested me, much like everyone else here. But, after that, I noticed something; every time he came back to play the game, he would have grown in strength by leaps and bounds. And for some reason, watching someone grow from a small little fish, into a fierce dragon is exciting for me!” Nate explained, glancing at the match. “Now let’s see how much you’ve grown this time.”
The countdown for the match had begun and it was time for the two of them to fight.
Immediately, the tree-like student placed both of his hands on the ground. As he did, multiple thick tree roots started to form across the floor and spiralled their way towards Ray.
The first thing he did was perform a blood swipe at the roots, hoping to cut them down.
As the attack reached the roots, it caused the first set to break but it would keep coming forward.
[Wind walk activated]
With his tier two boots, he was able to outmanoeuvre the roots. Although there were many roots, and his blood swipes couldn’t deal with all of them, he was able to outrun them with his speed.
He circled around the attack and came to the student’s side, preparing himself to try something he had been itching to try out since he had joined the game.
The wood user seeing this immediately shot out a large trunk from the palm of his hand that came out straight and fast.
“Flash step!” Performing the flash step, he avoided the attack and was now even closer to his opponent.
“Trees, protect me!” The wood user shouted and suddenly the user was surrounded by all sides with thick tree trunks. It was as if a forest had suddenly sprouted in the middle of the battlefield.
‘This is perfect!’ Quinn thought. Right now he wanted to test out the idea he had, and the student had decided to become a still target. It was perfect for practice.
Stopping in his tracks, he firmly planted both feet on the floor; then, from his toes, moving up to his hip, he swung out his leg like a whip. While doing all these actions, he started to think back to the feeling of performing blood swipe in his hands, the rush of energy that flowed through his body as they left his fingers.
While practising his kicks in the weapons hall, he had pictured this movement several times; and, right now was the first time he was actually combining the two together. The energy flowed from inside his body and was then released from his legs.
A single large line of red energy left with it, shaped like the crescent moon. It was far larger than that of his regular blood swipe.
As it hit the first set of tree trucks, it managed to slice through them with ease. The tree user ducked down in time, avoiding the attack from cutting his head off.
But Quinn wasn’t done yet; he hopped and changed his stance slightly, performing the same kick with his other leg, cutting the trees down from the other side. Both sides of the tree trunks shook due to the slightly angled cut and fell to the floor.
The wood user was now panicking but, before he could even act, Quinn was already above him, performing the final axe kick, followed by a blood swipe.
[Level 4 opponent has been defeated]
[10 exp gained]
[80/100 experience points]
[Congratulations, a new skill has been created: Blood Crescent kick]
“It seems like you have gotten stronger once again,” Nate said.
****
Mass release today at 00:00 GMT = + 8 or china time.
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