With Team A – A Small 5-Man Team and One Student
The small team of six was on their way to find Team C, but they were stopped by what looked like a wolf-like beast. However, it wasn't the beast itself that shocked them—it was what it said. That made everyone think the same thing:
"Did that beast just talk?"
This thought raced through everyone's mind.
"Are beasts supposed to know how to talk?" Luka asked, being the only person who really didn't know about these creatures.
"No… not to our knowledge, at least," one of the staff replied.
"What do you mean our use is no longer needed?" asked the man who seemed to be the team leader, trying to stay calm and assess the situation.
"What I mean is—thank you. Oh! I should first introduce myself since I'll be your killer. My original name was Andy, but you can call me Avenor," the beast smiled as he said this.
"Okay, Avenor… what exactly do you mean by your 'original name' and 'thank you'?" The leader was clearly stalling, trying to form a plan.
"Trying to buy time, I see," Avenor said, reading them like a book. He crouched into a running stance and charged toward the group of six.
One man slammed his hands into the ground, raising the earth into a wall. Avenor leaped over it, swiping his long claws toward the man's head—but vines suddenly grabbed the man and pulled him out of harm's way.
"Thanks," the man said to Luka, who had his hand on the ground again, trying to make the earth fluctuate to throw Avenor off balance. But it failed—Avenor dodged easily.
Luka looked like he was about to rush in, but the group leader stopped him.
"Kid, I can multiply my strength by four times, so here's what's going to happen…" That was all the man said as he handed Luka the tracker and strapped it to his wrist. Then he picked Luka up and threw him as hard as he could. Luka went flying through the air.
"Use your vines to soften your fall!" the man shouted—his final words to Luka.
As he fell, Luka used vines and nearby nature to break his fall. When he hit the ground, he immediately started running, fear in his eyes.
"What was that back there? It talked… and its presence—I could barely move. If it wasn't for that mud wall, I probably would've frozen in place." Luka shook his head. "No… I can't think about that now. I need to get to Kira."
He pulled out the tracker map. He could see Team C, and surprisingly, he wasn't far. The man's throw had launched him farther than expected.
"Please be safe, Kira," Luka said as he ran at full speed.
⸻
With Team C
Riven was still looking at the system quest he'd received as the team continued running.
"What does this mean? After the beast quest—which I still haven't claimed—I now know the system can either tell the future or detect things more accurately than anyone else," Riven thought.
Then another prompt appeared:
[System: You are being followed by one of the Broken Veil's long-lost experiments.]
[Quest Received: Kill the experiment before it kills you.]
"What?! System—what experiment? I don't even sense anything following us…" Riven looked around, which didn't go unnoticed by Nico. Then Riven saw an orange-reddish HUD icon in the air—just like it would appear for a party member.
That told Riven everything he needed to know.
"Sir! We're being followed!" Riven yelled out.
"What?" the head instructor barked. He closed his eyes to focus—but sensed nothing. "Don't play games, kid."
"I'm not, sir! It's around 200 meters behind us!" Riven insisted, based on what the system was showing.
"How can a kid sense that far? Doesn't matter. I need to do what Sir Darius asked of me," the instructor thought.
"Stop playing around, kid!" the man shouted.
Riven was annoyed by the dismissal. "Fine. Since it's a system quest, I should complete it myself."
Using his Weightless ability, Riven hopped out of formation.
"Hey! You two—stop!" one of the teachers shouted.
"Wait… two?" Riven thought, turning to see Nico keeping up with him—using flames from her hands as a booster.
"Why?" Riven asked.
"It's that head instructor—I don't trust him. If a student says they sense something, they should be believed, not dismissed," Nico replied.
Riven nodded, knowing it was too late to go back now.
"Grab my hand!" Riven shouted as they ran. Nico obeyed.
They both vanished—air rushing around them—and reappeared in front of a beast.
"What—how did we get here?" Nico asked, but when she saw the beast, she quickly unsheathed her sword and ignited it in flames.
"Ahh… so you sensed me. And you have a teleportation evolution," the orange-eyed beast said.
"Did… did that beast just talk? I've never heard that before," Nico asked nervously. Talking beasts usually meant dangerous ones.
