Soon enough, the beast weapons class was coming to an end, and there was something that Erin had been anticipating the entire time while she was in class.
It was that Leo wanted to ask her something.
Yesterday, before she was let go by Faye, Leo wanted to talk to her after class, but she didn't understand, or know why. It made Erin suspect that Leo knew something about her true ability number, but if he did then why didn't he speak up about it sooner? Unless, he knew something she didn't know. Speculating really wasn't her strong suit.
Once the bell rang indicating class was over, Erin's group came together to discuss some the green portal planet trip.
"We should probably head to the market place to get ourselves geared up," Quinn brought up.
"You mean buying beast gear? Why would…" Fex was going to say something, but then shifted to something else, "Actually, it could give us an edge in combat. I have been enjoying these daggers."
Fex then tied his string around one of the daggers, and flung it around using flashy moves. Right as he was about to stop, the string let go of the dagger, but he had done it a bit too early, causing the dagger to fling right up into the air.
The dagger had embedded itself in the ceiling of the dojo.
"…Someone will notice, and bring it down, right?" Fex cautiously asked.
"I'll tell Leo about it later," Quinn responded.
Even though it wasn't likely with how deep the dagger dug into the wood, none of them wanted to get the dagger embedded into any one of their heads, so they moved a few feet away from it.
However, Erin was already heading towards the direction of Leo in the front of the class.
"Are you telling Leo about the dagger now?" Layla called out.
"I'll meet up with you at the market place soon," Erin had said before she had left into a room with Leo.
—
Inside the room was a simple storage place. On the sides were stacked mats, punching bags, and other basic training gear sorted neatly on shelves. The place wasn't particularly fancy, but was far enough away that the others couldn't listen in.
Erin was already mentally preparing herself to see if she would need to use the newly found influence skill. To say she was on high alert was an understatement as she was brought into another room alone by a very powerful man.
A lot of things could go badly. Perhaps Leo found out that she's a vampire, or had lost her ability. Either way, there were a bunch of things that could end up badly here.
"So, what did you need here me for?" Erin said, cautious.
"I just wanted to ask you a few questions. Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you," Leo said.
Erin took note that Leo wasn't exactly looking at her, but only generally in her direction. She was aware of Leo's title of being the blind swordsman, and didn't know how exactly someone could be able to kill the dalki without such a vital sense.
"I've noticed that there isn't any additional energy coming from you. Did something happen to your sword?" Leo asked, casually.
"My what?" Erin was taken aback. Out of all of the questions she was expecting him to ask, that was not one of them.
"Uh, yeah, my sword broke. I was going to get another one soon at the market place. Is this really all you wanted to ask?"
Leo shook his head, "No, I was simply curious about that. With that sword being intermediate tier, and your ability as a level 5 ice user, you must've been able to fight some truly impressive beasts, however…"
He then took out a beast crystal from his pants pocket, and held it in front of Erin for her to see. It was the size of a golf ball, and considerably clear.
[Inspect]
[Advanced tier deathbat crystal]
"On our way to rescue you, we had come across a beast corpse as well as large amounts of wreckage. A pair of skilled student could perhaps defeat an advanced tier beast, but not without taking some massive damage, and when we found you two, neither of you had any major injuries."
"Well, I don't know what to tell you, I've had experience before defeating a few beasts back when I was 13, and like you said, I have a pretty strong ability." Erin said as she crossed her arms, making sure that the level 5 on her watch was visible. In her nervousness, she had forgotten that Leo wouldn't be able to see it.
"I see…" Leo said, as he stood there silently observing, "Erin, do you know they said that when someone goes blind, their sense of hearing improves? Now let me clear that's not true. However, my ability improves my senses in other ways, and I can tell that your heart is beating ever so loudly."
Erin gulped, and gripped her arms tightly, "Well of course I'm going to be nervous! I'm with THE blind swordsman."
"I am aware of my reputation, but I know that isn't the reason why you are nervous. You seem to be very sure of yourself, and your capabilities. What I am concerned about is how your heart is beating."
"Did you know that when a person is lying, their heat beat changes ever so slightly, and they start to sweat more. I can tell its different compared to getting butterflies in your stomach, or needing to preform on a big stage. Now Erin, the truth is, I don't care what you or Fex are, but I have one last question to ask you."
"Are you on humanity's side?"
"Am I on humanity's side?" Erin repeated.
'Is this a trick question?' Erin thought to herself. Of course she was on humanity's side, but did Leo know that she wasn't exactly human anymore? Is that why he was asking this?
It had to be, or else why would he mention Fex?
Either way, the answer was simple. The dalki were the cause of all of her problems, and beasts were a major problem as well. When it came to the vampires, she didn't have any issue with them either. To her, being a vampire was simply an alternative way of becoming powerful.
"Of course I am," Erin responded, a fury burning in her, "I hate the dalki just as much everyone else. They've taken too much from us."
Leo nodded, and said "You answered better than Fex. Here, since you left this behind."
He handed to her the deathbat crystal, before leaving the small storage room.
'Huh,' Erin thought. It was a easier time than she thought, but now she was wondering what Fex might've said to Leo.