The terrain was once again splitting, but this time Riven and his group weren't so lucky. They all fell down into the middle crack, toward what seemed to be their demise.
"Dammit," Phineas yelled out in his mind as they were all running from the cracking behind them. "We needed those kids. Every time I find a new hope, something takes it away."
"Sir!" the man with the other set of armor shouted. "Rowan also fell inside the crack!"
These sparks of words gave Phineas a small flicker of hope.
"If Rowan is back there, maybe at least one of them will survive. Maybe they'll be able to share how to make the potion and the armor."
"we should look for beasts it do may matter what the level is. Just stay on your toes—we'll have to hope Rowan returns to us. But I wouldn't put too much faith that she wouldn't. She is our second-in-command for a reason."
⸻
"AHHHHHHHH!" All of the students were screaming for their lives, but after a while, most of them began to calm down and collect their thoughts.
"This is a deep hole," Leo commented.
"Yeah, we've been falling for like three minutes now. How far does this thing go? Is it bottomless?" Jordan joined in.
"Nothing's really bottomless. Maybe just… a really long way down," Tessa added.
"Ahhh, I'm too young to die! I'm too young to die!" Emmett repeated.
"Hey, we're all the same age. Y'know, we're all too young to die," Jude shot back. "Well… you might be right there, age-wise."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rowan asked, an embarrassed and angry look on her face.
"These guys are way calmer than they should be, "Rowan thought. "Most likely means they have a plan. And what is up with those cloaks? Even while falling, with the tremendous wind blasting in our faces, their hoods still stayed on. But maybe they're just getting their last jokes in before their demise…"
Then she saw it. The ground of the seemingly bottomless pit. She was about to activate her own evolution, but before she did, she felt the air around her change. Looking down at one of the cloaked figures, she saw a purplish aura glowing around them.
"A true awakening?" she thought. "No wonder Phineas was trying so hard. Only a few people ever get a true awakening. Not even Phineas himself has one. These people… they're definitely diamonds in the rough. But by the rate of energy coming off their body this cloaked figure is most likely only at the second awakening…"
"But what's that? Do they have a plan?"
Riven held out his hand.
"Lawless Zone."
When the boy said those words, a purple sphere appeared out of thin air—and when they all fell through it, their bodies became lighter, like there was no pressure pulling them down at all.
"I forgot you could do this," Emmett said.
This was the plan they had made through the telepathic link. They probably would've been screaming even more if it wasn't for Jude helping them all collect their thoughts.
Everyone landed softly on the ground.
They all patted themselves down, looking up at the endless abyss above them, the splitting terrain still visible in the distance.
They all had the same question.
"What now?" Jordan asked aloud.
"Hey… how many of you have a true awakening form?" Rowan asked.
All of them raised their hands—except for Emmett.
"What? This entire group has a true awakening form except for one? That's insane. A true awakening form comes out in one in every thousand people. Yet five of them are standing in front of me right now."
"Okay, good. So here's the plan. We follow the splitting terrain. While we run, I want all of you to tell me your evolution ability—and explain exactly what it can do," Rowan said, and without waiting for a response, she was already on the run toward the continuing rift, the others following close behind.
⸻
Back at the Academy
The group was now all back inside Wren's training room.
"So… we're gonna be essentially second-years now?" Luka asked.
Both Harkel and Wren nodded.
"If I may talk," Kira asked, and no one stopped her. "We all shouldn't reveal the fact that we have a true awakening form. With something that rare, if all of us have it, wouldn't a lot of questions be raised? Especially after all of us awakened after coming in contact with your group."
"Good thinking. I was about to say the same," Nico joined in. "So the question is: who exactly is going to keep their true awakening a secret while the others basically showboat?"
Nico paused, then quickly answered her own question.
"I nominate myself."
"What?! You can't just nominate yourself," Skye argued.
"Why not? I was the strongest one out of all of us before—and now, after awakening, it makes perfect sense."
"True awakening isn't just about strength. It's about a lot—and maybe genetics," Luka said. When he did, he looked at both Harkel and Wren.
"Well then, I make even more sense. My father doesn't have a true awakening, yes, but that doesn't change the fact he's still a strong evolver—and I'm his daughter," Nico said, trying to plead her case.
"Shouldn't we be the ones who decide this? Since, y'know, it's technically our power that made you like this in the first place," Harkel said, looking confused.
"No no no, it wasn't your power—it was Riven's," Skye protested.
