My Vampire System Novel PDF EP 1-100

Chapter 1: Just an old Book "Try not to die by tripping over yourself, Varun!" A boy shouted down the hallway, laughing uncontrollably right after.Varun dismissed the petty mockery as he carried on walking down the school corridor. The harassment had become a daily occurrence for him, but it still bothered him just as much as it did every other day. Thus, he wasn't able to hold back his desire to retaliate.Varun slowed down his stride and stopped. He pushed his glasses back up onto the ridge of his nose as they had slipped down from his face. Just from looking at the glasses, it was clear that he needed a new pair - One could tell that they were heavily worn. The glasses looked crooked as he wore them, and even the temples had tape covering them.He then turned around and immediately raised his middle finger, responding to the slander, "I bet you don't even know how many fingers I'm holding up!"Upon hearing the taunt, the boy clenched his fist and started running towards Varun."You level 1 piece of crap! When are you going to learn that you don't belong in this world?"The boy placed both of his hands together, and a green ball of light started to form between them. When he was only a few meters away from Varun, the boy threw his hands forward and a green beam shot out from the palm of his hands.Varun had nowhere to go, and the ray of light was too fast for him to dodge. Hence, he knew that all he could do was grit his teeth and bear the pain. As the light hit him, his body was lifted into the air and sent flying backward on to the far end corridor wall."What's going on?" A student among the crowd said. "Are they fighting on the last day of school?"A crowd had immediately formed outside, interested in what the commotion was all about. One of the female students ran over to the wall's damaged part to check on the assaulted student's safety.As the dust started to settle down, Varun's slightly curly black hair slowly came into view. When the smoke eventually cleared up, the female student finally saw who it was. She instantly backed away and continued on with her business as if nothing happened.The moment that the female student had returned to her friends, he could see that they were laughing at her."I can't believe you tried to help him." "I didn't see who it was." The girl retorted, her cheeks flushed.After that, Varun stood up and lifted his glasses that were thrown on the floor. To his dismay, one of the hinges had fallen off once again. Instead of wearing the worn-out pair, he let it hang on his hand."Damn it. Not again..."It was the last day of school for Varun, so he hoped that someone wouldn't try anything with him. He was sick and tired of their doings, but he wasn't the type to ignore those either. He had seen people who had chosen to keep their heads down and tolerate the harassment. However, their treatment was far worse than what he received.He didn't bother to stay at school like the rest of the students, he picked up his broken glasses and proceeded to leave school. As he walked past, he saw the students having conversations among themselves in their circles. Some were laughing while some had tears, thinking it was the last time they would ever see each other again. However, Varun wasn't a part of any of that and he didn't want to be. Cliques would not welcome him anyway. He was the weird one.When he finally arrived home, he immediately went to work. Living in a single bedroom apartment with just enough space to fit a single bed and desk was enough for him. A TV was mounted on the wall, but Varun would merely use it as a background noise source and didn't watch anything.The apartment was provided to him by the government since he had no living relatives and was only sixteen years of age. On top of his bed was a single suitcase that contained all of his belongings that were neatly packed.He walked towards a cabinet, immediately pulling a drawer open which accommodated a single book. It was a large and thick hard-bound book, weighing about half a kilo. The front cover of the book was in a colour that mimicked a lighter shade of blood. In the centre, the lonesome fronts of an upper and lower jaw bone could be seen, both coloured in the swampy shade of brown. The upper jaw sort of had four separated fangs. Meanwhile, the lower one had two sharp teeth on the two far ends on the overhead and five evenly spaced underneath."Let's try again today," Varun said as he lifted the book and placed it on top of the desk.He then quickly went to his bag to pull out a little test tube that was half- filled with a colourless liquid."Test 112, Hydrochloric acid. Let's see how it goes?" He then started to slowly pour the liquid out of the test tube onto the book."So far, there is no reaction." He proceeded to continue to pour all of the test tube contents on the book, but there was no reaction at the end of his experiment.Carefully, he examined the book while jotting down the results in his notebook. Seeing if there was any damage done, yet the book looked the same as always."Another failure. Why won't you open? Why did mum and dad even have this thing?"One hundred and twelve times - This was the number of different ways that Varun had tried to open the book. Not only did the book not open, but it seemed like it cannot be damaged either. He had even tried burning the book, cutting the book, melting the book, though nothing had worked against the book that seemed utterly durable.Lying on his bed, he turned on the TV for its sole purpose, making background noises. He never really paid attention to what was on. With it, the sound of other voices made him feel less lonely.Upon turning on, the TV displayed an ongoing NEWS show."The peace treaty with the Dalki race has lasted for five years now, but officials are saying that tension is rising once again. Now, we must prepare for another war...."The mention of war had always been shown on the TV nonstop ever since a certain day thirty years ago. The human race received a visit from the so-called Dalki. They had the physique of humans, except for their skins that were riddled with scales and the presence of tails that were similar to what the dragons had.With no real clue of why they had suddenly appeared, they immediately demanded that the Human race hand over their resources and wanted to use them as slaves. Of course, the humans decided to fight back, but they quickly found out that their modern technology was useless against them. Bullets couldn't penetrate their skin, and as for tanks, well, Dalki had airships.Every individual, disregarding the gender, was told to fight for their planet, and that included Varun's parents. The war went on for years, so he grew up not knowing what his parents looked like.When the humans were on the brink of defeat, a select group of people came forward - These people had special abilities. They began sharing their knowledge of how they obtained such power in hopes of turning the tide in the war, and thankfully, it worked. Even so, the Dalki were still strong, and a seemingly endless stalemate led to the peace treaty signing five years ago.Obviously enough, human greed got the better of humanity, and instead of sharing these powers with everybody else, the higher-ranked governmental officials decided to keep them for themselves. Only those with money could learn the more powerful abilities while everyone else was left with scraps.It was something that needed to be done. Poverty had taken over the world, but people had powers and were using them uncontrollably, unlike before.Varun was given nothing when his parents died. The government agreed to pay for his living expenses while he was still in school, but that was it. When his parents died, him being at the age of ten, an agent appeared at his doorstep and handed him a book. He was told that it was the only thing that his parents possessed - One that they passed down when they died."Why is the world so unfair?" He uttered, lamenting about his situation.Getting out of his bed, he started sauntering towards his desk. He picked up his glasses that were still slightly broken and decided that he needed to fix them. He noticed that one of the lenses was slightly out of place, and tried to punch it back into its frame."Come on! Just get in!" He shouted as he tried to forcefully fix the glasses. The frustration he had been bottling up was on his face as he struggled furiously with the lens.Unfortunately, the lens suddenly crumbled into pieces, one of the shards of plastic even created a deep gash in his thumb.He screamed and kicked at the table."Why does the world hate me?"After a while, he calmed down and started to clean up the little pieces of glass, noticing that a piece had landed on top of his book. As Varun removed the piece of glass, a drop of blood from his thumb landed on top of the book.The object plastered on the centre of the book started to glow, and suddenly, the book began to float, hovering until it was on eye-level with Varun.Varun darted back and away from it. The glow form the book made his room look emptier with the little bed at the corner and the solitary seat beside it."What the hell is happening?!"The book started to emit a blinding radiance as it shook uncontrollably. A few seconds later, it finally opened up, pages after pages were being turned. Varun couldn't take his eyes off of the shining book - It was as if he was in a deep trance. The words written on the pages of the book weren't in any language that he had seen before. Nevertheless, for some reason, he felt like he could understand it.When the book reached its last page, it started to disappear, gradually turning into dust. At the same time, his body suddenly felt weak. Varun's vision was starting to fade, and with that, his eyes pulled shut.But just before he passed out, there was a single message that he heard.Unable to maintain consciousness long enough to hear the final words, Varun duly passed out. CHAPTER 2: DAILY QUEST Chapter 2: Daily Quest Slowly Varun's eyelids started to lift open and his vision started to return. His head felt heavy and his body was slightly sore. As he lifted himself off the ground, he touched his head to see if he had gotten any injuries. "Why does my head hurt so much?" After making sure his skull hadn't split open from falling over, Varun then went to pick up his glasses off the floor. Although there was only one lens now in it, Varun put the glasses on out of habit. Suddenly, he felt a little disorientated and his vision was slightly blurry. He took them back off and noticed that his vision only got blurry when he put the glasses on. Varun then immediately rushed to his desk to grab a pencil. He drew the letter "A" on the wall and stepped back. He continued to step back until his back had hit the room wall. "What! But how!" Varun thought. Somehow Varun's vision was now perfect. He had lived his whole life with terrible eyesight but suddenly he could see clearly. Images then started to flash in his head of what had happened before he passed out and he could think of only one thing: the book. When Varun looked around the room, he started to panic. "The book! Where the hell's the book?" Varun looked everywhere for the book but he couldn't find anything. It couldn't have gone missing in such a small room and its disappearance was making Varun go mad. "Maybe it's like my socks. They go missing all the time. Ahh don't be stupid, this is a book we're talking about, not a sock." Varun then tried to think hard about what had happened just before he had passed out. He suddenly started to remember the book being lifted into the air. Then just before his eyes closed, he heard a few words. "What was it, it sounded like some type of system message?" Then as soon as Varun had said those words. A status screen had appeared right in front of his eyes. < Level 1> <0/100 exp> "Wow, it's like those really old games people used to play all the time." Varun noticed that on the status screen there were more tabs on the top. Then even without doing anything and just reading the tabs in his head, the screen automatically switched to the tab. <0 skill points available> …. On the skills tab, Varun wasn't really able to see much. Everything seemed to be locked and slightly greyed out so he quickly moved on to the next tab, . "Can I do anything?" The last tab was the tab and finally, it seemed like this tab wasn't locked behind something.Main Quest.Reach level 10>After checking out everything that the system had to offer, Varun had to just think about closing the system and it did. When he thought about opening it again, a screen would immediately pop up in front of him. Varun could only think of one thing. The book his parents had left him was an ability book. These books could often be bought at very high prices from the military or a company, and even on the black market. The only thing was, however, Varun had never heard of an ability book that disappeared and granted the user a system like this. The ability books were designed to be learnt manually. It wasn't something that you could pick up and instantly understand how to use. A smile started to slowly appear on Varun's face. This was great news for him. He had always been a level 1 ability user because he could never afford to buy any ability books. Finally, he had something, the next phase was for him to test what ability he had. "Fire, fire, come on!" Varun said as he threw the palm of his hand forward. "Ok next… Water, water, out!" Varun did the same again but there was no result. After trying out many different things and all the abilities he had seen before, it turned out he was unable to perform any of them. "What the hell is this useless thing. Is it really just a system ability?" Varun thought about it for a while. If it truly was like a game then perhaps by completing the quests, he would eventually get stronger and unlock more skills. He was treating it like an ordinary ability book and clearly what he had obtained wasn't ordinary. Usually, ability books were based around one ability. It was important for a person to select their first ability book because a regular human body would only be able to perform one ability attribute. If you got transformability as your first ability, you would only be able to get other abilities related to this attribute. This was the same for fire, and so on. Varun then went to open his mini-fridge and started to grab the bottles of water that were inside. He immediately started downing the water bottles one by one. "Damn. How much is two litres? My belly feels like it's going to burst." After finishing his eighth bottle of water, a new notification message had appeared. <5/100> "Well, at least I know the system works." Suddenly there was a loud knock that could be heard at the door. Varun quickly went and opened it. Standing in front of him was a large, muscular, bald-headed man wearing a black military uniform. There were several medals on it and his name written just above his chest. 'Seargent Griff'. "Boy, it is time for you to vacate your room immediately. The vehicle has been waiting outside for 5 minutes already." With everything that had happened, Varun had forgotten about what was to happen today. "It's time for you to head to military school," Griff said. CHAPTER 3: MILTARY SCHOOL Chapter 3: Miltary School Due to the war between humans and the Dalki, everyone was required to go to military school for 2 years. Even though humans and Dalki were in a peaceful period, everyone knew that it wouldn't last forever. Every day there was news of one race antagonizing the other and war felt like it could break out at any moment. Varun quickly went to the toilet before heading off with Sergeant Griff. His bladder felt like it was going to burst any second now due to all the water he drank. Once Varun stepped out of his room into the outside world, something strange happened. A new notification screen had appeared. Suddenly, Varun's body felt extremely sluggish. It felt like he had just gone for a 5k run and returned. His arms and legs felt heavier and there was nothing he could do about it. Varun then went to check his status and saw that his stats did indeed go down by half. But it wasn't just his stats, his HP was halved as well. "What kind of drawback is this!" Varun thought. Then a new notification had appeared. Varun's mood slightly changed as soon as he saw the new daily quest. Unlike the water one, this was something he was able to do naturally just by sleeping. If the system worked the same way it did in games, then that meant once Varun earned 100 exp points, he would be able to level up and also increase his stats. So the more daily quests Varun got, the better it was for him. "What are you doing walking so slowly! The school will eat you alive if you carry on like that!" Griff shouted. Finally, Varun had reached a large bus parked just outside his house. When he entered the bus, he noticed that it was already full of students his age. He didn't recognize any of the students though, meaning they had all come from a different school. Varun then went to sit at the front of the bus, the only seat that was still available. As soon as Varun had entered the bus and avoided direct sunlight, his stats returned to normal and his body felt re-energized once again. "Well, at least it looks like it's only direct sunlight." The students were all talking to each other in excitement, but that stopped as soon as sergeant Griff came on board. "Alright, it's time for us to head to the military academy." The bus then started to move and the students were finally on their way. The bus remained silent during the journey. Whenever a student would start to speak Griff immediately would glare in their direction and the student would shut up. Griff didn't even have to say anything, they all knew what he wanted just by looking at him. Then about 10 minutes into the journey Varun once again received another message. Varun found this message quite strange and then when he started to look around the bus, he noticed that nearly all of the students were either asleep or dosing off. Suddenly, even his own eyelids started to feel dizzy. Then he heard the sound of loud footsteps coming towards him. As he looked up he noticed Sergeant Griff hovering above him. "Looks like a few of you were able to resist the sleeping gas. Guess we'll just have to bag you" A black bag was then thrown on Varun's head and his vision now was completely covered. The gas started to slowly seep through and Varun managed to doze off into a nice sleep. The next moment, Varun felt a splash of cold water being chucked on his face. He was jolted awake, an all he could see was the green gas. He and several other students started to lift their heads to look around them. There were currently a total of 200 students stood out on a plain open field, but when they looked around they were in a completely foreign place. "This is where you will spend the next two years of your life." The students were amazed at what they were seeing. They were currently in a city like they had never seen before. Everyone was dressed up in a military uniform and there was technology and feats of engineering around them that was too advanced for their time. Giant robots moving crates and building machines. Flying sh.i.p.s, and levitating trains. It was a technology that hadn't been given to the outside world yet and was kept for the military only. After the first war with the Dalki race, the humans had managed to make leaps in all sorts of technological fields. This was because they had managed to salvage equipment from the Dalki after the war, but of course, the military decided to keep most of it for themselves. When Varun finally stopped being amazed at his surroundings, he noticed that there was something placed around his wrist. It looked similar to a digital watch but there was nothing displayed on the screen. "That there on your wrist is your lifeline. It will identify you as a student at this military base. It will allow you to access certain areas, pay for food and all sorts of things. That isn't the only thing that it will do though. When not in use, the wristwatch will display a single number. Your power level." As soon as Varun heard those words, he gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. He thought his life might change, coming to military school, but it seemed like it was going to be the same even here. "With that, we will immediately begin the level test for you all, good luck!" Griff said with a smile on his face. CHAPTER 4: ABILITY LEVEL Chapter 4: Ability Level When abilities were first introduced to the human race, people quickly learnt that some were far more powerful than others. The abilities themselves were also different from person to person. They were dependent on how many mutant cells could be activated within the body. With this came the introduction of the power level system. There were a total of 8 different power levels. These levels indicated how many mutant cells were in the body but not how strong the ability was. They could then be further divided into subcategories. 1.1 1.2 ... all the way to 1.9. Although these levels were just a system designed by the military to put everyone in a specified category. There were two ways for people to obtain abilities. When the war started with the Dalki race, people started to share their powers with the outside world. They wrote down how they accomplished this power and put the information down in things called ability books. After the first war had ended, the books were no longer distributed for free and started to go on sale to the public. The military decided to keep some of the more powerful abilities to themselves. Generally, ability books from level 1 to 5 were sold to the public. In contrast, giant corporations and the military kept the higher-level ones to themselves. The second way to obtain an ability was if you were an Original. Originals were the first people who had initially discovered the powers for themselves and decided to pass it down within their family. Not writing it down and teaching it from person to person. Not all ability users chose to share their abilities to the outside world and decided to keep it within their bloodline. Originals usually had the strongest of abilities that couldn't be measure using the power system. Because of these two reasons, Varun had always been a level 1. He had no family members to support him. Leaving him no chance to buy an ability book and his family had no abilities themselves, so he wasn't an Original. When Varun had obtained the book, his first guess was that it was some time of an ability book. Now, after all these years, it seemed like he had obtained an ability. But he had never heard of an ability book like this before, and he didn't have a clue what power level it had mutated his cells to. Usually, on the front, there would be a technique that helped you master your ability up to a certain power level. But with the book was now gone. Varun lifted up his hand to look at the watch, which indicated his current power level was one. When he looked around, he noticed that everyone else's watches currently showed the same number. Griff was standing in front of all the students and called names in groups of five. These students would then be transported somewhere to take the test. Varun was hopeful at first thinking that he might have been able to change his ability level for once. Still, his mind was quickly changed after receiving a notification. You are being hit by direct sunlight All stats will be halved He didn't even know how good 10 strength, 10 agility, and 10 stamina points were. There was nothing he could compare it to. But if his eyesight was anything to go by, then it would mean it was at least the top condition of a normal human being. Right now though, Varun felt incredibly weak and sluggish. His body felt extremely hot, and he was sweating buckets. Varun thought it was a good thing he drank a load of water beforehand. Otherwise, he would have been extremely dehydrated. "Hey, are you okay?", a stranger standing next to Varun said. The stranger had slick blonde hair and hazel green eyes with a chiselled face and sharp jawline. He also stood 6 foot 2 inches tall while Varun was 5, 11. This type of person Varun would usually avoid at his last shool as everyone would always pay attention to them, and boy did Varun hate attention. "If you want, I can call someone for help," the stranger said. "It's okay, I'm just a little bit nervous about the testing," Varun said as he tried to ignore his tired body and stand up straight. The stranger looked Varun up and down. Varun was quite skinny for his age. He didn't have a lot of muscle on him, and right now, he looked incredibly weak. He thought Varun looked like the type of boy who would have gotten bullied at school, being in a new place and not knowing anyone power levels, of course, he would be nervous. If he was to get a level one rating again, the same thing would most likely happen here. "Well, don't be. I'm quite strong you know. If anyone messes with you, you can come and ask me for Help," the stranger said, smiling. Varun didn't usually get on with the active, positive type of person, but found it hard to dislike the boy. When Varun thought back about his time at school, he realized he actually didn't get on with anyone. "The names Dakash," Dakash said as he placed his hand out. Varun looked at Dakash's hand. It was actually the first time in his life someone had treated him this way, but he thought that would quickly change. People always did once they found out his ability level. But for once, he just wanted to forget about all that. "My name's Varun," Varun said as he shook Dakash's hand. Once the system messages appeared, Varun looked at them strangely. He then noticed that Vordan still hadn't let go of his hand. Then the system repeated the message once again. Varun then immediately let go of Dakash's hand. The system was clearly telling him that Vordan was trying to use his ability on him. Dakash himself even had a puzzled look on his face as he stood there still. "You," Dakash said. "What is your ability?" "I…." Varun paused, thinking for while whether he should answer or not. In the end, he wanted to see Dakash's real reaction. "I don't have an ability." Dakash no longer had a puzzled look on his face, as if the answer had satisfied his curiosity, but before he could say anything, Griff made an announcement. "Will the students Varun Partap, Dakash, Piyush, Layla, and Zoya please come to the front to take your test." CHAPTER 5: NO ABILITY Chapter 5: No Ability Once the five students had heard their names being called up, each of them began to walk forwards to Griff who was waiting for them in front. Including Varun and Dakash, there was another boy in their group, Piyush. Piyush looked more nervous than anyone there, he would constantly look around him and he couldn't stop fidgeting either. His body frame was quite small but it suited him, for he wasn't that tall either. Then there were the two girls, the first one was named Layla and the other one was Zoya. Layla had short brown hair and a tall figure. On her back, she was carrying a bow which surprised Varun, for not many people carried a weapon these days apart from a specific group of people called the Pure. They were a group of people who chose to not have any abilities and instead used weapons. But they were very rare and Varun had never met anyone like that in his life, he had only heard stories about them. Finally, there was Zoya. Zoya was the type of girl that turned all of the boy's heads. Her proportions were perfect, not too big not too small and she had long silky hair. Her hair was a beautiful golden hue. The only problem was her facial expressions. Even while walking through the crowds of people, not once did her expression change. It stayed stiff and neutral. As Varun was walking past everyone, he noticed that he couldn't recognize any students there and it seemed like the others didn't seem to be familiar with anybody either. Varun could only assume that this was done on purpose. On top of that, no one knew who to befriend or who to look out for because currently, everyone's power level displayed 1. The group had stopped just behind another group who were being transported to the testing area. As soon as Dakash saw the others who were in the same group, Dakash greeted each one of them with a handshake. Dakash was being very polite so most of them accepted his greetings apart from Zoya. She merely stared at Vordan's hand when he offered it out to her, before she turned her head and looked away. "Come on, you don't have to be like that?" Dakash said as he placed his hand on her shoulder. This was a big mistake. In an instant, Zoya grabbed for Dakash's wrist and twisted his hand. Frost and ice crept up his hand as it began to freeze. Everyone stopped to look at the commotion that was happening near the front. "Wow, she has ice abilities?" "Isn't that very Rare?" "I would let her freeze me any day." Griff noticed the commotion and started to intervene. "Stop it you two, if you have that much energy then save it for the test." Zoya immediately dropped Vordan's hand and slowly, Vordan's hand started to defrost. Dakash then went back in line to stand next to Varun. "Can you believe her?!" Dakash complained, "I nearly lost my hand." "You can't just go around touching people without their permission," Varun replied. "Yeah I know, she's lucky I didn't wipe the floor with her just cause she's a pretty girl." Many people who were near the front had heard Dakash's word and had already decided to make him an enemy. A thought formed in their heads, if they could somehow humiliate Dakash, then maybe Zoya would look their way. Looking at the people around them, Varun could tell what the others were thinking. Varun then stepped one step away from Dakash hoping that others wouldn't think the two were friends. At last, Varun and the others were called forward and were told to stand inside a box. It wasn't really a box per se but they were white lines that had been drawn on the ground. The space inside of it was just big enough to fit the five of them in. One would notice that outside of the box, there was a hooded man, they were standing nearby. "Send them away!" Griff said. As soon as Griff gave the command, the hooded man planted both of his hands on the ground and the box started to light up, shining a bright purple color. "Hmm Transportation magic huh, what a rare ability," Vordan said right before the whole group suddenly vanished into thin air. The very next second, they were teleported to another outdoor area which resembled an empty wasteland. There was no sign of life, no trees, nothing at all. Standing in front of the group was a woman dressed in a black military uniform and by her side was another hooded man. There was not another person in sight. The woman held a Tablet in her hand and it looked like she was currently busy inputting some information. Once she had finished, she looked up at the group and began to speak. "Hello to the five of you, I am Jane and I will be the one in charge of your test today. Once the test has been completed, I will be updating your information and your score will then be reflected on your wristwatches." Jane then started to look at the tablet. "Now who should we call first, oh it looks like we have a couple of previous level ones?" Jane said as she checked the information. The information had been passed on from their previous schools. "Piyush, would you please step forward?" The nervous, small Piyush then stepped forward and he looked even worse than before. Varun thought he looked bad but he looked to be in perfect condition if you were to compare the two. At least Varun was able to stand up whereas Piyush looked like he would fall over any second now. "Would you please tell me what your ability is Piyush?" Jane asked. "Eh, I don't have any ability," Piyush said quietly. Suddenly, Varun and the others understood why Piyush was so nervous. Having no ability wasn't rare. Because of the war, many children had become orphans like Varun and Piyush. This meant there was no chance for them to buy an ability book. But because Piyush had no ability, he was afraid of the treatment he would get from the others. "Don't be afraid Piyush." Jane said, "Here take this." The hooded man that stood at Jane's side suddenly teleported a book into his hand, allowing it to be taken by Jane. She then handed the book over to Piyush. "Wow, seriously you're giving this to me for free?!" Piyush said in excitement. "Thank you." "Please study the book in your own free time. When you have finally learned to use it, you can come back to redo the test, but for now I'll have to temporarily award you a level 1 power status." Even though Piyush had received a level 1 power status he didn't care for it. At this moment he only felt hope, his life could finally turn around due to the book that he had just received. "Now I believe there was another level 1 user here," Jane said, "Varun is it? would you please step forward." Varun did as he was told and stepped forward. "Now Varun, what ability do you have?" CHAPTER 6: RESULT Chapter 6: Result Varun thought the entire thing was ridiculous. It was quite clear to him that Jane already had all the information on him from his previous school. They knew that he never had an ability before, the problem was Varun was struggling with deciding what to do. Before coming to military school Varun had done a bit of research himself. He knew that the military freely gave all students who had no ability their very own ability book. And each ability book given to them was the very same one. Each one received an Earth ability book. The reason they did this was so students who didn't have an ability before, would suddenly feel indebted to the military. Not only that but the military also had a hold on nearly all of the Earth type ability books. Meaning if you ever wanted to increase your strength, you would have to be loyal to the military, and in return, they would give you more power. Before Varun had discovered his own Ability, he actually thought this was the best option for him. Even if he didn't want to join the military after two years, the Earth ability was handy to have. It was easy for employment because the Earth ability was useful in construction. This was where the problem came in, Varun already having an ability meant he was unable to learn a new one. The ability book that would be given was practically useless. But not only that, Varun was pretty sure they would keep tabs on every student they had given the ability book to, meaning the teachers would expect him to use earth powers the next time they saw him. Varun took a deep breath and said, "I don't have an ability." Just like before the hooded man standing by her side would hand her a book and then she handed it to Varun. Varun took the book from Jane at first but then suddenly, a notification screen appeared. Varun had somewhat expected the system to display the first message but the second one truly had surprised him. Varun was really tempted to take the book and use it as a form of Exp but he knew there would be questions asked later on. "I'm sorry, but I don't want it," Varun said as he handed the book back to Jane. The students watching and the instructor stood there were both shocked. Jane hadn't experienced anything like this before. In her five years working as an instructor, it was the first time someone with no ability had rejected the book. "Please give me one moment." Jane then stood away from the group of students far enough so they wouldn't be able to hear anything. "Yes, yes, he says he doesn't want the ability book, what should I do?" Jane asked, speaking on her earpiece. "Let him take the test." The mysterious man on the phone said. As the man hung up, he couldn't help but think that Varun was an interesting student. He began to check on Varun's file and what he had said seemed to be true. The student had no ability and didn't seem to have any relations with the group Pure either. "Let's see how long you can survive in this cruel world, Varun." The man said. Back at the testing field, Jane had finished the call with her superior and started to head back over to the group. "Sorry, for waiting," Jane said. "Since you won't be taking the ability book, we will still require you to take the test please." Varun thought the whole thing was a joke. If Varun truly had no ability then they already knew what the test results were going to be. Was there really a need for him to take the test? It felt like the only reason they wanted Varun to continue was to make him feel humiliated and small. Eventually, he would then choose to approach the military and beg for the ability book they were handing out. "Please follow me." Jane then took Varun a little further out onto the field where Varun noticed that there were huge craters in the ground, burn marks, and all sorts of things. This was all done from the previous testing contestants. "Please proceed to destroy the targets in front of you as quick as you can." Jane said, "The test will begin immediately." As soon as Jane finished talking, three targets popped up around randomly around the wasteland. They were metal round targets with a red dot in the centre. The problem was when Varun tried to look for the targets, everything seemed like a blur in the distance. Varun then realized that his perfect eyesight, suddenly wasn't so perfect. "Is this because I'm out in the sunlight?" Varun thought. Varun had no choice but to slowly run-up to each of the targets and hit them with his fist one by one, his time was incredibly slow of course. There were then two further tests that Varun needed to complete. The next test was a strength test were Varun was asked to punch into a huge drum- like machine. Varun gave it his best shot and hit the drum as hard as he could. The drum vibrated and made a small sound eventually displaying a digital number in the centre. "5, strength," Jane said as she noted it down on her tablet. When the final test had arrived they had brought out another machine. This machine was a big circular object with many holes on its front. Once the test started the machine fired holographic spikes at the contestants. All Varun needed to do was avoid being hit by the spikes. The machine went up in levels and eventually got faster and shot out more spikes. In the end, Varun managed to get hit by the spikes and the test was stopped. "Agility, 5" Jane said once again as she noted it down on her tablet Varun had heard the words from Jane's mouth and it started to make him think if there was some kind of link between the scores she had given him. The last test was a test of strength and Varun had scored a 5, similar to his system which had stated he had 5 strength. Then once again this test focused on agility and scored a 5 which was the same as his system. This meant if Varun was to take the test at night all of his scores would have most likely doubled. This also meant as long as he levelled up, he could always increase his score. It was as if his ability was the ability to evolve but it also had some drawbacks with it as well. "As expected," Jane said, "Unfortunately your current power level is a level 1." Varun clenched his fist and went back to stand with the others. He knew that the days ahead of him as a level 1 user would be harsh but that wouldn't be that way for much longer. CHAPTER 7: SAME ABILITY Chapter 7: Same Ability The Test continued with Layla taking the text after him. She was the only one there who had a weapon on her back. The weapon she had was a bow but it didn't look like a regular bow, it was different from the ones that people used a long time ago. This bow was carved using parts of a beast. It was black in color and looked almost as if the entire bow was made of gems. Even the string was made of a special material. The reason the bow looked so different, was because it was what was known as a beast weapon. A bow made from the body parts of a beast. When the human race was attacked by the Dalki, our technology advanced fast by replicating their technology, and with this, the humans learned the ability to travel to other planets using portals. These planets would often contain different levels of beasts. The stronger the beast was the better weapon you could make out of it. It was the first time Varun had ever witnessed a beast weapon before as no one at his previous school had one. It was strange to see someone of such a young age who has most likely never been to another planet, to have a beast weapon. Layla stood in the centre of the field and waited for the test to start. Unlike when it was Varun's turn, they waited until she was ready before starting. Varun could already start to see a difference in treatment. When the test started, 5 targets all appeared in different areas of the wasteland. Layla immediately took out 5 arrows and placed them in her bow, shooting them all off at once in the same direction. The arrows shot out fast and strong but then suddenly, the five arrows split off into their own direction, each of them heading to a different target. "What a good combo." Dakash said, "She has the ability of telekinesis but it's quite weak, so instead she uses her ability combined with the bow to control the arrows movements." In an instant, all five of the targets were hit at the same time and she had completed the first test. Varun for the first time saw how useful beast weapons were. Even if you had a weak ability you could make it strong. Varun wasn't completely sure what his ability was yet but even if it just increased his stats as he levelled up, he then thought about how handy something like a beast sword or something similar would be. On the strength test, Layla didn't do so well. She used her powers to try to move her fist even faster when punching the drum but, in the end, her score was only an 8. The last test Varun also saw her do quite bad. When the test first started, Layla tried to use her ability on the spikes coming at her, unknown to her because they were holograms and not the real thing, it had no effect. Meaning all Layla could do was rely on her actual body to avoid the spikes, in the end, Layla ended getting the same score as Varun. "It looks like you have the ability level of a level 2 User," Jane said and immediately the number 2 appeared on Layla's wrist. Varun could tell Layla wasn't happy, she stomped back as she walked over to the group. Varun thought the test wasn't really fair. Her ability level might be that of a level 2 but when used with a bow Varun felt like she could have easily beaten some level 3 or 4 users. Varun was starting to take note that the academy really did only measure the power level of your ability and not your fighting ability. The next person to take the test was Zoya. She walked forward confidently without even looking at anyone else. She stood in the centre of the testing field waiting for the test to start. Five random targets then appeared across the wasteland. She quickly formed an ice spear and chucked it at the target hitting it dead on. She did this one after the other at an incredible speed, nearly clearing them all just as fast as Layla did. The next test Zoya was even more impressive. She started to gather ice in both her palms and then after a minute or so of gathering her power, a huge ice column shot out from her hands and hit the centre of the drum dead on. The drum rang out louder than it had before and the number kept going up until it had eventually reached 50. "No wonder she's so confident, " Dakash said. Varun suddenly thought it was a good thing the two of them didn't fight otherwise Vordan would have been a dead man. Finally, when it was time for the last test, the instructor told her she wasn't allowed to use her ability and should just dodge. Zoya had no reaction and started the test immediately. She managed to do well moving swiftly avoiding each spike but eventually, the machine had gotten too fast and she ended up getting hit. "Impressive!" Jane said, "Best result so far, power level 5." Zoya continued to walk back to her group as if she knew what she was going to get all along, either that or she didn't really care about the whole thing. Finally, the last person to take the test in the group was Dakash. "Time to show you what I got, wish me luck." Varun had no clue who Vordan was talking to, but Varun quickly realized it was him after Vordan gave a wink in his direction as he walked off to the centre of the field. "Could that idiot actually be strong?" Varun quietly asked himself. Most of the time people who strong were either arrogant about their powers or kept it quiet but Dakash was a strange person. He wasn't exactly arrogant but a more flashy kind of person. When it finally came to his turn and the test had started, everyone's mouth was left wide open at what they were seeing. On every single one of the tests, Dakash had done the exact same thing as Zoya. He had used the same ability, the ability of Ice, and had performed just as well. "See, I told you I was strong!" Dakash said as he showed the number 5 to his new best friend, Varun. 'Just what was Dakash's ability?' Varun thought. CHAPTER 8: FATE Chapter 8: Fate After seeing Dakash perform well on the test, Varun couldn't help but think about what Dakash's ability was. When Dakash went to shake his hand that time, he said that Dakash had tried to use his ability on Varun. Yet for some reason, his ability didn't work. If Dakash's ability was ice, surely his hand would have just frozen. That's unless Varun had an ability to block all types of abilities, but that was highly unlikely. Not only that, but straight after, even Dakash had a strange reaction, asking Varun what his ability was; It was as if he knew his ability didn't work. Then another thought came into Varun's mind; why was Dakash so adamant on shaking the hands of everyone he had just met? If Varun remembered correctly, Zoya refused to shake Dakash's hand, yet in the end, Dakash still went to touch Zoya on the shoulder. At that time, it seemed like a weird thing to do, but now Varun realized it wasn't and everything was starting to make sense. Touching was the condition, and the last person who Varun touched was Zoya. It couldn't be a coincidence that both of them had the same powers, which meant most likely that Dakash's ability was the kind to copy other people's ability. It didn't work on Varun because his ability wasn't straight forward. Varun couldn't help his curiosity, so he asked Dakash. "Hey, Dakash is your ability..." Varun whispered, "are you able to copy other people's abilities?" Dakash looked at Varun and smiled. "I'm surprised you figured it out so fast. How did you figure it out?" "When you shook my hand, you seemed surprised that nothing happened." Dakash thought that Varun was quite amazing, being able to guess something like that just from a handshake. After all, it was much more likely that Dakash had obtained the Ice ability from an ability book. The power for copying wasn't available as an ability book, which only meant one thing. "Are you an original?" Varun asked. Dakash didn't say anything but simply gave a wink back at Varun, which pretty much confirmed Varun's thoughts. Dakash was an Original, a person belonging to a family who decided to not share their abilities with the outside world. He is someone who could easily surpass the power level of 8. Once the test has been completed, the hooded man teleported the students to the front of the academy where they would be staying. The academy was huge, and it's the tallest building in the entire city. It was as if someone had put together three hotels. There were ten different teachers in total who were currently standing in front of the academy's facade. Tarrying in front of them were the groups of students who all had finished taking the test. The students were told to wait with the teachers until all the students had finished conducting their tests. Once in a while, a group of five students would be teleported in front of one of the teachers. Finally, there was now a total of 20 students in the group where Varun was a part of. "Okay, you all need to follow me as I take you around the school." The teacher up front said. The teacher was a middle-aged man with blonde curly hair who wore glasses; his name was Del. While Del was walking around, describing the various places in the vicinity of the academy, he couldn't help but smile. It looked like nothing would be able to upset him. "You guys should start to get to know each other as much as you can," Del said. "After all, the people you are with now will be your classmates." All of a sudden, everyone started to get chattier, talking to each other as they were being shown around the school. However, there was something that Varun had noticed. The mid-levels were trying their best to get friendly with the higher levels, while the low levels were completely being ignored. Accordingly, Varun and Piyush were the only two level 1's in the class. Without realizing it, they had been pushed to the back of the group, and Piyush was plodding along with his head held down. It seemed to have affected Piyush a lot more than Varun, but the latter had already suspected that this would happen. Although suddenly, a familiar voice was heard calling out Varun's name. "There you are!" Dakash said. "Man, people just started jumping all over me. Then all of sudden, I look to my right side, and you're gone. Come on! Let's look around together, friend." Varun truly thought that Dakash was a strange person, yet that wasn't a bad thing. Dakash then noticed Piyush who was on his own as well. "Come on, stop being a downer and you come over here too." Piyush looked up and pointed a finger to himself. "Who else do you think I'm talking to?" Dakash questioned peter. The three of them continued to hang at the back of the class while the teacher continued to tour around the school. In the midst of the tour, a battle arena was shown to the students, where they had similar testing equipment to the ones filed on the wasteland, as well as several square fighting platforms. They were also shown their homeroom classes, battle classes, sports rooms, and all sorts of facilities. Del never failed to provide a little bit of explanation about each area of the school where they visited, However, Varun was uninterested in most of them until they had finally reached the library. "As you can all see, the library here is split into three floors. First-year students are only able to access the first floor; meanwhile, the second-year students can access the second floor; finally, the last floor is only for Military personnel." Varun was interested in the library because it contained books that weren't available to the public. In this place, Varun just might be able to find some information about his ability, though he just hoped that it would be on the first floor. Eventually, the tour came to an end as Del stopped just outside the school's dorms. "And this is where you will be living during your stay here. Once you have dropped off your things, feel free to explore around the academy. There will be no lessons today, so you will get to have the rest of the afternoon to explore." Each student was then handed a number written on a piece of paper. These papers displayed which room they would be staying in. Varun then noticed from the corner of his eye that Dakash was coming towards him. "Hey, Varun what room number did you get?" Dakash asked. "Err 23." "No way! You're kidding, right? I got the same number. Maybe fate is really bringing us together." Dakash said excitedly. "Maybe" Varun replied. On the other hand, somewhere down the hallway, two other students were having a conversation. "Woah! What happened to you?" A student said as he looked at his friend. "I don't know man, some guy just appeared and hit me out of nowhere, forcing me to swap room numbers." "Man, should we try to get it back?" The student asked. "Nah if I saw his wrist correctly, it said he was a level 5. It's best if we just leave it" CHAPTER 9: WHAT SYSTEM? Chapter 9: What system? After Varun had finished unpacking, he was free to do what he wanted for the rest of the day. It was still noon so he had plenty of time to explore the academy and do whatever he wished. Varun was currently sharing his room with two people and to his surprise, he knew both of them. One of them was Dakash while the other was Piyush. There were three single beds in the room, each spread out from one another evenly but other than that, the room was pretty empty. There was just a single desk and a cupboard for each person to use by the side of their bed. Students were expected to spend most of their time studying or practicing their skills. there was no time for pleasure. Which was why the rooms were designed the way they were. "What do you guys want to do then?" Dakash asked. "I'm still unpacking, you two don't have to wait for me, do what you want," Piyush replied. Piyush had opened up a little to the two of them, at first he was completely shy and hardly said a word but slowly Piyush seemed to be coming out of his shell especially around Varun. Piyush most likely felt comfortable around Varun knowing that he was a level 1 ability user like himself. "I was thinking of heading to the library," Varun replied, "That will probably be too boring for you." "Boring, I can make anything fun, besides I haven't read a book in…" Dakash paused for a while. "I can't even remember the last time I read a book." The three of them laughed and then Dakash and Varun decided to head to the library together. Finally, they had arrived and the first floor was already busy with students. Varun noticed that there were multiple round desks spread out where students were sitting and In the middle of the desk was a glowing orb. "Ahh, you're probably wondering what that Orb thing is in the middle aren't you?" Dakash asked, "It looks like they don't have them at public schools. If you touch the orb, then it allows you to create a space, in that space, only those people who have been invited can be heard. This way people are able to talk and chat as much as they want while not disturbing others." "Technology sure has come a long way." Varun and Dakash then chose a table that had two other people sitting on the other side. Just as Dakash had said, Varun could see the two talking but couldn't hear a word of what they were saying. The orb seemed to only have a range of the table though. Once you left the table others were able to hear you as normal. Varun went looking around the library and picked out as many books as he could about abilities. Most of them describing what different types of abilities the world had. Dakash wasn't too bothered and decided to just select a random fiction book to read. The two sat at their tables while Varun started to flick away. After reading several books Varun had discovered nothing new. He already knew about most of the abilities written in the book but not one of them mentioned an ability like Varun's. Dakash had been keeping a close eye on Varun and noticed the type of books he had been picking out. "What's with all the books, are you looking for something in particular?" Varun thought about it for a while before giving Dakash an answer. Dakash wasn't the brightest person when it came to academics but he was quite knowledgeable about abilities it seemed. He would have to be because of the type of ability he had. "I was trying to decide what ability to get since I turned down the school's offer." "Oh right, I forgot about that, I thought you might have been one of those Pure members who hate abilities. Turns out you just didn't want to be a dog to the military." Dakash replied, "Well is there anything specific you're looking for?" "Not really, I have no clue. There was one that said something interesting though, have you ever heard of an ability that is weaker in sunlight." Dakash suddenly started to laugh out loud. "What are you crazy, I've never heard of something like that. Abilities are something our bodies learn. Sure some people have limits and can't learn stronger spells or can do less than others but for one to get weaker because of the sun. Sounds like you're a Vampire or something." Varun felt a little embarrassed by Dakash's reaction. Of course, Varun knew this would be the normal reaction when asking something like this but it was true. As long as Varun was in direct sunlight all of his stats would weaken by half. Varun continued to look around the library to see if there was anything else he could find. He had finally gone through every single one of the ability books he could find but there was nothing. Varun then looked up at the floor above where there were some second-year students. "Maybe there's something up there but I can't imagine what the academy would do to me for breaking the rules." Varun thought. As Varun continued to walk around the library, he had eventually ventured into the fiction section and his eyes were drawn to something. A specific title of a book named "The Truth about Vampires." Varun took out the book and gave it a quick look. Vampires were things of fairy tales, myths even. Even when people started to come out with powers, there was not one person who came out claiming to be a vampire. Varun couldn't help himself but start to read the book. It was a long shot but maybe he would find something he could relate to. After reading and skimming through the book, Varun found most of it was useless. A lot of the things that Vampires did, didn't relate to him at all. Vampires were required to eat human blood. Some could transform themselves into bats and cast illusions. While others were incredibly skilled with the sword and hypnosis but Varun had none of these things. The only thing he could relate to in the book was being weaker in the sun. Eventually, Varun decided to close the book and call it a day. It didn't seem like he was going to find anything from the first floor of the library. As soon as Varun closed the book though. A familiar sound was heard. *Ding <10 exp received> <15/100 Exp > "It couldn't be, could it?" CHAPTER 10: NEW QUEST Chapter 10: New Quest Varun stared long and hard at the message and reread it multiple times. "It couldn't be, did I get exp from reading that fantasy book?" Varun immediately had to test it out, after reading several different books about abilities, not a single one had given him exp but for some reason this book did. Varun then immediately picked up another fantasy story, one about dragons this time titled "Reincarnated into a human?". He did the same as before and skimmed through most of it but made sure to read the crucial parts, then when he closed the book there was no reaction. This of course was expected. Then Varun wanted to test another thing out, he picked up another book that was also about Vampires and did the same. When he closed the book the same thing happened, the system had no reaction at all. In the end, Varun theorized that after reading all the books, he had gained so much knowledge about abilities that the system had rewarded him for it. That maybe the system had just given him a delayed message. He couldn't believe that the book about Vampires was somehow related to his system. Well, he didn't want to believe it. When Varun finished checking things out at the library, he noticed that Dakash had disappeared from the table and was no longer in the library. "Huh, he must have gotten bored and gone somewhere else?" Varun looked outside the window and noticed the sun was starting to set. He had been in the library for a total of six hours so far and the time had gone flying by. Then when Varun was just about to leave, he received another message from the system. < 5 exp has been awarded > <20/100 Exp> Varun had finally completed his second daily quest. The ride from school had taken them around 2 hours and with the time spent indoors and in the library, Varun was able to complete the task with ease. Each time Varun received an announcement, he got a satisfying feeling seeing the number go up closer to 100. He couldn't wait to see what would happen once he had reached the goal. His best guess was that he would level up. After all, the system even stated that he couldn't use his shop feature until he was at least a level 10. The only thing Varun wished for at the moment was a quicker way to level up. With just the two daily quests a day it would take days until Varun reached level two. Right now though there wasn't much he could do about it, he could only live his everyday life as normal. As Varun left the library, he decided to head to the battle arena, there was a theory that he wanted to test out. But as he was walking through the school hallway, he could see a kid being pushed up against the wall by another student. The boy on the wall looked like he had already been hit a few times and had markings on his face. "So it's started already." Varun thought. Varun managed to catch a glimpse of the boy's wristwatch and saw that the number on it indicated that the boy had a 1.2 power level. Varun was quite surprised at this as the person doing the bullying was very weak himself which was a rare occurrence. The only people he would be able to bully were people who had a power level of one like Varun or Piyush. That's when Varun suddenly realized who was up against the wall. It was in fact Piyush. Varun didn't recognize him at first because his face was turned the other way. Varun was debating with himself whether or not to get involved in the first place. He hated bullies more than anything. They had ruined his school life and it seemed like soon he would be a target as well. Of course, Varun also wanted to test out his current strength and he had found the perfect guinea pig. The student in front of him was only at a power level of 1.2 so there was a high chance he could win. The student lifted his fist again to give Piyush another punch. "You think you can just bump into me like that and say sorry!" He shouted as he swung his fist. Then as Varun was walking past, he pretended to fall over and bumped into the student, causing him to stumble off balance and miss. "Varun?" Piyush said as he looked up. "What the hell was that for?" The student said as he looked at who had just bumped into him. The student then immediately looked at Varun's watch and suddenly the confidence in him grew. "What the hell is a level 1 piece of rubbish like you doing?" "I was waiting to see how long it would take for someone like you to appear. It seems like I lost a bet with myself. I thought it would at least take a couple of days." "And what do think you are going to do about it?" Piyush was starting to feel slightly worried about Varun. He knew at the test site that Varun had no ability while the student he was facing did have one. Piyush thought they might stand a chance if the two of them fought together but in the end, Piyush was too afraid. He had been hurt his whole life and didn't want to be hurt anymore. This was just how the world worked. The people at the top with the strongest powers bullied the weaker ones and in turn, they bullied the even weaker ones. There was a time when Piyush once had tried fighting back. It was when the bullying had only just started at his old school. He threw a punch back and managed to hit the person in the face but it had only made things worse. He had been beaten ten times harder than he usually would have and it seemed like the bullying had increased from there. For the student, it was the first time he had ever met someone weaker than him and suddenly all the pain he had experienced, he wanted someone else to feel it too. That way he didn't feel like he was at the bottom of the food chain. Varun then noticed that the student had both of his hands held behind his back as if he was preparing something and the next thing that happened confirmed his thoughts. < New quest has been given > < Win the fight to gain 50 Exp > Suddenly, Varun had a huge grin on his face. This was how he was going to level up faster. CHAPTER 11: NEW SKILL Chapter 11: New Skill The student stood opposite Varun was still holding his hands suspiciously behind his back. Even without the help of the system, Varun could tell the student was obviously hiding his ability. "Come on, what happened to your big balls?" the student said. "I think you're playing with them behind your back," Varun replied. That immediately angered the student which was what Varun was going for. "You weak piece of garbage!" the student came charging forward and slashed his hand out at Varun. Luckily Varun's reflexes were fast and he managed to lift his arm in time to block the attack and move back a little. However, the student's hand managed to slice right through the skin of Varun's arm and caused blood to be drawn. "Dam it!" Varun said. Varun looked at the student who now had his hands out in view. The student had a transformation ability that was limited to only his hands. They caused them to slightly resemble a tiger claw and hardened his fingernails. Although Varun was able to block the attack in time, the claw managed to still rip through his skin. "Is the system saying if I take four more attacks like that, I'm dead?" Suddenly everything became a little bit more serious for Varun. The stinging pain he was feeling on his arm was real and this was a real fight. The game-like system had caused him to take things a little too easy. But he was quickly reminded that this wasn't a game. The student then immediately started to charge at Varun once again with his claw-like hands. As the student swung his right-hand Varun managed to duck and throw a punch of his own into the student's stomach. "What the hell, this guy hits hard!" The student thought. The student didn't quit there though and decided to strike at Varun's open back causing another claw mark to appear. "Shut up I know!" Varun shouted as he lifted the student using both of his hands by the legs and threw up against the side of the wall. "How did Varun manage to pick him up like that?" Piyush thought, "There roughly about the same size and he threw him with ease, does he really not have an ability?" Varun didn't stop there though. It was important for him to teach people like them a lesson, otherwise, they would just come back for more. Varun needed to show him to never mess with him again. Varun ran up to the student who was lying and the floor and kicked him in the stomach with full force. The kick was so hard that it caused the student to cough up a little bit of blood from his mouth. <50 Exp Received> <70/100 Experience points> "Is he dead?" Piyush asked. Then the student suddenly started coughing some more. "No, but if he attacks us again, he's going to wish he was." Varun was actually quite relieved. He didn't know what the punishment was at the academy for killing another student, even if he explained that he hadn't attacked first. He also didn't want the burden of death on his shoulders at such a young age, so he was happy when the system had rewarded him the experience points, without having the need to kill the student. Then suddenly another message had appeared. Excitement started to fill Varun's mind as he had finally received his first skill. Varun was hoping maybe this would help him figure out what type of ability he had but the name of it didn't sound too promising. "Inspect? So maybe it can tell me the weaknesses of my opponents?" Varun thought. Varun then decided to test his new ability out and looked at Piyush who was standing next to him. Now was the next problem. Varun had no idea how to use his skill but the moment he started thinking about the skill "Inspect." The skill had activated on its own and a screen had appeared right next to Piyush. ????? ???? Varun looked at the information that had been given to him and it seemed like there were some sections blanked out. Varun could only assume this was because the level of his skill was still only at level 1 but the information it did give him, was quite handy. It told Varun what type of ability they had which would be very useful in a fight, it also told Varun how much health they had. However, there was one bit of information that Varun found strange and that was the Blood type. It was weird for the system to give him information about such a specific thing and Varun also wondered how on earth would this ever help him in the future. Varun then went up to the Student who was still laying on the ground in pain and used the inspect skill on him. Checking the status of Kyle made Varun learn a few new things. The information he was given about the ability, only gave him the type of ability. There were hundreds of different transformation abilities so it wasn't able to pinpoint it. The other thing was the HP, It looked like for his victory he only needed to bring down the students HP to 1 but Varun still didn't know if 0 meant death or not. It could also just mean the person had been knocked out. Right after inspecting Kyle though, Varun had received another notification. . "What the, is this thing crazy!" Varun thought. Even if it gave him a stat point there was no way he was going to drink someone else's blood. The very idea of it made Varun feel sick. For a brief moment though Varun looked to the ground where Kyle had spat out some of his blood. "Maybe a little bit wouldn't hurt… Varun, you're going crazy stop it." "Come on let's go," Varun said to peter. The two of them continued to walk down the hallway but while doing so Piyush noticed that Varun kept turning his head to look at Kyle who was still on the floor. "He must be worried about him, Varun's a nice guy after all." Piyush thought as he smiled. But what he didn't realize was that Varun wasn't looking at Kyle at all, but was looking at Kyle's blood that was on the ground. CHAPTER 12: A SECOND TEST Chapter 12: A second test As the two continued to walk down the hallway. Varun started to feel a strange surge through his body. "Hey, shouldn't you go to the doctor, I'm sure they have a healer who can patch that up?" Piyush asked. "Yeah thanks, I'll head there now," Varun replied, "You don't have to come with me, it will be a busy day tomorrow so why don't you head back to the dorm?" Although Piyush was worried about Varun, Piyush didn't want to stick in the halls for much longer where other students were able to see him. Varun could see that Piyush was hesitating about what to do. "look don't worry, Dakash just went to the bathroom he'll be back any second so don't worry about it." With that Piyush quickly rushed off and headed back to the dorms making sure to cover up his wristwatch most of the time as well. He didn't want another incident to happen again. Varun on the other hand, immediately rushed to the nearest boy's toilet just down the hall. When he entered the toilet he immediately started to look at his arm were Kyle had scratched it with his claws. While looking in the mirror slowly Varun could see that his arm was healing. Though it looked slow, in reality, it was incredibly fast. For someone to be able to actually witness his skin scabbing over and healing was an amazing sight. Varun had actually felt something strange happening to his body during this process and he noticed it when he was talking to Piyush. It was why Varun was trying to do everything in his power to get Piyush to leave him alone. If Piyush was to see something like this, there was no doubt that Piyush would think he had an ability. Varun waited a few minutes and opened up his status screen. It was as he thought, his HP slowly regained as well. Eventually, the wound on his arm and back had completely healed up and only the rips in his shirt could be seen. Just when Varun received the two messages Varun suddenly started to feel hungry. "Does this mean the system uses food to heal my wounds? It makes sense, the energy has to come from somewhere." Varun thought. The pain in Varun's belly was very little. It was as if he had just missed breakfast or something. When Varun had the chance, he would get a quick bite to eat. Before Varun headed back to the dorms there was one more thing he wanted to do and that was to head to the training room that they had been shown while touring the school. It was getting late and the students had an early start in the morning, so most of the students had already returned to their dorms. This meant it was the perfect chance for Varun to head to the training room without anyone seeing him. Varun had finally reached the training room in the academy. It was a large oval dome-like building with a huge empty space in the middle. At the edges of the room were rows and rows of technological equipment. There were giant mech robots, shooting targets, and things Varun had no idea what they even did but what Varun wanted to see most of all, was the power level testing equipment. Inside the training centre, Varun had also spotted the same machinery that was used at the testing field. When Varun entered the room was completely empty of people as he thought. Varun walked over to testing equipment while walking past all the other sorts of machinery and finale he stopped just in front of the drum-like machine. This machine was the same machine that tested the user's strength. Layla had also come to the training room late at night and before Varun had entered, she had been testing out her bow and arrow skills, practicing. She always practiced at night when she was nervous and she couldn't help but worry about tomorrow. That was when she suddenly heard the doors open to the training room, being her shy usual self, she immediately hid behind one of the giant robots. Suddenly she saw the student walk over to her direction then she noticed something. "Isn't that the boy that I took the test with? If I remember correctly, he had no ability." Layla thought. Layla continued to watch Varun as he approached the large drum. "Here it goes!" Varun said as he prepared his fist, He swung his fist back and prepared to hit the drum as hard as possible. A number appeared on the drum and the number slowly started to rise until it eventually stopped at 10. "Seems like I was on the mark," Varun said. Varun had a theory after hearing his test scores that his status screen stats also matched the equipment the school used. Although this was only a theory, Varun wanted to test it out for himself. Layla who had been watching from behind one of the robots also noticed Varun's new score. "Ten, didn't he get five last time? Was he hiding his ability? That score's higher than my score." Layla was suddenly interested in the mysterious student and continued to watch him. Varun next went to the hologram spike machine. Last time Varun managed to last ten seconds against the machine before it got too fast for him to dodge the attacks. If his theory was right, he should at least be able to last twenty seconds now that his stats were no longer halved. Varun started the test and when the test eventually ended, he got exactly twenty seconds. "It looks like I was right." With Varun having confirmed his results, there was nothing left for him to do but head back to the dorm and wait for the next day to start. Meanwhile, Layla who had been watching this whole time had seen everything. She couldn't understand why a student would hide his strength in the school. A low power level meant you were a target for others. Layla only had one thought while she looked at Varun. "Interesting." She decided from now on she would keep a close eye on Varun. CHAPTER 13: SCHOOL HIERARCHY Chapter 13: School hierarchy The next day, at 8:00 am, the students were woken up by the sound of an alarm in the dorm rooms. It was the signal for everyone to get dressed and start the day. Once everyone was ready, they were to head down to the canteen for breakfast.When Varun woke up, the system was the first thing that greeted him.Daily quest #2 has been completed5 Exp received75/100 ExpVarun was thankful for this convenient way of gaining 5 Exp without actually having to do anything but sleep. Suddenly, a rumbling sound came from his belly. He felt hungrier than he usually was as if something was biting through his stomach.'Must still be from the fight yesterday.'The canteen was a large hall that was quite plain. In fact, while walking around the school on his own, Varun became aware of how plain most of the school looked. Single white walls, no picture frames, just windows every now and again. It was the sleek modern clean look that the world had taken.The canteen was filled with large tables that could seat three people on each side. There were no set seats in the canteen meaning students were free to sit wherever they liked. Varun noticed that low levels sat next to the other low levels while the high levels sat with the high levels. His school life had just begun and yet the social norm appeared to have already been established, just like it had been in his old school.When Varun was waiting in line with Piyush and Dakash a student came late into the queue. He nonchalantly walked past his peers and eventually cut into the line ahead of the rest. Not a single person said a word in protest.The reason for this was simple, the offender had a higher power level than them.Varun hated these types of actions, but right now there was nothing he could do. Once the three of them got their food they started looking for a place to eat."Why don't we go over there?" Dakash pointed at an empty spot."Are you sure Dakash?" Piyush asked, "That's a level 1 area, you don't have to sit with us if you don't want to, right Varun?""Yeah don't force yourself," Varun replied."Quit talking nonsense you two, we're friends. I don't care about this stupid power level hierarchy going on."The three of them then went to sit down with the other lower levels on a table. The area slowly started to fill up, but not nobody else had decided to sit at their table. Everyone could see his high power level, so the other low levels wanted to stay away, fearing he would bully them.As soon as they sat down Varun started to dig in without any regard for table manners, eating everything that was given to him, even the bits he usually didn't like."Hey if you're not going to finish that, do you mind if I take it?" Varun asked his eyes on Piyush's plate."Sure, go ahead," Piyush said, a bit surprised about Varun's appetite.Varun ended up not only eating all of his food but also the leftovers from his two friends. On top of that Varun had also grabbed 8 bottles of water as he wanted to finish his other Daily quest as soon as possible.The last time when he had been in the sun, he had sweated far more than usual, but thanks to the water he drank beforehand, he hadn't felt too dehydrated. If they were to go outside again then this would be a big help to Varun."For a skinny guy, you sure know how to gorge yourself," Dakash teased.Although Varun had clearly eaten a lot, for some reason he still felt a little pang of hunger that wouldn't quite go away. Luckily it was bearable and didn't distract him too much.Daily quest #1 has been completedReward 5 Exp80/100 ExpNow there were only 20 points separating him from his first level up. He could not wait to see what benefits it would bring him. As he thought about the system, he recalled that he had received the Inspect skill as an additional quest reward from his fight yesterday. He turned to Dakash and decided to use it on him.Name: DakashRace: HumanAbility: NoneHP 10/10Blood type 0-??????????Varun paused for a second as he read over what he was seeing. For some reason, the system was stating that Dakash had no ability."Hey, Dakash can you still use Zoya's ice powers at the moment?""Wow, I didn't know you were so interested in me," Dakash said as he rubbed the back of his head. "Actually, my ability resets every day and I haven't touched anyone today. Besides you two of course but you two are duds for my ability."They continued to talk for a bit until another alarm notified them that breakfast was over and that class would start soon. On their way, Piyush and Varun spotted Kyle, who did not look at all as if he had been in a fight, much less lost it."Do you think he'll tell the teacher what happened?" Piyush whispered to Varun."I doubt it. It should be too embarrassing for him to admit he was defeated by someone weaker than him, plus it would only make him a target if people find out," Varun whispered back.Their teacher for the day was Del, the same person who had shown them around the school. The students took their seats and just like in the canteen they chose to sit close to those of the same power levels.All but Dakash of course. Dakash decided to sit at the back of the class with the level 1s and 2s, between Piyush and Varun.The other students noticed his behavior and quickly started to talk amongst themselves."What does he think he's doing sitting with those bottom feeders?""I saw him sit with them in the canteen as well.""Won't this cause a problem for the hierarchy at school? Won't the second-year students start to do something?""Yeah if he keeps breaking the rules, then they will definitely step in."This focus on one's power level wasn't just a school thing. In fact, the school was the perfect example of how their society worked as a whole. With a higher power level, you would be guaranteed better jobs and better pay. The government would support you, while the rest would be forgotten.The ones at the top didn't really have a problem with this kind of system. The people with lower power levels would do anything they asked them to do just to curry favour with them, hoping that one day they could increase their power level. Anyone who tried to upset this power system was usually quickly silenced.It was the primary reason the group known as 'Pure' existed in the first place. They wanted to fight against this system and re-establish dignity for all humans, yet the government had branded them terrorists.Del coughed loudly to silence the gossiping students, so he could start his lecture. It was about the introduction of the school and the great war."When we were about to lose the great war against the Dalki," Del began, his voice rising to capture the rapturous moment, his