"I'm sorry—help you awaken? I mean, sure, with some training you can awaken, but… there's only four days until the outing," Riven said, trying to play dumb like Harkel did.
"Don't lie to us," Nico said, stepping forward. "By the way they looked at you after they awakened… me and my group talked about it. We're prepared to keep your secret. We swear." Her expression was determined.
"What should we do?" Riven thought, activating the telepathic link.
"We help them," Jordan said. Everyone in their group turned to look at him—this didn't go unnoticed by Nico either.
"Hear me out—we don't need to tell them about the system, or the fact that Riven can copy people's evolutions. We could just say Riven is like an alchemist, and he made a formula to help people awaken."
Alchemists did exist in this world, but none had discovered a way to instantly awaken someone to Level 1. Boosting someone's potential, sure. But not a full awakening.
"He's right, guys," Leo added through the link, backing Jordan. "Also… we all saw what happened in the assembly hall. That guy destroyed us. And truthfully? I didn't like what the system called him—'The Broken King.' Doesn't that sound like some villain-level stuff to any of you?"
"Leo makes a fair point," Wren said In her head. "But the choice isn't up to us. It's up to Riven."
Riven sighed.
"I'll help you—but it'll come at a cost. You need to give me 5,000 Units. With that, I'll be able to help you awaken."
"What?! 5,000 Units? This sounds like a scam to me," Skye said, but Nico held up her hand to stop her and pulled out her card.
Riven looked at Wren, who handed him the custom transfer card they'd used before to help Joey's mom. Nico typed in her information, and 5,000 Units were transferred to Riven.
"Now, I need the five of you to step out of the room for an hour," Riven said.
Skye looked like she wanted to protest again, but Nico stopped her. After they left, the group turned to Riven.
"An hour?" Harkel chuckled.
"Yeah. If we're going with the alchemist excuse, it'd be weird if I could just make awakening potions instantly. Gotta sell it."
"Smart," Tessa commented.
Riven then used the system to purchase five Awakening Potions, converting the Units into system points.
"So what do we do for an hour?" Joey asked.
"Well, I still have a few system points left—thanks to all your combined help. We could go back out and sell things."
Riven walked over to the corner, pulled out his cloak, and tossed another one to Leo.
"Ready to head out, big guy?" Riven asked. Leo nodded, and the two vanished from the room.
⸻
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the academy…
"Um, Sir Darius? The assembly halls for the second and third years are being cleaned up. Luckily, the first-year hall wasn't too bad. But, sir… why are we in the nurse's office?" Mr. Sable asked, sweat trailing down his cheek.
"Because the first years were able to scratch me," Darius said as he lifted his arm, revealing a shallow cut.
"Whoa! Not even the second years could do that," Mr. Sable said, shocked—and a little proud.
"Yeah. But keep in mind—I had one arm tied behind my back for the second and third years. With the first years, I went even easier. And they made a plan. Also… I was holding back too much."
Mr. Sable could tell Darius enjoyed the spotlight.
"He thinks he's the main character or something," Sable thought as he left the room.
The nurse came in and gently applied a bandage to Darius's arm. Once she was done, Darius walked out, where he saw Damien. The two vanished, blinking into a private meeting room where the Vice Principal, the second-year Dean, and the third-year Dean were already seated.
"Now, why have you called this meeting, Sir Darius?" Miss Fallow asked.
"Because we're going to talk about how the students and teachers will be split up," Darius said with a smile.
⸻
Back in the training room, Riven and Leo returned after an hour. Riven gave a nod to Joey, who stepped outside.
"You guys can come in now!" Joey called.
Nico's group entered the room and saw Riven, Wren, Leo, Jordan, and Tessa each holding a glass cylinder filled with a swirling white liquid. Each walked toward one of the five, handing them a potion.
"Drink this. It will allow you to awaken. But I want all of you to stay in your rooms for at least a day. That way the aura has time to settle, and no one will suspect you've awakened. We don't want this leading back to us. Got it?"
They all nodded, hesitant at first. But when Nico drank her potion and her aura exploded outward just like during an Awakening, the rest followed. Each felt a surge of power and their physicality increased drastically.
"This is amazing!" Luka said, punching the air.
"How were you able to make this?" Jude asked.
That's when the group switched to their cover story.
"I found this old book—it had a recipe inside. I memorized a few of them. But after getting beat half to death by some people, I lost it," Riven lied smoothly. He subtly referenced the pink-haired and black-haired attackers, since Nico was a witness.
