While Erin was in Power fighters, something was happening in Duke's office.
A group of first years had been called inside. In that group was Earl, and outside of the room was Peter, who looked very nervous standing near his tormentor.
"I have made sure that the room will be empty for you tomorrow. Make sure you do as I asked," Duke said.
"Yes sir, we promise," Earl said for the group.
"Good," Duke replied as he tossed Earl a few beast crystals as well as a level 4 book, "You'll be able to progress to a higher level with this. Carry on working hard, and there will be more."
Earl and his group left the room, and on his way out, he passed by Peter.
He looked down at Peter, "Don't mess this up for us."
Peter didn't look at Earl, and instead looked at a member of the group. It was Jerry, and his eyes were lifeless. He could tell that Jerry was only following orders from those stronger than him, otherwise he would've been beaten down just like him.
"Peter, you can come on in," Duke called out.
Peter gulped as everyone left, leaving him the only person there.
"Relax, take a seat. There is no need to be afraid," Duke said, and Peter sat down.
Peter couldn't help but wonder why was the General was singling him out? It was a scary position to be in considering that Duke was in the second highest position of the city, second only to the head general.
"It seems those people have gone too far with you," Duke said, placing his large hands on the table. He stared at him dead in the eyes, "Peter, would you like to have the power to fight back?"
Peter perked up a little hearing those words.
"I looked at your file. You had no ability before coming here, and when you entered school, we gave you the earth ability. Right now, you're only a level one, but I can change that for you."
Duke then pulled open a drawer and took out several earth skill books. He threw them onto the table.
"I know you've been saving up trying to get your hands on these, but how much longer can you wait before something happens to you? With this , you can finally improve and get out of the level one power range. With that, your troubles would go away. You would be able to graduate the school with a good grade, join a company to go hunting, and earn a good wage for the rest of your life. Sounds nice doesn't it?" Duke said with a large smile.
Peter stared at the books. If he had these, his life would change, and he and his family would never have to worry again. They would all be set.
"Of course, these things don't come for free. The world doesn't work like that. Those men out there work for me, they do what I say and in return, I offer them protection within the school and outside as well. Not only that, but they get rewarded for doing well," Duke said before holding up one of the books, "I'm sure you heard me earlier mention it."
"You're going on your first portal outing some time soon, correct? Let me tell you that accidents happen all the time, and every year a student dies on another planet. Now rumor has it that maybe this year someone from that team of yours will go missing. You're a smart boy so I think you can understand what I'm saying. Maybe that person will be you, maybe not…"
Peter visibly winced when Duke brought up students dying on another planet. He was all too familiar with that possibility.
"So, what's your answer going to be?"
He knew what his answer was. He had no choice.
—
It was late in the day and combat classes had long since finished, Peter messaged Quinn to come to the training room on the east side. The only thing on that message was that Peter "needed help."
At first, Quinn was about to rush off to that room, but then he realized that if Peter needed help, then he was going to need backup. Opening up the system, he started messaging someone who he could trust enough as he sped walked.
{Quinn} Erin, come meet up with me in the training room on the east side of the school.
{Erin} Why? What happened?
{Quinn} Peter. I think he's in trouble. I saw him hang out with some higher levels the other day. It looked like he was in a hurry too.
{Erin} That room? That's the place where the portals are stored, isn't it?
{Erin} Normally, we aren't allowed to go there.
{Quinn} That just concerns me more. Why would he be there if he wasn't in danger?
{Erin} Alright, I'm coming over.
Satisfied, Quinn started running to the room, but passed by Fex on his way over. The teenage boy was leaning on a wall fiddling with some string. With how Erin had been hurt before by the second years, having a third person help wasn't entirely a bad idea. The only problem was how he was going to do that.
"Fex, I need your help," Quinn said.
Fex raised an eyebrow, "With what?"
"I need you to come with me as backup. Our roommate, Peter, he's in danger."
Fex didn't exactly have a reason to say no to this, but he didn't have a reason to say yes either. During his time at the school so far, he had been minding his business with humans, not sticking his nose in whatever it is they did.
"Hmm… Well, I don't exactly know you or Peter that well."
"What about Erin? You helped her out and you didn't even know her!"
"Okay, and?"
"And Peter is our teammate! If something happened to Peter then it's going to affect our grade."
