After a long time training her shadow ability, Erin had gotten enough skill points to unlock the shadow void skill.
[Shadow void Lv.1 20 skill points to unlock]
[You have successfully unlocked Shadow void Lv.1]
[This skill will allow you to create a space surrounded by shadows in a specific area. The space created will last a total of one hour. - 50MC points to cast the skill.]
It used up a lot of her MC points, but Erin was fine with that. She mainly used her ability as a defensive tool, and had plenty of offensive skills at her disposal. With this, Erin could defeat beasts without worrying about her reduced stats.
Unfortunately, the second 24 hours, was coming to an end. The third 24 hours, or the third day was going to arrive soon, which made Erin feel like she should've gone on her own sooner. The assessment was going to come to an end, and she needed to play catch up.
Arriving at the dorm building, Erin had only planned on acquiring some blood from Layla. Just enough to top up her blood bank.
However, right as she entered her team's dorm, she found Quinn sitting on the couch facing the dorm door entrance, staring right where she was at.
"Look who finally came back," Quinn said, almost mockingly, "I thought you wanted a good grade— where have you been!?"
Erin walked past him, "None of your business."
"Wh— Erin, I thought we were supposed to be a team!" Quinn chastised as he got up from the couch.
Erin knocked on the door to Layla's room, only to find that it wasn't locked. Pushing on it revealed that there was no one inside. She had been gone for so long that Layla wasn't there anymore.
"Where's Layla?!" Erin snapped.
"She left, but we need to talk about today," Quinn tried to discuss as he stood in the doorway, blocking Erin.
"There's nothing to talk about," Erin spat out as she pushed aside Quinn.
'If Layla isn't here then I'll just leave,' she thought as she was heading to the exit.
But right as Erin was about to open the door, a wall of earth had blocked her.
"Quinn, let me go!" Erin ordered as she turned around.
"No, we're going to talk about your 'leadership' skills," Quinn glared at her, "You can't just go and—"
That was when Erin's eyes glowed red, and Quinn found himself almost dazed by them.
[Skill influence activated]
"Stand down," Erin spoke firmly.
His body had stiffened, about to be frozen. A moment paused when Quinn blinked, frantically shaking his head. His eyes were no longer glazed over, and a look of realization had dawned on him of what she tried to do.
[Skill unsuccessful]
"Erin… What the HELL!?" Quinn yelled.
He didn't need to ask what she had tried to do, he saw the system screen, and he was honestly a little betrayed by his friend's action.
"I can't believe you— you tried to—" Quinn shook his head to clear his mind, and put his foot down, "No, I'm NOT letting you out."
Erin herself had been shocked that the influence skill was capable of being blocked like that, but she had a bigger issue right in front of her.
"You can't force me to stay here, I'm the leader," Erin retorted, jabbing a finger at herself for emphasis, "You can't control me."
Quinn let out a single dry laugh, "That's rich coming from you. Do you think that just because you're strong that you get to command us like dogs?!"
"You really think I'm like this because I'm abusing my power?" Erin almost scoffed, then started to slowly walk towards Quinn, "This is NOTHING, I'm not even close to being the best with how we're in DEAD LAST, and I'm stuck with a DISAPPOINTING team that won't even—!"
Even though Erin said they were in dead last, she actually didn't know what placing her team really was in. She couldn't say more as right at that moment, when Erin was a mere few inches away from physically touching Quinn, they heard a door open. Turning to see who it was, they saw a tired looking Fex in the doorway of his bedroom.
"Can you two shut it? In case you've forgotten, but some of us have sensitive hearing," Fex scowled, before slamming the door shut.
Quinn and Erin slowly turned their heads towards each other. There was a tense energy in the air. and the tension was hard to bear. He'd hate to admit it, but Quinn knew that if he and Erin fought inside one on one, then there wasn't much he could do. In nearly every way, Erin had better stats, and beast gear. The fact that the sun was out now was his biggest saving grace, the one major advantage he had.
There was at least a small sliver of hope, though. Quinn knew her stats, they shared a system after all, but she couldn't see his. The full extent of his strength, his creative thinking, and all the skills he had learned, was unknown to her. Sure, Erin most likely knew she could take Quinn in a fight, but how much damage, struggle, and precious energy will that take? It wasn't a big advantage, but a precious one.
Cautiously, Quinn spoke again, "… We can leave once we've all fully recovered."
Erin glared down at Quinn. The two had a slight height difference, with Quinn being a few inches shorter than Erin, but with the sheer pressure Erin was exuding off of her body, it felt far more than that.
"…Fine." Erin snarled, before storming off to her room.
She too had slammed her door, making Quinn let out a small sigh of relief with her gone.
'Just when I thought she had changed, she acts like this,' Quinn thought to himself, then yawned, 'It's been a long day… I want to sleep, but knowing her? I have to stay as guard duty.'
—
As Erin stood in her bedroom, she was gritting her teeth, and clenching her fists so tightly that her nails had cut into her skin. Quinn was getting in her way, and already she was trying to figure out the best way to escape unnoticed.
'I could rush him, use my speed to run out the door before he could react— No, the sun will slow me down. He'll catch up to me at that rate,' Erin thought to herself, 'And running with the umbrella isn't possible. I'll either break it if I ran at full speed. I could run at a lower speed, make sure it properly covers me…'
That was when she heard him yawn, before plopping onto the couch.
'That's right… he's only human,' Erin thought, then relaxing her body. She too plopped herself on her bed, and waited, 'Actually, it'll be better if you don't even know I left.'