"Well, that doesn't matter. He's not here right now—we are. So we'll be the ones to decide who gets to reveal their true awakening," Wren said, locking eyes with each of them.
"Now, me, Jordan, Joey, and Riven are already known for having a true awakening form. With Wren about to reveal hers, that means only two more people can publicly show theirs. So if we don't pick you, sorry—but you really shouldn't be complaining. The fact that you have a true awakening form at all should be more than enough," Harkel said.
"I think Tessa should reveal hers," Wren said.
But Harkel shut her down instantly.
"Out of everyone in the original group, Tessa has always been seen as… behind us. She doesn't really carry herself as strong. That's why I think we should pick Leo instead. Even though he joined the group basically last minute, that doesn't ignore the fact he's helped us a lot—and he's no pushover."
"Wait, what about us?" Kira interrupted.
"Well, since you're right here, I guess we should do you guys first. Only one of you will be able to reveal your true awakening. If all the new kids reveal theirs, it'll definitely lead back to us—no question. So I say it's between Luka, Nico, and Jude. The three of you were always the strongest ones out of your group. But I'm leaning toward Luka—he did go on during the werewolf attack and was the sole survivor of the red-eyed werewolf. Who's to say that encounter didn't make him awaken again and gain a true awakening?"
"Then we have Nico. Like the guy said, genetics are a big thing here. Nico's father being a part of the Ascension Group definitely could be a good excuse."
"Jude's just a person with knowledge on her side. But for the Academy's nose, what do you think, Harkel?"
"Nico should be the one to reveal her true awakening. Sorry Luka—but she just makes the most sense."
Harkel didn't want it to be Nico. He saw Luka as another rival—just like Leo—but he knew Nico's family ties made too much sense.
Luka could do nothing but smack his teeth.
"So Leo's the one who gets to reveal his true awakening, right?" Harkel asked Wren, who nodded.
"You guys didn't even ask about Joey," Kira pointed out.
They all turned to Joey, who was sitting down eating. When he looked up at them, he just shrugged and continued chewing.
"All right then, it's settled," Harkel said with a smile.
⸻
Back at the Shifting Waste
The terrain finally stopped. The group was finally catching their breath. Rowan came up with a plan for how things were going to go.
Everyone told her about one of their singular abilities.
Jordan told her about his air. Tessa, flames. Jude, ice. Riven, gravity. And Emmett, control over the ground beneath him.
"You with the gravity evolution—you're gonna pull up the same sphere you did before. If what I felt back there was right… the Lawless Zone, gravity doesn't exist in that space."
"You," she said, pointing to Jordan, "with your air—you're gonna boost us upward. I don't know if it'll knock us all the way up, but it'll help."
Just as they were preparing to execute the plan, a sound echoed.
The walls to their left and right began to crackle—like something was pushing through.
But it wasn't snakes.
Coming out of the walls were two pure red figures.
⸻
[New Beast Discovered: No one of the Human World has ever come in contact with this creature before. You and your party are the first. If you are able to defeat this beast, you will gain a bonus reward.]
[System Quest: Defeat one of the Vorrak Beasts]
[Reward: ???]
⸻
"What are these things?" Rowan asked aloud, as the two beasts slowly began circling the group. "These aren't in the beast archives."
The Beast Archives was an online website that told the public what kinds of beasts existed—but the guild had a private version, one that showed beasts from other worlds. These creatures weren't even on that.
Riven and his party, however, knew what they were—thanks to the system.
But that begged the question: How did the system know what these beasts were… if no guild even knew they existed?
Now wasn't the time to ask.
Riven used the Lock-On skill.
Everyone now saw what the beasts truly were.
One was a Level 8.
The other, Level 7.
Both were high-level—and the group wasn't sure they could win.
But they weren't the only ones who got the notification.
⸻
Back at the Academy
After choosing who could expose their true awakening:
"What in the world is a Vorrak?" Harkel asked.
"How are we supposed to know?" Skye shot back.
They all turned to Wren, who was typing away at a console in the training room. Her fingers froze.
"I looked through everything that was related to the Beast Archives… yet nothing mentioned this Vorrak creature. Meaning—they're most likely a new type of beast that can appear at different levels."
"So… should we set up the portal? Just in case they need to escape?" Luka asked.
"What if the beast is able to get inside the portal and come here? Would we be able to beat it?" Joey asked.
But they all knew the answer was probably no.
"We need to stay vigilant—and prepared. If they need anything," Nico said, raising her voice.
Everyone nodded.