the bloom of true awakening (1)

As Mr. Sable came down from the tree he was on, his eyes caught sight of two familiar students—both from his homeroom, and one of them also sat in his physics class. At first, he assumed they were in danger. A beast stood in front of them, and logically, it made sense the students were being hunted.

But something about the situation felt… off.

The beast wasn't charging, and its posture wasn't quite right. The creature's build was lean, agile—almost elegant. Feminine, even.

"What in the world is that?" Sable muttered under his breath.

"It's not a beast," Nico answered, eyes locked on the figure ahead. "It's a person. At least, I think it is."

Sable's brows furrowed. That voice—that tone. Nico was rarely uncertain, but now he sounded like he was questioning everything. Sable's gaze shifted to Riven. He nearly did a double take.

"Riven… that looks like Level 3 equipment," Sable said sharply. "Where did you get that?"

Riven didn't answer.

Instead, he took a step closer to the restrained wolf-like figure. His gauntlet was extended, needle gleaming in the dim forest light.

"I can take the poison away," Riven said calmly, "if you just answer my questions."

The female wolf snarled weakly, and then let out a sharp, piercing howl.

Before the sound could finish echoing through the trees, Nico reacted on instinct—her boot slammed into the side of her jaw, silencing the cry.

"Now answer me," Riven said, his voice low and dangerous. "Before I add more instead of taking it away."

He already knew the truth. This wasn't a normal beast. This was an experiment—twisted by the Broken Veil. But how he knew that… he couldn't explain. So he left the details vague, letting her speak for herself and he himself wanted to know how the broken veil did this to a person

The wolf-woman trembled.

"O-Okay," she said. "Okay. My name is Ashley Hall. I was part of the Broken Veil… a Wallborn. I never awakened. I always dreamed of becoming an Evolver—of finally having power."

Her voice cracked, but she pushed through the emotion.

"So when I heard they were offering people a chance… a real chance to evolve… I jumped on it. I thought it would be some kind of test. Some trauma we'd endure, some moment of breakthrough. But after I signed a waiver, they knocked me out."

She clenched her clawed hands into fists.

"When I woke up… I was in pain. Agonizing, constant pain. My hands weren't mine anymore. My whole body felt… foreign. I could still transform back and forth for a while, but then… I got stuck like this."

Ashley's voice broke completely now. Tears streaked down her furred cheeks.

"And when I didn't improve fast enough—when I didn't become strong enough—they dumped me here. Like trash."

Something heavy twisted in Riven's chest. Seeing her break, hearing her pain—he knew she was a victim. He deactivated the poison delivery system in his gauntlet and began the reversal process. The toxins slowly faded from her bloodstream.

But the moment she felt strength return to her limbs, Ashley's instincts flared. She sprang up, spun, and kicked Riven square in the chest, sending him stumbling backward.

Riven caught himself, raising his hands.

"What the hell—? I took the poison out of you! We don't have to fight anymore! We know your story now—we can take down the Broken Veil together!"

"You think you're the first one we trusted?" Ashley growled, voice quaking with fury. "We told that silver-haired man our story too. And all he did was beat us half to death."

Riven's heart sank. He didn't even need her to say his name.

Darius.

Of course.

But something else caught his attention—a single word Ashley kept repeating:

"We."

That meant there were more like her.

She wasn't the only experiment.

⸻

Elsewhere in the forest…

Joey and Harkel stood shoulder to shoulder. Their breathing was uneven, facing the black-eyed wolf looming ahead.

"How—how were you able to beat them so fast?" Harkel asked, his voice cracking with disbelief. "You didn't even get scratched…"

The wolf chuckled, dark and amused.

"Simple," it said. "None of them had the Bloom."

"The… Bloom?" Joey echoed.

"They were Awakened—Level 2, maybe even 3—but without the Bloom, they were incomplete. It doesn't matter what level you reach. Without that spark, you're still a lamb pretending to be a lion."

A terrible realization hit Harkel.

"Wait… were you watching us? Since we came out of the portal?"

The wolf nodded.

Then a distant howl split the air.

The black-eyed wolf sighed.

"Looks like Ashley needs help. Let's end this quickly."

It charged.

Joey raised his hand—and time slowed to a crawl.

"Now!" he yelled.

Harkel released a compressed blast of wind, launching the wolf backward into the underbrush. Branches snapped and dirt sprayed into the air.

"That bought us maybe two minutes," Harkel panted. "You need to go. That howl? It could be the other teams. Find them."

"I'm not leaving you," Joey insisted.

"Joey, please!" Harkel shouted. "You're like the little brother I never had. If something happened to you because of my recklessness, I… I couldn't live with myself. Go!"

Joey's lips trembled, but he nodded—and ran.

⸻

Moments later…

The wolf returned.

Harkel stood firm, hands tightening around his longsword.

"You sent your friend away," the wolf said. "Pointless. I'll catch him after I kill you."