eyes blazing, "That was when they came forward. The 'Originals'. These humans had kept their abilities hidden for hundreds of years only passing them down to their family members."He paused and looked around the class to make sure every student was paying attention before he continued."Thanks to them sharing their abilities with the rest of humanity, we were able to reverse the tide of war and beat back the Dalki. When we talk about an 'Original' today, we're either referring to the founders of that ability or a member of one of the groups who have refused to share their abilities with the rest of the world."Del then 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? That is why you are here."Once the class had finished it was time for the students to take a break. Dakash, Varun, and Piyush headed outside to grab a snack. As soon as Varun stepped outside the dreaded message appeared.All stats have been halved.The three of them sat by a nearby bench and Varun once again felt weak."Hey are you alright, you look sick again?" Dakash asked. "Dude, you're sweating like crazy.""Yeah, I just get hot easily," Varun lied.The three of them continued to talk about random things and the experiences they had at their previous schools until a group of six male students approached them. Each of them was wearing a black arm badge indicating that they were second-year students."Looks like the rumours were true." One of the second-year students said."We have some business to discuss with the three of you. Do you mind coming with us?" another added. His eyes dared the trio to refuse the invitation. CHAPTER 14: UNWRITTEN RULES Chapter 14: Unwritten rules Varun, Piyush, and Dakash were being escorted by the second-year students to a separate part of the school. The school was split into different sections and the second-year building was separate from the first years. This meant the second-year students didn't really interact with the first-year students. "Shouldn't we just run?" Whispered Piyush. "It might just make the situation worse, if they were going to do something to us they would have waited until we were on our own." Varun replied, "It seems like they did this in public intentionally, as if to make a statement to all the other low levels." After walking for a while longer they had eventually arrived at their destination. It was down one of the sides of the second-year buildings, there were a few second-year students who were walking past but the place was relatively quiet. Sitting down just outside of the building on the staircase, was a tall man with brown hair wrapped in a ponytail. "We brought them here as you have asked Mono." One of the second-year students said. "You guys can leave," Mono replied as he stood up from the staircase. The second-year students did as they were told and quickly left them to be on their own. "It seems there have been rumours going around of a high tier student hanging around with a bunch of low tier students." Varun then noticed Mono's wristwatch which had the number 6 written on it. "Is it against the rules?" Dakash asked. Mono started to laugh. "Not quite but there are some unwritten rules of the academy." Mono then walked over to Varun. "You see the moment you start treating this trash like they are useful to society, they start to get a big head." Now that Mono was close enough to Varun, Varun was able to use his Inspect skill but when he tired casting it the status screen that appeared was blurry, it looked like the status screen itself was melting and all the information was unreadable. "Is it because I'm out in the sun?" Varun thought. "Look at this sc.u.m." Mono said, "I'm only a few feet away from him and there isn't even an ounce of fear in his eyes. You know I'm happy that the war started because it got rid of people like you and only the strong survived." Varun's blood started to boil, he hated the war and how it had taken everything away from him including his parents. He no longer cared if he was going to take a beating or not, all he wanted to do was punch Mono in the face right there and then. At this distance even if Varun's punch was slow it should still hit. Varun couldn't hold in his anger any longer and threw out a punch but before Varun's punch was even thrown out fully, Mono had already taken a step back causing Varun's fist to hit the air. Dakash then took this chance to grab onto Mono. However, once again Mono had moved before Varun had even started his action, causing Dakash to grab nothing. "You think I'm going to let someone touch me who's ability I don't even know," Mono said. "I didn't come here to fight you guys, today was just a warning, there are some people in this school that not even the military can touch and if you continue acting this way, they will get involved." With that, Mono headed back up the stairs and into the second-year building. "Do you think he's serious?" Piyush asked, "I know at school they didn't like this type of stuff but it seems even worse now that we're in a military school, why don't the teachers do something to stop it." "Because it works in their favour." Varun replied, "The strong bullying the weak causes the weak to go on the path to find more power, but if you were weak to begin with and don't have the family backing to help you, where would you go to get this power?" "The military," Dakash answered. "Exactly, the teachers and the school don't do anything because it benefits them. After experiencing hell for two years your mind will have been broken down. You would do anything to seek power and protection and the military can offer that for you." Varun said. Varun then looked at Dakash. "it might be best if we comply with their wishes and go our separate ways for now." "Why should I listen to them!" Dakash snapped back. The outburst surprised Varun as Dakash was strangely against his suggestion. "Look, I understand Dakash that you might think you are helping me and Piyush but maybe you don't understand because you've never been powerless like us. When we break their rules they won't go for you, it will be me and Piyush they will go for." Varun hated to saying this to Dakash, after all, Dakash was the first person who has a high-power level who didn't discriminate between people and so far Dakash's presence had helped. Whenever Varun and Piyush walked around the higher levels did nothing to them because of Dakash. But this had only attracted bigger fish, something that Dakash and Varun couldn't handle, at least, not yet anyway. "Fine, have it your way!" Dakash said with anger as he stormed off back to the dorm building. "Maybe we should have explained it to him better," Piyush said. "No, it's fine it's better this way," Varun replied. Although it looked like Dakash had stormed off in anger due to Varun's words, that wasn't true at all. Dakash was angry at the whole situation at the school. Even here it seemed like people were telling him how he should live his life, who he could, and who he could not hang out with. Dakash also didn't want Varun to get hurt so he knew it was the right choice, but Dakash wasn't going to just let these people get away with trying to control his life. Dakash was going to go after them all. CHAPTER 15: FINDING MY NEXT TARGET Chapter 15: Finding my next target Layla had been tracking Varun and the others for a while now, she was even there when Varun was busy dealing with Mono. Although she didn't plan to help out or anything, she was just amazed that Varun was able to attract so much attention in one day. The only thing that Layla was confused about was why did Varun's punch seem so weak and slow. From the looks of things, it seemed like Varun really did want to punch Mono but that defiantly wasn't his best from what she had seen at the training centre. After Dakash had stormed off, Piyush and Varun decided that it would be best that they head back to class for their next lesson. They walked for a while but just before they got back to the first-year building, a group of first-year students were standing in front of the staircase. There were three of them in total and on their wrist watch they had a power level between 2 and 2.5. "What are we going to do, Dan asked for 50 credits by the end of this week." One of the boys said. "I know, why did they have to pick on us, just cause we're weaker than him." Another boy replied. Credits were the School's and city's currency system. Even though they were at military school, the rest of the city functioned as normal. There were still restaurants and shops and even fun activities and games to play all around the city. If you wanted to do these things you would have to pay with credits. Students received free food while at the school but they also received a daily amount of ten credits that would be sent to their wristwatch. The students were able to get more credits by performing well on missions, school activities, and rewards. Piyush and Varun continued to walk past the boys to head the class, that's when one of the boys called out to them. "Wait, stop right there you two!" the boy shouted. Piyush stopped immediately while Varun carried on walking. "Hey, are you listening I said stop." The boy said, then another boy immediately got in front of Varun and pushed him back to where Piyush was standing. Varun was hoping another incident wouldn't occur at least while out in the sun. If he got inside the building just in time then he thought he would have had a fighting chance. "I think I might have just solved our credits problem; you must be the only level ones in this whole school." The boy said. "Hand over 10 credits each and you can go inside." "But that's all the credits we have," Piyush complained. "look I don't want to do this but if I don't, then my arse gets beat. Hand over the credits now." Piyush looked at Varun with hope in his eyes, perhaps thinking that Varun might have been able to do something like last time but after trying to hit Mono, he knew he would have no chance. Besides, these were level twos even at full strength he might not be able to beat them. Varun decided that it would be better off to just hand over the credits anyway. It was better than losing a fight and forcing the credits over. Just then Varun received another system message. < A New quest has been given > < A Power level difference of 2 has been detected> < Additional exp will be awarded> Suddenly, Varun wanted to test out his chances. The idea of gaining additional exp and levelling up even further became really attractive to him but Varun wouldn't let his greed win him over. Right now there were three level 2 power users but the system had only asked him to defeat one of them. The first thing Varun needed to do was get inside so he could use his inspect skill and find out which one was named Rylee. Right now if Varun used it outside it would only appear as a blur. In the end, Varun decided to hand over the ten credits, He placed his watch on the other boys and the credits were transferred over. Piyush ended up doing the same and the two of them were allowed to enter the building. "Hey that was a great idea man!" one of the boys said, "Should we just stay out here until we find someone weaker again." "What!" Varun said in his head, he was hoping that once they had paid them, the boys would enter the building but it looked like they were going to hang outside for a while. Varun suddenly stopped and waited. "What are you two doing, scram unless you want an ass-kicking!" A boy said. Then Varun clenched his fist and shouted. "Rylee!" All three boys turned their heads at the same time but not one of them replied. Varun bad luck continued but he had one more plan to find out which one of them was Rylee. "If you pull this sort of thing again on me Rylee, your dead!" Varun said. Suddenly the boy stood in the centre of the three with red hair got up and shouted. "What the hell did you say to me you little punk?" "Run!" run Varun shouted. Like a bolt of lightning, Piyush and Varun ran as fast as they could to their next class. "What did you do that for?" Piyush asked. "I just wanted to annoy them a little." Piyush couldn't help but think Varun was a little mad but he liked the fact that Varun didn't seem to take crap from people stronger than him and kind of looked up to him a little. Once they were just outside their class Varun opened up his status screen to check if the Quest was still active. "Good." Even though Varun was now away from Rylee, it seemed like the quest was still active and Varun would get the exp as long as he completed it at any time. And Now he knew which one was Rylee and who his first target would be. "You're going to help me level up." CHAPTER 16: A NEW LOOK Chapter 16: A new look Classes for the day had finally finished, since it was the first day most of the classes were just introductions and about what they would learn during their time at the school. Piyush and Varun did their best to avoid most of the other students for the day and it seemed like after everything they had been through, they weren't going to get into any more trouble. Once classes had finished it was time to go for dinner. Varun still had this hunger in his stomach so he was looking forward to dinner more than usual. This time, Varun and Piyush both sat on their own at a table in the low-level area. Then Piyush started to look around the room as if he was trying to spot someone. "I don't see Dakash anywhere, do you think he's okay?" Piyush asked. Varun then scouted around the room and he too couldn't see Dakash at the canteen. "I wouldn't worry about it too much, trust me when I say this but he is a lot safer than us at this school." The two continued to eat and once they had finished dinner decided to head back to their dorm room. To their surprise, Dakash was already in the dorm room on his own lying on his bed. When the two of them closed the door behind them, Dakash lifted his head and immediately smiled at Piyush and Varun. "Hey, I've been waiting for you two for a while now," Dakash said as he got off the bed. "I wanted to say sorry about earlier, I wasn't angry at you guys but just at this whole situation." When Dakash got up from the bed, Varun noticed a slight mark on the side of Dakash's face. It was a little red and a little swollen. "What happened to your face?" Piyush asked. "Oh, this?" Dakash said as he touched the marking. "I got into a little scuffle of my own but don't worry I didn't lose. You don't have to worry about me I'm strong." Then suddenly, a loud growling noise was heard in the room. Piyush and Dakash immediately looked at Varun whose face had gone bright red. "Sorry, I guess I'm still hungry after dinner," Varun said laughing nervously. "Why don't you grab something from the convenience store, it's not too far away?" Dakash said. Varun looked at his watch and realized even if he did go to the convenience store to grab something, he wouldn't be able to buy anything in the first place since he had no credits but before he could even say anything, Dakash had come over and tapped his watch against Varun's. "Transfer of ten credits successful" The notification sounded. "Don't even say anything and go grab something," Dakash said with a smile. "Thanks." With that Varun left Piyush and Dakash on their own while Varun rushed off to the convenience store. The convenience store wasn't too far away from military school. If you walked out, it would take you around 20 minutes. At the front of the school was a huge gate that had two guards stood at the entrance at all times, only students, teachers, and certain military personal were allowed on the school grounds. So when you exited students were required to show their wristwatch to the guard and same upon entering again. Once past the gates, Varun decided to test out how much ten stamina points really was. He started to jog at a relatively fast pace to the convenience store. After running for about 5 minutes he realized that he wasn't out of breath or anything like he usually would be. He decided to run even faster eventually making it to the convenience store in 7 minutes. "I think I was doing about a kilometre in under five minutes, and I'm not even out of breath." Varun thought. The stats given to him were that of an athlete's body, it wasn't the same weak body he had before but at the same time, it wasn't a supernatural body that surpassed human limits. Another thing he noticed while running at night, he could see everything super clear. Even when there were no street lights, it was as if the moon had lightened everything up. A type of night vision of sorts. < Your hunger grows slightly > "I know, I don't need the system to tell me when I'm hungry." When Varun entered the convenience store he went and grabbed a few of his favourite snacks. Some late-night ice cream and potato ch.i.p.s. That's when he suddenly spotted Rylee and his friends in the same store down another aisle. Varun ducked down quietly and waited for them to finish shopping before doing anything else. "What luck, I thought I would have to track him down but it seems like he's come right to me." While Varun was hiding, he noticed he was in the middle of the masks section. There was one particular mask that stood out to him. It was a fully black mask that covered the top half of the face so the mouth could be seen. Across the mask was blood splatter on it. "Kinda spooky looking." Once Rylee and the others had left the store, Varun decided to grab the mask and snacks and placed them on the counter. Layla who was also in the store noticed the mask that Varun had bought. "What the, it's not Halloween yet, what is he doing buying a mask like that?" she thought. Layla decided to continue to follow Varun while Varun was busy following Rylee and his friends. "Hey, we're going to shoot some hoops in the park, you want to join?" One of the boys asked. "Nah, you know my ability useless for playing games like that." Rylee replied, "I think ill just head back and wait by the school gate, see if there are any more suckers I can leach some credits from." The other two boys looked at each other, they knew what they were doing was wrong but were only doing it because they themselves didn't want to get beaten up by a higher power level. Where it seemed like Rylee was starting to get a little pleasure from bullying those weaker than him. Rylee started to head back to school and eventually reached a small park on the way back. An area that was completely void of people and had very little lights. There were also plenty of trees for Varun to hide himself. "It's showtime," Varun said as he put the mask on his face. CHAPTER 17: LEVEL UP Chapter 17: Level up Varun continued to follow Rylee into the forest until he had eventually reached the park. It was mostly dark outside and the only visible light in the area was coming from either the moon or the single street lamp. After checking if there were any people nearby, Varun decided it was time to act and put on his mask. "Even if he spots me now, he won't know who to come back to for revenge." Rylee was currently going through the information on his watch, the glowing light displayed he had a total of 80 credits. "I'm a genius, I don't know why I didn't do this sooner." Rylee said, "I have more than enough to pay Dan and keep some for myself, as long as I stay on Dan's good side, no one will try to attack me." As soon as Rylee finished his thought, he felt a large impact on his right side. Just then Varun had come out from the trees and threw out a kick causing Rylee to stumble to the ground. When Rylee looked up all he could see was a student wearing a horrifying mask, with a blood splat on the front. "What the heck, who are you?" Rylee shouted. Of course, Varun wasn't going to answer and wanted to finish the fight fast. He ran up to Rylee and threw another kick, this time though Rylee was prepared and lifted his hands manging to block the kick. When Varun's legs hit Rylee's hands though, it felt like he was kicking against solid rock. "OUCH!" Varun said as he quickly leapt backward to check on his leg. He lifted his trousers and saw his leg was badly hurt, it looked like his bones had even bent in slightly. "What?" Rylee thought as he saw his attacker fall back. Then Rylee spotted his attacker's wristwatch, which lit up brightly in the dark and displayed the number one. Rylee started to laugh. "I see now, you're probably one of the students I took the credits from earlier, And I'm guessing you thought you could get some revenge." Varun then quickly used his inspect skill on his opponent. "Damn it, no wonder my leg felt like it hit a rock." Although Varun's surprise attack didn't work, he still felt like he could win this fight. Varun charged in once again this time throwing a fist. The attack was faster than Rylee had expected and he didn't have time to use his hardening skill and he took the blow right in the face. "I think he cracked my tooth, how hard does this kid hit?" Rylee thought. Varun threw another punch with his other hand but Rylee had predicted this and hardened his face in time. When Varun's fist hit Rylee's face, once again it felt like he was hitting a rock. < Your fist is broken > < 7/10 HP > Varun then stepped back causing distance between the two. "Again, what am I meant to do if he keeps hardening his body?" Then a thought came into Varun's mind. If Rylee was able to harden his body then why didn't he just keep it hardened all the time? If he did then Varun's first attack wouldn't have gone through. Did this mean that Rylee was only able to Harden a single part of his body at a time? It was just a theory but Varun had nothing to lose and this gave him a plan. Varun ran forward at Rylee one more time shouting. "I'm going to punch that ugly face of yours if it's the last thing I do!" Rylee then hardened his face again and was ready this time but at the last second Varun changed his punch to a kick in the stomach, causing Rylee to bend over. "It worked." Then Varun went to knee Rylee in the stomach again but at the last second stopped and punched Rylee on the back of the head. Now Rylee laid on the ground defenceless. Varun gave one fast swift attack to the back of his head and Rylee was knocked out. "Did you really think I would call where I was going to attack?" Varun said. <50 exp will be rewarded> <20 additional exp will be awarded> <100/100> "Would I like to level up? Why even bother asking." Varun thought. "Who cares, Yes" "Evolution?" Suddenly, Varun felt a large stabbing pain in his heart, it started to beat faster then it had ever done before. The blood started to rush through his veins all over his body. The pain was so much that Varun had fallen to his knees but he did his best to keep in any screams, fearing he would alarm anyone. The pain continued throughout his body, his broken hand started to heal along with his legs, and then a sharp stabbing pain could be felt in his teeth. The pain continued to last for a further five minutes until it had eventually stopped. Varun starred at the words the system gave him but it didn't make sense to him, he had never heard of the term halfling before. Then even more messages started to appear. Blood swipe: A skill that has a range of 5 meters. It will fire out a red line of energy form the user's hands. To use the skill the user must use their own blood causing -1HP per Blood swipe. Before Varun had time to check out the changes to his stats, another message had appeared which was the most shocking of them yet. CHAPTER 18: I'M A VAMPIRE Chapter 18: I'm a Vampire Varun had to take a few steps back and took a minute to take everything in. He couldn't believe what he was reading right now. After seeing that last message there was only one thing that came into his head. "I'm a Vampire?" Maybe Varun was just trying to avoid the truth this whole time but this was the finale thing to confirm it. Varun had his suspicion after reading the book, but everything was adding up, him being weaker in the sun, his night vision, and the fact the system wanted him to drink blood. But now it was telling him that he would have to drink blood otherwise he would die. Varun stood there looking down at Rylee who was passed out lying on the ground. Varun gulped his saliva down, for some reason something was drawing him to Rylee's body. Without realizing it, he was slowly moving forward and suddenly he could see Rylee's pulse beating through his neck. The blood flowing through his veins. "How am I even meant to do this." Varun thought as he looked Rylee like a piece of meat on a plate. Layla had continued to watch Varun since he left the convenience store. When she saw Varun following Rylee and him holding the mask, she had an idea of what Varun was planning to do. She kept a safe distance back while staying in between the trees to avoid being seen. That's when she saw the whole thing. She saw Varun put on the mask and beat Rylee to the ground but then she was wondering what Varun was doing. He was kneeling on the floor as if he was in pain and now, he was looking at Rylee very strangely she thought. The next second she saw Varun go to the ground and lift Rylee's body slightly off the floor. "What the…" Layla said, "He can't be planning to... kiss him, what is wrong with this person?" Varun continued to lift Rylee of the ground and place him back down again as he was deciding on what to do. "Damn it, in the movies it so much easier." Varun said, "The idea of sticking my teeth into someone, I just can't do it." In the end, Varun decided to leave Rylee's body there and head back to the school. "I wonder what that was all about, in the end, he didn't do anything?" Layla thought. Varun started to head back to school and placed the mask back in his shopping bag. He noticed that the ice cream he had bought had melted but for some reason when he looked at it, in no longer looked appetizing. There was a hunger in his stomach that he knew wouldn't be satisfied with food and he wondered just how long he would be able to hold it in. When Varun had finally arrived back at school, he decided to stop by the toilet first. Varun was looking at himself in the mirror to see if there were any noticeable changes but Varun looked the same as before. Then Varun lifted up his lips so he could get a better view of his teeth but they too had stayed the same. "Phew, at least it looks like no one will be able to tell. I wonder why I felt pain in my teeth at the time then?" Varun then decided to open his status screen to see if there were any differences from before now that he had levelled up and evolved. Varun's health had increased by 50 percent while everything else seemed to have remained the same. To be honest, Varun was pretty bumped out about that but just underneath he could see that there was a single attribute point. When Varun pressed on the system it would allow him to increase his strength, Agility or Stamina by one point. Varun thought about it for a while and decided to add a point to his Agility. Even though Varun wanted to put it into strength in case he met more people like Rylee, he thought he could overcome that problem with a good beast weapon and would just be a waste of stats. What he wanted right now was to be able to be fast and agile like an assassin. Varun wondered if there was a reason why the system had only given him one point, then he started to remember the additional quest that it had given him. As long as Varun consumed the blood of his victim, it would give him a stat point. So far Varun would have been able to have an additional two stat points while levelling up only gave him one. If Varun wanted to get stronger then this would be the quickest way. But Varun was unsure on whether or not he would be able to do it, he needed to try to do more research into the system and see if there was anything he could find out. He had a direction now and knew his system was similar to that of a vampire. Perhaps if he learned more about them he would be able to figure out if there was a way around drinking the blood as well. With that, Varun decided to head to his room where he could hear Dakash and Piyush practicing together. Piyush was trying his best to learn the skill book the military had given him, while Dakash was tutoring him. When Varun had entered the room, Dakash and Piyush greeted him as usual. "What took you so long?" Dakash asked, "We thought you might have gotten lost." "No, I just went exploring the city a little" Varun replied, "I'm a bit tired I think I'm going to go bed early." "Maybe we should call it a day for now as well," Piyush said. With that, the group turned off the lights and went to sleep. All except for one person that is. Varun was unable to sleep, his stomach was in a tremendous amount of pain and he had too much on his mind. If what the message said was true Varun didn't have enough time to solve his problem. However, there was nothing he could do. The school had a curfew of 10 PM and if you were caught outside that curfew there would be major punishments. So all Varun could do was try to get some sleep and deal with the problem in the morning. Eventually, he finally managed to close his eyes and drift off. When he woke up the next day though, the pain was worse than ever. His head was ringing and his senses felt like they were on high alert. The first thing Varun did was open up his system. <10 hours have passed> < HP 5/15> This was bad, Varun finally realized that he had no choice and didn't have time to figure out another way. He needed to drink human blood and he needed to in the next five hours. CHAPTER 19: RUNNING OUT OF TIME! Chapter 19: Running out of time! Even though Varun had lost 2/3 of his HP, it didn't feel like he was hurt or dying. It wasn't like when he was out in the sun when he felt week, instead, it felt like all his senses were on high alert. "Hey Varun, are you alright man?" Dakash asked seeing Varun's face in shock. "Yeah, I just, got to go somewhere," Varun said as he rushed out of the room, heading down to the canteen. Everything that happened so far was a miscalculation on Varun's part. Although the system had told him he would lose 1 hp every hour, he didn't expect his body to react like this. Originally, he only planned to sleep for five hours as he was too worn out after the fight yesterday. That way he would still have at least ten hours and a few hours in the morning before classes started. Varun started to calculate how much time he had left. Breakfast was a requirement which lasted from 8 till 9, then classes went on till 12 midday for lunch. That meant there were four more hours where he was required to be somewhere in the school. Of course, there was always the option of skipping, but this wasn't like regular school. The army would severely punish you and hunt you down if you did. But what did that matter if he was going to die anyway? Varun was currently in the canteen queue to be served some food. He was breathing in deep breaths and in and out slowly, it was helping him get the hang of his heightened senses. He could hear the conversation from the other side of the room. Pots and pans clanging in the kitchen as if they were next to him. Slowly Varun was figuring out how to ignore all these and it was making his mind think clearer. Just then though, Rylee had entered the canteen. He had no markings on his body from the fight yesterday as he had managed to make a full recovery at the medical centre but he was in a terrible mood after what had happened yesterday. As soon as he saw Varun, he had found a target to take out all his pent-up frustration on. Rylee walked past all the level ones that were in the queue until he eventually reached the spot were Varun was standing. "Hey Pipsqueak, you got a problem if I cut Infront of you?" Rylee asked. But Varun was too busy trying to focus the sounds out from his mind. "Are you ignoring me? Today is not the day to ignore me." Rylee looked at Varun's wristwatch seeing the number 1 shine bright on it. Immediately bad memories of yesterdays fight had come into his head and how all he wanted to do was kill the person but that would have to wait for now and Varun would have to do. "I said don't ignore me?" Rylee said as he grabbed Varun by the collar. But in that instant, Rylee's face was incredibly close to Varun's. Varun could hear Rylee's heartbeat. He could feel the blood flowing through his arm and muscles lifting his shirt. Something had taken over Varun's body and he immediately hit Rylee's arm away and pounced on him causing the two of them to fall to the ground. Varun was now on top of Rylee and had both his hands pinned down. "Get off me you crazy animal!" Rylee said but when Rylee tried to overpower Varun and lift his hands, it was impossible. Even his Ability was useless in this situation. His ability only hardened his skin, it didn't make him any more powerful. Then Varun started to feel something growing in his mouth. Varun placed his head just a few inches away from Rylee's neck and was ready. Just as Varun opened his mouth though, he felt someone pull him by the back of his collar and chucked him off Rylee towards the people in the queue. "Don't touch one of my boys," Dan said. Dan was a large man for his age with a muscular build. He didn't look like a teenage boy but more like a bald a.d.u.l.t. "Dan, thank you so much," Rylee said as he stood up from the ground sweating. "You're dead now boy." As soon as Dan took one step forward though, Dakash stepped Infront of Varun with Piyush. "Do you really want to cause a problem," Dakash said lifting his arm to show the power level on his wristwatch. The truth was, Dakash was only bluffing. Dakash's power very much depended on what ability he copied and right now all he had was Piyush's level 1 earth ability. If they were to get into a fight here, there was no contest on who would win. But Dakash's plan seemed to work as Dan decided to back down and take Rylee with him but before Rylee walked off, he signalled to Varun imitating someone cutting his head off. "Oh, thank you, thank you, I can't believe that worked," Piyush said knowing Dakash's secret. After the canteen incident was over, something became clear to Varun. That teaches wouldn't step in no matter what happened. In the canteen there were many guards standing in each corner of the room but not once did they step in to help. After the group finished eating it was time for them to go to their morning classes but Varun was unable to concentrate on anything, all he could do was try to calm himself down while in the middle of class and watch his HP slowly tick away. It was driving him insane seeing the number go down hour by hour and now wished he had just bitten into Rylee's neck yesterday. Then when it came to lunchtime, Varun once again rushed off without Dakash and Piyush this time to the library. <1/15 HP> "What the hell is happening to me?" Varun said as his hands wouldn't stop shaking. Each time Varun's HP would go down, it was getting harder and harder to control his own body and sooner or later he would go crazy. During class, he had multiple visions of tearing the place apart and ripping out the blood from their necks. Without realising where he was walking to, Varun eventually ended up in the library. In the quiet corner of the library down one of the isles was the fiction section. "Please have something I can use," Varun said as he took out fantasy book after fantasy book about Vampires. In some of the books, Vampires were able to live off animal blood, But Varun's system clearly stated he needed human blood. Not just that but it would be hard for him to find an animal in time. In other stories, there were talks of going to the hospital and raiding their supply but the hospital in the city was heavily guarded and he didn't have time for that. Finally, for the first time, Varun could feel himself getting weaker. He sat on the floor and read one last book and found nothing of use. When he closed the book, he could see Layla standing there opposite him. "Are you okay?" Layla asked concerned for Varun as he was starting to look very pale. Layla then bent down so she was at eye level with Varun and placed her hand on his forehead to check his temperature. "You're so cold? Do you want me to take you to the nurse's office?" Layla asked. Varun replied with one word. "Sorry…" He said as he pulled Layla's arm bringing her close to him and bit into Layla's neck. CHAPTER 20: A PROBLEM Chapter 20: A Problem As Varun opened his mouth wide, he could feel the ends of his teeth start to grow, he didn't know what had come over him and it was as if his body had just taken control, his mind wasn't all there. His teeth quickly sunk into Layla's skin and at the same time, a gush of blood entered Varun's mouth. However, Layla didn't feel any pain from this but instead, it felt like pleasure. A tingling sensation ran through her body as she felt the blood rush up through and out of her neck. Even if she wanted to resist, she couldn't, the bite seemed to have a paralysis effect. Finally, Varun's hunger was going away. Even though the messages had appeared, Varun continued to suck Layla's blood away. <15/15 HP> Then when the last message had appeared, Varun's mind had finally come back to him. He let got of Layla, causing her body to fall to the ground. "What the?" Varun said as he looked around himself, only then noticing Layla on the ground. "Did I do that?" Then images of what he had just done popped into his head, although at the time he felt like he had no control, in the end, his whole body still working causing him to remember everything he had done. < You have gained 1+ strength> Although Varun wanted to check what the message had said and what it had it meant, he needed to get Layla out of the library fast. Even though they were in a quiet part of the library, there was no telling when somebody would come back. Thankfully Varun could see Layla breathing so he at least knew she wasn't dead but there were two clear bite marks on her neck that needed to be dealt with. Varun then lifted Layla up with his two hands, finding her surprisingly lighter than he thought. As Varun headed to the Doctor's office, he couldn't stop thinking about what had just happened. A part of him thought that the system might have just been playing tricks on him. Even though he could see his HP going down, he never felt like he was going to die at any point. And Varun didn't even know if going to 0 HP meant death but after what had happened today, he didn't want to find out. There were a few things Varun needed to do. He needed to find out how frequent his body required blood. To do this meant he would have to once again starve his body of blood. But this time he would get blood beforehand, so he would be better prepared. But before even all that, he had another serious problem in his hands. Layla, would she remember anything when she got up, or would Varun have to convince her to keep it a secret? If others were to find out of his rare ability it would start a bidding war between the private companies and military. They would do anything to get their hand on a new type of ability. Before anyone could find out about Varun, he needed to be strong enough to protect himself. While Varun walked down the hallway, he got quite a few looks from the other students, it wasn't strange to see someone carry an injured person in the school but it was strange for a boy to carry a girl unless they were an item. Finally, Varun had reached the infirmary, where there was a single female doctor named Hayley, who looked to be in her early thirties. She wore round glasses and had her hair up in a ponytail. Varun never got the chance to mess around with girls while he was at school but looking at the doctor, he couldn't help but appreciate her natural beauty. "Another one?" Hayley said. "There's a bed free at the back, take her over there." Varun did as he was told and placed Layla gently on one of the single beds in the back. The infirmary was quite large, Varun had never seen a school have one so big. There was a total of 30 beds but Hayley was the only one working there. At the moment about half the beds were filled up with students and Varun couldn't help but notice most of them were low levels. There were the odd high levels as well. Even they got into their own fights and disagreements. Hayley came over to where Varun and Layla were and started to examine Layla. She placed her hand around her Wrist and did a few other checks. That's when she noticed the two small hole marks on her neck. "What happened? Hayley asked. "I'm not sure, I was in the library when I saw her on the ground like that," Varun replied. "I don't know how long she was passed out for but the wound on her neck looks like it's already healing on its own." Hayley said, "Still I can't be sure if it will heal and it would be a shame if a pretty girl like her got a scar." Hayley then placed her hand on Layla's neck where the bite marks were. She closed her eyes and after a few seconds, lifted her hands and the bite marks had vanished. "Is it okay if I wait here for her?" Varun asked. "Oh, young kids these days," Hayley said laughing. "I didn't realise you two were like that." "No, No, no," Varun said waving his arms. "Were just friends that's all." After Hayley had gone away to look after other students, Varun decided to open up his system. < Strength 11> < Agility 11> "It really did give me an extra stat point after all?" After sucking Layla's blood, it seemed like he had gained a stat point. Varun remembered after defeating opponents the system would give him an additional quest to suck his victim's blood. The reward was a stat point but it seemed like there was no need for him to get a quest. Was Varun able to drink anyone's blood and gain stat points, what happened if Varun was to drink Layla's blood again, would he gain another stat? there were so many questions Varun wanted answers for. He looked at Layla lying there peacefully. Right now, he was in complete control of his body and there was no urge for him to suck on Layla's neck again. After checking his teeth, he realised that they had gone back to normal. That's when Varun decided to look around the room, until he finally found what he was looking for, a syringe with a needle. Varun looked around the room and saw that Hayley was busy dealing with another student. He carefully took the syringe and hid it behind his back and then quickly scooted over to where Layla was once more. "I'm really sorry about this Layla." Varun said, "But you're going to have to be my guinea pig." Varun took out the syringe and carefully looked at where Layla's veins were. Luckily Layla was quite pale making her veins more visible. Varun searched carefully for the right spot and was ready but just as Varun was about to extract some blood, he heard someone crash into the room. "Is Varun here." A boy's voice said. "Isn't that Piyush?" Varun immediately put the syringe in one of his trouser pockets and went to see what was happening. "Varun you're here, come quick, I've been looking everywhere for you. It's Dakash, he's in trouble!" CHAPTER 21: I'M A MONSTER Chapter 21: I'm a monster Although Varun had no idea what was happening, just from looking at Piyush's face he could tell it was serious. Varun then looked behind to see Layla lying there still sleeping away. It was important for Varun to be there when Layla woke up. He had to convince her to not tell anyone her secret but right now it seemed like Dakash was in trouble. Varun then thought back to the incident at the canteen. When Varun was in trouble Dakash stepped up to help him. Although there probably wasn't much Varun could do to help, he wouldn't know if he didn't try. What kind of person would he be if he couldn't help Dakash now? "Alright come on," Varun said. "Let's hurry." The two of them quickly ran through the hallways until they had finally reached the assembly hall. It was currently a large empty hall with marble flooring and a stage at the front. It hadn't been used for anything yet so far but it was the area where the students would be called if they were to have a meeting. When the two of them entered the assembly hall, there were already multiple students there mumbling about a commotion. "Did you see what happened>" "Yeah, that guy is a monster how could he do that?" "Luckily the second- year students were here to stop him." The assembly hall was complete trashed. Craters and rubble had formed on parts of the walls and ground. Burn marks and other things were there as well and there was even blood. Something Varun could smell the second he had entered the room. "What happened here?" Varun asked, "Where's Dakash?" Clearly, a fight had taken place here and Varun feared the worst. "I don't know," Piyush replied. "Me and Dakash were busy messing around practising my earth ability together, that's when a bunch of second years I'd never seen before came up to us asking for Dakash. Dakash told me not to worry but of course, I worried so I followed them. That's when I saw them take him to the assembly hall but two of the students stood guard and wouldn't let me come inside. I didn't know what to do, so that's when I came looking for you." Varun and Piyush then went around asking the students what happened but when they did, the students seemed to avoid the question or completely ignore them, as if they were told not to tell anyone what they had seen. While Piyush continued to ask the students that were still in the hall about what happened. Varun already knew that they wouldn't give him any more answers so he started to do some inspecting of his own. The smell of iron in the room was thicker than anything else to Varun and it led him to an area where dried up could be seen on the floor. "Inspect." Name: Dakash Race: Human Blood type: O- Varun started to inspect the battle scene and found more traces of blood but when he used the inspect skill on them, it wouldn't show him any information at all. It would only show "Do I have to use the inspect skill on them in person?" Varun thought. It was a shame the blood on the floor had already dried up, otherwise, Varun would have used the syringe he had on hand. Just then, Piyush had finished questioning everyone and returned to Varun. "It doesn't;t look like anyone wants to talk," Piyush said. "Figures, let's just head back to our dorm, who knows he might have returned." The two of them then headed back to the Dorm room together and when they entered, they were surprised to actually see Dakash already there. However, something wasn't right, Dakash wasn't his regular self. Just by looking at him Varun and Piyush could tell he had been in a ruff fight. Bruises and scuff marks everywhere, Large cuts on his back. He looked like he had been in a tough battle. Not only that but Dakash didn't even great them when the two entered. The Dakash they had come to know, was not the same Dakash right now. Dakash just stayed there lying down on his bed. "Dakash, what happened is everything all right?" Piyush asked. "Yeah, just leave me be I'll be fine," Dakash said. "If you stay near me you will just get hurt anyway." "What are you talking about Dakash!" Piyush shouted. "Look at you, you have to go to the doctor's office, come on let's go." "Just leave me alone please," Dakash said quietly. "Varun, come on say something he needs to go to the doctor's office right…" But as Piyush turned around to seek support from Varun. Varun was nowhere to be seen. "Even he thinks I'm a monster," Dakash mumbled to himself. Just outside the dorm room. Varun was leaning up against door panting hard and sweating. Although he had no reaction when looking at people anymore, it was different when he saw Dakash. Dakash still had fresh cut marks all over his body and the smell coming off him was strong. Suddenly Varun felt like he had a craving for a little bit of blood. It was something he could control, it wasn't like last time where his body had taken over but it had brought back bad memories for him and he was a little afraid of what might have happened. "I really need to find out what's going on with this strange system ability I have?" Then a thought came into his head, there was a pending problem that he still hadn't dealt with. Although Dakash was acting strange right now, Varun knew he was safe. Whatever problems Dakash where dealing with now, would just have to wait. Every second wasted meant there was a chance for Layla to wake up and who knew what would happen when she did. **** Just then at the same time in the doctor's office, in the corner, at the back of the room, Layla slowly started to open her eyes. "Huh, what happened?" Layla said, "Where am I?" As Layla looked around the room, she started to rub her neck and at the same time images had flashed through her head of what had happened at the library. She remembered everything. CHAPTER 22: LAYLA'S REQUEST Chapter 22: Layla's Request When images of what had happened to Layla started flashing through her head, she immediately started to get this tingling feeling over her body. She was reacting to the memories of Varun biting into her. It wasn't a painful memory but quite an addictive feeling. The sensation of the blood rushing through her body. Her face was starting to turn a little red just thinking about it. That's when she lifted her hand and placed it on her neck. "Huh, I can't feel anything?" "Oh, so you're awake," Haley said with a smile. "You were sleeping so peacefully there I didn't know when you were going to wake up." "How did I get here?" Layla asked. "Oh a boy came in and dropped you off, he said he was your friend, I can't remember his name but he had short black curly hair," Hayley said with a smile thinking about the tow of them. This confirmed Layla's thought. Varun must have brought her here right after biting her. Hayley then noticed that Layla was rubbing the side of her neck with her hand. "Oh, I got rid of those two marks for you, do you remember what happened." Once again as she thought back to the memory of Varun biting her, she started to get goose bumps all over her body. "I'm not sure maybe it was a beast?" Layla replied "A beast?" "Yeah, I here sometimes a stray can come out with the students while they're training through the portals," Layla said nervously hoping that Hayley would believe her lie. "Well whatever it was, I'm sure someone else will deal with it, it's just a good thing your safe now." **** Varun was running through the school halls as fast as he could, he needed to make it to the doctor's office before Layla woke up. He had no idea how Layla would react, not only that but what were the consequences of biting someone? If it was like some of the Vampire Novels Varun had read in the library, some vampires had the ability to turn others. Right now, Varun thought that might be a better situation than everyone finding out about his ability. Finally, Varun had reached the doctor's office and he pulled the door wide open. "Oh hello again," Hayley said. "If you're looking for the girl you just missed her, she left a little while ago." "Really? Did she happen to say anything?" Varun asked, judging by Haley's reaction it didn't seem like Layla had said anything but he needed to make sure. "Oh you mean about the wound, she said that a beast might have attacked her, although I highly doubt that, it looked more like snake bite but how did it manage to get into the school and all the way up her neck." Hayley continued to ramble on. She often did this as she was left on her own a lot of the times being the only doctor stationed at the school. It was a lonely Job. "Thanks for letting me know," Varun said as he closed the door. Why did Layla decide to keep it a secret Varun thought? He had basically assaulted the poor girl, good it be that she didn't remember what happened or maybe she was planning to use at blackmail against him but that didn't make sense, she had nothing to gain. Varun had always thought like this, people when they did something, always did it for selfish reasons, that's just the way people were. He couldn't believe that Layla would keep this a secret for no reason. Just then while Varun was outside the doctor's office thinking of what to do next. He felt a hand on his shoulder. "You and me, we need to talk," Layla said. Had she been waiting here this whole time, this was bad. Layla clearly indicated that she knew something which meant losing her memory of the events where unlikely. The two of them then headed to the library where then incident took place. Varun felt a bit more relaxed, taking him here meant she wasn't looking for a fight as there were other students in the room. The two of them sat at a table and activated the Orb so only the two of them could be heard. As they looked into each other's eyes for a bit, Varun started to run multiple scenarios through his head. If worst came to worst, he might have to silence her. "What happened at the library, what did you do?" Layla asked rubbing her neck. "Why bother asking if you already know what happened?" Varun said. "Just tell me what you want?" "I don't know if you know this but I kept an eye on you for longer than you think, after observing you for a while a came to a conclusion. You're a Vampire, aren't you?" Varun started to laugh nervously hoping to throw Layla of track. He was actually amazed by how she had come to the conclusion so fast when it even took him a while. Even if she did see everything, he had done so far he didn't think this was the natural conclusion someone would come to. "And why would you think that?" "I saw you lifting, that boy's neck, at the time I thought you doing something else cause I couldn't see clearly," Layla said as her ears started to heat up a little. "But after what you had done to me, it confirms it." Varun started to sweat slightly at the integration. He wasn't worried about Layla herself but the troubles she could bring him in the future. Varun didn't know what to say and thought he would wait for Layla to make her demand. Layla then took a deep breath before saying her next words. This is what Varun was waiting for, her request. "I want you to hear me out. I want you to make me a Vampire." Varun was so shocked by the words that had come out of Layla's mouth that he nearly fell out of his seat. "What, do you realise what you are saying right now?" "Please," Layla said as if she was begging him. "It's a childhood dream of mine, this type of things only happens in books or fairy tales and now I have the chance for it to happen right now." She said with her eyes lit up. Now Varun realised why Layla didn't tell anyone, simply put this girl was crazy. CHAPTER 23: AN ASISSTANT Chapter 23: An asisstant Layla had grown up her whole life reading fantasy stories and comics about all sorts of things. Before the whole war started, her father used to work as a writer, so her home was filled with books and stories and her favourite ones were always about vampires. She loved everything about them, how they had to keep their identity secret to the world, the super-strength they had, the super speed and the fact that they could live on nearly forever. When Abilities were realised to the world, it made fantasy stories a thing of the past. Many people read stories because they were that, fantasy. It allowed them to imagine doing something that they could never do but now that humans actually had special powers, what was the point? However, the love for Vampires never died down for Layla, it only grew. If abilities exited then that meant somewhere out their maybe vampires did too. When she saw Varun's actions, she had already convinced herself that he was a vampire. Varun was right when he thought a normal person wouldn't have come to the same conclusion but that's was because Layla wasn't a normal person. Layla then suddenly got out of her seat and started to bow down to Varun on her knees. The students in the room although couldn't hear their conversation, couldn't help but look at them. "Please, I'll do anything for you," Layla said. "Alright, I understand please get up," Varun said. The two of them sat down at their seats again, before Varun started to speak, he let out a big sigh, thinking about how he was going to explain this to her. "It's not what you think," Varun said, "I'm not a vampire, I became like this from an Ability book." Suddenly the smile on Layal's face disappeared. "You know what that means right?" Varun asked. Layla nodded. Varun was basically telling her it was impossible for him to give her this ability. The reason was a human body could only activate one ability. When learning an ability, it mutated the genes inside of your body but once your genes had been mutated, they could no longer change or add a second mutation. Because Layla already had the ability of telekinesis, it meant Layla was unable to learn a second ability. "Then why did you hide this from the academy, why did you tell them you had no ability. If you got this from an ability book you can't be an original?" "Have you ever heard of an ability like this?" Varun asked. Layla thought about for a while and realised there was nothing quite like it. There was never a record of an ability requiring someone to drink blood. "But if you told the school you got it from an ability book, one that's not even been registered and you aren't an original, you could make a fortune selling the book!" Layla said excitedly. "I wish that was true but I can't do that either," Varun explained. "When I learnt the ability the book simply vanished." Layla was debating whether Varun was telling the truth or not but she had no choice but to believe him. It was the only explanation of why Varun was so adamant in hiding his ability. Ability books didn't just vanish they were books. They could be passed on for others to learn. If people found out about this, multiple companies and the military would put immense pressure on Varun to share the ability with the world and with no powerful family backing him, Layla couldn't imagine what would be done to him. They would never believe him if he said he got it from an ability book and it disappeared. Varun then proceeded to tell Layla about everything that had happened so far. But left out the details about the game like system. Only stating that he continued on as normal when suddenly, he had this incurable hunger. Layla felt like it was a mixture of things she had read about vampires before. Varun didn't die in the sun but felt incredibly weak she was just as interested to learn more about his vampire like ability. "Fine, I will keep this as a secret but only on one condition. I want you to help you out." Layla said. "Clearly you don't know much about this thing, so much so that you had gone out of control and bit me in the neck. We can't have you going around school biting people. They'll take you away in a heartbeat. If you need to feast on someone, then feast on me." Layla said placing her hand on herself. Varun started to think about the situation, having Layla as a helper was a big advantage. Varun himself wanted to test multiple things about the system and here he had someone offering to help for free. And it truly felt like Layla was telling the truth. Not only that but Layla seemed to be more knowledgeable about vampires then himself. Perhaps she would even be able to help him in his research. "It's a deal," Varun said as the two of them shook hands. Layla was happy that Varun had accepted. The truth was Layla still hadn't given up the idea of being a Vampire. Unlike Varun, Layla wasn't too sure that what Varun had was an ability in the first place. An ability was usually a specific set of skills but Varun had completely changed as if he was no longer human. "Alright, the first thing is first, you going to need to take some of my blood." Layla said, "That way if you're getting hungry again, you can drink some of that. Layla then pulled down her shirt slightly and started to show her neck towards Varun. "What are you thinking, we can't do it here in front of the library and I'm not just going to bite into your neck." As the two continued to talk and chat about things in the library about what to do next. Dakash had entered the library and could see Varun talking to Layla, both chatting and smiling away. "Have you forgotten about me that quickly already?," Dakash said, "You're mine and I'm not letting anyone hurt you." CHAPTER 24: A SCHOOL SECRET Chapter 24: A School secret Piyush was currently running around the school looking for Varun or Dakash. For some reason, both of his new friends had suddenly started acting very strange and Piyush didn't know what to do about it. His life at his previous school had been hell and he did everything he could to serve those above him. And for the first time ever he had made friends that protected him. Varun, even though he was a low level himself had stood up for Piyush and Dakash who had not only protected him but helped him learn his new ability. Something had happened to Dakash and suddenly he was acting strange. Although Piyush had no clue what was going on with Varun, he had some idea about what had changed Dakash. It was after whatever had happened at the assembly hall with the second-year students. But no matter who he would talk to about it, not one person would give him an answer. Some even begin to threaten him. That's when Piyush could hear a familiar voice. While walking down the hallway Piyush could hear someone speaking, a voice he recognised. As he turned the corner, he saw that is was indeed Dakash. Dakash stood there staring idly at the ground. Piyush quickly hid back around the hallway corner. So far whenever Piyush had spotted Dakash, he would just ignore him and walk away without even speaking to him but now it sounded like Dakash was speaking to someone else. "Would you two calm down," Dakash said. There was then a brief pause before Dakash spoke again. "I don't care if he hurt the little one's feelings, it's not like Varun isn't allowed to talk to other people." Again, there was a slight pause. "Look if you get involved and hurt them, I won't forgive you. I won't let something like last time happen again." The whole time Piyush was listening in to the conversation the only voice he could hear was Dakash's but it was clear that he was speaking to someone. Piyush couldn't take it anymore and decided to take a peak and as he did still the only person he could see was Dakash. "Did the other person leave already?" Piyush thought. Just then he saw Dakash start to walk off. The bell had rung indicating that it was the end of their lunch break and it was time to head to afternoon classes. That's when the library doors opened and Varun and Layla appeared out walking together. "Varun!" Piyush said as he waved him over. "I'll meet you at the front gate tonight once classes are over," Varun said to Layla before leaving to join Piyush. The two of them then started to walk off to class together. "Hey, are you okay man?" Piyush asked. "I was worried about you when you suddenly bolted out of the room like that." "Yeah sorry man, I couldn't hold it in any longer otherwise my underwear would have turned brown." "Woah, whoa too much information," Piyush said. "Anyway, I'm glad you're okay, look I'm really worried about Dakash. Ever since he came back from that assembly hall, he's been acting strange." Varun placed his hand on Piyush seeing that he was clearly startled. This whole time Varun had more important things to worry about but now that he had solved the most pressing matter, he had time to focus on other things. "Don't worry, we'll find out what's going on together." When they entered their next class, they could see that Dakash was already in his seat sat down, ready even before them. "Oh hey guys, how you doing?" Dakash said with a smile. Piyush went to sit in his seat to the right of Dakash while Varun went to sit in his seat to the left of Dakash. "Hey, are you feeling better?" Piyush asked, "Earlier it seemed like you were kinda sulking." "Yeah don't worry, I just got kinda thrown around a bit by the second years and it got me pretty down," Dakash replied. "What happened at the assembly hall?" Varun asked. Then Dakash's face slightly changed, it was as if he was trying to hold something back. Dakash clenched his fist for a few seconds and finally relaxed his hand. "Guy's don't worry about it too much, you know I'm strong and know I can handle myself." All though Piyush was quite satisfied now with Dakash, as he seemed to be his regular self, Varun noticed that Dakash seemed to be holding something back, all most suppressing something when he asked that question. As other students started to enter the classroom when they saw Dakash they immediately started to whisper. If Dakash would look back at them they would turn their head as soon as possible. As the students sat down the talks continued and several different words could be heard. Monster, Freak, weirdo, crazy, and all these words were being aimed at Dakash. It was as if the whole school was sharing a secret that Piyush and Varun weren't allowed to know and not even Dakash himself would say what had happened. After hearing these words Varun noticed that Dakash stayed their motionless with his head down, he hadn't even written any notes down in his notebook about the lesson. Although it seemed like no one would tell him or Piyush what had happened, Varun now had another ally that might be able to help him and that was Layla. At the end of class, the teacher Dell projected a screen in front of the whole class. There was a list of names each sorted into a different category. "Please look at this carefully and see where your name is, as tomorrow will be the start fo your combat classes," Del explained. The list was split up into several different categories each one was different depending on what type of ability you had. Elemental abilities, Transformation abilities, Enhancement abilities, and so on. That's when Varun also noticed that his and a few other names were not on the list including Dakash's. "If your name is not on the list it's because either your Ability doesn't fall into one of the categories or you are an original with a unique ability. You are free to choose to go to whichever class you believe suits you. Students are also able to switch between combat classes if they wish. These are not set in stone but the schools recommendation based on your ability." The list of available classes was then sent to each student's wristwatch where they were to register for the type of class, they would be interested In. "I wonder what combat class would be best for me?" Varun thought as he looked at the long list. CHAPTER 25: TESTING BLOOD Chapter 25: Testing Blood After classes had finished for the Day, Dakash had offered to help Piyush with his training again. Especially since tomorrow the two of them would be in the same combat classes, the elemental class."Hey, do you want to come with us?" Piyush asked."Nah, I won't bother you guys, I wouldn't be much help anyway," Varun replied.Piyush was pleased that it seemed like the group had gotten back normal again. There was no tension between the three of them and Piyush whished it would stay that way forever.Just then when Varun had left, Dakash and Piyush were left in the room, that's when Dakash asked Piyush a question."Hey, have you seen Varun hanging around with a girl lately?" Dakash asked."Come to think of it, I saw him exit with a girl at the library. It was the same one who was at the test with us that day, with the bow and arrow."After Piyush had given an answer, for a split-second, Piyush felt like he saw the expression on Dakash's face change. But Varun blinked and looked again and Dakash seemed to be fine."Maybe he's gone and got himself a little girlfriend." Said Dakash laughing.****Varun had, of course, decided to ditch the other two because he had already made plans to meet up with Layla beforehand. The two of them were to meet at the school gate. But before the two of them were to meet, Varun decided to stop by the science lab.Although most lessons in military school were about combat or how to use technology, science was still a core subject. It was because of scientist that the human race had discovered how to use all the different technologies they had in the world today.So students were encouraged to continue to learn science throughout their service time, in hopes they would continue to in the future.The classrooms where empty for the day and the important equipment were locked in a storage room.But Varun wasn't looking for anything too fancy, all he needed was some test tubes and small corks. After searching around the room for a while he found where they kept the test tubes. He took a total of five test tubesEven though there were many there, if he took too much it would be suspicious and Varun couldn't carry more than five without having to worry about them breaking or not.Varun shoved the five test tubes into a messenger bag he was carrying and wrapped them up in a spare shirt he took from his room.Varun currently had a total of 60/200 Exp until his next level up. 50 experience points had carried over from the last quest and he had received ten exp from his two daily quests.So far with each level up, he would gain one additional stat point and five points of HP. Although Varun had gotten stronger through this. It wasn't the fastest way for him to improve his strength.Varun realised the system had offered him the chance to gain an additional stat point two times as long as he drank his victim's blood but when he drank Layla's blood, he still gained a stat point. This was what Varun wanted to test out today.It was 6 o'clock in the evening and the sun was just starting to set, meaning Varun wasn't affected by the sun right now. As planned Layla was standing there waiting for him by the gate with her bow on her back.Students who used weapons would carry it with them around most of the time. There was always the chance of an attack or a beast escaping through a portal.After the two of them met, they decided to walk to the nearby park that was in between the convenience store and the school. Then they ventured away from the trail into the woods where they were behind cover. No one ventured in these parts and it was hard for them to be seen."So are we going to this?" Layla asked excitedly.Varun still found it weird that rather than being scared by the whole situation, Layla was exited."Alright close your eyes." Said Varun.Layla closed her eyes and was ready. She could still remember the satisfying feeling from the last time and couldn't wait to feel it again. Although she was a bit nervous when a thought came to her head that Varun's lips would be on her neck. Suddenly though, Layla felt a small prick in her arm.Layla opened her eyes and noticed that a needle was there."What? You didn't think I was just going to bite you, did you?"Layla's cheeks suddenly went bright red. If it wasn't for the needle in her hand, she would have tried kicking Varun away.Once the syringe had been filled up, Varun squirted it out into one of the test tubes he brought with him."Is it okay if I fill another one," Varun asked.Layla didn't say anything and held out her arm, she was still a bit embarrassed about what had happened earlier.Once Varun had filled up two test tubes, he put one of the blood-filled tubes in his bag while holding the other."Inspect."< Blood of Layla>< Blood type A + >Varun then looked at Layla and used his inspect Skill once again.< Race: Human >< Ability: Telekinesis >< HP 12/12>< Blood Type A + >It was as Varun thought. When using the inspect skill on the blood it only showed him what blood type it was and who it was from. Just like the time at the assembly hall. But if the person was in front of him, it would reveal their ability, HP and Blood type.Some of the blood marks in the hall only reviled question marks. Assuming that Varun either had to have run into the person before or used the inspect skill on the person once before.Varun looked at the test tube and gulped. He then pulled out the cork at the top and start sniffing the blood."You're not going to drink it right here are you?" Layla asked."Why not, I need to know if it will make any changes.""I don't know it feels kind of embarrassing, I can't explain."Varun ignored Layla and looked at the blood again. The fragrance smelt quite sweet which was different from how he remembered it before. Then suddenly, Varun lifted the tube and drank the blood in one gulp as if he was taking an alcoholic shot.As the blood ran down his throat, he felt a warm tingling sensation through his body. The blood was also surprisingly sweet rather than metallic. It seemed like the race change had also changed his taste buds and sense of smell.< Your HP is already full >< The blood will have no effect >< Blood from this person has already been consumed >< No stat points will be given >Varun was surprised to see at the information he had been given. The blood last time seemed to have a healing effect on his body. Judging by the message, if Varun was injured Layla's blood would allow him to regain HP.But the second message is what interested him more. The system stated because he had already consumed this blood before, that no stats would be given. This meant that as long as it was the blood of someone he hadn't drunk before, he would be able to get an extra stat point.Quin smiled at the thought. Of course, this was only a theory of his but Varun wanted to test it out straight away."I guess whatever you wanted to test outworked, judging by your creepy smile and all," Layla said."If only there was someone else's blood I could test this on."Just then the sound of two people entering the woods from the playground was heard. Varun and Layla immediately ducked down and hid behind a tree.That's when they saw two students started to walk into the forest."Now hand over your credits, otherwise I'll dig you your grave right here and no one will ever find your body." A boy's voice said.Varun immediately recognised the voice. It was Rylee. It looked like he still hadn't learnt his lesson and was still up to his old tricks.Varun then went into his bag and took out the mask he had bought at the convenience store. Last time he had let Rylee go without taking any of his blood and now he felt like it was such a waste. But this time Varun wouldn't let Rylee go. CHAPTER 26: BLOOD TYPES Chapter 26: Blood Types As Varun put on his mask, he moved in closer to where Rylee and the student was. Making sure to move in and out between the trees."Hey, do you want a beating, pass over the credits now!" Rylee said holding up the student against the tree."But I only get ten credits a day, their mine, this isn't fair.""Since when has this world ever been fair. Blame the people at the top for not looking out for us." Rylee said.As Varun herd those words, he realized that Rylee was in the same position as him. He was only a level two user and was just part of the weak bunch being pushed around by those above but that didn't mean he could do it to others.That would fix nothing.Layla followed Varun closely and had taken out her bow and arrow. She knew from last time if Varun had put on the mask, he was going to act."Do you want me to help out, it will be easier with the two of us," Layla asked."It's okay there's something I wanted to test out," Varun said.The last time the two of them had fought, Varun was only a level 1. Now he was a level 2 and he had also obtained a new skill which he wanted to test and Rylee was a great test subject.Varun started to move closer and closer. He was hoping to finish of Rylee in one shot and this was the perfect chance while his back was turned. Finally, Varun was just about in striking distance that's when the student held up against the tree spotted Varun."Please help me!" The student cried."You idiot!" Varun shouted as he leapt forward hoping he could be quick enough to hit Rylee before he could activate his ability.The students warning had given Rylee enough time to activate his ability and turn around. However, Varun's fist was fast and even though Rylee put out his hands to stop the attack, Varun's fist still manged to hit Rylee in the stomach.The impact was just like last time, it was solid and felt like he was punching a wall but the blow managed to still hurt Rylee a bit. The attack was slighter stronger and this time Varun's fist hadn't broken."You, I've been waiting for you," Rylee said as he put two fingers in his mouth and whistled.Just then two students came running in from the park and into the forest."You think you can take on three of us?" Rylee said.Varun looked at the two students running towards them and that's when an arrow came flying from the words and hit one of them in the knee causing the student to instantly fall to the ground.The other students went down to his friend. "What happened?" the students said. Then he noticed an arrow in the student's leg. "Where did this come from?"Varun saw this as an opportunity and dashed away from Rylee and started heading towards the other student."The skill said five meters right, well show me what you got!"As soon as Varun was within five meters, he activated his skill blood swipe at the same time swinging his hand across. A red line of power came surging out of Varun's fingertips and hit the student right on his chest causing a claw-like mark but it wasn't enough to knock him out."Blood swipe, Blood swipe, Blood swipe."Varun then cast three more blood swipes swinging his arm out. Each blow managed to hit the student dead on, with multiple marks across his chest, he had finally collapsed to the floor.< An opponent has been defeated, 50 exp granted >< 110/200 exp >Blood swipe had no cooldown but did use one point of HP per swipe. As long as Varun had HP he could continuously cast out his blood swipe skill.Rylee seeing his two teammates who were of equal power level to himself be defeated in an instant, started to feel scared. His body was shaking and all he wanted to do was get out of there. He turned away from his friends and started running deeper into the forest.Varun's speed was greater though and was easily able to catch up. When his attack was in range, Varun cast two more blood swipes aiming for the back of Rylee's ankles. As they hit, Rylee fell to the ground."Please, please don't hurt me I'll do anything!" Rylee begged."Oh really," Varun then placed his watch up against Rylee's "hand over all your credits.""but if I do, I won't have enough credits for Dan, he'll kill me," Rylee said."Is now really the time to worry about Dan?" Varun asked.Rylee quickly transferred over 50 credits that he had obtained that day over to Varun."So will you let me go now?" Rylee asked.Just then, Rylee could see a sinister smile appear on Varun's face through the bottom of his mask."No!" Varun said, he then went up behind Rylee and held him in a chocking position. Rylee tried activating his hardening skill but Varun's strength was still strong enough to get through and eventually caused Rylee to pass out."That's for pushing me around in the canteen."Varun then looked at Rylee's body and noticed that his ankles were bleeding from where he had used the blood swipe skill. Varun then went to his bag to pull out a test tube and held Rylee's leg up allowing the blood to slowly drip into the test tube, until it filled up. Varun also filled up a second tube for testing later on.Next were the other two students. Layla had dealt with the other when she hit with her arrow earlier and the other student had passed out from the multiple attacks of blood swipe.Varun then did the same for with the other two students collecting blood from their open wounds and from where Layla's arrow had managed to pierce the student's leg.After they had finished collecting the blood, it was time for them to get out of there and leave the scene. It was getting late and it was almost curfew time. If the students were out past ten then the guards would go out looking for you. It seemed like not only did the watches act as a credit device and power level indicator but it was a tracker as well.Students who were found injured outside the school would be taken to the doctor's office. When the two of them arrived at school it was still 9 o'clock, so they had an hour before they needed to head to their dorm rooms.That's when the two of them had decided to head to the school roof instead. It was quiet up there, and no one was around so the two of them could talk freely."So what do you need all the blood for?" Layla asked, "you know if you need some blood you can just take some of mine anytime, I really don't mind.""Thanks, but I just wanted to test something out.""Inspect," Varun had used his inspect skill on each of the containers.The first was Rylee's blood.< Blood type B+ >"Here goes," Varun said as he popped the cork open and drank the small tube of blood.< You have regained 5 points of HP >< 14/15 HP >< B+ Blood type has been absorbed >< + 1 point of Agility has been added >Varun couldn't stop smiling as he saw the message. He then went on to drink the second tube of blood. Drinking the blood no longer bothered him once he found out the taste was quite sweet. All Varun needed to do was convince himself it was some type of juice.< You have regained 1 point of HP >< HP 15/15 >< This person blood has been consumed before, no extra stats will be given>As Varun thought, the blood still regained his health, similar to how a potion worked in a game but once a person's blood had been consumed, it would no longer give him any stat points.Varun then drank the two other test tubes from the other students.