Everyone in the room knew what Jordan meant by his last words.
What the two boys were trying to say was that they weren't fully human—but instead some kind of fairy–human hybrid.
The shock was too much.
Both boys passed out on their beds.
⸻
When morning came, everyone woke up to see Jordan and Riven sitting up, staring ahead. They both looked like they had a lot on their minds.
"So… what are you going to do now?" Leo whispered to Harkel.
"What? Me?" Harkel questioned, confused.
"Yes, you," Leo replied bluntly. "This all happened because of you. Riven would've never gone into gemstone levels, and he wouldn't have had to tell anyone about it if it wasn't for the game and everything that followed. And we wouldn't have found out about this whole fairy heritage thing either."
Leo's eyes narrowed slightly.
"And Harkel—if you really want to be king, you need to know how to comfort your subordinates. Especially the ones who might someday be your direct commanders."
With that said, Leo turned and walked out, heading toward class instead of back to the city, where they usually trained in the warehouse.
Jordan and Riven were about to leave as well, but Harkel stopped them.
"No. Don't go anywhere," Harkel said, his voice calm and steady. "You both have a lot on your minds. You need to let it out. Let's talk."
⸻
"So… I guess they're not coming out to eat, huh?" Luka asked, glancing at Leo.
"Probably not," Leo replied. "Hopefully my words reached Harkel and helped him pull them out of their stupor."
Joey shifted uncomfortably. "How am I supposed to feel about this?"
Both Luka and Leo looked at him, confused.
"I mean… how do you feel about this?" Joey continued. "The fact that we're sharing a room with people who might be half alien?"
Luka looked down at his feet.
"At first," he admitted, "I felt kind of weirded out. I never really thought aliens were real—or that different life forms were actually out there."
He paused, then lifted his head.
"But after thinking about it… I honestly don't care. So what if they're a different race? Aren't we all, technically? It doesn't change the fact that we were all raised the same way. We grew up on the same planet—Earth. We all have a connection to this place."
His voice grew firmer.
"And if we want to survive, we're going to need all the help we can get. Even if that means them evolving into whatever fairy forms they're meant to have."
When Luka looked up, he saw a wide smile on Joey's face. That was exactly the answer he'd been hoping for.
"I don't care either," Joey said firmly. "No matter what, I'll stick by my brothers' side. Blood or not—they're still my brothers. I don't care if they're a different race. All I care about is their well-being."
Joey glanced at Leo, curious about his thoughts.
Leo exhaled slowly.
"Honestly? I don't really have the right to judge," he said. "My clan—the Ashvale—has always been seen as alien to other people. We don't even have the same genetic rules as normal humans. We transform into giant wolves and consume beasts for strength."
He shrugged.
"If anyone wants to call someone an alien, they can call me one. And I wouldn't blame them."
After a few more moments passed, they realized Harkel wasn't coming out anytime soon.
That meant he was still talking with the twins.
So they decided to leave them to it.
They would check on them again after second period.
"You know," Joey began with a big smile on his face, "I think this group can really work out. Hopefully, if we ever add more people to us, they'll understand too."
"Hopefully," Leo replied, lightly punching the boy on the shoulder.
⸻
Back in the boys' dorm room, Jordan, Harkel, and Riven were all sitting at the round table in the middle of the room. Riven and Jordan sat on the same side, while Harkel sat across from them.
It felt less like a meeting—and more like a therapy session.
"So," Harkel began calmly, "I guess what I want to know most is what's on your minds right now."
Both Jordan and Riven immediately started talking over each other, each trying to go first. Harkel raised a hand, stopping them.
"One at a time."
Riven exhaled.
"Look," he started, "I guess the thing that's really on my mind is… our parents. If this is true—and at this point the system basically confirmed it—then we're part fairy. That means one of our parents must've been a fairy too."
His hands clenched slightly.
