On the planet where no light touched the surface, not far from the vampire settlement, one of the hunting groups was in the forest. They twisted and turned their heads as they were looking for the next set of beasts to hunt.
"Is it just me, or are we having to travel deeper and deeper into the forest these days to find any worthwhile beasts?" One of the vampires complained.
"Well, beasts in the past have always been afraid of getting close to the settlement, maybe because of the vampires' strength and the constant hunting they have decided to move more outward on the planet, it is a large planet after all." Another replied. "You have to remember, although not all beasts are smart, at times they have an instinct for this type of thing."
"But that wouldn't explain why basic tier beasts are easy to still find close to the settlement?"
"What did I say, not all beasts are intelligent, maybe you're the one with the brain of a beast." The other vampires started to laugh.
As they continued forward into the group, they soon noticed that out of the five of them, one of them wasn't by their side. Turning around they could see their team member staring into the sky.
"Ronkin!" The vampire shouted. "Come on, I know you're new to the hunting team, but we need to stay together."
Shaking his head, the vampire snapped out of it, and ran forward to join the rest. After returning from the Namrik planet, due to the events and achievements the vampires had accomplished, especially those that were part of Ronkin's group, he had received a promotion.
Finally, Ronkin was no longer a guard, and he was now on the hunting team. An assessment took place and he passed it with flying colours, achieving the dream he always wished to achieve.
So it made him wonder, why did he feel so down about everything? He couldn't stop thinking about Quinn, and not just Quinn but also Edvard the original leader as well.
An investigation took place into those that knew Quinn, and the strange thing was it was done by one of the other families, rather than the 9th leader himself. There were rumours that had spread, about how the 9th leader perhaps betrayed them and had sided with the Demon Quinn.
Yet, an official statement was released that this was false, but the rumours continued because Edvard wasn't seen around the settlement anymore.
As for Ronkin himself, he answered the question they gave him honestly, even under the influence of an Original, and since he knew nothing about who Quinn really was, they seemed to let him and his family go.
Yet somehow, he couldn't help but continue to think about the situation. In his head, Quinn was a good person. No matter what was spoken about him, or saying what he was or what he did.
The fact was, he cared for them, he remembered the look that Quinn had when he held Nell in his hands.
'If Nell… if Nell never passed away, would you have not acted like that? Would you have continued living your life peacefully in the settlement, with your family. We would still be friends right?'
Ronkin was kicking himself, because he remembered a few conversations he had with Quinn before leaving. He would always talk about proving himself, and thought that this war was the chance to do it.
Yet, Quinn had stated he hated war, that it did no good for anyone, as if he was speaking from experience, and now they had lost Nell. It was the whole reason why Ronkin wasn't going to sign up again.
"What's that sound? Can you hear it?" One of the vampires asked.
"It sounds like the sound of something flapping?"
One of the vampires quickly rushed and climbed on top of one of the trees, thinking that it was perhaps a winged beast, but when they looked in the sky they couldn't see much apart from some beasts that were too far out.
"That's strange." The vampire said dropping down. "I definitely heard something… we all did. A beast couldn't be that fast could it."
There was also something else the vampire noticed when he was up the tree looking out.
"You know what else is strange, I could still see the settlement." The vampire claimed.
"No that's impossible, we have been travelling at a fast pace for a while now. The settlement should be out of view."
"If you don't believe me, then why don't you just check for yourself!" the other vampire shouted back.
Upon checking it was just as stated, they had only travelled a few miles out from the settlement, and the other vampire noticed something else as well.
"Where not in the position I thought we would be in." The vampire said. "The only explanation for it… is we've gotten lost."
Ronkin, hearing all this, felt like he had experienced this before but he had no clue why. Either way, the vampires decided to keep on track and continue going through the forest, as they did they continued to chatter more and more.
"Hey Ronkin, you were in the last battle right, the fight with the Namrik's, will you be joining the next one?" a vampire asked.
"The next one… what do you mean, are the Namrik's fighting back?" Ronkin asked.
"Didn't you know, I thought since you took part in the last one you would be in the loop more so than the others." The vampire replied. "Tomorrow they're going to open up recruitment again. It seems like Jim is preparing to go to battle another planet. So there will be another battle where we can prove ourselves."
Grinding his teeth and tensing up his body, the image of Nell appeared in his mind again.
"But why… Why do we have to fight again?" Ronkin complained. "The Namriks, they kept some of the vampires hostage and were attacking the Cruise ships, so why are we going to fight again?"
"Have you really not been listening to anything going on?" One of the vampires asked, and they all shook their heads.
Ronkin had purposely stayed out of the loop, there was so much negative news about Quinn it was affecting his mind, but he needed to work to provide for his family so he tried to avoid as much information as he could.
"There are two reasons. It seems like these planets also contain celestials that are trying to open a portal to the other world. Jim and Jack want to put a stop to them, and on top of that, it's quite likely that the Demon Quinn is hiding amongst one of these planets.
"From the reports of the vampires that were on the planet, they could feel the Demon's strength, maybe they were worried that he would get stronger, or create an army of his own. The improvement in beast crystals and beast equipment had already taken effect since taking over the Namriks, so it will be beneficial to us."
If it was for the sake of survival for their race, then Ronkin couldn't really argue back, but it was the fact that they were using Quinn for it all again. Once more, Ronkin was being left behind as he was in the middle of his thoughts.
The problem was what could he, a simple vampire with no strength, do about it. When the others went off, Ronkin realised on his own this time, and started to run to catch up with them. From the corner of his eye he noticed something, two dark circles, they were giant and looked like eyes in the forest.
He quickly turned his head to have a second look but it disappeared.
"What was that… am I imagining things now… I really should get more sleep."
The thing was, Ronkin wasn't imagining things, because for a while now the whole vampire group was being followed by an Owl like demon tier beast, one that had been infected by the shadow.
The infected shadow beasts worked like a network, and it was all linked back to the original shadow owner. If Quinn wanted, he could also directly control one of those that had been infected by the shadow.
'The infected shadow beasts are doing a good job.' Quinn thought. 'They are infecting more and more on the vampire settlement planet, and I can continue to keep tabs and learn what they are doing. Jim is making a move… I wonder how much time I have until he reaches the Mermerial planet.
'Ronkin… stay safe.'
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