< Blood type A- has been absorbed >< + 1 strength point has been added >< Blood type Ab + has been absorbed >< + 1 Stamina point has been added >Varun looked at messages he received and started to notice a pattern. When he drank Layla's blood which was A+ he had gained a strength point, it was the same when he drank the A - blood. Rylee whose blood type was B+ had given him an agility point and lastly, AB + had given him a stamina point.Assuming being positive or negative blood type didn't matter so far. A type had given him strength, B gave him Agility and AB stamina. That left one blood group that Varun hadn't drunk from yet which was O.Varun couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he drank the O type. CHAPTER 27: SOUL WEAPON Chapter 27: Soul Weapon After absorbing all the blood tubes apart from the spare one that contained Layla's blood, Varun was feeling stronger than ever. < Name: Varun Partap> < Race: Halfling > < 110/200 > < Strength 12 > < Agility 12 > < Stamina 11 > If Varun's body before was that of a top athlete in the past, then Varun now surpassed the capabilities of regular human power. But he was still weak compared to those with an ability. Lucky for Varun, it seemed like Rylee and the other two students weren't very good fighters. In Varun's old school, he would get into fights all the time regardless of what ability they had. He saw how the others got bullied more than him, while the bullying for him lessened because they knew he was a target that would bite back. But because of this, Varun managed to get a good grasp on how people fought and a good grasp on different abilities. If Varun was to face a level two user who was good with their ability like Layla, at this point it was still most likely he would lose. What Varun needed more than ever was more skills he could use. Blood swipe was great but it only had a distance of five meters and it took away his health. With other abilities, you would be able to obtain new skills by purchasing books or being taught by someone who already knew the skill. Varun didn't have this option as there was no one who he knew that had the same ability as him and that, of course, meant there were no skill books either. Before Layla and Varun split ways to head back to their dorm rooms, Varun had one last request. "Do you know about what happened to Dakash?" Varun asked. "Oh your blonde friend," Layla replied, "Honestly I don't know too much cause when everything happened I was stuck in the hospital bed because of someone." Layla pointed at Varun. Varun laughed nervously. "Well, do you mind finding out for me, it seems like the second years are behind this and are stopping me and Piyush from getting any information." "The second years are involved in this? Well, that's not good you're not planning to get involved, are you?" Layla asked concerned. Varun thought back to when the second years had called Varun, Piyush and Dakash out. That Momo person had warned them not to disturb the system within the school. Varun wanted to punch his face in but at the time he couldn't. But now with this ability, he could grow stronger, without the need of help or relying on others and he couldn't wait for the day he could punch that Momo's smug face in. "Yeah but I need to get stronger of course" There was one big difference between the second years and first years and that was something called awakening. The second years had learnt how to awaken their ability. This allowed the user regardless of the power level to get a power boost for a short period of time. Once a user had awakened, they then also could form something called their soul weapon. A powerful weapon unique to each user that was formed in the body itself. This was different from a beast weapon as a beast weapon could be used by anyone. After finishing everything he needed to do with Layla, the two of them split up and Varun said he would contact Layla via his watch when he needed her. Varun also kept the test tube containing Layla's blood on him. What he needed to do now was figure out how long his body could go without needing blood. If Varun was to go out on a mission or through a portal to another planet. There might be times where Varun wouldn't be able to contact someone for a while. In these situations, he needed to know how many Test tubes of blood to take with him. So, for now, Varun would do his best to avoid blood until the system message appeared again. If he fought anyone along the way he could keep their blood for after. He didn't want to waste any precious stat points after all. Varun headed back to his dorm room where Dakash and Piyush where still practising their Earth abilities. "I did it, I finally did it!" Piyush shouted. Piyush held a small round solid lump of mud in his hand. As he moved his hands, he was able to change the shape of the mud. He turned it from a ball into a long staff. Then back into a ball again. "The only problem is as a level one user, you will need to keep some type of mud on you at all times," Dakash explained. "Perhaps it's best you keep it as a round staff and carry it around with you, then you will always have something to take with you." Dakash then grabbed the mud and started to demonstrate, He did the same thing as Piyush and started to change the Mudball into different shapes. But the difference between speeds was noticeable. While Piyush took a long time to form the shape he wanted. Dakash was changing the mud in seconds. "Wow is this cause you're a level five user Dakash?" Piyush asked. "No this is something you should be able to do as well, it just takes practise. When I copy someone's ability, I also copy whatever power level it is at. So everything I can do with this mud you should be able to as well." Dakash then turned the Mudball into a sharp dagger and placed it up against Piyush's neck. "See, not so useless after all." Piyush gulped as he looked down at the sword but then realised that Dakash had already changed the balls shape into a harmless stick and handed it back to Piyush. "Oh, Varun your back," Dakash said smiling. "Did you have fun?" "Yeah, a little bit," Varun said. "Dakash here said you got a girlfriend." Piyush quickly added. "What!?" Varun said. "You know that girl that was with us at the testing that time." "Oh her, no we're just…" Varun started to think about what his relationship with Layla was. He wouldn't exactly call them friends and they defiantly weren't lovers. Layla did almost everything Varun asked without answers. It was almost a master and servant relationship but If Varun said that they would defiantly get the wrong idea. "Were just acquaintances, I was talking about how she got to use her weapon and discussing what classes to take since I won't be going to the elemental class with you two." "Oh, so you finally decided then?" Piyush asked. "Yeah, I'm going to join the beast weapons class." CHAPTER 28: WEAPONS HALL Chapter 28: Weapons hall When the next morning had arrived, Varun made sure to pack some things with him in his bag. He put in the blood tube that contained Layla's blood. The four remaining empty tubes and also the mask that he had bought at the convenience store. He never knew when a situation would come up when he had to use these things, so it was better to be prepared than unprepared. The three boys headed down for breakfast as a group as usual and like always people would give Varun, Dakash and Piyush looks. Dakash decided to split form Varun and Piyush and sat on his own on the higher power level tables. But even then, no one seemed to be sitting next to Dakash. It was clear for some reason the second-year students where making Dakash a target, even though he was no longer hanging out with Varun and Piyush. "Do me a favour will you?" Varun asked, "Keep an eye on Dakash while you're in your combat classes today. If anything happens let me know." "But if something happens, I won't be strong enough to help, and you can't exactly do anything either," Piyush replied. Piyush was right Varun right now could barely deal with the level 2 first-year students never mind the second-year students. But at the same time, Varun hated the fact that they might be targeting Dakash just because he chose to hang out with them. Perhaps Varun could find a weak one in the group and target him at night for questioning. These groups always had a weak person acting as a shuttle for them. Asking them to carry their things, grab their food for them etc. "I'm not telling you to get involved, I don't think Dakash is expecting you to help him out either but just to let me know what you see." Piyush then gave a quick look around the room to make sure no one was hearing the two of them before giving a nod. Finally, after finishing their breakfast it was time for their combat classes. After registering what type of class you wanted to attend via the watch. It would then indicate what room you would be in for training that Day. Varun had chosen the beast weapons class after thinking long and hard. Varun was known as a no ability user so it was really the only option for him. Otherwise, he would have to just sit back at the back of the other classes and do nothing. The weapon class was popular among those that had an ability that was able to enhance it. Those who could slightly see the future, or had a telekinesis ability like Layla would attend these classes. But Varun wanted to find a weapon that would suit him and his fighting style. The weapons hall was away from the main school building and off to the side in its own separate building. It was a single large one-room building that had an Asian palace feeling to it. To enter the building students needed to scan their watch into the scanner and then the two large doors would slide open. Although the outside of the building had an eastern feeling to it. The inside was completely different. It was a large room where the ceiling was about twenty meters high. The room had no decorations apart from mountains and mountain of weapons hung up on the wall and in the centre of the room was a round raised platform. Standing at the back of the hall was a bald-headed man wearing leather armour and had a long katana blade by his side. But the katana blade hilt was jagged and rough and the back of the blade the same. It looked like it had been forged from an animal that was not of this planet. The man remained silent at the back with his eyes closed. Varun could only assume the man was their teacher, being the oldest one in the room. The room slowly started to fill up with students and that's when Layla had entered and spotted Varun. She immediately came over to him and started chatting. Unlike when Dakash had spoken to Varun, the other students didn't really pay attention because Layla herself was also considered weak. "This class is a lot more popular than I thought," Layla said. The room was filled with about thirty students inside. The other classes had around fifty but it was still more than they had expected. "Yeah, I wonder what weapon I should pick," Varun said staring at the wall. "Well, I already have mine," Layla said pointing to her bow on her back. A lot of the student in the room already had weapons of their own. Varun and a couple of others were the only ones who didn't have anything on them. Just then while Varun was busy staring at the wall, the other students started to get rowdy as someone entered the weapons hall. "What is she doing here?" "Isn't she an elemental user, why would she be here." "Who cares, maybe we can spare with her and if we beat her we can ask her on a date." As Varun turned around to see who the girl was everyone was talking about, it turns out he had already met her before. It was Zoya the ice ability user. "I wonder why she decided to go to this class instead of the elemental class?" Layla asked. Just then the bald-headed man opened his eyes and shouted at the top of his voice. "ATTENTION!" Everyone froze and turned to look at the old man. "My name is Leo and I will be your teacher for today." Leo then pulled out his katana blade from his sheath and pointed it out in front of him. "Your first task will be to pick your weapon, you must think carefully. Your weapon is your lifeline. When your ability won't work the only thing you can rely on is your own skills. Now go and Chose one from the wall around you." The students fanned out and started to look at weapons. Even those who had beast weapons already were trying out new ones. Varun looked at the wall and saw all sorts of things, axe's, short swords, Spiked clubs, wh.i.p.s, Scythes there was so much to choose from Varun was really having a hard time. Varun looked at Layla and her bow. It matched up well with her telekinesis ability. If Varun was to pick a ranged weapon, he would never be able to be as good as Layla. He needed something that suited him right now and his ability. Varun then walked up to one of the random swords on the wall and used his inspect skill. < Korge Sword > < Tier Basic Beast weapon > < Strength + 3 < Agilty – 2> < The sword is incompatible with the skill "Blood swipe"> The sword Varun looked at was large in size and looked heavy. Quin needed to be fast so losing some points in agility was a definite no-no. But what surprised him was how much information his inspect skill had given him. It even told him if his blood swipe could be used with it. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard picking out a weapon after all thanks to Varun's inspect skill. CHAPTER 29: PICKING A WEAPON Chapter 29: Picking a weapon As soon as Varun realised that his inspect skill would tell him the stats of each weapon, he started to go around the room looking for the perfect one for him. Varun ruled out anything that was too heavy. Although the strength stat it added was good, Varun needed to be fast and agile in the night. All the weapons Varun had inspected so far was at the basic tier level. The lowest level a weapon could be. Weapons were categorised into eight different levels depending on which beast core it was made with. Of course, this was based on beasts from planets that had already been discovered. There was sure to be other planets with stronger beasts and abilities that they had yet to find out about, that may be categorised above that. In the human world today, there were two known weapons of this class. The world called them Demon weapons instead. After searching around the room for a while, Varun came across a weapon that stood out from the rest. < Black Horned gauntlets > < Basic tier Beast weapon> < This weapon is compatible with the skill "Blood swipe". When used with the gauntlets blood swipe will have an increase of 5% in power.> The Gauntlets were black in colour and had little tiny horns going up the forearm. The fingertips where were pointed and bladed at the ends, it made them look almost like some type of Dragon claw. There were two reasons why the weapon had interested Varun. The first was it was the only one that had also given him a defensive stat, not just a strength stat but the second one stood out to him even more. It was the fact that it increases the power of his only skill, blood swipe. Five percent didn't sound like a lot right now but if in the future Varun was to get more powerful, five percent would make a huge difference. There were also other bonuses. The gauntlets acted as armour for his hands and he could still hold other weapons if he needed to. "What a strange choice young boy," Leo said. Varun looked to his side to see who had spoken to him, then he noticed it was the bald teacher. "It's not many peoples first choice. With a weapon like this, you have to have no fear and get in close to your enemy. But that is also the reason it is sturdy than most and can be used as a form of defence." Varun had already experienced fighting more than most kids, he was used to using his fists, with his blood swipe skill as well, he didn't always have to get up right close to his opponent. "Do you mind if I try it?" Varun asked. "Go ahead," Leo said as he left to check up on other students selecting weapons. < Basic Horned Gauntlets equipped> < Agility: 12 > < Stamina: 11 > < Defence (2)> Now when Varun checked out his status screen, he had a smaller number next to his stats which would indicate the equipment level. Varun now had 15 stat points in strength. He felt three times stronger compared to before he had discovered the system and was ready to test out his newfound strength. Once everyone had finished picking out their weapon. Leo called everyone to gather around the centre ring. "Now I won't claim to be an expert in every weapon," Said Leo, "Some of you might even be able to use your weapons better than me. But what I am an expert in is fighting with weapons alone. Fighting can be considered a game. You are always trying to predict your opponent's next move, you measure your opponent's ability and so on. For your first lesson, I want to see what you've got. We will have a sparring match. Two people at a time. We will all watch the match and commentate on what could be improved on. Now, are there any volunteers. In an instant, Zoya was the first to put her hand up. Without even waiting for Leo to say anything she headed for the arena in the middle and stood inside. She held a single silver longsword that shined bright. It wasn't one of the weapons that Varun had seen on the wall so he could only assume it had been one she already owned. At first, a lot of the students were hesitant of going up against Zoya. Her reputation for being a high-power level had already reached many peoples ears. "Oh, I also forgot to add, Abilities will be banned during today's sparing sessions," Leo added. "It is important that you know how to use your weapon first, only then can you truly bring out the full potential of the weapon with your ability." After saying those words. Students had raised their hands like a rocket. They all wanted to get the chance to beat the famous Ice queen. Now that she wasn't able to use her abilities this was their chance. In the end, A large man was selected from the crowd who wielded a two-handed axe. He was about double the size of Zoya in terms of muscle. "I think you chose to join the wrong club, your ice abilities will be useless here." The man said. Zoya didn't reply though and simply took her stance. Waiting for her opponent to come forward first. The man charged in wielding his large axe above his head. When he swung it down Zoya spun her body to the side avoiding the blow and at the same time slashed at the back of the man's legs causing him to stumble. She then placed her blade towards the man's neck. Inches away from his throat. "I give up." The man said. Everything had happened in an instant and the room was suddenly silenced. They all knew Zoya was strong but it was unexpected of her to be so skilful with the blade. Most ability users, if they had a strong ability like Zoya, would rely on that power and not bother learning a weapon. But it was clear to everyone she had some practice. After the fight had finished, two men seemed to appear out of thin air wearing a black military uniform. They then grabbed the student by both arms and escorted him to the school doctor to get healed up. The group continued to watch a few fights, the rest of the fights had lasted a lot longer than Zoya's, as most of the students were equally matched when it came to using weapons. Even when Level 4 power users were fighting against level 2. When They couldn't use their abilities it all came down to skill and the body. The next fight that had caught Leo's attention, was the fight with Layla. Even though Layla could no longer use her telekinesis. With her bow, she was able to shot ahead and predict where her opponent would turn. She had trapped her opponent multiple times and continuously asked him to give up. But her opponent was a level 3 power user and he had his pride on the line. He didn't want to admit being defeated by a level two user even if he wasn't using his ability. That's when he got reckless and decided to charge forward. But a few arrows in the boy's legs stopped him dead in his tracks before Leo had decided to call the match himself. "The next pair, Varun Partap, and Brad Rishee Dev son to the arena." Now it was Varun's turn. With the Weapons hall being indoors Varun was able to use his full stats and his opponent was unable to use his ability. Finally, for once Varun was in a situation where he didn't feel weaker than the person he was going up against. CHAPTER 30: TOO STRONG? Chapter 30: Too Strong? As Varun walked up to the stage he noticed that Brandon, his opponent's indicator showed that he was at the power level of three. If this was a fight in the outside world, where they both could use their abilities Varun felt like he didn't have much chance of winning. But here in the arena, where abilities weren't allowed. Varun had a body stronger than most, his speed was faster than most. In the Novels he had read, a Vampires strength was far greater than the human race before the introduction of abilities. If they wanted to, they could have ruled the world. Brandon held a large spear in hand which had great reach. The end was sharp with a single curved blade at the end. < Opponent power level 3> < Bonus exp will be rewarded > It seemed like Varun's day was only getting better. "Begin!" Leo shouted. Brandon immediately charged in with his spear, while Varun stood there and took a fighting stance with both of his hands held out in front of him. When Brandon was within striking distance, he thrust his spear forward. It was fast and impressive to the people watching outside. But to Varun who had 12 points in agility, it was easy for him to dodge. He avoided the spear strike and ducked down, then before Brandon could pull the spear back Varun went and grabbed the spear with his hand. "What the hell!" Brandon said as he tried pulling the spear back. "Let go!" While holding the spear with one hand, Varun opened up his other hand and swung out his fist like a claw as hard as he could at the spear. Then a few moments later the spear had been sliced in half. "What the, my weapon, it's faulty!" Brandon complained but Leo did nothing to step in. Varun rushed forward and before Brandon could do anything, Varun punched him hard in the stomach. Brandon's feet lifted off the ground and it looked like his body was about to fly away. "Inspect" < Ability: Elemental > < HP 5/15 > < Blood type 0 + > Varun knew that if Brandon was to fly out of the arena it would be considered his win but the system wouldn't allow him to win like that, he needed to beat his opponent down to at least one HP. So before Brandon could be lifted into the air, Varun grabbed him and pulled him back down and at the same time kneed him in the face causing Brandon's nose to bleed and his head to be sent backwords. And finally, Brandon collapsed lying there on the ground. "Winner, Varun Partap." Leo said. < Opponent has been defeated 50 exp rewarded > < First time higher power level bonus 50 Exp Rewarded > < 220/200 Exp > < Congratulations you are now Level 3> < 20/400 Exp > < 1 Attribute point awarded > < New Skill "Blood Bank" Unlocked> After defeating Brandon, Varun had received multiple messages and had even levelled up. The bonus reward for defeating a level 3 user was higher than when he defeated a level 2 user. However, it was a shame that the bonus reward was only a one-time thing. With the messages, there was also a new skill that had been unlocked. Although Varun didn't have the time to look at it now, he needed to get off the stage and look at it later. Before leaving Varun looked at Brandon who was lying on the floor. Blood was dripping from his nose and Varun just had one thought. "What a waste." It was a shame Varun wasn't able to store or drink Brandon's blood. After all, everyone was watching, but if he did he would have learnt what the O type blood did as well. The two military men again appeared out of thin air and took Brandon away to the doctor's office but before Varun could leave the arena a couple of boys shouted from the crowd. "That's not fair." A boy said, "Brandon obviously was using a faulty weapon." "Yeah, and what was with that anyway, that idiot decided to still attack him anyway after seeing his weapon break, he should be punished." Another boy added. These two were friends of Brandon. One was a level 2.5 user named Fei while the other was a level 3 user named Loop. Leo then stepped up onto the stage and picked up the broken spear of from the ground and started to inspect it. "I can guarantee you that all the weapons in this hall are not faulty. Each one has been given the same care as the next." "Then how can you explain the weapon breaking. "Fei said, "Unless, it has to be it, he cheated and used an ability." As soon as acquisitions were made, the crowd started mumbling to each other. They could see Varun's power level but not many knew about Varun having no ability. Perhaps he had an ability that simply enhanced his strength the students thought. "Settle down everyone I can guarantee that no abilities were used," Leo said. "How can you be so sure?" Fei argued. Then an unexpected person had chimed in and interrupted their conversation. "You fool, will you stop being so disrespectful to the teacher." Zoya said, "Do you not know who he Is, Perhaps if I told you his war name you would know. This man is General Leo, or known as the Blind swordsman." The chatting between the students had gotten even louder. The name Blind swordsman was known well between common folk. He had helped out a great deal when fighting against the Dalki. "He's blind?" Loop said unsure whether it was true or not. "Doesn't that mean he definitely couldn't tell if the person used an ability or not." In that instant, Leo threw a piece of the broken spear in the direction of Loop. The spear just missed Loop and had hit the back wall. Loop then started to feel a sharp stinging pain on his cheek, as he touched his cheek he noticed a scratch mark. "I can see, and hear very well. Better than most of you. My ability allows me to see the Aura of people and when people start to use their ability, their aura's change depending on what ability they are using. And I'm telling you now, Varun didn't use a single ability." With that, the students startled to settle down a bit. It was a memorable first day for all the students in the weapon club so much had happened. But the class was finally over and it was time for them to head home. Leo, however, couldn't stop thinking about the student known as Varun. He inspected the spear again and again and found nothing out of the ordinary. However, what Leo didn't reveal was form the very beginning when Varun had stepped into the room, he could see his aura was slightly different from everyone else's. It wasn't the same as when someone used an ability though, it reminded him of an aura of that of the beasts or the Dalki had, one that wasn't human. "Pull up the file on Varun Partap for me." "File found." Leo's watch replied. "Ability?" "No ability, power level 1." The watch said again. "Hmm, just what are you hiding Varun?" CHAPTER 31: BLOOD BANK Chapter 31: Blood Bank Once the class had ended, Varun had to give back the Gauntlets and leave them in the weapons hall. After all, they didn't belong to him and was only there for the purpose of him getting used to using a weapon. Once Varun went on his first portal outing, then he would be able to hunt for a suitable beast to make a weapon of his own. At that time, he would also be allowed to borrow the equipment. As Varun was heading back to his dorm room, he decided to first put his stat point into something. So he opened up his status screen to see if there were any changes. < Agility 12 > < stamina 12 > (All stats are currently halved due to being hit by the direct sunlight) The system seemed to be consistent with the last time he had levelled up. Although there was no evolution process this time, he still gained five points of HP and one stat point. There was one thing that bothered Varun and it was the fact that his stat points were halved in sunlight. There would come a time were Varun would need to be at full strength even in the sun. When reading about vampires in novels, he was thankful that he was able to be in the sun at all, as some of them burnt to a crisp in an instant. Varun decided to stick with his plan and add the stat point to agility, as long as he could hit his opponents without being hit back, he couldn't see himself losing and worst case if he couldn't hurt his opponent, he could always run away. It was also handy if he planned to use the clawed gauntlets as his choice of weapon. He would need to be fast to get in close and use hand to hand combat skills. < Agility 13 > The next thing Varun wanted to check out was the new skill he had obtained from levelling up. < Skill: Blood Bank Lv.1> < The skill "blood Bank" will allow you to store up to a 100 milters of blood in your reserve. The blood bank will automatically be used to heal the user if HP drops below 5. Every 10 millilitres of blood will be used to restore 5 HP of the user. User may also use the blood bank to consume blood at any time for his own personal pleasure. > Varun looked at the skill in disbelief. It seemed like the skill was too good to be true. Essentially the blood bank acted as a second life for Varun. As long as his blood bank was fully stocked up, Varun was able to restore up to 50 points of HP. Not only that but it had also solved Varun's storage problem. Although Varun had used test tube and cork to stop the blood from oxidising, it still wouldn't delay the process of it being spoilt for long. At most Varun would be able to keep the blood fresh for 8 hours without keeping in some special type of storage. Sure he had Layla he could rely on, but Layla wouldn't always be by his side. Varun then took out the test tube of Layla's blood and used his inspect skill. It seemed like the blood was still fine to be used for now. The blood then started to shine bright in Varun's hand and suddenly vanished from the test tube. Varun has happy that the Blood bank skill was convenient and finally after waiting for a while he had received a message he had seen once before. Last time he had seen the message about his hunger the next day the system told him he needed to consume blood otherwise his HP would drop. With his Blood bank skill though, he wouldn't have to worry about it as long as he kept it topped up. After checking out all the information, Varun had finally arrived back at his dorm room to see Piyush and Dakash a little roughed up. "Wow, what happened to you two?" Varun asked, "Was it the second years again?" "No, no need to worry, this was just during our combat classes, the teacher made us do a sparing session on our first day." "Were there any problems?" "Not really, I was humiliated and lost my fight, of course, I still can't control my ability well enough. I think I was too nervous. When I brought out the stick of mud on my back the other students started laughing and I got distracted." Piyush explained. "But Dakash, on the other hand, was so cool, he told those kids to shut up and asked them to fight him next. Then with the same ability as mine, he managed to defeat a level 3 user!" "Oh shut up!" Dakash said as he punched Piyush on the shoulder. "You're embarrassing me." "But it's true. You were so cool back then." The three of them continued to share stories about what had happened in their combat classes. Varun had even talked about his victory against Brandon. At first, they were surprised but when Varun explained that the use of abilities was banned, they understood. The three of them were exhausted from their first day of combat classes and decided to get some rest. The next day when Varun woke up he was greeted with another message. < Daily quest complete 5 exp has been rewarded> <25/400 Exp> The message had appeared roughly two days after he had last consumed blood. Meaning this was the time frame before he would need to consume blood again. < 10 millilitres of blood will be consumed, would you like to proceed?> After selecting the yes option, a sweet fragrance entered his mouth, the hole he could feel in his stomach had disappeared and once again he was satisfied and back to normal. Now all he needed to do was meet up with Layla and fill up his blood bank to the max. For the next week, combat class was a normal requirement for students. This would be the case until the teachers were satisfied to take the students on their first outing through the portals to hunt beasts. After the students picked their weapons from the wall, once again Leo stood at the front to give the students further instructions. "Today's lesson will be sparring once again, but this time you will pick your own opponents. You will fight with them for a minute each before switching to the next opponent. On the battlefield, there will be all types of different opponents that use different weapons and abilities. It is important for you to get used to as many of these as possible." The students then immediately got into pairings and Layla had run up to Varun as soon as possible. "Don't worry Varun, I'll let you win the first one." She said with a wink. But just then, Leo had walked towards the two of them. "I'm sorry about this young lady but I'm going to have to ask you to sit out of this one," Leo said. Layla then took a step back. Leo then pulled out his katana blade and pointed it at Varun. "Show me what you got boy and don't hold back." CHAPTER 32: A LESSON Chapter 32: A lesson Without Varun realising it himself, the rest of the students weren't really paying attention to their own matches. They were all looking towards Leo and Varun. They wanted to see how the so-called blind swordsman fought. But in the room, three people in particular, were paying attention to Varun. "Look at him, he cheats in my match and now he's getting special treatment," Brandon complained. "Didn't Leo say he didn't use any ability?" Loop asked. "Don't be a fool of course he did, he managed to break a beast weapon, have you ever heard of that?" Brandon complained, "Maybe if he had a higher tier weapon but all the weapons in this room are of the same tier. "Yeah, I agree." Fei added, "The weakling must have never won a fight in his life before and then when he saw the opportunity, he just had to do it." Before the sparring match started, Varun decided to use his inspect skill, but for the first time ever, not a single bit of information had come up. "Does this mean he's too powerful, maybe when the skill levels up I might be able to see something?" Varun thought. Just then though, a new message from the system has appeared. < A strong opponent has appeared > < Defeat the opponent for an Instant level-up reward > Suddenly, Varun's blood started rushing through his body with excitement, he wasn't going to go easy on Leo in the first place, but if the match proved too easy then he was going to ease up a little to not raise suspicion. But with a reward like this, Varun would figure out an explanation later. Every time Varun levelled up, the Exp requirement seemed to double. Making it harder and harder for him to level up. "What's wrong?" Leo asked. "Oh, nothing sorry," Varun said as he got into a fighting stance. "Alright students, the minute starts, NOW!" Leo shouted. In an instant, the sound of weapons clashing around the room could be heard but the ones closer to Leo and Varun decided to take it easy so they could watch the fight and that included Brandon's group. As soon as the fight started Leo dashed forward with a strike but it wasn't at a speed Varun couldn't handle. He blocked the first blow knocking it away. However, straight after another attack appeared but Varun managed to block that as well. "A bit sloppy and rough but your reflexes are good." Leo said, "Now let's take it up another level." Before Varun could catch his breath, Leo attacked again with his blade but this time even faster than the attacks before. But thanks to Varun's agility points he was still able to keep up. "Ha, ha, I can't believe I'm actually having fun against a student," Leo said laughing. And once again the attack's coming from Leo sped up again. This time it looked like Varun was getting knocked around like a rag doll. All the student's watching from outside thought Leo was playing with him but Leo was truly impressed. Although Varun looked silly, Varun was still able to block each and every one of his attack with the Gauntlets. "Now try this!" Leo shouted. The attack from Leo's katana blade came from underneath, Varun held out both his hands to block the attack but suddenly it looked like the blade had disappeared and phased through his hands. Before Varun knew it, the blade was right underneath his chin. "BEEP, BEEP, BEEP." "Oh, looks like our time is up." Leo said, "About level 14 or 13 maybe, that's pretty good for a first-year student." Varun was in admiration for the weapons teacher. At first, he didn't have a lot of respect for the teachers at the school. They would usually just dominate over the students and tell them to toughen up and get stronger but Varun felt like Leo was different. Varun could now tell that Leo was able to beat him in a fight anytime he wanted, Leo was just testing him to see how strong he was. What Varun also learnt during that fight was just getting stronger and faster wasn't good enough, he needed to learn how to fight properly. "Please, would you be able to teach me how to fight?" Varun asked as he bowed down. "Unfortunately, the weapon you have chosen I do not specialise in myself. Although I do think it suits your fighting style, it seems like you have had some experience in hand to hand combat." Leo explained. "There is one thing I can suggest to you, there's a popular VR fighting game that the military students from all the other schools play, the first thing you will need to do is get experience. Although the use of abilities in the game is not prohibited, so you might have a hard time but still, I think it will be a good experience for you." "Thank you so much," Varun said as he bowed down again. "Oh, and before I forget, its been awhile since I have had fun like that, as a prize feel free to keep the gauntlets. When you get better in the future come and challenge me anytime, I will be happy to fight you again." Leo said as he walked off back to the centre of the weapons hall. After watching the fight, many of the students were quite disappointed. After seeing Varun fight well against Brandon, they were hoping he would be able to do something against Leo but to them, all it looked like was Leo toying with Varun and throwing him around like a rag doll. Brandon then had come up with a brilliant idea and started to whisper into his friend's Fei's ear. "Alright students, it is time to get into your next paring," Leo shouted. Just then before Layla could get up and ask Varun for a match, Brandon had gotten up in front of her. "Do you mind if us two have a round?" Brandon asked Layla kissed at her teeth and scorned but she didn't exactly have a good reason to say no. After all, it would only be a minute. Then another student, Brandon's friend Fei had gone and approached Varun. "Please I would like to be your next opponent," Fei asked as he drew out his two short swords. "I don't see why not," Varun said. Varun didn't mind too much. So far, every new opponent he faced as long as he defeated them, would grant him 50 Exp and this was the best chance he had right now, in the weapons hall where people weren't allowed to use their abilities. "And Please, Begin!" Leo shouted. Fei seemed to have some experience using the duel swords. His flow was natural and he was able to follow his attacks up well from one to the next but after fighting with Leo, the attacks just seemed slow. Varun was able to see the path of each strike. But just like Leo had said the most important thing for Varun was the experience, so rather than relying on his supernatural strength and end the fight in an instant. Varun decided he wanted to fight a little longer. Meanwhile, in Layla and Brandon's match, Brandon didn't seem to be doing much at all. He didn't charge in and he didn't attack, all he did was avoid Layla's arrows. It was as if his mind was focused on something else. That's when a noise was heard. Fei was charging in at Varun and did some sought of little battle cry. That was the signal for Brandon to act. Brandon then lifted his hand and at the right time, cast his wind blast right behind at Varun's back. Varun saw Fei's blades and was ready to block but that's when he felt a strong force push him from behind. It knocked him off balance and at the same time, Fei's blades went right into Varun's stomach. <10/20 HP> "You… Bastar…." Varun Groaned. CHAPTER 33: NEXT TARGET Chapter 33: Next Target For a brief moment, Varun had forgotten about a world with abilities. A world where people didn't try to get up on one another, just for the sake of what? Pride. He looked down and could see the two blades stuck in his stomach, blood dripping off the blade. Fei had let go of the blades and took a step back, with his mouth wide open, acting like everything that had happened was an accident. But Varun wasn't buying it and he had a good idea what had just happened. As he looked around, he managed to catch a smile on Brandon's face. Varun then grabbed the hilt half of the two blades and using his strength snapped the ends off. With the other half of the blades still in his stomach, he started to walk towards Fei. "So you want to play games then." Varun said, "Then let's play some games, you've taken some of my blood, so it's only right that I take some of yours." As Fei heard these words, he couldn't help but move back away from Varun. Something was different, the look in his eyes. "Why is my body shaking, he's only a level one user, calm down." Then when Varun was only a few feet away, he swung his clawed hand out. "Blood swi…" But before Varun could finish casting his skill, his hand was knocked away by a blade. "Enough, stop now," Leo said as he pointed his blade towards Varun. "Two wrongs do not make a right." "And you two don't think your plan didn't go unnoticed. I will not have students who can't follow the rules in my class. You can leave your weapons here and you are banned from any more combat classes in the weapon hall." Just then, two military men had appeared out of nowhere standing by Varun's side. "Take him to the doctor's office and make sure he gets treated," Leo said. "Wait!" Layla shouted. "Maybe I should go with him, make sure he is okay?" "He's a strong boy, worry not young lady he can take care of himself." Although Layla was worried about Varun being hurt, that wasn't her main concern. It looked like from the wounds on Varun's body that he had lost a lot of blood. Even if vampires could heal at supernatural speeds that energy had to come from somewhere and would soon need to be replaced. After grabbing Varun by both of his arms, after a few seconds, Varun was transported just outside the doctor's office. "Please get some rest once you have healed up." One of the men said before teleporting away once again. "What a handy ability to have." After checking the men had disappeared, Varun decided to head to the closest bathroom on the same floor. Nearly all the students were in combat classes at the moment so the halls were empty. The reason why Varun had decided to head to the bathroom rather than to the doctor's office was because he could already feel his body was healing up. His status screen also confirmed that fact. < 12/20 HP > Just like before as soon as Varun was out of combat, his body was starting to heal at an incredibly fast rate. Varun looked down and it looked like his body had healed most of the wounds. However, it wasn't able to heal the area where the blades were stuck. "This is going to hurt." Luckily Varun still had his gauntlets on so he didn't have to grab the blades with his bare hands. "1, 2 ,3" He then pulled the blades out as fast he could in one action. The pain was quick and sharp and he did everything he could to hold in his screams. Finally, the wounds around his stomach were slowly starting to heal until suddenly he received some new messages. < Your hunger grows > < Your hunger grows > < 15/20 HP > < You will no longer heal > < Your HP will continue to decrease by – 1 HP until human blood has been consumed > Varun looked at the message and was trying to figure out what had happened. When Varun did his tests he found out that his body would need to consume blood once every two days. But this message had come up even though Varun had only consumed Layla's blood this morning, it hadn't reached the time limit yet. Then Varun thought back to how the blood was able to heal his health. If it worked the same way then that meant his body was using blood as energy to heal himself. Once this energy had run out inside his body then he would no longer be able to heal and he would once again have to consume blood. Varun felt a hunger in his stomach and started to look at himself in the mirror, his clothes were all bloody and he was in slight pain, but he still cracked a smile. That's when Varun also noticed that his top two teeth had grown slightly. It was different to last time when he had panicked this time, he felt calm. He was used to taking blood and he already knew who his next targets were going to be tonight. The hunger pangs were bearable this time, perhaps because Varun wasn't in a critical condition. After heading back to his dorm room Varun threw his bloody clothes on the floor and changed his clothes out with a different uniform. While Varun was busy getting changed, he heard the sound of two students talking as they walked down the corridor. "Why did I get kicked out as well, you were the only one who used an ability?" Fei complained. "Hey, you were fine with the plan when I told you about it earlier, why are you getting so annoyed about it now?" Brandon said. "You were the one who dragged me into it all because you lost to a level one, embarrassing." Fei chuckled. Just then, Brandon slammed Fei up against the corridor wall and held him by his collar. "Do I need to remind you that I'm a higher level then you Fei, or do we have to fight so you can learn your place." Fei said nothing until Brandon eventually let go of his collar. That's when Fei decided to walk off in the opposite direction away from the dorm rooms. "I thought we were friends Brandon, not just some lacky you control cause I'm a lower level than you." Then as Brandon entered his dorm room, he slammed the door behind him. "Oh, a lover's quarrel huh, excellent," Varun said, as he grabbed his bag and headed out to follow Fei. The combat classes had finished and the sun was starting to set. With that, a rush of students was now heading back to their dorm rooms and that included Piyush and Dakash. As the two of them entered the room Dakash's eyes widened as he spotted something. "What the, is that Varun's clothes?" Piyush said as he lifted them off the ground. "They're covered in blood, did he get hurt during training." Dakash's whole body was shaking as he saw the blood. "What happened to him," Dakash thought, "Did the second years target him too, or did something happen in training?" "I told you we should have kept an eye on him." "We should have killed those second years when we had the chance." "Stop it!" Dakash said out loud. "Huh, Dakash are you okay?" Piyush asked. But without saying anything else, Dakash opened the door to search for Varun but as he did, Layla was stood there with her hand by the door as if she was just about to knock. "Oh, is Varun here?" Layla said. But in the next second Dakash grabbed Layla by the hand dragging her in and slammed the door behind her. Dakash then immediately pushed Layla up by the door and pressed his forearm against her neck. "Tell me what happened to Varun now!" **** Note: extra chapters for hitting the goal will be delivered in one go on Saturday or Sunday. After hitting the two goals, each extra 500 stones will = another extra chapter. CHAPTER 34: CAUGHT RED HANDED! Chapter 34: Caught Red handed! Struggling up against the dorm room door, Layla was finding it difficult to breathe. Dakash was applying an incredible amount of force with his forearm against her neck and his face was only a few inches away. "What the... hell's wrong with you!" Layla managed to groan out. "Hey Dakash, I think you're hurting her?" Piyush said quietly. Dakash suddenly started pressing against her throat even harder, Layla was struggling with all her might to get air and if she didn't do anything soon, she was worried she might pass out. "The little one didn't like you, and the other one told me not to get involved, but in the end, I'm always the one that has to deal with things," Dakash said. Layla's face started to turn a bright red, the veins on her neck were popping threatening to explode as she struggled to breathe. "Hey! Seriously Dakash you're going too far!" Piyush shouted. "Shut up!" Dakash shouted as he turned to look at Piyush. "My name is not Dakash either!!" That's when Layla saw her opportunity, the grip around her neck loosened a little as Dakash was distracted. She reached down into her quiver that was attached to her waist and pulled out one of her arrows. Then proceeded to stab the arrow into the top part of Dakash's thigh. "Arghh!" Dakash cried as he flinched and let go of Layla. Layla then quickly pulled out another arrow with her telekinesis ability and hovered it right in front of Dakash's face. "Don't you dare move, you psycho!" Said Layla, "I swear if you do, I will not hesitate to shove this arrow right in your head." Piyush started to panic at the situation that was happening in front of him. There was no way he could jump in the middle of these to, he was too scared of getting hurt himself. "I don't even know why Varun asked me to look out for you, if you ask me, his better off without someone like you." "Wait, Varun really said that," Dakash said in a gentle tone. "Look, I'm sorry about what just happened but I just want to know what happened to Varun." As Dakash said these words his eyebrows were slightly twitching. His personality had taken a complete 180 turn and Layla didn't know what to make of it. For some reason, something was telling her that this boy was dangerous and if she could, she would have nothing to do with him. But right now, she needed to find Varun, who knew if he was going on another rampage right now. She was the only one that knew Varun's secret and Varun needed her. "It was just an accident at the combat classes today." Said Layla, "He wasn't at the medical bay so I thought he was in his room but it looks like he already left. I wouldn't worry about it." Layla then recalled her arrow back into her quiver and walked out of the room in a rush. Then as soon as she left Dakash lifted the arrow out of his leg with the copied telekinesis ability and threw the arrow to one side. "Hey are you alright man, you kinda acting a little strange there?" Piyush asked. "Yeah I'm fine," Dakash said. "She's lying to you, did you see how she rushed off like that something's up, let's follow her.". "Or we could try asking the other students who were in the same combat classes as Varun, they might be able to tell us who did this to him." "Oh, payback I like it, and then on the way back maybe that pretty girl can get into an accident." "No, I told you she's just Varun's friend, can't you see she's just as worried about Varun as we are. She's a good person." "Well, I don't like her." "I agree, we should get rid of her." "Err Dakash are you okay?" Piyush asked again. "You've been standing there looking at the floor for a while now. "Huh? Oh yeah, I just need to head off to the doctor's office get this wound checked out on my leg. I'll be back when I can.". Vordan said as he left the room and headed outside. **** Varun had been following Fei form a safe distance for a while now but it didn't look like he was heading out of the school and time was running out. < 12/ 20 HP > If he lost any more health he would have to go search for Layla and find his target another time. However, Varun felt like he would never have an opportunity as good as this one again. Very rarely was there a time when people would be on their own and especially one that Varun had a grudge against. That's when Fei started to head up the stairs and eventually went up to the school roof door. After reaching the closed door, Varun quickly moved and opened the door ever so slightly and started to peek through. Varun glances around the rooftop feeling happy for his luck, Fei was the only person he could see up there. "Lady luck is on my side today." Varun then took the mask out from his bag and put it on his face. Before he moved onto the rooftop, he used a rag of ripped cloth from his old uniform and wrapped it around his watch to hide his power level. There weren't many other level one users who used gauntlets in the whole school. If Fei was to see his power level on his wrist watch it would be a dead giveaway. As soon as Varun would open the door, he knew the metal creaking sound would notify Fei that someone else was here, he needed to do everything as quick as possible. "Ready and go!" Varun then pushed open the door and ran over to where Fei was in an instant. And as soon as Fei turned around, he could see was red blood lines in the shape of a claw coming out from a mysterious masked man. "What the…" Fei was to slow to react and all he could do was lift his hand but the blow was extremely powerful, when the red lines touched his skin it immediately caused blood to be drawn. It felt like five sharp knives were cutting him at the same time. Not only that, but the force was so strong it managed to throw Fei into the air. With his 12 strength and extra 3 from the gauntlets, Varun now had a total of 15 strength, and then the gauntlets also increased his attack power by 5% making the attack far stronger than Varun had predicted. Fei continued to fly into the air until his body had hit the back of the gated fence, he then collapsed on the floor and passed out. < 11/20 HP > Fei didn't even have the chance to use his ability to fight back. It was over in an instant. Blood started to drip from his arms and began to create a small puddle of blood and before Varun realised it his teeth had grown into fangs. He slowly walked over to Fei and could feel his heart beating faster. The sweet fragrances were getting stronger but Varun didn't care about the blood that was on the floor. He was more interested in the single vein that he could see pulsating through Fei's neck. Varun then lifted Fei slightly off the ground and without even thinking about it sunk his fangs into Fei's neck. Varun continued to drink Fei's blood until multiple notifications had appeared. < 20/20 HP > < Blood bank has been filled 100ml > < A + Blood type has been consumed > < + 1 Strength stat > < 50 exp has been awarded > As Varun was enjoying the last few drops of blood when the sudden sound of the roof door being opened was heard. "Huh, so why did you want to meet me on this roof again," Loop said rubbing his head. Then when he looked up. He could see his friend covered in a pool of blood and a masked man with his teeth in his friend's neck. "You monster, get off of him!" Loop shouted! CHAPTER 35: HEAL ME Chapter 35: Heal me Inside one of the dorm rooms, Piyush was waiting inside patiently for either Dakash or Varun to come back. Usually, he would have gone off with Dakash but the way Dakash had acted earlier, had given him second thoughts. Even if Dakash was worried about Varun, it made no sense for him to attack someone as soon as they opened the door. It was irrational and not just that but something stuck out to him at the time. The fact that Dakash said that Dakash wasn't his name. Piyush wasn't exactly sure what he had meant by that. While Piyush was busy worrying about the others, there was a sudden knock at the door. "Are they back already?" Piyush said as he answered the door. When he opened the door though, Piyush immediately tried closing it but a hand had come out and held the door open. "Looks like he's not here?" Momo said looking around the room. It was Momo who was at the door and behind him, he had two other second-year students. Piyush didn't have a good feeling about this. He remembered the last time they had met and how he had given Dakash a warning. Not only that but one of the second-year students standing behind Momo, Piyush recognized as well. When Dakash was taken away to the assembly hall, one of the second-year students stood outside as a guard and wouldn't allow Piyush to go past him. "Well, since you're the only one here, why don't you come with us." Momo said, "We have some plans and we think you might be the perfect person to help us." Piyush felt like he had no choice but to listen. Momo was a level six user. He was stronger than any of the current first years and he knew if he refused, he would become a target. Before Dakash would have been able to help him but not against these guys, they were too strong. **** Back on the school rooftop, Loop had just arrived to see his friend being held by what looked like some humanoid creature. Loop and Fei had agreed to meet on the roof to discuss about what combat classes they should change to, now that he and Brandon had been kicked out. When Loop had arrived at the roof, he was surprised to see his friend lying there covered in blood. It was dark so it was hard to see clearly but as the creature held Fei in his arms and was biting into his neck, he could see glowing red eyes. Loop mind instantly went thinking that it was some type of monster but that's when he noticed that the so-called monster, was wearing the same school uniform as them. An object started to grow out of Loop's body. It was a long thin white piece of bone that was the same size as a small sword. He pulled it out and threw it straight at Varun. The flying sword bone flew straight at Varun but he knocked it away with his hand. Almost straight after another piece of bone came at him and behind it was Loop running right towards him. In both of loops hands, he held two white bone swords and swung them down at Varun. However, Varun managed to grab onto both of the bone swords stopping them in place. When Varun tried to use his strength to break the bones surprisingly, nothing was happening. That was because of the difference in ability level. Loop was a level three ability user. The special substance he was able to create out of his body was stronger than that of a basic tier beast weapon. As the two were held in place, Varun realised his strength was greater and started to push Loop back. When Varun started to push Loop back, he quickly took in a deep breath and blew out, straight after, white bone spikes had appeared on his body all over. The bone spikes had managed to pierce Varun's body in several different places, but luckily he was able to avoid a blow to the head and his hands were protected by the gauntlets. < 10/20 HP > It was a strong attack and it had hurt Varun badly. Loop retracted the bone spikes into his body and was ready for the same attack again. As he breathed in though, he could see Varun swipe his hand like a claw. Loop ducked down and instead of hitting him, the attack continued to go past and the red lines eventually disappeared into nothing. "Let's see what your hiding under that mask," Loop said as he stabbed one of the bone swords into Varun's foot and then lifted another one at his face. However, Varun decided to use all his strength to pull his foot from the sword. The bone sword stuck in his foot had ripped through his skin and tore through his shoes, his foot was now a mangled mess but at least he was free. Doing his best to ignore the pain Varun jumped back a few feet to create distance between himself and Loop. This was bad, not only did Loop have a strong ability but unlike the people, he had faced before, Loop was a good fighter. Varun's sloppy skills weren't going to save him. Sure, he had more strength then his opponent but that meant nothing if he couldn't hit him. < 5/20 HP> < Blood bank auto use > <10/20 HP> < 90 Millimetres left in blood bank > In nearly an instant, Varun's foot had healed. That's when he came up with a plan. < 20/20 HP> < 70 millimetres left in blood bank > Varun had used the rest of his blood bank to heal himself. With this, he would be able to bridge the gap in skill. As long as Varun didn't take a fatal blow to the head, he was sure the system would heal him in time. This time as Varun rushed forward, he was no longer reserved about using his skills, he cast blood swipe after blood swipe swinging his arms out. < 14/ 20 HP > He had thrown a total of six blood swipes in rapid succession. They had come out fast and all Loop could do was defend with his bones. The first few attacks had been blocked but Loop could feel how powerful they were. < 8/20 HP > After defending against the first six attacks, Loop thought he was done but another six Blood swipes came straight after and his Bone swords could no longer take it and eventually snapped. < 18/20 HP > < 50 millilitres of blood left in blood bank> Seeing Varun continue to rush forward after him and his bone swords were broken, there was only one thing Loop could do. He took in another deep breath and just when Varun was close enough, he blew out, making bone spikes appear all over his body. However, Varun wasn't slowing down and continued to run straight into the bone spikes piercing several parts of his body, at the same time he threw a punch out as hard as could sending Loop flying backwards. Then to follow it up Varun released another barrage of blood swipes. < 5/ 20 HP> < 10/ 20 HP > < 40 millilitres of blood left in blood bank > As each of the blood swipes reached Loop's body, he stood his ground reinforcing his body with bones but not long after he could no longer take any more punishment and collapsed to the ground. < Opponent has been defeated > < 50 exp has been received > <130/400> The fight was a lot tougher then Varun had thought. The only reason why he was able to be as reckless as he was, was because of his blood bank. Varun hated to think about how he would have fought if he didn't have the skill. Varun then looked back at Fei who was on the ground. It seemed like after being bitten by him his targets would stay asleep for some time, which was a good thing but now it was time for him to feast on a new person. Varun walked over to Loop's body and cast his Inspect skill. < Loop Savy > < Ability: Bone manipulation> < HP 1/25> < Blood type: O- > Finally, Varun was going to find out what use blood type O had for him. CHAPTER 36: ESCAPE Chapter 36: Escape As Varun looked at Loop's body on the ground, he noticed something strange. His current health was at 10 Hp and his body was naturally drawn to the blood. Whenever his health was low, he would get hungrier, that bit was a given but something that also happened was his two canine teeth would start to grow longer.When they grow longer it made it easier to pierce his victim's neck. Although Loop was bleeding and Varun was able to just drink from the open wound. This would only give him the extra stat point. He needed a good supply to also fill his blood bank.When inserting his teeth into his victim, it felt as though he instinctively knew the best location that would allow him to take as much blood as possible.Varun lifted Loop's body from the ground. Only a few inches were separating their faces."I don't know whether it's a good thing or a bad thing that I'm finding it easier every time I do this."Varun opened his mouth wildly showing his teeth, he brought his mouth near Loop's neck and finally bit into his neck. A rush of blood entered into his mouth, the blood tasted sweet.< 20/20 HP restored >< O blood type has been consumed >< 1 free stat point has been added >< Blood bank has been filled >Varun had a few guesses at what the O type would do but this was better than he had imagined. Varun quickly opened up his status screen and wanted to decide what to put the stat into straight away.< Strength 13 (3) >< Stamina 12 >< Agility 13 >Varun debated internally for a few minutes whether he should put his stat point into stamina or not. If he did his stats would become well rounded. But he thought about all the people who were strong in the world right now. They were usually a specialist in a certain area. A jack of all trades was something too weak in this day and age.Not only that but Varun felt like his growth would be quicker if he specialized in strength or Agility. It would allow him to carry on beating weak opponents. Then when he needed to, he could increase his stamina points at another time. It wasn't like Varun was going to be facing an army of opponents any time soon.< Agility 14 >In the end, Varun decided to stick to his original plan and add his stat points into agility.Varun stood in place looking at the duos body's wondering what he should do. He was fairly certain that he had acted fast enough during his fight with Fei. He hoped that he hadn't seen anything that could give him away, but he couldn't say the same for Loop.When Varun started to inspect Fei's body, he noticed that the bite marks on Fei's neck from Varun had already disappeared."The doctor said the same thing happened with Layla, perhaps some type of effect from my ability?" Varun thought, "Well, that solves that problem, now what to do with you?" Varun pondered looking at Loop's body.Although Varun wore his mask there was still the chance of someone figuring out it was him. After all, how many students used gauntlets as a weapon and also would have a grudge to attack these two.However, Varun wasn't that afraid of them finding out his real identity, after all the school didn't really care if Varun beat them half to death. Actions like this were commonplace at the academy.Varun wasn't afraid that Loop might tell everyone what he had seen. Even if he did, no one would believe what he had said. Throughout all of the history of abilities, there had never been any reports of an ability where someone had to consume something to gain power. The power had always come from within.And with no markings on their neck to prove it, they would be treated as madmen without any type of proof.While Varun was in the middle of his thoughts, he was startled when he heard the door start to open again.Varun moved instantly at a lightning speed to try and flee the scene but quickly stopped when he saw it was someone familiar opening the door."There you are," Layla said, she then looked down and noticed the two bodies on the floor. "Quick we have to get out of here, the guards will be here any second now!"Varun had taken too much time, he wasn't planning to take out two people. When a student was knocked out in the school or badly beaten the wristwatch was able to ping their location to the school and inform them, they were hurt.Then once this message was pinged to them, the guards would pick the student's up and take them to the hospital.No one knew how it quite worked as it was amazing, the watch was able to tell how much health someone had. Rumours were spread that it was an ability of an original that created the watches.Varun and Layla hastily ran down the stairs but stopped as they could hear the sound of footsteps coming in their direction."Oh no! We can't go this way." Layla then started to look around the roof. "I have a plan, grab me and let's jump.""Are you crazy!" Varun said, "Even with my strength from this height, I would at least break my legs and even if I can heal, I still feel pain!""Just trust me, come on, I can use my ability."Varun quickly lifted Layla with both arms despite his protest. With his strength, Layla was lighter than ever. He jumped onto the fence and looked down. The school was incredibly high, it was at least four stories."I'm counting on you," Varun muttered as he leapt off the building.As the duo was falling from the rooftop at an incredible speed, Layla closed he eyes and started to concentrate. Sweat started to form on her brows when suddenly, the two of them started to decrease in speed. They eventually reached the ground."Hey that was pretty cool, you can fly?" Varun asked stunned."No, my ability isn't that strong yet," Layla replied. "At most I can only slow us down. Come on let's head back to our rooms."As the two of them headed to their rooms Varun explained everything that had happened on the rooftop."Wait what, then aren't you worried that Loop might tell someone what happened?""Not really, he has nothing to gain from it, without any proof no one would believe him anyway, but there is one problem. There is the chance that if he does find out it's me, then he would come back with the others and attack me. I could take them out one on one, but as a group, I don't feel like I could stand a chance.""It's true." Layla replied, "A lot of the students have already formed their own groups and gangs to protect each other, all that's left are the ones that are too weak to be a part of anything. I know, why don't you create your own group? I could be like a sub-leader. Of course, we would keep your thing a secret.""That's not a bad idea, especially if in the future we get targeted even more, maybe I should ask Dakash if he knows anyone."The look on Layla's face suddenly dropped as she heard those words."That crazy guy, I told you he was bad news Varun.""What did something happen?""It's best if you hear it from your friend Piyush, maybe then you will realize how bad it was, after all, he saw the whole thing."****In the Doctor's office, the two students who had been beaten on the roof were currently lying on hospital beds. The single doctor Haley was busy as usual and especially at night when the guards gathered the beaten students."How can the school just let these sorts of things happen, surely there is a better way." Hayley thought.As she went to check up on Fei, she noticed he was now sleeping calmly. After healing the claw marks on him and there wasn't anything unusual. However, when she looked at Loop, something had caught her eye that concerned her.In a certain spot on the boy's neck, were two small puncture wounds similar to that of a snake bite. She had seen these signs before on another student and just like before the wound was already starting to heal itself.Hayley then tapped her watch and waited a few moments for it to connect."Hey General, I believe there might be a stray beast roaming around the school.""What, that's impossible, we have seen no signs indicating the presence of one." The voice on the watch replied."But there have been some strange signs on two students, I'm a little bit worried." Haley said, "Please for me... would just investigate it.""Fine, fine whatever you want, how can I say no to my daughter."Just then though as Haley got of her call, two military men came rushing in with another student on their back soaked in blood."Hurry, this student Is in critical condition!" the guard shouted.They quickly placed the student on the bed and Hayley quickly got to work. She tried and tried to use her abilities but it was useless, the student was already too far gone. He had died.Hayley then tapped her wristwatch once again to open up a digital report log."Report, confirming the time of death 9:30 PM, a first-year student named, Brandon Rishee Devson." CHAPTER 37: I'M SORRY! Chapter 37: I'm sorry! When Varun had arrived back in his dorm room, he was surprised to see that neither Dakash or Piyush seemed to be there. "It's nearly curfew time, I wonder what they're doing out so late?" It was a shame because Varun was hoping to either ask Piyush or Dakash what exactly happened between them and Layla but with it getting late and Varun low on energy, he decided to get some sleep ahead of the others. And as soon as his body had hit the bed, he was out in an instant, he didn't even change his clothes and he just laid there on top of it like an old drunk man. A few moments later and Piyush was the first to arrive back in the dorm room. He slowly entered the room and didn't even acknowledge the fact that Varun had returned. He walked slowly over to his bed and placed the quilt over his head, slightly shaking. Then soon after Dakash had arrived. He could see a bulge wrapped underneath the sheets on peter's bed, then Dakash noticed that Varun was sleeping. As Dakash looked at Varun's peaceful face he smiled. "Looks like you were fine," Dakash whispered to himself. "I'm sorry." Each one of them was dealing with their own problems, yet not one of them knew of the others. With a lot on their mind and no one to share it with, they had to sleep with their demons that night. As Varun woke up he was greeted with his usual morning message. <135/400 Exp> Varun was satisfied with his growth in strength, however, he couldn't say the same about his levelling speed. He was currently only level three and had two skills he could use. Unlike other abilities where they gave you the control of something, Varun's skills were a one action type thing. If Varun wanted to be on an even playing field with the higher-level ability users then Varun would need more skills. After fighting with Loop yesterday Varun realised he needed a few things. The first was he needed to get better at fighting. Although his skills had been fine with defeating low levels so far, he couldn't say the same when it came to opponents who knew how to fight. It was only because of Varun's blood bank yesterday that he was able to win the fight and fight recklessly. This meant he needed to learn some hand to hand combat skills. The second thing was he couldn't go out fighting students every day. Yesterday was a close call and he still didn't know if Loop knew it was him or not who attacked. If he wanted to keep this a secret, he would have to limit his activity at night. Or get strong enough so he didn't have to rely on the gauntlets which were a dead giveaway. That left him with a new goal. When checking out the system Varun remembered that there was a shop function that would only open at level 10. This was now Varun's new target, he had no idea what the shop would detail but so far the system hadn't let him down. When Dakash had woken up he acted like his usual self as he always had done in front of Varun. "Hey did you get a good sleep?" Dakash asked, "When I came in yesterday you were completely knocked out." "Yeah, I was pretty worn out yesterday after combat classes." "I heard you got in an accident, is everything okay?" Dakash asked. "As you can see, I have made a complete recovery you don't need to worry about me." "Hey, seriously though, Varun if you're getting bullied or hurt just tell me. I know we said not to help each other out so the second-year students wouldn't get involved but I can handle them don't worry." Varun smiled back at Dakash. He couldn't understand what Layla was so worried about. The Dakash in front of him now was the Dakash Varun grew to like. Sure, he seemed to have his problems and lash out at times but who didn't? Not wanting to ruin the nice atmosphere between the two of them, Varun decided that he would ask Piyush once the two of them were alone what happened. Besides if he asked Dakash there was the chance he would get a one-sided view of the events. As Piyush woke up Dakash greeted him too, but Piyush only said very few words back. Now even Piyush was acting strangely Varun thought. "Is everything okay Piyush?" Varun asked "Huh, Yeah I'm fine," Piyush replied as he got dressed into a new uniform, a little bit spaced out. The three of them then started to head to the canteen and as they were walking through the hallways. Varun had spotted someone who he didn't want to see first thing in the morning, it was Loop. But as the two of them locked eyes, Loop instantly started to break out into a sweat and his hands were shaking uncontrollably. When the two walked by each other, Loop stopped and called out to Varun. "Hey is it okay to talk to you, in private?" Loop asked. Varun immediately started to look around to see if there were any of Loop's friends nearby. If Loop was calling out to him it was most likely because he had figured out that Varun was the one who had attacked him and Fei. Varun had put this into his calculations that they might group up to attack him but he didn't think something would happen so soon. However, when he looked around there was no site of Brandon or even Fei nearby. With multiple students surrounding them, Varun felt like it was unlikely that Loop would try anything here, and even if he did, he could at least defend himself without reviling his skills. "Hey is everything okay?" Dakash said in a stern voice not breaking eye contact with Loop. "Yeah it's fine Dakash, you two go ahead I'll catch up with you in a bit." As Dakash and Piyush walked away, Dakash couldn't help himself, he kept staring back at where Varun was. The two of them then walked off to a nearby classroom just down the hallway to the canteen. It was breakfast time so classes hadn't started yet and the classrooms were empty. Of course, Varun made sure to stay by the door just in case Loop started to attack. That way he could run out into the hall where the rest of the students were. Loop stood there nervous and fidgeting, it seemed like he was struggling to get his words out, until he finally spoke. "I'm sorry about yesterday," Loop said as he bowed. "I know we hurt you in training and you probably coming back at us for revenge but please forgive me." Varun was speechless, this was unexpected and he didn't have a clue what was going on. "I Promise I won't tell anyone about your secret, please whatever you do just let me live. I won't bother you again and no one will ever know anything happened." Although Varun had his suspicions that this was all an act. It seemed like Loop was genuine, either that or he was the best actor in the world. But what Varun didn't understand was what on earth had happened to get Loop to act like this. "Thanks for keeping my secret, besides I don't really have a grudge against you. Although your friends were the one to act on me, you didn't do anything. You were just trying to help your friends." Varun said. "Thank you, thank you for sparing me," Loop said. "I promise if you need anything, I will help you, I just don't want what happened to Brandon happening to me." "Brandon?" Quin said confused, "What happened to Brandon?" CHAPTER 38: CRAZY BOY Chapter 38: Crazy Boy At first, Loop was confused by the words that had come out of Varun's mouth. There were two possible reasons he could be acting like this. Either Varun was just pretending not to know or when Brandon entered the hospital, he was still alive at the time. Meaning Varun thought Brandon was still alive after attacking him. "Look I promise I'll keep your secret, I know you attacked Fei because of what happened at the weapons hall, it had to be you. Who else would attack him and have gauntlets like you? So you decided to go after Brandon next after taking down me." Fei explained. "Look I just want to continue living in school as normal, I don't want any drama. I don't know why you're hiding behind that fake power level of yours but please, I just don't want to get involved and I'll stay out of your way." Varun was trying his best to process the information he had just been told. Right now a student had died. To be honest, he wasn't really sure what the process or punishment was for a student's death and at the same time, he didn't want to find out. If the other students were to learn about the attacks on Fei and Brandon, they would naturally assume it might have been Varun wanting payback. However, the one thing that would make them doubt that, was the fact that he was only a level 1 student. Right now, only Loop knew his secret, so it was no wonder Loop was afraid of him. With all this information, for now, Varun felt it was best to play along. "You don't have to worry." Said Varun, "Like you said you were only protecting your friend and you didn't actually do anything to hurt me during the combat class. As long as you stay out of my way, I will stay at of yours." "Thank you," Loop said as he bowed down and left the room. After Loop had left there was a thought lingering on Varun's mind. Just who did kill Brandon? Was their anyone in the school that had a grudge against him? They had only been at the school a few days and the school purposely made sure no one knew each other before sending them here. It was hard for Varun to come up with a suspect, all he knew about Brandon was what had happened at the combat classes. If a petty person like him was able to plan an attack like that, then perhaps he had made many enemies already. After finishing his talk, Varun headed to the canteen to catch up with his other two roommates but when he entered the canteen. Instead of seeing Dakash and Piyush sitting together like usual. Dakash was sitting on his own and there was no sign of Piyush. Varun quickly grabbed his food and decided to sit next to Dakash. "Hey, aren't you worried about the second years coming to attack you?" Dakash said. "From the looks of it people will continue to bother us anyway, so we might as well live how we want." Varun replied, "Hey so where's Piyush, didn't you two come here together?" "You're looking in the wrong places," Dakash said as he pointed in a different section of the canteen. The two of them were sat in the low-level section where the level 1 and twos would usually sit. This was where Piyush would usually come to join them as well. But the direction Dakash had pointed in was the higher-level tables, the level 4 and 5 tables and sitting next to them was Piyush. "What is he doing over there? Are they targeting him?" Varun asked. "Who knows, when Piyush entered the canteen, he looked and me and said, I'm going to hang out with some new friends I made the other day. I asked him if he needed help and he said not to worry." As the two watched Piyush hang out with the others though, it seemed like he was getting on with them well. He wasn't being asked to grab food or carry their things like the other lower power levels in other groups. "Well maybe we should just keep an eye on them for now, it doesn't look like he's in trouble and we can always ask him about it later." Just then though as Varun and Dakash were busy eating their food at their table. Another tray of food was slammed down. "I hope you two don't mind but I have come to join you," Layla said as she sat down. As soon as Layla sat at her seat, she couldn't stop staring at Dakash and the same was true for him. In the middle of the two was Varun. He could feel the heat and tension in the air with both of them and he didn't have a clue what happened. "So I see that hole in your leg healed up nicely," Layla said Dakash face started to twitch slightly. "Hahaha, what are you talking about, sorry my name's Dakash I don't believe we have met," Dakash said pulling out his hand for a shake. "You are crazy if you think I'm going to shake your hand and you're just going to pretend nothing happened are you?" Layla then turned to Varun. "Varun can you not see this guy is crazy yet?" "Don't call me crazy," Dakash said slowly saying each word. "Hey, hey, I think you both need to calm down," Said Varun feeling like any second now the two were going to clash in the canteen. "I don't even know what happened between the two of you, please explain?" "This Crazy boy attacked me when I went to your room last night, look," Layla said as she pulled down her uniform slightly to reveal the red marks on her neck. "I keep telling you Varun, he's dangerous, leave him." Dakash was visibly shaking at this point but it was hard to tell if it was with anger or something else. "I said don't call me Crazy" And again just like last time. Dakash slowly said each word, one by one. CHAPTER 39: TUTORIAL Chapter 39: Tutorial Judging by the tone of Dakash's voice, it felt like he was going to snap at any second and Layla was prepared for it. She kept her senses on high alert ready to use her ability any second now. Even Varun was unsure about what Dakash was about to do. "Dakash, is what Layla said true did you attack her?" Varun asked in a soft voice hoping to diffuse the situation. After hearing Varun Dakash stopped shaking and lifted his head up. