After nearly an hour, the stress that had once twisted Casfer's face was completely gone. His breathing was steady now—deep, natural.
Riven finally stepped back, legs shaking slightly.
He'd healed him.
The process had drained nearly all of his energy, leaving a heavy exhaustion clinging to his limbs.
"So… he's gonna be okay?" Joey asked quietly.
"Yeah," Riven said after catching his breath. "He'll be fine. Look—meet us at your place. We need to talk about what just happened here."
"No."
Joey's voice was sharp—final.
"I'm probably not going back home for a while."
Riven and Jordan exchanged a glance.
It was obvious. Joey had finally reached his limit with his mother.
"…Fine," Riven said. "Sneak back to our house. We'll meet you there. We still need to finish this up."
"Finish this up?" Joey asked, confused.
"Basically," Jordan added while grabbing Keith's unconscious body and dragging it toward the others, "we make it look like they didn't just get their asses kicked."
"Crasfer, Keith, and Charlie will be posed like they partied too hard."
"Oh." Joey nodded. "I can help with that—"
"No," Riven cut in firmly. "Go. Try to get some rest. If our parents see you before we get back, just say we said you could crash for the night. Got it?"
Joey hesitated, then nodded and ran off.
Jordan let out a breath. "So… why exactly did you send him away?" he asked while lining the unconscious boys against the wall.
"Three reasons," Riven said. "One—we check our rewards. Two—we talk about what just happened. And three… I want to see if I can repeat it."
Jordan didn't respond.
Riven opened his system and tapped CLAIM.
[SYSTEM: Quest Completed.]
Reward: 250 EXP
Light flashed before their eyes.
They felt something shift—but no level appeared.
Their levels had ticked upward, but to actually see it, they had to open their General Tab.
With riven doing so.
[SYSTEM STATUS]
Name: Riven Harlow
Level: 3 (50 / 350 EXP)
Race: Human
Strength: 10
Speed: 8
Durability:8
Health: 26 / 26
Energy: 15 / 15
Unattributed Stat Points: 1
Riven surprise grew.
His health had increased noticeably. Energy too—but not by much.
"I think I know why," he muttered, glancing toward Charlie's unconscious body.
"My health and energy growth… it's because I absorbed part of Charlie's core."
Jordan, who could also see system windows, was already staring at his own stats.
His eyes widened.
[SYSTEM STATUS]
Name: Jordan Harlow
Level: 5 (50 / 650 EXP)
Race: Human
Awakening Stage: One
Strength: 10
Speed: 11
Durability: 10
Health: 15/ 15
Energy: 17/ 17
Unattributed Stat Points: 2
"…What?" Jordan whispered.
He'd jumped two levels.
Every stat had increased by two as well.
"What the hell just happened?" Jordan demanded, looking at Riven.
Riven shook his head. "Don't look at me. I don't know either. But if I had to guess… it's that Awakening Stage One thing. I don't have it. You do. That's probably why."
Jordan frowned. "Still… my health and energy didn't increase as much as yours."
He glanced back at Charlie.
Then he stepped closer.
The moment he did, a familiar system prompt appeared before his eyes—the same one Riven had seen earlier.
[SYSTEM: Enemy Defeated.]
This enemy possesses a compatible core.
Would you like to absorb it?
Jordan swallowed.
He could see the options.
1/3
2/3
"…So I can as well," he murmured.
"If that's true," Jordan continued slowly, "then Charlie should already be missing a quarter of his core… since you took it."
Riven stepped forward immediately.
"We shouldn't," he said firmly.
"I already took a quarter. We don't know what this does to people long-term. And look at how the system words it—we could probably take the ability entirely."
Jordan clenched his fists.
"Do you really want them waking up and questioning why their powers are weaker—or gone?"
That stopped him.
"…Fair," Jordan admitted after a moment. "Let's just prop them up and get out of here."
"Not yet," Riven said calmly.
Jordan blinked. "What?"
"Before we leave," Riven continued, "we're getting revenge."
He began stripping valuables from the three unconscious boys—payback for what they'd done earlier.
When Riven reached Casfer, another notification appeared.
[SYSTEM: Enemy Defeated.]
This enemy possesses a compatible core.
Would you like to absorb it?
Riven hesitated.
He didn't know why the system kept offering.
But he didn't mind either.
The sensation from earlier returned—warm, intoxicating. A deep, blushing pleasure spread through his chest as energy flowed into him.
It felt… good.
Too good.
Addicting.
Riven shook his head sharply, forcing himself out of the haze, and looked back at the system.
YES
NO
He tapped YES.
"Hey," Jordan snapped. "You stopped me from taking more of Charlie's core, but you're fine taking Casfer's? Don't you want us both to get stronger?"
Riven exhaled slowly.
"I already took a quarter of Charlie's. If you take more, he'll only have half left. We don't know what that does to someone."
He glanced down at Casfer.
"But Casfer still has his full core. I'm only taking a quarter. And you don't even have lightning—so you're not compatible anyway."
Jordan went quiet.
He realized something then.
For once… their roles had reversed.
Usually, Jordan was the cautious one.
And Riven was the reckless one.
"…You're right," Jordan admitted.
The blue glow around him faded.
They finished setting the bodies against the wall and turned to leave.
Before stepping away, Riven checked his system one last time.
