The sky had always been a dark grey area with not a single peek of light shining through it.
But a single boy—Joey—made a difference in the scenery.
Joey stood there, bright yellow lights shining on his body. He walked toward what he believed was Jordan's lifeless body, lying on the ground in a pool of blood.
Joey didn't know it was a clone. He thought it was really Jordan. He picked up the body, held out his palm, and a glowing ball—about the size of a tennis ball—descended to the ground, creating a human-sized hole. Joey gently placed the bloody body into it, and with one swift kick, covered the entire hole with dirt.
Then he turned to face the wolf-like experiment.
"I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you," Joey kept repeating, his voice growing darker with each word.
He raised his palm again. This time, instead of a small ball, it looked like something was charging—and then, suddenly, it was unleashed.
A massive beam of light erupted from his hand—too fast for Milo to react. It struck the wolf directly, tearing through trees and scorching the terrain as it pushed him backward.
Joey then heard coughing.
Looking around, he saw some students and teachers still alive—but barely.
Then, with another glowing orb of light, he tossed it into the air. It exploded in a massive circle, blowing away the dark clouds above.
Sunlight. Real sunlight.
Golden rays poured down from the sky.
Everyone beneath the light felt it immediately—wounds healing, fatigue vanishing.
"What is this?" Nico asked, stunned.
"That guy's evolution was originally healing, was it not? So why in the world does he have this kind of power now?" she continued, wide-eyed.
No one had the answer—not even those who knew what it really was.
"So… does anybody know what the hell an affinity is?" Harkel asked through the telepathic link.
"Magic," Riven whispered in everyone's minds. He and Jordan had already rejoined the group, thanks to Riven's teleportation.
"Wanna be more specific?" Wren asked, still confused.
"On the Internet, there are tons of theories about forced and natural evolution," Riven said. "One of them is that evolved abilities are basically magic. The affinity that the system just mentioned—that Joey has—is mostly used to describe certain magic types. You can put the dots together. Think of energy as mana. When you run out of energy, it's almost impossible to use your evolution—just like in games when you run out of mana and can't use magic."
He continued, "This might be one reason why natural evolvers are more powerful than forced ones. It's like… they were gifted true magic—not something torn from the soul, but something given by a higher force. Still, it's just a theory. We don't really know how evolvers came to be, so it's strong and weak at the same time."
"Whatever it is… it's powerful. Real powerful," Leo said aloud, and no one could disagree as they saw Milo's body slowly healing under Joey's attacks.
Joey turned again, palm out. Another blast. Then another. Trees were obliterated. Milo was driven back further.
"What is this?" Milo muttered, barely able to stand.
"I've never seen an evolution that can both heal people and launch this kind of attack. It hurts… it really hurts."
But Milo remained calm.
"Okay, okay, relax," he thought.
"He has his own energy pool. He'll burn out. Eventually, he'll have to fight physically. When that happens… he'll lose. It's a matter of endurance. I'll win that."
Joey, however, could read him like a book.
"Oh? You're waiting for me to get tired, huh? You're a beast—your endurance is probably insane. But let's try this," Joey grinned with wild eyes.
He raised both hands. Energy began charging in his palms. Then—boom—two beams of pure white light shot out, combining into a massive force that slammed Milo backward again. And then it happened again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
"What the hell? How much energy does this kid have?" Milo thought in disbelief as his defense started to collapse. The beams smashed into him one after another.
Little did Milo know—Joey was getting tired.
But he didn't care. The golden-haired boy laughed maniacally as he kept firing, tears streaking down his face.
Everyone who knew Joey… they knew this wasn't him.
This wasn't the sweet, pure-hearted boy they had trained beside.
Riven and his bonded party members could hear what Joey was screaming in his mind.
"I'll kill you! I'll f*cking kill you!"
They tried to calm him through their link, but he couldn't hear them. He'd drowned them out completely.
"We need to stop him!" Harkel shouted to the others.
"Why?" Nico asked. "He's getting rid of the biggest threat out here!"
"Because our teams got separated after we ran into Xander, that black-eyed wolf!" Harkel snapped.