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry about attacking you, When I saw Varun's blood, I thought that maybe the attacker had come back to get revenge. I thought you might have come in to attack Me and Piyush as well." Dakash explained, "I don't know if you know this but Piyush is only a level one, and even though my indicator says I'm a level five, I have to touch people to use my abilities. When you came through the door, I had no choice but to act first." "How can we even believe you?" Layla said still annoyed by the whole thing. It was clear to her that Dakash was unstable. It was as if his mood and mind were changing all the time. Just seconds ago she felt like Dakash was going to attack her again and all of a sudden he's calm, Layla wasn't buying it. However, Even Varun felt like Dakash was acting strange, it seemed like Dakash was always trying to hide something. When Dakash was asked about what happened between him and the second years, and even now with what had happened between him and Layla. "I'll just leave you to be for now," Dakash said "I'm sorry about what happened. Varun if you need anything just let me know." He then got out from his seat and left the two of them alone. "Do you see what I mean?" Layla said, "The man is unstable, I understand he might have protected you a few times and he hasn't hurt you yet, but someone like him can hurt you at any time." Varun knew what Layla was saying was right. This wasn't the first time Varun had seen Dakash lash out and it didn't seem like it would be the last either. But for some reason, Varun was unafraid of Dakash like the others. All the acts of aggression that Varun felt, it never felt like it was aimed towards him. In the hallway, while Dakash was heading to his elemental combat class, He decided to quickly step into an empty classroom on the way. He leaned up against the wall and took a deep breath. As he looked at his hand, blood could be seen. Dakash had clenched his fist so hard that his own fingernails had pierced his palm. "Why did you get in my way, we could have taught that girl a lesson." "What did I tell you, it's because of you we're in this mess in the first place. You attacked her. It's our fault, to begin with." "Fine, but you understand that if you keep suppressing us, the little one's anger will only build up. The more he thinks Varun is trying to get away the angrier he will be and then when he takes over. There is nothing me and you can do." "I won't let it get to that point." "I'm sorry Varun for getting you involved in this, but you were just unlucky the little one chose you." With breakfast over and done with, it was time for Layla and Varun to head to their beast weapons class. When they entered the room, Fei, Brandon and Loop where nowhere to be seen. Of course, Fei and Brandon were banned from the class and Loop had decided to make a transfer to another Combat class. Loop just wanted to be as far away from Varun as possible. Leo stood at the front of the class and was prepared to give out his instructions for today's class. "Now for today's lesson, it will be individual practise. You have fought for the last couple of days with your weapon. Now you must learn how to get the hang of it. How to make it a part of you. Maybe come up with unique ideas to combine the use of your ability with the weapon. Then tomorrow you shall put today's hard work into practice." With that, everyone went into a separate space with their weapon. A few of the students sat down and started to think about how they could use their ability with their weapon. One student covered their whip in flames making a fire whip, another held a shield and managed to alter its shape to form spikes. While Varun had no clue what to do. His only skill was easy to use and there wasn't much to do with it other than swing his hand but what Varun wanted to do more than anything, was learn how to fight. "I wish there was someone who could teach me how to use these things," Varun said as he sighed. < Request of Combat lesson activated > < A suitable weapon is currently in use > < Hand to hand combat Lv. 1 Will now be shown > Just then as Varun said those words, he seemed to have activated something within the system. In front of his eyes, a video started to play. Varun quickly looked around him to see if anyone else could see what he was seeing but he seemed to be the only one. In the video stood a single tall long-haired blonde man, in a large empty room. On his both of hand's he wore two gauntlets similar to Varun's but looked a lot more powerful and his beauty was unmatched. Something Varun had never said about a boy before. There was one other thing that Varun noticed and it was his piercing red eyes. "Hello and welcome to hand to hand combat classes for beginners," The blonde man said in a cheery voice. "I don't know how much time has passed but if you have come across this video, that means you're one of us. And I hope that the information that is being provided isn't useless in your day and age." The appearance of the man and the man's words made Varun think about who exactly the man was in a video and he had good reason to believe that he was a vampire. CHAPTER 40: TAKEN AWAY Chapter 40: Taken away As Varun diligently watched the blonde man in the video, he noticed several things that he read about in fantasy novels that all pointed to the tall man being a vampire. The ghastly pale skin, the beautiful looks and finally, the red eyes. Not only that but the man in the video also stated that Varun was one of them. If Varun was trying to understand the meaning behind his words, the man was stating that he was a Vampire. Although there was also some other strange wording the man had said as well. The fact that he didn't know how much time had passed. Did it mean the video was made a long time ago, was the man in the video even still alive? For now, Varun had to put all of the questions he had to the side, as there was nothing he could do to confirm it. The video continued to play, and the tall blonde man started to speak again. "To whomever, this video happens to be shown to, I will now demonstrate a set of skills that you should be able to perform at your level. Our kind and or abilities work best when we use a weapon that covers our hands." The man then proceeded to get into a fighting stance. "I will cover two sets of basic moves and it's up to you to learn them and figure out how to use them in fights. If you forget, feel free to open up your system at any time and watch the videos again." "The first move is a defensive move; I call it Flash step. To perform this, if the system has been set up correctly, you will need at least 15 points of agility." The man then proceeded to perform the flash step. He crouched down and moved to another corner of the room in an instant, at the same time an afterimage of him was being shown. "Now this skill uses up a lot of stamina so even if you have enough Agility points to perform this skill, be careful not to wear yourself out. I would only use it when avoiding a fatal blow or going in for an attack. Please also make note that although the move is fast and hard to be seen by the n.a.k.e.d eye, at most it can only move you at the distance of five meters." Looking at the move, Varun straight away realised how handy it would be to have something like this. In his last fight against Loop, he could have avoided several blows at the last second. The only thing was it was a shame that Varun currently didn't have enough Agility points to practise the move. "The next skill I will show you is the Hammer strike." Once again, the man got in a fighting stance, this time he lifted his right foot and slammed it onto the ground while at the same time he pulled back his left hand and threw out his right hand. All of this was done in one smooth motion. Just from watching the video, Varun could see that the air had slightly moved." "Cool right," the man said smiling. "For this skill, you will need at least 15 strength as well. That is all for today, when you are ready, the next set of hand to hand combat classes will be unlocked for you. If you want a slowed down and more detailed version of these videos, they will be saved in your system. Good luck my friend and I wish you all the best." After the man had finished talking the video immediately ended. As Varun opened up his system there was now an extra Tab that stated tutorial and in it, were two videos of the skills he had just been shown. When watching the videos, it was just as the man had said. The video contained slowed down versions of the skills the man had recently performed, there was even detailed commentary on how the skills would work and what you needed to do. Varun couldn't help but think who this guy was. The way he spoke clearly meant he knew about the system. Did that mean he was the creator of the Book Varun's parents had left him? But it was hard for Varun to remember meeting anyone like the man in the video. He didn't even know what his parents faces looked like that well. Whatever it was, he was happy that the system was starting to help him out more. He felt like the system at first had given him a hard time giving him Quests to drink blood and drawbacks such as halving his stats while in the sun. But now Varun was starting to feel happy that he had discovered the system more than ever. Varun immediately started to watch the Hammer strike video. As long as he wore the gauntlets, he technically had more than 15 strength. He wasn't sure if that counted but there was no harm in trying. But as Varun was watching the video, Leo had come up and approached him. "Varun, I'm afraid I have some bad news." Leo said, that's when Varun also noticed two military men were standing behind." "I'm afraid you will have to follow these men; they have a few questions they would like to ask you. Don't worry I will be coming to." With that one guard held Varun, while the other held Leo. "Hey, what's going on over there." The students said noticing the commotion. "Is he being taken somewhere?" "Students we shall be back in while." Said Leo, "Please continue to watch and if I spot any of you slacking or breaking the rules, you know the consequences." A few moments later and the two of them were teleported into a small square room. There were no windows and a few lights above them. Inside the room was a single table with a hooded female sat on one side and an empty chair on the other. Standing behind the female was a man who had the rank of general on his clothing. "Please sit." The general said. Varun did as he was told and sat in the empty seat, but with the atmosphere, in the room, he couldn't help but feel nervous. "Don't look so worried boy, as long as you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to worry about." CHAPTER 41: WAS IT YOU? Chapter 41: Was it you? A million thoughts started to race through Varun's mind. Had they found out about his ability? Were they going to force him to give it up and hand it over? Or had loop informed them that he had killed Brandon and they were now going to punish him for it. Although Varun was trying his best to calm down, it was nearly impossible. As he sat in the seat, he could feel his heart beating as if it was trying to escape from his chest. "Boy, calm down," Leo said, "I think even the others can hear your heartbeat." "Now before we begin, I would like to inform you of a few things." The Sargent said. "A student by the name of Brandon Rishee Devson has passed away recently. Now your teacher here has informed me that he and another student Named Fei Lan had attacked you during combat classes yesterday. Now not only has one of the students passed away but Fei was also admitted to the hospital late last night." So it was something to do with Brandon's death after all. "We currently have no leads to what happened to Brandon, so that eventually led us to you. Although its hard to believe someone with no ability like you could do something like this, there is always a way. The woman sitting opposite you here has the ability to detect whether someone is telling the truth or not. Now please proceed with her demands". "It's okay," the lady said, "I just need you to place your hand over mine." As Varun placed his hand over hers, he suddenly felt a calming feeling enter his body. < An Ability has been detected > < Unable to block the user's ability > "Now tell me, did you kill Brandon Rishee Devson last night?" She asked. The calming feeling allowed Varun to answer naturally. He felt like he was suddenly floating on top of clouds. "No, I did not." The woman carried on holding Varun's hand and eventually let go. "He's telling the truth." "As I said, I couldn't believe he would do something like this." Leo said, "I mean how would it even be possible, he's only a level one." "It looks like we no longer have any leads. It's a shame but an accident like this happens from time to time. It is expected." The Sargent said. "I'm sorry for wasting your time, feel free to head back to class." With the questioning over the two guards grabbed Leo and Varun by the arm once again and a few moments later were teleported back to the Weapons hall. "Boy your heartbeat was starting to give me doubts that you were hiding something. "Said Leo, "But I'm glad you were not the culprit otherwise I would have lost a promising student." With that said, Leo started to walk around the room and give advice out to the other students. That's when Layla had come over to where Varun was. "What happened, is everything okay?" "Yeah, it seems like it will be for now at least," Varun replied. Varun explained to Layla what had happened at the integration. At first, she was even shocked to hear that Brandon had died but was happy to find out that Varun was now completely cleared of suspicion. But as she thought about it more, she started to think who in their right mind would be crazy enough to kill a student and for what reason. "Hey Varun, you might not like what I'm about to say but do you think maybe Dakash did it?" "What makes you say that, did something happen between Dakash and Brandon/" "No I mean, is it not strange that Dakash approached you in the first place, He's a level 5 user while you're just a level one and when he attacked me the other day he kept shouting about you. And trust me the guy seems crazy enough to do something like that?" "Really, but why? It's not like me and Dakash have known each other for long. Do you really think anyone would go to the extreme just for something like this?" "Yeah even if I do think he's crazy, I don't think he's that crazy." With that, the two continued to practise their combat classes. Although Varun was trying his best to learn the hammer strike move, he couldn't concentrate. He kept thinking about the words that Layla had said. Right now there were no suspects to Brandon's death and Dakash had acted oddly a view times. And the last thing was the fact that Dakash wasn't in his room when Varun arrived back last night. Just what was he doing so late? As the combat classes had ended, Layla and Varun decided to hang out with each other for a while. There were a few tests both of them wanted to do with Varun's ability. Varun wanted to find a way to stop the sun from affecting him and learn about it more. While Layla wanted to see if there was any way she could be turned into a vampire. But as they walked out of the Weapons hall and out onto the ground floor. Them and several other first-year students had been stopped. The people stopping them were second-year students and they had asked al the first-year students to gather at the assembly hall. "Just what is going on?" Layla said. "I have no idea," Quin replied Of course, the second-year students were powerful and the first-year students had no choice but to agree. Even the higher power levels had agreed to come afraid something might happen. Around a hundred of the first-year students had gathered in the assembly hall, around them was not a single teacher but just several of the second-year students. Up on the stage, the curtains were drawn and in front of it stood Momo. "Welcome every single one of you." Momo said, "Today we have a special event, a special message to all you first years. You see there has been someone going around trying to go against us, thinking he can break the precious system that has been around for years in this school. I am here to tell you that this is what happens to those who do not obey." Momo pulled down on a piece of string and the curtains on the stage started to be open up, as the curtains moved away slowly it started to reveal a student who had been tied up and placed on a large piece of wood. The student was bloody and had markings of being beaten everywhere. "Dakash?!" Varun said. CHAPTER 42: TARGET PRACTISE Chapter 42: Target Practise Finally, the first-year students had gathered in the assembly hall as asked. There was chatter amongst themselves as there seemed to be no sign of any teachers and only the second-year students. It was easy to tell the difference between years with students, as there was a rank embed on their shirt that told the difference. "HAve all the students arrived yet?" Momo Asked. "Yes, everyone from Del's class and the weapon's combat class should be here." "Well it's time to show everyone what happens when you don't follow the rules" At that moment Momo pulled a piece of string pulling back the curtains reviling what was behind them. As the curtains were drawn, a badly beaten up Dakash was on display, tied to a large wooden plank. Both of his hands were slotted into holes while his body was made to stand, and it looked like his legs were wired down by some type of ability. Just then several of the second-year students pulled out carts that seemed to be filled with large black circular stones. Momo picked up one of the round balls and held it in his hand. "This here is a metal ball that had been embedded with the power of a beast crystal." Said Momo, "When the earth had found a way to mix the beast crystal with our own weapons, it was a turning point in the war, but what they don't teach you as first years, is that beast weapons need to be activated with your ability. Once activated they can give out extra power. The higher the beast crystal used to make the weapon, the higher the power." Varun watching the whole thing couldn't help but look at the badly beaten up Dakash. He was wondering how on earth Momo could stand there and talk so casually as if he was giving a presentation to the whole class. "So us second years have decided to give you from the beast weapons class and some of you other first-year students a shortcut. Today we will show you how to activate a beast weapon using these balls." That's when a first-year student raised his hand to ask a question. "Um excuse me, but does any of the teachers know about this?" For a moment there was silence, even the first years couldn't believe why someone would ask that in this situation. It was obvious that this was being done behind the teacher's backs. Then a second-year student had come from the side of the assembly hall and immediately punched the student who asked the question in the face. The second-year student repeatedly punched the person until he eventually passed out. "Are there any more questions?" Momo asked. The first-year students stood there silent in fear. They didn't want to say anything especially after they had seen what happened to the boy who had just asked a question. "Good." Momo said before continuing, "Now to explain, these beast stones here were made with the purpose to help you activate your equipment so, to be honest, they're quite useless but they are handy for demonstrating. Just like when you activate your ability in your body, you need to concentrate on the ball in front of you. Think of it as a part of your body and focus your ability on it." The stone ball being held in Momo's hand suddenly went from a black to a green colour. "Now usually your weapons wouldn't change colour when activated but as I said earlier these balls are you just for the sake of helping you learn how to activate your weapons. Once the colour has changed that means it has been activated and its strength has increased. Now today we will be practising, target hitting." The second-year students then moved Dakash down from the stage and onto the floor with the other first-year students. "The board here is special you see, even a bullet wouldn't be able to penetrate through it, only the power of a beast weapon can, so today's lesson is to throw the ball and hit the target. Simple right?" "What, is this really allowed?" A student asked. "And what do they mean by the target, the board it's so thin, they're basically telling us to hit him." "Won't we get into trouble for doing something like this?" "What do you mean, the teachers don't care when we got beat before why would they care about something like this now. The second years are doing this only because they know they can get away with it. They have been here longer than us." Momo started to look at the crowd, when his eyes finally had met with Varun's. "Oh, I almost forgot, the crazy boy here has been targeting us second years one by one, thinking we wouldn't notice. Not only did he not head our warning but he completely ignored it and came after us. We dealt with him in this very hall back then but he still didn't listen. Now, this is a warning to you all. This is what happens to those who try to disrupt the flow in school." The second years then poured out the crates of black beast stones. They all fell out and rolled onto the ground floor. There were more than enough stones there for each student to throw at least one ball at Dakash. "Now who wants to go first." One of the second students said. "Hurry now if no one want's to volunteer then I will just have to pick one of you." As expected not a single person had volunteered. The students were cruel to those who were weaker to them but not like this. Usually, it would be a case of just better treatment but it seemed like the second years were targeting Dakash. Whatever Dakash had done, he really had annoyed them. "Alright then, you the girl with the brown hair, you go first." The second-year student said as he put one of the balls in her hand. "I… I can't," She said. "Really, well if you can't then we have no choice," Momo said. Two of the second-year students went ahead and grabbed the female by her arms and spread her out. She struggled to break free and was wondering if she should use her ability. The girl started to look to around her side to see if anyone, a single person would stand up for her, but they all looked away trying to avoid eye contact. Momo picked up one of the balls and it started to light up green. "What's with you first years, when we ask you to do something then you need to do it!" The ball flew out of his hand and managed to hit the girl dead in the stomach. Although Momo was careful not to use his full strength. "Get her out of here," Momo said. "Next!" The next student was a male, he had the ability level of 2.5 but when he held the ball it managed to change in colour more activating the beast core's powers. Unlike the female, the boy didn't hesitate, he had more time to think about what he needed to do. He threw the ball hard and the ball managed to hit Dakash straight in the stomach. The impact was hard and Dakash, coughed out blood over the floor. "You see that, now that was perfect, that is exactly how everyone should throw the ball." Layla and Varun had been at the back this whole time watching everything. As they were one of the last ones to enter the room and even though Layla had her grudges against Dakash, she knew this wasn't right. "Those Bastards, how could they do something like that, Varun go call Leo, if it's him he might stop this mess." But as Layla turned around to look at where Varun was, he was nowhere to be seen. "Pick me! I don't mind having a little try." Varun said with a smile. standing at the front of the students. Just what was the crazy boy thinking, Layla was stunned as she watched Varun. CHAPTER 43: FIGHTING BACK Chapter 43: Fighting Back As Varun volunteered himself next, Momo couldn't help but think he was up to something. He knew the two of them were friends so why would he volunteer?In a way, this whole demonstration was to show the first years that they were to obey the second year's command.Every year it had become a sort of tradition at the academy. A similar thing had happened to them when they were first years. A display that there was a power far greater than them and they were not to become cocky.To show them that there was something greater ahead, this would draw them to the fact that they needed more power.It would strive for them to work harder. It was never meant to get this far. At first, they had given Dakash a simple warning.Then Dakash was the one who first started to attack the second years. At the time Momo and the others decided to show them his place. They dealt with Dakash on his own or so they thought. He continued to disobey their commands and still came after weaker second-year students one by one.That's when they decided to punish him publicly, this way it would solve all future trouble makers and showed them what happened to them.Varun started to look around at all the second years in the room. There were a total of eight second-year students standing by the edge of the hall, four on each side that had around fifty first-year students surrounded. There were also two students by Dakash, one on each side of the board. These students were the weakest of the bunch.Each of them had a power level 2 displayed on the watches. Even though they were second years they all followed Momo which meant they were weaker than him. There was the chance that they had already learnt how to use a soul weapon but it was unlikely.They had only just become second years so there wasn't much chance for them to learn anything. However, the real problem was Momo and the people by his side. Momo stood there with the power Level of six and the two beside him where Level fours.It was unlikely that any of the first years would help Varun out and even the strongest first year in the room was Zoya and even she was a level five. It was no wonder even though the first years outnumbered them they were afraid.As Varun held the ball in his hand a message had appeared.< Basic tier beast weapon: Round ball >< Would you like to activate? >< Strength of weapon will increase by five percent >The Percentage stood out to him, it was the same number his gauntlets gave when using them. Perhaps Varun didn't need to figure out how to activate the beast weapons as Momo had said. It seemed like the system would do everything for him.The black ball started to glow, it glowed brighter than any of the balls the other students had held before."How is that possible, he was able to activate the basic tier weapon fully?" Momo thought, "That means its strength has increased by at least five percent. If he had a higher tier weapon I wonder if he could the same. Wasn't he just a useless level 1?"Varun then walked in front of where Dakash was standing. There was now a good five meters of distance between the two."Why do we have these powers." Varun said out loud, "Isn't it to protect ourselves, to fight those who harm our friends and family." Dakash hearing Varun's words started to lift his head. he had a feeling he knew what Varun was planning to do."Varun? No, don't what are you doing?" Dakash mumbled but was unheard."I have taken a beating my whole life and I was weak back then, what do I care if I take another beating now."Varun then chucked the ball using all his strength as hard as he could. With the 16 points of strength and the added 5 percent power, the ball came out lightning fast as it left his fingertips.Instead of the ball hitting Dakash though like everyone suspected, it landed straight in the student's stomach standing by the side of the board.The power was so strong that the student was lifted off his feet and knocked out in one blow.< 50 exp gained >< 175/400 Exp >"What the hell are you guys doing standing there, get him!" Momo shouted.Varun knew there wasn't much he could do against all the second- year students so he wanted to create as much havoc as possible. The two- level four students who stood by Momo side started to come towards him but instead of Varun running toward them, he suddenly ran towards the crowd of first-years behind him.He bent down and picked up two more of the black balls on the floor and started to head for the weaker students around the side while weaving in between the first-year students. Then when he was within distance, he had found his targets.The weak level twos who were standing by the side.Once again he threw out another two black balls aiming for them at full strength, one of the students managed to avoid the black ball but the other wasn't so lucky getting hit and knocked out.< 50 exp gained>< 225/ 400 Exp >This was Varun's plan, so far every level up Varun was able to obtain an ability, he didn't know what he would get but he sure hoped it would help him win the fight. There were enough second-year students for him to take on to cause a level up.He then went back into the crowd to pick up even more balls while making sure to use the other students as cover."What are you guys doing, to anyone who manages to hit or capture that guy they will be free from any form of punishment!" Momo said.The first-year students started to look at each other. They didn't want to be involved in the first place and were unsure of what to do."Why should we listen to you." Layla said, "Just a second ago you dealt with one of us for asking a question, who knows whether we can trust you or not.""Fine you don't want to help, attack them all."Just then the two-level four students who were chasing after Varun no longer cared about injuring the first years. The two people started to gather up their abilities. One of them swung out their arm and with it, a large line of water came out at them.But before it could even reach any of the students, an ice ball was shot out and froze the water attack in place, causing it to fall to the ground.The person responsible stepped forward and drew her sword out."I wasn't going to get involved but you guys attacked me first," Zoya said."Hah even if you're a level higher than us, do you really think you can take on two-level fours."Just then an arrow came shooting out aiming for one of the students but before it could reach him, an earth wall was raised."She won't be alone," Layla said.To be honest, at first, Layla wasn't planning to get involved. If Varun wanted to take a beating there was no reason for her to get one with him. However, she too had experienced mistreatment in the school.Layla had no idea how strong Varun really was but felt like he must have had some sought of a plan to fight back and it now looked like the first year students were going to get hurt anyway.With Layla and Zoya distracting the other high levels in the room, Varun felt like this was his chance to deal with the rest of the level twos. However, it wasn't going to be as easy as he thought.Out from the side, a long thin object came lashing out at him.Is was too fast for Varun to react causing him to be hit across his body. Not only did the attack pierce his chest but it also sent him tumbling to the ground.< 13/20 HP>"7 points of HP with one attack, just what was that?" Varun thought looking at what had just hit him.Coming towards him was Momo, in his hand, he held a beast weapon whip by his side."You have caused so much trouble." Momo said, "I don't know how you can activate the beast weapons so well, and your surprise attacks seemed to work but you will always be a weak level one."Before Varun could even get up, he was already surrounded by the other six second-year students.Dakash watching the whole thing from the board felt useless."I have to help him, he's only getting hurt because of me this is all my fault," Dakash said."If you want to help him, then let me take over." A voice said in Dakash's head. CHAPTER 44: FINALLY FREE Chapter 44: Finally Free Inside the assembly hall, there was one boy who was unsure of what to do and that was Piyush. He had been there the whole time from the very beginning but chose to hide in the crowd so he wouldn't get picked. When he saw Varun come to the stage to try help Dakash, he felt even more guilty.Why? Because the whole reason Dakash was tied up on the slab in the first place was because of him. The other day when the second years came to see Piyush, they had come with a proposal. Help them get Dakash to come to the assembly hall and he would be protected by the second years.Of course, Piyush felt like he had no choice. If he refused the second years there and then, they would have tortured him until he agreed anyway. So what was the use of fighting back if the end result was the same?After their combat classes had finished, Piyush had asked Dakash to go with him to the assembly hall to help him further practise. When they entered the room, the second-year students included Momo where hiding waiting for him.When the time was right, they all came out at once and jumped him. But what had surprised Piyush was in that instant, Dakash had turned and pushed Piyush out of the way."Run, I'm sorry this is all my fault," Dakash said.Dakash thought the second years had targeted him because of what he had been doing in his free time. He had been fighting the second-year students when they were all on their own, trying to weaken Momo's gang one by one.Not knowing what to do, Piyush ran out of the room, only later to return with everyone else. Then when he saw Varun, someone who was just as weak as him, stand up to the second years, Piyush felt a pain in his heart so strong. He had betrayed them.But Piyush was going to make things right, while no one was looking and everyone attention was focused on the fights around them, Piyush had managed to leave the assembly hall.Meanwhile, at the centre of the assembly hall, Zoya and Layla were busy confronting the two-level four students.The first years had spread out making sure not to get hurt in the crossfire but at the same time doing nothing to help. It was unclear who the winner would be and they felt like if they joined the wrong side it would only make things worse for them."Hey, do you mind if we switch." One of the second-year students said, "My water abilities are weak against her?""I see so you want the level, 2 user, huh." The other student replied. "Oh well, just finish her off quickly."With that, the two-second years charged in for the attack. The water ability user went after Layla, while the earth user went after Zoya.As the earth user got closer, he stomped the ground and a spiked earth mound followed, heading right for Zoya. But Zoya remained calm, as the spike came towards her, she slashed her sword and with a single strike, cut the spike in half causing it to fall to the ground."What the? That beast weapon, if it cut through my earth ability is it an advanced tier beast weapon? The earth user thought.However, he didn't have much time to think, with her other hand Zoya had formed an ice spear and threw it towards her opponent. The earth user lifted his arms causing a wall of earth blocking the attack.He then moved his hands apart and at the same time the wall he had created, split in two but when the view in front of him was clear, Zoya was nowhere to be seen.Suddenly, he felt his legs start to feel cold. When he looked down, he noticed they were starting to freeze."For a second-year level four earth user, you are incredibly weak." Before the boy could react, Zoya had whacked him in the back of the head with the hilt of her sword. Then as he fell to the ground, she froze his arms and limbs in place making sure he would stay on the ground."How did she win so easy?" The first-year students watching said."Yeah, shouldn't a match between a level four and five user be closer than that, and he was a second-year student.""Maybe they aren t as strong as we thought?"Usually, a fight with a level four and five users would be a lot closer, especially considering the other student was a second year. But there was a major difference between the two fighters and that was something called, fighting IQ.No matter how strong someone's ability was or how powerful a punch they packed, you needed to know how to use your abilities and when. This could be improved with experience or some people were just naturally gifted. For Zoya, she had always fallen into the gifted category.Although Zoya had finished her match quickly, the same couldn't be said for Layla. Her attacks were basically useless. As an archer, her skills were best used when surprising her opponent and when there was a distance between the two.Here she had neither of them. Every attack of hers was met with a wall of water that would stop her arrows in their tracks and finally when she was tired. The second-year student threw out his fist and a ball of water came out towards her.It hit her dead in the stomach and sent her flying back towards the front of the hall near Dakash.The water user started running after her planning to finish her, Layla seeing this struggled but was to hurt to get up."Hey you, free me, I can deal with him.""What?" Layla said as she looked up noticing that it was Dakash who was speaking to her."Come on hurry, we don't have much time, touch my leg."Layla hesitated for a moment. She still had remembered what had happened when the two of them were in the room, she still had an odd feeling in her gut telling her Dakash was a bad person but right now it was the only person she could rely on.She crawled over to Dakash's side and touched his leg as he had asked. Then the shackles tied around Dakash's arms and legs started shaking."Come on, help me you bitch!" Dakash shouted at her.Dakash was using Layal's telekinesis ability but it was weak, it wasn't strong enough to break from the shackles. Layla then lifted her hand and with the two of them working together, the shackles were finally removed and Dakash was free.He started to rotate his wrist as if he was getting used to his body. He shook his limbs out and started to jump up and down."Finally, I get to come out, it's been a long time."As the water user continued to run forward now that Dakash was free, he was more cautious. The last time they had fought with him in the assembly hall they remembered Dakash having earth powers. At the time the last person he had touched was Piyush. Dakash then started to laugh hysterically and charged towards the water user. It was an unexpected move, the water user panicked and threw out two lines of Water blades. These where just as sharp as an attack from a regular blade but could be thrown out.As the blades came towards him, at the last second Dakash managed to twist his body in an odd way avoiding both of the blades. He then lifted one of the black balls from the ground using his telekinesis and threw it out.However, the attack was easy for the water user to block, forming a water wall stopping the ball but then *Crack. Something was felt on the back of his leg and at the same time a crunching sound was heard, the boy immediately fell to one knee.As he looked at Dakash in front of him, he could only see Dakash with his hands held out. Then another striking pain was felt through his body, this time on his other ankle.Without realising it, Dakash had attacked him from behind, pulling the other black balls towards him. The water user was two focused on the attack in front he never thought about an attack from behind. Also, it had come as a surprise to him that Dakash was not an earth user as he thought.Dakash then lifted up two more black balls and swung his hands down. At the same time, the balls came rushing down at a crazy speed hitting the student in the forearms, breaking them at the same time.The student screamed in pain and with his arm's mangled, he could no longer use his water ability as he could before."Finally, I, Raten have returned. CHAPTER 45: SEEING THE FUTURE Chapter 45: Seeing the future The second-year students had Varun completely surrounded, as he took a step forward to try to break out of the encirclement, a wind strike came towards him. He managed to lift his hand to block the attack but at the same, another slash was felt against his back. < 12/20 HP > The attacks continued with a mixture of abilities but most of them were weak elemental abilities such as level 2 wind users and earth users. However, when he was being attacked from all sides, the attacks quickly added up. Varun continued to block strikes coming from the front of him but still was hit from all sides. < 11/20 HP > < 10/20 HP > < 9/20 HP > There was a constant cycle. Once he was injured to a certain degree Varun's blood bank would auto-activate and heal him, but even with the blood bank, there was no getting out of this one. But he knew this would happen to some degree. He never expected to win in the first place. Ignoring the pain of the strikes and instead of trying to avoid all the attacks. He rushed forward towards one of the students. This time two hits had hit him from each side, casing two big slashes on his body. < 8/20 HP > < 7/20 HP > But he didn't care, his speed was quick and using the strength in his legs he was able to move himself forward and grabbed one of the second-year students. He quickly went behind the student grabbing his arm and at the same time kept one of his claws towards the student's neck using him as a meat shield. The second years were hesitant to attack afraid they might hit their fellow classmate. Varun continued to walk backwards with the student until his back was up against the wall. "Me and you both know you're not going to hurt him Varun." Momo said, "If you attack too deep and kill him, you'll be in trouble, attack to shallow and we will pounce on you and make you wish you were dead." Quin hated to admit it but Momo was right, he couldn't kill the student and at the same time the second he turned his back to them they would take him out so Varun was left with only one thing. He no longer had his claw hand out but then started to choke the student from behind wrapping his arm around his neck. He used his strength and carried on until he eventually passed out. < 50 exp gained > < 275/400 exp > "No point wasting good exp," Varun said. As soon as the student fell to the ground the attacks came out fast and furious from the others. Varun was able to block most of them now his back was up against the wall, he started dodging a lot of the strikes, which made him think back to the test centre. The situation he was in was similar to the agility test where holographic spikes came at him. However, these attacks were more powerful and were greater in number, eventually, Varun let a strike get in. < 6/ 20 Hp > Suddenly the attacks had stopped and Momo had stood forward with his whip in his hand. Seeing the Whip Varun remembered that a single attack last time had brought his HP down by seven points. If he was to receive another attack form it right now, he would be brought down to below 0. Varun still didn't know what happened when his HP would reach 0 but at the same time, this wasn't the time to find out. He had no choice, he would have to use the blood bank to heal himself. Even if the others did see him use this, it wouldn't reveal he was a vampire but they would just think it was some type of self-healing ability. The problem was Varun had already displayed abnormal strength. If he then displayed abnormal healing, things wouldn't add up. A student couldn't have two abilities apart from rare cases, which meant it would only lead to Varun being asked more questions. Just as Varun was deciding what to do, Momo sensed something and moved his head at the last second. As he did a black ball came flying through the air and went past his head, then the black ball stopped mid-air and suddenly started moving back towards Momo. Momo lashed his whip at the ball slicing it in half. As he turned around, he saw Dakash standing there, when he looked to see what had happened to the rest of the second years, he could see a few had already been taken down and those who hadn't been, were busy engaging in combat with Layla and Zoya. "So you got free huh?" Momo said, "Do you not remember what happened to you last time the two of us fought?" Momo taunted. "Last time you fought against that weakling, this time you're fighting me." Raten said, "I'm not as nice as Dakash." Raten lifted both hands, and with it, two more black balls of the ground lifted up. Dakash swung his hands in the air and the black balls followed the same path. There was no need for Dakash to use his hands when using his telekinesis ability but it allowed him to focus his mind better. Doing this moved the balls at greater speed and precision, after all, he wouldn't be able to use it as well as Layla who had the ability most her life. The balls flowed a similar pattern to his hands, Striking at different directions. However, Momo would simply step forward, move back or turn his body slightly avoiding each of the balls. He then grew tired and grabbed one of the balls mid-air that was heading straight for his face. "Looks like you really don't remember what happened last time?" Momo clenched his fist tightly destroying the black ball held in his hands. He then swung his whip destroying the other without even looking where it was. Varun wanted to help. While Momo's back was turned he tried to go in for a strike but before he even took a step, the whip came flying out and landed just in front of him. "Don't even think about it," Momo said. Before Varun had taken a single step, Momo had already acted. Then Varun waited once again for the right moment and when he thought it was right, he tried moving in again but the same thing had happened, Momo swung at his whip before Varun had moved. "It can't be?" Varun thought, So far Momo hadn't displayed anything reviling his ability but just now and how he had acted before, it seemed like it was part of his ability. There were two guesses Varun had, he either had some type of mind-reading ability or future seeing ability. If that was the case then the fight ahead would be a tough battle. CHAPTER 46: THE DIFFERENCE Chapter 46: The difference Varun's guess about Momo was nearly spot on. Momo could see two seconds ahead into the future, although it wasn't as clear as others might think. His ability was activated through his eyes. When he turned on his ability a new type of vision would appear. Everywhere Momo looked there was an outline of what a person or object was going to do next. When Momo's back was turned and the black ball had come towards him. He could slightly feel the outline of the ball touching him. Allowing him to move his head just in time. Just two seconds before Varun has even begun moving towards Momo, his outline had already shown where and what Varun was planning to do. It was a strong ability that took years for Momo to get a hang of at first. Just because one could see the future didn't help out in any other aspects. Momo strength, speed and reaction time all had to be trained with his ability. Even though Momo's ability was a rare one that was available on the market place, not many people opted for it for these reasons. But Varun wasn't the only one who had figured out Momo's ability. Raten had as well. "Who cares if you know what I'm going to do!" Raten shouted, "All I need to do, is do something you can't block." Ratan then started running towards him. Momo swung his whip, while Ratan held out his hand slowing the whip down with his telekinesis ability, the whip slowed down enough allowing him to jump over the strike. Then with his other hand, something started to form. It looked like water was starting to surround his hand. With another swing, a water blade followed. Momo quickly moved to the side avoiding one strike but what quickly followed was a barrage of water strikes. Then at the same time from behind, another two black balls had been lifted and were coming right at him. Momo could see the black balls coming at him and he knew he could do nothing but take a hit. He opted to avoid the water strikes, the more powerful of the attacks and moved so the balls would hit his back. After being hit with the black balls, Momo moved away from Dakash creating distance between the two. "I have to admit, I didn't expect you to be able to use two abilities, you didn't do something like this last time. It looks like you were hiding a trump card after all." Momo said, "But you weren't the only one holding back last time." While in his right hand he held a whip, something started to form in his left hand. At first, it looked just like a bunch of light particles forming something but then eventually another whip appeared. Only this felt and looked different, as if it was alive almost. Just from holding it alone, the whip would continuously move like a snake. "Let me show you the difference between the second years and first years," Momo said. Even though Zoya was currently busy fighting the other second-year students, she couldn't help but sense the power in the room. "So he has one, after all huh, a soul weapon." While the distance between Momo and the others were far away, Layla had managed to make a break and get away from the other second-year students. Honestly, Zoya was doing fine dealing with them on her own and she wasn't much help in the first place. She Quickly went to Varun's side and could see he was badly injured. It wasn't so much that he couldn't move but enough to say he was out of the fight for now at least. "Do you need some blood?" Layla whispered. "No I'm fine, I'm not in any danger don't worry about that, I just don't want to reveal anything in front of all these people." "I understand," Layla said as she then looked at Dakash. "Your friend, I hate to admit it but he's strong." "Yeah." After looking at Dakash now and seeing how he fought so skillfully as if he had done it a hundred times before and he was even using two abilities effortlessly. Varun quickly realised there wasn't much he knew about Dakash and that he probably had his very own secrets that he was hiding from everyone similar to himself. But again, instead of escaping when he was freed and running away, he had decided to come help. Although Varun wasn't strong enough to help now, in the future he would repay back this kindness. Now with Momo's soul weapon, the confidence in him grew. He swung his soul whip and it started to move at lightning speed. In response, Raten created a wall of water with one hand and started to slow down the whip with the other but the telekinesis ability was useless and didn't seem to do anything to slow the whip down. Then when the whip had reached the wall of water, it suddenly grew in length and had wrapped around Raten's arm. Momo pulled forward dragging Ratan to the ground and then swung out his other whip lashing against his back. Raten tried rolling to avoid the lashes but it seemed like the whip was following him, predicting where he would roll to next. Raten had been lashed several times and now his back was covered in blood. Then with Raten's other hand, he formed a small water blade. He knew that the whip would be too strong to cut, so instead he went for his own hand complexly cutting it off from his own body. The whip was no longer attached to his body and at the same time so was his hand. Although unlike one would expect for blood to be drawn everywhere. Raten was using an absurd amount of energy concentrating to stop his blood from spewing out from the wound with the telekinesis ability. And he honestly didn't know how much longer he could keep it up. "Damn you!" Raten shouted, "If only this body wasn't so hurt from before. Now you have gone and done it, you think a soul weapon is strong enough to defeat us? Well, think again. Little one it's your turn. It's time to give this man hell!" Just then though the doors to the assembly hall were swung wide open and in came a tall silver-haired female and standing behind her was Piyush. "I command everyone to halt this instant," She said, "If anyone does not obey this command prepare to be punished." CHAPTER 47: SECOND YEAR - HEAD Chapter 47: Second year - head The woman standing next to Piyush had long silver hair that went down to her waist. On her head, she was wearing a beret and be her side was her trusty rapier sword that was jagged and looked to be made from a long beast bone. She had a feeling that resonated off her body, she looked like the older sister type who you were able to trust to get you out of trouble when you needed it. As soon as she had entered the room, at that moment everyone froze all incept for one student. A second-year who was too heated in the moment, he had finally seen Zoya drop her guard. He continued to charge forward and was ready to attack but before even a second could pass, the female teacher who had entered the room was right by the student's side and a few moments later he had collapsed on the floor with the back of his foot all bloody. "When did she get over there?" "Hey look at his ankles, do you think she did that?" As Momo looked at who had entered the room, he immediately put his soul weapon away. Momo knew a lot of the teachers and high position people in the academy. After all, he had already been here a year and the person who had entered the room was not to be messed with. When she said whoever didn't listen to her would be punished, she meant it. The female's name was Fay Dallum. She was a sergeant at the academy and was mostly in charge of squad training. "Anyone else but her," Momo said. Not only that but her ability was super speed, the worst matchup for Momo, no matter how far ahead he could see in the future, her speed was simply was just to fast to react. Not that he had planned to go against her anyway, he had already made that mistake last year when Fay was still only a private at the academy. "Those of you who are injured go to the doctor's office to be treated immediately, while the rest of you head to the dorms and stay inside until you are called out again. Do you understand?" Fay said. Most of the first-year students were silenced. They had no clue who she was or what was happening right now. Then from the lack of people answering her with a reply. Fay drew her rapier once more and after seeing this the students immediately answered, "Yes Miss." Dakash had gone to the hospital carrying his arm in his hand. The second-year students went to their own separate part of the building that was located somewhere else to get treated, while out of the first-year students, no one was really hurt apart from Dakash and Varun. This time Varun had no choice but to head to the doctor's office. His clothes were all bloody and he had lost a lot of blood but once he had been out of combat for more than 10 minutes, his body started to heal itself. After successfully attaching Vordans arm back to his body, Hayley the school doctor had gone up to check on Varun. When she asked him to take off his shirt so she could directly heal his wounds, she noticed that the markings had mostly already healed. "What is this? For this much blood, the wounds should be a lot bigger." Varun started to laugh nervously. "Yeah, my friend has a healing ability and managed to heal me a bit before I got here." "Oh another healer." Hayley said surprised, "Well if you get the chance send them down here, their ability is quite good and it looks like they have done a splendid job. I could do with help and I would love to have a student of my own." "Sure," Varun replied. Hayley then proceeded to complete healing the rest of Varun's wounds on his body, after she was done there was not a mark on him. During Varun's own healing process his body had used up quite a bit of energy and once again the message had appeared stating he was hungry. After consuming some blood from his blood bank, he no longer felt hungry and didn't have to worry about going on a frenzy for at least another two days. Once Varun and Dakash had arrived back in their rooms, they were told not to leave until they were notified. Once in a while, a private would call out a student's name and they would be taken somewhere for questioning. Inside their own rooms was Dakash, Piyush and Varun. "Thanks for calling the sergeant when you did, otherwise me and Varun would have been goners by now." "No problem," Piyush replied still feeling bad by the whole thing. Although he had done the right thing by getting Fay, he still felt bad for having tricked Dakash into going to the hall in the first place. "What do you think will happen to the second years?" Varun asked. "Hmm, I'm not too sure." Dakash replied, "If this was a one on one incident then I'm pretty sure they would have ignored it but this time there were several students involved, most likely they will look for one person to pin the blame on." **** Meanwhile inside one of the integration rooms. A large muscular man with forearms the size of thighs was sitting opposite the second-year student Momo, and on his shoulder, the man had the rank of General. His name was Duke king and he was head of the second-year students. "Of all the people it had to be Fay to stop us," Momo complained. "I did as you asked, and now I might pay for it." "Will you relax, nothing will come of this I promise you that." Duke replied, "You're only students and these types of things happen and I will vouch for you." "Really, so this won't all fall back on me then?" Momo asked. Then Duke stood up and went up behind Momo and whispered in his ear. "Of course, as long as no one finds out about our little secret," Duke said with a smile. ***** Hey guys just a reminder, Mass release of six chapters tomorrow and remember to vote with your stones so we can have another mass release next weekend. CHAPTER 48: ACADEMY LEADERS Chapter 48: Academy leaders All the students involved in the incident had been interviewed and that of course, included Varun and Dakash. However, they weren't asked many questions like the two of them thought they would be. They were simply asked to recall the events that happened. Judging by the fact that the person integrating them didn't seem surprised by what they had said, it seemed like they had already gathered everything they needed from the other students and was just doing this as a formality. The next day had arrived and it was a weekend for students. Just like any other school students did not have to attend classes and were free to do as they wished around the city. Although the curfew still exited so they had to be back in their dorm rooms before ten in the evening and they were not allowed to leave the city. However, for the leaders at the school, their day was not as relaxing as the students for a meeting had been called. Inside the academy on the top floor, the leaders of the academy had gathered in a fairly large meeting hall. A large table was centred in the middle of the room. The table was split into two different sections. At the head of the table there were four seats in total. One of the seats was a little bigger than the others in this was where the Head general of the academy would sit, currently, this seat remained empty for the meeting. In the other seats, usually by the Head general's side were the three Generals of the school. There was the head of the second-year student's Duke with his large arms and muscular build. Then the head of the first-year students Nathan, who looked the complete opposite of Duke, he was small in size and wore glasses, he was always casually dressed for important occasion which annoyed Duke. The two of them did not get along. Lastly, there was the third General who was head of staff and the rest of the privates and teachers in the academy. Currently, his seat was also empty. The two Generals sat in their seats waiting for the others to arrive and as usual, there was silence between the two of them. Then finally the doors opened and eight people had arrived all wearing the military uniform and each one of them had the rank of sergeant displayed. Out of these eight sergeants, it included Leo the Beast weapons teacher, Fay the head of squads and Hayley the school doctor. The eight sergeants sat in their seats opposite to the generals and finally it was time for the meeting to start. Fay was the first to stand and speak. "We are here today to conduct the meeting on what to do with the second-year students, who were involved in the case involving primarily the first- year student known as Dakash and the students who are part of Del's class and Leo's beast weapons class." Fay then pressed a little button on a controller she held in her hand. In front of the generals and the other sergeants, a holographic report was being displayed to them. "I believe you have all read the reports but this is here just for your reference. I would like to ask your opinion on how these students should be punished, General Duke." "Punished?" Duke said, "I see no reason for these students to be punished, if you look at the report it seems like Dakash was the first to attack the others, they were simply retaliating, these types of things happen all the time." "But then why gather the rest of the first-year students?" Nathan casually added. "It seems like to me other students had gotten involved. I agree the students fight all time and we purposely do nothing to stop this but this seemed a little too much, no?" "Fine, further restrictions will be put on the second years and first-year students. They shall only meet when necessary. I will be in charge of issuing out the punishments to the second-year students, is that okay with you Nathan?" Nathan simply shrugged as if he didn't really care about the matter in the first place. He had only made his argument to annoy Duke. "I urge the rest of the Sergeant to take extra precaution." Said Fay. "It was only recently we had the death of a student in our school. Unlike with Brandon, Dakash is an original. If his family was to get involved in it would not be good for the academy." "Tch, filthy sc.u.m," Duke said under his breath. The military didn't have a good impression of Originals. When the war started they were the ones who risked their lives to save the people of the planet. It wasn't until it truly looked like the humans would lose the war did the originals come forward and share their power with everybody and not even all of them did that. Then Haley stood up. "I would like to talk about the matter involving the two students with strange wounds on their bodies. Were there any reports about a beast escaping from one of the portals?" "Your father, who is not present at the moment reported that there was no such thing. Even using the radar, we were unable to trace anything." Duke replied. "If it wasn't the beasts, then just what caused those wounds?" Hayley thought as she sat back down in her seat. "How is the preparation for the portal outing coming along for the first-year students?" Leo asked. "Yes, everything has been all set up." Nathan said, "A green portal has been selected for the students to go through and the base has made preparations for their arrival. It should all go smoothly next week." "Do you know what planet the expedition will take place on?" Leo asked. "Then I will be able to better prepare my students." "It's best to ask your students to pack some sun cream and their sunglasses as they will be arriving on the planet Caladi," Nathan replied. Planet Caladi, a planet that was mostly covered in desert and contained low tier beasts. Its day cycles were also vastly different compared to that of earth. Instead of the 24-hour day and night cycle that earth had. Caladi contained a 72-hour cycle. It was brilliant for those that loved the sunlight and heat. CHAPTER 49: NEVER BETRAY Chapter 49: Never betray After the incident with second years, Varun realised that although he had gained a lot of strength compared to what he was before. There were still others that he wasn't strong enough to fight against. Although Momo was strong in the group of second years, he was nowhere near the top of the food chain. There were many higher levels and even originals whose powers couldn't be measured. And even out of the first- year students there were those that were powerful, that included his good friend Dakash and Zoya. If Varun wished to get on their level, he would have to get stronger. The easiest way for him to get stronger was by consuming as many different types of blood as he could possible but there was a major problem. After the death of Brandon and the second-year incident, security around the academy had been tighter than ever. More soldiers were put on patrol and it seemed like they were keeping an eye on everyone. For now, while tensions why high in the academy it was best that he laid low. So that left him with another option, to improve his fighting skills. Varun still hadn't learnt the two skills yet but just learning them wasn't going to be enough. After watching Dakash he realised he needed to also learn how to use them, so he needed experience. "Hey I'm going to head into town to grab some supplies, do you want to come with?" Dakash asked. Varun hesitated for a while. Originally, he had planned to meet up with Layla to practise the Hammer strike but at the same time, he hadn't been able to relax in a while. In his last school Varun had never made any friends and was the lonesome type but now was his opportunity to go out and have some fun. One day wouldn't hurt, right? "Yeah, sure I'll come along," Varun replied. "What about you Piyush?" Dakash asked. Piyush had been avoiding the two of them for a while but since they were roommates it was almost impossible. He still felt bad about the whole situation but he had finally made up his mind, he never wanted to do anything like that again. "Yeah, I'll come as well." The three of them then proceeded to head into town. They went ahead and grabbed some food, watched a movie and had a good laugh but as they were outside, Piyush spotted a group of high-level first years he had met before. They were the same people who Piyush had hung out with at the canteen. As Piyush had made eye contact with the group, they had signalled to him they wanted to talk. "Hey guys, I just remembered that I promised to meet up with a few people from school tonight." Said Piyush. "It was great hanging out with you guys but I'll see you when you get back to the dorm." Dakash looked at Varun, realising that they both though Piyush words sounded suspicious. "Hey Piyush, you know if something is up, tell me I will help you out," Dakash said. "No it's nothing I promise, I really did make some good friends, I have to rush off now, Bye you guys," Piyush said as he took off out of sight of the other two. No matter what Piyush didn't want an incident like last time to happen. He would deal with the problems himself. Dakash was strong but from the fight last time, clearly Dakash wasn't strong enough to handle the upper years and Piyush knew they were the ones behind everything. Piyush finally turned a corner into an alleyway where five first-year students were patiently waiting. "Took you long enough." The student standing in front of the group had a scar on his chin and his name was Earl. He was the leader of the first-year group who was directly under Momo's gang. Then suddenly Earl went and grabbed Piyush throwing him up against the wall. "What the hell do you think you were doing, calling the teacher the other day." Earl said, "Now Momo and the others are giving us a hard time for relying on you." He then punched Piyush in the stomach causing him to kneel over and fall to the ground. "Why should we be the ones to be punished, this is all your fault." Earl ran up and kicked Piyush once again in the stomach. The kick was hard and Piyush's body was starting to shake, he felt like any second now he was going to throw up the ice cream he had just eaten with the other two. Earl walked over to Piyush and bent down to grab his hand. He held one of Piyush's fingers and snapped it back hard and fast at the same time a scream was heard. "What the hell, gag this wimp will you." One of the students then ripped a part of his shirt and shoved it into Piyush's mouth. "Now we have another job for you Piyush and you better do it right this time, you understand? Just nod if you agree." Piyush then shook his head. He had already decided that no matter what he would never betray Dakash or Varun again. "What, are you saying no?" Piyush then nodded giving his answer to Earl. The vein on the side of Earl's head was now popping out as the anger inside him grew. A lowly first-year student dared to go against him and he a level four student had to work under someone else. This wasn't the life he was expecting to have at the academy and he needed to take out his anger somehow. Earl then immediately grabbed Piyush's fingers and started to snap them one by one. Each time he would break a finger he would ask Piyush if he was willing to help them but each time Piyush shook his head. In the end, all five of Piyush's fingers had broken and Piyush still hadn't agreed to their request. "Hey Jerry, get over here," Earl shouted. One of the first- year students standing behind Jerry came over and knelt down. "Do your thing Jerry." Then Jerry placed his hand on top of Piyush's, and slowly a warm feeling was felt and the bones in Piyush's fingers were starting to take shape. They reformed to what they once were and he had been healed. Then a big smile on Earl's face could be seen. He grabbed Piyushs fingers again and repeated the process again and again. Eventually, after an hour had passed of breaking, hurting and re healing Piyush. Piyush's mind had given in. Without him realising it he no longer wanted to feel the pain and nodded agreeing to their request. "Good, see, now if you had done that in the first place, we wouldn't have had to go through all that." Earl said. "Now this time, you better do it right and be sure not to involve anyone." CHAPTER 50: VR GAME Chapter 50: VR Game With Piyush gone, that Left Varun and Dakash on their own. They were currently walking down the high street which was full of clothes shops and restaurants. Students only received 10 credits a day as an allowance but that didn't stop their parents from sending them extra money while they were in school. The richer students were free to spend and buy whatever they liked and sadly the richer students were usually the stronger ones as well. Although the city didn't open up to any regular civilians it was still open up to all the workers. The city was full of military personal but not all of them were soldiers. There was still cooks that were needed, admin staff, engineers, building workers and even general people who would run the shop. They had all been granted special access from the military and in return were given nice living accommodations and didn't have to worry about life on the outside world. So all though they worked for the military they weren't required to be relied on for fighting unless absolutely necessary. While the two were walking Varun couldn't help but think back to the fight between Dakash and Momo. "Hey Dakash, I know you said your ability resets every day but you never said you could wield two abilities at once?" Varun asked. "Didn't I?" Voden said with an awkward smile. "Well, there are some in my family that can even hold three." "Really? So how does it exactly work." "Well if I told you our family secrets Varun, you would have to become a part of our family. Either that or I'd have to kill you." For a second there was an awkward silence between the two. As Varun wasn't sure if Dakash was joking or not. "Relax will you." Dakash said, "But yeah I honestly can't tell you anything, you know Originals rules and all." Dakash belonged to one of the Original families that had decided to keep their ability within their family. Meaning the only people that knew how to copy other abilities were the Blades. Of course, Dakash wasn't allowed to talk to anyone about their ability. "Yeah, sorry about that but if you don't mind me asking. If you copy an ability you've never received before, how are you able to fight with them so well?" "Let me show you something," Dakash said. The two of them continued to walk down the high street which was filled with shops, until Dakash eventually stopped just outside a game store. The two of them headed inside and there were all types of games filled on the shelves. At the very back of the shop was a VR pod for people to test out before they bought anything. Just like everything else, even the gaming technology had improved significantly after the war. Then Dakash pointed at the VR capsule. "You see that thing, I grew up playing on that." "What?" Varun thought, but then Varun remembered Leo mentioning something about a VR game that was popular between students. He said if he wanted to get fighting experience it would be good if he played a certain game, is this what he was talking about? "There's a popular game played in the outside world and within the military schools called Power fighter. The game is simple, it gives you an open empty room and the two of you fight until one loses. Although it sounds simple the game itself is used to help people train. The VR capsule can record all attributes of your body. Anything you do in the real world you can do in the game. The only thing that it can't do is record your ability." Dakash then walked up to the capsule and touched the front of the capsule where there was a round ring. A holographic display appeared with the game's settings on the top. Dakash then placed his hand on the holographic display and a notification sound was heard. "Welcome User ID VBCopy." The machine said. As Dakash logged into the game, his user ID's information could be seen along with a dummy model of his fighter which looked nothing like Dakash. It displayed the total amount of fights Dakash had, and how many wins and losses. Although Dakash quickly went of that screen on to another, too quick for Varun to see anything. Then Dakash was suddenly on an ability tab. The list seemed almost endless. "Wait I thought you said the game couldn't record your ability?" Varun asked. "It can't, but so the game was even more realistic and so it could be used a training tool, it uploads into its database every ability that is shared out there in the world that we know today. Of course, only the ones that are made public. So Original abilities and abilities that have yet to be discovered aren't on this list, including my own. However, I can select any ability I want, even if I can't perform it in the real world I can practice with it in the game." Varun finally understood how Dakash was able to become well adverse with multiple different abilities. This was something that would only greatly benefit someone like him who was able to use whatever ability he wished. Most people who were playing the game would want to get stronger and better at using their abilities. That meant they would usually only select their own ability, what was the point of selecting something that you could never use in the real world, unless you just wanted to have the experience. "The game is actually very popular with the other military schools." Dakash continued to explain. "So much so that the military has designed its own servers so it only connects to other schools but you can also just play with the outside world as well. Before you enter the game you can even input your power level. This way it will match you with those people around the same level. People can lie about their level but those type of people will never get better at fighting, bullying those weaker than them all the time." Varun then walked up to the capsule and started to inspect it. It sounded amazing and was exactly what Varun needed. This way he was able to practise against other students without others realising it was him. Then when Varun lifted up the tag on it, there were more zeros on the thing then he had ever seen before. There was no way he could afford such a thing. Maybe some of the other students who could be sent credits from their family but not Varun. Dakash started to laugh. "Don't worry about it, you don't need to buy one yourself, the academy has a room full of them." "Really?" "Come on, let's head back and give it a go." CHAPTER 51: POWER FIGHTERS Chapter 51: Power fighters The sun was starting to set outside so it was just the right time for Dakash and Varun to head back to the academy and when they did, they immediately when over to the VR room. Just like the capsule in the shop, it was a room filled with rows and rows containing capsules and off to the side was a small shop and counter where students were able to buy snacks and refreshments. The room was currently packed with students, just as Dakash and Leo had said, the game was incredibly popular. Looking at the excitement in the student's eyes and faces, Varun started to feel upset. It felt like there was a world he never got to experience growing up just because he was poor. The two of them went up to the front counter that was stationed next to the small cafe. "Hi, we would like to rent out two capsules please?" Dakash asked. "A single capsule will cost you 10 credits per hour." The female replied. Hearing that number made Varun gulp. For some reason, he had expected the capsules to be free but of course, they would have to pay to rent them. With Varun's ten credits he received a day at most he could play the game for was an hour a day. He didn't need the money for anything else, after all, the school provided the accommodation and three meals a day for them. "Alright, are you ready?" Dakash asked. "Huh, what did you pay?" "Yeah don't worry about it, come on let's go." The woman behind the counter had handed Dakash two tags numbered 23 and 24. The two of them walked around the room until they had found two capsules next to each other, they both had large numbers displayed on the front of the capsule in big bold ink. "Here we are," Dakash said, "With these capsules there only able to link to the military servers. You can fight with others from other schools but you won't be able to connect it to the normal servers, you will need to buy your own capsule for that. When you log into the game you can play as a guest for now and just search for the ID VBCopy and join my room when you can." With that, the two of them slowly climbed into the VR capsule. When the machine sensed they were both comfortably inside, the capsule lid slowly started close in on the both of them. Then before they realised it, their minds were completely transported to another space. Varun was now in a large empty white room. There were no walls in sight and it looked like the room was endless. Suddenly a screen appeared in front of him. "Welcome to Power fighter, would you like to?" As Dakash had suggested for now Varun decided to play as a guest. Then he went on through the system and started to search for Dakash's gamer ID. Once he had selected to join the person's room, he patiently waited for Dakash to accept. "Room invite accepted, transporting in 3…2…1…" Then in an instant, Varun had been transported to another empty white space room, only this time Dakash was there as well but Dakash didn't look like himself. He looked like a completely different person. Both his hands had been wrapped in bandages and on his face, he wore a scarf. He looked like an ancient ninja. "err Dakash is that you?" "Oh sorry," Dakash said and the next second he looked like the ordinary Dakash at school. "What was that?" Varun asked. "That, the game allows you to customize your character so you can make it look like whatever you want. The clothes I was wearing a type of skin, although they cost credits so I wouldn't worry about that." The sound of the game was just getting even better for Varun. Allowing the users to create a character to be used in the game meant that no one would know it was him, unless they knew his user name. "Do you want to watch me a play a few games so you know how the game works?" Dakash asked. "Sure." Dakash then created a party, where Varun was able to spectate. Suddenly in the white space, four stands appeared forming an arena like shape and Varun was teleported to the seating area in one of the stands. The game tried its best even for spectators to make it feel like the real thing. Once Varun was comfortably seated, Dakash went to search for a match. Dakash selected the power level of two. This way he would only be matched up with level twos. there was also a quick match option, where it would match you with anyone who had selected the same option regardless of power level. The ability he currently had his character set to was earth. He chose this because Dakash himself had been trying to learn the Earth ability better so that way when Piyush got stronger with it, Dakash would be able to help him use it. When an opponent was found he too was teleported