It lunged.

Harkel used bursts of air to dodge, but he was running out of steam.

"You're slower," the wolf noted, snarling. "Running low on tricks?"

Harkel didn't answer.

The wolf adjusted its pattern—lowered its charge, changed direction mid-pounce—and slammed into Harkel's ribs.

Blood splattered the tree as Harkel crashed into it, coughing violently.

"I respect you," the wolf said. "You stalled me well. Maybe your friend got away. So… I'll grant you the honor."

It raised its claw.

"My name is Xander Walker. Remember it."

Harkel's lips curved into a faint grin.

"Man… and here I thought I was gonna die to someone with a cool name…"

But just as the claw descended—blood splashed.

It wasn't Harkel's.

It was Joey's and There was a hole where his stomach was.

"JOEY?!" Harkel screamed.

His friend collapsed in front of him, limp.

"The idiot," Xander scoffed. "You die for him. Then he dies for you. You two are a comedy of errors."

But Harkel didn't hear him.

He knelt there, holding Joey, whispering his name again and again.

Then a wind picked up.

Not a breeze.

A cyclone.

Xander was blown backward, skidding across the ground.

"What—?! Did he unlock that wind buff again?"

No.

This was something else.

Harkel's hair flowed upward, his eyes glowing. A light blue aura spiraled around his body. His presence… changed.

He had Awakened again.

And not just any Awakening.

He had unlocked his True Awakening.

Only 3% of all evolvers reached it. And now, Harkel stood among them.

⸻

From a distance, Riven saw the notification blink across his vision.

[System: One of your bounded members has reached their Second Awakening and unlocked their True Awakening Form. From this point forward, all bounded party members who reach Second Awakening will unlock their True Form.]

Riven's eyes widened. "What the hell…?"

Ashley stood nearby, unaware of what was happening. Most of the students hadn't encountered the real threats yet.

But that was about to change.

⸻

In another part of the forest…

A yellow-eyed wolf charged through the trees, sprinting toward the howl. Behind it, three students were being dragged by force—helpless, terrified.

They didn't even have a say in the matter.

⸻

Back with Harkel…

He checked Joey's breath.

Alive.

Barely.

Harkel hoisted his friend onto his back and turned.

Xander growled, charging again—but another wave of pressure knocked him backward.

"You…" Xander muttered, stunned.

"Next time we meet…" Harkel said quietly, rage burning in his eyes.

"…I'll kill you. I swear it."

Then he vanished into the forest in a blur of wind—not as fast as Riven, but even faster than him

Meanwhile, with Team C…

"Why did that student leave?" one student asked.

"I don't know. Maybe he's just some show-off who's probably going to get himself killed," another muttered.

"Man, I'm so pissed he got that fine red-haired chick to follow him," someone else chimed in. "I definitely had a chance with her…"

Team C continued running, taking brief breaks. Some of the students made snide remarks about Riven and Nico choosing to break formation and run on their own.

But then, someone emerged from the forest.

A green-haired boy.

Luka.

The group halted immediately.

"Wait," the team leader said, pulling up his tracker. "Why do you have a tracker? Where is the group?."

"A beast came out of the forest when we was running here," Luka said, breathing heavily. "One of the teachers threw me and gave me a huge boost so I got here faster. But we need to get off this course. That beast is probably heading this way right now."

"No," the leader replied flatly. "We continue until we find your team. You can lead us to them."

This could be the perfect time for Sir Darius's plan to come to light, the leader thought. Let the pressure help these weak students awaken.

Luka shook his head firmly. "That's your death, not mine. We're leaving."

"We're?" the man asked, confused.

Luka said nothing more. He turned and began walking away—toward Team B. He already had someone in mind, and he was certain they'd follow.

Moments later, a voice called out behind him.

"Brother! Wait up!" Kira yelled, sprinting to his side.

The two of them took off together, running toward the direction Luka believed Team B to be in.

"Hey! You can't just take our healer!" a student shouted angrily.

"Then you should've thought about what side you chose!" Luka shot back as they vanished into the trees.

"Sir Kelvin, should I intervene?" a nearby teacher asked.

"No," Kelvin said coldly. "When we return to the academy, I'll make sure that boy receives an appropriate punishment. For now, we move forward—toward Team A."

⸻

The red-eyed wolf sat atop a pile of bodies—five in total.

They were the teachers who had been running with Luka toward Team C.

"Looks like Ashley's in trouble," the wolf muttered to himself. "Milo or Xander should be able to handle that."

He tilted his head, sniffing the air.

"But I'm more concerned about my little runner… If my nose isn't off, he ran into another group and split from them shortly after."

The red-eyed wolf rose slowly.

"I've decided. I'll go after the group instead of the boy. If they're smart, they'll tell me where their teleporters are."

And with that, the red-eyed wolf dashed off into the forest—heading straight for Team C.