Seeing that Erin had suddenly gotten serious right in the middle of their conversation, Layla ran behind one of the wingedlizard’s body for cover. Who knew what she would do but she needed to plan for it. Unfortunately, it was beginning to disintegrate, but while it was still around, she buried the crystals under its body, and took out her bow and arrow.

The only problem was that she didn’t have enough MC to use her ability in any meaningful way, so she would have to rely on her bow’s active ability to make up for it.

Soon, the first person came into view, or what would be more correct were a trio of pale skinned people with freckles wielding a sword.

Immediately, all three had charged at Erin, a flurry of blades coming her way. If she concentrated, Erin was able to block all 3 of their attacks. So long as she kept her umbrella above her, her 30 agility stat was more than enough.

"It’s that person again!" Layla whispered, before drawing back her bow. She was about to aim an arrow at the Pierogis when a sudden gust of strong wind had distracted her. It felt like her body was almost going to be lifted off her feet.

Turning to see the source of the wind, Layla saw a girl with short lavender hair throw wind blades in her direction.Thankfully the person was rather wild with their power, because the initial strong wind had tipped her off to the attacks.

Layla jumped out of the way, leaving behind the crystals. She was about to aim when the other girl flung her flaming whip at Layla. It lashed at her body and the flames extended beyond that of the whip, creating a burning pain on her side.

She fell onto her back, but grabbed 3 arrows and quickly shot them in Amy’s direction, she didn’t care to aim, because she just fired them away.

Two had missed, but one had auto corrected to land into Amy’s knee.

"Argh!" Amy groaned in pain, raising a hand, "You’ll pay for that!"

The anger was clearly building up, and without a care for conserving MC, the air around the ground began to twist, creating a mini tornado of sand to throw at Layla. Amy flung her arm out, sending it at Layla. The small particles and the whirling sand, the worst part about it was trying to keep one’s eyes open to see what was coming next. She instinctively went to cover her eyes. However, that gave Amy enough time to fling her whip once again.

Erin meanwhile, was hearing commotion going on behind her as she continued to block against the three swords. The clashes were coming out fast, but Erin was far more skilled in swordsmanship then the others allowing her to stand her ground. In one swing she was able to block two strikes, hitting one sword right into the other, but going up against so many people at once was tough, making it hard for her to find an opening. If only she had a little bit of help then things would be easier, and this left a nagging thought in the back of her mind. Where was Layla?

For some reason, Layla wasn’t able to support her. There was no aid at all. Was she getting attacked right now by someone from the other team?

Feinting an attack with her legs, the middle clone was about to jump over it, when Erin used her speed to thrust her rapier into the clone’s chest, causing it to dissipate.

[+10 EXP]

[180/400 EXP]

[+ 1 HP]

[HP 69/70]

Before Erin could recover, a pillar of earth had jutted out and hit her in the face.

[- 5 HP]

[HP 64/70]

Erin stumbled back, then saw a newcomer a fair distance away. A boy with purple hair and a scar on his chin.

"Mono really was right, where’s your little ice powers now, ice queen?" Earl taunted.

[Inspect]

[Earl Hampton]

[Ability: Level 4 Earth User]

[Health: 25/25]

[Blood type B-]

Gritting her teeth, Erin sprinted towards Earl, dodging the pillars he made in her way. Once she was close enough, she stabbed her rapier into his chest, pushing him back.

[Ability cannot be used again for 2 seconds]

He coughed out blood, but despite having a blade in his chest, Earl had a wide smile.

Lifting up his hand, a small pillar of earth shot up from under Erin’s umbrella hand, smacking it, and causing her to release her grip. Immediately, she could feel its effects.

[You are now in direct sunlight]

[All stats will be reduced by 70%]

[HP 19/21]

Erin wavered in her stance, her knees buckling from the scorching sun.

"I didn’t expect you to get so weak in the knees after taking your umbrella," Earl teased before commanding the earth around Erin’s umbrella to swallow it whole.

