Ch 51:- Vampire Among Us

"But sir, why can't I spar with them? Shouldn't I also practice what you taught us with other classmates?" Rayne looked at Leo with puppy eyes, which were hardly having any effect due to obvious reasons. He was blind. Leo sighed after hearing Rayne say that same thing for the 100th time. He turned to all the students present and said, "Whether you spar or not will be determined by a majority vote. Students who are against Rayne joining for spar, raise their hands up." Immediately, all of the students raised their hands.

"I thought you guys liked having a spar with me," Rayne said, looking at the crowd in disbelief.

At that moment, one of the bravest kids in the whole human history spoke up. "If you didn't beat us up every time we spar, then this day wouldn't have come." Every other student looked at him with pity, while some were even shedding tears.

"I will see you one day or another, and you would have to fight me. That day, I will show you wh—" Rayne threatened, but his threatening was interrupted by Leo, who smacked his head.

"Now why did you do that?" Rayne said.

"You need to understand, Rayne. The task that I gave you is for your own good. It will help you to build up your stamina your martial art skill in itself is good maybe even better than the technique I am teaching them but what you lack right now is stamina and proper utilization of it in each and every of your attacks," Leo said.

"Yeah, I know that, but it is hardly having any effect on me," Rayne said while motioning to the chains.

"Well, if that's so, then I guess we will be needing to up your weight," Leo said before holding the chains and then increasing its weight through the chains' active ability. Suddenly, Rayne felt the weight of the chains shift, and it was much heavier than before. He looked at Leo wanting to say something, but at that moment, Leo said, "Now, if you could complete ten while lap of the track with the weight still on, I could think about giving you some extra special lessons." Hearing what Leo said, Rayne's eyes widened because he knew what Leo was implying. He was talking about teaching him Qi, although he already knew how to do it, but it was all self-study. He never had a master to study from, but now he was given an opportunity, and how could he miss such a thing?

At that moment, a system message appeared:

[Quest: Impression Matters

Description: Run 10 laps around the school ground with a 96 kg weight without using Qi or blood aura to aid you or stopping.

Reward: Special Lessons with Leo, Special Instructor Token.]

Feeling Rayne's confusion about the Special Instructor Token, it immediately displayed its details:

[Special Instructor Token: A token that increases the learning efficiency when in the presence of an instructor.]

"Oh, so that's what it's all about! I understand now," exclaimed Rayne mentally as he took off running to complete his quest without further ado.

Meanwhile, with the rest of the group. Erin and Layla teamed up together and were sparring with each other to hone their skill with the martial arts that Leo showed and Quinn was making his way towards Fex who was standing alone as he was a new student and everybody having their own friends and partner to fight with so it was something that was expected.

"I guess you already know what I am," Quinn said while keeping his fist closed, ready for anything that might happen.

"Do you know who I am?" Fex asked.

"Fex sanguinis correct," Quinn said.

"Well, it's to be expected. I thought maybe my fame was starting to die around the other families." Fex said, swiping his hair back. "Well, it's clear you're not from my family. Otherwise, you wouldn't have attacked me yesterday, but I won't pry into your business because that would just be rude of me. Anyway, go ahead. It seems you didn't approach me for no reason at all."

needed any help, you would offer your hand." Quinn then took in a deep breath. "I need you to help me with the ghoul problem of mine - The one that you captured the other day."

Fex then smiled. "I thought as much. I see, perhaps a vampire recklessly transformed a human huh, and then left you a halfling, or lesser, to deal with the problems. Who would be so irresponsible to turn someone into a ghoul without preparing everything beforehand?"

It seemed like Fex was coming up with his own ideas was a good thing on its own. It meant that Quinn didn't have to worry about come up with his own story with no plot holes and could just stay silent.

"Judging by your silence, I'm pretty close aren't I?" He assumed as he started laughing. "Haha, when I become the family head, with my genius brain, our family will rise to the head position."

"So you can help then?" Quinn asked

Fex looked at Quinn for a minute before saying Of course I can help you," Fex said.

But, I do have one condition," Fex said, looking over in the direction of the two girls. "You see, the one with the golden hair, all I ask for is some alone time with her."

As Quinn turned his head, he knew straight away who he was talking about - It was Erin. "Why? Why her? Why can't it be someone else?" Quinn asked Quinn thought that he would be needing someone to give him blood supply while he was here just like Layla was to him.

"If you need blood, I can provide it to you," Quinn added.

"Oh, don't worry. I have no problem obtaining blood. Although, it would be nice to have a little blood pet. I promise you that if you just agreed and let me meet and talk with her, then I'll help you with your little ghoul situation."

"Are you going to hurt her?" Quinn asked.

"What? Are you crazy? Of course not." Fex replied, "So, what will it be?"

Now, Fex should be thankful that Rayne was not present; otherwise, he would have shown him what 50 shades of Vampire torture is like. He should be really thankful to his luck that saved him from such a fate.

Combat class has ended and once again Rayne had failed the quest after 6th lap he had collapsed and was unable to run anymore.

"Hey, no way we can trust that guy!" Layla shouted.

Currently, the entire group had finished their combat classes for the day and were inside Quinn's room excluding Rayne. He had just informed them all of what had happened yesterday when he had rescued Peter. He also shared what had happened at the combat class and Fex's request.

"I hate to admit it," Vorden said, "but I kind of agree with Layla on this one. What is another vampire doing in the school in the first place? Is he here because of you, Quinn, or maybe Peter?"

