Jordan and Riven both ran off so their parents could enjoy some time without them. They kept running until they reached the public park. When they arrived, they stopped for two reasons—first, Riven was getting tired, and second, the boy felt a sudden ping from the system.
[System: User has run a total of 20 miles. One part of the daily quest has been completed.]
As the system screen disappeared, they realized they had completely forgotten about the daily quest. They had been more concerned about their parents. That realization gave Jordan an idea.
The park was the perfect training spot. Not only was it a good distance from their house, but it was also a wide, public area, giving them plenty of room to finish the quest.
"How do you think they're doing?" Riven asked, looking at the kids playing on the playground in front of them.
"Hey, we told ourselves we wouldn't think about it," Jordan replied. "Besides, we've got something to do—well, you do."
Riven looked confused. "What?"
"The quest," Jordan said, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh. Right—the quest."
Riven straightened up and opened his system. He could see that he had already completed the twenty-mile run. The only things left were twenty push-ups and one exercise he had to choose himself.
"It's time to do those twenty push-ups."
"Right," Riven replied.
⸻
Twenty minutes later…
"Twenty minutes?" Jordan held his head and looked down. Most of the kids had already left after witnessing Riven struggle through his push-ups.
"Riven, it took you twenty minutes to do twenty push-ups."
"Give me a break," Riven huffed. "I don't exercise a lot."
"Trust me, I can tell," Jordan said, glancing at his brother before checking the system again. "You've still got one more thing to do—make up your own exercise. When are you doing that?"
After calming his breathing, Riven thought about it. If he chose this exercise, it might stick as part of his daily quest forever, so he knew he had to be careful. He looked down at his body. What he wanted most was to look like Jordan. Slimmer. Stronger.
[System: You have selected sit-ups as your third exercise. You must complete 20 sit-ups.]
Riven sighed and dropped to the ground.
"Hold my feet," he said in an annoyed tone.
"What was that?" Jordan asked.
"Hold my feet!" Riven yelled back.
⸻
A red-haired girl jogged past the park, wearing shorts and a sports bra. She controlled her breathing with each step, her thoughts racing.
Okay. 4 months. 4 months is all I have to reach the physicality that I'm looking for. If I keep this pace, I'll get there in two months. The last 2 month—I'll train my ability. It's not weak… but it's not strong either.
As she ran past the park, expecting to see kids playing, she instead noticed two boys—one lying on the ground, lifting his torso repeatedly, while the other held his feet down.
"And twenty!" Jordan called out, pulling his brother up by the hand and dusting him off.
She watched Riven stand, huffing.
So they've realized too, she whispered to herself.
I don't know what the academy has in store for us, but I do know this—its purpose is to prepare us for the real world. You either become another nobody, another taxpayer trapped in the walls… or someone who gains power. Someone who shows enough potential to enter one of the great factions and live in luxury.
She sped up.
No matter what… I'm getting out of here.
⸻
"Well, that didn't take as long as the push-ups," Jordan said as Riven sat on a bench.
"Man, I'm starving," Riven replied, ignoring his brother's tone. "Let's go home and use some units to buy chicken or something."
Jordan gave him a serious look. "Riven, you can't just eat chicken and expect to lose weight. And first of all, we shouldn't be doing these exercises just for the quest. You should be doing more than twenty push-ups and sit-ups if you actually want to get in shape."
Riven let out an exaggerated groan. "But I don't wanna. I want chicken. I want to eat whatever I want—not just salad."
"You're acting like a child," Jordan said. "Our birthday is literally the month before the academy. Suck it up. Stay here—I'm going to get us a salad."
Jordan had kept some units before leaving the house, just in case they needed food or drinks while staying at the park.
⸻
Riven stayed behind, bored, glancing around the playground. Then an idea struck him. While waiting, he could finally explore the system properly. He hadn't played Legend of the Evolver for long, so he didn't really know everything the system might contain.
He opened it and checked his stats.
[System Status]
Name: Riven Harlow
Strength: 5
Speed: 4
Durability: 6
Race: Human
Energy: 10 / 10
Health: 10 / 10
Ability: Lightning
"Why are my stats so low…?" Riven muttered, grabbing his stomach.
He sighed. "Yeah. I am weak. But this is just the beginning. If I keep doing these daily quests, I'll level up eventually. Everything will grow with me."
He nodded to himself, confidence slowly returning, and continued exploring the system.
That was when he stumbled upon the Inventory tab.
