Both Riven and Jordan ran all the way to the hospital.
They made sure not to be seen.
Blood still stained their clothes—dark, drying patches clinging to the fabric. Luckily, neither of them was wearing their academy uniform. If they had been, questions would have followed immediately. Questions they couldn't answer.
They couldn't just admit to murder.
No matter how noble the reason was, no matter how justified it felt—it was still murder. Or at least close enough that they didn't want the academy involved in any way.
Using the new phone—the one loaded with 150,000 units, money they had technically stolen—they stopped to buy themselves clean clothes.
The store owner glanced up as they entered.
His mouth opened slightly, brows furrowing.
"Aren't you two supposed to be in the academy—"
The words died in his throat.
He saw the blood.
Not just a stain. Several.
His eyes flicked from their clothes to their faces, then quickly away. Whatever question he'd been about to ask vanished. He rang them up without another word, hands moving faster than necessary.
No one wanted problems.
⸻
When they reached their mother's room, they saw Joey sitting outside in one of the stiff plastic chairs.
Riven moved instantly, heart pounding.
"Why are you out here?" he demanded, already stepping forward. "Is she okay?"
He barely took two steps before Joey grabbed his arm, stopping him.
"She's okay," Joey said quickly. "Physically, at least. She just… wanted to be alone for a bit. To think."
That made sense.
Then Joey lowered his voice.
"Hey," he whispered. "Can we talk? Outside."
Riven and Jordan exchanged a glance.
They both knew exactly why.
⸻
The three of them left the main hallway and moved around the side of the hospital, slipping into the narrow space between two buildings. They chose the spot carefully—no visible cameras, no foot traffic, nowhere their voices could carry.
They checked once more to make sure no one was following them.
Only then did Riven and Jordan explain everything.
The ambush.
The fight.
The bodies.
The phone.
And the 150,000 units now sitting in their pockets.
Joey listened in silence, his expression growing heavier with every word.
When they finished, Riven exhaled and reached into his inventory.
"Oh—yeah. We also got this."
He pulled out the beast weapon.
The blade gleamed faintly even in the dim light, its presence alone sending a subtle pressure through the air.
"Woah…" Joey breathed.
Jordan instinctively activated Lock On.
The moment the stats appeared, his eyes widened.
"What the hell—" he almost shouted, cutting himself off at the last second. "Where did you get a Level 5 beast weapon?"
"Five?" Joey hissed, panic flashing across his face before he clamped a hand over his mouth. "Where did you get that?"
"The guy we're pretty sure was their leader had it," Riven said casually. Too casually. "If he hadn't brought all those others with him, I probably would've lost. But since he did…"
He shrugged.
"I used them as EXP. Disarmed him, then finished it with speed."
Riven chuckled under his breath.
"He was probably as fast as Harkel. Maybe. But he wasn't as strong—and definitely not as durable."
Jordan stared at him.
Then frowned.
"Wait," Joey said slowly. "Speaking of Harkel… what about the sword you borrowed?"
Riven's smile turned nervous.
He pulled it out.
Or rather—what remained of it.
The shattered beast weapon rested in his hands, broken clean through.
Joey froze.
Jordan's breath caught.
"…How," Jordan asked quietly, disbelief seeping into his voice, "did you break a beast weapon? Aren't those supposed to be damn near indestructible?"
"Well," Riven said, scratching the back of his head, "the academy gave us Level 1 beast weapons. This—" he tapped the new blade, "—is Level 5. After a few collisions, the Level 1 couldn't handle it."
He looked down at the shattered pieces.
"That's why I kept this one. After killing the guy, I figured I'd give it to Harkel. No one else has Lock On, so they won't be able to tell what it is unless they actually see it in battle."
Joey and Jordan exchanged looks.
Riven definitely had a big head about this plan.
But neither of them said anything.
After all…
Not replacing it would've been pretty messed up.
"There was also the quest we got," Riven suddenly remembered.
He turned his wrist and projected the System window for Joey to see.
Since it was an exclusive quest, only Jordan and Riven were registered as participants. Joey—and anyone else—couldn't gain anything from it.
"What does the triple question mark mean?" Joey asked, squinting at the display.
Riven and Jordan both shrugged.
It was the first time they'd ever seen it.
"I was planning on doing this after we left," Riven said slowly, glancing back toward the hospital, "but since Mom wants some time to herself… let's do it now. Give her a few more minutes."
The System reacted instantly.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
User has undergone a significant life-altering event.
Emotional threshold exceeded.
Psychological parameters altered.
A major reward is required.
None of them felt happy reading it.
If anything, it hurt.
Even the System had acknowledged the change—the loss they would carry forever. The death of their father wasn't something that would fade. It felt like someone had driven a blade straight through their hearts and left it there.
Then another prompt appeared.
