After everyone read over their new weapons and armor, they saw Phineas hop into the black portal.
"OK, everyone—remember what Guild Master Phineas said!" a person yelled, and many others agreed loudly.
This made the group realize they'd been so engrossed in their new gear that they'd missed the full instructions from Phineas.
"Umm, hey… you mind repeating what he said?" Riven whispered to Emmett.
"What? Phineas's voice is as loud as a horn—how did you not hear him?" Emmett questioned.
"I blanked out."
"Phineas said he was going to scout for five minutes. After that time has passed, we follow him into the portal. Me and you guys are the last ones to go so the others can get set up to protect us," Emmett answered. While he spoke, Riven began relaying the instructions to the group through their telepathic link.
When he looked at them, they offered subtle nods to show they understood and stepped back.
"Hey… I don't want to be a buzzkill or doubt Guild Master Phineas…but who are those people? Those hooded figures—they cover their faces so well I can't see any features. By their height, they might be kids," a man asked as they moved toward the portal while others jumped through.
"Most likely Phineas's spies from the Academy. Maybe he brought them here for experience," the woman next to him suggested.
"But don't they already have experience? Remember at the debriefing, Phineas said the Academy put kids on an outing, even though they weren't second-years," another woman added. "Then they spun that cover story. Most older folks in Wallborn don't even know about other worlds. Who's to say the kids graduating from the Academy don't tell their parents? Most of us didn't learn about other worlds until our evolutions got us into guilds," she continued.
"Truthfully, none of that matters to us. Guild Master Phineas wants us to protect them, so we will. What happened to those first-years was tragic, but they need to wake up—they must realize this world is not all sunshine and rainbows." With that, their group entered the portal.
"Hey—did you guys hear them talking about us, or was it just me?" Tessa asked.
"Oh no, I heard them," Leo replied. "I just don't care."
"How good is your hearing? I saw them glancing at us a few times, but I didn't hear any actual talking," Emmett said, confused.
"It's nothing, anyway," Jordan said, trying to calm him down. He could tell Emmett was on edge. They all were—after the last outing, they'd thought it might be their last. Yet here they were again.
The group arrived at the portal entrance. Once they got the go-ahead from the person stationed there, they jumped in.
⸻
Back at the Academy
Harkel sat with his brother in the dean's office.
"Was there something you wanted?" Harkel asked.
Axel answered by punching Harkel, slamming him into the door—surprisingly, it didn't break.
"What was that for?!" Harkel yelled.
"Why didn't you come see me after the outing? I had to get a full report from the deans and the principal to understand what went down," Axel said, visibly worried and angry.
"Why send us there at all? You knew outings were only for second-years, yet you sent us—with teachers! Now look what happened: only a quarter of first-years remain, most of our teachers are dead, and one squad was nearly wiped out. Only one teacher survived. How do you explain that?" Harkel argued. It shocked Axel—his little brother had never confronted him like this before.
Axel sighed.
"Truthfully, I'm just glad you came back alive," he said, forcing a small smile.
"Mr. Sable, my homeroom teacher, explained how things work in the other worlds. So… how do you explain all this? Most of the first-year students and teachers are dead—how do you tell their parents that?" Harkel asked.
Axel fell silent.
"Can't tell you that, lil' bro…"
"But I told Dad, and he said he was proud of you," Axel continued, sitting at his desk. Harkel paused—this was the first time he remembered Dad saying proud in reference to him. He hardened his face and sat down again.
"So… what do you want? I know it wasn't just to talk about me surviving. You could've asked sooner. So what is it?"
Axel sighed once more.
"You and the other surviving first-years are being bumped up to second-years."
"What?!" Harkel yelled.
"Yeah. Since you survived an outing, the school wants you in second-year classes as well. In three days, the remaining first-years will take an assessment. You and your friends will likely be placed in the Awakening Class—designed to help those who've reached first-stage awakenings adjust to their new powers and aim for the next stage. With your true awakening form—and rumored true forms from your friends—you're all guaranteed a spot. But be careful: the second-years aren't happy about new kids awakening early and true. Don't cause trouble," Axel warned, his concern clear.
Harkel nodded, ready to leave—but Axel stopped him again.
"Stay safe. Also… watch out for a girl named Samantha. She probably hates you most," Axel said with a hard-won smile.
As Harkel exited, he saw Wren in the hallway as if she'd been waiting for him.
"So… what did you find out?" he asked.
They compared notes and realized they'd been told the same things.
"Oh yeah—before I left, my brother told me to watch out for a girl named Samantha. Said she hates us the most," Harkel added with a grin. He wasn't taking it too seriously.
Just before the exit, they were stopped by a third-year girl.