into space where Dakash stood. The two of them started out on the opposite side of the room, then Varun could see a big countdown appear over the arena. When the countdown reached zero the match immediately began. Dakash was going up against another Earth user. Earth users were the most common ability to be found. The match didn't last long though, as it was clear that Dakash had the greater experience when it came to fighting. The match had only lasted a total of five minutes but while watching the game Varun started to figure out how it worked. Above each player's head was a health bar. But there was no way to show how much health each player had. Judging by what Dakash had said this was most likely because everyone had a different set of health depending on what the VR headset was able to read from the body. Varun himself knew this because of his inspect skill. Every time he would look at the stats of a different person some of them had different amount and that included him. The next thing he noticed was the fact that there wasn't actually any damage done to the player. When Dakash would strike or stab a person the system would cause the player to react to these, by startling the player but it wouldn't permanently damage the person like it would have done in real life. Similar to a game it would treat hits on vital parts as a critical hit but the player could continue to fight like normal as long as their HP didn't hit 0. After that Varun continued to watch Dakash play a few more games and before they knew it their time was up. Although Varun didn't have the time to play today, he couldn't wait to try out the machine tomorrow. CHAPTER 52: BLOOD EVOLVER Chapter 52: Blood evolver It was getting late and it was almost time for their curfew, so Varun and Dakash decided it would be best to head back to the dorm rooms. When they arrived, they noticed that the lights were out and Piyush was already in the room fast asleep. "Does he look okay?" Varun asked, as he noticed Dakash was looking around to see if he could see any markings on his face or body. "Yeah he seems fine, but even if he was getting bullied, he could have gone to the doctor's office before coming here," Dakash replied. "Well, I still think we should keep an eye on him, there's no way higher levels would just become friends with a lower level for no reason," Varun said. Dakash cleared his throat loudly and started to look at himself. "Of course, there are some exceptions," Varun said smiling. With the other two now fast asleep, Varun was still awake messing around with his system. He was busy watching the tutorial videos of the Hammer strike. He didn't have enough points in agility to learn the flash step but with the gauntlets, he did have enough for the hammer strike. The video contained the blonde man demonstrating what to do step by step. It was incredibly detailed, showing everything in slow motion to the point where it also described the feeling the user should have, every step of the way. Varun repeatedly watched the video, as he wanted to learn and test it out in the game tomorrow. After finally remembering all the steps and believing he had a confident grasp on the skill. He shut his eyes and went to sleep. The next day Varun had woken up earlier than the other two. He immediately wanted to go to the game to create his character and test out the skill he had been learning all night. Just in case the others wondered were Varun was he left a note before leaving. When he finally arrived, the VR room was emptier than it was yesterday, most likely because it was early in the morning and not a lot of students had woken up yet. Varun then went on to do the same as Dakash had done yesterday, he went up to the pretty lady who stood behind the counter and asked to rent a capsule, only this time for two hours. There wasn't much use for his credits other than buying late-night snacks and at the moment, not even that satisfied him. Ever since he had his first taste of blood, food was starting to taste bland. He still got hungry like everyone else but the taste of ice cream and sweets just didn't have the same rush effect it once had. To get that feeling again he could only get it from blood. But Varun made sure to only consume blood when he needed to or to get himself stronger. He was afraid that he might become addicted to the feeling and if he did it would only cause more problems for him. Before entering his capsule, Varun looked around the room and noticed some students carrying their beast weapons with them. Not all student used one like Dakash. But after watching the games Dakash had played yesterday, he did see a few of his opponents have one. Which meant most likely that the students bringing their weapons with them, meant that the game was also able to recognise the power of beast weapons. Just on the side of the capsule, there was a large rectangular box and underneath were the words written, beasts weapons. So it looked like Varun was right after all. After taking off his gauntlets and placing it into the box the capsule started to scan the weapons. < The beast weapon may now be used with the capsule > He then hopped in and logged into the game. Only this time instead of logging in as a guest, he decided to register an account. < Please create a User ID > Varun thought long and hard, he didn't want anything that could give away his real identity away but at the same time, he wanted a name that would express his newfound self. Something like Vampire god just wouldn't work and gave too much information. Plus the idea of putting Vampire in his name just sent cringe tinkles running down his spine. Finally, he had settled on a name. < User ID created Blood Evolver > The name was chosen for a few reasons. Varun could feel his body getting stronger with each person's blood he drank. It was as if his body was evolving into something else and in the future, he knew he would be stronger then he was now. He thought the name was very fitting for himself. The next step was to design his character. The body proportions of his character were the same as him but he was able to choose what hairstyle and simple clothing he wanted on it. Varun had always been born with black curly hair and wanted to change it but never got the chance to. Now it felt like he could be someone else. After going through all the options, he finally decided on a red spiky-haired character who wore simpler Villager clothing. It looked like a farmer from an old fantasy world. Once the character had been completed, Varun was once again teleported to the large white empty room. That's when Varun noticed something. While in the room Varun was able to walk around freely and move his body just like he could outside. He was currently dressed as the character and even had his gauntlets on. Then when Varun tried to open up his system to his surprise it appeared like usual showing all of his current stats. Varun looked down at his gauntlets and immediately wanted to test something out. "Blood swipe." And in that instant, a red claw-like line left Varun's hands and scratched the ground. For whatever reason, it seemed like Varun's system and abilities still worked inside the game. **** Please remember to vote using your stones for another mass release next week! CHAPTER 53: FIRST GAME Chapter 53: First game After finding out that his blood swiped worked in the game, Varun immediately opened up his system to check his stats again. Only unlike the outside world where his HP would have gone down by 1 – HP. Everything had still remained the same. Was it because using it didn't actually use any blood? When Varun would use blood swipe outside the Red claw-like shape would leave his hand and at the same time, he felt like a piece of energy inside him had left with it. The minus in his HP would indicate that it took part of his life force or his blood. But inside the game world, the attack did no such thing. It was just replicating what his mind told it to do, while scanning the body inside the capsule to see if it was possible. To test this, Varun swiped his hand's non stop, swipe after swipe. Red lines left his fingertips in a flurry but at the same time, no HP was lost. Just in case, Varun opened up the game system and checked, and right next to his name where there was a section to fill in your ability, there were the words written none in the box. However, another thought came to Varun's mind. If he didn't lose any HP when using the skill, this also meant that his skill Blood bank would have no effect in the game. When he would get attacked it would do no physical harm to his real body on the outside. He wasn't actually losing health, so inside the game, he wouldn't be able to rely on his blood bank to save him out of tough situations. But the fact that Varun was able to use these abilities in the game made him think. Was his system really an ability? At first, he assumed so, after all, he had received the power from what had looked like an ability book. Of course, he had never heard of an ability before like this, but there were many abilities in the world that Originals had hidden and kept for themselves. Then he thought back to his status change. Next to race, it stated he was no longer human. Perhaps his abilities were more a side effect of changing race. Rather than an ability its self. That's why the skills that he unlocked through the system, didn't really follow a pattern. What the blood bank could do, differed greatly do what his Blood swipe did. If Varun's theory was right, did this mean he could also learn an ability? He hadn't tried so far because he thought it simply wouldn't have worked but now if he was to test this, he needed to think long and hard about what ability to learn. Before going into his first game, Varun wanted to test out the hammer strike. He had been watching the video all last night and felt like he was ready. "Place your foot forward like this and at the same time rotate your body. The energy should flow through your toes upwards, then as you pull back your hand, stomp on the ground and at the same time release the energy through your fist." Varun mumbled as he went through the steps. At first Varun did all of the required steps slowly, making sure he did all of the steps perfectly not using any of his energy or strength. He did everything step by step as the video had explained. After going through it a few times he was ready. In one motion he did all the steps as fast as he could and just like the video had stated he could feel the energy rising from the bottom of his feet, into his fist. The powerful strike left his hand and a loud *Bang* was heard. A small shockwave in the air was created. "I did it," Varun said. Although the shockwave was nowhere near the size of the man in the video, Varun was still happy with the result. There was no longer any need for him to delay anymore and he went and clicked on the search function. For his first match, Varun wanted to go against the same power level user as him, a level 1. Technically Varun himself knew he was beyond Level 1, If he was to take a guess, he would say he was around the same power level as a 2.5 but for his first match, he just wanted to make sure of a few things. The game had found him an opponent and he was immediately teleported to an arena. When the countdown had finished, it was time for the match to start. The student in front of him had no beast weapon so Varun was cautious at first and at the same time he wanted to test something out. Varun got in close to the student and was ready for whatever was to come. That's when the student had shapeshifted his hands into a claw-like shape and scratched at Varun's body. The attack was slow and Varun was able to block but chose not too and allowed the attack to Scratch against his chest. While playing the game, inside the user's view was his and his opponents HP bar, placed in the bottom right-hand corner. When the attack went through a small amount of HP had been taken. Varun then quickly stepped back a few steps and proceeded to use his blood bank skill. < HP is currently full, unable to use Blood bank> It was as he had suspected. Although he took damage in the game nothing had happened to his real body outside. With his thought confirmed, Varun was now ready to end the match. He dashed forward and when he was close enough he threw out a blood swipe. The student lifted his claws to block but the second the blood swipe made impact, his claws had shattered and followed up behind the first blood swipe was a second one. The student's HP was lowered now by around 25 percent. Although Varun could have easily finished the match with a barrage of blood swipes now, he chose not to. He had wanted to originally play the game to help train his fighting skills, and in the outside world, Varun wasn't able to use the blood swipes as he liked. Varun got in closer to the student, by now the student's claws had already regenerated. The student swung again but this time Varun ducked underneath the attack and threw out a punch to the students stomach followed by another punch to the students face and finished him off with a cross-shaped duel blood swipe with both hands. Just then though Varun had received another message from his own system. < Opponent has been defeated 25 exp has been earned > < 305/400 Exp > It was unexpected but Varun had received Exp for defeating an opponent in the game. Suddenly a large grin appeared on his face. ***** Due to your votes last week we Unlocked another mass release of four chapters. If you would like another mass release please remember to vote. 3800 Stones = 2 extra Chapters 4000 Stones = 4 extra Chapters Note: goals increase weekly as we also get an increase in readers weekly. Let's climb to the top together. CHAPTER 54: FLASH STEP Chapter 54: Flash Step After defeating the student inside the game Varun received 25 exp points compared to his regular 50. This was a large surprise to him as Varun didn't expect a fight in the game to contribute to points in his system but at the same time, this was great news.Due to the heightened security around the school, it would be harder for him to find opponents and draw out their blood. That and the gauntlets he was using a dead giveaway. Although gauntlets were a rare weapon, there were millions of military personals playing the game. Even if he was to use them, they wouldn't be able to pinpoint it to him.But now that Varun was able to level up, it solved his current problem of getting stronger without the need of consuming blood. Although he didn't know why he had only received 25 exp.If he had to take guess it could have been because he was wasn't fighting these people in real life or the fact that the opponent he went up against was too weak.Without wasting any more time, Varun immediately went to search for another game. He set the power level to level one that way he would be matched up against easy opponents.An opponent was almost found instantly and Varun got straight to work. Rather than reserving his power like in the last game, Varun decided this time he would just send out a barrage of Blood swipes at his opponent.And his plan worked, his first opponent was dealt with so quickly that Varun didn't even have time to find out what ability he had.< 25 exp gained >< 330/400 >Varun's next three opponents were dealt with just as easy as the other two. There was an earth elemental user who was too slow to cast his spells. He simply avoided the attacks and then when was in range, would unleash the blood swipes.The two after that were just as easy as Varun's previous fights, he would quickly dodge their attacks and when he was close enough to them he would spam his skill. Of course, Varun knew he wouldn't be able to do this type of thing outside the game. After all the skill had a major setback of reducing his health.If Varun was ever in the danger zone and then got attacked, he would be dead in an instant. But he just wanted to level up as soon as possible and after defeating the next three, he did.< 405/400 exp>< Race: Halfling >< HP 25/25 >< 5/800 exp>< Strength 13 (3) >< Stamina 12 >< Agility 14 >For the first time since Varun had levelled up, he hadn't received a new ability. He somewhat had expected this but at the same time was hoping for something useful. He would just have to keep levelling up and wait for more skills in the future.Finally though, what Varun had wanted had arrived. The reason why he wanted to level up so fast was because of the free stat point received after every level up.< Agility 15 >He immediately put the point into his agility stat and now he could finally learn the flash step from the tutorial. This time while following the tutorial from the blonde man, Varun was able to follow him step by step along with the video.Unlike when learning the Hammer strike, where he had to watch it repeatedly and was unable to do everything.After several minutes of Varun practising the flash step he finally had a stroke of success."Yes!" Varun shouted.However, what Varun did notice was while he was in the white room on his own, his body would never feel tired. He was able to perform the flash step as many times as he wanted without feeling tired.This did not apply to when he was in a match though. Using the Blood swipe did take up Varun's stamina, he felt this affecting him after sending out attack after attack during a match.It meant the white room acted like some type of training room, where they were unaffected by their physical bodies restraints.With the flash step learnt, Varun finally wanted to experience a fight with a tougher opponent. Instead of searching by power level Varun decided to select, Quick match and would let fate decide the level of his opponent.In the real world, you wouldn't be able to choose who you went up against so it was important for Varun to have experience fighting in all sorts of situations. Then a few moments later, a match was found.This time when Varun entered the arena floor, he could see his opponent standing opposite him, He was wearing a long red cape and by his side were two daggers.Varun also realised they weren't alone either, there was also a person sitting in the stands watching Varun and his opponent."Oh don't worry about him," The caped man said, "He's just my senior, his watching me fight so he can give tips."Varun then tried using his inspect skill on his opponent to see what power level or ability they had but there was no luck. The inspect skill didn't seem to work in the game.But before the match began, Varun made sure to open up his status screen and decided to leave it open and off to the side. During this match, he wanted to keep a close eye on it.When both of them were ready the countdown started over their heads."3...2..1...Go!"As soon as the sound dinged indicating the start of the match. The caped man took out his daggers and swung them out fast. Two wind blades followed, the attack was similar to Varun's Blood swipe only the distance the attack could be used was far greater and faster.Varun then decided to attack with his own Blood swipe, the two lines of power clashed in the middle and cancelled each other out."A red colour, what ability is that?"The caped man was wondering, and at the same time, the caped mans senior was thinking the same thing.This time Varun charged forward, his abilities all required him to be used at close range, the caped man seeing this threw more wind strikes out but Varun just replied back with his own Blood swipes but this time sending out four of them.When the first two cancelled out the Wind strikes, the next two carried on moving forward.That's when the caped man, lifted his cape and spun around, the blood strikes smacked into the cape but there was no effect and not even a scratch left on the cape."Is that beast armour, and a high level one at that." Varun thought.The two of them were now in punching distance of one another, The capped man swung his daggers out fast, Varun lifted his hands and managed to grab on to the daggers allowing the blade to just come out from his fingertips.Then suddenly, the aura around the daggers grew and the wind forming around dagger allowed the ends of the blade to grow and act more like a sword, piercing Varun in both shoulders.The capped man pulled back and went for another strike."I don't know what your ability is but it's over." The capped man said.But then suddenly, his dagger had hit nothing but empty air and space and no one could be seen. As he turned around a sharp claw penetrated the man's stomach. Then another, attack, after attack at great speed was tearing his stomach apart and to finish him off two more Blood swipes.< 25 experience gained >< 30/800 exp>The man watching in the arena stood up on his feet as he saw his friend lose the match. The two of them so far had been on a winning streak. Taking it in turns facing opponent after opponent, the sudden loss had come as a shock to them."That skill at the end, what was that?"Then just as Varun was about to log out and go find another match, he heard someone call out to him."Wait!" The man in the seats shouted, "Please fight me." Varun had no problem with this and accepted but unknown to him the man he was about to face was one of the strongest students from another military school.****Hey guys we are top 15 in Ranking. Please remember to keep voting for extra Chapters and a mass release on the weekend.3800 Stones = 2 extra chapters4000 Stones = 4 extra ChaptersThank you for supporting the story. CHAPTER 55: A FUN ONE Chapter 55: A fun one The student who had been sitting up in the stands and watching the fight between Varun and his friend was known as Nate Snell. He was a second-year from another academy and in his academy, he was well known for being one of the strongest second years. Nate often played in the game to improve his fighting skills as this was important for him due to the fact it went hand in hand with his ability. He was obsessed with learning all different types of martial art skills. There was one area in the game that it didn't allow you to improve on though. Even though the game allowed you to use abilities, it did not have the system in place to use soul weapons. This would be an almost impossible task considering every person's soul weapon was different, even if they had the same ability. With a keen eye for martial arts, the second Nate had seen Varun perform his flash step, he needed to know who this person was. The footwork in the skill was so beautiful, so quick, that even he wasn't able to keep track of where Varun had gone. After asking Varun for a battle he was overjoyed that he accepted. For the two of them to start their match they needed to add each other to their friend's list first. < Hardsteely has sent you a friend request > Varun accepted the friend request and was happy to fight, honestly, Varun wasn't too bothered who he went up against but after fighting against Nate's friend, he felt like he should have a good match coming up that would help him improve. < Blood evolver has accepted your friend request > "Blood evolver? Does his ability have something to do with blood, that would explain those red lines coming out from his hands but was their such an ability in the system?" Nate thought. There were thousands of different abilities in the system, so Nate wasn't sure of all of them but he had fought many battles in the game and this was the first time seeing someone with this type of ability. Before the match was about to begin, Nate had asked if he could speak to his friend Sam for a few moments. Varun agreed as he wanted to check a few things out himself. During the match when Varun used his flash step, he was hoping his own system would show him something but nothing happened. Of course, this was because he was in the game, but he knew that the flash step felt like it had taken a significant amount of stamina from him. His current stamina points where at a 12, if he was to make a rough guess, he would say that four strikes of blood swipe took down one stamina point. Meaning he would be able to perform around 48 blood swipes before running out of stamina. However, if he did this, he would reach 0 HP before even using up all his stamina. But as the blonde man had said in the video, flash step took a considerable amount of stamina, at most Varun knew he would currently only be able to produce it twice in one game. Meaning it took at least five points of stamina. Varun would have to think carefully when using this information in a match, at first he thought it wasn't so important increasing his stamina, as long as he was strong enough or fast enough he could win his fights, but in a prolonged battle and matches against multiple enemies, as soon as his stamina dropped to 0 he would be as good as dead. Not only that but Varun dreaded the thought of having to fight in the sunlight with these stats. Over at the other end of the arena, Nate was busy talking to Sam about his match. "You are such a fool," Nate said. "I know, I'm sorry," Sam replied. Nate looked at the flapping cape that Sam was wearing and started to shake his head. "We just got this incredible thing and you didn't even use it properly in the fight. When he went out from your view if you hadn't turned around your back it would have been protected. Or you could have turtled up with the cape." "It's hard to get used to having something on your back, if someone vanishes in front of you and you know they're behind you, you naturally turn around. Wouldn't you?" Sam replied. Sam then started to look at the ground as he was saddened remembering how he had lost the match. "My win streak." Sam Cried. Nate proceeded to pat Sam on the shoulder with pity before walking to his fighting spot. "You know the deal, if I win against him then that means I win our bet. And you'll owe me those credits." As Sam headed back to the arena stands, he was praying for Varun to kick his friend's ass. He had lost too many bets recently and was running low on credits. "3…2…1…" And the match had begun. Surprisingly, both of them at the same time had decided to charge in. Although Varun didn't know his opponent's abilities, his attacks were more effective closer in range. If he was going up against an elemental user, then it was always better for him to get closer anyway. And as soon as Varun was within five meters, he threw out two blood swipes. Suddenly, Nat's speed dropped dramatically, his skin started to turn into a shiny material and his footsteps were heavy. As the blood swipes reached and hit his body, the sound of metal clanging against each other was heard. For the first time when Varun's attack had hit an opponent's body, it had done 0 damage whatsoever. The metal shine from Nate's body seemed to shift and now was concentrated in his arm. It allowed Nate to move a lot faster and close the distance. He pushed his hand forward and out came a long metal silver pole. It was too fast for Varun to react to and the pole dug into his stomach and continued to push him back. The attack was strong and Varun had lost about ten percent of his health. The pole continued to grow and push him back and his health continued to fall. Varun then grabbed onto the pole with both hands and using all his strength, managed to stop it's momentum. "Wow, looks like you're strong as well?" Nate said surprised, not only did his opponent have a ranged attack but seemed to have super strength now as well. Varun pushed the pole to the side and swung out his claws, this time firing four blood swipes. The pole then started to retract quicker than the blood swipes and absorbed back into Nate's body. He then put both of his hands together and the metal liquid started to form a large oval shape and eventually formed a shield. Each strike hit the shield and there was no effect. However, Varun had expected this result, when Nate retracted the metal back into his body, Varun was in front of him ready to strike, But Nate remained calm and shifted the metal over his body to the exact spot where Varun was aiming for his head. The punch landed but Nate's head didn't even move a single inch and again the game had recorded no such damage. Nate then grabbed Varun's fist and with his other hand formed the pole, whacking him to the ground. "Come on, you should be better than this?" Nate said, the truth was Nate was purposely shifting the metal into a pole rather than a sword, this way the match would last longer. It had been a while since Varun felt like this, weak. There was only one thing left for him to try. Varun lifted himself off the ground and started to breathe in, calming himself down. Anger would only distract him. Then he was ready and Nate could see it too. "Come on!" Nate said as he shifted the metal pole back into his body and into one of his fists. Varun once again charged forward and threw out a blood swipe, Nate blocked the attack easily lifting his arm and knocking it away but it was only meant to serve as a distraction in the first place. When Varun got close enough, Nate threw out his fist and at the same time, he responded with Flash step. Avoiding the strike and appearing behind Nate. "Too predictable," Nate had prepared for this after watching the last match and made sure his back was already fully covered in the metal like alloy. Varun then lifted his foot off the ground, let the energy go through from his toes up into his fist, as he stomped down with one foot, he pulled back one hand and let out another fist. *Bang The sound of too solid objects hitting each other sounded loudly in the distance. For a brief second the two of them was frozen in place and for the first time, Varun was able to do damage and it was a lot. Nate's eyes grew in shock as he saw the attack bring his health down by nearly half. Nate knew he was in danger and he could no longer take the fight as easy as he did before. He swung his body and at the same time had shifted a piece of metal into a sword. But once again, Varun had used the flash step to avoid the strike. "Damn it, again, how is he so fast!" As Nate turned to look at where his opponent was, he was surprised to see Varun collapsed on the ground. Varun was breathing in heavy, he could no longer move, the use of using flash step twice including the fact that he had used hammer strike, he had pushed his body way beyond its limits. "Let's do this again sometime," Nate said as he stabbed Varun on the ground ending the game. Although the match had ended in Nate's victory, he was more excited than ever. "Looks like the Military tournament is going to be a fun one this year." **** Please remember to vote with your spirit stones for a mass release on the weekend. Thank you for all the support. 3800 Stones = 2 extra chapters 4000 Stones = 4 extra Chapters CHAPTER 56: LEARNING MORE Chapter 56: Learning more After finishing his intense battle with Nate, his hour using the VR capsule was up and Varun was no longer able to participate in any more matches. Although he had lost his match, he felt satisfied, he had learnt a lot during his battle with Nate. His attacks including his blood swipe, were not strong enough to do any damage to Nate while he using his metal ability. However, his Hammer strike skill was. Hammer strike didn't increase his strength but now Varun had a good idea what it did do. It was an attack that focused on the inside, an internal attack, the perfect counter to those with abilities who hardened or transformed their bodies. Varun couldn't wait to find out what the other tutorials the blonde man had in store for him, but he had no idea how to unlock them. The blonde man had simply said when he was ready, they would unlock for him. There were two things this meant, one might be when Varun's stats were high enough to complete the fighting skills requirements or when Varun was a high enough level. The second lesson the fight had taught him was how important stamina was. The flash step was an incredible skill that allowed him to avoid a strike in an instant but if he used it more than twice, then he would be done for, and if he was out in the sun, he wasn't even sure he would be able to use the skill at all. This made Varun think long and hard about what to put his stat points into in the future. Perhaps going for an agility or strength-based character wasn't the best thing after all. With that in mind, Varun had set up an important meeting with Layla today. There was one thing he needed to learn about more than anything, especially if he wanted to get stronger in the future. It was a Sunday so Varun still had the rest of the day off, before having to go back to the standard military lessons for the week. The sun was out bright and early and Varun was standing outside the school gates patiently waiting for Layla. Even though it was the weekend, Varun still wore his school uniform for he didn't have any other clothes, other than what was provided to him and he had long grown out of his old school uniform. "This damn sun!" Varun said while his body was covered in sweat. < All current stats have been halved > Ever since he had evolved from a human into a Halfling, the sun seemed to bother him even more. He was covered in sweat even though it wasn't that hot and he was starting to have ringing headaches if he stayed outside too long. Finally, after waiting a while, Layla had arrived, she was wearing a beautiful red dress that showed off her long legs nicely along with her short hair. She still carried her bow and had her quiver by her side and on her back was a fairly large bag. "You ready?" Layla asked smiling. Varun looked at the large bag on her back, it must have been heavy he thought. "Do you want me to carry that for you?" Varun asked, although with his stats halved and his strength draining from his body, he was hoping she would say no. "It's okay the bag is lighter than you think. I'm using my ability to make it lighter." Layla replied. Varun really wasn't sure if she was being truthful or not and didn't really know what to do in these types of situations. Were you meant to insist and be pushy? Or be a gentleman like and offer a hand, or listen to the girl, If she said she could do it, then she could do it. In the end, Varun didn't want to think too hard about it and decided to just let Layla carry on holding the heavy bag. If she wanted him to really carry the bag then she should just ask him. The two of them walked out of the school's premise and carried on walking until they eventually reached a nice quiet park. There were some students outside messing around playing with their abilities and at the same time there was some military personal relaxing on the benches. "Peaceful isn't it?" Layla said. "Yeah it's kind of nice," Then a thought came into his head, of all the news he had heard on TV, about what life was like during the war, how it could start up again any second and finally the death of his parents. "But who knows how long it will last, that's why I need to keep getting stronger." Layla placed the heavy bag on the ground and it seemed like it was a weight off her shoulders. Even if she was using her ability it would be tiring for someone to keep it up on the whole walk here. That's when Layla started to empty out all the contents in her bag. There were all sorts of things inside, there were several items of thick clothing, such as hats, scarfs, sunglasses and most of it seemed to be black in colour. Then she continued to pull out even more stuff, lotions and lotions of sun cream and finally she pulled out an umbrella. "Did it cost a lot?" Varun asked, worried after seeing how much she had bought. "Don't worry about it, my family sent me the credits and I used up what the academy gave me." Layla replied, "Besides I got it all from the market place so it was dirt cheap." The marketplace was an online store that was used all around the world. It sold your everyday items such as food, clothes, utilities and other things. With the use of teleporters, your items were able to be shipped to you in almost an instant. As long as you could afford one of these, if not you would have to go to a collection point. And the military school had one of these collection points for students to use. But other than just your everyday items, the market place was also used by people to sell and buy beast weapons, Skill books, Ability books and all sorts of things that would be beneficial to you in battles. However, to access this part of the market place you would either need military personal ID, which all students got a temporary one to use during their time there or if you were a traveller. Travellers were people who didn't work for the military but worked for a private company and often went into portals to explore different worlds. "So what do you want to try first?" Layla said holding the sun cream in her hand. **** Sorry for the short chapter I am incredibly sick today, please support the series by voting it really helps and will count towards our mass release goal! 3800 Stones = 2 extra Chapters 4000 Stones = 4 extra Chapters CHAPTER 57: WEAKNESS Chapter 57: Weakness The two of them had gathered in the park, not just for a casual chat and peaceful evening but there was a goal in mind. And although Varun usually found Layla obsessive, it seemed like her crazy strange self would come in handy. The whole purpose of today was to find out if there was any way to either, reduce the effect that the sun had on the system, or even temporarily stop it altogether and there was no one better than Layla for the job. She knew everything about vampires having grown up reading about them. She ordered whatever she thought might have been effective. Varun looked at all the items that she had brought over, he then noticed that noticed a few more things on the ground with her. There was a metal shaped cross, a clove of garlic and even a piece of silver jewellery. "Oh those are for later," Layla said embarrassed noticing Varun staring at her stuff. "We should also try to find out if you have any other weaknesses of normal vampires as well." "Alright, why don't we just try the umbrella first," Varun said as he knelt down to pick it up. He then stood still and popped open the umbrella, it was solid black in colour to make sure that most of the light didn't penetrate or get through it. Varun then adjusted the umbrella a few times to make sure his body was completely covered in the shadow, then to his surprise. < Stats have returned to normal > While Varun was fully covered under the shade, his stats had returned, then he lifted his hand and placed it outside the shade zone ever so slightly and as soon as the tiniest part of his finger was outside the same usual status screen had appeared. < You are being affected by Direct sunlight > < All stats will be halved > "Well?" Layla asked. "It works, but even if a little bit of my body is in the sun then I start to feel weak." This wouldn't do. Holding the umbrella although would return his stats, it would be difficult to use in a fight. One hand would be occupied holding the umbrella while the other would be free. Also, it was a big weak target that the enemy could easily destroy. But at least he found out that if he just carried an umbrella with him, he would no longer feel weak. It was a good idea to keep one on him for now. "That's a special umbrella." Layla said, "It's one used to block out the UV from the sun, although at most it can block out about ninety percent it's not perfect. To be honest, I'm surprised it worked." "Is the UV rays why I feel weak then?" "Not necessarily, I mean Vampire lore is all over the place but these myths had to grounded somewhere right?" Layla then looked at the ground and picked up the sun cream. "If the umbrella really worked because of the UV then the sun cream should have some effect." Layla then walked up to Varun squirting some of the cream onto her hand. "You ready?" Varun then went a little red thinking about Layla applying the cream onto his body. Looking at Layla now out of her school uniform, he realised she was kind of cute. So what she was a little strange and knew too much about Vampires. Everyone had there geeky thing they knew about and was obsessed with. Then Varun felt something cold on his leg. She had taken Varun's silence as a yes and started to slather the cream all over his body. After making sure everywhere she could see covered in cream, to finish it off she placed sunglasses over Varun's eyes. "Although we can stop the UV on your eyelids, we can't on your eyeballs." Layla said, "Well anything?" This time, there was no such result, when opening up his status the UV cream hadn't even made a little bit of impact. Varun still felt incredibly weak and his stats were still halved. "So it looks like it's not to do with the UV then, although the umbrella worked it can only block so much of the UV and same with the cream, so I was hoping it would have some effect but this means its most likely some other property in the sun that we don't know about." To be honest, Varun was thankful that the sun cream didn't work. The idea of waking up every day and doing it as a daily routine, at some point the cream would ware off too. He also couldn't imagine in the middle of the fight asking his opponent to wait to lather and cream himself all over. He had pictures in his head of asking Dakash to cover for him, while he brought out a bottle of sun cream. Finally, it was time for the last test, this one Varun was dreading the most, the clothes test. He was already sweating and feeling hot as it was and couldn't imagine putting on a load of black clothing. But he thought it was best to get it over and done with as soon as possible. First Varun placed a sweater over the top of his body, then a pair of black thick trousers, on his feet, instead of trainers he changed to black boots than on his hand a pair of leather black gloves. Finally, on his head, he had a large back top hat. Looking at him, Layla could barely hold in her laughter he looked absolutely ridiculous. "Breathe, breathe Layla." She mumbled, "Well anything?" "No, not yet anyway" "Well, we might as well try the rest." Layla then continued to place clothes onto Varun, this time she had covered his face with a balaclava, and even where his eyes were, she had put a sleeping mask on. More hats were placed on and now every inch of his skin was covered. "Anything?" "No!" Varun shouted, but it sounded muffled through the clothes. However, Layla didn't give up yet, she felt like if the umbrella had worked then this had to work as well. She continued to place all the remaining clothes she had brought with and then finally while Layla was piling on the clothes, Varun managed to shout something. "Wait it's working!" Varun said. Although the clothes had worked, Varun was around three inches thick in black clothing. Layla quickly helped Varun take of all the clothing as it seemed like he was a bit wobbly on his legs and was going to pass out any second now. Once the two of them were finished, Varun opened up the umbrella and the energy started to restore back into his body again. The two of them sat down on the clean-cut grass and were discussing the results of the test. "Well, you can't go out like that." Layla said, "You couldn't move in the thing," "Agreed but at least we know that the most important thing is to stop the sun hitting me." Varun started to feel the umbrella wondering if perhaps he could get clothes made out of the same material. Then the problem would be the material would be too weak. Most likely the reason the clothes didn't work so well was because they didn't block out the sun enough. He needed more solid but flexible material. There was some stuff out there that might have worked, like a black latex suit or something but these weren't strong enough for fighting, it could easily be torn or ripped and then he would be back to being normal weak Varun again. Suddenly a thought had entered Varun's mind. He started to remember the fight he had inside The VR game. When he had gone against Sam, he had used a cape that was able to block his blood swipe. The material was not only flexible but strong as well. The cape was most likely made from some type of beast, from one of the portals, if Varun could get enough of this material, maybe he could make a suit of some kind that could not only protect him from the sun but also be strong enough to be used in combat. A smile started to appear on his face, he now couldn't wait to be transported to hunt some beasts. ***** If you enjoyed the chapter and want a mass release next week Remember to vote. 3800 Stones = 2 extra chapters 4000 Stones = 6 extra Chapters CHAPTER 58: VAMPIRE MYTHS Chapter 58: Vampire myths After finishing the test with the items, Layla was eager to try out a few of the other things she had brought along with her. "Do I really have to worry about something like this?" Varun said as he picked up a clove of garlic. "Not really, to be honest, I just wanted to try out everything, garlic always acted more as a repellent in the first place and the fact that you're holding it like that, would suggest it wouldn't hurt." While Varun looked at the piece of garlic, he decided to use the inspect skill on just to be sure. If something would harm him, he was sure the system would be able to tell him basic information such as this. "Inspect." < A glove of garlic. Due to your heightened senses, the piece may test extremely bad. Safe to consume > The good news was the system had informed him that the garlic wasn't poisonous, which meant it would be able to do with the other items as well. The bad news was, that he had to still eat the garlic so Layla didn't get suspicious. He broke the glove into a small piece before placing it into his mouth. The taste was incredibly strong, it felt like he was eating dog crap. Not that he knew how that tasted anyway but if he had to imagine this was it. Quin immediately started to spit on the ground trying to get the taste out of his mouth. "Well, at least you look fine," Layla said. Varun had actually expected this result before even using his inspect skill. The taste of food had slightly changed ever since his evolution. Sweet food such as ice cream and cakes now tasted bland, it was the same with fruit. The only thing that still tasted fine for him was meat. Although everything seemed to taste slightly saltier than before, it was the same with other herbs as well. Although there was one thing that drastically changed for him and that was blood, it was a greater taste than anything he had before and was sweet as caramel itself. Just thinking about it, Varun wanted another taste, but he was still able to control himself just fine. It was the same way when someone thought about chocolate, they suddenly wanted chocolate but they didn't need it. Before touching any of the other items, Varun made sure to use his inspect skill on each one. First was the metal cross. "A religious symbol that has no effect." The system said. Then the chain. "A sliver Chain that is made up of 92 percent silver. Wearing the item can be used as a fashion accuracy." With both the items there was no such warning. Varun then proceeded to pick up both of them with no worry. He was starting to trust the system more and more lately as it had been more helpful and accurate. "So what's the story behind these two things?" Varun asked. "I kind of get the cross but what about the silver, and they just for werewolves?" Suddenly Layla's eyes started to sparkle up. "I'm glad you asked, Vampire lore has gone further back then you think even in Greek mythology they have tales of a vampires. The first Vampire was said to be cursed by the god Apollo, to be burnt by sunlight, then when the man tried to touch Artemis bow, she cursed the human further to be effected by silver." Layla explained, "Of course there are other reasons but this is one of the older ones. Then with the cross, Vampires have always been seen as workers of the Devil, a creature that needed to suck blood to live and of course God in the eyes of many, is a fighter of evil and the cross is a symbol of the god." Layla then Grabbed both items form Varun and placed it back in her bag. "But now looking at you, I can clearly see all of that was a load of rubbish," Layla said sounding a bit disappointed by the whole experience. "The only Vampire weakness it seems you have so far is sunlight, although I have to admit that's a pretty big one, do you feel like you're not getting older yet?" "What?" Varun said confused, "How would I even know, it's only been a few days. I mean I don't feel any older but I could say that about the rest of my life, you kind of just got older without realising it." Then a dreaded thought had entered Varun's mind, if it was true that he would no longer age, did that mean his appearance would stay the same as it did now? Would he look like a young teenage boy for the rest of his life? With test over, it was time for the two of them to head back to their dorm rooms. Varun decided to head back to the dorm rooms and see if Dakash and Piyush wanted to hang out and do something for the rest of the evening. But when he entered the room, once again neither Dakash or Piyush was there. Dakash, Varun didn't worry too much about, it seemed like he had been getting into trouble lately with the second years, but currently they were staying well clear of him after the incident. It was Piyush, Varun was more worried about. He couldn't help but shake the feeling that these new friends of Piyush weren't actually friends of his and was wondering what to do. With that Varun decided to sleep for the night and wait till the next day. **** When he woke up, he was happy to see that the other two had managed to return to their rooms in the middle of the night. For once the three of them had decided to head down to the canteen together and in a long time, the three of them casually eat food and chatted about what they had done yesterday. Once the three of them had finished eating, it was time for them to head to their homeroom classes together. On Monday morning they were to attend a morning class with their teacher Del. This lesson would be a theory-based lesson, either the history of the human race or even notice about what would happen. The three of them sat in the back of the class as usual, while Layla sat at the front with Zoya by her side. The students waited patiently until Del had finally arrived. "Alright class I have an important announcement to make, the preparations for your first Portal outing has been complete. It's time for you kids to go explore the Universe a bit more." **** Short chapter but remember Mass release tomorrow. If you want another mass release next week please remember to vote. 3800 Stones = 2 extra Chapters 4000 Stones = 4 extra Chapters +500 stones = 1 extra Chapter(s) CHAPTER 59: PORTAL COLORS Chapter 59: Portal Colors Before Del was to inform the students about the Portal training they would be participating in. He needed to explain to the students how the portals worked. After all, it would be a first for nearly every student there apart from a few of them. Portals allowed humans to travel to and back form locations that they had been to before. They were often used to travel to other planets. The technology was obtained when humanity managed to take down there first Dalki ship and discovered a portal inside. Usually, when such advanced technology was discovered, people wouldn't be able to dissect and replicate it so easily. Just because you had the technology didn't mean you understood how it worked. But thanks to a legendary scientist named Rishee Dev, he had easily been able to dissect all of the equipment found on board of the ship. Another great contributor to the war against the Dalki. Some people assumed that he had an ability of some sort that helped him along the way but these were just rumours and no one knew for sure. However, one thing for certain was he was a great man. Once he had found this technology, he distributed it not only to the military but also to private companies as well. He made sure that such power wouldn't just end up in one group's hands. Back then the world and humans were fighting together but who knew what would happen once the war had ended. In today's world, there were generally three different groups of people who had and owned portals. The military was the first group. Next were private corporations. They usually had powerful originals backing them, many of these companies would also form a faction, a group of powerful Travellers just for exploring other planets. And lastly was the group known as Pure, a group that didn't believe in the use of abilities. There were three types of portals each different in colour, there was green, orange and red. Each of these portals meant a different thing. Green meant that the planet it led to had already been explored and there were human shelters that had been built. These allowed people to live there if they wished or just stay their temporarily. The next was Orange, this meant that the planet hadn't been fully explored yet, there were some Shelters in place but the level of the beast could be too high in certain areas or they just hadn't explored everywhere yet. And finally, the Red portals, these were unexplored planets. There were no shelters for regular humans to live in. Only travellers or military personal would usually go into these portals for exploration and the worst thing about them was they didn't know if the Dalki were on the planet as well. After all, the Dalki had the same technology so it wouldn't be too strange to run into them and although under a treaty, if a few people were to go missing on an unknown planet, it was hard to prove something had happened and the humans weren't ready for another war just yet. "And that is all the information you need to know about portals," Del said. A student then raised his hand who seated in the centre of the class. "Yes!" Del said. "What about the beasts that were discovered on those planets, will we learn about them." The student asked. "For now, that's all you need to know about the portals, yes this also led us to discover beasts on these planets and they are what we use to create our beast weapons but you will be told more detail bout that when you arrive." Del explained, "Although I will tell you now that you can also thank Rishee Dev for that discovery as well." Del then closed the presentation that was playing behind him. "Now for the important part, the portal expedition will take place next week but before even that, you will be required to form your own team of five. Although on this trip you will travel as a class, you must have a squad and stick together. Even the green portals are a dangerous place filled with beasts and the trackers on your watch will not work outside the academy, we will have no way to come and save you." The same student once again raised his hand and Del had a look on his face like it was starting to get annoying. "Yes." "Do you know where we will be going?" "That information will be reviled to you on the day, many of you here have family members who if they knew where you were, would send guards out to protect you on these planets but that wouldn't be fair, especially since we will also be assessing you on this." The student once again raised his hand but Del this time stared at him back forcing him to slowly put his hand down again. "Now if there aren't any more questions, you're combat classes for today are cancelled, today you are to form a team of five and report back to us by the end of the day." Del then left the room to attend to other business while allowing the students to form their own group of fives. Dakash then turned his head immediately. "Hey Varun, you want to be on the…." But standing by Varun's side already was Layla, who had sprinted from the front of the class to the back. "Hey, do you want to make a team with me Varun?" Layla said smiling. "Err sure," Varun answered. Truthfully, Varun wanted to ask Layla to be on the same team, they didn't know how long their first assessment was going to take and if he was to get hurt or injured, he was going to need a blood source of some type. Even if Dakash didn't like it, he knew this was going to happen. "Hey, Varun you mind if I join as well." He said smiling trying to hide his annoyance. "Of course, and Piyush as well." Piyush's face was a little shocked at hearing the sound of his name and at the same time his feelings were confused. "Yeah, that would be good," Piyush said. Then when the others were just thinking about who the fifth member should be, Zoya had approached Dakash of all people in the room. "I want to make a team with you." *** Mass release day, remember to vote for another one next week. 3800 Stones 2 extra Chapters (Hit) 4000 Stones 4 extra Chapters (Hit) 500+ stones = 1 extra Chapter CHAPTER 60: THE TEAM Chapter 60: The team Not only were Varun and the others shocked that Zoya had approached Dakash but so was the whole class. In Del's class, Zoya was the strongest student there, nearly everyone wanted her on their team but over the last few days, when people had tried to approach her, she had always given a cold response. It seemed like she was disinterested in everything apart from getting stronger. "I'm sorry." Dakash said, "But I've already decided to make a team with these guys." Dakash's response to Zoya seemed to be even crazier to everyone else as well. They had seen Dakash fight that day when they were surrounded by the second years. After witnessing that, no one would say he was any weaker than Zoya. If the two of them were to combine powers and found a few other strong people, it meant they could easily come up with the strongest team in the class. Zoya then looked at the group of people who Dakash pointed at, to be honest, she didn't seem to recognise any of them. "Who are they?" Zoya said. "What, we took the test together, I even helped you out at the assembly hall!" Layla complained. The truth was Zoya never took the time to remember people's faces, she only cared about those who were strong. When she saw how weak there were in the test assessment, she didn't even bother with them any longer. Although there was one person who had caught her eye other then Dakash and that was Varun. She remembered him throwing the black beast balls at a lightning-fast speed and taking out a student. Then when she looked at his wrist, she saw he was only a Level 1 user. "Why would you stay with these weak people, surely you can get a better grade if you join me and a few others," Zoya said. The first assessment and future assessments in the portal outing would determine their final grade. For those who had a cosy family to get back to, it didn't matter too much but to rest it determined their future. The grade they got when they left military academy would decide whether they could join a strong private company, or whether they would just end up joining the bottom of the barrel being treated even worse than now. "I don't care about the grades, I just want to have fun while I'm still in school," Dakash replied. But Zoya was determined to not give up. "Fine, I can accept the girl and the strangely strong boy but I can't accept him," Zoya said pointing at Piyush. Piyush heart suddenly started to thumb louder, a fear started to take over him as he heard Zoya speak these words. If he didn't get in Dakash's and Piyush team, he would be in huge trouble. "Why do we need you anyway?" Dakash said. "Wait a minute," Layla interrupted, "I think she would make a good addition to the team, besides Dakash, doesn't your ability rely on those around you to be strong as well. As far as I remember beast doesn't have abilities so you would have to rely on us, and we don't exactly have strong abilities." "Layla, I understand what you are saying but for once I agree with Dakash," Varun replied. "I don't care how strong she is, she can't just come in and kick one of us out. She can join the team but only if Piyush stays." It was good to have strong allies but at what cost. If Varun was to kick out Piyush to replace him with a stranger, he would just be as bad as everyone else who had treated him like crap just for being weak. He didn't want to change into one of those types of people. Zoya then started to look around the room before looking at Dakash once again. She thought back to how Dakash was able to deal with Momo quite well before the use of the soul weapon. After looking around the room there didn't seem to be a single person in Del's class that matched up to him. "Fine, I will join but I wish for the five of us to have a re- testing to see where we stand," Zoya asked. "Perhaps we can go visit the training centre, display what we can do to the rest." Layla and Varun looked at each other with a half worried look in their eye. The five of them then headed down to the training centre, it was the same place that Layla had first spotted Varun who had sneaked in the place at night. Right now the room was filled with multiple different people from all sorts of different classes. All the other classes had also been informed about the upcoming test and had decided to find out what each other's abilities were. This would give them the best chance of defeating and capturing as many beasts as possible and increasing their chances of survival. "Well, what do you want us to do?" Dakash asked. "I've already seen your powers, but I can't remember too much about the girl and the other two, perhaps the girl can go first on the strength machine." Layla went up as asked and went to the large circular strength machine. She concentrated her mind and threw out her fist at the same time she used the force of her telekinesis to push her hand as strong as she could. The numbers slowly went up on the machine's display until it had eventually reached number eight. "Damn it, same as last time, looks like I haven't improved much," Layla complained. "For a level two that's quite a weak strength score but judging by the bow you're a ranged user anyway, it will be quite handy to have someone like you on the team," Zoya said. She then walked up to the two boys, Varun and Piyush. "Well, I'm hoping that both of you can at least get the same score as her." Varun was starting to get annoyed by all her taunts, but he took a deep breath and held it in. With her on the team, it would cause fewer troubles with the others. Even if they did defeat beasts and obtain their crystals, there was a high chance that another team might target them and try to steal them. But just having Zoya on the team would stop that. Piyush walked up to the machine holding the mud staff in his hand. "Looks like he's still level 1 then," Zoya said. Level 1 earth user didn't have the ability to extract earth from the ground, all they could do was reform the earth in their hand, they could only control earth they were touching rather than the earth around them. As Piyush went to punch the machine the earth around from the pole started to form around his fist, as he hit the machine the numbers started to go up and finally, it stopped at eight. The same score as Layla. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Zoya said looking at Varun. ***** Mass release day, remember to vote for another one next week. 3800 Stones 2 extra Chapters (Hit) 4000 Stones 4 extra Chapters (Hit) 500+ stones = 1 extra Chapter CHAPTER 61: GRINDING Chapter 61: Grinding As Varun walked up to the strength machine, all he wanted to do was punch the machine as hard as he could. He wanted to shut up the arrogant Zoya who felt like she was better than everyone else. Why did she choose to act like this? Simply because she had a better ability than others? Because her family was well off enough to buy her a strong ability book? but Varun couldn't reveal himself hear, especially in front of the others. They all had seen him on the test day and they all knew Varun still didn't have an ability apart from Layla. He looked at the machine and started to wonder, If he performed Hammer strike using all his strength would the number rise up. Surely the number would be above his sixteen strength. He readied his fist and redid his footwork. The gauntlets were equipped on his hands and Varun let his fist out. He tried controlling the power output hoping to achieve a similar score to the other two. *Bang His fist collided with the large drum-like machine and the numbers slowly started to rise. 8..9… and then finally the number had stopped at 10. Varun estimated if his current strength with the gloves was sixteen then he needed to use half his strength when hitting the machine to get an eight. But such macro-level control was nearly impossible to get right and he had managed to go slightly over. "Hey man, didn't you get stronger!" Dakash said surprised, "I thought you got a five on the test last time, you been working out or something?" Varun started to laugh trying to come up with something. "Actually, it was thanks to that game you showed me." Varun replied "I met someone who really helped and showed me how to activate the beast weapons strength properly. I worked hard hoping I wouldn't be useless for you guys. When I threw that beast ball that time back in the assembly hall, I realised how useful it would be if I learnt how to activate the best weapon." This was a lie. But Quin felt like it was quite convincing. "Didn't the second years say you needed to treat it like activating your ability though, I thought you didn't have one?" "Apparently that isn't a requirement but just to help you visualize activating your beast weapons," Varun replied back. Sweat was starting to run down his face, all he could do know was hope the others would buy it. "Well a score of ten isn't that impressive, the only reason we are talking about it is because you're a level one," Zoya said. For once Varun was happy Zoya's smugness had drawn the attention away from him. "Is this okay then?" Layla asked. "Yes." Zoya replied, "I still wish to join your team, I believe even with the extra luggage we have on board, with me and Dakash we can come out as the top team during this assessment." After testing everyone's strength the group decided to discuss a few things. Such as formation and what to do. Although the discussions didn't last for long. If they were to travel as a group Layla would stay at the back for support and Zoya and Dakash would be at the front. Usually, the physical damage dealers would be at the front of the squad while elemental users in the middle. But in this scenario, Varun and Piyush were considered so weak, that they were placed in the centre for protection. Zoya felt like it was quite useless to practice anything else after finding out how weak the other two abilities were, so the groups meeting had ended early and she decided to go off on her own to train somewhere. "Well if combat classes have been cancelled for the day is there anything you wanted to do?" Dakash asked. "Actually, I was planning to head to the VR capsules," Varun replied, "I've been trying out a bunch of abilities so I can decide what ability to pick in the future." Suddenly Dakash started to shiver. "You can go ahead," Dakash said, "I know I showed you how to play the other day but to be honest I'm sick and tired of that game. I played it so much growing up and all." With Varun heading off to the VR room that left Piyush and Dakash all on their own. "Hey so do you want to practice a bit more with your ability, I know you're saving up so you can buy a few more skill books. Maybe we can get you to a level 2 before heading off into the portal." Piyush looked around the room at the other students before giving an answer. "Sure that sounds like a good idea," Piyush replied. But Piyush's strange actions didn't go unnoticed and Dakash had a feeling it had something to do with those students he went to hang around with a few days ago. **** Varun had finally arrived at the VR centre. He paid his ten credits for an hour and got into his Pod as usual. At the moment it was the easiest way for Varun to level up and get stronger. He decided while inside the capsule he would split his session into two halves. For the first 30 minutes, he would spend it facing against level ones. On average it took him around five minutes to defeat an opponent in the level one stage. Gaining 25 experience points for each opponent he defeated would allow him to gain around 150 experience points. Then for the second half of the session, he would use it searching for quick matches battling against opponents of all different strengths. This would improve his fighting IQ out in the world. Varun entered the game and started his first match with his plan. He did the usual avoiding the enemies strikes and dealing with his opponent with either the strength of his two fists or by using a barrage of Blood swipes. That's when Nate noticed that the ID Blood evolver was online. Nate was still interested in this person and decided to check him out. As long as they were in your friends list you were able to spectate their matches. Nate then was suddenly transported into the arena and began to Watch Varun's matches one by one. And all that he witnessed was Varun defeating weak level ones in a matter of minutes. But it was strange, for someone as strong as him just what on earth was he doing? When Nate thought of him, he never imagined Varun to be the type of person to bully the weak. "Let the grinding begin," Varun said as he took down his next opponent. < 170/800 exp > **** Mass release day, remember to vote for another one next week. 3800 Stones 2 extra Chapters (Hit) 4000 Stones 4 extra Chapters (Hit) 500+ stones = 1 extra Chapter CHAPTER 62: A HACKER Chapter 62: A Hacker Nate continued to observe Varun and his fighting style and wondered just why he didn't fight the same as when he fought against him. Varun repeatedly went into match after match and would only go up against level ones. It was clear to Nate that he had purposely set the system up this way, now some players would do this if they perhaps were trying out something new but from watching Varun, all he could see was Varun doing the same thing over and over. He would enter into a game and them immediately dash in either using a barrage of the red line attacks of his or a furry of punches not caring whether he got hurt or not. It was clear he was beating them with pure strength and trying to win the matches as quickly as possible. Unknown to Nate though, Varun was purposely doing this, he didn't have much time left between now and when he was to go out on to his portal training. So the only thing Varun could do, was grind a few levels to get stronger using the system. Finally, thirty minutes had passed and Varun himself was growing tired of repeating the same thing over and over again. The only thing that kept him going was seeing his experience go up little by little. That's when Varun noticed that he had a spectator. Nate who was sat in the seats gave a wave back. "Oh it's him, I wonder what he's doing here?" Then a thought came to Varun's mind, the fact that Nate was watching gave him the chance to ask him something. He then went onto the game system and sent out a part invite to Nate. At first, Nate was just panning to spectate and watch Varun play a few games, he wanted to study Varun a bit more before asking him to another duel. But when he saw the party invite, he was quite surprised. The game only allowed for one on one battles so the party invite feature was only really used between teammates for practising or if they wanted to chat and were far away. In the end, Nate was too curious and wanted to know what Varun wanted and decided to accept. The arena ground disappeared and now Nate and Varun wherein a single white room once again. "Hey, how you doing I hope you're not planning some type of revenge are you?" Nate said as he proceeded cautiously towards Varun. "No actually I wanted to ask you something, the person who I fought with before, your friend, I wanted to know more about his cape and where he had received it from." "Oh Sam's cape, that's why you wanted to talk to me" Nate then looked at Varun standing in front of him. On his hands, he wore his gauntlets. That's when Nate suddenly realised something, the gauntlets that Varun were using looked horrible. They must have been only at the basic tier. "Wait a minute, are you a first-year?" Nate said. "Err yeah, I will be going on my first portal outing, I thought if you could tell me what type of beast you got it from, I would be able to look for it." Nate was suddenly a little surprised, he went back and thought to how Varun was able to damage his solid body even though no one had done such a feat before. He was sure the person would have at least been a second year. "Let me give you a piece of advice then, on your first outing they always use the green portals, you have the chance of going to one of three places. Caladi, Almpin and Bartnee. Out of these three planets, you want to go to Caladi, there in the desert, there is a winged creature. I can't remember the name of the winged creature but there aren't many in the desert so I'm sure if you see one that will be it. That beast core is what we made the cape out of." "Wait did you say, a desert?" Varun asked. "Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Usually, the word desert meant the place came with heat, the idea of having to journey through that, Varun was starting to get tired just thinking about it. "Nothing don't worry, thank you so much for the information you have been a big help. I'm going to play a few more games now before my times up." "Oh, sure go ahead, do you mind if I watch?" Nate asked. Varun thought about it for a while, if he didn't want to let Nate watch all he had to do was block him or delete him of his friend's list, but at the same time, Varun felt like there was no problem. He was just fighting people, it wasn't like he was doing anything that suggested he was a vampire and it was likely that Nate wasn't even from the same school as him. "Sure go ahead." Varun only had twenty minutes left inside the machine and using his remaining time, Varun chose to use the Quick match function on the game. Matching him with random power levels who chose the same option. This half of his session would be used to practice his fighting skills. In the remaining twenty minutes, Varun was able to have two more games. His first match he was against a level four user, who had a transformation ability. His body was made of a rubber- like material and he was able to stretch it as far as he liked. Varun struggled against this opponent, the fighting style of the rubber man was strange and when Varun wasn't expecting it, he would be hit at an incredible speed. In the end, Varun managed to get a few blood swipes in and hurt the man but still ended up losing. The next match there was much more success as he was matched up against a level two user who had a hardening skill similar to Nate only weaker. He had an easier time dealing with this opponent as his Blood wipe deal damage as well as his regular attacks. In the end though, Varun decided to take the match just a serious as the others and ended up finishing it with a hammer strike. < 195/800 > With that Varun's time in the game was up and he had to leave. Nate after watching Varun for the whole time had a strange thought lingering on his mind, just what was Varun's ability? After their battle Nate had decided to check out the ability list to see if there was anything similar and he could find no such thing. The other thing was it seemed like all Varun could do was shoot out red lines, which would suggest either the ability he had at the moment was incredibly weak or he was currently a low level. What Varun didn't realise though that all the opponents he had faced that day were thinking the same thing as Nate. They were wondering just what ability Varun had. The hardening user Varun had just fought against was so frustrated with his loss, he decided to go onto the online forums and make a post. He shared a video of the match between himself and Varun titled. "What ability is this? Is he a hacker?" *** Mass release day, remember to vote for another one next week. 3800 Stones 2 extra Chapters (Hit) 4000 Stones 4 extra Chapters (Hit) 500+ stones = 1 extra Chapter CHAPTER 63: PETER CALLS FOR HELP Chapter 63: Piyush calls for help The online forum had started to gain some traction with users who had fought against Varun, they started to post comments just below about the video."Yeah I fought against him too and he used those red lines on me.""I lost in an instant.""Is there really an ability like that in the game?""It looks like wind slash but why are the lines Red?"Of course, even though the post had gained some traction there weren't many. After all things like this were posted on a daily occurrence and usually, it was from some people who couldn't accept a loss thinking the other person must be hacking.But those who did watch the video started to ping the creators asking If what was seen in the video was real. Of course, one of the Admin staff for the game came along and checked the video but this person wasn't any ordinary admin staff, it was a student at the school named Logan Green.Logan himself wasn't ordinary for he was the son of the creator of the game and not only that but was one of the head coders as well. He often visited the forum to check for bugs and if there were any, he would try to fix them while still attending school.Then suddenly late at night that day he noticed that post had started to gain traction. Usually, he wouldn't have bothered with these things but the staff where getting tagged in the post more than usual.After watching the video, suddenly his attention had been caught. Logan immediately could tell that the video was real. He searched up the two user ID's that were in the game and then decided to look at the match information.After searching them up he noticed that the player that was being questioned in the video had selected no ability."No it couldn't be, did he really manage to hack the system?"Logan then began to dig in deep into the match and checked everything about it. He checked the log of the game and everything that had been written down as the match went on but there wasn't a single thing he could find that was wrong.Logan actually felt relieved, the game so far had been successful not only because of how it was able to accurately replicate abilities but also because the game had yet to be hacked.After finding out this information, Logan had no choice but to think it had something to do with his ability. Although originals abilities weren't able to be copied into the game, this was the only answer he could think of.But one question remained and that was just who was the user behind the user behind ID Blood evolver. It was company policy to not keep records of any of the users in the game. The data was scrambled so not even he could get access to it. But that wouldn't stop Logan.****The next Day combat classes had resumed back to normal, Layla the other day had gone to register the team with Del and even he was surprised at who was written on the list.The group became the talk of the class, after all, they were the only ones with such a huge difference in power levels between the team. Something that hadn't happened in the school before.In the combat class, the group were told to continue training independently and if they wished to spar with a partner they could politely ask. Leo would go around giving tips to the students when he could.In the afternoon, after classes were done, Varun would head the VR room to continue his daily routine. He continued facing low-level ones and used the second half to train.< 275/800 >But the more people Varun played against the more traction the original forum post was getting and all of this was unknown to Varun. He didn't even know there was an online forum for the game. Varun had never had any of these things in the past.He had access to the TV and internet but didn't really know much about games. It was only thanks to Dakash showing him everything, he knew what to do.Another Day had passed and Varun repeated the process.< 440/ 800 >Not only was Varun quickly gaining exp, but he also felt like he was getting a hang of his abilities more. He knew when was the right time to use flash step and also learnt how to combine his two skills, so he would be able to disappear and reappear while using Hammer strike.In two days, Varun felt like he would be ready.***Inside the second year's office, a group of first years had been called to into the General Duke's office. Standing at the front of the first years was Earl. The same boy who had recently been hanging around with Piyush as well as the one who had broken his fingers."I have made sure that the room will be empty for you tomorrow. Make sure you do as I asked, I need you to get rid of them." Duke said"Yes sir, we promise.""Good" Duke replied as he threw over a couple of beast crystals as well as a skill book. "You should be able to progress to level four with that skill, carry on working hard and there will be more."