[SYSTEM]
+10,000 XP gained.
Both Riven and Jordan felt it immediately.
Power surged through their bodies—warm, sharp, undeniable. Of the two, Jordan reacted first, his breath catching as the numbers climbed.
[System: Jordan Harlow]
Level: 15
XP: 716 / 3,300
Race: Human
Awakening: One
Evolved Ability: Ink
Strength: 12
Speed: 13
Durability: 17
Health: 24 / 24
Energy: 23 / 23
[System:Riven Harlow]
Level: 16
Awakening: II
Evolved Ability: Lightning
Race: Feymir
XP: 854 / 4,490
Strength: 42
Speed: 48
Durability: 43
Energy: 43 / 43
Health: 44 / 44
Jordan clenched his fists.
He hated how he'd gotten the XP.
Every part of it felt wrong—earned through blood, loss, and violence. But he would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't excited.
He had finally reached it.
Another prompt surfaced.
[SYSTEM]
Level requirement met.
User: Jordan Harlow
Evolution is now available.
Proceed?
[Y / N]
Jordan's finger hovered over the confirmation.
Then—
"No. Not yet," Riven said firmly.
Jordan frowned, confused for only a second before realization hit him.
Riven's hair.
Their mother was already barely holding on. Seeing another son change—visibly, unnaturally—might push her over the edge.
"…Right," Jordan muttered. "On the bus."
Riven nodded, relief and exhaustion mixing in his eyes.
Another System message appeared
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
We hope you enjoy this small reward.
A portion of your true reward has begun revealing itself.
All three of them stiffened.
"What does that even mean?" Joey asked uneasily.
Before anyone could answer, the System continued.
[SYSTEM]
For now…
A single stab will suffice.
A small blue portal tore open in front of Riven and Jordan.
From within it, the tip of a strange shard emerged—glowing faintly, humming with an unfamiliar presence.
They didn't understand why.
They didn't need to.
An overwhelming urge washed over both of them. Their bodies moved on their own, hands reaching forward in perfect sync. The shard sliced cleanly across their palms.
Pain flashed—
Then the portal snapped shut.
The shard vanished.
"Guys!" Joey shouted suddenly.
Riven and Jordan both snapped back to reality.
"I've been calling your names for like a minute," Joey said, eyes wide with concern. "Are you okay?"
Riven looked down at his palm, flexing his fingers.
More than okay.
"More than okay," he said slowly, breath shaky. "I… I feel amazing. What was that? Did the System do that?"
Jordan laughed—a raw, breathless sound.
"I feel incredible," he said, grinning wider than he had in days. "I feel… complete."
Joey had no idea what Jordan meant by that.
And after a few minutes, he realized…
he didn't think he wanted to.
⸻
Alarms blared through the laboratory.
Red lights flashed across the white metal walls as scientists bolted from station to station—shouting, typing furiously, shoving data onto holographic screens. Consoles beeped in rapid succession, warning symbols stacking over one another as confusion spread like wildfire.
"What is happening here?!"
Darruis's voice cut through the chaos like a blade.
He stormed forward and seized the nearest scientist by the shoulder, fingers digging in hard enough to make the man wince.
"Explain. Now."
The scientist swallowed, breath uneven as alarms screamed overhead.
"S-Sir—someone portaled in. Or… at least, a portal opened."
Darruis's grip tightened instead of loosening.
"What?" he snapped. "That's impossible. There are portal dampers covering every inch of this facility."
"We—we said the same thing, sir," the scientist rushed out. "We're still running diagnostics, but if our data is correct, the energy spike originated from two of the gemstone cores."
Darruis froze.
"…What?"
The scientist nodded quickly, eyes wide. "We believe the gemstones may have triggered the portal."
"How?" Darruis demanded. "And why would that even be possible?"
Silence followed—thick and uncomfortable.
Darruis released the man with a shove. "Go over everything. I want answers. When you find something, you bring it to me immediately. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" the scientist said, already running.
Darruis turned away, jaw clenched.
"I don't know why," he muttered under his breath as he walked, "but something's telling me this has to do with that Damien bastard… damn it."
⸻
He entered a smaller, dimly lit room.
Two people sat waiting.
One was a woman with bright pink hair pulled into two tight knots, her posture relaxed—too relaxed. Across from her sat a man with messy orange-blond hair, greasy and unkempt, like he hadn't bothered washing it in days. Both looked up as Darruis stepped inside.
"Something wrong, Darruis?" the woman asked casually, glancing sideways at her associate.
"No," Darruis said flatly. "Nothing's wrong."
He stopped in front of them, eyes sharp.
"Now tell me—what do you have on this Damien person?"
At that, the woman's lips curled into a slow smile.
The man chuckled under his breath.
"Well," the woman said, leaning forward slightly, "you're not going to believe what we're about to tell you."