After two hours of running, most students were on a teacher's back since they were tired. But there were some students still trying to push themselves.
"Jeez, how can they move for so long without getting tired? I mean, I lasted longer than most, so I guess I'm getting up there—" a girl student said, but then she stopped when she saw a group of seven just playing around. The dark-skinned girl seemed to be mocking someone.
"Oh yes, Mister Bull, I am single," Tessa said, mocking Jordan.
"God, that's never ever going away, is it?" Jordan said, facepalming.
"Nope," they all said in unison, laughing.
"Didn't know you were such a man's man," Joey added.
Jordan looked annoyed, but that annoyance turned into laughter. Everyone was confused.
"What's so funny?" Joey asked with a nervous smile.
"No, no… it's just—I'm happy to see you making jokes and laughing instead of looking like an outcast like you usually do," Jordan said, smiling at Joey.
"I guess I am," Joey smiled. "But truthfully, it shouldn't be me you should be saying that to. It should be Wren."
When Wren heard Joey's words, she looked at the boy like he was crazy.
"What does that mean?" Wren yelled back.
"He's right. I mean, at first it seemed like you always had a stick up your—" Before Harkel could finish his sentence, Wren kicked him, causing him to bounce off the ground and fly out of the formation the students and teachers were running in. Harkel quickly rejoined the group like nothing happened.
"Ouch!" Harkel yelled toward the girl with short black hair.
"Watch it," Wren said back, her eyes slanted. Lightning began to protrude from her hands.
"Like I was saying before I was rudely interrupted—you did get better at communicating. Originally, you just said one word or 'hmm,' but now you're full-on laughing with a smile," Harkel said with a big grin.
"Yeah…" was all Wren said, looking away.
Joey then got behind Harkel and shoved his head downward.
"Hey! What was that for?" Harkel yelled out.
Joey leaned in close.
"She likes you," Joey whispered in a playful tone. But before Joey could run away, Harkel grabbed him under his armpit and started ruffling his hair with a fist.
"Shut up, dude," Harkel said, laughing. She likes me, Harkel thought—but luckily, no one heard it, since Riven had turned the telepathic link skill off.
Sable turned around and said nothing. He liked seeing kids being kids instead of fighting for their lives.
"Hey Luka, we didn't really get to talk after you came back. Man, it's good to see you alive," Joey said.
"Yeah, it's good to be alive. Especially since I thought my life was over with that—" Luka stopped when he heard a cough, signaling him to watch what he was about to say. It was from Sable.
He still didn't want the other students knowing that there might be another wolf out there.
"—with that beast we ran into," Luka said, correcting himself.
Joey held out a fist bump, and Luka bumped his fist with Joey's.
"But enough about me. Dude, what was that back there with the last wolf?" Luka asked excitedly. "I mean, you awakened, then you started dishing out blasts left and right, healing everybody who was injured. That was crazy. Didn't I think I saw the Kraken?"
"Looks like you're starting to get a fan club," Riven said beside Joey. "Hey, fall back a little bit. I wanna talk."
Joey fell back from his group, telling Luka he'd talk to him later.
"So, what did you wanna talk about?" Harkel asked. In response, Riven tapped his head, signaling that he wanted to speak via telepathic link.
"So?" Harkel asked again.
"We need to expand our group," Riven said in their minds.
"Expand our group how?" Wren questioned.
"Easily. With the only students who were able to somewhat keep up with us," Riven replied. He was referring to Nico, Luka, Jude, Skye, and Kira—students who had also awakened.
"We all kinda got a good look at their characters, so why not?"
"I'm cool with that. Plus, we owe Kira—and most likely Luka as well," Harkel replied.
"Why Luka?" Wren asked.
"Because Luka said he ran into that red-eyed werewolf, which was more powerful than all three of the others combined. And the way your teams went down… it's likely that that wolf was following our team. If that sixth wolf hadn't left, we would've had to deal with it along with the black-eyed one," Harkel explained.
