Seeing the message, Tsukuru's eyes widened.
'A halfling?' Tsukuru thought. 'Isn't that the temporary, transitional state a person takes when they're first being turned? It looks like Vampires really ARE real.'
On the ground next to him, Quinn was in a similar state of disbelief.
He stared at the words on the System screen, unable to make sense of them.
Unlike Tsukuru, Quinn had never even heard of the word "halfling", and if the warning he had received when the System asked him if he wanted to level up was to be believed, the process was irreversible.
Before he could think on it any more, three new System messages appeared in front of him.
[Your Stats have increased.
New Skill Blood Swipe - Lv. 1 has been acquired.]
[Blood Swipe: A Skill with a range of 5 meters. Fires a line of red energy from the user's hand. -1 HP per use.]
[Your hunger grows. You can no longer suppress your need for blood. Your HP will decrease by 1 HP every hour until you have consumed human blood.]
Tsukuru's eyes widened when he saw that last message. Instantly, his eyes snapped towards Quinn's face.
'That's…not good…' He thought.
It was then that Quinn suddenly got to his feet, making Tsukuru jump back.
Quinn started to sway and stagger, like a drunken man.
'Have I become…a Vampire?' He thought to himself.
No matter how much Quinn tried to ignore it, the System message made it clear. The truth had been staring him in the face long enough, all the signs had been there.
The book about Vampires granting him Exp…him growing weaker in the sunlight…the constant hunger that he could never sate…his night vision…and the way the blood of his first victim had been enticing him to consume it.
Quinn was unsure if he could do what the System was demanding of him. There was a…moral binding. He knew that if he crossed this line, there was no going back. It was as if his least shred of humanity was holding him back from becoming a monster.
Tsukuru watched as Quinn slowly stumbled over towards Riley like a man
possessed.
Quinn looked down at Riley, passed out on the ground. It was the perfect opportunity to do what the System demanded.
He gulped down the saliva as he realized that his mouth was suddenly watering.
He could smell Riley's blood, could hear his beating heart. It was drawing him in.
Without realizing it, he had already bent down towards Riley, and could see his pulse beating in his neck. The blood flowing through his veins. The smell from his chipped tooth from when Quinn had hit him. It was strong and intoxicating.
A System message appeared in front of him. It was the same message he had received when defeating Kyle.
[You have received an optional Quest: Drink the blood of your victim to obtain a Stat Point]
Quinn's mind was flooding with questions. How much blood was he supposed to consume? Would Riley die if he did this? Would Riley become a Vampire like him?
Tsukuru watched him with a weary expression. He had seen this countless times in various anime and movies.
This was the sort of "denial" face most newly-turned Vampires went through. At first, they would try to reject it, ignoring to drink blood.
But Tsukuru knew that this wasn't a TV show. This was real life.
"Quinn, what kind of choice will you make?' He thought.
Meanwhile, back with Shizuka and Layla, they continued to watch Quinn's actions.
Up till this point, Layla had kept her distance from the two.
After she followed them from the convenience store and saw them confront Riley, she knew what was about to happen, and had maintained a safe distance away to avoid detection.
However, everything that had happened to Quinn after Riley had fallen had seemed…off to her.
He had suddenly collapsed, screaming in pain.
Layla had wanted to reach out, but the Sergeant next to her had held out her hand, stopping her. She was forced to just stand in place and watch.
Eventually, Quinn had regained his composure.
It was at this point that the two girls saw Quinn walk over towards Riley.
He lifted the unconscious boy slightly off of the ground, him kneeling next to the boy.
'What the?' Layla thought. 'Is he going to…kiss him?'
Meanwhile, as Tsukuru watched Quinn, he knew exactly what Quinn was contemplating on doing.
He watched with bated breath, as Quinn lifted Riley's body up to him, so he could dig his new-found fangs into the boy's neck.
The next minute, Quinn put Riley back down.
The three onlookers watched, as Quinn stood there, his mind going back and forth, him unable to make a decision.
"Damn it, the movies make it look so easy!" Quinn muttered under his breath. "But just the idea of sticking my teeth into someone's neck…I just can't do it!"
Quinn was silent for a second, before muttering once again.
"Wait, maybe I don't have to! I could just make a cut on his arm and lick it! Maybe that would work?"
Meanwhile, Tsukuru continued to watch Quinn in silence.
True be told, inside his irritation and impatience were boiling over.
It was like he was stuck behind an indecisive person in a drive-through at a restaurant.
But Tsukuru knew he couldn't get involved.
This was Quinn's choice to make.
If their roles were reversed, he wouldn't want someone making up this choice for him, either.
It was at that point that Layla had subconsciously taken a step back.
However, unfortunately for her, there was a dried twig behind her, and as she stepped back, she stepped on it.
The sound of the twig snapping filled the area.
Instantly, both Tsukuru's and Quinn's heads snapped towards the source of the noise, right where Layla and Shizuka were standing.
'What was that?' Quinn thought.
Back with the two girls, Shizuka snapped her head down at the girl, a look of pure anger and annoyance on her face.
Seeing the look, Layla gulped.
The next second, Quinn bolted, making a mad dash towards the school, panic overtaking him, him completely abandoning his mask and shopping bag.