"Me and Wren's teams also got split up," Jordan added. "If he keeps this up, someone might get caught in the crossfire. And if that blast hurts a beast like him, it'll definitely kill one of them."
"Fine. I got an idea," Riven said, grabbing Jordan.
And in a flash, they both was out of the area.
"What the—he disappeared?" Luka asked. "I thought his evolution was gravity… or telekinesis?"
But no one answered. No one had time. This was life or death; questions don't matter at this moment.
The twin brothers appeared beside Joey, who was still bombarding Milo with attacks.
"Joey! STOP!" Riven yelled.
Joey turned with a glare.
"He killed Jordan! You should be angrier than I am!!" Joey screamed, eyes glowing.
"No… he didn't." Jordan said gently
Joey froze.
He turned—and saw Jordan, alive and well.
"I thought— I thought—" Joey began, but tears were falling more freely now.
"Don't worry. It was a clone. You don't think you can get rid of me that easily, do you?" Jordan smiled.
"Yeah…" Joey breathed, finally smiling through the tears. He ran into Jordan's arms, hugging him tightly.
"Where's Riven?" Joey asked.
They looked around—and spotted him standing over Milo's dying body. The beast's yellow eyes flickered in and out. He was barely clinging to life.
Joey had nearly killed him.
Riven looked down coldly.
"So… do you have any last words?" he asked with no hint of sympathy, not after all the wrong Milo did. Letting him get out his last words was gracious enough.
"I've got a couple," Milo coughed. Then he howled.
It wasn't a howl for help.
It was a howl of defeat.
Everyone thought it was a surrender.
But Riven heard it. It was more than that—it was a message. A message meant for someone else.
A name left Milo's lips in a final whisper, one only Riven could hear:
"Kael will avenge us."
⸻
Meanwhile, at the teleporters, Team C arrived with the surviving teachers. Kael approached the device, crouched, and typed in a sequence on the base.
The portal shifted colors—purple—signifying a world-shifting destination but one where you will end up at a random location.
Then they heard the distant howl. Milo's final cry.
"Hmm… Milo, Xander, Ashley. They're all dead, aren't they?" Kael said to himself. "I could go finish the job… but who's to say these beasts won't destroy this portal too? And who knows—those teachers and students might not be so cooperative."
He turned to Kelvin, one of the teachers.
"You," Kael said, pointing. "Make a choice. I'm a fair man. So here are your two options:
Option One — I kill you, and your men live.
Option Two — I kill them, and you live. Decide."
"Kill them!" Kelvin blurted without hesitation. "Spare me!"
"You bastard! You never cared about us—or the students! You only cared about yourself, you—" a teacher shouted.
But Kael raised a hand to silence him.
"Predictable," Kael muttered. "Lucky for you, I'm low on manpower."
He looked around.
"You'll follow me. Your leader clearly doesn't care about you, so why should I? If you don't join me… I'll kill you on the spot. Choose wisely."
They all joined him. What other choice did they have?
Kael was the last to step into the portal.
But before going, he said:
"Before I go… destroy this portal. Don't follow me. If you do, I'll know. I have your scent in my memory. I'll sense you if you're even on the same world as me."
He looked directly into Kelvin's eyes.
"And when they ask what happened to you, you'll say your students died in a fierce battle. Say it again and again if you have to. If you tell them the truth… you will die."
Kael stepped into the portal.
And it vanished behind him—destroyed by Kelvin moments later.
"They died in a fierce battle… They died in a fierce battle…"
Kelvin repeated the words like a mantra as he walked toward the closest tracker beacon.
When everyone got close to the trio, the main bonded party members all gave Joey a group hug—even Wren. They all thought they lost a friend or could've lost a friend today, but they were just glad that no lives were lost—at least no lives of the main group.
"Thank you," Mr. Sable and the other teachers who were alive said as they stood in front of the group. "You kids should've never even gone through this in the first place. I could tell some of you can even do the impossible, probably thanks to this place, and I'm sorry for that—that you had to unlock this power thanks to this scenario," Mr. Sable continued.
All of the bonded party members knew what this meant—Sable knew. Some of them used their second evolution. I mean, he knew most of them were dual evolvers—or in better terms, forced dual evolvers.