"I don't think that's the case. Honestly, he seems to be disinterested in me. He also said something about not being meant to be here either. I don't know if he was telling the truth or not. Maybe he was trying to get me to reveal myself." Quinn felt like pulling out his hair at this moment. There were so many things running through his head. "I wish there was a manual or something on how to be a vampire. They have so many rules I just don't understand."

"The thing is, I can understand if he wanted you or Peter, but why Erin? It doesn't make any sense." Vorden shook his head.

Inside the room, Erin had been there the whole time, silently listening away. So far, she hadn't said a single word, as if her mind was somewhere else.

"That I have no clue about either. All I know is he said he wouldn't hurt her," Quinn replied.

"Hey, I have a question," Layla said. "How come when you're in the sunlight, you get weak while he doesn't? Is he some kind of special vampire like your brother? Because when we left the training hall, he seemed to be walking fine."

"I actually don't know, but back to the topic," Quinn said. "We don't know if Duke is going to keep a closer eye on Peter for not accepting the ability or what he plans to do. If we don't get Peter off this new diet of his as soon as possible, then we might have a serious problem on our hands. If it's a matter of trusting the vampire boy and the Duke, I think right now I trust the vampire more," Quinn said.

"You might be right about that one," Vorden replied, "but the problem is, how do we convince Erin?"

At that moment, Erin, who had been hearing their conversation, spoke up after returning from her deep thoughts. "I'll do it. I'll go see this trash."

"What? Erin, you're not thinking straight. He's a vampire. He could be planning to do the same thing to you as Quinn did to Peter!" Layla shouted before pausing. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean that in a bad way."

"I'm not afraid of him. That fool needs to learn his place. He needs to learn not to mess or blackmail others ever again," Erin said.

The others felt a little touched. It seemed like Erin had changed, as if she was fighting for their sake, something she had never done in the past. But little did they know, Erin was still the same as always. When she was talking about blackmail, she was referring to her own situation. She was afraid that if she didn't go through with this, there was a chance that Fex could tell everyone about what she had read.

She regretted giving him an easy time when they were at the library, and now she wished she had taught him a lesson. This time she would not make the same mistake. "Don't worry, I'm confident in my skills. If I were to lose to scum like him, then I deserved it for not training hard enough," she said before turning around and exiting the room. As she was leaving, Vorden said, "We will meet you on the roof. The three of us will wait for you there and ask if you need anything." Erin looked back and said, "I will remember and thank you," before exiting the room.

When Erin exited the room, everyone looked at the door in surprise. Vorden was the first to break the silence by saying, "Did she just say thanks? Pinch me, I must be dreaming!"

Layla chimed in, "Quick, somebody call the Guinness World Records! This might be the first time Erin has ever said thank you!"

Peter couldn't help but comment at their reactions. "You guys are overreacting."

Vorden rolled his eyes. "You just don't understand the magnitude of this moment, Peter. This is like seeing a unicorn or a talking pineapple."

Layla nodded in agreement. "It's like witnessing a solar eclipse or finding a needle in a haystack."

Quinn, who had been quiet up until this point, couldn't help but join in on the fun. "It's like discovering that pineapple on pizza is actually good."

"Ew, that just disgusting," Peter said while making a disgusted face.

They all laughed at that, enjoying the lighthearted moment amidst the serious situation they were facing.

"Okay now I guess that is enough laugh for today why don't we start with our plan," Vorden said still laughing.

"Yes I agree," and with that they got engaged preparing for any complications that might have happen during the meeting.

~Some times later~

Erin could be seen standing in front of Rayne's room with her hand extended, contemplating whether to open it or not. She hesitated for a moment, recalling Quinn's words, "I don't want him to get overly involved with this vampire business anymore. I want him to live a normal life, and as his big brother, it is my responsibility." She wondered if she should go against his wishes and involve Rayne in what was happening. After a few minutes of contemplation, she decided to respect Quinn's decision and turned to leave.

Just then, the door opened, and a hand extended from within, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her into the dark room. The room was extremely dark, with no light except the lantern, whose light was not even illuminating a single thing. Then she saw a pair of red eyes looking at her before he spoke up.

"I noticed you were standing outside. Are you okay? Is there any problem?" Rayne said.

Erin was taken aback and blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. "Uh, I was just...admiring your door. It's really nice."

Rayne looked at her skeptically. "Okay, that's...random. Is everything okay?"

Erin bit her lips before finally deciding to tell Rayne the truth. "Actually, we were just talking about a vampire that appeared in our class. You may have noticed. Quinn didn't want to involve you in the whole vampire business, but I thought maybe you should know."

"What...did... he say?" Rayne asked.

"What?" Erin said, not understanding what he was asking.

"I am asking you what did that vampire say," Rayne asked once more.

"Oh! Quinn said that he asked me to meet him at the roof," Erin said.

"Okay, and thank you for informing me. You may go now, and don't worry, I will always protect you," Rayne said.

As Erin exited, Rayne immediately started to meditate to calm his mind a little bit. He had recently noticed that, for some reason, he was having temper problems. It could be due to many reasons, like the psychological stress that he was going through, some mythical reason, or maybe he was feeling sympathetic to her having viewed her blood memories when he first drank from her. She was an orphan who lost her parents to the Dalki and got traumatized due to them. A simple girl who only wants to become strong and powerful to avenge the death of her parents; a very tragic origin.

"Sigh, life could sometimes be tough," Rayne said out loud as he stared at his ceiling while lying on his bed.

Meanwhile, outside Rayne's dorm room, Erin was standing there, processing what he had said to her.

"Why did he say that he will always protect me? I didn't do anything for him from day one. I ignored those two brothers. Then why? Why did he say that to me?" Erin thought, confused and dazed.

Lost in her thoughts, she slowly made her way towards her dorm room.