"I don't believe it," Luka said, hands stuffed into his hoodie as the four of them walked down the cracked sidewalk of the dirty street. Trash rolled across the pavement with the wind, and somewhere in the distance, sirens wailed beyond the Walls.
"You will soon enough," Riven replied, walking a few steps ahead like he actually knew where he was going.
Joey let out a slow breath. "I'm not saying I don't believe you at all, Riv. I'm just saying… it doesn't make sense. Yeah, we all have supernatural stuff going on, but at least that can be explained in some way. What you're talking about? A vision? A System? That sounds like something your brain made up."
Jordan nodded beside him. "Exactly. Who's to say it wasn't just in your head?"
Riven glanced back at them, eyes sharp. "Then what about the Big Bang? The first one. Nobody knows how that happened either. No one knows why it happened. People just accepted it."
Joey frowned. "That's different."
"How?"
"Because that was the universe," Jordan cut in. "The universe is already a mystery. What you're saying is this 'System' is man-made. That's not the same thing. If it's man-made, someone built it. If someone built it, there should be proof."
Riven slowed his steps but didn't stop walking. "Or maybe the proof just isn't obvious."
Silence settled between them for a moment as they turned the corner.
The Second Big Bang.
That's what social media ended up calling it.
In the year 2027, a massive white flash swallowed the entire planet. For a single breathless second, the whole Earth was covered in light. Cameras died. Satellites glitched. People dropped to their knees thinking it was the end.
And then… nothing.
For months, the world waited.
Five months later, everything changed.
People started awakening abilities.
Some could bend elements. Some could manipulate blood. Some could fire beams of light from their hands. Governments panicked. Militaries scrambled. Scientists tore their hair out trying to explain something that refused to be explained.
No one ever figured out what caused the flash. No one knew why it happened. All humanity knew was that power had arrived.
And with power came control.
Four great factions rose during the chaos. They grew so strong that even the military and government had to negotiate instead of command. It was said the leaders of each faction were powerful enough to conquer a planet alone if they truly wanted to.
There were two main ways people awakened.
Forced Evolution happened in moments of extreme stress or near death. When your heart was about to stop, when your body was about to give out, something inside you would snap—and power would answer.
Natural Evolution was different. No trauma. No desperation. The power just bloomed within you one day, like it had always been waiting.
Then came something stranger.
Fiction Evolution.
Scientists discovered it thirteen years after the Second Big Bang, during the wars between the factions and the government. They noticed something impossible—abilities inspired by stories. Characters from anime. Powers from manga. Abilities that shouldn't exist outside imagination.
The theory was unsettling.
Magical energy didn't just react to biology. It reacted to the mind.
If someone poured their soul into a creation—an idea, a world, a character—then when they passed on, that passion didn't disappear. It lingered. Drifted. Attached itself to a forced or natural evolver whose mind resonated with it.
You wouldn't get your own character's power while you were alive.
But someone else might inherit it after you were gone.
The world barely survived the wars that followed.
Eventually, a peace treaty was signed. The four factions were allowed to govern themselves as long as they didn't try to overthrow the planet again. In exchange, every child—no matter their bloodline, no matter their status—would attend a Military Base Academy at the age of sixteen.
Two years.
That was the term.
Two years to learn control. Two years to prepare for the real world. Two years to prove you wouldn't become a threat.
Even the children of the Four Great Factions weren't exempt. If a family tried to dodge the rule, punishment came fast.