"Now, and I'm sorry for this, we will have to tell the Academy about your new evolutions, and we will try our best to protect you kids from whatever. You saved our lives, and we will make sure your lives are saved as well," Mr. Sable said with a bow, as the rest of the teachers followed, same with the remaining students. They all thanked them, and all everyone could do was reply with:
"You're welcome."
"Now, will you please help us bury the bodies? I know it's a lot, but we are pretty much out of manpower," Mr. Sable asked, looking embarrassed, but the group agreed, wanting to give their classmates a decent burial.
Burying the students was heartbreaking for them all. Even though they didn't know the fallen personally, they couldn't help but imagine their own friends lying in those graves—or themselves. The thought alone made their minds race.
Mr. Sable stepped up to the long row of graves, turning to face the remaining survivors.
"After some calculation, I am sorry to say that we lost 147 students and 18 teachers," he said solemnly. "Let us pray and give them a moment of silence."
He turned back to face the graves, clapped his hands together, and began to pray. All the students and teachers followed.
"May the souls of the fallen rest in peace. Though we did not all know them, they were part of our academy—our home. Let their courage, their dreams, never be forgotten. Grant us the strength to carry on in their memory, to protect each other, and to stand against the darkness ahead. Amen."
After Sable finished his prayer, everyone echoed a quiet "Amen."
Team B, now mixed with members from other teams, began making their way to the rendezvous point, which was still far ahead. They hadn't traveled far from the site of the battle before deciding to rest on one of the large tree branches hanging across a slope. Students and teachers had naturally separated into smaller groups, many sticking to their closest friends.
Riven, Jordan, Wren, Harkel, Leo, and Tessa sat around a small campfire that Tessa had lit. None of them spoke—not even through their telepathic link. The silence was heavier than usual, a quiet weighted with grief and confusion.
Nico approached them.
"Oh, you guys have your own flame? How'd you light it?" she asked. But after seeing their unreadable expressions, she quickly backed off. "Never mind. I'll go chill with my group."
She walked away, leaving the group in silence again.
"It's most likely that this situation isn't over," Riven finally said, breaking the silence through the telepathic link.
"What? Ashley, Xander, and that other wolf are dead. Shouldn't it be over?" Tessa asked.
"No, it isn't. Before the yellow-eyed one died, he—"
Before Riven could finish his thought, Nico returned, this time with her group of five.
"Hello, everyone," Nico said politely. "Since we're the strongest out of the students, I think it's best if we share something important—something we got from Luka. Can we sit?"
Everyone nodded or gave small gestures of approval.
"Okay, so we talked to the teachers. They're not going to tell the rest of the students—probably so no one panics. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't know. Luka?"
Nico signaled for Luka to speak.
Luka stepped forward. "When I was separated, I ran into a red-eyed wolf. I'm pretty sure one of the teachers saved me… but they didn't make it."
As Luka finished, Nico looked around at their faces. There were no shocked expressions—just quiet understanding.
"You already knew… didn't you?" Nico asked.
Everyone nodded.
"Before you got here, I was about to explain," Riven said. Nico's group looked confused; to them, the group had just been sitting in silence.
"Before the yellow-eyed werewolf died, it said one last thing: 'Kael will avenge us.' That told me there was most likely another werewolf involved."
"I knew as well," Jordan added, raising his hand. "During… I guess you'd call it a therapy session with Ashley, she said something that stuck with me. She said she didn't have a choice. That he wanted them to kill us so there'd be no witnesses. The way she moved, the way she spoke—it felt like there was someone even more powerful than the three we fought."
That final line sent a shiver through the group—everyone except Joey.
"So wait…" Skye asked. "If there's another werewolf more powerful than all three of them, why hasn't he—or she—shown up yet?"
"Probably because they already completed whatever goal they had," Jude answered.
"Which is what exactly?" Tessa asked.
"To use the portal and escape," Riven said simply.
"But if they used a portal, wouldn't they just end up back at the academy?" Kira asked.
"Maybe. But this other werewolf could have hacked the portal—redirected it," Jordan replied.
"Most likely to Earth," Riven theorized, "or wherever the main four families are."
