Just as Ronkin had said, it seemed like no one had reported the fact that the guards were missing, at least the patrolling guards. There were permanent vampires that were always stationed at the gates and entrance to the family areas.
These were higher positions and were given to those quite skilful. If Quin were to compare it to the Earth of the past, they would be like patrolling policemen, with no crimes to stop and only disputes to solve.
While in the present situation, guards were more like the military of the vampires that the civilians respected.
This also meant that the two could walk wherever they wished without being questioned because no one would bother them. As Quinn followed Ronkin, he noticed they were no longer close to the central market of the square of the Polling area for vampires.
They had gone to the west side behind some houses and were in a sort of play arena. There was a large energy cage. Using the power of the crystal, barriers would be put up and allow the children who lived in the area to play sports.
The Barriers themselves were, of course, powered by the Beast crystals. Only this time, it looked like it was being used by the other guards as well. Every one of them was standing next to a console that could change the energy barrier to whatever they wished.
The guards all had similar clothing styles. The only difference was a slight variation in colour. A slight black here or there, or maybe the shoulder pads were slightly different, being a little spiked. Since there were only nine families, the vampires quickly knew which guards belonged to which area.
However, when it came to solving disputes, which family did so, even if the problem was related to other families, didn't really matter, which was how all the guards, or lowly guards as they called themselves, came together.
'You wanted me to make friends, but I'm not sure you would be happy if I told you what I was doing right now.' Quinn thought.
"Hey everyone, did we make it in time?" Ronkin said as he waved to the others.
They turned around, and all had friendly smiles on their faces. There looked to be two guards from each family, which meant including the two, there were 19 of them in total. Even if all put in a small amount of money, the winner of this thing would make quite a bit.
"Looks like you brought someone with you this time." A man walked over towards them with large biceps and a sleeveless shirt. His shoulder pads and armour were dark, almost black green, it was hard to tell with the sky night always being there, but this indicated that he was from the 13th family. The same family that Fex was part of before creating the vampire corps.
The man and Ronkin had a friendly handshake with each other, after which the two of them walked over to Quinn.
"This is my partner from the 9th family. The two of us patrol around all the time. Usually, he always says no to these types of things so I didn't bother inviting him before because of it, but this time he's decided to come along." Ronkin explained.
The man, with a big smile on his face, put his hand forward. Now close to each other, Quinn noticed that he had a bit of a square head, which reminded him of a certain someone, a good friend he had in the past.
"My name is Nell!" The man had a cherry-deep voice, and the smile looked to never go away, making his eyes quite small. "It's always good to have a fellow guard come to one of these events. The more, the merrier. Besides, it makes the pot bigger as well."
The man started to laugh, but that's when Ronkin started to look a bit nervous.
"Actually, Nell, Quinn isn't taking part. He's just here to watch."
"It's okay," Quinn said. "As thanks for letting me watch, I am happy to put in the same amount of money as you guys. I just won't be taking part."
Quinn couldn't believe it, but it looked like the smile on Nell's face had gotten even bigger, and the next second he wrapped his hand around Quinn's neck, bringing him close.
"I like people like you. You know how to show respect without even needing to. For a young one, you certainly have manners. Come on, let me introduce you to the rest and explain the rules." Nell said.
If only Nell knew, Quinn was much older than all of them here. Still, that was only in terms of numbers and not mentally, of course, which was why those sorts of things never bothered him.
Nearly all the guards seemed friendly and around the same age as Nell and Ronkin. They were family men. Nearly all of them were fathers trying to look after their families. After the introductions were over, Nell went on to explain the rules.
It was a simple knockout tournament that was set up in the machine. After he put everyone's names in, the machine would come up with two names. Those two contestants would fight. And the loser would be knocked out.
After that, the winner had time to recover, and as it got closer to the finale, the winners of the fights were also able to drink a bit of blood to replenish themselves and heal up before they were to go into the next battle.
"Alright, so everyone who is spectating for the match must watch from behind the barrier. Also, try not to attack the barrier too much on purpose, alright?" Nell explained. "Last time it broke, we all had to pay out of our own pockets to have it fixed."
He then pressed the little console to the side, and the machine randomly jumped through all the names. It was at a crazy speed that one could not keep up with it, apart from Quinn.
'Was my name still inputted into the system? I guess that makes sense. If someone gets teamed up with me, they will get a free win, and since the numbers are even that way, they are just lucky.'
Surprisingly, the first two names that appeared were Ronkin and a man named Button.
"Well, I didn't think I would be up this fast, but here we go, I guess. Quinn, could you keep an eye on me and give me pointers on where I go wrong." Ronkin asked.
As the two participants walked forward, some of the other guards cheered for Ronkin and others for his contestant Button.
"It seems that Ronkin believes you are quite a skilled fighter," Nell said, with his arms folded. "It's a shame that we won't see you participate in this fight."
Quinn didn't say anything as the barrier was lifted in a circle shape giving a ring for the two to fight in, and the match started. As soon as it had done, Button charged in, and in the past, Ronkin would have done the same, but this time he stayed still.
He could see the aura gathering on the other hand as he unleashed a blood slash. Ronkin moved to the side and gathered his own aura, throwing out an attack of his own. Button moved out of the way, but when he did, Ronkin had already grabbed him by his shoulder and pulled him forward, kneeing him right in the stomach.
"Oh, what's this? Usually, Ronkin would charge in head-first against his opponent. In fact, nearly all of these guys just try to clash their aura together. I'm happy to see that he's finally trying something different. Could this be your influence?" Nell asked.
Although it was the influence of Quinn, he was superseded by how well Ronkin had taken his advice and training. They had only been training for a few hours for something which one usually needs more time to absorb and see any improvements. In a panicked situation, they would just revert back to what they usually did, but Ronkin was calm as he usefully was.
Button wasn't quick to give up there though, as he kicked Ronkin's leg, which was slightly off balance, causing his body to topple and for him to fall to the ground. Soon after, a fist full of red aura came down right towards Ronkin's face but was caught with both hands before hitting him.
The two were now in a fierce battle of strength as they pushed at each other.
"There is Ronkin's determination. That's why, even though he isn't the most skilled, he always at least made it midway in these little skirmishes we have." Nell commented. "That guy really does care about his family."
"Family?" Quinn repeated.
"Oh, I thought with the two of you working together all the time that you would have known. There is a reason why Ronkin always tries to win these fights. He needs the money to help out his family." Nell explained.
Nell didn't say anything else after that, it wasn't his place to because it wasn't his information either, but it struck a chord with Quinn. Because he had told a certain leader, his reason for doing what he was doing was the same. It was because of his family.
"We have a winner!"
"I did it, Quinn…haha, look at that!" Ronkin smiled, his face somewhat swollen from being hit, and he had a large cut on his hand.
"You still got hit way too much," Quinn replied with a smile.
******
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