Fex shrugged, "I'm sure I'll be fine."
Quinn grew frustrated with the conversation. They were going nowhere, and Peter was most likely falling into even more danger. He was left with no choice but to play a little dirty.
"Fex— You're not exactly good at blending in as a human, and I can help you, but we need to go now."
Fex froze hearing that. How did Quinn of all people figure out he was a vampire? Then he recalled the time when he handed Erin a blood flask. He thought Quinn didn't notice, but he potentially messed up there somehow.
Fex started walking off towards a direction, "Fine, I'll help."
"Great! Let's go."
Fex nodded approvingly, and the two managed to arrive at the training center. Right outside was Erin, who was holding her ice sword on her shoulder, and giving Fex a dirty look.
"Behave," Quinn said before she could say anything, "We're here for Peter."
Erin gave Fex a quick glance before they went into the room. The training center was large with several metallic objects that had a glowing circle in the middle of them shining with different colors. They recognized them as portals. In total, there were nine of them, three of each color. Quinn couldn't take his eyes off of them until Erin bumped into him.
Turning a corner, they saw Peter lying on the ground badly hurt with several stuff strewn about as if there was a fight. There was no one else inside except for Peter and the three who just entered.
Quinn felt responsible for what had happened to him as he was spending a lot of time lately with Erin. He wasn't there for his roommate when he needed him. However, he wouldn't let himself get caught up on that as Peter needed him now.
"Look, there's no one else here," Fex grumbled. He couldn't smell anyone else in the area.
Quinn ignored him, and rushed over to Peter's side. His clothes were torn, he had bruises on his body, and he had this hurt expression on his face. Quinn started helping him up while Erin looked around for any potential threats.
"What happened to you?" Quinn asked, concern lacing his tone.
Peter's lips quivered, and he opened his mouth about to say something, but stopped himself. After gulping his spit he gathered his resolve.
"T-they… the first years, they got to me."
Peter didn't need to fake being scared, there was another person here that he didn't account for. Not only that, but Erin was not close to the portal at all. She looked very alert, and acutely aware of any potential threats. This wasn't part of the plan at all, and he needed to think of something quick.
Quinn helped Peter stand up, but noticed that he was able to get up just fine. There was something off about this whole thing. Looking at his bruises too, they looked drawn on. He didn't know for sure if his gut feeling was right.
"Peter… is this a—?"
Quinn got interrupted as Peter started mumbling something about his friends. He didn't understand what he was saying, and was distracted by it as he was very slowly being pushed towards the portal.
Erin heard him mumble and turned around only to realize what was happening. She ran to Quinn, pushing him away at the last second, but in turn getting caught in the portal.
Quinn and Peter fell to the floor from Erin's force, and when Quinn opened his eyes, he couldn't see her anywhere. The only thing he could see was the portal, now on. It illuminated the room with a bright ominous red.
"...Erin?" He muttered in disbelief.
He turned to look at Peter, who was trembling in fear.
Quinn got up, and was about to jump in, when a hand grabbed his shoulder.
"Are you an idiot?" Fex scolded.
Quinn smacked his hand away, "I need to save her, she's going to die—"
"Okay, you can do that when you're stronger, but I'M going to go in."
Quinn looked at Fex, an anger forming in him, "She's MY friend, she's in there because of me!"
"You'll die if you go in there, but I won't," Fex retorted.
Fex then jumped in, and Quinn was angry at himself because he knew that Fex was right. He was still too weak, and he only had a level 2 earth ability. Forming a mud gauntlet on his fist, he slammed it into the ground, frustrated.
Peter was trembling, and grabbed at his hair. He began muttering something again, this time a lot more clearer to Quinn's ears.
"H-he…. He wasn't supposed to go in— why did he go in?"
Quinn's head slowly turned around as the realization of everything hit him.
"What?"
Peter blurted out, "I was supposed to push her in!"
Quinn didn't hesitate, and decked Peter in the jaw, knocking him to the ground with a thud.
"HOW COULD YOU!" Quinn screamed.
—
Fex came out of the other side of the portal, falling a few feet from the air and landing gracefully. He got up and started dusting himself off. When looking at the area he was in, his heart sank.
"Fuck, why'd it have to be this planet?!"