****The next day after combat classes had ended, Piyush had messaged for Dakash and Varun to come to the training room on the east side. This room was usually off-limits to student since it was also used as a room to store portals.But after reading the contents of the message, both Varun and Dakash had rushed offer.The message simply said that Piyush needed their help.While heading over to the room, Dakash and Varun had bumped into each other."Did you get Piyush's message?" Varun asked."Yeah that's why I'm here, I knew those friends of his were bad news." Dakash said, "Varun you stay behind, I can deal with this myself.""No way, he's my friend too, I'm going to kick those guys asses if it's the last thing I do."Dakash could see he was unable to convince Varun so the two of them continued together and had finally arrived inside the training centre.The room was large and there were several large metallic objects with an oval shape in the middle. Each one of them had a glowing circle in the middle shinning with a different colour. These where the portals that took them to another world.There were nine machines out in total, three of each colour and for a moment, it felt like they were unable to take their eyes off the things.When they had entered the room, they could see that Piyush was lying on the ground badly hurt. He laid on the ground just in front of one of the teleporters and it looked like he couldn't move.Varun and Dakash looked around the room, but were unable to notice anyone. They both then rushed over to his side. He had bruise marks all over him and he scuffed up pretty bad with scratches all over."What happened to you, was it those first-year students!" Dakash shouted."Yeah they got me pretty bad, they went out just a moment ago, I don't think they're going to come back.""Alright let us pick you up," Dakash said as he lifted Piyush's hand over his shoulder.As the two of them picked up Piyush, Varun had a strange feeling, as he looked at Piyush closer, he noticed that even though his clothes were badly torn, he didn't look to be in such bad a shape that he shouldn't have been able to walk. Even the bruises didn't look normal almost as if they were drawn on.Piyush HP 8/8"Dakash let go of him, it's a trap!" Varun shouted.But before Dakash could even realise what was happening. Piyush had broken free and immediately pushed Varun as hard as he could. The push wasn't strong and it didn't hurt Varun but it didn't need to be, because that wasn't Piyush's aim.That one little push had managed to push Varun just far enough back to the point where he had entered the portal."WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" Dakash shouted.The colour of the portal was red.***End of mass release. Please remember f you want another Mass release next week to keep on voting.All goals hit.Extra Goals +500 plus stones is an extra Chapter. CHAPTER 64: FIGHT BACK! Chapter 64: Fight back! The night before the incident, while Varun was sound asleep waiting for the other two to return, Piyush had been called out by the group of first years. They had added him as a friend on his communicator watch and was able to send a message whenever they wanted to call him.That night, they had asked to meet outside of the dorm room building, five of the first years were standing outside including Earl."So I see it looks like your friends seem to still trust you and you managed to get on their team then?" Earl said as he lifted his hand to look at his watch. "Oh, I didn't I say to meet here at eight-thirty? it looks like you're a couple of minutes late."Two of the first year's student then rushed over and grabbed Piyush. One of them held his hand behind his back while the other held out his right hand."Two minutes late means two fingers I'm afraid." Earl then held one of Piyush's fingers."Wait I'm sorry, I needed to be careful, I had to make sure Dakash wasn't following me as you asked." Piyush cried."Fine, fine I'll be generous," Earl said as he pushed down and snapped Piyush's finger. Before Piyush could even cry out in anger, he bit his tongue for fear that they might do something much worse if someone had heard him.The others watching flinched at the sight. Although they were helping Earl, even they feared him a little. It wasn't normal for someone to be able to hurt or break someone's bones so easily like that but Earl was able to repeatedly do it easily as if it was nothing."We will only do one finger then, but you know what will happen if you're late again," Earl said as one of the first years came over and started to heal Piyush's finger.As the student healed Piyush's finger, he could feel Piyush's body shaking. His eyes half-dead, the boy wanted to say he was sorry but knew that was how the world currently was.All he had was a healing ability, he had no combat powers and had no choice but to follow those stronger than him, otherwise, it would be him instead of Piyush in this situation."I called you out here because the General wants to have a meeting with you," Earl explained.The group of first-year students including Piyush then started to escort him around the school. That's when Piyush noticed that they had left the first-year campus building and had gone into the second-year buildings.Instead of going through the front entrance though, they entered through the back and took the emergency exit stairs. The walk was long but they had finally reached one of the private integration rooms for second-year students.Earl knocked on the door before entering and only entered once he heard a voice."Come in." The man said.As they entered the room there was a table and two chairs opposite each other. Sitting in one of the seats was the General Duke who was in charge of the second years."You guy's wait outside. I would like to talk with Piyush on his own," Duke said.The first years left the room and waited patiently just outside the door."Relax take a seat, no need to be afraid," Piyush did as Duke asked and sat in the seat, but couldn't help but wonder why the General had asked to meet him. The general was one of the highest-ranking members in the whole city, there was only one person higher than him and that was the Head general."It seems those people have gone too far with you." Duke then placed his large hands on the table and looked Piyush dead in the eye. "Piyush, would you like to have the power to fight back?"Suddenly Piyushs dead eyes went slightly into life again as he heard those words."I looked at your file, you had no ability before coming here and when you entered school we gave you the earth ability. Right now, you're only a level one but I can change that for you." Duke then pulled out several earth skill books and threw them out on the table."I know you've been saving up trying to get your hands on these. With this, you can finally get out of the Level 1 power range and with that, your troubles would go away. You would be able to graduate the school with a good grade, join a company to go hunting and earn a good wage for the rest of your life. Sounds nice doesn't it?" Duke said with a huge smile on his face.Piyush couldn't keep his eyes off the skill books in front of him. These skill books were ones that only the military had a hold of. Now that Piyush had the earth ability, the only way he could improve his power was through these skill books. Then finally, he would no longer have to live his life in fear."Of course these things don't come for free, the world doesn't work like that. Those men out there work for me, they do what I say and in return, I offer them protection within the school and outside of the school. Not only that but they get rewarded for doing well." He said as he held up one of the skill books."You're going on your first portal outing sometime soon aren't you? let me tell you accidents happen all the time and every year a student dies on another planet. Now rumour has it that maybe this year someone from that team of yours will go missing, you're a smart boy so I think you can understand what I'm saying. Now maybe that person will be you, maybe not. So, what's your answer going to be?"*****Last night it was clear to Piyush what Duke was saying, either he did what the Duke said, or he was the one who would go missing, but the target was never meant to be Varun. The target was always Dakash. When Varun shouted and had somehow found out Piyush was in on the plan, he panicked, he didn't know what to do and had pushed Varun into the portal.His hands were now shaking as the realisation had hit him."What the hell have you done!" Dakash shouted."I'm sorry." Piyush said, "You don't understand I had to do it!""What let me guess, because you were being bullied? Because you were being threatened?!" Dakash shouted as he continued to walk towards Piyush and at the same time Piyush would walk back."Do you not think Varun has been going through the same thing as you! He's a level one just like you. And do you think they didn't try threatening me? When I was tied up and placed on that thing. So what if they hit you, they punch you and make you bleed, you can fight back, as long as you are alive you can always fight back!Dakash then pointed towards the red portal."But what you have done, you have basically sent Varun to death. No matter what there is no coming back from death. He can't fight back now. Did you even try to fight back?"Piyush then fell to his knees as his mind was in a mess. Did Dakash and Varun truly know what it was like to live his life? All peter wanted was a normal school life, to go through it without any troubles.And someone was offering that to him, maybe he took the easy way out but he didn't feel that way. He had already gone through his own suffering, before entering the academy and even worse now that he was in the academy. Why did he have to be the one targeted by Earl and the others?But there was one thing that Dakash said that did strike a chord with Piyush. Did he ever try fighting back? He always thought it was useless, the outcome had already been decided so why get hurt even more.Perhaps that's what made Duke and the others think he was an easy target in the first place.Then suddenly, Dakash started grabbing his head. He started moving all over the place swinging his head like crazy."I can't hold him back any more Dakash!""You have to try, if he takes over who knows when I'll get control again.""The shock is too much for him, looking at Piyush is only making his emotions stronger."As Dakash looked up, Piyush could see his eyes filled with tears, sadness.Then Dakash looked towards the portal."No what are you thinking!" Piyush shoutedDakash then turned around and looked at Piyush."Piyush this is for your own sake, but you better hope I don't come back out here alive!"Dakash then ran straight into the Red portal, his body vanishing from the room.*****4900 Stones last week all goals hit! 6 Chapters mass release next Saturday. New goal, new week.4600 Stones = 2 extra Chapters4800 Stones = 4 extra ChaptersWe get around 500 new readers every week, so we should be able to hit this goal easily, let's rise to the top 10 in ranking. Thank you, everyone, for the support. CHAPTER 65: TELEPORTING Chapter 65: Teleporting When teleportation devices were first discovered there was hope that they would be able to set these to travel to wherever they wanted to. At last, the idea of colonizing planets such as mars was a dream come true. Spacecraft had been invented but were unable to travel at light speeds needed to make it viable. However, they were able to create large portals that allowed sh.i.p.s to travel through. But the dream was short lived. The Portals were only able to pinpoint planets at a set location, a place that was not known to their universe, perhaps a whole different dimension together. No one knew the truth and scientist could only theorize where exactly these portals led to, but what they did find was each of these planets harboured deadly beasts. Beasts that had never been seen before. Then when the first beast was killed and harvested for research, the beast crystal located inside it was discovered. Inside the crystal contained a power far greater than anyone could imagine. Although many would say the success of defending against the Dalki was due to the discovery of the originals. This wasn't exactly true, their abilities only took them so far in the war. There weren't many with powerful abilities strong enough to go against the Dalki. Their technology was too advanced compared to humans, nuclear weapons would be portaled out somewhere before they even hit the sh.i.p.s and bullets did no harm to Dalki skin. But then a new discovery was made with the beast crystal thanks to Rishee Dev once again and that was the discovery of beast weapons. Human combining their abilities with powerful beast weapons was the true turning point in the war, but not many people remember this fact as they were too fascinated with the discovery of abilities that happened nearly at the same time. As Vorend jumped into the red portal he felt a tingling sensation all over his body. The world around him started to warp and displace and his mind felt like it was melting. It wasn't a horrible feeling, in fact, the feeling received when travelling through the teleportation device even felt addicting to some. A few moments later and Dakash had arrived at his destination. He opened his eyes and the first thing he noticed was the place was incredibly dark. The sky was black and the only light source available was from the two moons out in the distant sky. Around him were crumbled down buildings and structures, as if at one point the place was used to live in. Dakash still had his hands held by his head but when he opened his eyes the pain started to go away and his mind started to clear up. "It seems like the little one has finally calmed down," Dakash said. "Any longer and he might have come out and done something." "What does that matter" Raten argued, "Do you even know where we are, you jumped through that Red portal!" Dakash then started to look at his surroundings, it was strange to see building structures around them. Buildings were the sign of human or an advanced civilization and so far when discovering other planets there had been no signs of this. When there was building work, it would usually be Dalki structure but this was clearly not Dalki based. "Aren't the red portals meant to be unsheltered planets? This place looks like a broken shelter." "I think you are forgetting something." Raten said. "While orange may mean it's in the process of being taken over and sheltered being places, Red can also mean it's too dangerous to build a shelter in the first place. You have basically given us a death sentence." "What do you mean?" Dakash asked. "Are you really being so stupid, sure you might have run through that portal so you didn't kill your friend but what's the point if we die instead. The only ability we have right now is that weak level one earth ability. If we run into a deadly beast we're doomed." That wasn't the only problem, the place wasn't exactly thriving with people. Not many people had access to teleporters in the first place. Only green teleporters the public were able to use, and they were strictly monitored by the company that owned them. Meaning the only people that would be around here would be travellers. With no people around and only beast, Dakash was stuck with his one ability and it would only last him 24 hours. Then a thought came to Dakash's mind. Varun. The portal was unable to send you to a pinpoint location but it did put you in the same general area, at least within ten miles of each other. Still, ten miles was a great distance to cover and with the chance of beast being around every corner, it would be hard to find Varun. For now, Dakash would look for a Portal back to the academy while also searching for Varun. ***** Somewhere on the same planet, Varun had also arrived. His heart was beating rapidly as it was the first time he had experienced such a thing. "Piyush, what the hell was that!" Varun thought, "Damn it, he must have pushed me through the portal, Where am I?" As Varun looked around, he could see the similar buildings around him all crumbled torn and fallen down. The place looked like a city had once existed but had been left behind for years. However, there was one saving grace about the whole thing, on the planet it was currently night time. Meaning Varun didn't feel weak and had a better chance of surviving. However, before Varun had even moved from the spot he was in, he spotted something from the corner of his eye. He was standing in the middle of a street surrounded by crumbled buildings on both sides. But whatever was moving around was quick and was using the buildings as cover. Varun tried to follow whatever it was with his eyes but it would constantly move around until it had eventually stopped just underneath a pile of rubble from one of the buildings. "In the movies, this is where the person would go check it out." Varun thought, but there was no way he was going to do that. He was on an unknown planet and all alone and whatever it was, it was clear it didn't want him to see it. Varun started to back away making sure to keep an eye on where he last saw the figure, then when he was a safe enough distance away, he finally turned around. In that instant, a sound could be heard from behind, Varun immediately turned around and could see a horrible figure running towards him, it clearly wasn't an ordinary animal and something he had only ever seen in books and TV, it was a beast. **** Remember to vote for the series for another mass release. 4600 Stones = 2 extra Chapters 4800 Stones = 4 extra Chapters CHAPTER 66: FIRST KILL Chapter 66: First Kill Suddenly, Varun could hear the sounds of something scurrying towards him at an amazing speed. As he turned the beast was now in full sight.It was the same size as a large dog with the head of a rodent. Black in colour and running on all fours. He would have said it looked like a giant rat however its body parts were muscular around its arms, while its body remained incredibly thin. So much so that the outline of its ribs could be seen.When the creature was a few feet away it leapt in the air and claws appeared from the creatures two front limbs.Varun almost out of instinct swiped his hand letting out a blood swipe. The attack managed to hit the beast and sent it flying back. The attack had caused a large cut to appear on the creature's stomach and black blood started to leak from the wound.While the beast was taking the time to recover, Varun decided to use his inspect skill.< Name: Rattaclaw >< Basic tier beast >< HP ? >< ? >Unlike with humans, when Varun used the status screen it would show there HP and blood type, but in this case, he had only received a name and the level of the beast.Seeing the tier of the beast though, Varun started to feel a little less frightened. He was in an unknown place and just because the beast was small in size, didn't mean it was a low tier. However, something like the Rattaclaw even Varun should be able to deal with it.The Rattaclaw had recovered and charged straight for Varun once again, seeing how the blood swipe was effective he waited for the beast to get close once again."Blood swipe."But Varun had underestimated the speed and the responsiveness of the Rattaclaw. It had learnt from last time what to look out for and jumped to the side avoiding the attack.Then it dashed forward increasing its speed and jumped out at Varun.Just in time, Varun had managed to shove his gauntlet into the mouth of the beast, as it's two big teeth clomped down onto the gauntlet, he heard a creaking noise.< Defense 1 >< Durability of weapon has decreased by 50 percent >< Strength has fallen 2 (3) >"You little crap, get off me!" Varun shouted as he started swinging his arm, trying to shake the beast off but the beast had clomped down hard refusing to let go.With the beast stuck to his arm, it was too dangerous for him to use blood swipe and too close for him to perform a hammer strike. All that was left, was to do it the old-fashioned way.Varun then started to repeatedly pound the beast on its head with his other hand. With each blow, black blood would gush out of the beast. The blows were powerful and damaging to the beast and with each strike the grip started to loosen."If you had just stayed away, you could have lived!" Varun shouted as he continued to punch the beast, until finally, its grip had come loose and it had fallen to the ground.Varun looked like he had just come off the movie off a horror set, his arm and clothes were now completely covered in black blood but he didn't care, for a message had appeared bearing great news.< Basic tier beast (Rattaclaw) has been defeated >< 100 exp points gained >< First basic tier beast killed, bonus Exp awarded, 200 Exp >< First time killing (Rattaclaw) bonus Exp awarded 100 Exp >< 880/800 Exp >Multiple notifications had been received at once and everything came as quite a shock to him. Not only did he receive more Exp for killing a beast compared to fighting against a human but he also received bonus points too.Similar to when he faced a new power level for the first time, he had gained bonus points for killing a basic tier, as well as bonus points for killing this specific beast for the first time as well.In a way to beasts were a gold mine for his system.< Congratulations, you are now Level 5 >< Race: Halfling >< HP 30/30 >< 40/1600 Exp>< Strength 13 (2) >< Agility 15 >< Stamina 12 >Levelling up had given Varun one extra stat point. Looking at his stats now he decided to put the stat point into strength.< Strength 14 (2)>The reason for this was the skill Hammer strike, it needed a total of 15 strength to perform, while he had the gauntlets on they gave him an extra bonus of three strength but when the Rattaclaw had damaged the gauntlets the strength dropped to two.If his gauntlets were to be destroyed, then he would no longer be able to perform Hammer strike correctly. So first Varun decided he would get his strength up to fifteen before focusing on stamina and agility.But the system still had one more surprise for him.< Blood spray >< Blood spray: The user's palm must be open to perform this skill. From the user's palm, a spray of blood pellets will be realised spreading out covering a wide range. The closer the attack is to its target the more damage it will do>The skill reminded Varun of a shotgun he used to watch form the old movies. Where the small pellets would spread out hitting multiple targets. The problem was the cost of the skill.5 HP was a huge amount and even with his blood bank Varun would have to be careful when using it. The plus side was that it was a skill designed to hit more than one opponent.If Varun had Layla around, he would like to test the Blood spray out but he didn't know how long he would be stuck here, so it was best to reserve his HP and as much blood as possible.Varun then walked up to the dead beast on the ground. He had punched the creature so hard in the skull it was indented and blood was leaking everywhere.Looking at the black blood it didn't seem appetizing at all. He wasn't drawn to it like regular human blood and it didn't give off a sweet fragrance either.Still, there might come a time were Varun was required to drink it so he needed to test it out."Inspect."< Rattaclaw blood >< Blood is poisoness to the body, if consumed – 1 HP for every millimetre of blood consumed >It was expected. The signs were a giveaway that his body was telling him to stay away."I wonder why does my body only accepts human blood."The system had been oddly specific when his body started to require blood, this made Varun think that even the blood of animals wouldn't work, even though some were red in colour just like humans.Of course, there was one person who did know the answers behind everything, and that was the blonde man in the video. The last thing he needed to do was rip or cut the body open and look for the beast core inside. It was a small crystal located in a different part of the body depending on the beast.This could be used to either create more beast weapon and armour or even be sold for credits. Both of these would be a big bonus for him.Suddenly though, the sound of something running was heard again, as Varun looked up, the sight of ten Rattaclaws were running in his direction.Although Basic tier creatures were weak, it was odd for them to travel alone and Varun had just gotten lucky.After struggling to face just against one, he knew he had no chance against ten. All he could do was run. He ran down the empty street not knowing where he was heading.But the Rattaclaws were fast and would soon catch up. That's when Varun spotted a building, one that was far less damaged than the others. He went inside but the space was still too large, he then spotted a stairway to his right nearby.After quickly running up the stairway and reaching the first platform he stopped and turned. He knew he had no choice but to fight back. The staircase was narrower than the rooms and he had the high ground.With his palm open facing downward he was ready."Time to test you out."****Remember to Vote for to support the story for a Mass release weekend.4600 Stones = 2 extra Chapters4800 Stones = 4 extra Chapters CHAPTER 67: BEAST CRYSTALS Chapter 67: Beast Crystals Standing on top of the platform Varun had a clear view of the giant Rat like creatures coming towards him. He aimed carefully and then when they were about halfway up the stairs, he activated his skill."Blood spray!"< 25/30 HP >His arm jerked back as the skill activated and a strong force of blood left his hands spreading out. The five Rat's out in front were sent flying back and toppling down the stairs. However, the shot had only hit the ones in front and the Rat's behind quickly climbed over their fallen comrades.Varun decided to head further up the stairs to create more distance between him and the Rats, but then, he could see there was a huge problem in front of him. Part of the ceiling from the floor above had crumbled and collapsed onto the staircase blocking his way.There was no longer any space for Varun to go up. He turned around and the Rats were just starting to ascend the second set of stairs. The Rats from before were quick to make a recovery and were behind them as well.This time Varun held out both hands with his palm wide open.The first spray of blood left his hands and knocked the Rat's over, then when the group behind them started to ascend he cast blood spray again with his other hand.< 20/30 HP >< 15/30 HP >The Rat's had fallen over and were badly hurt by the attack, but knew they would soon recover. There were several small holes over their body where blood would leak from but they just weren't deep enough to cause any serious damage.He made sure to keep his distance away from them and stayed on top of the stairs. Although Blood spray was good at hitting multiple targets it wasn't as strong as blood swipe. Only the force of knocking them back was powerful.If Varun was to get close, he was afraid that the rats might recover and surround him, so there was only one thing he could do. He started swinging his hands out rapidly aiming carefully at each Rat.< Blood swipe >< Blood Swipe >< Blood swipe >.....As the red claw-like lines left his hands, at the same time he could hear multiple messages ding in his head.< Rattaclaw has been defeated, 100 exp >< 14/ 30 HP >< Rattaclaw has been defeated, 100 exp >< 13/ 30 HP >....The messages continued onward until eventually, all of the Rat's had been killed. Varun then fell to the floor on his knees gasping for air. The continues use of the Blood swipes along with his new skill Blood spray had tired him out.< 5/30 HP >< Blood bank has auto activated >< 30/30 HP >< 50 millilitres remaining in Blood bank >< 1040/1600 Exp>< Congratulations, Blood swipe has reached Lv. 2 >After sitting down for a few minutes and recovering his stamina Varun was finally be able to stand, he took a moment to take in all of the messages he had received.Only half of his blood bank now remained. As long as he didn't get injured he only needed to consume 10 millilitres of blood every two days. This meant the remaining blood in his bank would last him a total of ten days. He didn't know how long he would be on this planet but he needed to be careful about using his skills.If he got into a situation where he needed to fight, he needed to use his fists, and only rely on his Blood skills in an emergency like in this scenario.Who knew if there was another human being on this planet?There were only two good things that had come out of the whole situation, the fact that his blood swipe skill had levelled up. There was no change in the description on how it worked, but assuming it had now levelled up, he hoped it was now stronger.If the system was like a game, then it meant the more he used the skill the quicker it would level up. The only thing Varun was unsure about was whether or not using the blood swipe in the game had helped it level up quicker. There was no way for him to tell as there was no experience bar for his skills.The second good thing that had come out of this, was the EXP he had gained. To gain the same amount of experience points as he had just gained at this moment, he would have had to play the game for days.Varun then walked up to the dead beasts on the floor. Before when he had killed the first Rattaclaw he didn't have time to extract the beast crystal from its body but inside the building, it seemed like he was safe from other creatures.Using the tip of his gauntlets he tore open the beasts, he searched around inside the chest looking for a glowing crystal. Usually, someone doing this for the first time it would affect them. Maybe they would have even thrown up a few times searching around inside the organs of the beast.But for some reason, Varun felt like he was unaffected and it didn't bother him at all. He couldn't help but think ever since he had become a Halfling his view on what was normal and what wasn't was changing.After searching around for a while Varun finally found it. It was a small round crystal ball with tiny little bumps all over, and around the same size as an adult's fist.< Basic tier Beast crystal obtained >Then another message had appeared."Inventory?" Varun thought, "You mean I had one this whole time!"Varun selected the yes option and suddenly, the crystal in his hand slowly started to vanish away and finally, it had completely disappeared.He then opened up his status screen and now there was a tab for inventory, as he selected the tab he could see the single beast crystal stored inside."I wonder if I can put anything else in there?"Varun then tried using his mind to store his gauntlets into the inventory, if he could store weapons and other things it would be really handy for future trips. He tried and tried but nothing appeared from the system.Whenever he wanted to do something with the system in the past, all he had to do was think about it and it would work, but even taking off the gauntlets and touching them, thinking about the inventory while wearing them, nothing seemed to work.Although he was able to make the crystal he had obtained, appear into his hand and back into the inventory at will.Varun then went to extract the crystals from the remaining nine Rat's. Each time he did he found it easier than the last to locate it inside the body and every time he held a crystal in his hand, the system message would appear.< Basic tier beast crystal (10) >He had collected all ten and couldn't help but feel pleased with himself. The beast crystals could be used to turn into beast weapons or beast armour but looking at the rat-like creature Varun had no idea what it could be used for.Every beast crystal depending what beast it had come from had a different use and you could try to figure it out from what the beast was like.For example, if a beast crystal was obtained from a large turtle- like creature then it would most likely a defensive item could be crafted. Maybe it could be turned into a shield or even a good piece of chest armour.But regardless, even if the item created Varun had no use for, the least he could do was sell the basic tier beast crystals. Each crystal sold would sell for a total of ten credits. Which meant he could either use the money to purchase beast gear himself or he could use it to spend more time in the game.After tinkering around in his system and his stamina fully recovered, Varun decided to try to climb up to the roof of the building. Even though the building he was in was safe, he was on a strict time scale and needed to find the portal back fast.He walked around and looked for any cracks and gaps he could see in the stairs. Eventually, after making a few detours he had reached the top of the building.The building was about three stories high and wasn't the biggest but at least he now had a better view of where he was. As he looked around all he could see were buildings that resembled human structures.That's when he spotted something, one of the buildings without a doubt had the same crest as the school he attended."So this really is a human shelter, but then why is it all ruined and destroyed?"The building was large in size and square-like but only two stories high, out of all the buildings around it, it was in better shape than all the others.Varun had recognized the building as they had one in the city, he was currently in. It was the military storage room. It was where they kept all their high-end equipment, ability books, skill books and beast weapons. "There's a good chance the portal might be located in there?" Varun then startled to smile, "Even if there isn't, I can't waste this opportunity."****Remember to Vote for to support the story for a Mass release weekend.4600 Stones = 2 extra Chapters4800 Stones = 4 extra Chapters CHAPTER 68: GUILITY PEOPLE RUN Chapter 68: Guility People Run Unknown to the students at the school there was currently chaos going on between the upper staff.Fay one of the sergeants of the school was walking down the hallway at incredible speed. Even though she was only walking, she was causing gusts of wind to hit the students as she walked past them.Using her ability even her walking speed was faster than most people's top running speed. Eventually, she had arrived at her destination.A single wooden door in the first-year building which had a sign out front saying the words "General." On it."May I come in sir!" Fay said in a loud demanding voice."Sure," Nathan replied.Fay barged the door open and quickly zoomed to Nathan's desk, the wind that came along with her caused papers to be flown and scattered all over the room."Hey, I was nearly done with that!" Nathan shouted.As head of the first years, he was a busy person. He would normally be in charge of looking over the new students arriving and doing research into each of their backgrounds. It was important for the school to know who belonged to which family. As they needed to keep an eye on those with a more powerful background."The portals have been used!" Fay shouted, "Two students seem to have been registered to have gone through them."Nathen started to pick up the papers that were scattered around the room one by one. "Is that all, well why don't you just go and get them back?""I'm afraid it's because they have gone through a red portal, sir."Nathen then dropped all the piles of paper he had picked up from the floor. "What, how did this happen, weren't there meant to be guards stationed at the portal.""Apparently there was a scheduling conflict, when the guards changed shift, their replacements never arrived."Nathan then went to sit back in his chair as he struggled to think what to do. "Stupid parents, this is why I said we should have cameras stationed in the school, but it was hard enough to allow them to get those trackers put on them."The original families had a big say in what went on and what didn't. Although it was compulsory for every person to go to military school for two years at the age of sixteen, the originals were powerful people in the outside world.During the war, four big families had emerged from it. Each power as great as each other and equal to the military. The structure of the world had changed, money hardly meant anything anymore and a new system was put in place.The credit system.Those who were strong and able to contribute to the world, earned credits. An example of this would be those who could kill high-level beasts and obtain their crystals to make weapons.While the others too weak to complete a task such as this, were continued to be treated as trash and a waste of space.Of course, the families hated the idea of the military spying on their children. Afraid that they might try to learn their secrets."Do we know which students have gone through the portal?" Nathan asked as he picked up his cup of coffee and started to sip it."The first one is the student by the name of Varun Partap."Hearing this name meant nothing to him, he couldn't remember it so most likely it wasn't anyone important in the school."And the second one is Dakash."At that moment, Nathan spat out his coffee all over the table."Him again," After the incident with the second years, Nathan decided to look into Dakash's family background a bit more, and if they were to find out, this would be bad news. "Make sure his family doesn't learn anything, we have to keep this a secret for as long as we can."*****The next day morning classes had started, today was the Day of the group assessment and the first-year students would be heading off to their first portal outing.As class had started for the Day, Layla noticed that Dakash and Varun weren't in their seats. However, Piyush was in his and he had his head faced down looking at the ground."Hey Piyush, do you know where Dakash and Varun are today?" She asked.Piyush had completely ignored her."Hey, Piyush..." She said as she placed her hand on his shoulder.All she could feel was Piyush's body shaking slightly."I didn't do anything!" Piyush snapped."Huh, what?" Layla said confused. "I was asking if you knew where Varun and Dakash was, did they not come back to the dorm room yesterday?""Oh, sorry, yeah they were there when I went back," Piyush said with his voice all shaky. "I don't know why they haven't come to class this morning?"Layla noticed that Piyush was sweating like crazy, it was normal for Piyush to act a little strange but he was acting extra unusual today. She decided that is was most likely nothing for her to worry about and sat in her seat as usual."They wouldn't miss today, we're meant to go out Portal hunting as a team."Just then Del had entered the room, he didn't have his usual cheery face on and instead had a bland serious look. "I'm afraid that I have to inform you all that today's portal outing has been cancelled for now."Upon hearing the news, the students groaned and complained."What! But I wanted to test out my new beast weapon.""Yeah, I was hoping to maybe kill a beast as well.""Quiet down!" Del said loudly, "This isn't permanent but at the moment the school staff are busy with another matter and until they are free, we will be unable to go on the outing."A single student then raised his hand in the centre of the class.As Del looked at the student he sighed."Yes.""What matter are they dealing with.?""Now if I could tell you that I would have told you, wouldn't I?"The class then continued as normal, a few of the students were still annoyed but then a big question was on everyone's mind, what happened and why was it suddenly cancelled?Layla, on the other hand, was more concerned where Dakash and Varun were. Why hadn't the teachers said anything about them not attending class? If they were injured in a fight last night then the guards should have picked them up and taken them to the nurse's office.There was also a strict curfew for them and no one skipped class. Yet Dell hadn't mentioned a single thing about them.As class ended the students continued to speak and it turned out that, Layla wasn't the only one who was concerned about where Dakash and Varun went.Zoya had then come over to where Layla was."Any idea about the other two?" Zoya said bluntly."No, I have no idea, do you want to go look for them with me?" Layla asked nicely.The two of them didn't know each other well and their interactions with each other so far had been short. It actually surprised Layla that Zoya had come over to her in the first place."No thanks." Zoya replied, "Now that the portal training has been delayed, I am in no rush to find them, but I came over to tell you some news I heard some students talking about."Layla leaned in to listen carefully."Yesterday, while I was walking by two students, said they overheard the Sergeant shouting at the general, something about two students going into the portals. My guess is that's the reason why this whole thing has been delayed in the first place."Layla then stood up from her seat and grabbed Zoya by the shoulders."Wait, what did you say!?"Zoya had moved her head slightly back, she was startled and confused by Layla's actions and felt a little uncomfortable."Don't you see, Dakash and Varun have to be the missing students, no wonder Del didn't say anything about them."Then suddenly, it felt like she was being handed pieces of a jigsaw puzzle one by one but there was still one missing piece and she knew exactly the person who could give her the last piece.As she turned her head, she looked Piyush dead in the eye.Piyush felt like Layla was staring into his soul, this whole time he had been worried. What if someone had seen him leave the portal room? What if the other first-years reported it was him? He hardly had any sleep last night and couldn't concentrate on anything.Then when Layla had spoken to him in the morning he slipped up. He was trying so hard to act natural it had the opposite effect. And now the look in Layla's eyes told him she had figured out something.As soon as Layla took a step forward, Piyush got out of his seat and ran for it."Zoya, we have to get Piyush, he knows something.""What makes you think that?" Zoya asked."A person who isn't guilty doesn't run away for no reason." ****Remember to Vote for to support the story for a Mass release weekend.4600 Stones = 2 extra Chapters4800 Stones = 4 extra Chapters CHAPTER 69: THE CHAIR Chapter 69: The Chair Blood was dripping from the top of his head and started to go trickle down to his eyebrow. He lifted his hand to wipe the blood while holding a dagger made of mud in his other hand. "What did I say, you got us killed Dakash!" "Will you shut up, unless you want to fight the damned thing instead?" On the floor in front of Dakash was a single defeated Rattaclaw, and next to it was another one unharmed and injured. When Dakash had arrived, he had encountered a Rattaclaw out in the wild. Knowing that there were likely more basic beasts in the area and not wanting to attract their attention. Dakash had run into the closest building. It was mainly a large empty warehouse with several broken crates and scrap metal piles all over the place. With only one entrance, he had no choice but to fight. His skills faired him well. Even though he only had the Level a one earth ability, Dakash was skilled. He placed his hand on the ground early on as soon as he had step foot on the planet and had transformed a piece of earth into a dagger. It was the weapon he was most comfortable with. He managed to dodge the Rats attacks at the right time and slice at the beast. The only problem was the Rat's skin was tough and Dakash's powers were weak. He didn't have monstrous strength and could only rely on the ability and skill given to him. But eventually, Dakash managed to cause enough damage to hurt the Rat significantly and just as he was delivering the final blow, another Ratttaclaw had come up behind him. At the last second, he managed to react but its claws had still sliced the top of his head, causing three small marks to appear. "Fine, then, let me take control of the seat and I'll fight this damned Rat." Dakash then left the seat in his mind and allowed Raten to take his place. It was a pitch-black room with a single chair, and above the chair was a shining white light. The light above the chair was the only source of light in the whole room. When Raten sat down, he took control of the body. Meanwhile, Dakash walked off into the darkness and inside was another figure that looked just like Dakash, only he was sitting on the floor swaying backwards and forwards. Their fingers would constantly roll around each other and part of his shirt was in his mouth. "How are you holding up, are you feeling better?" Dakash asked. "Yeah, is Varun going to be okay?" He said as he continued to sway backwards and forwards. "I'm sure he's fine, you know he's special. We all did from the moment we first met him." The other Dakash look alike then smiled. "Special, just like Caser was, and Marlin, and Fuffu but they all died as well." Dakash gulped as he could see the swaying getting faster. "This time is different, me and Raten are here to protect you, you can stay here as long as you want and when you're ready you can come out once again. Leave all the talk to me, all the fighting to Ratan and we can do this together." The swaying started to slow down and at the same time so did Dakash's nerves. As Dakash went to walk back to the seat, he could see that Raten had already dealt with the beast rather quickly. The Rat was covered in several earth spikes that were piercing through its body from the ground. Its back tail had been cut off and black blood was falling from its mouth. "Did you really have to go that far?" Dakash asked. "That cheeky little crap ruined our body, I can't let it get away with that." Raten then stood up from the chair and allowed Dakash once again to sit in the glowing light and the chair. Dakash then proceeded to carve out the beast crystals form the two Rat's and placed them in his trouser leg pocket. It would have been a waste after defeating them just to throw them away. But just as Dakash finished extracting the beast crystal, the sound of clanging was heard from behind. Dakash quickly turned around to see what it was, and to his surprise, it was a fully grown a.d.u.l.t man, he had emerged from just behind one of the crates. "I come in peace," the man said with his arms lifted up. Although the man quickly put his hands down and started to place his hand around his ribs. Just from looking at him, Dakash could tell straight away the man was a Traveller and a skilful one at that. The equipment he was wearing was at least at the advanced tier beast level, and he had armour all over his body including two short swords on his back. The man then sat down on the ground, to have a rest and lent his body up against one of the crates. Dakash walked over to traveller cautiously, it was rare to even meet a traveller in this type of place and who knew what the man's true intentions where. Someone had to be at least at a decent skill level to be asked to enter a Red portal planet. "Don't worry I won't bite," the man said, "What's a kid like you doing in a place like this? I didn't know the military was that desperate that they were now sending a single student to a hell hole like this." "I got stuck here, it was an accident and I need to find a way out." Now that Dakash was closer to the man he had a clear few of him. He had short purple spikey hair and it had several marks on his face. By the way he was holding his side, it looked like he had some broken ribs too. "Looks like we both have the same goal at least." The traveller said. "The names Ian, I came through another portal and was hunting out a beast in the wild, I was badly hurt and too far away from the original portal, so in a last-ditch effort, I decided to come to this abandoned shelter. I was hoping to either find some medical equipment that could heal me or maybe even a portal that led back to earth." Ian then looked at the two dead Rattaclaw's on the ground. "You're quite skilful to have defeated two of them on your own, especially for someone as young as yourself. You have my thanks, I was too badly hurt from the beast before, that Rattaclaw had chased me into the warehouse and I was waiting for it to go away. I never expected someone else to be here in this shelter." "You're welcome" Dakash replied, "Well since we both have the same goal anyway, do you have any idea where the portal could be?" "Sure, there were a few buildings I spotted on my way over here, it's best if we check them out first." Dakash then held out his hand for a handshake. "The name's Dakash." Ian took out his hand and shook Dakash's hand. "I look forward to us working together." As the two of their hands connected, an energy started to surge into Dakash's body, and a smile appeared. ***** Mass release tomorrow. Remember to Vote for to support the story for a Mass release next weekend. 4600 Stones = 2 extra Chapters 4800 Stones = 4 extra Chapters CHAPTER 70: INTERMEDIATE BEAST Chapter 70: Intermediate beast A few hours had passed since Dakash had first arrived on the planet and it seemed like it was still night outside. It was troublesome for him and made it harder for him to spot beasts. Especially in the rundown shelter where they could easily hide between buildings. There was no lights source anywhere since nearly everything seemed like it had been destroyed years ago and the only thing that was giving off light where the two moons in the sky. Meaning while they were inside, it was even harder for him to see. "Do you know when the sun will rise?" Dakash asked, "Maybe it will be best if we travel once the sunlight comes out, then we can spot beasts easier." "You really don't know where we are, do you?" Ian replied, "This Planet spin cycle last an entire year and right now, we are only six months in. I'm afraid we won't be seeing light for a very long time. but if you want to wait six months, you go ahead." With no sunlight, it was hard for Dakash to tell how long he had actually been on the planet and he could only guess. This was a problem for him. Right now Dakash had the earth ability as well as Ian, the Travellers ability but without knowing when 24 hours had passed. He wouldn't know when an ability would disappear. After waiting a few more moments, Ian was able to stand up again, he winced a little as he stood up and placed his hands on his side. Dakash noticed it before but now he was sure of it, the man was badly hurt. "You're wondering what happened aren't you." Ian said, "I was out hunting an advanced beast requested from a company. I don't know why they wanted it so bad, but it was from a specific beast that could only be obtained from this planet." "Did you get it?" Dakash asked. Just then Ian pulled out a crystal, the same size as Dakash had gotten form the Rat, only this one shined a lot brighter and had a clearer layer on the outside. The core itself of the crystal could be seen better. The clearer the crystal meant the higher tier beast it had come from. Once the two of them were ready, they decided to head back outside, while Ian took the lead. They made sure to travel close to the buildings rather than in the middle of the street. If anything spotted them they could quickly dart inside for combat. "Hey Dakash, I have an idea." Raten said, "Why don't we kill the adventurer while he's weak and get that crystal of his? We could sell it for a fortune or even make some really good equipment out of the thing." "Are you an idiot, once we kill him then what would we do? His ability would only last for twenty-four hours, if we don't find a way out of here in time we would completely be done for." Then suddenly Ian stopped as he spotted something. "Look over there." Ian pointed. In the middle of the street laid a single dead Rattaclaw, the two of them looked around before proceeding to move closer to it. When they arrived, they could see that the Rattaclaw had his head completely bashed in. "It looks like it wasn't killed too long ago and it's had its head pounded in," Ian said as he bent down to get a closer look. Then he suddenly pulled out a beast crystal. "Whoever it was they didn't have time to remove the beast crystal, they were probably being chased by something else. Strange, I didn't expect to see one person here but it looks like there's now another." "Hey, do you think that's your friend," Raten said. "Maybe, it's hard to tell, we don't even know what Varun is capable of Afterall," Dakash replied. "Actually," Dakash said out loud. "I wasn't the only one who came through here by accident, my friend came here with me and I was actually hoping to find him." "I won't ask for details." Ian said, "But don't get your hopes up, I was surprised to see you alive never mind your friend." After hearing from Dakash that there was another student here. Ian felt like he should try help out. At least confirm whether or not this friend of his was alive. He knew that the Rattaclaw's rarely travelled solo which meant most likely he was chased by a few more after defeating the first one. He started to inspect the Rattaclaw on the floor and found a trail of black blood. Single drops leading somewhere. "Come on, let's go see if we can find that friend of yours." The two of them continued to follow the trail until it eventually led them to a three-story building, as they entered the first floor it was mostly empty with no signs of anything, but Ian decided to continue to follow the trail of black blood that led up the set of stairs. "What happened here?" Ian thought. As they walked up the first set, they could see more and more black blood splattered everywhere on the walls. Then when they walked up even further, the two of them were stunned at the scene. Lying on the ground where ten Rattaclaws dead, completely still each one with their beast crystal carved out. "Who did this? Are there more people here, maybe another team on a mission?" Ian said. "I'm sorry, I thought perhaps the Rattaclaw outside was killed by your student friend but it looks like I was wrong. You would need at least a small team to take out ten at once like this." Even Ian who was a well-established Traveller felt like he would struggle taking out Ten at once. Although the beast whereof the weakest tier it was hard to imagine fighting ten of them and coming out unscathed. "Do you still think it's your friend?" Raten asked. "Probably not," Dakash replied, "But if there are others out there. I'm a little worried, just where is Varun?" The two of them then decided to climb to the roof. This way Ian had a bearing of where he was and could decide where to go next. They stood on top of the roof and looked down, that's when the two of them spotted something. "Get down quick!" Ian said. As the two of them laid on their front, they slowly peaked over the ledge of the roof to once again confirm what they had seen. It was a beast that walked on six legs, three on each side, its body stood upright like that of a human while the bottom half was like that of a scorpion but then where it's head should be, there was a single large mouth, four arms, and it had four large claws. It was a hideous beast that clearly wasn't from earth. "An intermediate beast," Ian said. As they continued to watch it, they saw the beast slowly enter into a building. "Hey what's that building?" Dakash asked, as he noticed the building was in good condition. "Could the portal be inside there?" "That's the storage room." Ian answered, "I doubt the portal would be inside there, usually those places get targeted by thieves and such so they tend to not make the portal area so obvious and even if it was in there, it would be best if we let the beast leave first. The way I am now I would stand no chance against the thing." **** Mass release Day, please remember to vote for another mass release. 4600 Stones = 2 extra Chapters 4800 Stones = 4 extra Chapters 500 + stones = 1 extra Chapter CHAPTER 71: STORAGE ROOM Chapter 71: Storage room The storage building was a single level large floor, which resembled that of a hanger. The main purpose of the building at a shelter was to keep equipment such as mechs, airsh.i.p.s and all sorts. They also used it as a temporary room to store things for travellers. Varun had left the other building and slowly started to make his way to the storage room, he had no clue when the sun would rise and needed a place to stay for the night. After fighting the group of Rattaclaw's he was feeling a bit tired. Not only that but he was hoping that he might come across some treasures at the storage room. He just couldn't see the downside of trying to reach the building. On his way he treaded carefully to make sure he didn't alert any more beasts in the area, as he walked through from building to building, he spotted a few Rattaclaw's feasting on something in the middle of the street. ' "Damn they're everywhere, there just like Rats back on earth." Varun thought. If there was a single Rat on its own then he might have chosen to confront it, but while there were three of them out on the street, he didn't want to risk it. The experience points gained from killing a beast was tempting but to fight three at once, meant there was a chance he would either have to use his blood spray or at least his blood swipe skill. Varun continued to head towards the storage building until finally, he had arrived. At the front, there were two large steel doors which slid open. Afraid that they might make a lot of noise and attract unwanted attention. He decided to walk around the building to see if there were any other openings or entrance. After walking around the side of the building, he had no such luck but as he nearly reached the back of the building, he started to hear strange noises. He slowly crept down the side making sure to make no noise. With his back hugging the side of the wall, he peeked out to take a look, it seemed like there was another Rattaclaw, only this one was squealing and on its back in pain. Its cries were weak and he wondered just how long had the beast been there for. After waiting a few moments there was no sign of any other creatures. He came out from the side of the wall and walked up to the injured Rattaclaw on its back. As he got closer to it, the Rattaclaw snarled at Varun and tried to swipe its claws out, but the attacks were far to slow and the beast could hardly move. "Still trying to kill me even in this state." Varun thought. As he got closer the beast continued to swing it's arms out towards Varun despite it not being able to move. Its leg's had been crushed by something and it had a large wound on its stomach. "Let me put you out of your pain." He walked up to the beast and with a single blow to its head, it had died. < 100 exp points gained > < 1140/1600 exp > As Varun looked at the back of the building, he could see a small hole in one of the corners. "Did the Rattaclaw come out from there?" Before entering he gulped at the thought that perhaps whatever injured the Rat might be inside. Crawling on his front, he had reached the hole and tried to pop his head in. It was big enough for a human to fit through but what he was afraid of was inside the building. If he entered the building there might be a hundred of those things or something that was stronger than the Rattaclaw itself. Varun crawled forward to the entrance of the hole and started to look into the hanger. Although the hanger contained no light source and was completely void of light from the moon. His vision allowed him to see clearly inside. After scouting the area for a while, it seemed like there was nothing inside, but of course, he couldn't be sure. He thought about it for a while but in the end, the possibility of getting a new beast weapon or something amazing was too tempting for him. He crawled through the hole and entered into the hanger. As he stood up onto his feet, he was quickly disappointed by the state of the hanger. Nearly everything inside had been destroyed and just piles of scrap metal and rubbish remained. There were no Airsh.i.p.s, mechs, and no beast weapons. Whatever was left was unable to be used. However, the building was large and Varun wouldn't give up just from his initial view. He started to walk around the hanger for a while until eventually, there was a room stationed in the corner. It was hard to tell how big it was but it seemed like it went the whole length of the hanger and on closer inspection, it looked more like a large container. He walked up to the room and there was a single steel door with a passcode device next to it. The door was military-grade which meant even those with abilities would find it hard to break it down. Perhaps it was the reason why no one so far had been able to enter including the beasts. But it was clear to him, that whatever was in the container had yet to be destroyed and most likely whatever was inside was important stuff worth locking. "Should I try hammer strike on it?" Varun looked around the hanger, the ceiling was high and the roof was made of metal. If he was to perform Hammer strike in a place like this the sound would just echo out. However, Varun didn't want to give up that easy, all that stood in front of him and his treasures was a single door. There must be something he could do? He looked at the passcode on the side and pressed four random digits before pressing the enter button. "Beep!" "Of course, I'm not that lucky." He thought. Right now, Varun was desperate and wanted to try everything, he thought perhaps if he was to use the inspect skill maybe it would give him some information. < Inspect > < A passcode machine which is linked to a steel door. Entering the right combination to the door will successfully open it. > Just as Varun was about to give up another notification sound was heard in his head. < Inspect skill is now Level 2 > < Inspect skill will now display more information, about objects, humans, items and more > Ever since his Blood swipe skill had levelled up, Varun was sure his other skills could level up too but he never thought about his inspect skill too much while using it. Looking at the lock again, His gut was telling him to try it. < Inspect > < A passcode machine which is linked to a steel door. Entering the right combination to the door will successfully open it. Please touch the lock for more information. > Varun then did as his inspect skill said and touched the lock. Nothing happened but then, he used the inspect skill one more time. < A passcode machine which is linked to a steel door. Entering the right combination to the door will successfully open. The combination to the door is 2536725364 > Varun immediately tested out the number the system had given him. "Beep!" *Kachuck The door then made an unlocking sound and swung open. **** Mass release day, please vote to show your appreciation. CHAPTER 72: INSIDE THE CONTAINER Chapter 72: Inside the container Seeing that the intermediate beast was patrolling around the storage room, Ian and Dakash had decided to go to a different part of the shelter. As Ian said it was most likely the Portal wasn't there in the first place. Even though the portal was in a red zone, the portal on the other end still had to be placed in a safe place to make sure either beast from the other planet didn't enter it or destroy it. Of course, a party or a group could bring a portal with them to get back to their own world but these were very expensive. Somone at Ian's level didn't have one of these devices because once they had been set up, they were unable to be taken back with them. It was a onetime use device. "Any ideas of where the Portal might be?" Dakash asked. "My guess is somewhere underground. It's safe from most of the beasts that way. Most likely they have a special building that looks like any other and a secret entrance." "Wait so are you saying we just have to keep going into buildings?" "Well we can rule out all the residential buildings, they wouldn't be able to build a large enough base under those, and any of the small buildings or dangerous areas you can rule out as well. There are only so many big buildings that would be large enough to store a big base under." The two of them continued to look into building after building but there was no luck or no sign of a secret room. Eventually, they had entered what looked like a library. Although most of the books had been destroyed and several of the bookcases had fallen over as well. That's when a loud grumbling sound had come from Dakash's belly. "I guess we have been travelling for a while now, why don't we rest here for the night, it doesn't look like there any beasts here and we can build our own fortress," Ian said. The two of them then went up to the second floor of the building. There were large holes and broken-down walls on the first floor which made it easy for beasts to attack them. Once they had reached the second floor, the two of them started to lift up a few of the bookshelves. It seemed like Ian had the ability of super strength seeing how easily he moved the heavy bookshelves, but Dakash knew that wasn't true. The reason why Ian seemed like he had extra strength was actually from the beast armour he was wearing. Certain beast armour once above the basic tier had special properties. If the user was able to activate these properties, they could increase the base strength of the user. Giving him more power, extra speed. Overall, it just improved you as a human being and almost made you seem to be a superhuman. Dakash could see Ian was still struggling though, most likely due to his injuries but there was no way he himself could move the giant bookshelves so easily. So instead Dakash helped out in his own way by clearing a space and moving all the books and piles of rubbish away. After an hour or so they were done. Ian had moved the bookshelves to create a small type of fortress around them. "It's a nice home isn't it?" Ian said proudly of his work. "Well, what are you waiting for, come on let's go inside." As Dakash walked inside Ian followed behind and as he did, he pulled one last bookshelf around them, sealing them up in a cube-like shape surrounded by bookshelves. The room they were in was now pitch black. Ian then punched part of the bookshelves with his fist, creating a hole in all four directions letting in a little bit of light, but more importantly, it was used to let them peak through and see if any danger was coming towards them. He then pulled out a little small stone from his pocket and placed It on the ground in the centre of the room. He tapped the stone once and a warm orange light started to shine from it. The light wasn't very strong but in the small dark room, it made a huge difference. "Here take this," Ian said as he handed a small circle pill to Dakash. "Is this a food supplement?" Dakash asked. "Yeah, I'm guessing if you came here on accident you don't have any with you." Dakash looked at the pill before shoving it down his throat and into the stomach. A food supplement was a pill that contained all the things a human needed to live. As long as a person took one pill of these a day, they no longer needed to eat. Although it gave the human enough calories and vitamins, it did nothing in terms of water continent. You would still need to find your own water source. Luckily in the shelter, it seemed like the waterworks in nearly every building was working. So it wasn't a problem for Ian and Dakash. "You get some sleep and I'll keep watch, then will do a little switch later on," Ian said. "Sounds good?" "Yeah." ****** As he heard the sound of the door unlocking a grin appeared on his face that couldn't be contained. "I love you system, I swear I'll never talk badly about you ever again," Varun said as he stepped into the container. But as he stepped in, his hopes of finding legendary beast equipment or stashes of beast crystals were soon lost. The room was simply filled with shelves of books, nothing else but books. However, as soon as Varun picked up one of the books closest to him his mind was quickly changed. < Earth ability book level 1 > < Unable to learn would you like to convert into 10 exp? > It was a container room filled with ability and skill books. Although Varun was unable to learn the ability, he immediately converted the book into exp points. As soon as Quin decided to convert the book into exp, it started to vanish in his very hands as if it was disintegrating. A sensation was felt form inside and finally, the message had appeared. < 10 exp gained > < 1150/1600 exp > After absorbing the first book Varun started to pick up book after book. After going through the books Varun found out that a level one skill book would give him 5 exp points while a level 1 ability book would give him 10 exp points. If he had already absorbed that book again the system wouldn't even pop up with another message. It was a shame since most of the books inside the container were earth books that the military had the most control over. Varun got closer to the back of the container and found that the level of the books would increase. A level 2 ability book would gain him 100 exp points, while a level 2 skill book would gain him 50. This would be the case even if he had already absorbed the level 1 version of the ability book. And finally, after absorbing multiple books another message had appeared. <1650/1600 exp points gained > < You are now level 6 > **** Mass release day, remember to vote for another one next week. CHAPTER 73: SKILLBOOK GRINDING Chapter 73: Skillbook grinding After levelling up Varun immediately put his stat point into strength, and now without his gauntlets, his strength was at 15 meaning he would be able to perform the Hammer strike skill with or without the gauntlets. As Varun looked around the room there were still several books he hadn't even touched yet, the place really was a gold mine for him. As he went onto the next set of shelves, with it came a new set of books. He placed his hand on the first one and it was the first Level three ability book he had come across. < Level 3 Earth ability book > Varun placed the book down and picked the book up making sure he had heard the system right, but once again the numbers he had received where correct. The level three ability book was offering him 1000 experience points. Without hesitating, he had decided to absorb the book right away. < 1050/3200 points > Varun then picked up the skill book right next to him and as he though it too had offered him 500 exp points. So far it seemed like a skill book would offer half the amount of points that an ability book had to offer. He once again went on rampage grabbing every book he could on the shelf, absorbing those that he couldn't and tossing the others on the ground. Although he would have loved to take the books with him as they would have sold for a healthy price. The books so far were unable to go into his storage like the crystals and carrying them would just be more trouble than it was worth. After going through all the books Varun was able to level up a total of two more times. < Level 8 > < 45/45 HP > No new skills were unlocked but Varun still obtained the regular stat points for every level up. Now that his strength and agility were at level fifteen, he decided he should finally increase his stamina points. If there was a fight that needed him to preform flash step and hammer strike multiple times, he would definitely be in trouble. After putting the two points into stamina his stats were now looking a lot more even. < Strength 15 (2)> < Agility 15 > < Stamina 14 > < 510/12800 exp> Although the Exp needed now was getting further and further away. Which made Varun think if there was even a cap to his levelling, or would the exp amount increase so much so, that it was no longer possible to achieve. Varun had now nearly touched every single book that was in the storage room. Unfortunately, the highest ability Varun was able to find so far was a level three ability book. The further he went into the container the higher the levels but for the last few shelves, it didn't seem to be the case. It seemed like they were just duplicates of the other level three ability books. As Varun picked up one book the system message didn't go off. It was because it was a level 3 earth ability book that he had already absorbed. "Hey, maybe Piyush could use this?" Varun thought. It was only one book, Varun was sure he would be able to carry it safely with him. But as soon as he thought about Piyush, a memory entered his mind and it wasn't a good one. Piyush was the whole reason why he was in this place, and he still didn't know how long he was going to be here or if he would even be able to survive. To be honest, Varun was just trying to make the best out of a bad situation at the moment. As he thought about Piyush anger started to enter his mind and body and he ripped the book up. He was willing to hear Piyush out if he ever got out of here alive but Varun would no longer help him. If someone like that betrayed you once, for whatever reason, it only meant there was the chance that the same thing could happen again. Then as Varun looked around the container, he noticed there was one shelf at the very back of the room where he hadn't been yet. He didn't bother going over there yet because it looked empty from a distance, but as he got closer, he noticed there was a single book that had been placed on there. As he touched the book on the shelf, a new message appeared. < Level 6 ability book Shadow element > After seeing the first message appear Varun couldn't wait to see how much experience points a level 6 ability book would give. Perhaps it would finally shoot him up to level ten and he would unlock the use of the shop in his system. But then something unexpected had happened. < Ability is compatible with system > < Would you like to learn? > Out of shock Varun dropped the book back onto the shelf and took a step back. Out of all the books in the room, it was the first time he had ever received a message of this kind. He wasn't even sure it was possible but the system was clearly telling him he could learn the ability. Then Varun started to think back to the name of the ability "Shadow element." It was something he had never even heard of before and Varun was quite knowledgeable about the abilities of the world. He then picked up the book once more just to make sure and the same message had appeared. After thinking about it for a long time, he decided he would try to place the book in his storage. It hadn't worked with the other books previously but he thought it might work with this one. And to his surprise, it worked. The ability book was safely put into his system storage with his beast crystals. Before learning the ability, Varun wanted to make sure he could find out more about it first. Maybe then he could find out why it was compatible with his vampire system and if so, maybe they were other abilities that would be compatible as well. If that was the case, Varun didn't want to rush into things. Usually, a human being was only able to use one ability for their whole lives and it could be the same for him. As he continued to level up and get stronger, he thought about it more and more. His system wasn't an ability, the book that was gifted to him by his father wasn't an ability book but it had completely changed him. He was no longer Human but something else altogether and it was why his abilities had worked inside the game and why he had received the option to learn another ability. This was the only conclusion he could come to. After storing the book away, he decided to close the door to the container unit and remain inside. It was safe here and he was starting to feel tired, at least he knew the container was strong enough to protect him from whatever beast remained outside. He layed down on the floor and in an instant closed his eyes. **** Mass release day, please remember to vote next week for another mass release. CHAPTER 74: FIGHT OR WAIT Chapter 74: Fight or Wait His body was pressed against the cold hard floor, his eyelids slowly started to open and all he could see was a white light. For a moment while Varun was sleeping, he had forgotten about everything that happened. But as soon as he looked around him and realised where he was and he knew that everything wasn't a dream. Right now he wasn't at the school but was on a completely different planet miles away from home. As he stood up and started to stretch, there was no way for him to tell how long he was out for but his body felt good. It was a surprise that he slept so well on the floor without a bed. Without realising it, he was more exhausted then he thought. Not only physically exhausted for fighting against the beast but also mentally exhausting, the constant fear of the unknown was a terrible thing that slowly would eat away at him. < Your hunger grows. > < Daily quest complete, avoid direct sunlight for eight hours > And at last, the system message had appeared, this meant that in one more day's time the system would inform him that he needed to consume human blood. He was okay for now as he still had fifty millilitres of blood in his bank. As long as he didn't get in any more fights, he would be fine. The most important thing for him to do now was to find that portal. As he went to open the steel door, Varun was half expecting that the sun might be out, after all the message appearing meant it was a new day. However, he was unsure whether the system clock was related to the time on earth. The daily quest reset every day at midnight, but if he was in another country, midnight would be different and right now he was on another planet. But as he opened the door, he was surprised to see it was still night out, however, his mind was quickly distracted by something else. Varun immediately closed the door back up to the container, he placed his hand on his chest feeling his heart beating at an incredible speed. "What was that!" Varun thought. "That was no Rat, that's for sure." This time Varun went to the steel door again. He placed his hand on the Metallic handle once again and slowly opened the door to take a peak and as he did a large beast stood inside the hanger. With the body of the human but the bottom half of a scorpion-like creature, Varun couldn't make out what it was. From the human half of its body, it also had two claws on each side. "Inspect." With his new inspect skill it seemed to now work at a greater distance. < Scordana > < Intermediate level beast > After finding out what little information was available about the beast, Varun quickly closed the door once again. Although Varun had grown three levels while inside the container, he still felt like dealing with an intermediate beast would almost be impossible for him. The weakest of intermediate beasts were at least 10 times stronger than a basic tier beast. Of course, this would depend on the beast, for there were some beasts that were just easier to deal with than others no matter what tier they were at. But looking at the creature, Varun could tell it would be a tough battle. Instead, he decided to remain inside the capsule until the beast had eventually disappeared. It wasn't here when he first entered so there was always the chance it could leave. After waiting for what felt like a considerable amount of time, He decided to open the door once again to check if the beast was still there and unfortunately it was. That was when Varun noticed something else that was in the hanger that wasn't there before, there were three round objects right next to the Scordana placed in a pile of scrap metal. "Are those eggs?" Varun thought, "Inspect." < Scordana eggs > < Intermediate beast level > As he saw the eggs a horrible thought had entered his mind. Varun hadn't noticed them before meaning she must have just laid them out while he was in the container, or they might have been hidden somewhere. But the first was more likely, now the fact that her eggs were here, meant the beast would protect them until they hatched or at least it wouldn't be moving for a while. Varun had two options, he could continue to wait in the container hoping that the mother would have to go out and hunt for food for herself in a while, but beast bodies were completely different compared to humans. Sometimes a single meal could last them weeks before they had to go hunting again for another one. This felt like a risky option for Varun for he himself was on a time frame. Then there was the second option, if the Scordana had just given birth then there was a chance she was weaker compared to usual. With the second option, he had to make a decision as soon as possible. The longer he waited the more chance the beast had of recovering. In the end, Varun gritted his teeth and stepped out of the container. Before even thinking of fighting against the beast he would try his best to sneak out. The entrance to the front of the hanger was completely destroyed, the beast when entering had ripped apart the two metallic doors before coming in. The problem was the beast was blocking that exit but that still left Varun with the small hole in the wall from where he had entered. Carefully moving in between piles of scrap metal and rubbish, Varun slowly moved across the room to the other side where he had first entered. Then when he finally had reached the hole, he could see something else entering form the other side. It was a Rattaclaw. "Oh no!" As soon as the Rattaclaw pulled its body through the small hole It immediately looked up to see Varun. Before he even had a chance to run away the Rattaclaw started squealing like mad. "Shut up, why did you have to come here now of all times." Then the sound of several steps was heard from behind. Varun didn't have to turn around to know what it was but he did so anyway and as he did, a giant claw was swung down towards his head. "Flash step." At the last second, Varun preformed his flash step skill avoiding the claw but he couldn't say the same for the Rattaclaw. It had been completely hammered and smashed to the ground in a single strike. "I guess we're doing this then!" **** End of mass release, please contiune to vote for even more Mass releases. 4800 Stones = 4 extra chapters hit +500 stones form above goal = 1 extra chapter CHAPTER 75: NOT A GAME Chapter 75: Not A Game Now that the Scordana had spotted Varun, he had no choice but to stand his ground and fight. In a red portal planet, there would be more dangerous and higher tier beasts than an intermediate one.Although he could make a run for it and head outside, the commotion caused might attract even more dangerous beasts and that was the last thing he wanted.Looking at the squashed Rattaclaw, he could tell the beast was powerful and he needed to avoid getting hit by those claws. Already using the flash step had taken a considerable amount of stamina and at most, he was able to perform it one more time during the fight.As the scorpion creature turned, it immediately started charging forward. Hoping to scare it away and do some damage, Varun let out two Blood swipes. This time the attack was more powerful than before. The lines looked thicker and larger as they left his hands.The level two increase in the skill, on top of his extra stat points in strength, had really improved the attack. However, the Scorpion wasn't stupid and covered itself with its four claws blocking the attack.As the Blood swipe made impact, the scorpion was pushed back a few steps but no damage could be seen, not even a white scratch mark on the claws."Damn it, the scorpion's claws are an exoskeleton!"An exoskeleton beast meant that the beast's skeleton was on the outside, making the outer shell incredibly hard. As Varun looked and inspected the creature even closer, he could see that every part of the beast was covered in some type of shell, apart from the upper body.That was the beast's weak point and that's where he needed to hit.With a plan set in his head, Varun charged forward once again, the scorpion opened up its four claws ready to attack. The first claw came down, swiftly he was able to dodge the attack, then the next set of claws followed.Avoiding the claws was difficult but right now Varun was in full concentration mode, as the fourth claw came out to attack him, the beast's body was now wide open.Then as Varun readied his hand to cast his blood swipe skill, he felt a sharp pain in his back. As he looked up, he could see something connected to his body and when he followed it, it went behind the beast."A tail, that wasn't there before?"The beast then lifted Varun with the tail and chucked him hard up against the wall. As he fell to the ground his HP had taken a huge hit.