The bloom of true awakening (2)

After running into Team C and then denying him, Luka and his sister Kira were on their way to Team B since they were the closest and the only team that wasn't running around rapidly.

"So you said you ran into a strong beast? What level was it?" Kira asked her brother as they were running through the forest.

"I don't know, but the beast… that thing—whatever it was—it talked. It said to me and the five other teachers that our use wasn't needed. I thought the teachers could take it on, but when one of them was helping me get out of there, I saw it in his eyes. He was afraid. He knew… he knew that beast was going to kill them. Yet he still saved me. After we get out of here—and I promise we will—I'll learn that teacher's name and never forget him," Luka said, his voice tinged with somberness.

"When we learn it, I'll never forget his name either. He allowed me to not lose a family member," she said with a smile.

"Yeah," Luka smiled back.

⸻

Back with Team B

Riven was wondering what the system meant by this, then he realized—it said one of his bonded party members. He knew Leo and Tessa were near him, so it couldn't have been them. When Riven came to the realization, he opened the system and invited all his bonded party members back. Jordan and Wren were still missing, but Leo, Tessa, Joey, and Harkel all returned—but something was off.

When Riven saw Joey's HP, he could tell it was low—dangerously low. He then brought out a health potion. As soon as it appeared in his hand, it disappeared—Riven had used the system to make the health potion instantly appear in Joey's mouth. He watched as Joey's health didn't go up, meaning his wounds were severe. Riven then looked around, scanning the air for Joey's HUD.

Ashley noticed how Riven looked to be distracted. She got ready for an attack, but as she charged in, a big blast of wind came out and hit her in the chest, making her fly back. Riven could see who did it: a blue-haired boy—but something was different. He had a light blue aura coming off his body, with his hair being lifted and flowing like it was caught in the wind. But the one thing that really caught Riven's eyes was the person in his hand—it was a bloody boy with blonde hair. Riven immediately knew who it was.

"Joey!!" Riven yelled out. When Harkel heard Riven's voice, he quickly ran over and gently placed Joey's bloody body on the ground.

"Riven, the potions," Harkel said to him.

"I just tried! Where's the healer for this team?" Riven yelled at Sable, who looked to be in awe of Harkel now transforming. "Sable!!!" Riven yelled again.

"Yeah, right! Get over here!" Sable then yelled out for his class, specifically calling a young boy who started healing Joey. It was slow—but Riven didn't care. He was just glad Joey was healing at all.

"What happened?" Riven questioned Harkel, not caring about Harkel's new state anymore, but more about who hurt his friend. Before Harkel could answer Riven, a black-eyed wolf came out of the forest. It looked to be the same height as the other one, but this one looked more muscular than Ashley.

"Found you. And you led me to a group—I must thank you. You've made my job easier," the black-eyed wolf announced.

Riven could tell this wolf was not like Ashley. It was far more powerful. But he could also see that Harkel's awakened form was strong too—all he needed was a little boost in strength.

"I told you—I'll kill you for what you did to my friend, you bastard," Harkel said, as it looked like he was about to rush in.

"Wait," Riven said, which caught Harkel off guard.

"Wait? Wait for what?" Harkel said—but then saw Riven opening up his system. Then, an armor set appeared on Harkel's body—green in color.

"That's the armor set that goes with your sword. Now go kick that guy's butt. I can see it in your eyes—you won't hesitate."

Harkel nodded at Riven as he rushed in, using his wind to close the distance. But Sable could see something more coming off of Harkel—it was lightning.

When Harkel got close, he didn't just use air. He combined it with lightning, then blasted through Xander. The force behind it was incredible. All of the big trees kept falling as Xander was pushed back through them. Harkel pursued him while he was still being pushed back. He pulled out the long blade, trying to do a clean and decisive blow to Xander's head, but Xander was able to lift his claws and block it. When he did, he grabbed Harkel's arm—but Harkel swiftly pulled his hand out and, with his other arm, punched the wolf in the chest. But Xander was able to block it.