"Leo, Tessa, you guys had Jude. What do you think of her?" Riven asked.
"She's alright. Kinda a sucker for the rules, but her heart's in the right place," Tessa said.
"I think the same," Leo agreed.
"And Skye?" Riven asked Jordan and Wren.
"A bit of an idiot," Wren said bluntly.
"Okay, I wouldn't say idiot, but when we were getting dragged by that orange-eyed werewolf, she did try to help. That counts for something," Jordan added.
"Okay, fine. It's been decided. They'll be joining our group," Riven said with a smile.
Then Riven, Jordan, Joey, and Harkel all sensed something. They entered their true awakening forms and rushed ahead of everyone else, breaking out of the formation. But before they attacked, they realized who the figure was.
"Whoa whoa whoa—keep it in your pants, jeez du—" Damien stopped mid-sentence when he saw the four boys. "What? What happened to you four? How did you acquire your second awakening… and not only that—you've unlocked your true awakenings as well?"
"Mr. Damien!" the boys called out.
"Yes, it is I," he replied as Mr. Sable and the other teachers and students all approached with weapons ready. But when they saw the man, most of the students dropped to their knees in relief. With this man here, they knew they could get out immediately.
"Sir Damien," they all said in unison.
"Yeah, it's me." As soon as Damien finished speaking, everyone disappeared into one of the teleporters. "Now, Sable—I want a report on what happened here. And what happened to most of your team?"
Sable agreed and told Damien everything—from seeing Riven and Nico chase the beast, to the final battle, including the true awakenings of Riven, Harkel, Jordan, and Joey.
Damien was pissed. He hadn't liked the idea of sending first-years here in the first place. But hearing that the beast had wiped out half the teams made his blood boil.
"You students should've never been sent here. And even though the results were more impressive than Darius expected, that still wasn't worth human lives," Damien said. He looked at the four boys. "Go through the portal. It'll lead you back to the academy. First aid should be waiting for you… though it seems you don't need it. I thank you for protecting each other—and not dying. I'll stay here and retrieve the rest of the students and teachers. Most are likely to be split up."
With that, Damien vanished.
The remaining students—Team B, 3 from Team C, 3 from Team A, and 3 from Team D—all entered the black portal. When they emerged, they saw dozens of people in nurse uniforms checking the students. Darius stood nearby with his arms folded, second and third years behind him. They looked annoyed, clearly unhappy about having to wait while the first years finished their outing.
When Sable saw Darius, he couldn't contain his rage.
"You knew!" Sable yelled, grabbing Darius by his white collar. "You knew those beasts were too dangerous. You knew they adapted to your power and still sent these students—sacrificing their lives for your dumb cause!"
Darius didn't flinch. He lifted Sable with one hand, holding him in the air effortlessly. Sable kicked him, but it was useless. Darius stood like stone.
"Look me in the eyes when I say this: I don't care. These students need to get stronger. Those who couldn't keep up? They deserved to die. The strong will continue." Darius's voice was cold. "But luckily for you, I'm a nice person. I'll let this slide. Try it again, though—and I will kill you."
With that, Darius gently put Sable down like he was nothing.
"Now, for the rest of you students—go to your rooms and get some sleep. If you're hungry, there's a buffet in the cafeteria… though it's probably cold by now. Go warm it up. Other than that, you're dismissed. In four weeks, your results will be in from your teachers. After that, we'll do something special for the top ten students—across all years," Darius said with a smile.
As everyone walked to their rooms, they could hear the other students whispering:
"God, why do we have to be here just 'cause these guys couldn't handle themselves?" one student muttered.
"I know, right? Like, your class is weak. Why do we get punished 'cause you guys died?" another added.
When the four boys heard that, they unconsciously activated their true awakening forms.
"You wanna say that again?" Harkel asked, stepping forward.
"Oh, now this is a surprise. Four first-years with true awakening forms. And this is just the first day of being back. Most of you will awaken after a good rest," Darius said, then clapped. The sound was like a shotgun in the room. "Enough. You'll have time to fight later. I'll make sure of that."