< 13/45 HP >As Varun looked into his stomach, he could see a large puncture had been created and blood was quickly flowing out of his body. < Critical hit >< 12/45 HP >< 11/45 HP >< 10/45 HP >As the blood continued to leak out of Varun's body so did his HP. In order to stop his HP from continuing to drop he had no choice.< Blood bank >< 10 millitiers have been used >< 40 milliters remaining >< 15/45 HP >As he absorbed the blood, the puncture in his stomach slowly started to heal but it wasn't going to be enough, he needed more blood and with the Scordana charging towards him he needed it fast."Just use it all!"< Blood bank empty >< 35/45 HP >With his health nearly full, his wounds had healed up almost instantly and Varun was able to move once again. Looking at the scorpion he noticed the tail truly wasn't there."Is it able to take it into his body and out at will, this is going to be a pain."If it wasn't for all the level's up he had received while in the container, he would have already been a dead man and with no more Blood bank, Varun was unable to take another blow.There were no more second chances.Hoping to stop it's charge forward, he threw blood swipe after blood swipe. The beast held up all four of its claws and crossed it against its body, protecting it at all times.But the beast was powerful and continued to push through despite the blood claw's coming towards it. It got closer and closer but Varun never stopped using his blood swipes.< 30/45 HP >< 28/45 HP >….A battle of strength was being displayed between the two. The red swipes were powerful and started to knock the beast back and eventually, even the claw's started to crack but neither of them gave up.< 13/45 HP >But Varun couldn't keep it up, if he carried on using the blood swipes then he soon would completely run out of HP, he had no choice but to change his plan.When the beast was close enough, finally the tail was revealed from above. While its claws covered and blocked its body from the swipes, its plan was to attack from above with its long large tail.As it fired its tail downward, just before the tail could pierce Varun again."Flash step!"Suddenly, Varun was no longer in front of the scorpion and now was directly behind it. He gathered all his strength from the bottom of his body. It rose up into his fist and as he slammed down his foot, at the same time he pulled back his hand and released all the power he had into his attack."Hammer strike!"As soon as the blow had hit the beast's soft human upper body, a large hole was created, it was around the size of a human head and a chunk had been taken out allowing him to see completely through the beast to the other side.Then a few moments later, the beast had collapsed to the ground and so had Varun, completely exhausted. As he lifted his hands his gauntlets had completely shattered. They were too damaged from the Rattaclaw's bite from before and it was unable to take the impact of his Hammer strike.The gauntlets no longer gave Varun the extra attack power it did before but it was hard for him to be upset for long for a number of messages had appeared.< Scordana has been killed 1000 exp >< first intermediate beast kill 5000 exp >< first Scordana killed 2000 exp >< 8250/12800 >Although Now that Varun was a higher level, it took a considerable amount of Exp to level up once more. Right now he had a serious problem, his health was incredibly low.13/45 HP and with his blood bank empty there was no way for him to heal it back to normal.Then a thought had come to his mind, if his system was like a game, if he levelled up would his health heal back up?As he looked around the room, he noticed the three egg's still there in the metal pile heap. After waiting a few moments for his stamina to rise back up, he walked up to the dead Scrodana's body.He had no hard feelings tearing the beast's body apart as he looked for the beast crystal inside. Before the old Varun might have shown compassion and been respectful but the fight he just had, was showing him that even on other planets, the strong ruled.Before, even when he got bullied at school it was never like this, of course, the strong ruled at school and he couldn't do anything about it but he never came close to dying. He just took several beatings but for the first time, he truly felt like he was close to death.Finally, after tearing and rummaging through several limbs the beast crystal was obtained and stored in his system once again.Now Varun looked at the eggs in the room, as he went forward, he lifted one of the eggs. They were large and about the same size as football. He took a few steps back before lifting it into the air and slamming it into the ground.Black blood had been splattered all across the floor and a little half-grown scorpion could be seen inside.< Scordana Egg killed 1000 exp >< first Scordana egg kill 2000 exp >< 11250/12800 exp >To Varun's surprise, the system had counted the egg as a new beast kill so he also received the bonus points for that too.He then went over to the over two eggs and threw them both to the ground similar to the first one.< Scordana egg killed 1000 exp >< Scordana egg killed 1000 exp >< 13250/12800 exp >< Congratulations you are now level 9 >< 13/50 HP>……As Varun looked at the information displayed, for the first time he was unpleased with a level up. The system hadn't given his health back like he thought it might have done. Although his HP had increased nothing else had changed.It made him realise that although his system was like a game, it wasn't. This was real life and the next message made him realise that even more.****We hit 6000 stones last week! Congrats in unlocking the mass release. New goal for mass release next weekend.5800 stones = 2 extra Chapters6000 Stones = 4 extra chapters CHAPTER 76: FIND THE PORTAL Chapter 76: Find the Portal Due to Varun's energy and most of his blood being used in the fight earlier, his body was now no longer naturally healing itself. He was too hungry to heal and would need blood. As Varun looked at his system, a certain number stuck out to him and it was all he could hear in his head, the number Thirteen. "With thirteen points that's thirteen hours before I reach 0 and that's only if I don't use any of my skills or get injured along the way." He was really struggling with what to do, should he sit and wait, perhaps the school would send someone after him, or should he walk around and try to find the portal. If he did, there was the chance he could run into more beasts on the way. "I have no choice, I have to try to find the portal," Varun said. This was his only option. In reality, he would have liked to think the school would have sent someone after him. This might have been the case if Varun had a strong family backing him or he was a potentially high-level user but Varun was none of those. He was an orphan with no family backing and the school still believed he was a level 1 user, someone with no ability. Why would they bother risking their lives for someone like him? It just didn't make any sense even to him. He had no choice but to soldier on. Before leaving the hanger, Varun had to think hard about just where the portal would be. All he knew was that they had to place it somewhere safe. Somewhere the beasts wouldn't be able to get to it. The shelter was a big place though with many buildings, it wasn't as big as the city the school was in, but still big. To get from one side of the shelter to the other it would take him at least two hours and that was walking at a decent pace. As he walked through the city, he decided to tread very carefully. Even if he came across a basic tier beast, it would cause all sorts of problems for him. As he walked through the city he went through at an incredibly slow pace. Once in a while, he would come across a building with beasts inside. Although Varun's eyesight was incredibly handy in situations like these. The beasts too had good eyesight in the darkness for they had lived on the planet but his seemed to be even better than theirs. As he entered the buildings there would be cases where Varun had spotted them far up ahead in the darkness, he quickly would shift and hide in the shadows or behind wall's waiting for the beasts to leave and when he was ready, he would zoom past and around. With no direction to go in and just simply wandering around, Varun had already used up two hours of his time exploring the place. < 11/50 HP > The hunger in his belly was starting to distract him and it was getting harder for him to focus as his health had gone down. Then finally, Varun had spotted another building that was relatively in good condition. It was a large dome-like shape building. The training centre, a place where Travellers could come and test out their skills or practice with new equipment. The outside of the dome was made with special material in case practice matches got a bit out of hand and a stray attack would hit the outside now and then. It was capable of withstanding attacks from some of the strongest beasts and power level users. "No wonder it's in good condition," Varun said as he looked at the building. It was the only other place Varun could think of where the portal could be kept safe. The place was large and had a sturdy outside that was yet to be destroyed. As Varun got closer to the dome building, he noticed there where several mechs stationed outside that had been destroyed. Their cores completely ripped out. Mechs were a powerful device used in the war but to power them they required an incredibly powerful beast crystal of a high tier. It was a strange thing because the higher power levels preferred to use their own abilities, while the lower power levels could never afford to use such a thing. Most of the mechs were used by the military or private companies that hired Low-level travellers to operate the thing. However, it was a double-edged sword for a low-level Traveller. Usually, they would come with contracts, if the mechs were ever destroyed then the user would be asked to pay for them. Of course, a low level in their whole life time could never afford to pay back something as expensive as a mech. Causing them to forever be a slave to the company. Just another one of the changes that had happened after the war with the Dalki. During the War Humans were brought together to fight the common enemy but once the treaty was signed the greed of humans were shown. If the Dalki knew how ununited earth was at the moment, Varun was sure earth would lose the way it was right now. That's why he needed to get stronger, to protect himself. As he reached the entrance of the training centre, he could see that two Rattaclaw's were standing out in front of the building. Before entering he decided to walk around the large dome carefully to see if there were any other entrances, but there were none besides the first one he had seen. He returned back to the entrance and was hidden behind one of the destroyed mechs around thirty meters away from the entrance. Even though he had walked around for about thirty minutes the Rattaclaws remained there unmoving. He decided to wait a little longer hoping that the Rattaclaw's might move. < 10/50 HP > But as he saw the message bring his health down once again, he was only getting even more aggravated. The Rat's didn't look like they would be leaving any time soon and Varun needed to come up with a plan. *** Two Chapters today go read the next one. Remember to vote for mass release. 5800 Stones = 2 extra Chapters 6000 Stones = 4 extra Chapters CHAPTER 77: LOSING IT ALL Chapter 77: Losing it all As Varun looked around him, he found a broken piece of the mech nearby, it was a long metal shape looked similar to a pole but he had no idea what part of the mech it was used for. He picked it up and looked off into the distance. He aimed carefully at another mech that was destroyed, far up ahead and off to the side of the entrance. Using all his strength he threw the piece of metal a great distance. It was an amazing feat and looked almost super human, of course, Varun was only able to perform this because he had super strength compared to others. The piece of metal landed exactly where he was aiming for making a large clang sound as it fell on the mech. The Rat's then looked up at where the noise was coming from and quickly scurried off in the direction of the sound. "This is my chance." Varun using all the powers in his legs, bolted for the entrance. He had finally reached the dome-like building. The entrance was like a hallway surrounded by a wall on either side and just a little further up where two steel doors. He tried pushing the steel doors open but there was no luck. He noticed that the doors were undamaged just like the rest of the building meaning most likely it was made out of the same material. As he looked around the door for anything, he spotted another access code machine. He immediately rushed forward placing his hand on the machine and used his inspect skill. "I hope these works, don't let me down system." < An access code machine linked to the two steel doors. The combination is 33346253778 > However, just as Varun was imputing the code into the machine, the Rattaclaw's had returned. As the beasts saw him, they shrieked and called out another two of its friends. There were now four of the things. As he heard the sound of the beasts behind him, his hands started to shake. "Come on… Come on!" *Beep "Damn I must have put in a wrong number!" His nerves were getting the better of him and his concentration had been broken. He used his inspect skill once again making sure he had the right code. He started imputing the numbers again when he suddenly felt something chomp down onto his leg. < 9/50 HP > As he looked down it was one of the Rat's and the other three weren't too far behind it. Varun then swung his fist down as hard as he could at the Rat smashing its skull into pieces. The Rat was forced to let go but still wasn't dead. The other three were now too close and he no longer had any time to input the code. "Flash step." Then Varun was suddenly behind them, but he was still too close to the four Rats. Flash step only had a distance of five meters at most. The Rats turned and all ran forward towards him. "I have no choice!" He held out his palm and fired. "Blood burst." A shotgun like spray of blood was released from his hand and it had knocked back all four of the Rat's killing the already injured one. < 4/50 HP> < 100 exp > He then rushed forward to one of the Rats on the ground, held both hands together and slammed it down on another Rat's head killing the second one. < 100 exp > Now the other two Rat's had recovered and were quickly after Varun once again. Out of desperation he swung his hands and activated his blood swipe, although this time, the blood swipes were strong and had killed each one in a single attack. < 100 exp> < 100 exp > < 850/25600 exp > < 2/50 HP > With his time running incredibly low, Varun didn't even bother to get out the beast crystals, there was also the fear that more beasts might be coming. He went up to the door this time inputting the code correctly and as he entered, he shut the door behind him making sure it was locked. He was now in what looked like a reception area, a canteen of sorts with several seats and a desk at the front. It was in top condition compared to the rest of the city. In fact, it looked like an entirely different place. They were two hallways one leading to the left and one leading to the right, both with the words training centre written on them. With his health running low, he had less than two hours to find the portal. He entered the main training hall. It was a large room with several seats in the stands. It reminded Varun of the game as it looked similar. Everything was white in colour and had a modern empty look to it. But as Varun stared at the empty field in the centre, all he could see was disappointment. The arena down below was completely empty. There was not a single thing down there, not even a scrap of metal never mind a portal. Varun fell to his knees in despair. He felt like this was his last chance. There was no way he had the time to go walking around the city looking for another room with a portal. But he didn't give up yet. He lifted himself up the ground and searched and searched around the training centre. He searched in the preparation rooms, the offices, the gym and even back in the reception area. But nothing, there wasn't a single thing he could find. He now laid there on the floor in the centre of the arena. Looking up at the ceiling. < 1/50 HP> The pain in his stomach was too strong, his vision was now blurring up and he could no longer think properly or move. "So this is how my life ends huh." Varun said, "Mum, Dad, why did you leave me on my own, why did you give me this book. I thought when I got this book maybe I might be able to change something but I guess not." Then the final hour had passed. < 0/50 HP > < HP has reached 0 due to Hunger > < Transformation will now begin > **** Remember to vote with your stones for a mass release next week. 5800 Stones = 2 extra chapters 6000 Stones = 4 extra chapters CHAPTER 78: NEW DESTINATION Chapter 78: New Destination That night Dakash struggled to sleep just like every other night. He couldn't remember the last time he got a good night's sleep. Some nights he was able to sleep peacefully and dream just like any other person but then there were times where his mind was sent to the black room. At that time no one was sat in the chair, no one was in control. Lately, this was happening more and more frequently. In the black room, the three of them would usually talk to each other while the body rested but he always had a worry when he was in that room. The chair was empty, any point and time, anyone one of them could sit in the chair and take control. For now, Dakash acted as the gatekeeper but that was only because the little one allowed him to. That's when he felt a slight tug on his arm. "Hey wake up kid, it looks like you were having a nightmare," Ian said. As Dakash opened his eyes he looked around and noticed that he was still in the pitch-black room. "Oh, sorry about that, I hope I wasn't making to much noise," Dakash replied. "Well, this is a scary place, a kid like you shouldn't be here on their own to begin with, so don't worry about it." Said Ian, "Do you mind if we swap for a bit?" Ian then switched places with Dakash. While Ian lay on the cold hard uncomfortable floor, Dakash would look out of the gaps in the bookshelf, keeping watch. In almost an instant from behind him, Dakash could hear the sound of Ian's loud snores. Unlike him, Ian was able to get to sleep almost instantly. "Hey Dakash, so if you aren't going to kill him now what about when we find the portal?" Raten asked. "The advanced crystal he is carrying would be very helpful to us and no one would find out. You've seen how weak he is and now we have his ability it would be easy to finish him off." "While I'm in charge nobody gets hurt," Dakash replied getting annoyed. "Fine but one of these days when we're in trouble, I won't be coming to help you, and when he sees you're doing a bad job, I will be put in charge instead and I am not going to let you decide a single thing." When doing nothing it was hard to tell how much time had past. Dakash didn't even know how long he had been asleep for and with the sky always showing black, he had no way of knowing. After waiting what felt like an entire day, it seemed like Ian had finally woken up. As he lifted himself off the ground, he continued to wince in pain and hold onto his ribs. "I'm telling you, I can't wait to get home," Ian said. Dakash turned around to look at Ian, seeing that he was struggling to get up, he offered his hand once again and pulled him up from the floor. But as Ian got off the ground, his face suddenly dropped, in one of the hole's he had made, all that could be seen was a single large eyeball looking through. Ian immediately went to his waist and grabbed a small dagger throwing it at the beast's eye. Using all his strength and the added stats of the equipment he was wearing, the dagger flew right through the eye and out the other end killing it in a single blow. Then when he pulled his hand back the dagger flew back into his hand. "Let's get out of here!" Ian shouted as he kicked one of the shelves knocking it over. As the two of them climbed on top of the fallen shelf they could see that they had been surrounded. All around the library, on top of the ceiling, on the side of the walls, where multiple slug-like creatures everywhere. They had a single large eye on its head and sticking out of its sides were multiple tentacles coming from the beast's underbelly. "I thought you were keeping a lookout?" Ian said. "I was but the small space would only let me see so far." Dakash was a little distracted deep in his thoughts but even so, it was hard for him to see beasts like these. For they were able to scale up the side of the walls and hang from the ceiling. They were completely surrounded not just around them but also above as well. A few of the slug creatures dropped from above, while the ones around them reached out with their tentacles. There were too many attacking at once, Ian then held out both of his hands with his palms open, objects from all over the library started to vibrate. Slowly they were moving along and coming towards him as if they were being pulled by an invisible force. Then shards of metal from all over came flying towards the two of them at an incredible speed. "Stick close to me kid!" Ian commanded and Dakash did as he was told. The pieces of metal from all over the library and a few pieces from outside had come towards the two of them and formed a ball completely made out of scraps of metal surrounding the two of them. The beast from above fell on top of the metal ball but no damage was done as they slid off. The tentacles from the slugs outside started to attack and made dent's in the ball, loud clanging sounds could be heard from inside as they continued to attack. The force of the tentacle strikes were similar to someone swinging a bat and it would only be a matter of time before the metal ball broke. "Repel!" At that moment, the ball exploded with an incredible force, just how the scrap metal had been pulled together, it was now being pushed out. Little pieces of scrap metal were flung out so hard it had caused several puncture wounds in the beast's body killing them all as it went through their brains and hearts. "Good thing this planet is covered in metal huh," Ian said with a smile on his face. "Come on then, let's not waste these crystals." The two of them went up to the dead slugs and started to carve out the crystals. At that moment in time when the slugs had surrounded them, Dakash had tried to activate his earth ability that he had gotten from Piyush on one of the beasts but there was no such luck. Which meant that he had at least been on the planet for twenty-four hours now. However, he still had Ian's ability handy. Touching him in the library had reset the time frame, so even if Ian was unable to fight or they got separated, Dakash would still be able to use the ability for another twenty-four hours. After gathering the crystals Ian had handed Dakash half of them. "Here take it." "I can't, I didn't do anything." "Look these are only basic tier crystals, I could earn these in my sleep." "Fine," Dakash said. Although Dakash had agreed, he had no space to put the crystals anywhere. He hadn't brought a bag, a pouch or a storage unit with him. After all, it was an unexpected visit. For now, Ian said he would keep the crystals until they returned back to earth. Finally, it was time for the two of them to leave the library and search for the portal once again. The two of them made sure to not attract any beast on their way and to their luck they hadn't come across any more dangers. Then finally the two of them spotted something. "You see that, now if I was going to put a portal anywhere, I would put it in there," Ian said pointing at the large dome building. "What is it?" Dakash asked, "It looks like a training centre." "That's exactly what it is, and it looks like it was well built, the beast around here haven't even been able to scratch it, and it's big enough to build a secret base underneath." The two of them continued walking forward with their next destination in sight, the training centre. **** Please remember to vote for mass release next week. 5800 Stones = 2 extra chapters 6000 Stones = 4 extra Chapters CHAPTER 79: ENTERING THE CENTRE Chapter 79: Entering the Centre Just outside the large dome-like building, Dakash and Ian were preparing to enter. The front of the dome was an open field filled with all sorts of junk. It looked like a battle had taken place outside. They carefully made their way along the field of broken rubbish and Mechs, keeping cover while inching their way closer and closer to the entrance. After looking left and right for any beasts nearby and seeing that there were none there, they decided to make a dash for it. As they ran forward, they reached the hall and moved towards the door but stopped just outside as something had caught their eye. Ian bent down to have a closer look at something lying on the ground. "More dead Rattaclaw's. Another group of them, even," Ian then dipped his finger into the black blood. Even though it was slightly dry, it seemed pretty new. "It doesn't look like they have been dead for long. Looks like someone's already in there." Dakash didn't want to say anything but he was hoping that it was Varun. However, as he walked past the dead Rattaclaw's, if it really was Varun, it seemed like the secret he was hiding from Dakash was bigger than he thought. "A passcode machine?" Dakash said as he spotted it off to the side of the door. "Do you know the combination?" "Are you kidding me, how the hell would I know." Ian then held out both of his hands as he looked at the door. He started to concentrate. After a while, Dakash could see a vein bulging on top of Ian's head. "Damn this door, it's so strong." Ian continued to use his powers but the door was tightly shut and wasn't going to be so easy to break. But then, slowly, the door started creaking and the locks behind the door started to bend. But the sound of the metal door being pulled apart had attracted some unwanted attention. Three Rattaclaws started sneaking around, following the sound until they spotted the two humans by the entrance. "Ian, you better hurry up!" "Just deal with the rats yourself!" Ian shouted. As Ian put more strength into opening the door, part of the door started to bend. But as it started bending, the loud clanging only attracted more unwanted attention. Soon another four Rattaclaws joined. "There's too many!" Dakash then quickly turned to the door and held his hands out as well. "What are you doing, at least hold the back or something?" Ian said, but suddenly, the door was easier to move than before. It was being much more responsive. As Ian looked at Dakash, he could see he too was visibly sweating. "It couldn't be?" With the two of them using their powers, they were finally able to tear the door apart creating a hole just large enough for them to get through. They quickly ran forward and jumped through the small gap. Now inside the building, they turned back around and held out their hands once again focusing all of their power. The Rattaclaw closest to the entrance leapt forward, and its head had just managed to get through the hole. "Close, damn it!" Dakash shouted. Just then, the door bent back, sealing the hole and slicing the Rattaclaw's head off. A loud thump was heard as it hit the floor and slowly rolled away. The two of them, now inside and with the door shut, noticed something. It was incredibly dark inside the training centre. There were a few small white LED lights that were placed on the floor up against the wall, but other than that, the lights above were completely out. As Ian took a step forward, he could hear the sound of glass cracking. "Now why would someone go to the trouble to take out all the lights?" Ian said, "These places are built to last hundreds of years with the power they have and the outside looked like it was untouched." "Maybe it was the person who came in before us?" "Maybe. Here, take this," Ian said, as he chucked over a small pebble-like item. Dakash noticed that it was the same item that he had used when they had made their temporary shelter in the library. As Dakash tapped it once a small orange glow emitted from the stone and surrounded him. "What about you?" Ian then pulled out another stone, tapping it before putting it on his waist. "Now, are you going to tell me about what just happened, or are you going to keep that secret as well?" Dakash let out a little nervous laugh. "No secrets. My ability allows me to copy other abilities. I copied it when I saw you use it at the library." Dakash had no reason to lie to the man. He already knew he could use the same ability and what were the chances that Dakash had the same rare ability as the man. However, Dakash wasn't going to reveal the fact that he needed to touch the man to copy his abilities. That part he would keep to himself. "That's kind of cool. I wish I could do something like that," Ian said, "Come on let's go," Dakash was surprised by the man's actions. He thought he might yell or complain that he had done something without his permission, but this was something that he hadn't experienced before. The two of them continued to walk along the dark hall. For now, there was only one direction they could go and the LED lights helped lead them the right way. "Psst, hey Dakash, this is your last chance, switch with me now," Raten said, "If the portal's in here, I can save you the hard work and kill him straight away." "Buzz off, will you." "Fine, but that was your last chance." The two of them had finally arrived at the reception room. There were still small LED lights placed across the room, so at least they had a sense for the size of the room. Still, just like the previous room, the lights had been taken out. Each of the lights above were smashed in. "It must have been a beast," Ian said. "What makes you say that?" Dakash asked. "Well, a lot of beasts on this planet are on a cycle. For the year it remains dark, they go out and hunt. But when the sun comes out, they hibernate for the year. My guess is that a beast sensitive to light managed to get inside somehow and started to destroy them all. If it was a human that did this, they could have just found the source of power and shut them all off at once, or even just used the light switch." They continued to move forward until they had eventually reached the front desk. Now, all that was left was to enter the arena and they did so, going through one of the entrances. When they exited, they had come out into the stands. "Grahhh!" As soon as they entered, fierce growls started coming from the hallway. "Quick, turn of your stone!" Ian whispered loudly. However, it was useless. They could hear footsteps banging against the floor as something came rushing forward from the arena and into the stands. "RAKKKKKKKKKK!" A loud screech echoed through the entire arena, as the creature had spotted its prey and was now running full force towards them. **** Please remember to vote for mass release. 5800 Stones = 2 extra Chapters 6000 Stones = 4 extra Chapters CHAPTER 80: BLOODSUCKER Chapter 80: Bloodsucker < Transformation will now begin >As soon as this message appeared, Varun felt an unbearable pain all over his body. It felt as if his insides were burning with fire. The white of his eyes slowly started to fill with black and his teeth started to grow in size.However, the pain didn't stop there. His body started jerking itself up and down as if something was trying to break free, and his skin started to wrap around his body even tighter. The features of his bones started to show more and hair was falling from his head.< Your mind is unstable >< Your bloodlust has reached its maximum level >< You are now a (Crazed) Bloodsucker >< All stats will be doubled >< Health will be halved >< While in this form, all blood skills are unavailable >Although he received message after message about what state he was in, Varun was unable to read any of them because his consciousness had fallen apart.A humanoid figure remained, but what was now standing in the middle of the arena was no longer human. The creature left standing had a bald scalp, claw-like hands, the teeth of a monster, and a hunched back.It opened it's pitch-black eyes and was startled by the light, stumbling over in pain, as its senses had been heightened to an unimaginable degree."REKKKKKKK!" It then let out a loud piercing screech that echoed through the large training centre. With its eyes closed, it ran forward at an inhuman speed and when it reached the side of the wall, it dug its claws in and started to climb up.It quickly moved up to the ceiling before smashing the light with its fist. The light was now no more. With the light taken out, the Bloodsucker was now able to open its eyes. It could see just as clear as if it was day inside.It let go of the ceiling, causing it to fall the ground. The drop was at least 30 meters from the top, but as it landed it bent its knees and walked away as it had taken no damage at all.The Bloodsucker started to roam around the training centre. As it entered each room, it continued to destroy the lights. It only had room in his mind for one thing, its need for blood.After transforming into the Bloodsucker, Varun's thoughts, emotions, and everything that made him human were gone, his body acted on its own and that single thought of blood occupied him. Finally, after he had destroyed every light in every room, he returned to the arena in the training centre. As if it didn't know what to do, it started walking in circles, waiting for his prey.Then a few moments later, Dakash and Ian had entered the room. Although they were quiet, Varun, or what was left of him anyway, could hear everything. Their soft footsteps against the floor and even their whispers to each other.His head turned and saw two bright lights. At first, the light covered the humans so he was unable to tell what they were but when they turned the lights off, he could tell that a meal had arrived on his doorstep.*****Ian and Dakash could hear the sound of something running towards them, but it was too dark to tell what it was.Now that they had been discovered there was no need to stay in complete darkness. Ian went to his belt to touch the stone but before he reached it, the beast was already upon him.Being in the dark had adjusted the two's eyes a little, and the LED lights going across the edge of the arena helped. Now the beast was close enough to tell that it had a human figure.As the beast held out its claws, Ian too came out with his fists."A battle of strength it is, then!"However, the beast's hands had wrapped around Ian's fists and stopped them in its tracks. Then using its nails, it dug into Ian's fists drawing out blood."What monstrous strength! Damn it, to meet a humanoid beast of all types here!"As it smelled the blood fall from Ian's hands, it started to growl and screech even more. It opened its mouth revealing two huge fangs. It then tried moving its head forward, chomping down Ian's fists, but activating all the strength in the beast equipment he was wearing, he tried pushing the beast back and managed to stop him a little.Then the beast lifted both of its legs off the ground and kicked Ian away, causing him to crash into a nearby wall.As it saw Ian was injured, it started to run towards him, but before it could reach him, a metal chair from the stand came flying out and knocked the beast away.Dakash quickly rushed to Ian's side and lifted him off the ground."Thanks, kid.""What was that?" Dakash asked."I don't know. I've never seen anything like it, but it looks like a humanoid-type beast. I don't know much about them but all I know is that their one of the most powerful types of beasts to be discovered on other planets. This is my first time seeing one." Ian replied.The chair didn't keep the beast down for long, as the smell of blood was too strong. It attracted the beast and as soon as it got up from the ground it immediately started running in the direction of the two again."Turn on your light stone!" Ian said."Huh?""Quick the light stone!"As the two of them turned on the light stone, the beast suddenly stopped. It covered its eyes and backed away from the two."It looks like I was right," said Ian, "That beast must have been the one to take out all the lights, it looks like its super sensitive."But the two were foolish thinking the light stones would be enough to keep the Bloodsucker away from its prey.The beast didn't need to rely on its eyesight to know where the two were. The smell of Ian's blood was enough. From the stands, it started to rip out the chairs and proceed to hurl them at the two.Luckily, the chairs were made out of a metal material, so Ian and Dakash were able to repel them away. The chairs continued to be chucked at an incredible rate as each one was ripped from the stands.Then the beast decided to rush forward with its eyes closed. As it got close to the two, it started to attack them blindly."How does it know where we are?" Ian said."Dakash get out of there!" Raten said."What do you mean?" Dakash asked."Can't you see, the beast is only attacking Ian, something is attracting it to Ian."With Raten's words, Dakash decided to break away from Ian and ran down to the arena floor and just like he said, the beast had completely ignored Dakash and continued to attack at Ian."We have to help him! Raten switch with me!""No!" Raten replied."We could die!""You had your chance before, it's time you learn your lesson, get out of this one yourself Dakash."Then a new voice was heard from within."I will help you." Ian and the beast continued to do battle. Unfortunately for Ian, the only source of metal he could control in the arena were the chairs and it took him some time to attract those things toward him. He would rip two chairs out from the stands and would use them as shield blocking the beast's attacks.However, every time the beast would hit with its fist, it would completely tear through the chairs. The attacks were too powerful.Then the beast leapt through the air with its fangs wide open. Ian had no choice but to shove his forearm into the beast mouth, hoping to avoid a fatal blow.He screamed in pain.< Blood is being consumed >< 10/100 >< 14/100 >Ian could feel the beast sucking onto his arm. He wanted to push and hit the beast off him but as soon as the fangs penetrated his skin, it felt like he was under a paralysis effect, and his body was unable to move.< 25/100 >As the beast was busy feasting on its meal, it was unable to notice the sharp object flying towards it. Like a spear, a flying metal object had come out and pierced the beast's shoulder. The blow was fast and powerful, enough to knock him off Ian.As Ian stood up he looked into the centre of the arena and could see Dakash standing there surrounded by multiple metal chairs from the arena."I just want to find my pet, Varun," the little one said.****Please remember to vote for mass release.5800 Stones = 2 extra Chapters6000 Stones = 4 extra Chapters CHAPTER 81: THE LITTLE ONE VS BLOODSUCKER Chapter 81: The little one Vs Bloodsucker The paralysis effect from the Bloodsucker was slowly starting to wear off and as it did, Ian lifted himself off the ground to have a look at just what was going on. In the centre of the arena, the area was lit up by the small glow stone where Dakash was standing. But he wasn't just standing there on his own, he had multiple chairs that had been taken from the arena surrounding him. "How is he able to use the ability so well already? Even I would struggle to do something like this if I was in top condition. Didn't he only copy my ability a while ago?" As the bloodsucker lifted himself off the ground, he pulled the metal object that had been lodged into his shoulder and dropped it onto the floor. 20/25 HP "Rakkkk!" The Bloodsucker snarled out, its attention was now fully focused on what had caused him pain. Instead of going in straight for an attack and charging in though, the Bloodsucker dug it's claw into the wall and started to climb upwards. "How are we meant to see him now?" said Dakash. "It's too dark and the beast can attack from anywhere." "I have no time to play games." The little one said. He lifted his hands and started to crumble up each of the chairs into several metal spikes all looming above his head. Then he waited, the beast jumped down from above and as soon as the little one could hear and see him, he immediately repelled all the spikes in that direction. However, as the beast was falling through the air and the first spike came towards him, it spun around and grabbed the spike throwing it back at an incredible speed. But the little one had prepared for this too. He had already gathered a pile of chairs from the arena and mushed them together to form a shield. He placed this on the ground so he could easily pick it up when needed. As the spike came towards him, he lifted the shield but what he didn't expect was the blow to be so powerful, that the spike had managed to still penetrate the shield he created, which was at least 6 inches thick with metal chairs. "Hahaha!" Raten started laughing, "Looks like I really missed out on this one, did you see how strong it was? I would have loved to deal with this guy. Dakash you would have been killed within seconds." Although the beast was able to throw back one spear, while in the air he was unable to move. The other spears that were targeted, had managed to penetrate him, going through his body and sticking him to the ceiling of the dome. 10/25 HP The beast no longer caring for the damage that had been done to its own body, it lifted its legs up against the ceiling and pushed with all its strength allowing the spikes to completely go through his body. However, the hole marks that could be seen in his body quickly healed up. All though it didn't add to the beast's health it would still allow him to fight as if he had never been hurt. He landed in the arena stands and began hitting a few chairs as he landed. As soon as it stood up it began to rush forward recklessly towards Dakash's direction. "This thing, why isn't it dead yet!" Dakash said. A few more chairs had been turned into metallic spikes and he threw them towards the beast once again. This time the beast continued to run forward and moved out of the way of each spike. Its eyes were slowly adjusting to the light that had surrounded Dakash and now it could see the spikes as it left his side. As soon the spike left Dakash's side, the beast would react and move out of the way of each blow. "Is it me or did that thing just get faster," Dakash said. "This is bad, the little one isn't at full strength." Raten added, "If only there were two more ability user's nearby." The Bloodsucker continued to move forward avoiding each and every spike thrown at it, then when it was close enough it swung it's claw out. The shield was raised blocking the blow, but as the claw hit the shield it was completely shattered unable to be used again. Now with no more metal surrounding the little one, the beast was able to freely attack. As it took a step forward though, it felt something sharp pierce into its foot. As the beast looked down it was another metal spike. It looked in the distance and noticed that Ian had managed to recover. He had his hand held out and had thrown the spike out into the beast leg. 7/25 HP Suddenly though, tears started to fall from the little one's face. Now that the beast was close enough, the light from the stone shown and reviled the face and clothes of the beast. The beast in front of him was wearing the same uniform, and although it didn't look exactly like Varun, it had similar qualities in its face. He didn't know what happened to make Varun turn into a creature like this but he could feel that the beast and Varun was the same person. "I've done it again, I have hurt another one." The little one said. "What are you doing!" Ian shouted, "Kill it." Ian then crumpled up another nearby chair and threw out another spike, this time aiming for the beast's head. It came flying through the sky and was on target to hit but before it did, it stopped mid-air. "No!" The little one then moved its hand throwing the spike to one side, then using its other hand it pulled the other spike out of its leg. The beast was now free to move around. It instantly looked at the last person who had hit him and immediately started to run towards Ian's direction. Ian was still under the effects of the paralysis when he had thrown the previous spike. When he threw the spike, he had originally aimed for the beast's head but missed. He still managed to luckily hit its foot though. Seeing the beast quickly running towards him as every second passed. he panicked and started to fling out chair after chair but the Bloodsucker was too powerful. It simply knocked them away with its hands sending them flying through the air. Ian then pulled out his trusty dagger ready to attack but when he looked in front of him the beast had vanished from his view, the next second he was staring up at the ceiling with his back on the floor. Then when he looked down at his body his legs were now completely detached from himself, blood pouring from them. The Bloodsucker then dragged the top half of Ian's body away into the hallway out of the arena, afraid that the other person might disturb its meal. **** Mass release tomorrow. 6000 Goal hit! = 4 extra chapters Unlocked} Extra goal 8000 stones = 6 extra Chapters CHAPTER 82: THE SEARCH FOR A RAT Chapter 82: The search for a Rat The students had just been informed that the portal expedition that was meant to be going on today, would be cancelled. Although many people didn't know the reason why, they had a good guess that it might have had something with the two students who didn't arrive in class today. Students didn't just, not turn up to class for no reason. The city was their whole life, the school was their whole life. For the next two years, everything you did there would decide your future. Layla had been planning to confront Piyush on the situation especially since he had been acting so strangely but before she could even get to him, he had already run away. "Come on Zoya, let's go find out what he's hiding," Layla said but as she took a few steps forward she noticed that Zoya wasn't following her. "Zoya?" "I have no need to get involved in your affairs. I don't really care what happened to the other two. I hardly knew them before choosing to team up with them." Zoya replied. "Look at it this way right. You said you wanted to create the strongest team in the class yeah? You and Dakash are clearly the strongest in this class and if you want to outperform the others form the other classes, you're going to have to team up with each other. Our team has already registered and I don't even know if they can find a replacement, so we might not even be allowed to take part in the expedition." After hearing Layla's last words her eyes suddenly lit up. "What did you say? Let's go find that Rat." The two of them now working together started to look around the school to see if they were any signs of Piyush anywhere but the two were unable to find him. They knocked on his dorm room door a few times as well but there was no answer. The dorm room doors each opened via a fingerprint sensor on the door handle. So even if Piyush was in his room the two of them wouldn't have been able to enter. They could have waited outside but the longer they waited the more Layla started to worry about Varun. If he was unable to get blood, she knew first-hand what Varun could do. As they continued to search for Piyush, they still couldn't find him but they did find a group of people who might have known where he was. It was Earl and his group of five other boys. "Haven't I seen them hang around with Piyush a few times at breakfast?" The group were inside one of the training centres. This one in particular, was filled with testing equipment that they used on new students and was also an area where students were able to practise on the machines. If they had increased their ability level or obtained new skills, they could test themselves on the machines, write down the scores and hand them to staff to upgrade the status on their wristwatch. If Layla was on her own, she would have never approached the group but she had Zoya by her side. "Hey guys," Layla said with a smile as she approached the group of boys. Before replying Earl took a glance at her wristwatch and saw that she was only a level 2. "What do you want?" Earl replied. Layla's eyebrow started to twitch hearing Earls rotten attitude and tone in his voice, but she was used to this. She had her fair share of bad treatment at her own school. "We're not here looking for trouble, just wondering if you knew where Piyush was?" She said putting on a fake smile. The group looked at each other and started to laugh. "Looks like they really aren't his real friends, I knew something was going on." She thought. "Piyush?" Earl said, "I wouldn't be surprised if that kid tried running out of the city by now." "Yeah Earl, I can't believe he actually did it, if I did that, I know I'd never be able to live with myself." One of the men standing behind Earl said. Earl immediately turned his head and gave a scorn look at the man. "Sorry, Earl." He said. "Anyway, buzz off you two, we're not saying a single thing, if you want to find Piyush then go find him yourself." Although Layla was annoyed, there was nothing she could do, she wanted to stand her ground and beat the information out of them, but Earl was a lever four user, while the rest behind him were similar level to herself. She had no choice but to turn and head back on her search for Piyush. As she walked off the group started to laugh but as soon as she passed Zoya, she realised she wasn't following her once again. "Where are you going?" Zoya asked. "To find peter, these guys won't tell us anything." "I see no reason for us to find Piyush anymore," Zoya replied. "What do you mean?" "Well, these people clearly by their conversation earlier either know what Piyush did or at least also know where Dakash and Varun are." Zoya then started to walk up to the group of five. "I don't want to waste any more time." Mist and frost started to form just above her hands and suddenly, a fully formed ice spear had appeared. Before the other students could even react, she had already thrown the ice spear hitting Earl on his shoulder and pinning him against one of the drum's that were used to show a student's power. As Earl's body landed on the drum the numbers started to rise until it eventually stopped at twenty. The group watching this knew she was strong but the machine had only confirmed their fears. The group had no intention of fighting back after seeing Zoya powers they knew their place was under someone like her. However, she didn't care, she then placed both of her hands on the ground and a trail of ice started to appear travelling across the floor eventually reaching the group's leg's and freezing them all in place. "Now which one of you is going to tell me what I want to know first," Zoya said. CHAPTER 83: YOUR CHOICE Chapter 83: Your Choice Layla having witnessed the whole thing was amazed, she knew Zoya's strength, especially after training with her and seeing her fight before but it always seemed like whoever she went up against, was no match for her. Although she had a power level of five, she seemed to be much stronger than that. Layla had seen a couple of level five users before but they weren't this skilful in using their abilities. Zoya then started to walk up to one of the students whose legs were frozen. It was the man who had let his tongue slip earlier and Earl had given him a scolding. She placed her hand on his shoulder and slowly the ice from his legs started to rise and cover his body. "Wait, I'll tell you everything, I don't know where Piyush is, he was meant to meet us here a while ago but he never showed up." "Why is peter hiding?" Layla asked. "Don't tell them Ben!" Earl shouted still stuck on the machine. "If you do, you're out of the gang!" Zoya then gathered another ice spear in her hand and threw it once again, this time aiming for Earl's leg. It seemed like she had thrown the spear with more force, as the spear stuck into his leg, Earl screamed in pain and the numbers once again started to rise on the machine. This time the numbers went beyond twenty and rose up to thirty. The commotion was starting to cause the attention of other students who were busy practising away in the arena as well. "Thirty, I've never got a number that high just how strong is she?" But Layla knew this wasn't her full strength, at the test site her strength alone had reached up to the number fifty, she was still going easy on these students. Zoya then looked at Ben and started to form another spear. "The next one goes in one of your holes and I still need the one your speaking from." Crazy was the only thought Ben had, who cares if he was no longer apart of Earl's gang. As long as he worked hard in school, he could slowly move his way up the ladder. This was not worth the pain. "Wait, please. Piyush, we're not sure exactly what happened but we heard he pushed Dakash into a portal, that's all we know, we don't know why Varun is missing as well." Of course, Earl was the one who was behind everything, he and his group had given Piyush the instructions to push Dakash into the portal. When they had heard the news that two students were missing and confirmed Dakash was one of them. They though Piyush had done what he asked. Unknown to them, Piyush hadn't actually pushed Dakash but Varun instead. After hearing their answers Zoya did as she said and walked away from the group. "Wait, aren't you going to free us!" Ben shouted. "The ice will melt in a couple of hours, or maybe someone in the room with an ability can help you. That's your punishment for making me wait instead of telling this girl what she wanted straight away." As Zoya walked off exiting out of the training centre, Layla quickly followed behind her. "Thanks for that." "That wasn't for you, I just hate it when guys think they're better than us, better show people like that their place." Although Layla didn't completely agree with Zoya's methods. She knew she wasn't the type to abuse her power to those who were weaker than her. But Layla had something else on her mind. Did Piyush really push Dakash into the portal and if Varun was missing as well did that mean he went in after them? She dreaded the thought that there was the chance that the two of them could have ended up on some unknown planet. Even worse, she feared that Varun might have grown too hungry and had no choice but to dine in on his friend. Just then though, as the two of them were about to exit through the doors. The door opened inward and a familiar face was seen. It was Piyush. Immediately seeing Layla standing there, Piyush went running off But Zoya had reached out and grabbed him by the collar pulling him back. She then slammed him up against the wall. Before he could even think about running away again. She placed her hands on his and started to freeze him. He was now held up in place on the wall. Seeing Piyush here must have meant he was planning to meet up with Earl and the others and judging by his strange actions, what they had said might have been true, but Layla needed to hear it from his own mouth. "Piyush tell us the truth, did you really push Dakash into the portal?" She asked. "What are you going to do hit me?" Piyush replied, "because trust me I have already had my fair share of pain. Whatever you plan to do to me, go ahead. I guarantee you I have already experienced any pain you can think off." Zoya then started to form a small little needle-shaped ice pick in her hand. "Really, I'm sure there are a few places I could stick this in which would leave you wishing you'd kill yourself." Layla then motioned for her to put the ice pick down and was starting to think Zoya had other problems. "Piyush I thought they were your friends, you know, every day Varun would ask about how you were to me. He told me that if I ever saw anything strange to come back to him. Why didn't you just tell him, or even just tell us what was happening." "You don't know, what would happen if I told you guys? You'd go beat them up, then what? They would just come back for revenge but do you think they would go after you, Zoya or Dakash. No of course not, they would go after me. So you say you can protect me but for how long? Could you keep an eye on me twenty-four hours of the day and then what happens when I leave this academy and you guys aren't there. My whole life has already been decided for me even before I arrived here." Piyush then started to break down into tears. "I didn't want to do it, I didn't have a choice." Layla had clenched her fist and was ready to punch Piyush in the face. She couldn't believe after all Varun had done for Piyush behind the scenes and all though she didn't like Dakash. She knew Dakash cared for him too. Seeing Piyush's tearful face, she dropped her hand down to her side. "You're not even worth hitting Piyush, you disgust me." She then turned and walked off and had one last word. "You always have a choice." CHAPTER 84: AGENT 83 Chapter 84: Agent 83 Inside one of the meeting rooms located in the first-year building. A meeting had been called. Currently sitting at the head of the table was Nathan and by his side was Fay, who had been in charge of the investigation of the missing two students. As they waited, several other teachers started to enter the room. Del, who was Dakash and Varun's homeroom teacher, Leo who was the beast weapons teacher and finally Hayley the school's doctor. Nathan didn't want word to spread out about what had happened since the 1st year students were his responsibility. Therefore, he called his most trusted Sergeant by his side to inform them of what his plans were. "Fay would you please inform the others of why they have been called here today," Nathan asked. Fay then stood up with a report held in her hand. "As you have been made aware, two of our students have gone missing and due to that, we have had to delay the first year's outing. However, if this was a simple missing persons case we would not have called you all out here today." Fay then pressed a button on her controller and a hologram appeared revealing a certain planet and around it, there were two moons. "The missing students seemed to have entered into a portal but not just any portal, a red portal." The faces of the others started to drop as they heard the news. "How or why we do not know but one of the students was Dakash. An original from a powerful family. The mission is not to bring him back alive but to at least bring his body back. That way the family can say their goodbyes and it should calm down their anger." "What about the other student?" Leo asked. "The other student is not a priority; he goes by the name of Varun Partap. A weak level one with no family an orphan. There is no need to worry about him." "Do you know where the portal leads to?" Hayley asked. "As you can see in the diagram the red portal leads to an abandoned planet named Pioletic. It was one of the very first planets the human race had ever created a shelter on. It was safe for the most part but as the place was filled with weak beasts. However, that was until a year had passed and nightfall had come. Beasts stronger than we had ever seen before came and attacked the shelter, we had no choice but to abandon the place." Fay explained. "This is why we have called you four," Nathan said as he stood up. "The four of you will head out through the red portal immediately. Don't worry our latest reports say that the beasts that attacked the shelter have long since moved on. The place is mostly filled with Rattaclaw sc.u.m and the odd intermediate beast here and there." Del then slammed his fist onto the table. "Why should we risk our lives for a couple of students who may have just jumped into the portal themselves." "Would you like to be the one to go to the Blade family and explain to them why their son has died and gone missing. How even though we insisted on these watches, to keep track of where they are we still weren't able to keep an eye on them." Nathan said, "This is an order, not a request." ***** Meanwhile, Layla was still worrying over Varun. Now that she knew he had most likely gone through a portal, her worries only started to double. "Don't worry too much," Zoya said. "If Dakash is with him, he will protect his friend. Of course, unless they went through a red portal that is. But she was more worried that Dakash might be used as an emergency ration during the trip more than anything. Without any food or water supplies with them, Perhaps Varun would suck him dry. As they were walking through the hallway, they noticed that a group of students were gossiping and as they walked past, they heard Dakash's name being mentioned. "What did you say?" Layla asked, "Would you mind repeating that?" The girl looked slightly nervous as Layla was directly in her face. "We were just talking about the missing students, Dumbo here has the ability of super hearing and had heard in on the meeting saying that Dakash was stuck on a Red portal planet." After hearing those words Layla felt her blood pressure suddenly rise. "Damn, maybe I shouldn't have jinxed it." Said Zoya. "Do you remember anything else, the name of the planet, if another student went with them?" Zoya said now shaking Dumbo who was standing next to the female student. "um Yeah they said the planets name was Pioletic, and they said something about Varun being there as well." Layla then got out of Dumbo's face and immediately started rushing towards her room. "I'm sorry Zoya, I've got to run somewhere. Thank's for all the help." "I wonder what that was all about." With her two teammates stuck in another world and nothing else for Zoya to now do. She decided she would continue training while she waited for them to return. Layla had rushed off towards her dorm room as quick as she could after hearing about what planet they were on. As she entered the room, she locked the door behind her and placed a chair on the handle. Her roommate luckily wasn't in at the moment which meant she was free to do what she had planned. She then bent down under her bed and pulled out a small little box. As she opened the box a circular black sphere shape ball was inside. "I already checked the room for any microphones and there didn't seem to be any." said Layla, "I guess the other families really did put pressure on them not to invade privacy so much." She then tapped the top of the sphere and a clicking sound was heard. A white ring started to light up and went around in circles for a few seconds before it finally completely lit up. "Agent 83, what seems to be the problem?" A voice said from the ball. "Is it to do with the mission?" "I have found someone who will be a great help to our cause, however, it appears he is stuck somewhere, would you be able to check if there are any agents on a planet named, Pioletic," Layla asked. "Give me a few moments… I'm afraid all our agents have left that planet a while ago, is there anything else I can help you with." "No that is it, thank you," Layla said. "Then may I wish you luck in your mission, may Pure be with you." "May Pure be with you," Layla replied. CHAPTER 85: TURNING BACK Chapter 85: Turning Back On planet Pioletic, it was still night time outside and it still would be for another six months. The two moons shone brightly on the shelter showing signs of a great battle that had once taken place. Inside the training centre, in the dome-like building. A single boy was alone on his knees, tears running down his face. "Was that really Varun?" Dakash asked. "What happened to him, he looked so…" "Ugly?" Raten said. "Shut up!" The little one screamed. The little one then immediately left the chair inside the darkroom, leaving it open for Dakash to take control once again. As he left the chair he went into dark space and sat down on the floor. He held his hands over his knees and started rocking backwards and forwards. "I did it again" He mumbled," I hurt another one." Now that Dakash was back in control the tears had suddenly stopped, Dakash lifted himself off the ground and started walking forward. "You do know he will be like that for a while now," Raten said. "I know, but we have more serious problems to worry about, if that really is Varun what happened to him, and can we even help him turn back?" Dakash then stopped walking forward as he had reached the torn apart body on the floor in the stands. All that was left of Ian was his two legs that had been torn from the waist down. "Well, at least you aren't the one that has to kill him anymore," Raten said. He then continued to walk forward following the trail of blood. The beast had taken the top half of the body which left a trail behind which made it easy to follow. "Hey wait, check the man's trousers. He had that advanced tier beast crystal don't you remember. Now that he's dead, we may as well take it." Although Dakash didn't like disrespecting the dead and didn't often agree with Raten, in this case it made sense to not let such a precious thing go to waste. Peoples abilities only went so far, apart from original abilities the ones that were known to the public went up to eight. But even beyond the level eight, there was a power difference between them all and the simple reason for that was beast crystals. The equipment that could be made from different beast crystals could heavily sway the favour of the fight to one person. It was the whole reason why the Pure group was such a threat to begin with, even though they chose not to use abilities. After searching Ian's trousers though there was no such luck and no crystal was found. "Do you really think it's a good idea to follow that thing?" Raten asked. "I need to see if that thing was really Varun, you know if I don't, the little one will punish us." Dakash then looked around and held out his hand, attracting one of the chairs form the stands and held it in his hands. He held it in front of him like a shield as he walked forward. "Like that's really going to do anything, did you see the same monster as I did?" Raten complained. "Why does he put an idiot like you in charge?" **** The Bloodsucker continued to drag Ian's body across the floor looking for somewhere safe to eat its meal. It turned and turned several corridors until it finally arrived at what looked like resting quarters. As it approached one of the rooms, there was a metal door in front blocking it and next to it was another access code machine. The beast looked at the door and kicked with all its strength causing the door to go flying into the back of the room. The room was mostly empty as it was only designed for temporary stay. The only thing that was in there was a single bed, a sink in the corner and a desk. It then went to the back of the wall before sitting down. It continued to handle Ian's body like some type of ragdoll turning him around until he was in position, then finally it opened its mouth wide revealing two of its large fangs and bit into Ian's neck. 35/100 42/100 ….. As the beast continued to suck Ian's blood a notification screen appeared slowly rising up until eventually, the number had hit 100. 100/100 Sufficient blood has been consumed Transformation will now end Your mind is starting to stabilize Just then, shooting pain once again started to enter Varun's body only this time, it was starting to revert back to normal. His claw-like hands began to shrink down and go back to shape to what they once were. His incredibly tight skin softened around his body and face. His ears were no longer pointed and his teeth too returned to normal and finally, the white in his eyes could be seen once again. As his body returned to normal, he started to huff and pant heavily. His whole body was sore and his mind was ringing like crazy. Then images started to flash into his head, everything that he had done while he was the Bloodsucker, even though he had no control he felt like he was there every step of the way. "Dakash, what's he doing here?" Then more images started to flash into his head and finally, he remembered slicing a man in half. As he opened his eyes and the ringing pain had stopped in his head, he looked Infront of him he could see a half-torn eaten man, with two large puncture wounds on his neck. "That was me!" First Human killed High-level user detected Reward: Instant level up Although Varun was still in shock that he had killed a human for the first time, he didn't have much time to think about it as the system had hit him with multiple messages at once and there were even more to come. Congratulations you are now level 10 Evolution process has begun! "Evolution process?" Just then Varun's heart started pounding harder than before, his veins all around his body started to show as the blood rushed through. Varun could feel every little part of his body but it wasn't a nice feeling. It felt like his blood was made of spikes and as it went through and around his body, he could feel it tearing everything apart. Just then, a footstep was heard entering the room, Dakash had arrived. "Varun?" **** A few more chapters tomorrow for the weekend mass release. Please keep voting to show your support for the series. 