Blood Queen Reborn-Chapter 12: Layla’s Hyperfixation

Sneaking up behind his roommate, Fex walked with quiet steps, then stood just behind Quinn.

"Didn’t expect you to have a girlfriend," Fex, a sly smile creeping on his face, jump-scared his roommate.

Quinn’s head turned to see Fex, a blush covering his face as he heard such a comment.

"S—she’s not my girlfriend!" He blurted out.

Fex put his hands up in mock surprise, "Hey now, I’m only joking."

Fex couldn’t help but stare at the blonde girl though. He had his nose pointed in her direction and could smell something was off about her. She smelled human... almost human.

Erin, on the other hand, did not take kindly to seeing Fex sniff in her general direction. She stood up, and took a step out of the booth, her eyes glaring angrily. Unfortunately, due to her looks, people often did not respect her boundaries and she learned the best way to deal with them was beatings.

"Do I smell funny?" she asked, with venom lacing her words.

She was ready to get into a fight, and used her Inspect skill on the newcomer.

[Name: Fex Sanguinis]

[Race: Vampire]

[?????]

Upon seeing what race Fex was and that there wasn’t even a quest for a fight, Erin was more than confused. The name also felt familiar, but she had forgotten where she heard it before. Quinn, on the other hand, was beyond mortified. Why did it say that Fex was a vampire? Were vampires truly real?

Fex ignored Erin and instead just held out his book to show Quinn, "I just thought I’d drop by to return this."

Quinn didn’t respond, not quite sure what to think of his roommate. Fex, however, was more than relaxed.

"Anyway, don’t let me distract you from kissing the girl of your dreams, bye!" And he was off.

Quinn snapped out of it, his face bright red, and cupped his hands around his mouth to yell out to his roommate, "WE’RE NOT DATING!"

Just to make sure no one could listen, Quinn opened the system messages.

{Quinn} You saw that, right? That it said he’s a vampire?

Erin took her seat back.

{Erin} Of course I did, everything you see, I also see.

{Erin} ... What is a vampire anyway?

Quinn blinked at Erin, half expecting her to say she was joking, but her face remained just as confused;

With the state of the world, a lot of entertainment production had lessened, and stories featuring vampires were even fewer in number in comparison. While old films and shows with vampires did occasionally air on TV, it wasn’t like Erin was the kind of person to watch entertainment in the first place.

{Quinn} Well, uh, they’re these creatures from fantasy stories. They’re pale, drink blood, and hide in sunlight.

{Quinn} Wait, vampires drink blood! What if that’s why he came to visit us? And you looked at me weirdly when I bled on you.

{Erin} If you’re here to imply that I’m also a vampire, then clearly you haven’t noticed that my status screen states that I’m human. Why would I be some fake creature from a fictional story?

Erin rolled her eyes at Quinn when she sent that.

{Erin} I’m heading back to my dorm room. Message me when you have some actually useful news.

Erin got up and began walking off. Looking at the time, Quinn could see that it was in fact getting late. He too grabbed his things and prepared to leave. The lingering thought about Fex being a vampire and the fact that vampires were real stuck in his mind. Maybe the system got something wrong, at least, that’s what Quinn hoped.

—

Fex left the library soon after teasing his roommate. He really wasn’t expecting to see him hanging out with another girl, especially since Quinn didn’t exactly scream "handsome." What was unexpected was how the girl in question had a strange scent to her. She smelled human, but there was that slight offness about it, almost like she wasn’t.

There was also the fact that she acted quite strangely during combat classes that day, and it was right after a single droplet of blood was spilled.

He would have to take note of her, just in case.

—

Erin barged into the dorm, causing Layla to jolt in surprise, and flopped onto her bed. She groaned in disappointment, having discovered nothing useful about herself or her newfound system.

Layla, who had happened to be reading a book on her bed, was shocked to see Erin in such a depressed state.

"So... how are you?" she carefully asked, closing her book and hiding it under her pillow.

Erin quietly groaned in response, somehow sinking deeper into her blankets.

Their other roommate, Cia, was sitting on a chair in the corner of the room, working on some homework. With Erin being one of the top first-year students, and being someone who didn’t really care for anyone else, it was strange for her and Layla to see Erin so down.

"What happened to you?" Cia remarked, "Didn’t know the great ice queen could feel anything."

Layla shot a scornful look before shifting her gaze back to Erin.

"Erin, what’s wrong?" Layla asked while going over and sitting by the girl’s head.

Erin continued to lie in bed, not saying a single word.

"... Did you hear me?" Layla said slightly annoyed. Surely Erin would’ve heard her the first time.

Instead of responding, Erin grabbed her pillow around her ears and rotated away from Layla.

’Did she just—!?’ Layla thought.

"Can’t believe I got to see the ice queen herself give you the cold shoulder," Cia snarked, giggling a little to herself.

Layla turned to look at Cia with a scowl, but she knew that Cia was right. Her face dropped, and leaned back in her bed..

Erin was thinking about the ’vampire’ message she saw earlier about that one annoying black-haired teenager. His sniffing behavior ticked her off, so just in case she were to get into a fight with the guy, she wanted to know if there were any weaknesses that a... vampire may have.

"Hey... uh... do you know anything about vampires?" Erin asked, completely forgetting her roommate’s name.

Immediately, Layla’s eyes brightened, and she turned to Erin with a wide smile, "I do!"

"Okay... well... what do you know about them?"

Layla turned her body to fully face Erin, taking a deep breath before beginning her ramble. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Just so you know, I’m an expert on vampires, and all their lore. Did you know that vampires have been recorded throughout history all over the world, and even though there’s been several names for them, the earliest use of the word ’vampire’ first appeared around the 500s?"

"Nerds..." Cia scoffed to the side.

Layla ignored Cia’s comment, "Why do you want to know about vampires anyway?"

With a determined glare, Erin answered honestly, "I want to learn their weaknesses. Can they be beaten?"

Layla practically radiated light when hearing this, "It depends on the culture! Sometimes its as simple as garlic—"

Erin thought about throwing a garlic clove at that annoying sniffing teenager.

"—Or things like religious imagery, silver, a stake to the heart, and let’s not forget sunlight!"

It was then that Erin thought about her weakness to sun exposure, and if Quinn’s comment about her potentially being a vampire were true. She’d need to ask if that annoying teenager guy was bothered by sunlight just to be sure.

Suddenly, Erin got a message from her system.

[You’ve learned more about the system]

[+10 EXP]

[EXP: 90/100]

{Erin} ...Crap.

{Quinn} What happened?

{Erin} I really hate to admit this but... You might be right.

"Oh and— in some iterations, vampires are related to other creatures like ghosts, zombies, damphirs, and sooooo many more creatures! They’re even sometimes paired up with another really famous creature called the werewolf— but vampires are way cooler than those guys. Plus if vampires transform, it’s not like it will be painful like a werewolf, those guys feel pain like crazy ya know? Oh— and also—"

Erin listened to her roommate ramble on and on about the history of vampires. She didn’t exactly catch everything she was saying, but a few things managed to stick before Erin went to sleep that night.