"What are with these blows? I know he truly awakened his evolution, but still—he should still be in the second stage of awakening. So how are these hurting so much?" Xander thought. He was able to stop himself from going any further.

Harkel stood in a fighting stance, then rushed back in—and so did Xander. They exchanged blows, but in the exchange, Xander was getting deep cuts left and right, while Harkel was able to swiftly evade them all.

Harkel then backed up, covered his sword in lightning, which shocked Xander.

"I knew I wasn't imagining things—you used lightning. How is that possible? A person should only have one evolution when they evolve. I mean, I heard rumors of people who could have more than one evolution, but it seemed impossible," Xander was shocked. As he saw the lightning coming out of the sword, he realized—yes, he had been in here for years, but the rumor of dual evolvers had been around ever since the trait of evolution first appeared. But that's all it was at the time—a rumor. But here and now, Xander was looking at a dual evolver.

Harkel then, with the charged-up blade, sliced the air—and yellow lines of lightning came out. Xander could do nothing but dodge and try not to get hit. Every time he dodged and it hit a tree, that tree would immediately fall like it was made of butter. Xander could do nothing but wait until Harkel's energy ran out.

⸻

Back with Riven and Team B

"We should go help Harkel!" Tessa yelled out to the others while they were gathered around Joey.

"No, that boy should be alright," Sable replied.

"How can you be so sure?! Look—this guy got Joey. So we shouldn't wait here. We should go help our friend!" Tessa tried to rile them up.

"Tessa, stop," Leo said out loud—but then said something in her head. "Look in your top left. Does it look like Harkel's HP went down at all?" Leo said using a telepathic link skill.

Tessa then noticed Harkel's HP was still full—meaning he hadn't taken a single hit yet.

"But—" Tessa tried to protest, but—

"No buts. Plus, we've got our own problems to deal with." When Leo said this, he could see Ashley getting back up. She stood in front of Team B, looking at them from the other side of the grass field. But everyone who had awoken could sense something else coming toward them—a yellow-eyed beast then stopped beside Ashley.

"Milo, what took you so long?" Ashley questioned.

"Well, I was dealing with a team—then I heard a howl for help, so I ran here," Milo replied back. "So where's Xander?" Milo asked.

"Over there," Ashley pointed behind her, where Xander and Harkel should've been fighting.

"Hmm… looks like he's having a tough time," Milo said.

"We need to deal with these people first before we help him," Ashley said, getting ready to pounce. Milo did the same, and they rushed forward. Riven, teachers, and students went at the duo, not thinking they would be much—but with swipes, Milo was able to claw at the teacher and students alike. He continued until a black and green gauntlet with spikes protruding out of it came and punched him in the face, sending his head back.

Riven smiled—his poison should be taking effect. But a prompt popped up:

[System: Opponent is immune to poisonous attacks]

This caught Riven off guard as Milo lifted his head back and punched Riven. Luckily, Riven was able to block, but his leg was grabbed by Milo, and he was forcefully pulled onto the ground, his body bouncing off the surface. Riven then lost all the air in his lungs.

Milo was going to continue—but a metal ball came up and wrapped around his hand like a type of cuff. Then a boy with a greatsword was behind him, slashing at his neck. But instead of the greatsword going through the werewolf's neck, only the sound of a cling was heard. Leo was shocked by this. The wolf quickly turned and saw Leo in the air. Milo then quickly opened his mouth, trying to jump down on the boy—but before he could—

Riven was on Leo's back. Then, in an instant, both Riven and Leo were gone, both breathing hard. Riven then brought out two different suits of armor—one for him and another for Leo. Both were blue and silver.

"Leo, this armor barely gives us any stats on speed or durability—it's mostly for attack. I quickly read the effect. We could do four times the damage, but only for a single blow. So we have to make it count," Riven told his ally, who then nodded.

"But what about the other one?" Leo asked, looking at Ashley.

Then an ink bull came in and rushed Ashley into another part of the forest. They looked at some bushes, and coming out were Jordan and Wren.

"We'll handle that one," they both said.