Erin’s anger boiled with a heat that matched the sun’s, and she threatened with her face close to his, "You won’t live to regret that."

While Earl’s body was still skewered, Erin lunged her head to his neck, and bit into it.

[+2 HP]

[HP 21/21]

[Blood Bank 98/100 ML]

[Blood type B+ has been absorbed]

[+ 1 Agility point has been added]

Startled by the sudden bite, Earl found himself incapable of moving. It was as if he was paralyzed by a venom, except, there was no way for Erin to have some sort of venom ability. His consciousness grew weak, and fell to the floor.

Before Erin could fully recover, the two clones, now turned 3, had attacked Erin on all sides. No longer did she have the speed she had before, and couldn’t keep up anymore with the flurry of blades.

[- 9 HP]

[- 8 HP]

[Blood bank auto activated]

[HP 21/21]

[- 10 HP]

[- 7 HP]

[Blood bank auto activated]

...

Erin was constantly getting hit from all sides, and ruining her chest piece. The sun was making her too sluggish to do anything in time. It had not only reduced her stats, but also her health, and despite her constant healing, it only meant she was getting more and more hurt.

[Blood bank empty]

[HP 21/21]

It was getting hard to concentrate with all of the notifications, but right as Erin decided to use a shadow skill, she was stabbed straight in the chest.

[-9 HP]

[HP 12/21]

Erin coughed out blood, and gritted her teeth, forcing herself to keep upright. However, before she could do anything more, the last two clones stabbed her in the same spot of her chest.

[- 10 HP]

[HP 2/21]

With only so much health left, Erin’s energy was tapped, and all three Pierogi’s had removed their blades from Erin, her body falling to the floor.

[Your hunger grows]

[You can no longer suppress your need for blood]

[Your HP will decrease by -1 HP every hour until you have consumed human blood]

The sun blazed down upon Erin, her head throbbing with pain as she couldn’t keep herself conscious any longer. The last thing she heard were faint cheers before it all faded to black.

—

Layla was managing to keep up against Amy. Her bow’s active ability being the one thing that made up for the lack of MC cells. The two were tied in strength, both of them giving the other significant wounds.

’Come on... I think I might have enough MC for one more attack...’ Layla thought to herself.

Layla was constantly moving, hiding between the bodies and giant dark brown rocks. She had to stay mobile, even with the lashes done on her body. Getting on top of a rock with a flat top, she drew back another arrow, and fired it at her opponent.

It had scraped Amy’s arm, flying past her, but then the arrow redirected back into her arm, making a U-turn in the air.

"Arg!" Amy growled.

’I may not be able to defeat her... and I hate thinking that way, but I need some assistance,’ Amy thought before whistling, signaling for a short boy to pop out of hiding.

Drawing her bow back for another arrow, Layla expected this boy to be the physical backup to help in the fight, but as Layla let go of the string, someone had snuck up from behind her, grabbing her legs with cold metal gauntlets.

Garret had been the one to catch Layla off guard, causing her to trip and fall on top of the boulder. She tried to kick him, but as she was scrambling to fight him off, a flaming whip had wrapped itself around her. Amy then yanked it, forcing Layla to plunge onto the sandy floor.

Layla grit her teeth in agony, the whip was burning hot against her body, and her mind was growing tired from the pain.

"Arggh!" Layla screamed.

Amy got off of her rock, and willed her weapon’s skill to deactivate, much to Layla’s relief. It was then that she noticed Amy’s wounds were all healed. The girl she fought so hard against no longer had any signs of getting attacked by arrows.

"Thank you Jerry! You’re a reeaaallll life saver," Amy smiled, saluting to the short boy Layla saw earlier.

Jerry solemnly nodded, duty bound.

Layla fought to stay conscious, but she wasn’t super human, and the pain from the burns caught up. Just like Erin, Layla too fell unconscious.

"Now," Amy grinned, placing her hands on her hips, "Where did they store those crystals?"