Tsukuru glanced from Vorden down to his watch, then back up to Vorden again. There was an awkward pause.
"Vorden, I gotta…" He started, before Vorden cut him off.
"It's okay, just go." Vorden replied with a dismissive wave, before he flashed Tsukuru a smile. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."
Tsukuru stood there for a moment longer, as if still caught mid-decision. Finally, he let out a loud, annoyed groan.
"I'm really sorry about this, Vorden!" He replied, as he ran in the direction that he, Vorden, and Peter had just come from, making his way towards the doctor's office.
"I told you, 'It's fine'!" Vorden yelled back, cupping his hands around his mouth to mimic a megaphone. "Just go make sure Quinn is alright!"
A moment later, the second-years began to encroach on Vorden and Peter moving closer to them in the hall.
Back in the library, Quinn ended the call, and lifted Layla up in a princess carry. He noticed, to his surprise, that Layla was lighter than he had imagined.
Without wasting any more time, he darted off towards the doctor's office, the whole time, going over what had just happened in his head.
'Tsukuru is gonna bite my head off when he finds out!' Quinn thought, as he ran down the hall, before realizing something. 'Wait, no he won't. I'm the Vampire!'
As he ran down the hall, questions ran through his head. Questions that Quinn needed answers for.
At the top of the list was to find out how frequently he required blood.
Another one was if Layla would remember any of this when she eventually woke back up.
If she did, would he have to convince her to keep it a secret?
If others found out about his rare Ability, would it start a bidding war between private companies and the military?
They would do anything to get their hands on such a new type of Ability.
Before anyone else found out about him, Quinn had to become strong enough to protect himself.
While Quinn ran down the hall, he got strange looks from the other students.
Finally, he reached the nurse's office.
Inside, there was a single female doctor named Hayley, who looked to be in her early twenties.
She wore round glasses, and had her hair in a ponytail.
Looking at the girl, Quinn couldn't help but find her attractive.
Looking at Layla in Quinn's arms, Hayley let out an exhausted sigh.
"Another one?" She asked, before pointing to the back. "Lay her on the free bed over there." Hayley replied, as she checked an injured student in front of her. "I'll be back there in a minute."
Quinn placed Layla on one of the single beds in the back.
Looking around, he noticed that the room was quite large, larger than any doctor's office he had ever seen.
There were 30 beds, but as far as he could tell, Hayley was the only one working there.
At the moment, over half the beds were filled with injured/recovering students.
Hayley came over to where Quinn was, and began to examine Layla.
Suddenly, the two heard the door swing open with great force.
"Quinn!" Tsukuru yelled, as he burst through the doorway.
The two turned to him.
"What hap…penned…" Tsukuru's words drifted off, as his gaze drifted towards Layla, laying on the bed.
Although she was a fair distance away, Tsukuru could still see the two puncture marks on her neck, due to his enhanced vision from the System.
Instantly, Tsukuru brought his hand up to his face, and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Quinn…" He muttered in a low, annoyed tone.
It was the kind of tone a parent used when they were angry at a child for doing something stupid.
Quinn let out a nervous laugh, and glanced away, unable to meet Tsukuru's gaze out of embarrassment.
The two watched as Hayley examined Layla.
She placed her hand around Layla's wrist and did a few checks. That's when she noticed the puncture marks.
"What happened?" Hayley asked, clearly concerned.
"Yeah, Quinn." Tsukuru muttered angrily as he looked at Quinn out of the corner of his eye, giving him the stink-eye. "What happened?"
Quinn looked even further away from Tsukuru's judgemental stare, as he responded.
"I'm…not sure?" He said, but his statement sounded more like a question. "I was in the library when I found her passed out like that." He replied.
Quinn saw Tsukuru give him a look that said "is that really the best thing you could come up with?", causing Quinn to sweat.
"Classes ended not that long ago, so it can't have been too long since she passed out." Hayley replied, causing them to turn to her. "Yet it looks like the wound on her neck is healing on its own." Hayley noted, while writing down her analysis.
