Before heading off to the tower, Archer[Quinn] made sure of two things. The first thing was that his MC points were fully restored. Arian[Fex] had been out for a while, so they only needed to wait a little longer before starting their journey again.
The second thing was that he was fully equipped with all his equipment. Of course, that included his suit which was made by Tobias[Logan]. He wore this as normal, all apart from the head part, only allowing his eyes to come through.
The suit was easily adjustable, and at any time, Archer[Quinn] could quickly lift up the hood to cover the top part of his head quickly. And that's why it wasn't a problem for him if he wanted to hide his identity from others. The reason for him doing this was because he no longer had his blood bank.
His second chance. In all of his fights so far, he had always relied on the blood bank to help him in his time of need. There was no more blood in the flask. Arian[Fex] had consumed all of it, and in doing so, it looked like his wounds were healing too.
The armour that Tobias[Logan] created gave him some additional defence. Although it wasn't much, every little increment would help, and this was his reason for putting it on. They were about to head to the tower, and if the guard outside was that strong, Archer[Quinn] feared that perhaps there was an even stronger guard inside.
If that was the case, he wouldn't even bother fighting and abandon the quest. No matter how curious he was, or how good the reward for the quest was, it wasn't worth his life.
"Are you all ready, then?" Archer[Quinn] asked Arian[Fex].
While they were waiting for both Arian[Fex]'s wounds to heal and Archer[Quinn]'s MC points to return, Arian[Fex] was troubled in his thoughts. This whole time, he was thinking about Archer[Quinn].
"Archer[Quinn], wait, " Arian[Fex] said as he rushed over and bowed down on one knee with his fist on the floor.
"Whoa, what's this all about?" Archer[Quinn] asked, shocked by Arian[Fex]'s actions.
"I have to do this, please. Archer[Quinn], you saved my life. I remember everything that happened while I was the Bloodsucker. When those travellers came and found me, you were already safe. The king tier beast was dead and the only thing that was trying to kill you all was me."
"I knew it was a risk turning into that thing, but it was the only thing I could think of at the time. When you saw that I was hurt and you were all safe, you risked your life. You fought against those travellers and risked me chasing after you. Finally, you used the flask that I had given you to save me."
After saying these words, Arian[Fex] punched the ground in anger. Archer[Quinn] didn't quite understand this action, but he was sure it was because he was angry at himself.
This whole time, he had been getting closer to Archer[Quinn] for one reason, to save his own behind. If he was ever to be found out by his own clan, then Arian[Fex]'s idea was to turn Archer[Quinn] in as one of the shadow users. With this information that he had brought to the leader, his father, the punishment he would receive for running to the human world without permission would be light.
While Archer[Quinn], he had never thought about abandoning him. He had even risked his life going against a group that was able to outmatch him even as a Bloodsucker. Arian[Fex] no longer cared about how he was able to do it, or why he seemed to keep growing stronger.
He just had this feeling of guilt over his heart that he wanted to get rid of.
"I know I said this before, but seriously. If there is anything you need help with, don't hesitate to ask. I am on your side, Archer[Quinn]."
Archer[Quinn] didn't know what to say. These actions seemed out of the blue to him. Someone who was never serious since the day he had met him, was suddenly being very serious.
At the time, Archer[Quinn] had only done what he felt was right. Arian[Fex] had risked his life to save the whole group. What right did he have to die by the hand of strangers?
Still, seeing him like this, Archer[Quinn] didn't know why, but he naturally walked over to Arian[Fex] and extended his hand. Arian[Fex], in return, naturally took it and lifted himself up.
"We're blood brothers from now on." Arian[Fex] said with a smile. "We may not be related by blood, but I will treat you just as if you were apart of my family."
"And I will do the same, " Archer[Quinn] said with a smile.
The two of them then headed off for the tower and while on their way, they were both cautious with their footsteps. Then again, Archer[Quinn] was a little less worried than Arian[Fex] seemed to be.
Judging by the text of the quest from earlier and the information it had given him, the quest indicated that the strongest beast outside of the tower was king tier.
If the information was correct, it meant that there was nothing else outside of the tower that was stronger than the king beast. Still, that also meant there was the possibility of them running into advanced or intermediate tier beasts. Although they would be able to do something since they're together, with no blood and no humans around, it would be risky going into battle after battle.
After slowly creeping their way towards the tower, by going through buildings, rather than go down the open street towards the tower, it seemed like they hadn't seen a single beast on their way there.
This included the hounds they had first seen when they arrived.
'Is it the strange crystals from the top of the tower, or did the other beast just stay away from this place because of the king tier beast?' Archer[Quinn] thought.
Finally, they had arrived at the location of the tower.
The street that led to it finally ended and there was now a large empty ring of space surrounding before the tower. The circle had several paths leading off towards other streets surrounded with buildings, but nothing apart from the tower stood alone in the centre.
The crystals shone brightly at the top and gave off a slightly blue hue to the area below it. When looking at the houses and each others' faces, it looked quite beautiful and peaceful, Archer[Quinn] thought.
He could see some pluses of living in a place like this, despite it being away from the sunlight.
'Maybe I am becoming more like a vampire if I think a place like this is nice to live, ' he thought.
"We can take out some time exploring if you're worried, " Arian[Fex] said as he saw Archer[Quinn] admiring the tower.
"What do you mean?" Archer[Quinn] replied.
'I just thought you might be worried. The others would leave with those travellers. More than likely, they already know of an exit. I asked my little Japheth[Ham], to follow them from above. Once he knows where the exit is, he'll come and find me."
"Japheth[Ham], is that the little flying bull from earlier?" Archer[Quinn] was quite interested in the companion, wondering if he was able to get something like that himself.
"Yeah. Good name, right?"
Ignoring Arian[Fex]'s last words, Archer[Quinn] continued to walk up to the tower. There was a single large double door with an arched entrance. The door was engraved with strange patterns, all of which Archer[Quinn] had seen in images before when learning about the dalki architecture. But right now, he wasn't too sure if it was Oregon[Dalki]-related or vampire-related.
On the door in the centre was a circular hole that seemed to go a few inches deep.
"It's a lock, " Arian[Fex] said. "These doors, I've seen them in my own castle before. They're impossible to open without some type of key or mechanism. Also, don't even think about trying to break it. Trust me, they're meant to even withstand attacks from the vampire leaders."
"Doesn't that mean that there really is something important behind here?" Archer[Quinn] asked.
"Yeah, but I don't know what, " Arian[Fex] replied.
Going up to the door, Archer[Quinn] decided to try and give it a push using all his strength. He was half expecting it to do something, but just like Arian[Fex] had informed him, it wasn't budging at all. It was hard to imagine while watching Archer[Quinn] trying his hardest to push the door open that he had some type of super strength.
"I told you it was pointless, man. I hate to say it, but perhaps this was a wasted trip after all. Let's just rest somewhere nearby and wait for Japheth[Ham], and then we can get out of here, " Arian[Fex] shouted.
Just as Archer[Quinn] was about to agree and head off, the system had something to say.
"Don't give up yet, " the system said. "Do you remember that red blood crystal you received from defeating the king tier beast? Why don't you place that on the door and see what happens?"
The system seemed to know more about this place than it was letting on. Doing as the system said, Archer[Quinn] took out the red blood crystal from his inventory and placed it in the strange hole inside the door.
Arian[Fex], who was seeing this, was wondering just what he was doing, but a few moments later, the sounds of mechanical locks from behind the door being unlocked were made.
Gears started to shift and the doors started to pull inwards, opening up a way inside the tower.
"Are you coming?" Archer[Quinn] asked.
To be continued....
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