"Say the devil's name and she appears," she sneered. They both recognized her uniform which means she was a third-year student.
⸻
Back in the Shifting Wastes
When the students jumped through the portal, they stood still—surrounded by a crowd that formed a rough barricade. Riven and the others stepped forward unimpeded, but Emmett struggled before vomiting on the ground.
"You owe me 1000 units!" a woman yelled.
"Dang—I thought all of them would manage to hold it in!" another man shouted, swiping his wrist to transfer payment to her.
At the back of the barricade stood the same group who had spoken about them earlier.
"This proves it—at least one of them is clearly a student. Or someone who's never entered a portal. But I don't believe Guild Master Phineas would bring someone that weak," the woman declared as others nodded in agreement.
They laughed at Emmett—but the student group helped him up andgave him time to acclimate to the terrain.
The world they'd arrived in was known as the Shifting Wastes, a chaotic desert where dunes moved like tides. Every few hours, the terrain transformed—valleys becoming hills, flatlands sinking into hidden ravines. The sand shimmered with golden flecks and rippled as if something alive slithered beneath. The wind carried a whisper-like hum, and strange rock spires jutted unpredictably from the ground.
Heat shimmered on the horizon. Above, the sky was a pale, dusty yellow—crystal clouds floated overhead, sparking with static energy. Lightning cracked without warning, striking the ground and fusing into molten glass.
"This is inhumane—no one could live here," Jude commented. "I don't even think beasts could live here naturally."
"You're right," a man replied. "Beasts probably couldn't live here originally—but they adapted. And that adaptation made them powerful. The lowest-level beasts out here are Level 8."
Phineas began to speak, but a sudden crack caused everyone to look up. A bolt of lightning shot down from the clouds—aiming straight at Riven. It was too fast; he couldn't react. And it was huge—enough to kill the entire group.
Yet in a flash, they were all teleported out of harm's way.
"Good job with that teleportation, Riven," Jordan thought, through the telepathic channel.
"That wasn't me," Riven responded.
A woman appeared before them.
"I don't know who you are, but Guild Master Phineas assigned us to protect you. So we will. But you need to stay on guard while you're here, got it?" she said, and the group nodded—even Emmett.
Many nearly dropped to their knees; their lives had flashed before them.
"Get up," the woman snapped. "You need to be ready to fend for yourselves—we may not always be able to protect you."
Her words hit hard. They all stood up, even Emmett. He was used to fear after nearly dying to wolves—but this place felt so much more frightening.
The group formed a protective circle around the students as they began moving.
"What exactly are we doing here?" Riven yelled.
"Did you not pay attention?" someone snapped.
"The Evolaris Family wants us to collect five Level‑9-or-under gemstones, and two Level‑10 gemstones," Phineas said.
"He says it like it's casual," Tessa muttered.
"He knows it's not. He's probably the most afraid of all of us. He realizes this was a ploy by the Evolaris Family to thin our ranks. That's why we're all on guard—and why none of us even thinks about a break," the woman explained.
Suddenly, the guild snapped to attention.
"What's happenin—" Riven was cut off as a massive purple snake-like beast burst from beneath the shifting sands.
Riven locked on with his skill.
Level 8 beast.
The beast lunged at one of the guildmates. Riven tried to stop it using gravity, but it broke free easily and continued its rampage. The woman stepped forward with dual longswords and attacked.
"Too shallow," she whispered as the beast struck back. It forced her toward a shard of glass. Just then, Phineas appeared, lifting her out of harm's way.
"Fall."
At his command, the beast slammed into the ground, forming a deep crater. Then Phineas leapt and aimed a mace strike at its head—but the scales resisted.
"Rewind."
At his word, the serpent's scales softened. It tried to rise—but Phineas struck again, smashing its skull.
Purple blood spattered across his face.
"Someone take the gemstone out of this beast," Phineas said, walking away. A guildmate stepped forward and extracted the gem into a sack.
The group resumed walking.
⸻
Far above—so high even Phineas couldn't sense it—a green beast soared through the air like a rocket. Luckily, it hadn't spotted the group.
As they moved on, their pace slowed.
"Hey Riven, you see this?" Jude asked.
"Yeah… Harkel and Wren's HP dropped a ton."
When Riven saw what happened, he immediately turned on the telepathic link for the others at the Academy.
"Hey, what's going on over there?" Riven yelled out in his mind, immediately making everyone aware of the seriousness of the situation.
"What happened?" Nico asked back.
"Wren and Harkel's HP went down a lot. Where are they?" Riven was asking in a panic.
"Wren went with the vice principal, and Harkel went with the third-year dean," Kira said.