He expected it to be empty—but instead, two items were listed.
A ball-like spear… and a cylindrical container filled with purple liquid.
His eyes widened as he pulled them out of the inventory space.
"Aren't these—?"
They were the Mythical and Legendary items he had obtained from the chest in the game.
"But wait… what about the shard?" he wondered. "Shouldn't that be here too?"
There was nothing else.
He focused back on the two objects in his hands. "I wonder… do they have the same effects?"
The system responded immediately.
[System: Legendary Item — Potential Potion]
This item increases an individual's potential, allowing them to grow faster than most—both physically and in the speed at which they can master their ability.
Riven frowned. The description was different. There was no mention of NORAD.
He chalked it up to one explanation—the man known as NORAD didn't exist in reality.
He only existed in the game.
Then he looked at the blood spear in his other hand. Unlike the potential potion, the blood spear felt… wrong. The longer he stared at it, the more familiar that sensation became—until a prompt slowly formed in his vision.
[System: Would you like to go to the Land of Fey?
Yes / No]
Riven clicked No so fast the system didn't even bother finishing before the prompt vanished.
"I'm not going back there. At least, not for now," he muttered. "And even if I did… do I even have a way out? If I go back, I wouldn't be in the game world anymore. At least, I don't think I would."
He tossed the blood spear back into his inventory space, not wanting to see it anymore.
His eyes shifted to the small potion resting in his hand.
"No… this—this could actually be useful," he said quietly. "I can improve my lightning ability. But it would also increase my physical growth."
Just as he was thinking that, a feminine voice spoke from behind him.
"What's that?"
Riven flinched, nearly dropping the potion as he turned around. Standing there was a red-haired girl he recognized instantly.
"Nico."
"Yeah, it's me." She hopped over the bench and sat beside him casually. "Where'd your brother go?"
"He went to the store," Riven replied. "How did you know he was with me?"
"One, you two are almost always together," she said with a shrug. "And two, I saw you both while I was out jogging. I guess I should say you were exercising… while he was helping you."
"Yeah," Riven admitted. "We're trying to prepare for the academy."
Nico snorted. "I could tell. There's no way a boy like you, with that gut, would survive Black Star Academy."
"I'm not going to Black Star," Riven replied calmly. "I'm going to Sigil Gate Academy."
She gave him an unconvinced look.
A lot of students knew the twins for one main reason—the fact that one of them had evolved while the other hadn't. Yet that revelation never weakened their bond. If anything, it seemed to have strengthened it.
"Are you trying to tell me you evolved an ability?" Nico asked.
Riven nodded.
"I need to see it to believe it," she said, a smirk forming on her face. She clearly thought he was lying—maybe trying to embarrass himself.
That confidence wavered when Riven stood and extended his hand toward the empty practice field.
After a moment, he raised his arm to the sky.
Blue lightning crackled across his fingers, snapping violently as bolts shot upward, tearing through the air toward the clouds covering the massive walls above.
"Woah…" Nico breathed.
Not only had he evolved—but he had evolved lightning, one of the strongest abilities of their era, at least when it came to raw force and natural evolution. That was without even factoring in more complex evolutions… or fictional ones.
But her amazement faded slightly as the lightning fizzled out before reaching the clouds.
"So you must've evolved recently," she said. "I can tell by how weak your output is. If you'd evolved a year ago, your lightning would've reached the clouds before dispersing. Yours didn't even get close."
She looked back at him, eyes narrowing.
"So… what was it?"
Riven had known this question was coming.
And he knew it would be hard to answer.
What Nico was asking was the catalyst—what caused him to become an evolver. He was fifteen. The door to natural evolution had closed three years ago.
That meant forced evolution.
But he wasn't a forced evolver.
He wasn't a natural evolver.
And he wasn't a fiction evolver either.
The thought echoed in his mind.
What am I exactly?
"So?" Nico pressed. "What was the thing that caused you to evolve?"
"I'd rather not talk about it," Riven said.
He knew a lot of evolvers—especially forced evolvers—gave that exact answer. But their reasons were different. Most avoided the topic because of the PTSD tied to whatever event had awakened them.
Riven's reason was simpler.
He was hiding the truth.
"Fair," Nico sighed, leaning back slightly.
"Riven!!"
A voice shouted his name, sharp and familiar.
Both of them turned toward where the sound came from. The moment Nico looked away, Riven moved fast—slipping the potential potion back into his system inventory. He wasn't about to let the conversation drift back to that.