"Why would they go after the four families?" Skye asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Ashley told me more about what happened to her—and I guess to all of them," Riven continued. "The Broken Veil tricked them into thinking they'd become Forced Evolvers… but it was a lie. That's how they ended up as wolves. So if this werewolf escaped, my best guess is…"
"For revenge," Nico finished.
"If he can hack a teleporter," Wren added, "then he's no fool. He's not gonna just charge in and attack the Broken Veil. He's going to build an army."
"We should tell the teachers," Jude said. "They can contact the academy, who can warn the Ascension Group or even the four families themselves."
But some people hesitated.
"Why are you guys hesitating?" Jude pushed.
"Because," Riven said aloud, "truthfully, I feel like… he should get revenge."
Some looked at him like he was crazy. Others quietly agreed.
"Are you insane?" Jude said, nearly shouting. "If that wolf guy builds an army, the Broken Veil might use it as an excuse to wipe out even more Evolvers!"
"Maybe," Riven said calmly. "But if we tell the teachers, and they tell the Academy, and they tell the Ascension Group, it'll probably get swept under the rug. Like nothing ever happened. And let's be real—every time the Ascension Group has tried to take down the Broken Veil, they've failed. The Broken Veil just gets stronger. And let's not pretend it'll be easy to hide an eight-foot-tall wolf-man, plus I think sable already know."
He leaned back, preparing to rest. But before he could close his eyes, Jude spoke again.
"Fine. We won't tell the teachers. But we should at least stand guard. Just in case the wolf is still here."
"She makes a good point," Nico added. "Who's to say the wolf actually used the portal? What if it's just waiting nearby?"
Riven stood up and activated his True Awakening. He doubted the wolf was nearby—his system would've given him a quest if it was—but not everyone had access to the same system he did.
Eyes closed, he began moving around the tree perimeter. The three other boys—Jordan, Harkel, and Joey —understood what he was doing. They activated their own Awakening forms and moved through other trees, their senses sharpened to their limits.
The True Awakening did more than enhance power. It heightened their senses, instincts, and perception. After thirty minutes of scouting, they all regrouped by the makeshift campfire.
"Nothing," Riven said. "There's no one near us. No wolves. No beasts."
"So just rest easy," he added. "We went through a lot today. Let's call it a night."
Riven laid back down, and one by one, the rest followed, settling into an uneasy sleep.
⸻
The Next Day
No one really knew if it was morning. Even though Joey had managed to blast away most of the gray clouds, they'd simply reformed into a dense mass. Everyone woke up based on the rhythm of their bodies, not the sky.
Mr. Sable addressed the group.
"Now students, here's today's plan. We need to hunt beasts. Yes, I know yesterday was tragic—but most of us are running on pure energy. That won't last long. The rendezvous point isn't too far ahead, but if we're going to run into any more beasts, we need full stomachs."
A student raised a hand. "Mr. Sable… is eating beast meat even safe?"
"No. Not if you don't cook it properly. You could die," Sable said. "Luckily, we have a Master Chef right here." He pointed at himself.
"And here," Leo added, raising his hand.
"Okay, fine. Two Master Chefs. You happy now, kid?" Sable rolled his eyes playfully. "Let's keep moving."
Riven told Leo to activate his Mute Evolution—he didn't want any unwanted attention from nearby beasts until they were ready to hunt.
A big grey wolf with red eyes landed in what seemed to be a desert, the wolf had a big smile on its face like one of its lifelong goals was acquired.
The wolf had 39 men in front of him kneeling.
"What would you like us to do first, sir?" one of them came up now and asked the big wolf.
"Hmm, first, we need units, so why don't we sell these armors of yours? You won't be needing it," the wolf said to the man.
"If you don't mind me asking, sir, if we do sell all our armor, what will we do then?" the man asked nervously. He was scared that him asking too many questions would get him killed, but the wolf just answered him.
"We'll get a lab. I can tell that my form has way more advantages that I'm not using, so we'll get a lab and run some experiments," the wolf answered back truthfully.
"OK, one last thing. There's something that's been on my mind. What is your name?"
"My name? The name's Kael. But 'sir' is nice," Kael said as he started to walk in a direction. "Now follow me. We will change this world."
"Yes, sir Kael," all the men said as they followed him.