"But my question is… why didn't they tell us? We could've handled the truth. Even when we were kids—we could've—"
Harkel stopped him right there.
"Riven," he said gently, "you told all of us what happened in that game. Everything—from the start up until now. And do you know what I got from all of it?"
Riven looked up.
"What?"
"What I got," Harkel continued, "is that your fairy traits weren't active before. It wasn't your parents hiding something—it was the system itself that activated it. The system is the reason your fairy side came out."
Riven froze.
"What… are you saying?" he asked.
"I'm saying this," Harkel replied. "You are fairies. There's no point denying that now. But before you got the system, you showed no signs of it. My personal belief is that your fairy blood was dormant—deep inside you—and the system awakened it."
Harkel leaned forward slightly.
"So yes, one of your parents is probably a fairy. But they might not even know it themselves. That part of them may never have been activated. If they ever connect to the system… that's when they might find out who's a fairy and who isn't."
Riven's eyes widened.
The more he thought about it, the more it made sense.
Before the system… nothing.
Then the game. The sphere. The errors.
A low chuckle escaped him.
"Now it makes sense," he muttered to himself. "That's why the system glitched during the game…"
His laughter grew louder.
"My fairy blood," he said, almost breathless. "That's why I met Eryndor. That's why the teleportation went wrong—"
His eyes went wide.
"He knew," Riven shouted suddenly. "When he sniffed me—he knew."
His laughter slowly died down as he turned toward his brother.
"And you, Jordan?" Harkel asked, shifting his gaze. "What are you thinking?"
Jordan stared down at the table.
"I… I don't know," he admitted quietly. "I always felt like something was off. The healing factor. The nature core. I just never really questioned it."
His voice wavered.
"But now… what do I do with this information? Who do I tell? Who do I explain this to? Who am I even supposed to trust with it?"
"Me," Harkel said immediately.
Jordan looked up.
"Joey. Leo. Luka. All of us," Harkel continued calmly. "You chose to be part of this game. That means no matter what—we're in this life together."
His voice grew firmer.
"We protect each other. We comfort each other. You may not like this, but at the end of it all, we are brothers in arms."
He paused.
"Whether I become king or not—I don't care. I'll take care of you. I'll make sure your families are safe. I'll do everything in my power to protect the people you love and the people who helped us along the way."
His hand tightened into a fist.
"You come first. You are my first allies. My first second family."
Harkel chuckled softly.
"Hell… you guys are the first people who ever treated me like family. Not like a tool. Not like an obstacle."
The twins could hear the pain behind his words.
Deep pain.
"But yeah," Harkel said, standing up, "what if you are a different race? So what?"
He smirked slightly.
"Leo is a giant werewolf whose tradition is literally eating people to grow stronger—and we're still close to him. We still call him a friend. He still treats us like friends."
He turned toward the door.
"We shouldn't let race or background decide who we are. Something I read a long time ago said this—iron sharpens iron, and brother sharpens brother. Take it however you want."
Before leaving, Harkel glanced back and gave them a bright smile.
Then he walked out.
⸻
"He's right," Jordan said quietly, looking at his twin. "Let's not let this drag us down. Let's use it."
Jordan stood up.
"This is our chance to go beyond normal human limits. This is our key to getting stronger. To get Mom and Dad out of the walls."
He extended his hand toward Riven.
"So, brother… will you be my iron?"
Riven didn't hesitate.
"I always will be."
They clasped hands, pulling each other into a hug, pounding fists against each other's backs.
When they finally pulled apart, Riven opened his system and took out the gemstone.
Jordan froze.
Now that they understood what evolving really meant… this was a one-way road.
"Wait, Riven," Jordan said quickly. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes," Riven said softly, cutting him off. "I am."
His gaze was steady.
"If I want to become the best person I can be, then I have to accept both sides of my family."
⸻
[Would you like to absorb the Level Four Gemstone?
Yes / No]
"Yes," Riven said—without a single trace of regret in his eyes.