Blood Queen Reborn

One of the things that Quinn never thought to ask was how his family came into possession of the book. Long ago, when he was 10 years old, a military official came to his house and told him the news about his parents’ death, as well as the book being his only inheritance.

At the time, he didn’t question the book, only that he needed to open it as his one way of gaining power in this type of world. It was a nuisance for the longest time, and he thought that the military just gave it to him because they couldn’t open the book either.

But the military was greedy, and if they had any chance at opening a rare unique ability book, one that could’ve belonged to an Original family, regardless if it was openable or not, they would’ve taken it.

The secret about the book intrigued Erin as well. Randomly becoming a vampire was something that had changed the direction of her life forever, and removed her ability in a way that had never been done before. Not even Fex, someone who had been a vampire his whole life, seemed familiar with how the book worked.

"This answer may upset one of you, but I’m afraid I am unable to answer that question at this time, but in the future, when the right moment occurs, I will be able to answer you," the system said.

Receiving such a response brought upon her an intense anger, one so boiling hot, Erin was about to take out her sword, and slice at something— anything— when a few military officials nearby eyed her suspiciously.

Realizing that this was not the best time to act in anger, Erin slowly released her grip, and returned to a neutral position. The anger within was still there, but she was going to bottle it away for later.

"What’s up with you?" Fex said, which got Layla to harshly shush him.

He looked back at her confused. When Layla mouthed "She’s really mad." he realized what had happened, and shut up, not wanting to get in the way of her sudden fury. There was a fear that Erin was going to display the same level of bad leadership as last time.

Wanting to change the subject, Fex pointed at a group of travelers nearby. They were talking to a pair of military officials about something, then headed off into the jungle.

"Hey, uh, look at them. I thought it was just going to be the military and its students today," Fex brought up.

"It could be that they were hired to explore this planet," Vorden replied, "You see, on orange portal planets, there are often multiple shelters with different factions owning them. Exploring a planet is a collective effort, so they must have shared information about what to expect here. It’s to save time and money."

Once the military officials finished the headcount, they were led to an open space, one that was man made with remnants of trees having been uprooted and removed. Surrounding the open area were even more bridges and buildings, mostly consisting of housing. They could tell as the kids of the shelter watched the students from above, curious about what was happening.

All of the first year students were lined up in rows, and the homeroom teachers stood at the front with Faye and Leo. Quinn tried to find Peter amongst the crowd, but it was too dense to see anything.

"Alright everyone, each class shall now explore a different path!" Faye shouted, "I hope that you’ll listen to your homeroom teachers well. The scanners will not activate until your teachers say so, so don’t try to get ahead of yourselves. You will continue to follow the path, and your teachers will tell you when you are in an unexplored area. Remember, to always stay on your guard, and have your scanners by your side."

"My last warning to you all, you will encounter beasts on this trip, at what level, I do not know. I wish you all luck!"

The mention of beasts made Erin perk up. Killing them always brought along high amounts of EXP. This trip would prove to make her more powerful.

The students saluted, and the classes headed into the jungle at different paths.

Del headed down a path that was well flattened, being one that had been traveled down a lot. It was rather wide, with the floors being packed dirt, surrounded by plants of all sorts of colors. Someone tried to scan a swirly looking purple plant with his scanner, only to remember that they weren’t activated yet.

Since it was a wide open pathway, the students decided to spread out and talk to one another, even if they were occasionally bothered by the buzzing insects that they had to keep swatting away.

The humidity was getting to Erin, and she had the urge to take off her armor, using her umbrella instead. It was similarly bothering Fex as well as he kept patting his hair, desperate to keep it swept back.

"Damn this heat, it’s making me sweat off my hair gel!" Fex complained.

"Mine too," Vorden gestured to his own hair. Normally it would be combed, and parted to the side, but there were strands sticking to his forehead, ruining his hair style.

The two boys nodded to one another, sharing a moment of understanding.

After a bit, Fex realized that this was about a good time to mention the thing he saw in Logan’s room, and gestured for both Erin and Layla to come closer. It was something he felt concerned them both.

"As I was saying earlier to Erin," Fex began, "Logan has a vampire portal in his room, and while its something he shouldn’t even have, I could destroy it but... Again, it may be your only other way of going back home."

"Why would it be the only way back to your home?" Erin asked, "What’s stopping us from just walking there?"

"Yeah, shouldn’t they be on earth?" Layla questioned, "A ton of legends go all the way back to ancient times. I mean, yeah we have interstellar space travel now, but even then. Surely they’d stick with their... you know, food source."

Fex stared at them, still constantly surprised by their lack of knowledge about all things vampires. He leaned in close, making sure that no one else aside from them would hear, "I keep forgetting that you’re new at all of this. There’s a reason why you guys haven’t encountered anyone else aside from me, even though you two should have better smelling now."

Then, Fex took in a deep breath, "The thing is... Home isn’t on Earth, I wouldn’t have tried to leave so desperately if it was. It’s in space, and nowhere near the beast solar system."

The system started to speak up, a tone of confusion in its voice, "So they’re no longer on Earth? When did this happen, and how were they able to survive without humans?"