Seeing this, Tsukuru's head snapped back in Quinn's direction.
"Quinn!" Tsukuru yelled, holding out his arm outstretched towards the retreating boy.
When the boy was out of sight, Tsukuru let out a long sigh, and put his arm down.
He then turned to face the direction of the noise, a look of deep annoyance on his face.
"What the hell was that?" He muttered.
It was at that point that another System message appeared in front of Tsukuru.
[You have won your first battle. An additional reward will be awarded.
A new System feature has been unlocked. Minimap feature is now available.]
In Tsukuru's vision, in the far, lower right-hand corner, a blue circle with a light-blue outline was now visible.
The circle looked like a pie with 14 slices, and it had seven inner circles, with each circle getting smaller the closer it was to the center.
The closest thing Tsukuru could compare it to was a dart board.
Although, it had a line of light-blue light that slowly went across the circle's length in a clockwise motion, making it actually closer to a radar screen.
In the center of the screen, there was a white triangle, which Tsukuru theorized was meant to mean himself.
As Tsukuru glanced at the "minimap" he saw a set of two dots in the location that the noise had come from.
The first dot was grey, while the second was green. This made Tsukuru think for a moment. He put his hand under his chin.
'Hmm…usually a 'green' dot designates an ally, while a 'gray' dot denotes a neutral NPC…' He thought.
The number of people in this school who could be called Tsukuru's "allies" could be counted on one hand.
First of all, there was his surrogate brother, Logan Green.
Tsukuru then let out an amused snort at the mere idea.
There was no way in HELL that Logan would ever be hiding in the bushes in a forest this far away from the base.
Next up were Tsukuru's roommates, Quinn, Vorden, and Peter.
However, Quinn had just run in the complete opposite direction, and as far as Tsukuru knew, Peter and Vorden were back in the dorm.
That only left one person.
Tsukuru raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Shizuka?" He asked in a somewhat loud voice, as if he was calling to her.
Hearing her name being called, Shizuka's whole body tensed.
"Is that you?" He asked.
Shizuka felt a cold sweat run down her face.
'Did he somehow spot me?' She thought to herself. 'Or…is this something to do with that…'System'?'
Hearing no response, Tsukuru narrowed his eyebrow.
Tsukuru looked over, and saw one of the daggers he had used in his fight against Riley laying on the floor.
Looking at it, he thought back to his newly-acquired Skill, Video Stasis.
It appeared to be similar to the Telekinesis Ability, but with a 10-pound weight limit.
He smirked.
'That should be less than 10 pounds…' He thought.
Tsukuru held out his hand towards the dagger on the ground, and imagined activating the Skill.
Instantly, the sound of electronic interference filled the area, and an aura of translucent, light-blue, glitching pixels enveloped his hand down to his forearm.
As he looked at the dagger on the ground, the same aura of glitching pixels appeared around the dagger.
Tsukuru smirked.
He lifted his arm up into the air.
As he did, the dagger lifted off of the ground, levitating as if unaffected by gravity.
Tsukuru then turned around, the dagger moving with him so it was facing the same direction as him.
Tsukuru then rotated his wrist. As he did, the dagger rotated.
Back in the trees, Layla's eyes widened.
Her eyes darted up at Shizuka.
"He's not really going to throw that at us…right?" She asked, hope in her eyes.
Shizuka's only response was to narrow her eyes.
Tsukuru smirked, and swung his hand forward.
Instantly, the dagger shot forward, like a projectile fired out of a bow.
The dagger whizzed through the air, and embedded itself in a tree trunk a few inches to the left of Layla's head.
She let out an audible squeak in surprise, before she then instantly clamped her hand over her mouth, realizing what she had just done.
Hearing the noise, Tsukuru smirked.
Shizuka grit her teeth in annoyance.
Now that this little girl had blown their cover, she could no longer act like she wasn't there.
She grabbed Layla by the collar, and dragged her with her, as she walked out of the trees.
As she saw Tsukuru, she put on a nonchalant, innocent look.
"Hey, Tsu-Tsu." She replied in a nervous voice. "Fancy meeting you here."
Tsukuru's only response was to narrow his eyes.
Meanwhile, with Quinn, he ran past the guards as he sprinted through the gate, holding up his arm so they could see it, as he ran past.
As he ran into the school, he made a beeline for the bathroom.
He groaned, as he held his stomach.
He currently felt like he had the worst hunger of his life. And the worst part was that he somehow knew that his hunger couldn't be satisfied with mere food, and he had no idea how long he would be able to hold it in.
He stumbled his way to the sink, and looked in the mirror.
Despite his "evolution", he looked the same as always. He even lifted up his lips to look at his teeth, but they looked completely normal, as well.
Seeing this, Quinn let out a sigh of relief.
'Well, at least no one will be able to tell.' Quinn thought, before he raised his eyebrows in confusion. 'Then why did I feel that stabbing pain in my teeth during that…'evolution' thing?'.
Quinn then decided to check his System, opening up his Status Screen to see if anything had changed due to his evolution.
[Name Quinn Talen
Race Halfling
Level 2
Exp 45/200
Title —
__________________
HP 15/15
__________________
Strength 10
Stamina 10
Agility 10
[Stat Points: 1] ]