Quinn ran to the beast weapons class. He didn’t know how much longer Erin could survive in a transformed state, or if Fex was in danger. What he did know was that Erin needed help.

There was also the fact that their discovery in Duke’s office confirmed that there was corruption going on with the military. Quinn had a feeling it was the case, but he only thought that they would at most turn a blind eye to the abuse the low levels experienced, not be active participants in their deaths. He didn’t know which military officials were involved, but there was at least one person Quinn trusted.

The man who never looked down on him despite not having an ability.

When recalling the time he told his teacher that he wanted to learn the earth ability, he remembered that his teacher’s reaction was peculiar. His tone of voice remained the same, but his facial expression betrayed that he was slightly disappointed.

For Quinn to learn the military’s power meant he would be limited, incapable of learning the higher ability levels without being part of the military itself. It made Quinn realize that Leo didn’t seem to like the military either.

Knocking on the door to the dojo, Quinn was expecting to not see his teacher there. Classes ended a while ago, and he was already thinking of other places to search for him.

To his surprise, the door opened up, revealing Leo Suiyan, the war hero himself.

"Something troubles you," Leo spoke, "Come inside."

Quinn followed Leo as he grabbed a chair for the teenager to sit on.

"Leo, I need your help with something—" Quinn began, "Actually, I need you to help two friends of mine."

Leo hummed before stroking his beard, "This is about Erin and Fex, is it not?"

"How did you—?" Quinn began to ask before shaking his head, "It is, and I’m sure you must know that they went to a red portal planet. I know it’s dangerous, but you have to do something."

Leo chuckled, and suddenly Quinn noticed that there was gear being prepped on a table nearby.

"In case you were wondering, I was already planning on going," Leo replied, "I’m not doing this because the military told me to, but because those kids are in danger."

Quinn looked relieved, however, he could tell there was something else too.

"But let me ask a question," Leo began, "The way my ability works makes it so I can sense auras, perceive things that others can’t see. I’ve noticed that your aura is intrinsically linked to Erin, and hers with yours. Are you aware of this?"

Quinn was shocked that Leo knew so much about them, but with Leo being truthful, Quinn felt that he had to do the same.

"I am."

Leo nodded, "And do you know what that means?"

Quinn shook his head, and hummed ’no’, starting to slightly fear the answer. He didn’t know if he was being interrogated right now, or if he was about to be told some sort of dangerous side effect of being linked to someone.

Leo, however, appeared nonchalant as ever, and placed a hand on his chin, "I can tell you’re being truthful, but anxious. You don’t have to worry about your aura being linked to Erin as it is actually something common in twins, or even siblings. Sometimes they can even influence each other’s soul weapons. Although, this is my first time seeing two people’s auras linked in a pair of unrelated students."

Leo grabbed his trusty sword, and a bag of gear before heading to the entrance of the dojo. Quinn quickly got up, and followed right behind his teacher.

"Worry not Quinn, I will bring them back," Leo stated.

Satisfied that his teacher was on the case, Quinn headed back to his dorm.

Leo meanwhile, was on his way to the first years staff building. There was something else on his mind aside from Quinn and Erin’s auras. Theirs were the color of yellow, indicating they were human.

His ability was to ’see’ the world as a 3d wire frame, and to perceive living things as different colors of aura. Red meant dalki and beasts, yellow meant humans, but he had a student in his class that was a color he hadn’t encountered before.

Fex’s aura was uniquely purple, which left him with a question. Was Fex even human?

—

Meanwhile, in the second year building, a sergeant whose name tag read "D. Wyte" was meeting with Duke in his office. This was the same sergeant with the afro and large black glasses, and she was there to help Duke prepare for when Truedream would visit later that year.

"How is the quota going?" She asked, while cleaning her glasses with a small cloth.

Duke was examining the list of students, but it was coming up a little short.

"Hmm, it’s a bit of a shame, but she needed to go..." Duke mumbled as he removed Erin’s name from the list, "I was hoping she would’ve been a good gift to him, but without her, there’s barely enough to give."

Duke had come to learn that Erin’s ability number was currently listed as a 1 when it was previously a 5. He had suspected that it was the result of her faking her ability, perhaps there was a plan to dismantle the carefully crafted hierarchy system in the school. Pretending to be a high level student, and befriending the low levels to make them think they’re worth something.

It was why he had Peter get rid of her, fulfilling his job to keep the military safe, keeping his hands clean and to ensure that Peter would follow his every word.

That was when the sergeant spoke up again, "What about the other students you met with today?"

"Students?" Duke asked, not sure what his sergeant was talking about. He had only met with Peter that day, and the fire alarm prevented him from meeting with more.

"There was a boy with black curly hair and blue glasses. He was with a girl and said that he met with you today, but that you let him go after the fire alarm."

Suddenly, Duke recalled bumping into a boy with that very same description. He remembered that he felt something wet touch his hand, and that sensation felt very familiar. At first, he didn’t know why until he remembered that it was mud, something he hadn’t used since he first learned his ability.

Immediately, Duke searched his database. There were a lot of first years, so he reduced the number by only looking for male earth ability users. That reduced the number even more. Skimming through the list of students, he eventually saw the boy he was looking for.

Quinn Talen.

When the assembly incident first occurred, Duke was looking at a report that had mentioned Quinn’s name, but didn’t provide a picture of him. This was why he didn’t recognize the boy before. He did, however, remember his name as he was capable of putting a small dent in a metal sphere despite only being a level 1 earth ability user at the time.

Duke was contemplating what to do. He could call Quinn over, force him to reveal why he was in the second year’s building, and used mud to do something to his hand. This would likely get him sent to the dungeon to be dealt with, but with Erin no longer on the list, she needed to be replaced.

A smile crept on Duke’s mouth. He had an idea that would kill two birds with one stone.

"Miss Wyte? Get a line ready for Truedream. I believe we have found a... suitable replacement he would like to hear about."

Miss Wyte nodded and went to prepare a secure connection. He didn’t want anyone to find out about his plans.

Duke leaned back in his chair. Quinn only had a level 2 ability at the moment, but he had the potential to go beyond the limits of the earth ability. Ferrokinesis was a rare ability, rarer than the ice ability, and he couldn’t let such a delightful gift slip through his fingers, or get imprisoned for being a suspect of Pure.

He wouldn’t do anything to the teenage boy just yet, except keep an eye on him, so he could be allowed to grow his power. When the time was right, Quinn would be sent to the big four member, one of its world leaders, and Duke would be praised for stopping a Pure spy.

"The line is ready," Miss Wyte said before handing Duke a device.

Taking the communicator, Duke held it up to his ear and mouth.

"Jack Truedream... You’re going to want to hear this."