Leo walked down the corridor in fresh clothes, damp hair clinging to his forehead. The steam from his shower still lingered on his skin, and for the first time in a while, he felt clean—human. It had been too long since he'd had something as simple as a proper bath.
He slowed when he reached Harkel's training room.
A loud crash echoed from inside. Then another.
The walls trembled faintly with each impact.
Leo paused. It sounded like a full-blown fight. He considered waiting it out, but after a minute passed and the noise didn't stop, he stepped forward and banged his fist against the door.
The commotion inside halted instantly.
A second later, the door creaked open.
Harkel stood there, breathing hard, shirt torn at the collar and sleeves, faint bruises forming along his arms. His light blue hair was damp with sweat, sticking to his face.
"What happened to you?" Leo asked, eyes widening.
"Training," Harkel replied flatly. "What do you want?"
"I wanted to talk."
For a second, Harkel just stared at him. Then he stepped aside. "Come in."
Leo walked inside—and froze.
The room looked worse than before. Spiderweb cracks spread across the white walls, chunks of concrete chipped away like something massive had slammed into them over and over.
"What the hell are you doing in here?" Leo muttered under his breath.
Harkel dropped onto the floor, sitting with his back against the wall. "So what do you want to talk about?"
Leo took a breath. "My role in all of this. The Games."
Harkel looked up but didn't interrupt.
"I'm going to take part in them. You already know that. I don't have a choice—I've got nowhere else to go." Leo clenched his jaw. "But I want you to understand something. I'm not doing this because I'm being forced. I'm doing this because I choose to."
Harkel's expression hardened slightly.
"I'm going to stop you right there," he said. "We both know you'd rather be home. With your family. Not here with a bunch of strangers. It's wrong, Leo. It's wrong that your clan threw you away because of a duel your father chose to fight."
The words slipped out sharper than he intended.
Leo's shoulders tensed. The hurt flickered across his face before he could hide it.
Harkel exhaled. "Sorry."
Leo let out a weak chuckle. "No. You shouldn't apologize for the contract. My father should." His eyes dropped to the cracked floor. "He knew the risk. He knew what would happen to me and my mother if he lost." His voice thinned. "And he lost."
The air felt heavier.
"My mother didn't even want him to fight," Leo continued quietly. "She begged him not to. She had nothing to do with it. But when he died, they executed her anyway. Said it was tradition." His fists trembled. "She was a good woman. She didn't deserve that."
Tears welled up, but he refused to let them fall.
"So yeah. I want to live a little longer," he said. "Long enough to go back. Long enough to make them pay."
"For revenge?" Harkel asked softly.
Leo nodded once. "If it was just my father, maybe I wouldn't hold a grudge. He made his choice. But my mother? She was innocent." His voice hardened. "One day I'll return. And everyone who cheated. Everyone who laughed while my parents died… they'll answer for it. That's why I'm joining this Game on my own will. Even if you don't become leader, I need experience. Strength. This is the perfect place to get it."
Silence stretched between them.
Harkel studied him differently now—not as a pawn forced into the competition, but as someone with a clear goal.
He felt a flicker of shame.
He'd spent years resenting his own father. Shen Voss had become leader when Harkel was six. After that, the man was barely around. Meetings. Power plays. Clan politics. Harkel and Axel were raised more by attendants than by him.
Axel, the eldest, looked almost identical to their father. Harkel didn't even know who Axel's mother was. They had different mothers—Shen had done that intentionally, tying himself to powerful women to strengthen bloodlines and alliances.
Harkel's own mother came from the Evolaris faction, a calculated connection that benefited the Voss clan immensely.
Everything was strategy.
Everything was power.
Compared to Leo's loss… Harkel's complaints suddenly felt small.
He pushed himself up from the floor.
"Fine," Harkel said firmly. "If you truly want this, then we train."
The air in the room shifted.
Shadows pooled at his feet, thick and alive. They bubbled upward like dark liquid, stretching and twisting before forming into a massive, armored figure.
Ironshade stood behind him, silent and imposing, its presence filling the cracked room with pressure.
Harkel's eyes sharpened.
"If you want revenge," he said, "then stop talking about it and get stronger."
Leo wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and gave a small grin.
"Yeah," he said. "I was hoping you'd say that."
Harkel stepped beside Leo, eyes locked on the towering shadow in front of them.
"No," he said quietly. "We're not just training. We're defeating Ironshade. That's been my goal ever since the Games were announced. I haven't managed it yet… but with you, maybe we can."
Shadows twisted behind them as Ironshade straightened to its full height. It was massive—broad shoulders, thick armored limbs, its body shaped like a warrior carved from living darkness. The cracks in the walls almost looked small compared to it.
Both boys dropped into fighting stances.
Leo narrowed his eyes, studying it. "He's big. Really big. That means he shouldn't be that fast. We counter immediately and—"
A fist was already in his face.
The impact exploded through the room with a thunderous crack. Leo's body flew backward, smashing into the wall and deepening the spiderweb fractures before he slumped down in a cloud of dust.
