When the four were on their way back to their dorm, they ran into Nico. They hadn't seen the girl since the exam day. Something Harkel found funny was that she said she was going to lead them to victory, yet was the first one out. He laughed about this in his mind, with the others hearing it through the link.
Nico herself looked shocked to see them there. But before any of the boys could say anything, she spoke first.
"I'd like to apologize," she said, bowing.
None of the boys expected her to do that. When they first met her, she gave off the vibe of a hot-headed queen—someone who would kneel to no one. Yet here she was, apologizing and bowing.
"I was overconfident and cocky, which made me lose. And… I was a bit cruel to you when I tried to burn your arm to a crisp."
That last bit made everyone pause.
"Wait, she tried to burn you to a crisp?" Harkel thought to Riven.
"Yeah. If I didn't back off fast enough, I probably would've lost an arm. Is she insane?"
"Apparently not insane enough to avoid apologizing… or I guess just apologizing to you," Jordan added.
"I accept your apology," Riven said out loud. "And maybe we can be friends."
"Or maybe even lovers," Harkel mocked in his mind.
As the four were about to walk off, they heard a little whisper from Nico that made them freeze. After making the remark, she ran off toward the city.
Even though it was a small whisper, thanks to their recent level-ups, they could hear a bit more—and they clearly heard Nico say the same thing Harkel had joked about in his mind.
'HUUUUUH?!' they all thought at once.
⸻
As the day ended, Wren was in a forest surrounded by dummies. They moved in, trying to attack her. She dodged out of the way, shooting most of them with lightning bolts. But one dummy got too close—too close for her to charge up her lightning. So instead, she let out a scream that blew the dummy away.
"So they weren't lying… I really have that girl's Evolution now. But I still have my own," Wren said to herself. "Luckily I made sure my private training area has no cameras."
Wren walked up to a tree and pressed on it, causing the forest to shift into a bluish training room. When she walked out, she saw her mother waiting. She ran up to her and bowed.
"Vice principal" Wren yelled.
"You can greet me like a normal child when we're alone, you know that," her mother said gently.
Wren lifted her head and hugged the tall woman.
"What brings you here, Mother?" Wren asked respectfully.
"Someone told me they saw you walking with some boys to the city. Is that true?"
Wren nodded.
"Did they want something?" her mother asked sternly, as if she would punish the boys if she didn't like the answer.
"No, Mother. I wanted to team up with them. You always said to stick with the strong—and they made it to the Top 5," Wren said, half-truthfully.
"Hmm. Yes, they made it to the Top 5, but I feel like some of them shouldn't have," Ms. Fallow muttered, thinking specifically of Joey, Harkel, and Riven.
"Trust me, Mom. They're strong," Wren said confidently.
⸻
Back with the boys, they were mocking Riven about what Nico whispered before she walked off.
"Maybe even lovers," Harkel said out loud, since Riven had turned off the link skill and the shared screen, not wanting to hear the party anymore.
Joey and Jordan laughed while Riven, on his top bunk, blushed.
"Shut up," Riven said, pushing Harkel onto his bed using his gravity power.
Harkel continued to laugh. With everyone now having a new Evolution, Riven decided to check everyone's stats.
⸻
[System: Riven Harlow level 6]
HP: 100/100
Energy: 100/100
Strength: 17
Speed: 15
Durability: 29
This made Riven realize that his stats increase with each level-up, while still having stat points available.
⸻
[Jordan Harlow level 8]
HP: 100/100
Energy: 100/100
Strength: 13
Speed: 20
Durability: 15
⸻
[Joey Cross level5]
HP: 100/100
Energy: 100/100
Strength: 8
Speed: 10
Durability: 7
⸻
[Harkel Voss level5 ]
HP: 100/100
Energy: 100/100
Strength: 15
Speed: 18
Durability: 12
⸻
When Riven looked at everyone's stats, he noticed that Harkel's EXP bar was close to leveling up—and that all of them had four attribute points.
⸻
[System: User can combine all party members' attribute points to give to one person in the party.]
Riven thought about giving the points to himself… but then remembered how weak Joey's stats looked. So, he combined all 16 points and gave them to Joey, distributing them equally.
⸻
[Joey Cross - Updated]
HP: 100/100
Energy: 100/100
Strength: 13
Speed: 15
Durability: 12
⸻
Joey felt the stat increase but didn't say anything, knowing it was most likely Riven who did it.
All the boys eventually fell asleep.
⸻
The next day, the same loud bell rang in everyone's ears, waking them up. After getting dressed, they went to the cafeteria and sat at the same table—when two figures walked up to them.
It was Tessa and Wren.
They sat down without saying anything and prayed with them. After the prayer, they all ate. Riven noticed Tessa staring at him but chose to ignore it.
When the next bell rang, signaling that it was time to head to school, Riven stood up. Wren nudged him on the arm.
"Hey, invite me to the party," Wren asked while walking to class. Riven did so, and also turned on the telepathic link.
⸻
'Hey… don't get mad, but I told Tessa everything,' Wren said right away.
'What?!' they all thought at once.
'That wasn't your secret to tell,' Jordan snapped.
'I know. And I'll make it up to you guys, I promise. But I couldn't keep something like this from my best friend.'
'What does she want?' Joey asked.