But before more was said, Joey was already out of the room, running toward the Academy with the others quickly following after him. They didn't know where Harkel and Wren were, or if they were even in trouble, since Riven had turned off the ability for them to see the system as well. But when Riven turned it back on, they could see their friends' HP being more than halfway gone—and their location.
When they all entered the front door of the Academy, they saw Harkel covered in a small pool of blood, lying on the ground. Wren's face was bloody as she was lifted by the scruff of her short hair by a girl with a rainbow aura surrounding her. When Joey saw this, he immediately sprang into action, holding out his hand as light built up into it.
"You can't do that," Skye said. "You'll hit them as well."
When Skye said those words, it made everyone realize—there was almost no damage around the area they were in. And with Harkel and Wren both injured, it told them their fight was one-sided.
Joey clicked his teeth, knowing the girl was right.
"Dang it, and I can't make potions here either without anyone seeing," Riven thought, with everyone hearing.
"Don't worry, Riven. We don't need the system potions. It's just one of her—and all of us. I think we'll be fine," Luka said, displaying confidence in his and their abilities.
"Wait, do all of you agree with Luka's statement?" Jude asked.
"Yeah," they all said.
"Fine. I'll turn off the link for you guys so you can stay focused," Riven said, then turned off the link.
The group then all surrounded the long, dark-haired female.
"Ganging up on one girl is unfair, don't you think?" When Samantha said this, she felt something shift in the person she had in her hand. When she looked at Wren, her wounds that she had earlier were healed. Then Wren blasted Samantha with a ball of lightning.
The girl fell down, catching her breath. She was able to escape thanks to Kira's healing without Samantha noticing.
As they gathered around, picking up Harkel from the ground with Kira healing him as well, they could all see Samantha standing there like the attack she just took was a minor inconvenience.
"How annoying," she muttered. Then she looked at Joey and pointed at him. "On the contrary, you were one of the ones on my list. Same with… what were those guys' names? Ah—Jordan and Riven, I think. They're usually with you. Same with that big guy and those two other girls. You mind telling me where they are?"
"Make us," Luka said, walking back toward the door.
"What? Hey, where do you think you're going? For a guy with all that confidence earlier, it looks like you're ready to run," Skye said, calling Luka out.
"We can't use our abilities in this closed area—we need to get outside and fight," Luka whispered back, with all of them hearing him.
They walked out of the door while still keeping eye contact with Samantha, making sure she didn't make a move.
"By her uniform, she's a third-year. What's her problem with us?" Joey asked as they all made it outside, with Samantha slowly walking after them.
⸻
A few minutes earlier
"Say the devil's name and she appears."
"So by that statement, I'm guessing you're Samantha?" Wren questioned.
"Correct."
"What do you want?" Harkel asked back. Neither he nor Wren had their weapons with them, nor did Samantha. But that didn't change the fact that the girl in front of them had way more battle experience than both of them.
"To teach you a lesson about respecting your elders. See, rumor has it you and your little group almost got into it with a bunch of second-years. Now, truthfully, what you guys and the second-years have going on is none of my business—but Matthew…" Samantha muttered the last part. "…wants me to keep the order of the Academy. Think of it like this: you guys just started going through puberty. But does that really give you the right to try to fight your parents—people who already went through it and are already trying to make a name for themselves, or have already made one? That's what he would probably say. But truthfully, I really don't care."
"So how exactly are you gonna teach us that lesson?" Wren asked, lightning crackling at her fingertips.
"Ohhh, I'm so scared," Samantha said as a book appeared in her hand.
"Where did that come from?" Harkel thought.
"Actually… nah. My physical capabilities should be enough for you," Samantha said, as the book disappeared just as quickly.
She immediately got in Wren's face, but before she could do anything, Harkel appeared in front of her with a sword made out of air, slicing at Samantha. She easily avoided it and punched Harkel's arm into the air.
"Ahh!" Harkel yelled out in pain.
Samantha tried to continue with her attacks, but Harkel quickly spun his body, kicking the girl in the face. With her head down, Harkel couldn't see her expression, but when she lifted her head, they could see rage in her eyes. Her body began to glow, her hair standing on end in a rainbow-type of color—this was her True Awakening Form.
"What…" Harkel said, shocked. It was the first time he'd seen someone else with a true awakening form that wasn't one of his family members or someone from the group.
She instantly rushed Harkel. The blue-haired boy activated his own True Awakening, but the aura around him looked like a candle compared to Samantha's, which looked like a spiraling flame of color. Wren then activated hers, trying to get Harkel out of there, but she was too late. Samantha was beating the boy to a pulp, with him unable to fight back or defend himself. Harkel managed to throw out one block here and there, but he was badly injured and fell to the ground, covered in his own blood.
