Jordan awoke in a place where darkness stretched for miles in every direction.
No walls.
No sky.
Just endless black.
"Oh… I'm back here," he muttered.
He pushed himself up from the ground, brushing dust off his clothes. By now, he already knew what this place meant.
"Well, if I'm here," he sighed, "then I guess I'm not dead."
Jordan began walking, half-expecting another version of himself to appear at any moment. The silence pressed in on him as his thoughts drifted back to the Level Four beast.
Is that really what we have to overcome… just to give Mom and Dad a good life?
His fists clenched.
If that's the standard… I don't know if we ever can.
They had barely survived. A werewolf. A hybrid. Joey's ability—still mostly unknown. Even with all of that, victory had been razor-thin.
Jordan's chest tightened.
I'm falling behind.
The thought dug deep. He felt like dead weight. The weakest link in the group. The one holding everyone else back.
"No."
Jordan suddenly slapped his cheeks, the sharp sting snapping him out of the spiral.
"No. I won't think like that."
When he lifted his head, his eyes burned with resolve.
"When I reach Level Fifteen, I'll be just like Riven," he shouted into the darkness.
"No—better. I'll be stronger than him!"
His voice echoed endlessly, swallowed and returned by the void.
Then—
Beep.
A faint sound reached his ears.
"What… was that?"
It sounded like a heartbeat.
Before he could stop himself, Jordan followed it.
With every step, the sound grew louder. Closer.
Then, with one more step forward—
There was nothing beneath him.
"—!"
Jordan dropped.
It wasn't a long fall, but it was enough.
He slammed face-first into the ground.
"Ow—ow, ow!" he groaned, clutching his face as pain flared across his nose. "That hurt…"
"Suck it up. We need to talk."
Jordan froze.
His head snapped up.
A man stood a short distance away.
He looked like Jordan—same build, same face—but different. His hair was red instead of brown. His eyes held something deeper. He flickered, fading in and out, not like he was losing consciousness…
…but like he was slipping out of existence itself.
"H-Hey," Jordan said, standing quickly. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," the man replied flatly. "I'm fine. Tell me what happened during the beast hunt."
He didn't ask if Jordan was hurt.
Didn't ask how he got here.
Straight to the point.
"What?" Jordan blinked. "Shouldn't you already know?"
"Just tell me," the man said sharply, urgency lacing his voice. "I don't have much time."
Jordan swallowed and began recounting everything—starting from the days before the hunt, the portal, the fight, every detail he could remember.
Halfway through, the man stiffened.
"Wait," he said. "Riven became a Feymir already?"
"Yeah," Jordan replied. "Was he… not supposed to?"
The question went unanswered.
Instead, the man asked something else.
"Is Luka Vladryne still alive?"
"…Who?"
Jordan frowned. "I know Luka Thomas, but I've never heard that last name."
The man froze.
"Oh. Right. You wouldn't."
He turned away, muttering under his breath.
"Wait… how do I know?"
His eyes widened slightly.
"I see. Something changed. My memories are coming back because of the divergence. You don't know about the Vladryne family yet… which means you haven't traveled there."
He inhaled sharply.
"And if Luka is alive here… then—"
He turned back to Jordan.
"Listen carefully. Is Luka Thomas alive?"
"Yes," Jordan said without hesitation. "He was, at least, before I lost consciousness. Why?"
The man let out a breath.
"So I was right…"
His gaze drifted downward.
"In my original timeline… Luka's head went flying during that fight."
Jordan's blood ran cold.
"But this time, he lived. That means this is the last moment I can communicate with you."
The man looked at his own fading hands.
"I'll return to my body soon. After that, I won't exist here anymore."
"…Because Luka survived?" Jordan asked quietly.
"Yes."
"So… you'll cease to exist?" Jordan pressed.
"What? No—no," the man waved dismissively. "I'll go back to where I came from. But a different version of me will exist instead. One aligned with your new timeline."
Jordan narrowed his eyes.
"And you get all your memories back now, don't you?"
The man paused, then nodded.
"Yeah."
Jordan exhaled slowly.
"So what comes next?" he asked. "Does Harkel become leader in your timeline? Or—"
A hand landed on his shoulder, cutting him off.
"With Luka alive, everything changes," the man said seriously. "Major events. Paths rewritten. I don't have foresight anymore."
He met Jordan's eyes.
"But listen to me carefully. Watch out for a man named Damien. You probably already know him."
Jordan stiffened.
"And avoid Darrius at all costs," the man continued. "He's dangerous."
A loud ring echoed through the darkness.
"That's time," the man said quickly as his body began to fade. "Be careful. Whatever you're heading into now is the unknown. Prepare for it. Got it?"
"Got it," Jordan replied firmly.
Then a thought struck him.
"Wait—what about Mom and Dad?" he asked urgently. "What happens to them?"
The man froze.
"Mom and Dad…"
For a moment, pain flickered across his face.
Then he shook his head.
This needs to happen, he told himself.
They need to learn what happens when loose ends are left behind.
And besides…
It's already been done.
He looked back at Jordan and forced a soft smile.
"They're going to be alright."
"Nice," Jordan said, smiling back.
The darkness closed in around him.
And the world shifted.
Jordan awoke in the cave.
Jordan's eyes fluttered open.
For a moment, he didn't understand where he was. Stone ceiling. Dim light. The faint echo of breathing that wasn't his own.