'She just wants to be involved. She's scared of being left behind—and I won't let that happen to her. Can we at least invite her to the party?'
'Fine. But she's going to be a regular party member,' Riven replied.
'What do you mean by "regular"?' Wren questioned.
Riven explained the difference between regular party members and bonded party members. Wren quickly understood and nodded.
Tessa was invited to the party, but she couldn't see the system or communicate telepathically.
⸻
They all walked to the school together. When they arrived, they were called forward to find out their homeroom classes. One of the hooded figures read their names—and they all noticed the same thing:
They were all in the same homeroom class.
After receiving the knowledge from a hooded figure, they all realized they were in the same homeroom.
"Why are we all in the same class? With over 1,000 students here, we should've been split up," Harkel questioned.
"My mother is probably to blame for that," Wren thought. "She has an obsession with 'the strong stick with the strong' and leaving the weak behind. But I'm surprised she let all of us be in the same class, considering she felt like most of y'all shouldn't have made it to the top five… or even the top ten." As she thought that last part, she glanced at Tessa.
They made their way to the homeroom. From Wren's tone, the boys could already guess who else would be in the class. That made Joey, Jordan, and Harkel laugh in their heads.
When they got to the classroom, they saw 14 other students already seated. Out of those, four caught their attention—Luka, Nico, Jude, and Skye. All top-ten first-years, all in the same class.
The teacher showed them to their seats. The six of them sat in the middle of the classroom as the teacher introduced himself.
"Hello, class. I'm your homeroom teacher. Some of you met me yesterday, but others…" he paused, looking directly at Riven and his group, "…haven't met me yet. So I'll reintroduce myself. My name is Mr. Sable. I'm the physics teacher, but during this block, I'll be your homeroom teacher. For those who weren't here, there should be a paper in your desk listing your next classes. These are based on your abilities, so if I were you, I'd look forward to them."
Riven, Jordan, Harkel, Joey, and Wren looked inside their desks and pulled out a piece of paper listing three classes—including the one they were in now.
"So what classes do you guys have?" Tessa asked.
They didn't see any reason to keep it from her, so they told her.
"I have a weapons class, then… a physics class?" Riven said, confused.
"Well, that makes sense," Tessa explained. "Your ability is gravity or telekinesis, right? They say that one way to increase your power—aside from training—is learning about a man known as Isaac Newton and his laws of motion."
"Hmm," Riven replied. 'Maybe she can be helpful.'
'I know she can,' Wren responded telepathically.
"I have a weapons class as well, but it's after yours—and an elemental class," Harkel said.
"Same," Wren added.
"Me too," Jordan chimed in.
"Wait, what? Why would you have an elemental class? Your evolution isn't… well, elemental-based," Tessa asked.
"They probably didn't know where to put me. Ink might be a new evolution entirely, and they didn't know what to do with me."
"Wait, how is that fair?" Riven questioned. "In some cases, even gravity is considered an element—so why does Jordan get into an elemental class, but I get physics?"
Mr. Sable heard that and looked in Riven's direction, prompting Riven to quickly say,
"Not that I have any problem with that."
"So what about you, Joey?"
"Well… I also have a weapons class, but it's in the same block as Riven's. My other class is also… a healing class," Joey said, looking a bit tense.
Everyone—except Tessa—knew why.
Joey didn't have a healing ability. He had a time-related ability, and with all the things Joey and Harkel had said about Project Mimicry, if it was true and they found out he had time manipulation powers, Joey would definitely become a candidate to go missing. Especially since he was a Wallborn—not someone from the outside world or a prestigious family.
"It's okay," Harkel thought. "All of you might be Wallborns, but me and Wren aren't. If it comes down to it, one of us could probably use our family name to help you."
"Can you guys tell me what this Project Mimicry is later?" Wren asked.
"Sure," Jordan replied.
Then the bell rang, signaling that it was time for the next block.
As the group split up for the day, Joey would be going with Riven, while the others went to their respective classes. The boys gave each other fist bumps before heading off. Riven then turned off the telepathic link as the squad turned into a duo.
"So, Joey… wanna test out your new speed?" Riven asked.
"So you did do something," Joey said, narrowing his eyes. "I knew something felt off with my body—I just couldn't put my hands on it."
Riven explained how he'd checked everyone's stats and combined their unused attribute points to evenly distribute them into Joey's.
Joey felt a bit disappointed that he needed even more of a boost just to catch up, but Riven reassured him.
"Every party is only as strong as its weakest link."
This lit a fire in Joey, and he broke into a run. Riven followed, both boys racing down the hallway—matching speed for speed. The hall was full of students, and while Riven weaved between them with ease, Joey wasn't quite used to his new speed and bumped into people left and right.
Eventually, they arrived at the Weapons Hall. There were 16 different weapons classrooms, but luckily, both of their classes were in the same room.
As they opened the door, they could see a man standing inside. More students rushed in just before the bell rang. One student, breathing heavily, ran in right as it sounded.
Then the man stepped forward.
Without a word, he punched the student in the chest.
The student flew backward and slammed into the wall.
The man stood at the front of the door, staring everyone down. His voice echoed like thunder in the chamber.
"Everyone who was late to Varra Kain's class—line up to receive your punishment."
Joey and Riven looked at each other then looked at the man.
He was smiling.