He wouldn't even know how to explain it if it did.
"Oh—hey, Nico. What are you doing here?" Jordan asked as he handed his brother a boxed salad.
"Thanks," Riven said quietly, opening it and using the fork to start eating.
"Oh, nothing," Nico replied casually. "I just got back from a jog and saw him sitting here. Then I noticed you two exercising and figured I'd check what that was about." She glanced at Riven. "I just wanted to say—he evolved, which is definitely a shocker. Especially since he evolved so late to the game. But hey, better late than never, right?"
Jordan froze.
"You told her?" he asked, a frown forming as his eyes flicked to Riven. For a split second, he thought his brother had told her about the system.
"Yeah," Riven said quickly. "I told her about my lightning ability."
He emphasized the word lightning, just enough to signal Jordan that he hadn't told her everything.
"You want one of these leaves?" Riven added, holding out the square-shaped salad box toward her.
"Don't mind if I do," Nico said, taking a piece of lettuce and popping it into her mouth. After chewing for a moment, she spoke again. "So… how do you feel now that there's a chance you might go to the same academy as Jordan, Riven?"
Riven caught the word might immediately.
"What do you mean?" he asked. "Isn't it basically guaranteed now that I've evolved? That I'm going to Sigil Gate Academy?"
Nico gave him a look that practically screamed you're an idiot.
"You could at least pretend you pay attention in school," she sighed. "There are four branches in the academy. That means there's only a one-in-four chance you and Jordan end up in the same one."
She continued before he could interrupt.
"Each branch has its own principal, vice principal, staff—basically everything a normal school has. The difference is, instead of a school board running things, the government does. Most of the decisions come from them."
She shrugged. "From what I've seen, the academy either assigns people privately or randomly splits them up. Probably to force people to meet new faces and form new bonds. Or maybe for other reasons. Who knows."
"Oh… oh," Riven said slowly, nodding like a kid who had just figured something out. "What if we just make a signal?"
Both of them looked at him.
"If you get placed in a branch, just signal it," Riven continued. "Like—if I get the third branch, I'll put my hand behind my head. Second branch, I'll stomp my shoe. First branch, I'll wave my hand across my face. Fourth branch… I'll just walk normally. Problem solved."
"Yeah. Cool," Nico said, already standing up.
It wasn't like he was talking to her anyway. Riven clearly only cared about whether he'd end up in the same academy as Jordan—not her. Still, she kept the signals in mind as she headed back toward her home.
"Hey, Jordan," Riven said after a moment, his energy finally dipping. "I think it's time we head home too."
"Yeah," Jordan replied, eyeing the salad. "But finish that first."
"Ugh. Okay, Mom," Riven muttered, continuing to eat.
Once the area was empty and no one else was around, he brought his system interface back up. He opened the inventory tab and pulled out a cylindrical container filled with purple liquid.
"Drink this."
He shoved it toward Jordan's face.
"What is it?" Jordan asked.
He trusted his brother enough to know Riven wouldn't intentionally give him something deadly—but that didn't mean he couldn't make a mistake. Or try to get revenge for what Jordan had done to him while he was trapped in the VR game.
Riven explained what the potential potion was and what it could do.
"I remember you saying you were having trouble improving your ability," Riven said. "This should help you by a huge margin."
He dropped the container into Jordan's hands.
"So you're saying this can help me improve faster," Jordan said slowly. "But why not keep it for yourself? You said it could help you get in shape faster too."
Riven shook his head without hesitation, denying the offer before Jordan could push it further.
"I already decided to give it to you back when I was in the game," Riven said. "I didn't expect it to come out here with me, so yeah—I'm giving it to you. Enjoy it."
"Fifty–fifty," Jordan replied immediately.
"What?"
"You heard me. I take half, you take half. We share."
"Seventy–thirty," Riven shot back, food nearly spilling from his mouth. "You take most of it, I take the rest."
"Fifty–fifty," Jordan repeated, completely unmoved.
"Seventy–thirty," Riven barked back.
They locked eyes, both of them making it clear neither was backing down.
"Sixty–forty," they said at the same time.
"Deal," they added in unison.
They shook on it.
Riven finished up his salad while Jordan lifted the container and began drinking. He carefully paced himself, mentally calculating when he'd reached exactly sixty percent. Once he was done, he handed the rest back.
Riven didn't hesitate—he downed the remainder in one go.
After that, the two of them headed home together.