When his vision finally focused, he saw Leo standing a few steps away—awake, upright, staring into nothing like a boy who'd been lost in space itself.
"Leo…" Jordan said slowly, pushing himself up.
Leo's head snapped toward him.
"Jordan—you're finally awake!" Leo rushed over, grabbing his arm and pulling him to his feet before Jordan could even steady himself.
Jordan winced slightly but didn't complain. His eyes immediately scanned the cave.
"Where's Riven and Harkel?" he asked.
Leo followed his gaze.
Luka and Joey were still out cold on the ground, unmoving.
"They left," Leo explained. "Riven said they needed units. Him and Harkel went to sell some weapons."
Before Jordan could respond, Joey stirred. A groan escaped him as he rolled onto his side, blinking up at the cave ceiling.
"Did we die?" Joey muttered.
"No," Leo said quickly. "You just missed a lot."
After Joey was caught up, the three of them turned their attention to Luka.
He still hadn't moved.
An hour passed.
Then—
Luka's body lifted off the ground.
Not gently.
Violently.
His limbs twitched as if something inside him was waking up, stretching, testing its hold. The air around him felt tight, heavy—like a predator coiling before a strike.
Jordan felt his stomach drop.
Then they saw it.
A quarter of Luka's black hair shifted—not dyed, not changing color, but revealing something underneath. As if the black had always been a disguise.
Deep crimson strands bled through.
His eyes snapped open.
Red.
Not glowing. Not burning.
Just… red. The exact shade of fresh blood.
The color faded seconds later, but the pressure in the cave didn't.
Jordan reacted on instinct.
Lock-On.
The system window snapped into place.
⸻
[SYSTEM: Luka Thomas (Vladryne)]
Level: 7
XP: 450 / 1000
Race: Lesser Blood
Evolved Ability: Nature
Strength: 17
Speed: 17
Durability: 15
Energy: 21 / 21
Health: 30 / 30
⸻
Jordan stared.
He didn't know Luka's original stats, so he couldn't be sure how much had changed—but something had changed. A lot.
What unsettled him more was the race.
Leo and Joey still read as Human. Even with Leo's transformation tag, even with Joey's anomalies—the system still called them human.
But Luka's had shifted completely.
Just like Riven's had when he evolved.
"What… what happened to me?" Luka whispered.
He dropped to his knees, clutching his chest. His breathing was sharp, uneven. His fingers pressed hard against his sternum as if he didn't trust what he felt inside.
Jordan listened.
At first, Luka's heart beat slow.
One…
Beep.
A pause too long to be normal.
Then—
Beep. Beep.
Luka knew instantly—something was wrong.
His heartbeat was slower than it should've been. Not by much. One… maybe two beats off. A small difference, but noticeable. Unnatural.
He swallowed hard.
"What the hell happened to me…?"
The others tried to explain—talking over one another as they told him everything. About Riven. About the card. What it was called. Where Riven and Harkel had gone.
It was too much.
The information hit Luka all at once, leaving his head spinning. Dizzy, he staggered toward the mouth of the cave, needing air—space—anything.
The moment he stepped into the sunlight—
FWOOSH.
His arm burst into flames.
+0.5 Sun Resistance
"AAAGH!"
Luka screamed and yanked his arm back, stumbling in panic. He stared down at his hand.
Burned.
Charred black. The skin was cracked and crisp, smoke still rising from it.
"Shit—!" Luka cursed, clutching it to his chest.
The others rushed over instantly.
But then—
They froze.
Right in front of them, the burned flesh began to shift. The blackened skin flaked away as fresh tissue formed beneath it. New skin spread across his hand, smooth and whole, like the damage had never happened.
System: -5 Energy
Jordan's breath caught.
He can heal…
Just like me. Just like Riven.
Jordan's thoughts raced.
Wait—don't tell me… are we the same race? Or… are our races connected? Was Luka like us this whole time?
No.
As he thought it through, he realized something was off.
Me and Riven—we still had traces of our racial traits. Weak, diluted, but present. Our abilities weren't gone… they were lost to time. Our fairy blood faded, buried, until the system—and maybe something within us—forced it to awaken.
Jordan clenched his fists.
But Luka never had that.
Even with the system present, Luka had never shown regenerative traits. No hidden ability. No lingering racial effects.
It was sealed.
Something had been suppressing his bloodline—locking him away from whatever he was meant to become.
"What's going on with me…?" Luka asked, his voice shaking as he stared at his healed hand.
"What the hell was that?" Joey whispered.
"Screw that," Leo said sharply. "The real question is—how are we getting Luka out of here?"
"I have an idea."
Jordan moved without hesitation, opening his inventory. A moment later, a thick blanket appeared in his hands.
—
"And now we're here."
The six boys stood inside their dorm room, the familiar walls grounding them as Jordan finished explaining everything that had happened.
"Luka… are you okay?" Harkel asked, stepping closer.
Luka looked up—and smiled.
"Never better," he said, letting out a quiet chuckle. "My stats went up, didn't they? And now I can push past my old limits."
He clenched his healed hand slowly.
"That means I can do more. That I can help my family more. I don't care if this power turns me into a monster—if that's the price, I'll pay it. I won't waste this."
"Nice," Harkel muttered.
He glanced down at the holographic scoreboard glowing on his wristwatch.
Clinton Games Rankings:
5th Place