Now in the year 2150 it was more common to see an Evolver than a person who didn't have any magical abilities, it was Obvious the human Gene was becoming more intertwine with the magical aspect with people all around expecting that in Another decade or To the human Population Will be nothing but people with magical abilities
Riven stopped As the four boys were in front of a shed house, looking damaged and Looking to be on the verge of collapsing
Riven walked in with A smile on his face with the other three boys, hesitating a bit But to going in anyway
" where are we?" Luka asked looking Feeling like this place needed a well deserve cleaning
" welcome to My hidden hideout" riven Announced as a rat ran passed him with A obviously expired cheese and it's mouth
" You're hideout" Jordan said, looking at his brother dumbly
" yeah I come here every time I need to think about something or if I'm just feeling in that mode you know" riven said walking around Dustin off a the couch With roaches And bugs all running into it as he sat on the couch
" wait a minute" Joey said " is this where you go every time you lose that Uno"
"What" riven pfft " I don't lose at uno I get cheated at uno there's a difference"
" I'm taking that as a yes" Luka said " hurry up and tell us what you want so we can get out of here" Luka didn't want to be here any longer than he already was
"Fine fine" riven Stood himself up, immediately, pulling his hand from his side, pointing it at A broken TV on the ground as blue sparks of lighting Charged up into his hand at a blast of lighting Came out, destroying the TV with his hands still smoking a bit riven Blew on it blow blowing the smoke away, smiling" told ya"
" so you naturally evolved" Luka said Surprised " you know you didn't have to make Up that big story of oh you got a system oh, you saw vision of people"
Jordan rubbed the back of his neck, staring at his brother like he wanted to believe him but didn't know how.
"I mean, Riven… there's still a chance all of that was just in your head. Maybe you just naturally evolved."
He wasn't dismissing him anymore. Not really. He just needed something solid to hold onto.
Riven opened his mouth to argue, but Joey spoke first.
"But there's still a way he could be telling the truth."
All three of them looked at him.
Joey rarely interrupted.
"It's obvious Riven awakened lightning. And Jordan has ink," Joey continued, thinking carefully through his words. "One thing people inside the Walls barely understand is how much bloodline matters. We don't get outside information. We don't know how abilities actually form."
Luka leaned forward slightly.
Joey kept going.
"If Riven naturally evolved the same way Jordan did, then his ability should've aligned with ink in some way. Twins usually share elemental compatibility. If not ink, then something related to it. Water. Maybe ice. Something derived from it."
He paused.
"But lightning? That's a completely different branch. It doesn't connect."
Silence filled the room.
Riven felt something warm settle in his chest.
Someone finally said it out loud.
Luka frowned.
"Wait. How do you even know that? We barely have contact with the outside world. And the Dawn Faction doesn't exactly sit down and educate us. We just live inside their Walls. They don't care about us."
Joey scratched the side of his head.
"Miss Lucia keeps a computer in one of the empty rooms. I use it sometimes. I've been researching before we go to the academy. Trying to understand how the world really works."
Jordan blinked. "You've been sneaking around?"
Joey ignored him.
"I came across something on old forums. A clan called the Voss Clan. According to archived threads, they were strong enough to rival the Four Great Factions and even the government."
Luka whistled softly.
"But they never fully rose to that level," Joey continued. "One of their ancestors fought both the Evolaris Faction and the military. It ended in a stalemate. After that, the Voss Clan entered some kind of uneasy partnership instead of open war."
Riven leaned in slightly.
"And what does that have to do with bloodlines?"
Joey's eyes sharpened.
"The Voss bloodline shares a hereditary ability. It's called Shadowmark. Every direct member has it. They summon beasts from their shadow. The beasts differ based on the person, but the foundation is the same."
He looked at the twins.
"That's bloodline inheritance. Structured. Consistent."
Then he looked back at Riven.
"Your ability doesn't follow Jordan's pattern. It doesn't follow bloodline symmetry. It's… separate."
Luka threw his hands behind his head.
"Eh. I don't buy it. Not until I see some real proof this 'system' exists. Until then, you're just a madman yapping."
He stood up with that lazy confidence of his and started walking away.
Riven didn't argue.
There was no point.
He wanted to tell them everything. They were the only ones he trusted. His only real friends.
Joey had been at the orphanage the longest. Riven didn't know every detail, but he knew enough. Joey's father had died. His mother… wasn't kind. Her anger had nowhere to go except at her own son.
Luka's story was different.
Their parents had worked in the same factory as Riven and Jordan's. That was what people said. One night, a fire broke out. Gas leaked. Most of the workers inside died. Some were saved.
Their parents weren't.
That was how the four of them ended up in the same orphanage.
Riven never felt grief for his own parents. He never knew them. It was hard to miss something you'd never had.
But he was glad he had these three.
"Don't laugh," Riven said quietly, looking toward Luka's back.
Luka stopped but didn't turn around.
"When we get to the academy… you'll see what I can do."
His voice rose slightly.
"You'll see I'm not lying."
Luka glanced over his shoulder, a small smile tugging at his face.
"We'll see."