"Whoa… so what else can you make?" the green-haired girl asked, full of glee.
"Nothing that concerns you," Harkel said coldly.
"Jeez, who pissed in your cereal?" Leo joked.
"Sorry, sorry. Having my chest caved in made me more cranky than I thought," Harkel replied.
"Hate to say it, but Harkel's right," Riven added. "We can't tell you more than we already have."
"Hey!" Harkel barked.
"We understand. Thank you," Nico said with a respectful bow. The others bowed too as they left.
"Finally," Riven said. "Now we can check out that mysterious reward."
Everyone got excited—but Joey stopped Riven before he could proceed.
"Wait—Riven, didn't you and Leo make more money selling weapons? Why don't you buy a 2x EXP potion?"
"Good idea, Joey," Riven said. He pulled up the system, bought the potion, drank it, then claimed his reward.
[System: You and your party have done something the system deemed impossible—but you pursued it and succeeded.]
"Impossible?" Harkel questioned. "I mean sure, the principal is strong, but we only took 5% of his health."
"Yeah, but he didn't even use his Evolution," Joey replied. "That was all just raw power."
The room went quiet. Everyone remembered the fire, the lightning, the gravity—and that Darius only lost 5%.
[Rewards: +6 instant level-ups]
Everyone in the room felt the sudden surge of power. Riven glanced at the updated stats:
⸻
📊 Updated Party Stats
[Riven Harlow – Level 12]
Strength: 23
Speed: 21
Durability: 35
[Jordan Harlow – Level 14]
Strength: 19
Speed: 26
Durability: 21
[Joey Cross – Level 11]
Strength: 19
Speed: 21
Durability: 18
[Leo Ashvale – Level 13]
Strength: 30
Speed: 20
Durability: 26
[Harkel Voss – Level 12]
Strength: 22
Speed: 25
Durability: 19
[Tessa Ashvale – Level 11]
Strength: 15
Speed: 23
Durability: 16
[Wren Fallow – Level 12]
Strength: 22
Speed: 33
Durability: 20
[20,000 System Points received]
Everyone's jaw dropped.
"That means you can buy more Awakening Potions!" Tessa shouted.
"No, that wouldn't be smart," Jordan countered. "Remember, the system didn't tell us how many it takes after awakening once. It could be 20 and still not work."
"And no armor either," Wren added. "Too many questions, and no good answers."
Riven nodded.
[Storage Space: You can store nonliving items into the system and retrieve them at will.]
"Now that's helpful," Harkel muttered.
Then came the final reward:
[The Raid of Hollows Portal: This portal transports you and your party to another world filled with beasts of any level. Rewards are high. Be cautious.]
Everyone stared at the glowing red gate in the system storage.
"Okay, we all agree we're not using this until we're ready?" Wren asked.
Everyone nodded.
"On that note—I'm going to bed," Tessa said.
"Wait, before you go," Riven called out. He tapped something in the system.
Joey, Harkel, and Tessa all felt another surge of power—like a level-up.
"You gave us the rest of the stat points?" Joey asked.
Riven nodded. "You three were the weakest—no offense—so this should catch you up. Now I don't need to worry about you guys."
They all smiled. None of them were offended. They could feel the care behind his words.
[Joey Cross – Level 11]
• Strength: 23
• Speed: 25
• Durability: 21
[Harkel Voss – Level 12]
• Strength: 25
• Speed: 28
• Durability: 21
[Tessa Ashvale – Level 11]
• Strength: 19
• Speed: 27
• Durability: 19
Little did Riven know, this act of kindness would save Joey's life.
The following days passed like lightning, and the day of the outing was upon them. Everyone was nervous—some using that nervousness as a way to boost their confidence.
"Okay, this should be easier than they think, thanks to Leo," Riven said through the telepathic link. Everyone was together in the assembly hall.
Since Leo had the pink-haired man's mute ability, and after listening to Darius's speech the other day, they came up with a plan to use Leo as their secret weapon.
"Mr. Darius has gone on an outing with the third years, and the deans have gone with the second years, since those two groups are visiting more dangerous worlds," Mr. Sable was the one speaking. "So, I'll be the one to speak in his stead. Now, I know most of you thought it would be a joint-year type of outing, thinking all the first years would be together—but that is false. We'll be splitting up classes based on preferences."
This shocked the group. Sure, they all had the same homeroom class, but he didn't specifically say "homeroom," meaning they all could be split up.