189 Returning the favour

Fex carefully looked at each letter of the words in front of him. He needed to make sure what he was seeing was real, because he couldn't believe it.

'Blood Evolver, no it can't be?' Fex thought.

While looking at the name he realised it was the same user ID that was also used in the market place when he had bought the beast crystal. However, it was quite common for people to use the same user ID's when logging into different websites and games.

What were the chances of someone else having the same user ID, and also being a vampire? Fex had found it strange in the first place that someone had been selling the crystal. The planet where the Death Bats can be found is rarely visited by travellers, so their crystals are very rare on the market place.

It was one of the reasons why the Vampires had decided to use it as their training ground. An added benefit was the fact that their crystals could be used to create the ring.

When Fex first saw the crystal, he thought maybe someone had killed a Death Bat along the way, someone who didn't know what to do with it, and chose to sell it after finding out it could only be used to create a silly ring. After all, it had no effect on humans. Not even a little buff in strength.

But now thinking about it more, all sorts of questions started running through his head. If Quinn really was the same person, what was he doing on that planet, and how did he get his hands on a Death Bat crystal? Fex knew his strength, and he wasn't strong enough to beat one.

And even if he was, why wouldn't he keep the crystal for himself, and make a ring of his own instead of using that silly umbrella? Nothing was making sense in his head right now, and thinking about it was starting to make it hurt.

He accepted the friend request, and immediately Quinn was transported to the same white space that Fex was in as well.

"Foxy Fex?" Quinn said, looking at his user name.

"What, you don't like it?" Fex said. "Better than Blood Evolver, what are you trying to do, tell everyone out there you're a vampire?"

Quinn laughed nervously back. "I thought it would be vague enough, plus who else but other vampires would think that," Quinn replied.

This was the confirmation Fex needed. No other vampire out there would be silly enough to have a name such as Blood Evolver. The name was a little bit childish and Quinn kind of fit that image. A naive young vampire. Although Fex couldn't talk much himself. In Fex's eyes this only added to the mystery of Quinn.

Still, it didn't change the fact that thanks to Quinn selling the crystal, Fex was finally able to leave his home, and enjoy the outside world. So far his experiences hadn't been great, but it was something different, and he was slowly learning to enjoy it.

It wasn't the same boring old routine he would practice day after day, and Fex wanted to thank Quinn for that in some way.

While standing there and thinking about everything. Fex could see Quinn using his blood skills in the game. Not only that, but he was able to use them constantly without getting tired.

"What is that?!" Fex asked.

"This?" Quinn replied.

Quinn then explained how while in the lobby of the game, they were able to practice using their vampire skills without tiring out. But once they were in the game, then their normal body limits would be put on them as usual.

Quinn didn't explain that while in the game the HP reducing when using blood skills didn't happen, but because the system had said only his vampire skills were linked to a system, and other vampires probably didn't know about HP, he thought it would be hard to explain.

After trying out a few skills here and there, Fex had a big grin on his face. He then started performing his martial arts while mixing in the blood skills here in there. The main skills he used were blood swipe and blood spray. But once in a while, he would use skills that Quinn had never seen before, such as the blood wall and a few others.

Still, what had impressed Quinn the most while watching him practice, was the martial arts he was using with his fists. They were fast and compact, and he could tell it definitely increased the efficiency of something like blood spray.

When Fex had stopped, he walked over to Quinn with a hop in his step. "Hey man, this is great! I wonder why the vampires don't have a bunch of these in their buildings. It could really help the kids train. Although, I guess if they get too used to the game, then it wouldn't help them out that much in a real battle but still this is great!"

While Fex was yammering away, he noticed that Quinn was staring at the blank empty space where Fex was standing. He started waving his hand in front of Quinn to see if he was still there.

"Hello?" Fex said, still waving his hand.

"Oh, sorry," Quinn replied. "I was just looking at your martial arts."

"Oh yeah, that's right, you didn't learn any did you since you grew up here and everything." Fex then started to think if there was something he could do. Then something popped in his head an idea. "You know I can teach you the martial arts if you want?"

Fex thought this was a great idea. He wanted to repay Quinn for getting him the beats crystal he needed, and this could be his way of returning the favour secretly.

"Really, would that be okay?" Quinn asked.

"Why not, you're a vampire, so you have the right to learn it." Fex said enthusiastically.

Fex then got into a fighting stance and tried to show all the motions to his attacks while explaining them, "So for the first step you want to look like this, then you're going to feel a burning energy rise up. Next with your hands, you need to go: POW POW POW," Fex said as he made each move, "Did you get all that?"

"Um, kind of..?" Quinn started copying what Fex had done, but it didn't seem to be working out at all and even Fex realised this.

"I'm sorry, I guess I'm not really the teacher type. I'm not that good at explaining things."

"It's okay," Quinn replied, but Fex could tell Quinn was a little down when saying this.

Then a lightning bolt idea had hit him. "Hey, there is something I can do. Although I can't show you or teach you through words, I could move your body."

"What do you mean?" Quinn asked.

"Do you remember what I did to your friend on the roof? Well if you let me do the same to you, then I can show you how to use the martial arts. My string puppet is unique, so when you perform it, it will feel like I'm actually performing the skills through your body." Fex explained. "Not only that, but it should allow you to memorize everything through your own body. In a way, this will be a short cut, and you will learn it far quicker."

What Fex was offering wasn't a bad proposal, the problem was whether or not Quinn could trust him with his body.

****

The mass release has been moved to tomorrow due to personal problems. Sorry.

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