[SYSTEM STATUS]
Name: Riven Harlow
Level: 3 (50 / 350 EXP)
Race: Human
Strength: 10
Speed: 12
Durability: 8
Health: 26 / 26
Energy: 15 / 15
Unattributed Stat Points: 1
Riven could see that his speed had an increased Now both him and Jordan were kind of Even terms but there were some up and down between two. They both had even strength. Riven had More speed, Jordan had more durability but riven Had more help by Jordan had more energy riven That if the two were a fight, most likely able to come down to the ability but riven Believed he would win, especially after the next prompt that showed up into his face
[system: You're lightning attribute has grown]
Riven could clearly see the difference now.
His Speed had increased.
Both he and Jordan were sitting on nearly even ground—but not perfectly. Their Strength matched. Riven had the edge in Speed, while Jordan clearly outpaced him in Durability. When it came to Energy, Jordan had the advantage, but Riven had more health overall.
If the two of them fought seriously…
Riven knew it would come down to abilities.
And even then—
He believed he would win.
That thought barely finished forming when a new prompt appeared in front of his eyes.
[SYSTEM: Your Lightning attribute has grown.]
Riven froze.
"…Lightning?"
At first, he didn't understand what it meant. But as the seconds passed, realization set in.
Crasfer's lightning.
Some part of that ability—its affinity, its foundation—had been absorbed into him. His lightning was stronger now. Cleaner. And if his instincts were right…
…it would cost less energy to use as well.
Riven exhaled slowly.
Before he could say anything, both twins cautiously peeked out of the alley. The street beyond was empty—no pedestrians, no patrols, no lingering figures. Without a word, they broke into a run, cutting through the quiet streets toward home.
It had to be night.
They couldn't see the sky clearly thanks to the heavy clouds overhead, but the exhaustion settling into their bodies told them enough.
"Come on," Jordan said between breaths. "Let's hurry up and get home. We still need to patch things up with Joey."
Riven nodded, pushing himself harder.
They didn't notice the figure watching from above.
A man with jet-black hair and a broad, muscular frame leaned against the side of a building, easily six-foot-eight. His presence was heavy, yet completely concealed within the shadows.
"Man, man…" he muttered with a faint grin.
"These kids really do love trouble."
And then he was gone—melting back into the darkness as if he'd never been there.
⸻
After a while, the twins slowed to a walk.
Running too long would draw attention, and neither of them wanted to look suspicious if someone stepped outside. The streets were still quiet, but caution mattered now more than ever.
As they walked, Riven noticed something off.
Jordan was quiet.
Too quiet.
"You've got something on your mind, bro," Riven said, lightly elbowing him. "Spit it out."
Jordan blinked, pulled from his thoughts.
"Huh? Oh… yeah. I was just thinking back there. That fight gave me some insight."
"About?" Riven asked—already knowing the answer.
"How to get stronger."
Riven didn't interrupt.
"We both know leveling alone isn't enough," Jordan continued. "You get one stat point, sure—but after that, everything plateaus. But now we know it's possible to grow without leveling. If we can do that, then we could—"
"Take other people's abilities?" Riven cut in sharply. "No. That's not fair. Not to them."
"I knew you'd say that," Jordan replied calmly. "Which is why I already thought of a workaround."
Riven glanced at him. "And that is?"
"Section D."
Riven stiffened.
Section D was infamous—far from the Gate, far from authority. Crime thrived there because it could. Gangs, illegal Evolvers, underground deals. People who slipped through the cracks of the system.
Jordan was planning to take cores from criminals.
That idea only raised more questions.
"Even if I go along with this," Riven whispered, "who says we can actually win? We barely beat Crasfer—and he was just one guy. You really think we can take on adults?"
"Yes," Jordan said immediately.
Riven looked at him.
"Crasfer was a special case," Jordan continued. "There's no way the Dawn faction would even glance at him if he wasn't strong. Most criminals in Section D are the opposite—too weak to be recruited. Too unstable for the military, which basically accepts anyone."
Riven couldn't deny it.
The logic made sense.
He would've agreed completely—if not for two massive problems.
"Our identities," Riven said quietly. "We can't just attack gang members and expect no consequences. If they figure out we can siphon someone's entire Evolution…"
His jaw tightened.
"They'll hunt us down. And if that happens, Mom and Dad get dragged into it too."
Jordan was silent for a moment.
"Then we wear masks," he said finally. "Hoodies too. Not our usual ones—I'll buy new ones. I'll grab a mask while I'm at it. Matter of fact, I'll go right now."
"Wait."
Riven grabbed his arm.
"One night," he said firmly. "That's it. We do this for one night only."
Jordan turned to him. "What? Why only one?"
Riven hesitated, then forced himself to explain.
"If we do this more than once and then suddenly stop after entering the academy, they'll put it together. They'll realize it was a student. And if we really start taking entire Evolutions…"
His voice dropped.
"The Ascension will get involved. And once they do, they'll reach the same conclusion."
Jordan's expression darkened.
"…Putting us in way more danger," he finished.
After a long pause, he nodded.
"Fine. One night."
With that, Jordan turned and sprinted toward the store.
Riven watched his silhouette disappear into the distance.
Then a thought struck him.
"…Wait," Riven muttered to himself.
"Does Jordan even have any units on him?"