"That's because you aren't a beast. Am I right?" Riven asked confidently, knowing the system had called it a Broken Veil experiment.
The smile vanished from the beast's face.
"How… how did you know?" she asked slowly.
"A guess. Especially since you have feminine features—which beasts don't usually have," Riven replied.
The beast chuckled. "You're right. I guess I do look different. At first, I thought you were part of them," she said.
Riven knew who she meant—The Broken Veil.
"But if you're wondering why I was following you—it's simple. We need one of your teleportations to get out of here. And now that you've come to me, I can kill you without anyone noticing."
"A werewolf?" Nico muttered. Riven understood. The creature looked almost identical to the werewolves from mythology.
"What do they have to do with the Broken Veil?" he wondered.
Suddenly, the wolf-like woman rushed in and punched Riven in the gut. He flew through the trees and slammed into a branch, coughing up blood.
"He should be out," she said, turning toward Nico.
But Nico launched herself upward with a burst of flames. The wolf looked up—only to be met with a black-and-green gauntlet smashing her into a tree.
"Damn… the poison didn't activate," Riven thought, now fully armored with the items he brought the night before
He opened his system and activated an item
[2x EXP Activated]
The wolf stood, and what she saw next made her pause—Riven standing in his Black Verdant Armor, matching his gauntlets.
[Black Verdant Armor Set Equipped]
[Stats:
Strength +38
Speed +25
Durability +30]
Riven glanced at the stats, smiled, and cracked his knuckles.
"A Level 3 armor… is no joke. Now—let's continue," he said, slamming his gauntlets together.
⸻
With Team D
Wren and Jordan were running with their group. Half the day had passed, and they were still moving. Some students had collapsed, but Wren and Jordan picked them up without hesitation.
"Students told him they were tired. What's his problem?" Skye asked, looking around. Most of the group looked like they were about to pass out.
"If a beast shows up, these kids might not have the energy to fight," Wren said.
Then it happened—everyone sensed it.
A beast appeared before them. Another wolf-type—this one with yellow eyes. The group stopped. Most of the students were panting hard, barely able to lift their weapons.
"Okay! Finally caught up to you!" the yellow-eyed wolf said. "Now… let's see if you'll talk—unlike the others," he added with a smile, revealing dried blood on his arms and mouth.
⸻
Back With Team A
After a short rest to let students recover, they were moving again. Joey and Harkel remained at the back, watching over everyone.
Harkel noticed Joey looked frustrated.
"What's bothering you? Besides, you know, everything?" Harkel asked.
Joey looked around, then leaned closer.
"I wish we could access the system without always needing to be in the party. If we had access right now, we could've bought a Level 4 weapon—maybe even higher. Something to make sure what happened never happens again."
"Yeah… but since we're not in the party anymore—"
"—we can't use the system," Harkel finished.
"But something tells me Riven is probably using it right now to its fullest," he said with a smile, fist-bumping Joey.
Suddenly, a black-eyed wolf stepped out from the forest.
"Since everyone's getting into conflicts… I guess I should too," it said coldly.
When Team A saw the wolf-like beast, they stopped in their tracks.
"All students, stay back!" a teacher yelled as they rushed in with their great axe. But when they slashed at the beast, it dodged—then immediately bit off the teacher's head.
This sent shockwaves through every student's skin. Sure, four teachers had died before, but they only died while helping students. This teacher, an awakened one, was killed after a single move.
The rest of the teachers charged in, including the head. But before he joined the fray, he shouted:
"Students, run toward the forest and scatter! Stay close to at least one or two of your peers. We'll come for you after we deal with this beast!"
All the students ran in the same direction, veering into the forest but splitting apart shortly after. Joey and Harkel stayed together as they ran. Harkel wanted to fight, but when he saw Joey running, he couldn't help but follow.
"Why are we running? They can handle that beast," Harkel said, frustration in his voice.
"I don't know… but for some reason, I'm getting really bad vibes from that thing. Even worse than the praying mantis," Joey replied, sweat sliding down his cheek. "And… did you hear it? It talked. And if I'm putting its words together correctly… there are others like it. Fighting the other teams."