Chapter 242: Asking For Help

While Layla was waiting for Erin, she decided to spend the time examining the things around here. Logan’s room was filled with so many knick knacks, including some retro ones, that there was always something interesting to see.

Something else Layla had noticed was that the room wasn’t constantly the same. Even though it was always the same items, they were constantly moving, getting moved to different locations.

However, the exception was a strange black box sitting on a table against the wall. In all the times Layla came to his room, the box was always at the same spot. Naturally, she was drawn to it.

’I’ve seen this before, but what does it do?’ Layla wondered, her hand hovering over the object, ’If only I had Erin’s inspect skill, I could figure out what it does...’

"I recommend you don’t touch that," Logan called out over his shoulder.

Instantly, Layla perked up, and pretended like she wasn’t doing anything.

"I didn’t touch anything, I swear! I was just— uh— looking!" Layla lied.

Logan didn’t respond, but she could tell that he heard her.

’Maybe I can ask Erin what it doe—’

At that moment, Layla doubled over in pain. There was a burning sensation in her chest, like as if someone was pulling on it.

"Ow— what’s going on...?" Layla groaned, then felt it again "Is this from my connection to Erin...?"

This was something that Fex once told her about, that when her turner, Erin in this case, was in trouble, she’d feel it.

Logan turned around, and realized that this was a situation that required his help.

Mumbling to herself, a sudden instinct entered her mind, "Erin— I need to get to Erin!"

"If Erin is in trouble, you may use my assistance," Logan said as a spider jumped onto Layla’s shoulder, "I cannot have my research subject get hurt."

Layla barely registered the tiny robot. She sprinted out of the dorm room, and headed towards where she felt Erin’s presence. All she could think of was to help her.

—

Running out of MC was a major issue, as that was Erin’s biggest method of blocking Luke’s attacks. If this fight continued as is, then she had a feeling she was going to lose.

’I have to finish this fight now,’ Erin thought, ’If I can just get one hit in with my sword...’

Erin summoned her paleneedle rapier in her other hand, preparing to counter his next move.

Luke sprinted at full speed, and slashed diagonally, which she caught with her two swords. Redirecting it, Erin spun around, and slashed as hard as she could into Luke’s neck.

The blades bounced off, taking a tiny chip of silver with it. The sound of metal reverberating across the room.

Luke swung one blade arm overhead, and thrusted with his other. Two attacks coming from different directions that would normally be hard to avoid. Thankfully, with her speed, Erin lifted her blood sword to block the overhead attack, then her rapier to redirect the thrust.

While both of her hands were busy, Luke formed a spiked knee, and kicked her in the chest.

[- 7 HP]

[HP 78/95]

The wind left Erin’s lungs, but she pushed through, redirecting both blades and thrusting her own sword hard into his cracked chest.

Luke stumbled back, clutching where Erin just struck. A sign of good news.

’I could try to wait until his MC runs out just like he did with me, but he’s a higher level.’ Erin contemplated, ’What I have to do is overwhelm him enough to get my speed advantage.’

She charged in a zig-zag pattern, dodging strikes from both of his blades. Then she slammed her palm into his chest and activated blood spray.

[-5 HP]

The silver broke apart, more than earlier, and it made her realize that Luke too was going to run out of MC.

Unfortunately, he didn’t need a lot of MC to maintain his changed form, and thrusted both bladed arms into her gut.

[-24 HP]

[-22 HP]

[HP 27/95]

Erin coughed up blood, slightly winded from the devastating blow. What Luke had done was change his arms into jagged blades mid stab, making them harder to remove.

’So long as there’s an object embedded into me, I can’t use blood bank.’

Still, she had to make that opening.

She aimed at his chest with another blood spray, breaking it enough for a big enough crack of flesh to appear. Erin thrusted her blood sword down at that spot, and a system message appeared.

[1/5 successful hits]

[10% agility boost]

[Agility: 36] [+5]

Her agility had slightly improved, albeit, not by much, the last time this skill activated. Still, every bit counted in a fight like this.

Just when Erin was about to break out of Luke’s blades, they shifted, turning into spiked weapons, and puncturing her insides even more.

[- 11 HP]

[HP 16/95]

Glancing down, Erin saw several of Luke’s spikes jutting out of her midsection. Blood dripping from every wound.

Luke panted heavily, no doubt a result of using his MC to this extent. Still, he remained smiling.

"You... I don’t know what you are, but we could’ve been something together... We could’ve ruled this school!"

"Shut up!" Erin screamed, and decked him in the jaw.

His head moved an inch, but his smile dropped.

Suddenly, Erin feared that she had grown too big for her head. Luke was a level 7, a step below the power of Originals. Did she really think she could take someone like him on? Or was she high on the power that being a vampire gave her?

’I... I wanted to get stronger, I wanted to make sure no one else I cared about got hurt but—’

Luke dropped her on the ground, blades still in her body.

’Who’s there to protect me?!’

—

Elsewhere in the dorms, Layla nearly fell over as the pain grew more intense.

"She’s here, I can feel it," Layla rasped as she stood in front of a dorm room door.

Immediately, she tried punching the door, a desperate attempt to break it down, but all that did was hurt her hand.

"This requires a delicate touch, Layla," Logan commented from the spider bot, "But if you say she’s here..."

The spider jumped onto the door handle, and did some quick programming. The door popped open, and Layla nearly ripped the door hinges off to find a messy room. Blood stained the ground, debris covered the kitchen, but most importantly, Erin was on the floor with Luke above her.

"Help me!" Erin cried.

It was a command, but it wasn’t like Layla needed it. What came next was something Layla would’ve done for Erin, no matter the situation.

At impossibly inhuman speeds, Layla leapt towards Luke.

When Luke saw the newcomer, he retracted his shifted arms from Erin’s insides, and caught Layla mid air.

The two pushed against each other, with Luke taking the lead, but this moment of distraction allowed Erin to get away long enough to recover.

[Blood bank activated]

[HP 51/95]

[Blood bank empty]

The wounds on her body closed up, and Erin stopped any further bleeding from occurring. There were still wounds, but she was back in fighting shape.

’Layla... Thank you. What you’ve done for me was more than you can imagine.’

With Erin now partially healed, and Layla at her side, victory was within their sights.