Chapter 255: To Be Recognized

One of the things Erin wanted to get that day was a sword. Her current two could easily be traced back to her, making a potential problem for when she would inevitably fight that day.

Because of this, she thought this would’ve been a useful time to also get unique abilities, ones that’ll give them a better chance of success of saving Quinn.

"Sure, we can go," Vorden eventually answered.

With that, they left to the market section of the arena. In each of their bedrooms, they were given a pamphlet about when the starter events, and the main events took place. It also had information about where certain stalls were, so Erin and Vorden knew where to look.

On their way there, Vorden kept his guard up. He was sure that his mother and father were actively searching for him, and even though Pai said he’d tell Vicky not to rat him out, there was no guarantee she’d keep his word.

’I just have to not get caught until the end of the week,’ Vorden thought.

"Good luck with that," Raten scoffed, but despite his sardonic joke, his voice was tense.

At the market, there were several stalls open as well as a few students coming in and out to purchase equipment. Since there was some time before the tournament officially started, the ones who weren’t interested in the starter events came here.

"There is a problem with buying gear," Vorden noted, "Since all the credits we have is stored on our watches, it’ll be easily traceable back to us."

Erin flashed her golden card, "This is why I came prepared."

Vorden stared at it, a little shocked that Erin had so much money. At least, that was the expectation when it came to gold cards, they were the kind that held the most amount of money out of any card type.

Even though the Blades weren’t rich by any means, Vorden didn’t take a money card with him. At the time, he was more focused on trying to escape, so he was essentially living off of the 10 daily credits the military gave them all.

"How do you have so much money?" Vorden couldn’t help but ask.

It was a very loaded question for Erin, so she kept her answer short.

"My family used to work for the Big Four."

"The Big Four, huh?" Vorden said.

"Do you really think she might’ve interacted with our family?" Raten commented.

’I doubt it, and remember, not everyone in the Big Four families know about us,’ Vorden answered.

"Not anymore," Erin responded.

Erin kept it short and sweet, which Vorden took note of.

Ever since Vorden was a kid, he was constantly trying to avoid angering his grandfather and parents back on the island. As a result, Vorden became exceptionally well at noticing the small details of a person’s behavior.

Most people would be proud to have worked with such a prestigious group, but for Erin, she was quick to shut the conversation down.

It made Vorden wonder why she acted that way.

As they were looking at the weapons on sale, Erin was indecisive in picking a sword. She could use the inspect skill to figure out what each blade could do, but she’d also only be able to use it this once, making her not want to buy a particularly fancy weapon.

While Erin was in the middle of deciding which weapon to buy, Vorden saw a familiar figure in the crowd.

"He really wasn’t lying," Raten’s eyes widened, "She’s actually here!"

Vorden could see a middle aged woman in uniform with blonde hair, and a beautiful face. On her torso was a golden chest plate. The fact that she was wearing beast armor made Vorden think it was excessive.

Immediately, he grabbed Erin’s arm and ran off from the open area.

"Hey— Don’t touch me!" Erin said as she pushed Vorden’s hand off.

Due to Vorden’s unusual strength, he was able to take Erin away far enough to not be in view of his mother, but Erin wasn’t pleased.

"What was that about?!" Erin spat out.

"Hush!" Vorden harshly whispered.

"Explain yourself then!" Erin whispered back.

"I just realized, but we were out in the open. Even if you use your money card, don’t you think witnesses will be able to recognize us?" Vorden reasoned.

It was a lie Vorden came up with on the spot, but there was truth behind it. In the past, Erin was interrogated about the conditions of her ability simply because she didn’t use it for a few weeks. They would be thorough in their investigation.

"Fine, but do you have a better solution?" Erin asked, "How else am I meant to get a weapon without looking like myself?"

Vorden paused, then came up with a possible answer.

"I could use a transformation ability and buy the weapon," He said, "If I don’t look like anyone, it would be hard to recognize me."

"Maybe you should make your face look hideous so people stay away from you," Raten smirked.

Vorden ignored his comment. There was another reason why he wanted this ability, and it was to disguise himself from the Blade family.

"Alright so copy someone with the ability," Erin retorted.

"It’s not that easy," Vorden said, "There’s a thing about my ability, and its that I can’t copy more than 3 abilities at a time, nor can I change them out for something else until 24 hours have passed. This means I can’t just copy any random person’s ability without doing some research first."

"Is that really all you need?" Erin then opened her system window, namely, the inspect skill, "I can tell you exactly what abilities any given person has."

—

Watching Quinn, there was something Layla noticed about him.

There was a subtle change in his appearance. He looked tired, but determined, still willing to fight until the end. That wasn’t the thing Layla observed, though. It was the way he kept himself. An improved confidence in something, although Layla didn’t know what caused it.

"Is he the one you were looking for?" Nate quietly asked.

"He is," Layla answered.

This made Nate confused. His arms were bound in thick wooden shackles, and two guards accompanied him at all times. Why were they treating a competing student like a prisoner?

’Is he just so strong that they have to restrain his power?’ He thought, then the image of him fighting against such a powerful opponent made him excited.

Before Layla could do anything more, the guards escorted the participants towards the main room. There, they were told to divide into groups based on what event they were participating in, separating Layla from the others.

Quinn and Nate were amongst the fighting event contestants, while Logan was with the crafting event people.

The events were about to start up soon, so the soldiers there repeated the rules to all of the students.

As they were doing that, Quinn took in a mental note of the people around him, namely, those who could be his future opponents.

Almost all of the second years were level 8s, but amongst the first years, they consisted mostly of level 5s, 6s and 7s with a few rare 8s.

Quinn mentally prepared himself, but he had a trick up his sleeve. During his time in the prison, he wasn’t sitting around doing nothing. He was cultivating his qi enough to improve his strength and speed considerably.

’Even without my beast gear, I’m sure I can win several matches with the power of qi,’ Quinn thought.

In the middle of his thinking, a tall, brunette young adult who’s watch listed an impressive 8 smiled to himself. He was standing behind Quinn, a person who he knew very closely.

"So the nobody tried to be a somebody," He whispered just loud enough for Quinn to hear, "I’ll take pride in beating you."

Quinn’s eyes widened, he knew that voice all too well.

’Mono!’