Annoyed, the first-years walked off to their rooms—to finally have their first good night's sleep in two days.
Riven woke up—but instead of being on a tree branch like he was starting to get used to, he was in his bed. The bed itself was never too comfortable, but after two days of sleeping in trees, it was the best sleep he'd had in a while.
After taking a long-awaited shower, the boy brushed his teeth and stepped out of the bathroom. When he did, he saw three other boys waiting like they were ready for their turn.
"Dude, why are you taking so long?" Harkel said, rushing inside and pushing Riven out before taking his own shower.
Riven didn't get mad at him for doing that. It had been a while since any of them touched hot water. After all four boys had showered, they walked out of their dorm room, heading to school for breakfast. School had been out for three weeks since the administration needed time to come up with an excuse to explain how so many of their students, spouses, and family members died.
When the squad made it to the cafeteria, they saw Leo, Tessa, and Wren already sitting down, eating something. It wasn't breakfast food—it looked more like afternoon buffet items.
"Where's the breakfast?" Harkel asked.
"They're making us eat the buffet food so it won't go to waste," Tessa answered.
When she said that, the boys looked around the cafeteria and were saddened by what they saw. The cafeteria originally held over a thousand students. Now, only 372 remained—including their group. The realization hit hard. That many students lost in just two days.
"So what now?" Leo asked as everyone finished up their food.
"What do you mean?" Tessa replied.
"I mean, what now? Do we just wait for four weeks until they make whatever decision they're going to make?" Leo asked again.
"No. I have a couple of ideas," Riven answered. "One of them is inviting new friends into our group." When he said that, they all looked toward Nico's group. Riven walked up to them while the rest of his group headed to Wren's training room.
"Hey," Riven started.
"Is there something you want?" Nico asked.
"Yeah. Meet us at Wren's training room—you know, the one where I gave you those potions," Riven said as he disappeared.
Everyone from the battle knew most of Riven's group had a second evolved ability, but what they didn't know was that Joey now had three evolved abilities—or more accurately, two evolved abilities and one affinity.
The five then walked into Wren's training room, where seven people were already seated—just like the first time their groups met.
"So what do you want to talk about?" Nico questioned.
"Look… there aren't that many students left. And truthfully, I don't think we can trust a lot of people with the secret we're about to tell you. But you always swore you'd keep our secrets—even though we kinda did lie to you," Riven said, with the last part catching them off guard.
"What do you mean, you lied to us?" Nico asked.
"I mean… I'm not an alchemist who found a way to make awakening potions," Riven said.
"So wait, what did you give us?" Jude asked, feeling around her stomach.
"Oh no, no—they were awakening potions. But I didn't make them using alchemy. I'll explain."
Riven then explained everything about the system. He knew that if they were going to trust these people, they needed to be honest with them.
The twelve students sat in a circle, crisscross-applesauce style.
"Wow," Luka said.
"I know, right? That's exactly what I said," Leo replied.
"No, like wow," Jude said, really showing the magnitude of what they just learned. But one person wasn't amazed—they were angry.
Skye stood up and grabbed Riven by the collar. It looked like she was about to hit him, but before she could, Jordan quickly pushed her back using ink—not to hurt her, just to separate them.
"Why? Why didn't you just give the students the weapons? With those, most of them could've survived. Yet you wanted to put a price on it. Do you know how messed up that is?" Skye shouted.
"I know… That's why I regretted doing that. And why I also gave you guys that level four wand. But I knew that wouldn't be enough. I didn't have enough system points to keep giving gear to students without worrying about my own," Riven said. When he said "my own," they knew he meant them—he said it like they were family. That touched the six of them.
"Skye… I know you're angry, but we have to move on. Let those students rest in eternal peace. We need to survive, and one way I see that happening is by joining their group. With this, we can get as strong as them," Nico said, trying to be the voice of reason.
It got through to Skye, and she sat back down in the circle.
