Chapter 238: Be Careful

As both Erin and Fex headed back to the dorms, she glanced over her shoulder, getting a sense that someone, or people in general, were looking at her.

’System, you didn’t turn on my charm skill without telling me, did you?’ Erin thought to it, frustrated.

If this was the system’s way of getting back at her, she swore she’d make giving it a physical body a reality.

"If you think I would actively get in your way like that, then you would be wrong," the system responded.

Erin internally groaned, and turned to Fex, "Your charm skill isn’t on right now, is it?"

Fex swiped a hand through his hair, smugness radiating off him, "I don’t need that to look good."

She glared at him, then sighed. For some reason, people found Fex attractive, which she didn’t get. Was it his pale face? His gelled hair? If it was his personality, then surely they’d want to do better.

Eventually, they came across Logan’s room and entered inside. The boy was still sitting on his chair like usual, bright monitors lighting the otherwise dark room.

"Logan, do you still have those armor prototypes?" Erin asked.

Logan touched the side of the screen, and a large pause button appeared on the monitor.

"Indeed I have, but what for?"

"I was wondering if you can get me a set of armor that doesn’t look like my current one," Erin said, "If we are on this mission to save Quinn, I need to use my powers without people knowing its me."

Logan nodded, noting the request, "I see..."

He turned towards a corner in his room. Immediately, several spiders scuttled together carrying the old prototype armors from a while ago.

"Do you have any recommendations?" Logan said.

Erin thought about it. The prototype pieces weren’t colored, and her current armor was known to be as white. It made her stand out, but there was a reason behind it.

"Let’s go with black," Erin decided.

Logan raised his hands, and the spiders crawled over the prototype armor, fusing pieces together. Then had the spiders coat the armor in a dark pigment.

"I’m surprised you didn’t go with black sooner," Fex noted, "We tend to really like the color black, or any dark colors really. Makes us blend into the night."

"I’ve thought about making my armor black before, but I wanted mine to be white," Erin said, then her voice trailed off, "It’s... important."

She gave a few more details about how she wanted the new armor to look, but with so many comparisons to the old and new armor, her mind naturally wandered to the past.

Back when Merathia was attacked by the dalki, Erin was in an emergency shelter with other survivors, waiting until reinforcements arrived, or for the dalki to find them. Tears streamed down her face as the memory of watching her parents die kept replaying in her mind.

Outside of the shelter, all of the planet’s fighters were sent to attack the two dalki, and they were able to kill one, but the casualties were too high to finish the second one.

It seemed all hope was lost as the last living Dalki set its eyes on the emergency shelter. However, before it could strike, a woman wearing sparkling white armor stepped through a portal nearby.

Through the shelter windows, little Erin was able to see the woman stand in front of the dalki, not a single ounce of fear on her face.

The two charged at one another, the woman displaying that level of swordsmanship Erin would later strive to achieve. Whenever the dalki tried attacking her, she would simply parry it, then land her own blows in between. Her footwork was immaculate, light and silent, as if her feet never even touched the floor.

Of course, that would be impossible, but that’s what it looked like to Erin. In that moment, the woman was like an angel, one that came too late.

Once the dalki fell to the floor, defeated, the mysterious woman came up to the shelter and looked down at her. Erin’s face was full of tears, snot coming down her nose. What the woman said next would remain forever in her mind.

"If you never want to see your family or friends die again, then you have to become stronger. You have to be the best, so nobody can take anything away from you. Because your tears won’t bring your family and friends back."

It was a dark time, with a strange glimmer of light.

In the middle of her thoughts, a system notification screen popped up in Erin’s vision.

[6/7 unique humans eaten]

"What!?" Erin said out loud.

"Huh? What’s up?" Fex said. He was giving Logan some pointers to make Erin’s armor look cooler.

"It’s Layla, I have to go find her!" Erin said.

"Is she in danger?" Fex asked, getting ready to run.

"She might be," Erin replied, and used shadow equip to put on her armor.

By using their connection to one another, Erin ran off the campus and into the city. Fex trailed behind her, worried that this might be a bigger problem. He knew that if something major were to happen to a turner, then the person they turned will feel it, and vice versa. The fact that Erin was wearing armor as well didn’t help.

Smelling the air, Erin located the direction Layla was in, and found her standing in the middle of the street. This made Fex confused as Layla didn’t look hurt in anyway, but she was a ghoul so any injuries could’ve healed.

Layla turned around, noticing the two vampires, "Erin? What are you—?"

"What. Did. You. Do?" Erin spoke with a sudden intensity.

"Nothing, I—"

"You ate someone."

Layla blinked, "I did but—"

"You can’t do that!" Erin interrupted her, "Quinn’s already in the dungeon, we can’t have you get captured too!"

She took a step back, then glanced at Fex, "I... I was trying to evolve. I thought that was what we were supposed to do?"

Before Erin could respond, Fex raised his hands and got between the two, "Hold on, ladies. I think there’s some sort of miscommunication here. Layla, you speak first, what happened?"

Layla glanced over her shoulder where she came from, "I went into town to find the morgue, and snuck inside to get another meat."

"And did you get caught?"

She shook her head, "No! I swear I didn’t! I used the shadow ability to stay hidden, and there weren’t any cameras either. No one saw me."

"Okay, then what seems to be the problem?" Fex said as he slowly faced Erin.

"Layla, what you did was risky," Erin pointed out, "There wasn’t anyone nearby to help if something went wrong."

"This whole thing is risky!" Layla harshly whispered, "Saving Quinn means I can’t hold myself back anymore."

"Hate to take sides on this but... Layla has a point," Fex said, "Her human meat consumption has gone on long enough, and she’s going to need to evolve at some point. Besides, what she becomes might be crucial in helping us. Undeads are known to be very powerful."

Erin wanted to argue, but Layla was there, safe and sound. If she wanted to keep her protected, then being out in the open wasn’t it.

"Fine, but next time, make sure you aren’t alone," Erin said.

Layla silently nodded, acknowledging her words, and the three headed back toward campus.

As they did, Erin felt like she was being watched, then looked down.

’Right, I’m still wearing this armor. Logan’s replacement should be coming in soon.’

Because it wasn’t curfew yet, there were still quite a few people around, but behind the corner of a building, there was a finger watching. He stared at the blonde beauty, and took a picture. After he was satisfied, the figure slipped into the shadows.