A metallic fist pounded onto the poor students’ face, and at the same time, ‘The Winner’, appeared written in big, bold letters, now floated above his head.
“This is starting to get a little boring,” Nate said.
He opened up the game screen and started to scroll down through his friend’s list. There weren’t many on the list, as he would often only send out a request to those he had found interesting.
‘Damn it, who is he?’ Nate said in anger. ‘I sent everyone who was online on my friends list a fighting request, and it turns out he’s not a single one of them. Even worse, I can’t even remember why I added half these people in the first place.’
Being with Nate and having watched his last few matches it looked like Nate had gotten stronger again, very strong. It was a shame if this fight was to happen, only he would be able to see it.
“Calm down,” Sam said. “Maybe he’s not like us. Not everyone plays the game this much. Even if he said he would send you an invite, he didn’t say when.”
At this point, Sam had actually put nearly everything together and had made a guess at who the Cursed Child was. Although their powers weren’t the same, it was the only thing he could think of, hearing what he had said at the end of the match.
He had only come up with this theory after finding out that Logan was the creator of the game. Perhaps when Quinn had made that shadow dome, he started to display powers that would have been similar to what he used in the game.
With Logan, he could always ask him to program it, so his powers looked different when performing it in the game. This way, his ability would still be kept secret from the world.
But Sam didn’t want to tell Nate this; first of all, it was only a theory, and he wasn’t a hundred percent sure this was right. The second thing was, he wanted to see the joy on Nate’s face when he found out the Cursed Child and Blood evolver were the same person.
***
Inside the martial arts hall, two people were sitting opposite each other quietly. Quinn couldn’t believe what he had just heard. Of course, people weren’t able to just leave the military freely when they wanted, especially for a teacher still in the middle of their term. But what Quinn didn’t know was Leo had multiple conditions set when he had agreed to join, one of them allowing him to leave whenever he wished.
This wasn’t normal for teachers or military to have but it was one of the things that allowed them to sway him over to thier side.
This news had made Quinn upset. Leo was the first adult who treated him normally even at a low power level, and even after finding out he was a vampire. There weren’t many people out there like him.
“Can I ask why?” Quinn asked.
“Of course, it’s why I wanted to speak to you,” Leo replied. “I started to realize it after what happened during the event. You know, I know you, Peter and the Boy Fex were the same types of people. The student Fex hasn’t returned, and we were told he transferred to another base due to complications, but when trying to find out more about what happened to him, I couldn’t.
“Not only that but during the event itself, I met another that was like you.”
‘Is he talking about a vampire? The others said someone had come to collect Fex. Is it possible that it’s who he’s talking about?’ Quinn thought.
“My guess was that she was there to save Peter, and now that Peter is no longer here, I believe they succeeded. But during that time, the two of us fought.”
Hearing this was shocking to Quinn. Seeing that Leo was fine, even during the event, must have meant he could go toe to toe with an adult vampire. Leo was indeed powerful. At the same time, Quinn wished he was there at the time to see the fight.
He could have learnt a lot of things watching two skilled participants.
“If the two of us fought at full strength, I honestly don’t know which of us would win. Our confrontation was short, but it was enough for me to realize that being here has made me a little soft. After the war, I thought it might have been my time to rest and teach a new generation. However, I didn’t realize how corrupt the current system is.
“Not only that, but it’s now too risky for me to be here. I don’t regret my involvement in helping you kids. It brings joy to my heart. But if the military were to find out, I don’t know what would happen. There seem to be greater forces at play here that we can not see.
“Quinn, let me tell you. There’s a war coming. Whether it will be against each other, humans against humans, against the Dalki, or an unknown force, I do not know. But I want to be there to protect my friends and family when I can. To do that, I need to train once again, and I can not do that here.”
The feeling that Quinn had was the same as Leo. He thought others wouldn’t have this feeling of worry over their shoulder. That the current life they’re living now could be taken away at any second. And the last person he thought would feel they would need to get stronger was Leo. He was already plenty strong. Yet, he still felt like the need to get stronger to protect those around him.
“Thank you for telling me. I understand, but why did you feel the need to tell me. After all, you know I’m different.” Quinn replied.
Leo then smiled at Quinn.
“Because although we may be different in one way, I feel like we are nearly precisely the same in another. Both of us want to get strong to protect those around us. When we first met, I felt it.”
“As a leaving gift, there are two things I want to give you.”
Leo then reached around behind him and pulled out what looked like three beast crystals. Each one with its outer layer transparent in colour.
“Are these beast crystals?” Quinns said as he looked closely at them. “What level are they at? They’re so clear!”
“These crystals are at the advanced level. They are specially chosen to be used to be made into a gauntlet type weapon. I wish I could have given you one of my own weapons, but there is a particular reason why I can’t. But this is the next best thing.”
Leo said as he tried to place the crystals into Quinn’s hand, but almost immediately, Quinn pushed the crystals back towards Leo.
“I can’t. I didn’t earn these myself. It doesn’t feel right.” Said Quinn.
“Now is not the time to be so foolish. When you are fighting an enemy, do you think they care how you got these crystals? When you need to protect those close to you, does it matter where you got that power from? Or would you rather see those close to you die because of some silly pride?” Leo was quite stern and straight when he said this, but he needed to be.
Quinn was only 16 years old, but soon, he would turn into an adult and leave, and who knows when the war would start again.
After hearing Leo’s wise words, Quinn took the crystal and placed them in his lap for now.
“The second thing I wanted to give you is not a gift, but something that can only be taught. First of all, tell me what tier do you think my weapon is at?” Leo asked as he pulled his sword out and placed it down for Quinn to look at.
He had seen Leo defeat a Dalki with a single strike, and he knew he was powerful. To be able to be so strong, it had to be at a great tier.
“Is it a legendary tier weapon?” Quinn asked.
“Well, you would be more surprised then when I tell you it is only at the King Tier Level!” Leo replied. “In the past, before beast tier weapons even existed, there was a small group of people who would be able to cut giant stones with their swords. Lift buildings ten times their weight and slow down the ageing process.
“Yet, not a single one of them had what we know today as abilities, but they certainly had powers beyond that of a normal human.”
Hearing this, Quinn thought these humans sounded like Vampires, with the things they could do, but it was clear Leo wasn’t going in that direction. Even though he knew Quinn was different, not once had he called him a vampire.
“I am a descendant of these types of people, this isn’t an ability, and in truth, every human out there is capable of achieving such results. Some even achieve it without realizing it. It’s what saved me during the war. This thing is inside our bodies, and it’s known as Qi. I want to teach you this special technique, and hopefully, you will be able to use it wisely.
“But before even that, I will need to explain to you how I came to learn of it and how I also became known as the hero, the blind swordsman.”
****
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