"Still, I can't be sure if it will heal, and it would be a shame if a pretty girl like her was left with a scar."
Hayley then placed her hand on Layla's neck where the puncture marks were.
She closed her eyes, and after a few seconds, she lifted her hand away. The puncture marks had vanished.
"Is it okay if I wait here for her?" Quinn replied, causing Tsukuru to glare at him.
In response, Hayley giggled.
"Oh, young kids these days." She said with a smile. "She's lucky to have someone as caring as you by her side." Hayley replied.
Tsukuru narrowed his eyes, a somewhat annoyed look on his face.
"Or somebody with a guilty conscience." He muttered under his breath.
Quinn laughed nervously in response.
He waved his arms dismissively to Hayley.
"We're just friends, that's all." He replied.
Hayley gave him a strange look, as if she doubted his words.
But she had other students to attend to.
When Hayley had left, Quinn had opened his Status Screen.
[Name Quinn Talen
Race Halfling
Level 2
Exp 45/200
Title —
___________________
HP 15/15
___________________
Strength 11
Stamina 10
Agility 11
[Stat Points: 0] ]
Tsukuru heard Quinn speak up.
"It seems that drinking blood really does give me extra Stat Points." Quinn muttered.
Tsukuru scoffed, and looked away.
"Must be nice." He muttered, bitterly.
Tsukuru's System lacked any form of "Optional Quests" to gain extra Stat Points.
His only way to acquire them was by leveling up.
Meanwhile, Quinn was thinking. He was unsure exactly how drinking someone's blood made him stronger, but he decided not to question it too much.
Quinn thought back to the two Optional Quests he had received from beating Kyle and Riley.
He had thought that they had been extra rewards for winning the fight, but it appeared like there was no actual need to fight in the first place.
If that was the case, Quinn could theoretically drink anyone's blood to gain Stat Points.
But what would happen if he drank the same blood twice?
Quinn had so many questions that seemed to have no answers in sight.
Tsukuru watched as Quinn skulked around the room. He watched Quinn remove a syringe from Hayley's desk.
Tsukuru inwardly smirked as he saw Quinn hold the syringe behind his back, and scoot back over to Layla.
He looked like an absolute idiot, and it dissipated some of the frustration Tsukuru still had in his system.
"I'm sorry, Layla." Quinn replied to the unconscious girl. "But you're gonna be my guinea pig."
Tsukuru watched as Quinn inserted the syringe into Layla's neck, and slowly withdrew blood.
When the syringe was full, Quinn heard Tsukuru cough.
Looking over, he saw Tsukuru had his hand outstretched with his palm open.
Slowly and carefully, Quinn placed the syringe into Tsukuru's hand.
Tsukuru imagined placing it in the System's Inventory.
A System prompt appeared in front of him.
After he thought the word 'yes', the syringe disappeared, breaking down into pixels, which then faded.
It was then that they heard someone crash into the room.
"Quinn! Tsukuru!" A panicked boy's voice asked.
Both Quinn and Tsukuru instantly recognized it as Peter's.
"Peter!" Tsukuru yelled, running over to him. "What happened with the second-years?! And where's Vorden!?!"
Hearing this, Quinn snapped his head towards Tsukuru.
"The second-years?" He asked.
His question caused Tsukuru to turn to him, the look of pure annoyance in his eyes seeming to intensify.
"Yeah, they showed up just as we were about to enter the canteen!" Tsukuru explained. "They said that they were taking Vorden with them!"
Hearing this, Peter gulped.
"Yeah, that's right!" He replied, causing the two to turn to him. "That's why I came here to get you two! Vorden's in trouble!"
Hearing this, Quinn and Tsukuru exchanged worried glances.
Although they had no idea what was going on, just looking at Peter's face told them it was serious.
Quinn then snapped back to look at Layla.
To Tsukuru, it looked as if Quinn was struggling between staying with Layla, or going to check on Vorden.
Tsukuru narrowed his eyes.
"Quinn!" He snapped.
Quinn whirled around on him.
"Yeah, I know, I know!" Quinn yelled, as he ran towards the door. "C'mon, let's go!"