8000 stones = 6 Chapter mass release next week. CHAPTER 86: EVOLUTION COMPLETE Chapter 86: Evolution complete The room looked like a prison cell brawl gone bad. Inside was the top half of Ian's body on the floor, blood still oozing from the bottom half and his gut's spilling out. If Dakash had never seen a scene like this before, it would cause a normal person to throw up all over the place. Then when he looked up, he could see Varun kneeling on the floor in pain. It was as he thought, the creature that attacked him before was him. Although he no longer looked like the beast anymore it was clear, the damaged uniform, the dead body on the floor. "Hey Varun are you alright, is something wrong, do you need anything?" Dakash asked. "Get away!" Varun groaned out as the pain continued to shoot through his whole body. "Maybe I can help?" "I said get away!" Varun's voice sounded deep and dark and as he lifted his head, Dakash could see his eyes were now glowing red. "Hey Dakash, I think you better listen to the kid, he could be turning into that thing again," Raten said. But it was too late, Dakash had taken one step too many and was now within striking distance. Varun lashed out flinging his arm at Dakash. However, he was able to lift his metal chair up in time blocking the attack but it didn't do much. The metal chair was immediately ripped by Varun's hands and the attack managed to craze Dakash's chest, flinging him backwards. "Blood!" Varun screamed, "Give me blood!" The smell coming of Dakash's chest was so sweet. "What did I tell you, that chair was useless!" Raten complained, "Quick seal the door shut." Dakash no longer hesitated and using his abilities, he pulled the broken door back in place and using all his powers quickly sealed it up. Varun was no longer chasing after Dakash but instead knelt on the floor crying in pain. Dakash stayed there with his hands held up holding the door in place, fear that whatever was inside or whatever was happening to Varun would come out again and attack him. The screams continued for a good fifteen minutes until they eventually died down and stopped. "Varun?" Dakash called out softly hoping not to startle him. "Is everything okay?" "Yeah," Varun replied. "Just give me a few moments, I'll let you know when it's okay." The pain had finally stopped and Varun really did need a few minutes to get a hang of everything. For the system was revealing so much new information to him in one go. Congratulations evolution was Successful, you are now a Vampire! Level 10 Race: Vampire 0/100 EXP HP 60/60 Strength: 15 Agility: 15 Stamina: 15 Charm: 5 Blood Family bonus: 0 Just looking at his status screen alone, so much had changed. Varun had yet to put his extra stat point but it seemed like two more options were added to the stats screen. The first one being the Charm stat and the second being a blood family bonus. Although with no explanation Varun was clueless to what these two things did. But what he did understand was that he had gone from a Halfling into a full-fledged Vampire now. Varun had expected this change might have happened as he continued to level up, he only hoped that it didn't happen so soon. For there was the worry, now that he was a Vampire instead of a Halfling what happened when he stepped into the sun? However, there were even more messages to come from the system. Skill: Blood ritual unlocked 0/2 Members New skill: Daze This skill has no cost and can be used on the opponent to stun them between 0.2 seconds and 0.5 seconds at a time. Must have direct eye contact with the opponent. The skill has a chance of failing, depending on the strength of the enemy and on the user's Charm points. The more the skill is used on an opponent the higher chance they have off resisting. Two new skills had been unlocked, although there was no description at all for the first one which just left Varun confused. However, now he knew there was some use for the charm stat. But the messages didn't stop there. Shop has been unlocked New tutorials have been unlocked System level 2 will now activate Just then, a screen had appeared in front of Varun and once again it was the handsome blonde man he had seen the last time, the man who had taught him the hammer strike and the flash step. "Congrats!" The man said. "You have now officially joined the family. I thought maybe a simple human wouldn't be able to make it this far but it looks like my little experiment was a success. Now that the system has been upgraded to level 2, I had a good friend of mine install an AI system with my voice. It's amazing right! Now you'll never feel alone again and if you ever have a question about the system just ask." "What!" Varun thought, "Why wasn't the system like this from the beginning?" "Now you're probably thinking why didn't I design it this way from the very beginning, the truth is you needed to be able to get this far on your own. From your own mistakes along the way, they can only make you stronger." For some reason, Varun felt the urge to punch the man if he ever met him in real life. "Now before I leave you, although the AI system will help you answer any questions you have about the system, it is not able to go beyond that, so here are my final recorded words. I'm sorry but now that you are a vampire, others will come looking for you. They have already blended into society so it's almost impossible to tell who is one and who isn't. If you want to live a life of freedom as I did, then get stronger, create a force of your own and fight back. Good luck my friend." With that, the recorded message had ended and the screen had disappeared. Varun had many questions he wanted to ask the man but he knew it was impossible. With the new system upgrade and the shop unlocked, he wanted to check out all the new things but as he looked at the dead body in front of him reality had hit him. "I'm really not human anymore, am I?" Varun wanted to get stronger to protect himself and others from the abuse of those above but now he had just killed a man, but for some reason, he didn't feel sad about it. In fact, it felt like it was just something he needed to do to survive. Before Varun was to check out all the new things the system had reviled there was one more problem he needed to face and it was on the other side of the door. It was time to confront Dakash. **** We reached 9600 Stones last week! Unlocking 6-chapter mass release for next Saturday. Also, I owe 2 chapters so 8, I haven't forgotten just been really busy with teacher work as final exams come up. New Goals! We can do it! 9500 Stones = 2 extra chapters 10,000 Stones = 4 extra Chapters CHAPTER 87: ARE YOU SCARED? Chapter 87: Are you scared? Around ten minutes had passed since Dakash had last heard Varun say anything. But he preferred this over the screaming Varun. Before he felt like at any second, a rampage might start-up from him, but right now, he was relaxed and no longer had his handheld up holding the door. He lent up against the door with his back propped up against it. "Hey, what are we still doing here?" Raten asked. "Any second now that guy could be eating us, I don't understand." "But he isn't, is he?" Dakash replied, "Do you think he couldn't have eaten us just now, to be honest, I don't even think me holding up the door with my ability would have been enough to stop him." He then lifted his hand across his chest; the wound had dried up and was starting to scab over. Then, movement from the other side of the door was heard as Varun started to lift himself up from the ground. "Dakash, you still there?" Varun asked. "Yeah, I'm here. You alright now?" "Yeah, I'm okay, you probably want to know what just happened don't you?" "Well, I would be lying if I said no." Varun then took a deep breath as he prepared to tell Dakash the whole tail. It was hard for him. Unlike Layla, who had been so accepting of it, not everyone was like her, and he was afraid of Dakash's reaction. He slowly started at the beginning about how he had obtained a book, and after using it felt different all of a sudden. Varun then went on to explain the events at school and even things that happened with Layla. All up to the point where he had arrived in the portal world, eventually turning into the Bloodsucker. There were some details he decided to leave out, though. There was no reason for him to reveal anything about the system or the blonde-haired man, but he did tell Dakash about how he grew stronger the more blood he had. These mysteries were his own problem to deal with, and only he only needed to tell Dakash what he needed to. There was silence between the two for a few moments as Varun finished his story. Dakash was, of course, shocked by the whole thing. Vampires, he didn't even know there were such things, and if Varun had told him this before, he would have thought he had gone mad. But Dakash had seen it, he had seen what Varun had turned into, and Ian's dead body in the room was proof of that. "You know, I knew you were different from the moment I met you," said Dakash. "What do you mean?" Varun asked. "Do you know how abilities work? Every person has a number of mutant cells inside their body that they can activate. The more cells a person can activate, the stronger their ability level. My ability allows me to replicate these cells from one person into my own body. That's why if someone is only a level one earth user, I can only copy the same number of mutant cells from them. But when I shook your hand, I felt the different cells in your body Varun, just for whatever reason I couldn't replicate them. It tried and tried forming and breaking down, but every time they would end up in failure. it was the first time something like that had ever happened." "Are you scared of me, Dakash?" "Scared, Varun, everyone has their own secrets that they don't want others to know, some more so than others. It's understandable why you hid it, the Government, military and the big families would all be trying to get their hands on you trying to use your power for themselves." Dakash then turned around and moved the metal door out and into the corridor. The metal door was placed to the side, and when he lifted his face, his mouth remained wide open. To his surprise, Varun looked almost like a completely different person. He had a whole new energy surrounding him. Varun had grown a few inches in height, his skin looked super smooth and had gone slightly pale. While his face looked a little more masculine. "Now this might be a tough one to explain?" Dakash said. **** Before leaving the room, Dakash went to check on Ian's body. He continued to search and search but could find no sign of the advanced tier crystal. "Was he lying about it?" But what he did see was two bite marks on the neck of Ian. Right now, Varun looked completely normal but looking at the bite marks on Ian's neck. It reassured him that everything Varun said was the truth. The two of them went looking around until they had come across a toilet. Inside was a mirror for Varun to look at himself. The changes weren't so drastic that you couldn't tell it was Varun, but it looked like he had just gone on a 12-week model training course. They continued to walk around and ended back in the arena where the two of them fought. The two looked at the mess they had caused, Varun thinking about when he was a Bloodsucker and Dakash thinking about the little one. There were scraps of metal all over the place, multiple broken chairs and across the floor Blood. For now, Varun was full from his last meal, and he also had managed to fill up his Blood bank. Based on Ian's information, the portal was most likely to be in this building, a secret switch of some sort hidden somewhere but the two of them had no clue where that would be. After searching around for a while and no success, the two of them sat down on the arena floor. Varun asked why Dakash was even here in the first place, and was given the simple reply of "I came after you." Although they didn't stay on the subject for long as it seemed Dakash kept steering away from the conversation. Varun assumed it had something to do with Piyush, and right now that was the last person the two of them wanted to speak about. That's when Dakash stomach started to growl; it had been a while since he had eaten the last food pill. "You hungry?" Varun asked. "Aren't you?" For a second, there was another awkward silence between the two. "if you want I can give you some of my blood?" Dakash said. "You know, I do eat normal food as well!" The two of them started to laugh and joke about a few things as time passed by. "It's a shame you can't use your abilities in school. If it was a normal ability, my family could offer you protection. The military wouldn't try hurting you." Although Varun could try pass of the vampire abilities as something normal, there was the problem that there was no skill like it. They would immediately assume he was an original. And there was now something that worried him even more. On the video the system had shown, the blonde man stated others would now be looking for him. Were others referring to other vampires? If so, he needed to keep this a secret even more so than before. From the sound of the video, they didn't sound like they would be welcoming to him. Then something clicked in his head. There was something he could learn that wasn't apart of his vampire skills. The level 6 ability book, the shadow book. ***** The two extra chapters that are owed will be released tomorrow. Remember to vote for mass release! Number 3 ranking keep it up. 9500 Stones = 2 extra Chapters 10,000 Stones = 4 extra chapters CHAPTER 88: A VOICE INSIDE Chapter 88: A Voice inside While Dakash continued to search the arena for some type of secret exit, Varun was pretending to look for one as well while walking around. Instead, he wanted to inspect the ability book he had received earlier from the metal container. As soon as he thought about his inventory, a screen appeared in front of him. Then when just thinking about the item, the system would come up with a message. Would you like to take out the Level 6 Shadow ability book? This time rather than a monotone robotic voice the system usually played in his head. It was the annoying energetic blonde man's voice. Inspect Level 6 shadow book, can only be learnt by those that have been Blooded As Varun used his inspect skill, a weird word had been added at the end. Blooded? Was that another name for Vampires perhaps? When Varun tried the other ability books, he wasn't able to learn any of them. It started to make Varun ask more questions about the book. Why did the military keep such a high-level book locked away? Was it because everyone had died or were they planning to sell it off for the future? Either way, he had never heard of someone possessing a shadow ability before. Just then, the annoying voice was heard again. "So it looks like you want to learn more about the book, huh? well, I can tell you if you want, do you want to know?" The AI system seemed to be just as annoying as the man himself. "Please?" Varun said while gritting his teeth. "Your guess is correct, blooded refers to those that have been blessed or cursed whichever way you want to look at it, with Vampire blood. It doesn't matter if there, a halfling, a vampire lord, or even a ghoul. As long as they possess some of the vampire's blood, they are able to learn these abilities." "Do you know why the book was here?" "I have no clue." The AI system had surprisingly answered in great detail. It was like the blonde man said. While the inspect skill was able to tell him information about items, his system would clarify things to him related to the system. Varun was still unsure about whether to learn it or not as he still needed more information, and it seemed like the AI was the perfect person to ask. "Is this the only ability book Vampires can learn? And can Vampires learn more than one ability?" "Just like humans, Vampires are only able to learn one ability. Whether or not there are other ability books out there like this, who knows, there may be some stronger, they may be some weaker." The AI system was only an AI system after all. Even though the man sounded intelligent with a stupid voice, it was limited to what it could answer. The problem was if this truly was another ability that Varun was unable to use in the outside world, he didn't want it. Another ability that the world didn't know about meant he would be targeted. However, the question remained if there even was an ability that vampires could use as well as Humans. Varun had asked the AI more questions hoping to get an answer it had no clue and would just reply back with sarcastic answers. With that being said, there was one person in the room that was knowledgeable about these things, and he might just know about the shadow ability. Dakash. Although the system stated blooded were the only ones that could learn it, maybe there were other Vampires out there that had used the ability before. As the two pasted by each other while making their rounds around the stadium, Varun popped the question. "Dakash, have you ever heard of an ability that uses shadows?" "Shadows, honestly my gut instinct would be no or at least not the world anyway, but you were honest with me so its time I'll be honest with you." said Dakash. The two of them then sat down a few chairs apart in the stadium, one of the rows that hadn't been trashed form the fight. "Remember when I said earlier how I kept an eye on you because I couldn't copy your ability, well you're not the first one. Or not the first one in our family," said Dakash. "As you know I'm an original, so our powers have been passed down from generation to generation for hundreds of years. In my great grandfather's journal, there was a time he said he had come across another user with an ability. Now back then this was rare, the whole world still didn't know Humans had super capabilities. But each time we would come across one, our family would log it, especially since our ability relied on others." "For the first time, he had come across someone's ability, he couldn't copy." "So is that why you were so interested in me?" Dakash's face started to go a little red as he was embarrassed hearing those words. "When you say it like that it sounds a little strange, I assure you I don't think of you in that way." Dakash said awkwardly. But then his face went serious. "Now that I told you, tell me, how would something the public not know about, would you know about? At the moment Varun lifted the ability book in his hand which had the words shadow Ability written across it. For a second, Dakash had to rub his eyes to check he wasn't seeing things. He thought perhaps Varun might have learnt something when he turned into a Vampire about it but to actually have the ability book in his hand itself. "Whoa you actually found it, I was sure it would have been an original skill, but there was actually an ability book. Well, what are you waiting for let's learn it now! We have all the time in the world, and we're stuck here doing nothing." "Well I really did want to learn it, but the problem is if I did others would be after me just like they would for the vampire ability." Dakash started to think long and hard if there was anything he could do to help him. Then his master plan had come to him. "I think we can use the situation we're into your advantage," said Dakash. "The school must know by now that we have been sent to another planet. A red portal planet at that. There are things that have been undiscovered on these planets all the time. You can just say you found the book here, that you learnt it for your survival, they all know your level one trash." Dakash paused for a moment after saying those words. "I mean, they all think you're just a level one right? I'll say while we were in the portal world, I protected you, and as payment, after learning the skill, you decided to hand the book over to me. That way the people will no longer be bugging you for it but my family instead." Dakash smiled as if he had just cracked the toughest case in a Mystery Novel. "Are you sure your family will be okay with that?" For a split second, Varun thought he had seen Dakash's face drop, but when he blinked and looked again, it was completely normal. "Yeah, they'll be fine, with the plan or set let's get to learning that ability book. I can't wait to see the faces of everyone when we get out of here." "If, we get out of here. Varun said. "Do you have to be so negative." CHAPTER 89: UNLOCKING THE SHADOW Chapter 89: Unlocking the Shadow Dakash and Varun stood opposite each other in the centre of the stadium. Not too far from each other so they could hear each other without having the need to shout. "Now, what I'm about to tell you they would probably teach you at the school later on anyway. But I'm going to tell you now because it should be helpful when learning the ability book." Dakash then started to use the magnetism ability he had obtained from Ian, he pulled over a small bolt and began to levitate around in his hand. "Everyone knows about the power level system, there are eight levels in total. These levels are actually determined by how many mutant cells you are able to activate in your body and not actually determined by strength. Let's take the earth ability as an example, someone with a low number of cells is only able to transform the earth they can hold in their hand. While a level 5 earth user might be able to lift the earth from the ground without touching it. These types of ability books contain information on how to activate more mutant cells for your specific type of ability." "But if the Power levels don't actually determine strength then why the test when we started school?" Varun asked. "Good question," said Dakash. "The test the military gives you is actually to put you into the subcategories they created, the 1.1 1.2 etc. This can sometimes be determined by what skills you have as well." Dakash then lifted up his wristwatch and showed him the number currently displayed which said 6 on it. Varun was suddenly confused because he was sure he had seen the number 5 on it before. "These watches are the answer. The watches they put on us are able to determine the number of mutant cells in our body. Before even taking the test, they knew what level we were at. They simply just set the watches to an off mode the moment we arrived. When I use my ability, I also copy the number of mutant cells in their body, which is why the watch now shows the number six." Varun seemed to be learning so much, it just proved that the information that was revelled to originals compared to the rest was different. This also further confirmed that Varun being a Vampire, wasn't an ability. The number on his watch had never changed, or maybe it was the fact that his cells were no longer human. "Think about it, not every test is able to determine someone's strength. Some abilities allow you to tell if someone is telling the truth, some allow super hearing and some can help you see into the future. Although these might not be strong fighting abilities themselves, they require a high number of Mutant cells to activate in the first place and now that brings me to your book." Dakash said as he pointed towards it. "Not everyone can activate a high number of cells. Some ability books are just too high for people to learn, they try and try, but they will never be able to succeed. To put it simply, their fate was decided for them at birth. It might take a while before we can tell if you have the ability to learn it or not" It sounded harsh but what Dakash was saying was true. He had heard examples of rich CEOs who had bought their kids high-level ability books, only to be disappointed when they weren't able to succeed. "Now we move onto the second problem, even though you have the ability book, what about skill books? With no skills, you will most likely only be able to unlock 1/10th of its power. But don't let that get you down. The ability books and skill books are only shortcuts to learning these things in the first place. When the originals discovered their powers, they had no books, they learnt and discovered everything themselves." Varun thought about everything Dakash had said, he further went on to explain that each book would explain a technique that could be used to Mutate a specific type of cell. The higher the ability book, the more information it would reveal about the method used. Some abilities just didn't have lower levels and required people to have a high number of mutant cells to use them. There was another little bit of information he revealed but decided to not go into too much detail. It was the fact that your Soul weapon also had something to do with the number of Mutated cells in your body as well. This would determine how strong of a soul weapon you had. The example Dakash gave was Momo. Although Momo's ability wasn't too strong in a fight, he's soul weapon was incredibly powerful as a level 6 ability user. Dakash had explained that learning a level 6 ability book of the bat would take months to learn, but while here they could get a head start. But Varun thought differently. There was one thing Dakash didn't know, and it was his Vampire abilities also worked like a system. He touched the book once more, and the system message popped up again. Would you like to learn the level 6 Shadow ability? There was no going back after this. Yes The book then lifted into the air, and the pages started turning and flashing in front of him. Suddenly there was the sense of Deja vu. Dakash stood on the side line and took a step back, he had never seen anything like this happen before. Then finally, once all of the pages of the book had been flipped, it disappeared and vanished into thin air. Dakash immediately rushed over to Varun, who was holding his head with his hand. "What happened, are you okay?" Dakash asked. "Yeah, I'm fine." As the pain in his head slowly went away, he looked up, and in front of his vision, he was greeted with multiple messages. congratulations you have learnt the level 6 Shadow ability You have now unlocked the Shadow skills tab You have unlocked the Mutant Cell stat 10 skill points have been added New shadow skill dimensional storage has been activated New skill Shadow control Lv.1 has been added **** IMPORTANT MESSAGE IN CHAPTER 0 ABOUT PREMIUM. PLEASE READ. Mass release goal for next week 9500 Stones = 2 extra Chapters 10,000 Stones = 4 extra Chapters CHAPTER 90: EXPLORING THE SHOP Chapter 90: Exploring the shop The ability book had vanished once again, just like the old book he had received. This time he had also been given an entirely new tab that was dedicated only to his Shadow ability in his system. "Hey Varun, what's wrong, did something happen? Where's the book!" Dakash asked. Varun then went to tap his head a couple of times with his finger. "Inside? said Dakash "What, you mean it's inside your head?" Quin nodded. Dakash was surprised but at the same time not, he had learnt so many crazy things today, and this one was probably one of the least shocking. He could imagine that maybe whoever created the shadow book might have put a condition on it. Maybe once it was learnt to vanish or disappear, it would also explain why many weren't found or how none were sold on the market. Dakash didn't ask too many questions and gave Varun a few moments to sit down and rest, he didn't really understand what he meant by it was all inside his head. Of course, this was Varun's way of getting around telling Dakash it was a system. Status Race: Vampire Ability: Shadow HP: 55/55 MC 100/100 Strength: 15 Stamina: 15 Agility: 15 Charm: 5 The first thing he decided to do was check out his stats screen. One of the messages had stated he had obtained a new stat called Mutant Cells or MC for short. Looking at his MC stat, it currently displayed 100/100. "System, can you explain the MC stat is to me?" "Ho, ho," A cheery voice said, "The MC stat is how many Mutant cells you currently have in your body. Every time you use your ability, the MC numbers will go down but worry not, for it will auto regenerate itself over time." Varun then looked at the two stat points he had obtained. One form levelling up to level 10 and then the other from when he had consumed Ian's blood. But when he tried to see what he could do with them; he was unable to increase his MC points. Meaning it was a similar stat to his HP. The question was whether it would increase on its own like his HP. "I can tell you the answer to that" The system said. "The answer is no, those mutant cells have a cap in your body. This can only be increased by a certain technique specific to the Shadow ability. You would either have to find a higher-Level ability book or a teacher." With that said, Varun decided to put his stat points into Strength and agility as he has been doing so far. Right now, he only had one skill that required the use of Charm, and he didn't know how useful it would be. Strength:16 Agility:16 As he increased each stat point, he could feel the changes in his body ever so slightly, the feeling was starting to become addictive. But he was still a long way off from the others. Zoya, who was a level 5 ability user, was able to produce a score of fifty on the strength test. That was also without the use of any beast gear to improve herself. While Dakash was still giving him space and walking around the room, it also gave Varun the time to check out a few of the other things he had unlocked earlier. First, there was a new tutorial video. There was a single video called combination skills. The video was a long watch as it took time to explain the process. Varun didn't have time to watch it now and would watch it later. The next thing was the shop tab. When selecting this tab, he was able to search by category, and there was a whole bunch of items, Weapons, armour, Rings, and all sorts, but there were no skill books or ability books. The only problem was all of the items were greyed out, not allowing him to select any of them. To the side of the screen, it showed his inventory, where he had 16 basic tier crystals, one intermediate crystal and also an advanced tier crystal as well. He didn't know when he had obtained them, but at some point, he must have done. "Was it while I was a Bloodsucker?" but Varun couldn't remember killing anything other than… Ian. It was the only explanation, when he had murdered Ian did all his crystals transfer over into his system? The section to the right allowed him to select the item, he first chose the Rattaclaw crystals. The shop auto sorted itself and gave a message in the centre. No items can be made with these crystals Then, when selecting the other two crystals items had appeared up in the centre this time. Although these items were still greyed out, but Varun now knew the reason why. 3 intermediate crystal required to create this item The items required several crystals to make them. After searching through the shop more, He realised there were some weapons and items that only needed a number of crystals. While others were more specific and needed a specific type of beast crystal. When selecting the advanced tier crystal, the shop auto sorted itself once again, and a ring was shown on screen. 1/10 Advanced tier Deathbat crystals Effects: Allows the user to walk in the sun for 3 hours without being affected by the sun This was a fantastic discovery. While Varun was planning to create an outfit that completely blocked out the sun, there was a ring in the shop that had the same effect. The only problem was it required him to kill 10 of these Deathbat's which were advanced tier beasts. Thinking back to how he had nearly died from the intermediate beast, there was no way he would attempt to kill an advanced tier beast. Then there was a second problem, Beasts, especially on the higher tiers, were Quite specific to what planet they lived on. At some point, if Varun wanted to earn the ring from the shop, he would have to come back to this planet through the portal. All in all, the shop was a good find. Varun started to question the AI system further on how the shop worked, and he had explained that as long as he brought the items that it asked for, it would be able to auto-create it and give it to him. This was another excellent find, as usually after obtaining beast crystals you would have to take it to a beast weapons crafter who would charge for the making of the item. Then a question hit Varun's mind. Crystals could only be turned into one type of item which all had the same effect. The quality of the item created would depend on the crafter, but if the item was destined to be a ring, a sword was unable to be crafted from the same type of crystal. Did Ian know what item the Deathbat crystal would give him? And if so, why would Ian need such a thing? It might have not even been Ian in the first place, but whoever had hired him and taking down the Deathbats. **** Schedule Change: Chapters will now be released at 8:00 AM GMT + 8. This chapter was a little late from oversleeping. Hit 10,000 Goal = 4 extra chapters 15,000 stones = 6 extra Chapters CHAPTER 91: EXPLORING THE SHADOW Chapter 91: Exploring the Shadow With no way of getting any of the items from the shop, for now, he decided it was time for him to check out the shadow tab. A whole new section of his system that had been added as soon as he obtained the Ability. Underneath the tab was a list of around ten different skills. Each one greyed out apart from the two skills he had learned previously. Below he could scroll down further, but everything just appeared as several question marks. The first skill. Dimensional storage This skill will allow the user to store items into its shadow storage. As long as there is a shadow nearby, you can take out and put in items as you wish. This includes your very own Shadow underneath your feet! "If only I had this skill sooner!" Varun thought. Back in the storage room, there were many items that Varun wished to bring with him. There were multiple skill books and ability books that he had already converted into exp and wouldn't be able to gain anything again. At the time he wished to bring them with him to at least sell on the market place, but was unable to carry them. If he wanted to do that now, it meant leaving from the safety of the training centre, and heading back outside were the beasts where. While Varun's system allowed him to store crystals and specific ability books inside, it did not allow him to store anything else. So the Dimensional storage was a great skill to have. The second skill. Shadow control Lv.1 Allows the user to control their own Shadow The description was short and didn't really reveal much. Even if he could control his own Shadow, what use was that? But the significant difference with this skill compared to the last skill, was the fact that it had a level by the side. If it was like Varun's blood skills then as long as he carried on using it, it would eventually level up. Maybe even allowing him to create shadows or use his own shadows. Varun then looked at the skills tab again. At the moment, he was able to see ten skill in total while the rest were covered. Next to each skill was a number. Shadow cloak Lv.1 10 skill points to unlock There were multiple skills, but shadow cloak was the only one that he was able to unlock right now. He only had received ten skill points and wondered how he would be able to obtain more. Judging by its name, perhaps the skill would be able to surround him like some type of Shadow. He started to wonder if it would also be able to block out the sunlight, which made him feel so weak. His excitement got the better of him, and as long as he could unlock the other skills later on, what was there to worry about? You have successfully unlocked Shadow cloak Lv.1 This skill allows you to use your own Shadow to surround you into the darkness. You opponents will struggle to see you depending on their level of perception. Best used in the Shadow or at night. It wasn't exactly what he was expecting, but it seemed like it was a type of invisibility cloak, one that would work well on beasts that were weak but not those of a higher level. Varun then stood up from the ground and was ready to test out his skills. He could see that Dakash was still walking around the stadium, seeing if he could find anything. It was hard for Dakash to see due to the lights being broken, and he didn't have the same type of vision as Varun. That meant the whole room was dark. "Perfect." Shadow cloak activated -1 MC for every ten seconds of use His own Shadow below started to lift up from the ground and slowly crept up his body. From his toes, to his knees, all the way to the top strands of hair on his head. Now when looking from the outside, a strange foggy like mist could be seen covering him. As Varun walked around the arena, he could see that his MC Stat was like a bar, while using the skill it was slowly going down. He crept up slowly to Dakash in the stands going between the chairs, and it seemed his skill was working. While Varun was stood around 10 meters apart, it looked like Dakash had no idea he was there. But then when he took another step closer, Dakash immediately jumped back and attracted a chair into his hand. Although Dakash was struggling to see what it was, he could feel strange energy disrupting the flow around him. The hairs on his body were standing up. Then when he concentrated, he could see something shifting in the air. Dakash went to repel the chair, throwing it in Varun's direction. The chair flew right past and into the stands. "Hey wait, wait, it's just me!" Varun said as he deactivated his skill and could be seen ducked down. "What the hell Varun, you almost gave me a heart attack, do you not remember just seconds ago I was fighting to the death against you!" Dakash complained, "I've been on high alert since." "Sorry," Varun said as he let out a little nervous laugh. "But man, you already know how to use the shadow ability already? And that seemed like a skill?" Dakash asked, amazed. Usually, it would take months to learn how to use an ability and some skills even longer. Yet here Varun was being able to handle everything straight away. "Like I said, when I read that book, it seems like all the information was inserted into my head, all have to do is think about it, and I can do it." Dakash then walked over towards Varun and took out his hand. "Do you mind this time?" Dakash asked. "Sure, go ahead." The two shook hands, and the same message had appeared as last time. An ability has been detected Ability has been blocked "What's the meaning of this?" Varun asked inside his head to the AI system. "The system will try it's best to do whatever it can to help the user. It will tell you when abilities are being used on you and all sorts." "Can I temporarily cancel the feature?" Varun asked. "It's not really a feature, it's just informing you of what your vampire body is naturally doing. Besides, even if the Boy could copy your Ability, he wouldn't be able to use it." "What do you mean?" "That skill book you used is specific for Vampire cells, inside your body right now, Are Vampire mutated cells. This is the reason why he can't copy it; your body structures are completely different. But you could always turn him into a blooded one?" Would you like to activate skill Blood ritual? Yes No ***** Goals have been hit for mass release next week! 15,000 Stones = 6 extra chapters for mass release. CHAPTER 92: BLOOD RITUAL Chapter 92: Blood Ritual Varun was wondering what the blood ritual was, after all, there wasn't much information revealed about it. But now that the system was offering for Dakash to become a blooded one, it all became clear to him. It was a ritual that would allow Dakash to turn into some type of vampire. Underneath the skill, it also had the number 0/2. This would assume that at most, he was only able to turn two people. This number might increase in the future, but for now, that was how it was. "I can't just turn Dakash into a vampire, he would have to deal with the same crap that I had to deal with." Varun thought, "Maybe I needed it to make myself stronger, but for Dakash who was already strong, there's no upside." A thought then came into his mind. The blonde man in the video had told him to grow his own army, and soon others would come for him. Was this what he was talking about? In the end though, Varun decided it wasn't his decision to make. Dakash had helped big time, and if he wanted to, then it was his choice. And it would be nice to have people to go through this with. "Hey Dakash, if you had the option, or let's say I could turn you into a Vampire, would you?" Varun asked. "I don't want to hurt your feelings or anything like that, but the answer would be no," Dakash replied. "Being weak for most of the day, sure it's fine while we're on a planet like this but… besides what would happen to my ability?" Varun waited for the AI to answer his concern. The AI actually started to seem smarter than he first thought. From what he said earlier and also giving him the option to use his skill. Meant it was listening in on everything that was being said. "Fine, I can see you're waiting for an answer, His whole cell structure would change, and he would then become a vampire. Or something like one anyway. Which yes would mean he would no longer have his ability. Not only that, but it might be a while before he could learn one as well." "What do you mean?" Varun asked. "You didn't learn the shadow ability the conventional way, there is no longer an ability book to learn from. It would be nearly impossible for you to teach it to him. Then you would have to wait until you found an ability book compatible with your Vampire cells." "Yeah, sorry Dakash, it probably would get rid of your ability", Varun said scratching the back of his head. "I just thought I would ask; you might have been one of those types obsessed with Vampires." "There are people like that?" Dakash replied. **** The two of them then started to head down the stadium floor, an area that was designed for combat. They had been looking around the room for an hour now, and it seemed like they were unable to find a place where the portal could be. They needed to make a decision. Whether or not to leave the training centre and head outside to look for another place. But before deciding any of that, Varun wanted to get the hang of his new skills. Dakash was also interested and thought he might be able to help since he had experience with using elemental abilities before. The first test was his dimensional storage skill. Just like with his other skills, all he needed to do was think about it in his head, and it would activate. While activated, the shadow from his own body started to wiggle and swirl about a bit. It looked like an ocean continually moving. Using a piece of metal he grabbed earlier, he slowly pushed it into his shadow, and the object started to sink in until it eventually disappeared. "That's kinda neat", Dakash said watching. "Can you get it back out?" Varun then placed his hand into his shadow, as he did his arm sunk into it, but he could feel nothing. He then thought of the piece of metal, and suddenly he could feel something in his hand, he pulled and out came the piece of scrap metal. The two continued to do more tests with the dimensional storage. Varun found out that not only his shadow could be used to gain access to things but also Dakash's shadow or any shadow cast by the wall and buildings. When Varun touched these shadows, they too would start to wiggle like his own shadow. The next test was to see if they could store items bigger then the shadow itself. Dakash gathered a bunch of chairs from the stadium and formed them into one giant flat metal circle. Then Varun placed one hand on the circle while the other on his shadow to store the item. The shadow underneath his foot started to expand into the shadow created by the large circle. Eventually, the whole thing dropped inside. It seemed like the size of the item did not matter, and the good thing was it didn't take up any MC to use it. The next skill as the one Varun was looking forward to the most. Shadow Control, a skill that didn't say much in terms of description. Shadow Control lv.1 active Then inside Varun's mind, something had clicked. He felt like he had a new set of arms he could control. The shadow underneath his legs was alive, and could freely move about. He lifted the shadow, and it was like a dark moving mist that continually surrounded him. "I guess the skill is limited to just the shadow around you for now. It's like a level 1 earth ability," said Dakash. "I wonder why it needs so many mutant cells to activate and is considered a level 6." Using the shadow around him, Varun was able to extend it out and lift the small piece of metal that he pulled from his dimension earlier. It was like controlling another person. After using it for a while, Varun seemed to get the hang of it. He could move the shadow to go anywhere around his body, or he could form it into whatever he liked. Even weapons but when changing it into a sword-like shape and trying to cut the metal, it did nothing but go around it. It seemed like the shadow sword did not have the same properties. "Well, now that you got the hang of it, you want to spar a little?" Dakash asked. **** 15,000 Stones mass release goal = 6 chapters CHAPTER 93: RESCUE TEAM ARRIVE Chapter 93: Rescue Team arrive Having the shadow just active and moving about didn't take much MC. It only took about one point of MC per minute. Which meant he could play about and activate the shadow for around an hour and a half if he didn't use any other skills. This didn't change, no matter what he did with the shadow. However, there did seem to be one downside. While he was using his Shadow control skill, he was unable to cast Shadow cloak or even use his Shadow dimension. The shadow underneath him was no longer there and was being controlled. If he activated shadow dimension, the shadow would immediately fall to his feet again. Now the two of them stood opposite each other ready to have a friendly fight. Dakash this time had a couple of metal balls hovering around him instead of spikes. "Be careful Varun, although these might not be like the spikes, they can still do a lot of damage." "It's alright Dakash, my body can handle it." Not using his full strength Dakash repelled the ball at a decent speed heading towards Varun, at that moment he lifted the shadow from his feat to form a type of wall. As the two made an impact, the ball seemed to slow down. It started sinking through the shadow slowly, then part of it could be seen from the other side. Varun stared at the ball carefully, and then when the ball had nearly passed through the shadow wall, it started to accelerate. "Uh, oh!" The ball left the shadow wall and slammed right into Varun's stomach falling to the ground. "Argh!" Varun shouted as he tried to breathe in some air. "Well, I wasn't expecting that," Dakash said. "Try again." Varun groaned. Dakash then fired the second ball of metal and once again Varun lifted up his shadow shield, and the same result had appeared. Only this time Varun moved to the side allowing the shadow to stay where it was before moving the shadow, the ball then carried on moving forward and banged into the stadium wall. "Let's see how physical attacks work," Dakash said as he moved forward and swung a long metal pipe he had in his hand. Using the shadow Varun blocked again, and the same thing happened, however, Dakash was easily able to pull the object away from the shadow and attack in a new place. He also noticed that the shadow was only covering Varun's front and was not big enough to go around his back. If he was to use his attract skill on one of the metal balls, he would easily be able to hurt Varun right now. Dakash continued to attack with the metal pipe, and Varun continued to block moving the shadow in the areas where Varun was attacking. That's when he released something. Every time Varun would hit his shadow, his MC points would go down by a chunk or so. The same thing had happened when he threw out the balls. The stronger the attack, it seemed the more MC points would be used from the shadow. Then when Dakash was about to attack one more time. "Wait, stop Dakash!" Varun shouted. His shadow had vanished, and he had run out of MC points. The shadow acted as a type of shield; it wasn't solid enough to block attacks but would be able to slow them down. Later, when Varun's MC points were restored a little bit, he did a few other tests. If Dakash was close enough, he could use the shadow to grab onto him like an extra pair of hands, or even grab on to his legs, slowing him down. But there wasn't enough of the shadow to use it in both of these ways. He could simply either use the shadow to attack or to defend. "Well, I can see why your ability is a level 6 now." Dakash said, "I think it's more to do with how freely you can use the shadow and my example would be the skills. Normally a skill would just be a different type of attack but your ability, your shadows can actually be used to do entirely new things. A separate storage space, masking you in the night and even as a defensive shield. Its almost as if you have three abilities combined into one." Varun was happy with the results of the shadow ability and hearing Dakash talk about made him feel even more confident. He couldn't wait to unlock the other skills in the Shadow Tab of his system. With the spar over, the two of them decided that once Varun was fully rested and his MC points were back, they would exit out of the training centre and go exploring again. After all, if they did nothing, they would soon start to starve, and Dakash didn't want another instance where Varun got to hungry. It took around 30 seconds for Varun to gain back a single MC point so it would take around an hour for all of his points to be restored. Then they would make their move back to the outside. ***** Outside, in the abandoned shelter, somewhere in the city between two broken-down buildings in the middle of the street. A specific area started to appear distorted, the space itself looked as if it was bending. Then little sparks of electricity were seen coming from it. *Zap Suddenly, 4 people appeared holding hands together on the street. As soon as they saw where they were, they immediately let go. "Is everyone here?" Fay asked as she did a headcount. The homeroom teacher Del was here, although he was still wearing clothing like he was ready to teach. Then there was the Doctor Hayley, she was dressed more appropriately with high-end beast gear all over. She didn't look like her usual self in her white robe and looked almost intimidating. It was what one would expect as her father was one of the generals of the school. Then there was Leo, he was wearing light armour that fitted tightly to the skin similar to Fay. Both of their abilities focused on speed, so it was important not to wear something too heavy. "Alright, our goal is to find the children", Fay said. The rescue team had arrived. **** Remember to Vote for mass release next week, and mass release tomorrow! 15,000 Stones = 6 Chapter mass release. CHAPTER 94: WHO IS STRONGER? Chapter 94: Who is stronger? When entering the portal, as long as there was one on the other end, it would throw you somewhere within a one-mile radius of another. As long as there was already a portal set up on the other end. The reason why the group were holding hands is to ensure that they would all be teleported to the same place. Unlike when Varun and Dakash entered the teleporter one by one, they were chucked to different locations. On Del's back was a fairly large rucksack that looked quite heavy. As he walked with the group, hit footsteps stomped the ground and his back was arched. "Why do I have to carry this thing!" Del complained. "Right now you're the weakest of us four right?" Fay replied, "So if you want us to protect you, it's best that you carry the portable teleporter." Del then looked at Hayley who was by his side, and even he had to admit she looked quite frightening for a doctor. She was in a full set of large beast gear. A frightening-looking chest piece that looked to have a face on it and spikes sticking out of the shoulder pads. On her back, she was carrying a large single greatsword that was nearly the same size as herself. She almost looked like a professional Traveller that went hunting in these types of places all the time. 'Rich people, that's what happens when your father is a general in the army.' Del thought. "Fine, I understand that but why even the need to bring the portable teleporter in the first place? Isn't the teleporter fine on this end?" Del asked. "It's back up." Leo said, "Look around you and look at this shelter. It was basically the size of a city, don't you think they had people protecting it as strong as us. We might encounter a strong beast and have to make an emergency exit, or there might even be beast blocking the current portal. It's always better to be safe than sorry." "Okay with that said and done let's head for the training centre. It was the place the portal was last known to be, and we can see if it's safe or not. Leo will lead the way for us. I don't want to stay on this planet for long, and I don't want to find out what destroyed this shelter. Leo walked upfront and using his ability, the group were able to avoid trouble. In a way, although blind, his sight was better than the others. His ability allowed him to see an aura around things and see them in different colours. A beasts aura was always red, while humans yellow. It also allowed him to see the aura through most objects such as building walls and so on. Allowing them to avoid any confrontation with beasts. However, if the group saw only a few Rattaclaw that they could deal with, instead of taking the long route round. Leo and Fay would often head out and deal with them quickly. The two of them were both swordsmen. While Fay would use her longsword, Leo would use his katana blade. Not even giving the rats a chance to live. As they continued to walk, Hayley had a question on her mind after seeing the two of them deal with the rats. "I always wondered, which of you two are stronger?" Hayley asked. The two upfront suddenly froze, and Del looked at Hayley like she had no sense of personal questions. "Hey, you can't just ask something like that?" Del whispered. Of course, he was interested. Everyone was. These types of questions came up all the time. Fay and Leo were both of the same ranks. Two of the 8 sergeants at the school. Talk always happened between the other teachers and soldiers about who was the strongest out of them all. This also happened regularly with the three generals. "It's okay," Fay said. "I can easily answer for you. It's Leo. I don't know if you two know this, but we had to practically beg him to join our ranks after the first war. Back then, he was only a private, but he had made so many accomplishments; it was unbelievable. He had one condition when joining the army. I would like to become a teacher." Leo didn't say anything after that, in fact, he never spoke much in the first place, but Del was still wondering how it was possible. Leo's ability was handy sure, and it might be a high-level ability. But that was only because it required a high amount of MC to use. Not because it was powerful. While Fay had the ability of super speed. If the two of them fought, there was no way he could see her losing. In the end, Del thought she must have just said that to be kind to her senior. Fay was still quite young, after all. Only in her late twenties. Finally, the group had arrived just outside the training centre. "We'll make sure the portal is safe first and then after we will go out looking for the kids," Fay said. "The entrance looks clear." Said Leo. They walked onward and eventually saw the dead Rattaclaws just outside of the entrance. Not only that but the entrance to the place was completely busted. It had been bent, and miss mangled but was still covering the door. Fay went to the access machine and tried the code, the sound went off, indicating that it was unlocked, but the doors wouldn't move. They were too damaged. "What happened here?" Hayley asked, "Do you think it was the kids?" "I think you mean Kid," Del added. "Only one of them has an ability, remember?" "Ah, Dakash the original correct, his ability is to copy that of others. Although we don't really know how it works, it could be possible. If he copied a strong ability, then I could see him being able to kill these Rats." Said Fay. "Well if we find Dakash we can go home, right?" Del asked. "Are you suggesting we leave and not bother looking for the other one?" Leo asked. "The mission stated to only find Dakash, anyone else is considered a bonus, would you risk your lives for one student." "When I joined that war, what do you think I was doing?" Leo asked, "I was risking my life for the sake of everyone. For the sake of the human race's future and you know what. That is these children." "Enough you two" Fay snapped. "Technically Del is correct, but I see you are passionate about this. We will scout the nearby area using your ability. If we find nothing, then we leave. Fair?" Leo didn't say much and started to walk up to the door, he drew out his katana blade and readied himself. "Isn't that door made out of Glathrium it's one of the hardest materials we know of. It's why this training centre remained unharmed in the first place." Del said chuckling at the idiotic attempt Leo was about to make. "I'm assuming you wanted to know why Leo is stronger than I am?" Fay asked. Leo slashed the door with one swing. No sound was made, and it seemed like the door wasn't even touched. Then a few seconds later a diagonal slash was seen on the door, and the top half fell backwards onto the floor. "That's why." Said Fay. **** Made mistake mass release is tomorrow not today. Got days wrong. We Hit 15,000 stones for 6 mass release next week. Thank you, everyone, and keep voting to show your support. CHAPTER 95: TRUEDREAM FAMILIY Chapter 95: Truedream Familiy After entering through the Glathrium door, the group then went to lift the fallen part of the door up and place it back up. It was heavy, but with Hayley's help, the door felt extremely light, and they managed to set it perfectly like a jigsaw puzzle. While it might not keep the beast out at least, it would deter them from entering. Del watching the whole thing hated to think just how high a level of beast equipment Hayley was wearing to be able to lift the door so easily. They continued to walk in the hallway which was covered in darkness, although for Leo leading the way it made no difference. But while walking, Del couldn't get out of his head how easily Leo was able to break the door. It wasn't like Del was a student he was a professor too. He had participated in the war back then as well and never saw anything like what he saw today. 'Could it be a demon level weapon?' He thought. But he quickly came to the conclusion that it was impossible. At the moment, there were only two demon level beast weapons in existence. One of them belonged to the Army, while the other belonged to the group known as Pure. However, it was clear to Del that what Leo was using was at least a top-level Beast tier weapon. They had entered the reception area, where several doorways were leading to different sections of the training centre. At the front, there was the reception desk with two hallways leading to the arena. Then there was the actual reception room which could also lead you to the canteen and the living quarters. "Wait, stop," Hayley said to Leo and Fay upfront. She bent down and studied the ground. "Can you see what this is? It's blood and leading that way." She said as she pointed to the living quarters. "How can you tell which direction, it's coming from the stadium as well?" Del asked. "Well, the blood tail, you can see that it's heading in this direction and there's a lot of it, almost as if someone was dragged this way." "Come on, let's hurry, it could be one of the students," Fay said. They made sure not to rush but quickly headed in the direction of the blood following the trail. If there was a beast inside, they needed to make sure they wouldn't startle it. Leo also no longer took the lead, and instead, it was Fay. Usually, Leo's ability would allow him to detect auras and abilities through wall's and such, but it didn't work through Glathrium, and the whole place was made of it. Although he could still direct himself, he couldn't tell if there was danger up ahead until actually seeing it. They followed the trail until finally, it led them to the hallway, with a broken door outside and a ripped apart chair. Fay peaked her head into the room with the broken door and immediately turned away. "Hayley I think you better take a look at this," Fay said, turning her head away. Hayley took over and went inside the room, while Del also took a look and turned his head away. "Did you see the body?" Del said, "its body was ripped in half, guts spilling everywhere." Leo, who was standing next to him, turned his head and looked him in the eye. "No I didn't see anything, I haven't done so in a while now." Hayley continued to examine the body, she went around the man's neck. Underneath his beast armour, she pulled out a coloured dog tag. While holding the dog tag, she continued to inspect the body, and that's when she spotted something. 'Again, two bite marks on the neck, just like the other students.' Hayley thought. 'Is there really a beast inside the academy somewhere, the same thing that killed this man? Or is it something else?' Hayley then stood up from the body and walked forward. "Do you want the good news or bad news?" She said. "Just tell us everything," Fay replied. "Well, the good news is it's not one of the students." Hayley then pulled out the tag which was attached to a chain and dangled it in front of the others. "The bad news is he was from one of the big four families." Each person's face dropped as soon as they heard the news. "Which one?" Fay asked. "The tag says Truedream." Fay immediately slammed her fist, against the wall as she heard those words. "Why them out of all the families." The big four families were the ones who had the power to rival the military. They were originals with immense power who chose not to share their abilities. However, the Truedream family were the most unique out of the four. They had the closest connection with the military, enough to even have a seat at the council table. This was all because of the head of the family, who had the ability to steal others abilities. If anyone ever tried to rebel against the Army, then they would get a visit from the Truedream leader, and they could never use their ability again. The only problem was Truedream could only take away their abilities but not use them. So he needed a strong ally, and that's why he got close to the military. Then when he felt safe and protected, he started to gather his own men, the abilities he had taken, he would gift to those he trusted, and they were truly grateful to him. But there was always this fear in the back of his mind he could be betrayed by his own. With no powers for himself, he chose to stay by the military side. This fear kept people in line, this fear was what made people complacent with the system the military had today. Although many didn't agree with the cruel ways and the carrot and stick approach, the current army had. They had no choice. "We can leave him here for now, but it's best before we leave, we bring his body and take it to the Truedream family." "It's a pain, but they should be thankful we brought back one of their own," Fay said. After leaving the body be, they decided to follow the trail of blood back outside and into the stadium, and that's when they spotted the two kids lying down on the floor. "They're here, what luck!" Del said as he ran forward. Hayley, Fay and Del immediately went forward while Leo was the only one who stayed back. For in the centre of the arena he could see a colour of aura he had never seen before, one which was purple. **** 6-chapter release tomorrow, prepare yourselves. 15,000 stone goal hit! For the mass release next week. Please continue to vote to show your support; it keeps me working hard. CHAPTER 96: I'M SICK Chapter 96: I'm sick Before the rescue team had arrived. Dakash and Varun were both sitting down in the centre of the arena. The two of them didn't have much to talk about, so they just chatted about there old lives at school. Varun's life seemed horrible, he went on to explain how he was raised with no parents and how he was bullied since entering school. The bullying wasn't really bad until the treaty was signed. When there was no more war, that's when people started to go crazy. However, whenever Varun would ask Dakash about his school life, he would give a simple answer and ask Varun a question. The first few times, he didn't really notice anything strange, but then, Varun started purposely asking questions that were harder to avoid. But again, Dakash seemed to avoid the question, in the end, Varun decided to stop. It wasn't right integrating someone like this. If Dakash had something he didn't want to share, then it was up to him. "Hey, I just noticed something," Dakash said as he pointed at Varun's wrist. Varun lifted his hand and looked at it, and even he was surprised by what he was seeing. The number on his wristwatch was still saying he was a level 1. "I thought you said it would change when I activated my MC points?" "Well, that's what's supposed to happen." Dakash then placed his hand on his chin as he thought about it for a while. "Do you think it's because you're a vampire? Just like how I can't copy your shadow ability, the watch might not be able to measure your type of MC in your body." Hearing this news, Varun was actually a little upset. With the use and gain of an ability as well as Dakash's plan. He was looking forward to being able to use his powers freely. As a level 6 user people would no longer challenge him just as he walked around the school. But now, if he showed he had shadow powers and the number on his wristwatch still indicated one, they would be just as suspicious about him. They would say the watch was broken and get him a new one, but it would just be the same result. "I think it's best if you hide your shadow ability for now." Said Dakash. "You've already hidden your vampire abilities for this long, you can hide your shadow abilities, right?" Dakash could see Varun was a little downhearted by the news he had given him. After learning what Varun had gone through at his last school, it was understandable. In a way, Dakash thought he was helping him by getting revenge and attacking those second years, but it was just making him and Piyush a bigger target. 'I'm so selfish' Dakash thought. "Don't look so down," said Dakash. "if we find someone in the school that's good at technology, we can get them to tinker with the watch. They don't need to find out about your cells but just get someone to hack it, so it displays the number six. Plus look at the Brightside, the military tournament is coming up, and it would be good if you hide your ability until then. Show everyone on the big stage. Besides if you came back with a level 6 now, they would be more shocked about how you learnt it so fast, so it works in our favour." Hearing those words did cheer Varun up a bit. There was always a geeky person who was good at technology in the school. The only problem was approaching said person. Maybe this was something Layla would be better at doing. Just then the sergeants and professors had entered the room, and surprisingly the first person who ran up to the both of them was their homeroom teacher Del. He continued to dash forward until he gave the two of them a big hug. "I'm so glad your both safe." He said with tears rolling down his face. Varun and Dakash thought it was sweet and didn't realise the homeroom teacher cared about them so much. But the truth was, Del, didn't care about either of them at all. He was filled with tears of joy that they wouldn't have to stay in this scary place any longer. He felt like the longer he remained in this place, the more likely he was to die, especially after seeing Ian's dead body on the floor. Hayley then came over to the two of them and did a general check- up to see if they were okay. "You look a little different from the last time I saw you?" Hayley said. "You remember me?" Varun asked "Of course, I do, I remember you taking that girl to my office at that time." Not many people even remembered what Varun looked like after seeing him the first time. Which is why the other teachers had no reaction when seeing him, so he was quite surprised. "Boys your age do grow quick, you're looking like a man already." She said, smiling. She didn't know why, but as she was touching Varun all over, she could feel his bulging muscles. His body was toned for his age, and a certain feeling was coming over her a little. 'Looks like the Charm effect is working.' The system said, 'It's a shame you didn't save up all your stats and put all your points into the thing, she would have confessed to you right here and now.' At first, Varun thought the system was joking but looking at Hayley's face she really was taking a little longer to check up on him compared to Dakash. Suddenly she snapped out of it and took her hands away. After checking all their vitals were fine, she handed both of them a food pill. Dakash took the pill immediately while Varun did the same. Although Varun felt full, he decided to still take the pill regardless. However, as the pill went into Varun's mouth and down his throat, he started coughing wildly, it was as if he was choking on the pill. "Is he choking?" Del asked. "I highly doubt it, the pill is around the same size as a pea, and it dissolves almost immediately." Varun continued to cough with his hands placed on his knees until he threw up all across the floor. Fay, who was standing by his side, had a worried look on her face. "Hayley quick check up on him, there's blood in his vomit." CHAPTER 97: I'VE CHANGED Chapter 97: I've changed Varun hadn't eaten anything in the last two days, if this was the case with anyone else, then they would be starving with hunger. However, it wasn't the case for Varun. Before eating the pill, he felt completely full, and he could guess the reason why. Ian's blood. The last thing he had eaten was the blood, and it was all he currently had inside his stomach. For some reason, as soon as he took that pill, it was like his body was rejecting it. Inedible substance consumed - 10 HP 45/55 HP Varun had no trouble consuming foods before, sure his taste buds where bland compared to before but he could always scoff the food down his throat no matter what it was. Hayley rushed over to check on Varun once again and placed him on the floor. She checked everything she could and even started to use her healing ability on his stomach. A soothing feeling came over him as the light emitting from her hands produced a faint glow. A healing ability has been detected unable to block ability +1 +1 … 55/55 HP It was a relief to know that healing abilities still worked for Varun. In the future, it would be handy to have one in his circle if he was ever seriously injured. "Thank you, I feel much better," Varun said. Your hunger grows Although she was able to heal him back up to full health, the healing ability could do nothing about the food he had just spilt all over the floor. "Did you find out what's wrong with the boy?" Fay asked. "Not yet," Hayley replied, "But I would need to take him back to the doctor's office when I get back." Just then Leo had returned carrying something over his shoulder. As soon as he entered the room, Varun was able to tell what it was straight away. The sweet smell was calling to him. Blood bank used 90/100 millilitres You are no longer hungry After taking some blood from his blood bank he no longer had the urge to go grab the body of Leo's shoulder, however, the sweet smell did still remain in the room. "Are we ready to head off now," Leo said, staring in the direction of Varun. 'Is he looking at me? Can't be right, he is blind after all.' "Now, you two," Fay said, looking at Dakash and Varun. "When we head back, I want a detailed report of what happened. Although we have already heard the other side of the story, we would like to hear yours, so it matches up." Dakash and Varun looked at each other. "You mean you know someone pushed us into the portal?" Dakash asked. "Yes, the second year who was responsible came forward and admitted it. General duke is dealing with his punishment as we speak." The two didn't know why, but someone was covering for Piyush. Which meant that Dakash and Varun's suspicions were right, someone had asked Piyush to do this, and it wasn't just anyone. Someone with a high enough backing to be able to cover up and get a second year to take the blame. The group started to walk around the training centre with the kids in the centre and Fay leading the front. Behind them was Leo and now Varun was sure of it. Leo was staring at him intently, then he remembered Leo saying something about telling if someone was using an ability or not. Could Leo have discovered Varun now had an ability but if so, why wasn't he saying anything? Then before he knew it, Leo was by his side and moved his head right next to Varun's ear. "When we're back at the school, let's have a talk just you and me. I promise I won't hurt you." He whispered. As soon as he finished saying his words, Leo went back to his position as a guard behind them. When Varun turned around to take a look, he could see that Leo had a big smile on his face. Varun was finding it hard to trust people these days, but with a face like that, he really couldn't see him doing any harm, and he wanted to know what Leo wanted to talk to him about. Worst case if he was to meet, he would bring Dakash and Layla along. Finally, they had reached the reception room, the first place they had arrived at when they entered from outside. At the desk, there was a computer with a passcode machine next to it. Fay input the code which allowed her to turn and log into the computer. After she typed away a few things, a large mechanical sound could be heard coming from the direction of the arena. "Well, we would have never been able to open that thing ourselves," Dakash said. Although Varun thought differently. With his inspect skill, he could have at least got past the passcode machine, but he wondered if it would have helped him with the computer. The group returned from where they had just come and this time when entering the stadium rather than just the plain flooring on the arena floor. Out from underneath, a large portal had been lifted and placed there. "It looks absolutely fine!" Del complained, "Looks like I carried this thing for no reason after all." As the group walked closer to the portal, Varun was beginning to hear his heartbeat louder, and he wasn't the only one. "What's wrong boy?" Leo said. "It's nothing." He replied. But it was a lie. After throwing up the food pill, it was clear to him that his body had changed after the last evolution. He could eat food and now he couldn't, so what about other changes. Before when walking into the sun he would lose half his stats, what if this time he just burnt to ashes. Dakash looking at Varun had realised the same thing. "Hey, do you know if it's day time or night time on the other end of this thing. I haven't seen the sun for ages." "The sun should still be out for a couple of hours." Fay replied, "But when you two get back, I suggest you rest." Varun gulped after hearing those words. 'Oh, will you relax!' The system said, 'Don't worry, the sun won't kill you.' 'Really?' 'Yes, why would I lie to you, all though it will have a different effect on you.' 'Like what?' 'Well, just wait and see.' CHAPTER 98: BACK AGAIN Chapter 98: Back again With the system telling him he had nothing to worry about, his heart started to settle down a bit. It had no reason to lie to him, other than if he was playing some type of sick joke but then why would it do that. Although knowing the creator's personality through the videos alone, it was something he would totally do. The group stepped into the portal and exited out from the other end. As they opened their eyes, they could see they were in the training hall. The same one where Piyush had pushed Varun. Since they were indoors, no system message had appeared telling him his defects. "But I thought the portal would send us to a random location?" Varun asked. "That's actually only the case with Red portals." Fay replied, "It's designed that way, so beasts are unable to know the location. Also, with a planet that has been undiscovered, which is usually the case with red portals, it's hard to pinpoint exact coordinates like we can on earth." "Dakash you head back to class, there are some checks I still need to do on Varun," Hayley said. They did as they were told, Varun followed Hayley along while Dakash decided to head back to his dorm room. "Del, you're free to go, and Leo you come with me. We will report this back to Nathan telling him the mission is a success and I'm guessing he will decide what to do with the Truedream body." ***** The students were currently in the middle of their classes. Layla was sitting in her seat, hitting her pen constantly on her table. She moved it up and down in the middle with her fingers. It was something she would do whenever she had something on her mind. She was hoping one of her connections would be able to get Varun out of there, but he had to be taken to a relatively unknown planet. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got, and all that anger was being directed at Piyush. As soon as classes were over and she entered the hallway, she could hear all the other students mumbling away. "Did you hear? Apparently, the missing students are back." "Are you sure?" "Yeah I saw Dakashn walking back to the dorms, and Professor Del was cheering out loudly in the hallway." 'Dakash's back but what about Varun?' Layla thought. She immediately rushed over to the boy's dorm to see if the rumours she heard where true, but before knocking on the dorm room, she hesitated. The last time she had done something like this, she was strangled by that psycho Dakash. But she needed to know, she wanted to know if Varun was safe. She gathered her courage and knocked at the door. A few seconds later and the last person she wanted to see had opened it. It was Dakash. "Look, let me just get to chase, where is Varun?" Dakash smiled as soon as he saw who was at the door. "He's at the doctor's office." "Thank you." She said as she rushed off. "Wait!" Dakash shouted. As she turned around, she could still see a huge grin on his face. "You're not the only one that knows anymore." He said. "What do you mean?" Layla asked. Dakash then started to walk over to her slowly, the grin on his face was beginning to get creepier by the second. "I'm saying you're no longer special and not needed by him anymore, because I know." Layla turned and continued to run, and as she did, she had the final say. "I guess your still a crazy boy!" She ran and ran until eventually, she had finally reached the doctor's office. When she entered the room, she noticed that Hayley wasn't there, but when she looked at each of the beds, she had finally found him. "Varun!" She said surprised, for a moment she had to look him up and down a couple of times. His jawline, his clear skin and just something about him was pulling her towards him. "What's going on?" she said, "Are you using some type of Charm spell on me?" She had read enough Vampire Novels to know what was happening. Although she was fascinated with Varun because of what he was, she had never thought he looked handsome, but for some reason, her mind was now running wild with thoughts. 'Can you turn this thing off!' Varun said in his head. 'Of course, but I thought you would like this?' the system replied. Of course I do, but if it's like this, she won't really like me, its just cause of the system.' Charm stat deactivated Suddenly, Layla no longer had the urge. But still looking at Varun now, he looked different from before, and she had to admit he was now on the same level as Dakash with his looks. Although she didn't like Dakash, she knew a pretty boy when she saw one. "Are you okay, what happened?" She asked. While no one else was in the office, Varun proceeded to tell Layla everything that happened in the portal world. "I'm sorry, I wasn't there." She said, "I said I would help you, but I couldn't." "Hey, don't worry about it," Varun replied. "I wasn't expecting anyone to jump in after me, that's practically suicide." "He did," Layla mumbled just quite enough so Varun couldn't understand what she said. For some reason, she felt like Dakash had one-upped her on the loyalty scale. "Just remember if you need any blood, you can call me, you don't have to really on Dakash." She said as she rushed off out of the doctor's office. It was a nice feeling to have people worry about him. For the first time in his life, Varun truly felt like he had friends. It was a strange feeling he had never felt before, no one had looked out for him when he was hurt. In the past, when he came back home all beaten up, he always had entered an empty room. No one would ask if he was okay or how he was doing. But ever since getting the system things were different. After Hayley had given Varun the all okay to leave the office, he finally returned to his dorm room. Inside Dakash was busy playing on a handheld device. "Hey man, is everything all okay," Dakash asked. "They didn't find out you were a…" he looked around the room before finishing the last words "Vampire, did they?" "Yeah everything was fine, she said she could find nothing wrong with me and my blood levels were normal. So she sent me back." As the two of them were talking away, a beep sound was heard from the door. Indicating that it had been unlocked. The door opened and in came Piyush. CHAPTER 99: SAME TEAMS Chapter 99: Same Teams With no one to talk to or no one to help him out of the situation he was in, Piyush would often go out for walks on his own around the campus. His mind was filled with regret and Layla's words. In a way, he felt like he should have been punished for what he had done, yet Layla had just left him there. He felt even less significant than before, he wasn't even worth being hit. After walking around school a couple of times, he decided to head back to his dorm room as usual. But as he entered, he had nearly experienced the shock of his life. The two people who he had thought had gone missing, possibly dead on another planet were in the room. "Guys.." Piyush started to say with his eyes watering up. "GET OUT!" Dakash shouted as he pointed at the door. "What?" "I said, Get out!" Dakash shouted again, "If you don't get out Piyush, I don't know what I will do to you." "But this is my room as well." He cried. "I don't care, ask them to change rooms but you are not staying here." Piyush then looked to Varun for help hoping he would say something. But Varun just turned his head away as his body was shaking. He didn't like what was happening, but it needed to be done. What Piyush had done was unforgivable. He and Dakash could have died, and if he really was still a level one, he would have been killed by the first Rattaclaw he had seen. Piyush stood there, still in shock. He didn't know what to do. As soon as he saw the two of them, he was hoping everything would go back to how it was. Before everything had happened. He wanted to tell them how sorry he was, but they wouldn't even let him speak. Dakash then went to his desk and grabbed a book chucking it towards Piyush hitting the wall and falling onto the ground. "The next one is going for your face if you don't leave." Said Dakash. "Piyush, please just go," Varun said. When Varun spoke those words, it finally hit him. There was no redemption for him. No matter what he said or did, or even why. They had made up their minds; he was no longer their friend. He opened the door and closed it behind him as he left. Looking around, there was nowhere left to go. It was already night time, it was nearly curfew so he couldn't go outside and all the other parts of the building would be closed now. With nowhere to go and no one to rely on, he stayed in the dorm room hallway, curled up into a ball on the ground and cried himself to sleep. The next day when the two woke up in their beds, they could hear a commotion going on outside. As they opened the door, they could see a group had gathered just outside their room, and they were all circling around something. "What happened to him?" "Look, the floors wet underneath." "Did he cry himself to sleep outside, I thought I could hear something last night." A boy from the group then knelt down and grabbed Piyush by the hair lifting his head off the ground and waking him up. "Hey, so it was you that was waking me up in the middle of the night." The boy said. Before deciding to do anything, the boy looked at Piyush's watch and noticed he was a level one. The boy himself was only a level 2. So he took this chance to show everyone he wasn't at the bottom of the food chain. "If you're going to stay out here like a dog, then you need to learn to shut up." He said as he lifted his hand and slapped Piyush across the face. Piyush was already defeated at this point, he didn't care what happened to him. What were a few slaps, this pain was nothing. What was the pint of fighting back he would only get hurt more? The only people who had bothered to help him in the past, he had tried to kill them. This is what Piyush wanted, he wanted to be punished for his actions. As the boy lifted his hand to slap Piyush again, he felt something grab his wrist. Then before the boy could even turn his head, he saw a fist right in front of his eyes. The punch was so powerful the sound of his Jaw cracking could be heard, and the boy immediately was knocked out and collapsed to the ground. As Piyush looked up through his watery vision, he could see Varun standing there with a look of anger on his face. "I didn't do that for you." He said, "If anyone was treating someone like a piece of Sh*t like that, I would have done the same." Without even looking at Piyush, Varun walked off with Dakash and headed to the canteen. "Hey, who was that?" "I'm not sure, but he was kinda hot." "I don't remember seeing him in school, do you?" "No, me either." After breakfast, the group was to go to their homeroom class for the usual morning lesson before heading to combat classes. Everyone sat in their usual seats. Which meant that Dakash and Varun were sat next to each other with Piyush on the side. "They really did come back." "I heard they got pushed into a portal by some second year." "It's amazing they managed to survive." All of the students were talking about the two who had gone missing for a few days. It wasn't the talk around the school but was talked about frequently in Del's class since the students belonged to their class. Del had finally entered the room with a smile on his face, as he prepared to give an announcement to the whole class. "Good morning, everyone. Now that everything is back to normal again, I am proud to announce that your first portal outing date has been confirmed and will now be moved to next week. So please prepare yourselves as best you can. Oh, and remember to practise with your teammates. The same teams that were registered before will be used for this outing." This meant that Piyush, would be on the same team as the others. **** Mass release day, 2 more chapters will be released at 0:00 Am GMT + 8 New goal will be released then as well. Keep voting everyone. CHAPTER 100: DREAMLAND Chapter 100: Dreamland Outside somewhere in the world, there was a city named Dreamland. The place was condensed packed with buildings and skyscr.a.p.ers everywhere, and there didn't seem to be a place of open land that could be seen. A large wall also stood surrounding it around a hundred meters high. On top of the walls, were several turrets and mechs standing guard day and night patrolling for any danger. Because of these things, Dreamland was considered one of the safest cities to live in. But it came at a cost. Security was a significant issue, and so was habitable land on Earth. After the war, many of the old cities were obliterated and destroyed. Too much damage had been done. Parts of land gone missing, blown into small pieces, too small for humans to live on. This was what caused the Humans to create shelters on other planets. It was a lot cheaper than living on Earth, and often many travellers from different associations and families would live there protecting the place. But planet Earth would always be home to many, and it was hard for them to leave. They hated the fact if they lived on another planet, they might have to live in fear of beasts attacking them at any moment. Because of this, the few places left on Earth were only for the very top. There were only two ways to live in the city of Dreamland. To either be really rich or to become a part of the Truedream family. Swearing absolute loyalty to the leader and doing whatever was asked. In the centre of the city, there was a skyscr.a.p.er bigger than any of the others around it. The whole building had been made of Glathrium, the hardest materiel known in space. Inside, on the very top floor was a bald-headed man in a nicely fitted suit was sitting down in his large armchair at his desk. His name was Jack Truedream. The leader of one of the big four families. Just then, a female wearing business attire had entered the room. "Sir, there has been a report that one of our family members have died?" "What Rank was the Traveller?" Jack asked. "Rank D sir." Once students had left the academy, they were able to become Travellers and either work for a Faction, Family or as a freelancer. The world government issued these travellers with a Rank depending on the difficulty of tasks they can complete. At some point, power levels didn't matter too much on the outside. The attribute that high-level beast gear gave you was much more useful. It was more important how you used your ability in conjunction with the beast gear. When starting out as a traveller, everyone started as a rank F. The more tasks you would complete the more points you would be awarded. Usually, it would take a couple years between each Rank to level up. Ranks went from F, all the way to A +. Because of the way the system worked, it was always hard to gauge an F's ability, but the strong would usually move quickly through the ranks. Therefore, travellers seemed to care less for power level and often looked at Rank instead. "Our Rank D's die often out in missions, why the need to tell me?" Jack asked. "Well sir, this one was received to us from one of the military bases, and it was one of our hopefuls named Ian." Jack sat there and thought about it for a while. It was usual for him to get reports from other families and organisations when they found the dead bodies of his family. They wanted to do anything to get on his good side. What troubled him, though, was the person who had actually died. To give a person an ability that he had taken away, he had to touch them and meet them in person. The low-level abilities he usually didn't remember too much. But he remembered giving Ian quite a handy ability. He had also only taken a year to go from a rank F to a rank D and was hoping for better things for him in the future. "Send me the report. I'd like to take a look?" The female then clicked a device in her hand, and in an instant, a holographic display appeared in front of Jack. He used his hands to navigate through the pages and quickly read through the information. There were also some pictures attached of Ian's body. "Woah what a bad way to die," Jack said as he looked at the picture of the body cut in half. But then he spotted something that interested him and started to zoom in, right on Ian's Neck. "Alexa bring me up the report of two years ago on Danny Fletchmen." "Report has been found." His computer system said as it brought up another file. He looked through them once again and noticed that another family member had the same mark on his neck. Usually, Jack wouldn't remember details like this, But Danny Fletchman was a level 8 user and was a B rank traveller. One of the strongest men that the Truedream had in their family. When he had died, it had come to a shock to him, and no one knew who or what had done it. 'Could these two cases be linked somehow?' He thought. "Apparently they coincidentally came across Ian when they out looking for two students. I don't know much of the details." "Do you know what military base they are from?" The worker then placed her hand on her glasses, and images could be seen in the reflection. Words and articles started scrolling past her eyes. "Military base two sir." "Perhaps its time I pay a visit to them. It has been a while, and I could find out more information. In the meantime, find out what you can about Ian's last mission." Jack then stood up from his chair and closed his eyes. Inside of him, he could see around ten little flames swirling around his stomach. Each of them looking slightly different from the others. 'It looks like I'm running low on abilities again, I guess it will also be a good chance to stock up as well.' ***** We hit 22,000 Stones last week and unlocked 6 chapters mass release. New mass release goal! I will also increase chapter length for mass release chapters to 1500 words instead of 1000 words for fast pass users. 20,000 Stones = 2 extra Chapters 22,000 Stones = 4 extra Chapters