"So I guess you didn't just bring us here to tell us this, right?" Luka asked. Then out of nowhere, all five of them saw something appear in their vision—top left corner of their irises—name tags, health bars, and stamina meters. They also saw something hovering in front of Riven's face, and then the same appeared in front of theirs. They were now bonded party members.
"Woah, this thing feels unreal," Kira commented. The others couldn't do anything but agree.
"Now treat it like flipping a switch, and it should disappear," Riven said, helping them learn how to bring up or dismiss their system interface.
They followed his instruction, and the system vanished. Then Riven handed each of them a vial filled with white contents—though this time, there were specks of gold swirling inside.
"Drink it. It will immediately allow you to awaken into your second level. Thanks to the shop tab upgrade. Also, since you're bonded party members and doing this together, you'll have a true awakening form—just like us," Riven said.
"Wait… by 'us' are you trying to say—?" But before Nico could finish, her question was answered.
Wren, Leo, and Tessa all activated their True Awakening forms, proving Riven's words were true. Seeing this, all five of them drank the vial down.
While they were doing that, Riven checked all their updated stats:
⸻
Nico Grey – Level 19
Strength: 21
Speed: 25
Durability: 18
HP: 100/100
Energy: 100/100
Kira Thomas – Level 8
Strength: 10
Speed: 15
Durability: 15
HP: 100/100
Energy: 100/100
Luka Thomas – Level 15
Strength: 20
Speed: 19
Durability: 18
HP: 100/100
Energy: 100/100
Jude Walker – Level 16
Strength: 25
Speed: 19
Durability: 24
HP: 100/100
Energy: 100/100
Skye Vank – Level 10
Strength: 13
Speed: 16
Durability: 10
HP: 100/100
Energy: 100/100
⸻
This didn't surprise Riven. He had always expected his original group to have stronger stats than Nico's, but now that they were one team, he could help them grow stronger—faster and more efficiently. The best part was that none of them had any unassigned attribute points, meaning they were all in sync.
"So… what now?" Nico asked, her body now surrounded in a fiery red aura.
"Well, you guys should get to know each other better. Me and Joey need to talk with Mr. Sable. He said he wanted to speak with us," Riven said as he and Joey began walking out. As they did, they heard the two (now one) group talking and getting along.
"So what did Sable want?" Joey questioned.
"Heck if I know. He just walked up to us in the cafeteria and said, 'Can we talk?' in a super mysterious tone," Riven joked.
"I know you might be doubting yourself about telling Nico and her group, but honestly, I think it was a good idea. We're gonna need more help—especially if we're gonna sell those weapons and make a killing off of them," Joey said. Riven agreed. Ever since Joey got his Light Affinity, he'd been more upbeat and cheerful than usual.
They both knocked on Sable's office door, and the man signaled for them to come in.
The two boys entered and sat in the chairs in front of his desk.
"I'm glad to see you two are well. I know you might be confused about why I wanted to speak with you, so I'll make it quick and to the point. First, I have a question: Why didn't you try to tell one of the other teachers about how the Broken Veil created those wolves?" Sable asked.
This told Riven that Sable had listened to what Ashley said. Riven kept it honest, giving the same reason he had given Jude back on the tree branch.
"Hmm… I didn't tell the Academy either, truthfully—for the same reason. But let's leave that there. Another thing: I owe you two. If it weren't for you, I probably would've lost my life. So, if there's anything you need—I'll try to get it for you."
Riven immediately shot up from his seat. "An Aetherial Core," he said, staring directly at Sable.
"An Aetherial—how do you even know what that is?" Sable asked.
"It doesn't matter. Just get it for me. I want it for… collection," Riven said.
"Good. Because you do know it's pretty much useless… unless you're trying to make a portal. But you're not doing that… are you?" Sable asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Whatttt? Of course not," Riven said with a smile.
Then he looked at his crafting requirements to open a portal to Earth.
⸻
Portal to Earth – Requirements:
• [0/1] Aetherial Core
• [11/5] Bonded Party Members
• [0/100,000] Pure metal