Quin was huffing and panting as he finally managed to crawl into Vorden's room through the window—only to find Brock waiting at the door.
"Well, what were you trying to do, dear guest?" Brock asked calmly.
Quin froze, caught off guard, his mind blank for a moment. Then, snapping back to reality, he stammered in a nervous tone, "Oh… I fell out of the window."
"Interesting," Brock replied with a faint smirk. "How clumsy you are."
His eyes drifted toward the table where several ability books were neatly arranged. That's when they stopped—drawn to a strange, eerie-looking book. Its cover bore two fangs pointing upward and another pair facing downward.
"Where did you get this book?" Brock asked, his tone sharper now.
"It's mine… it's nothing," Quin said quickly.
But Brock's unblinking stare seemed to demand more. Finally, Quin added, "I was an orphan. This is the only thing my parents left me."
"And then?" Brock pressed, sounding more interested in the book than in Quin himself.
"Well… I could never open it. Whatever it's hiding—it's useless to me."
Brock was silent for a moment, his gaze still fixed on the book. Then he said evenly, "Do you even know what that book contains? Judging by the other books here, you're trying to learn an ability… but what if I told you the power in this book is greater than some of the strongest abilities humans can offer?"
Quin's eyes widened. At first, he thought Brock was simply curious, but now it was clear—this man knew something.
"You know more about it than I do, don't you? Can you tell me how to open it?"
Brock exhaled slowly. "The book has potential that is just waiting to be touched… but I can't tell you how to open it. Because I don't know."
"And stop wandering around the islands, unless you want to end up as nothing more than a beast's meal."
Before Quin could reply, Brock turned and walked away.
"Hey, wait!" Quin shouted—but the man was gone, as if he'd never been there at all.
"Damn… how does he know about the book? I don't even remember meeting this guy before. But if he knows, then there's a sure chance that others might know. I'd better hide it, and shit. do they know about what I just did with the tablet. "
----
Quin woke to the faint creak of floorboards and the shadow of a figure in the doorway. His heart jumped before his eyes adjusted.
"Vorden?" Quin's voice came out sharper than he intended. "Where were you? You invite me into your home, then vanish into the night like a ghost. Do you know how lonely I felt here?"
Vorden lingered in the shadows, his face half-hidden, the morning light cutting across him in jagged lines. "I'm sorry, Quin… but there was something I had to do."
Quin stepped forward, tension prickling in his chest. "You could have at least told me?"
"It's better you don't know." Vorden's voice was low, almost a whisper, but there was a steel edge beneath it. "Just… hold on for a few more days. Once I'm done, we're gone from here. For good."
The way he said it made Quin's stomach knot. There was no warmth in his tone only a cold aloofness.
-----
Somewhere in a dark room, a kid with his hair gelled backwards that looked to be a similar age to Quinn was on his computer browsing the market place.
"Finally, thanks Ian, you would be fetching that crystal for me. I only need one more." The kid said.
"Young master, if your father learns you didn't earn those crystals yourself, his anger will be the least of your worries. Every one of us had to face those beasts as our own trial," the man warned.
"Hah! Let him think what he wants. With this ring, I can finally get out of here," the young master scoffed, eyes glinting.
He turned his attention back to the computer screen with a grin.