Samantha then set her sights on Wren and rushed toward her. Wren, quick on her feet, dodged Samantha's assault and tried to deliver a counter, but the girl dodged the uppercut in a graceful manner. Wren didn't back off and rushed in again. Instead of lightning, she used sound, quickly placing her hand on the ground to make the floor shake—but the floor was strong enough not to break.
It threw her off, but she recovered quickly and rushed back in. She had a plan the whole time. Wren had a lightning ball building up behind her back. When Samantha got close, Wren threw it and hit her.
"Yes!" Wren said, clenching her hand in a fist, "Harkel, are you okay?" she yelled out.
But all she could hear was the boy grunting.
"You should really worry about yourself more," a voice said.
Wren was shocked—it was Samantha. What shocked her even more was that the girl didn't seem damaged at all. Not even her uniform. She looked perfectly fine.
Samantha rushed in, punching the short-haired girl in the stomach. Before Wren could be pushed back, she grabbed her and slammed her to the ground, making Wren cough up spit.
"Geez… is this how strong her True Awakening is? I thought after we got ours we'd be some of the most powerful people at the Academy. Was I mistaken?" Wren thought to herself as her body hit the floor.
Samantha picked up Wren by her face and started slamming it into the ground over and over again.
"You know, I hate being touched. Like, I really hate being touched. It makes my skin crawl," Samantha said with pure hatred in her eyes.
"Is that why you're mad? 'Cause of that little bruise he left on your face?" Wren said, smiling.
She hadn't realized there was a big red bruise where Harkel had kicked her.
"Hmm," was all Samantha said as the book magically appeared in her hand once again. She flipped a page, and then—right before Wren's eyes—the bruise was healed.
"Ahh, all better. But you look terrible. Should I do the same thing for you?" Samantha asked with a cheeky smile.
Wren replied by spitting blood in the girl's face, which only angered her more. After Samantha wiped it up, she was about to continue bashing Wren's face into the ground until a golden-haired boy showed up—which made her stop.
⸻
The Present
The group was now outside as Samantha slowly walked after them.
"So what exactly is her evolution?" Nico asked.
"A book," Wren replied.
"Gonna need a lot more than you just saying 'a book,'" Skye said, looking nervous.
"All I know is that the book can heal her. That's all I saw. And it can probably heal others as well."
Without another word, Joey charged a light orb in his palm and threw it at Samantha.
The girl responded by summoning the book. When she did, a blue shield appeared in front of her, blocking the light ray.
"That's what she used to block my attack earlier," Wren thought.
"Just healing, huh?" Skye yelled out, looking at Wren.
"Well, sorry I wasn't able to learn her full ability while having my head smashed into the ground!" Wren yelled back at Skye.
Luka then wrapped Samantha's arms with vines to the ground, but he could tell he wouldn't be able to hold her for long.
"She'll break through soon. Hurry up!" Luka urged.
Joey then charged another big blast toward Samantha, but when it got close, it was deflected upward into the sky. When the group saw who did it, there stood a white-haired man with an eyepatch and bulky arms—clearly someone who worked hard for the body he had today.
"That's enough for the day. You proved your point, Samantha. Let's go," the white-haired man said.
"Fine, Matthew. I hope you guys know—this isn't over."
Both Samantha and Matthew walked away toward Sigil Gate City.
"What's those guys' problem?" Luka asked.
"I'll tell you guys when we get back in the training room," Harkel said.
They waited for the two to get far enough away, then started walking to Wren's training room while still keeping an eye on them.
⸻
Back in the Shifting Waste
"Hey, you guys all right? You slowed down there for a second," the woman who saved them asked.
"No, we're all better now," Riven responded.
"Why do you think they were attacked?" he asked, wanting their input.
"I don't really know. We mainly keep to ourselves. Maybe they angered someone, and they have a grudge against us now," Tessa said.
The field they were walking on started to shift and rock.
Phineas had a report on how this world works, so he knew what was coming.
"Everyone, run—and try to stick together!" were the last words Phineas said as he started running straight ahead. Where was he running toward? He didn't know. Anywhere but the spot they were previously at.
Everyone else started running behind Phineas. The man himself was holding back, not wanting to leave anyone behind.
"What's going on?" Riven asked.
That's when he turned his head—and could see.
The ground heaved. Great fissures yawned open behind them, swallowing pieces of the world whole. Boulders rolled from nowhere. The land itself was alive—shifting like a sleeping giant disturbed.
A few people screamed—and vanished—falling into the gaping holes that had opened beneath their feet.
Riven looked back, his heart racing.
"What the hell is this world?"