"Shoot!" Harkel shouted, sprinting over. "You're right—I thought you Ashvale had sharper senses. If I knew you were getting hit, I wouldn't have let him roam like that."
Leo raised a hand, stopping him as he coughed. "No, no. I got caught off guard. I was talking too much."
He pushed himself up, wiping blood from the corner of his lip, then reset his stance.
Harkel exhaled slowly. "Number 39. Ironshade."
Leo shot him a look. "The number means it's strong, right?"
Harkel shook his head. "That's the first thing people get wrong. The numbers don't matter. A higher number doesn't mean stronger. It all depends on the beast's ability. Every shadow beast has its own unique trait. And not all Ironshades are the same."
Leo frowned. "What do you mean?"
Harkel lowered his guard slightly. If Leo was going to fight beside him—possibly against other Voss in the Games—he needed to understand this.
"My Ironshade," Harkel began, "has an ability where the more punches it lands on a person, the stronger its attack power becomes."
Leo's eyes widened slightly.
"But," Harkel continued, "another family member with an Ironshade could have the opposite. Theirs might start at peak strength and get weaker the more it hits. Or someone could have the same ability as mine, but with different conditions. Mine grows stronger by landing blows on a person. Someone else's might need to hit an object instead. That would make theirs more efficient in certain fights."
Leo processed that quickly. "So the beast is the same in name… but different in function."
"Exactly. And then there's mana." Harkel's voice sharpened. "That's the real key. We can adjust our beasts. Most people with my Ironshade would increase its strength output so each empowered hit is devastating. I didn't."
Leo glanced back at the towering shadow.
"I increased its speed instead."
Almost as if responding to that, Ironshade shifted—its massive frame moving far smoother than something that size should.
"With the speed boost combined with its stacking power," Harkel said, "it becomes a problem."
Leo slowly turned his head.
"…You realize it just punched me, right?"
Harkel nodded grimly.
Which meant its attack power had already increased.
The two boys locked eyes for a split second.
No more talking.
They both rushed forward at the same time.
Ironshade moved too—its heavy foot cracking the floor as it charged to meet them head-on.
Four Days Later
Riven collapsed onto a metal bench, chest rising and falling as sweat dripped from his chin to the concrete below.
One hundred push-ups.
Ten kilometers.
One hundred sit-ups.
Every single day.
It had been a few days since the System appeared, and the daily quests had become routine. At first, he thought it was ridiculous—like some game overlay glued onto real life. But the rewards were real. The exhaustion was real. The growth felt real.
And that was enough.
Around him, other students were training too. Some lifted weights. Some practiced abilities. Others simply ran until their legs gave out. There wasn't much else to do while waiting for the Academy. Everyone understood one thing—
If you arrived weak, you'd be prey.
A translucent screen flickered into existence in front of Riven's face.
⸻
[System: Daily Quest Complete]
Reward: 100 XP
Full Recovery Applied
⸻
Warmth flooded through his body.
The ache in his arms vanished. The burn in his lungs disappeared. His legs felt like he hadn't run at all.
Riven blinked.
Then—
⸻
[System: Level Up]
⸻
A sharper pulse of energy coursed through him.
⸻
[Riven Harlow – Level 2]
EXP: 0 / 800
Race: Human
Evolved Ability: Lightning
Strength: 10
Speed: 10
Durability: 7
Health: 20 / 20
Energy: 20 / 20
Mana: 10 / 10
Uncontributed Stat Points: 1
⸻
Riven scanned the screen.
"…None of my stats increased."
He frowned slightly. So leveling alone didn't boost everything automatically. Maybe certain milestones did.
Still, a free stat point was a free stat point.
He focused.
Mana.
⸻
Mana: 11 / 11
⸻
A faint hum lingered in his veins, like electricity settling deeper into his core.
Then another notification appeared.
⸻
[System: New Tab Unlocked – Party Tab]
⸻
"Party, huh?" Riven muttered.
He tapped it mentally.
⸻
[System: The Party Tab allows the user to track registered allies within a certain distance. Locations will be displayed once linked. The Party Tab can be upgraded.]
⸻
Riven's eyes sharpened.
Tracking allies.
That was huge.
If something happened… if they got separated… he'd be able to find them.
Another prompt slid into view.
⸻
[System: New Quest Received]
Reach Level 13 for your First Evolution.
⸻
"My first evolution…" Riven murmured.
He had thought awakening Lightning was his evolution. That had already changed his life. But according to the System… that was just the beginning.
Level 13.
He glanced at the EXP requirement—800 just for Level 2.
This wasn't going to be quick.
Only a couple of weeks remained before the Academy.
Everyone was pushing themselves harder than ever. Strength was the only currency that mattered now. Without it, you were a target—especially if you didn't have a powerful family name backing you.
Joey would probably be fine. The golden boy. Light ability, calm personality, easy to like.
But Riven?
Jordan?
Luka?
They wouldn't bow their heads.
If someone tried them, they'd push back.
And this time… Riven had something no one else did.
He stood up from the bench, electricity faintly crackling around his fingertips before fading.
Level 13.
First evolution.
He wasn't going to walk into that Academy weak.