A gaming system?" Harkel asked.
Riven smirked when he saw Harkel's expression—until he heard Harkel's next words.
"Jeez, how much of a no-life are you that your power is based off an entire game system?" Harkel said. Jordan and Joey both started laughing, though Joey quickly stopped.
"How can you have the gravity ability then?" Joey asked.
Jordan already knew about everything the system could do, including its copy ability, but Joey and Harkel did not.
"Oh, the system has a quest, skill, shop, and party tab," Riven explained.
He went on to tell them about the copy ability and how the party system worked. He explained that everyone in his party received a 10% boost thanks to the system. When he finished, he looked over at Joey and Harkel—both were shocked and confused.
"I'm guessing Jordan already knew about this?"
Jordan nodded.
"Is it okay for you to be telling me and Harkel this?" Joey asked.
Riven, now sitting on Jordan's bed, looked confused.
"Dude, you have the ability to copy others while still keeping your own. Not only that—you can give powers to others. If anyone found out about this, do you know what they'd do to you? You're a game freak; you've read the internet theories," Harkel said, starting to panic.
"Project Mimicry," Joey answered.
Both of the twins asked the same question: "What's that?"
Joey sighed. "Project Mimicry is a rumor that goes around online. Since Evolvers' abilities are almost never the same, when a person shows up with a strong ability—usually a Wallborn—they often go missing. But somehow, their ability ends up in the hands of one of the four families. Obviously, not counting the Broken Veil. The theory is that one of the big groups is kidnapping people with powerful evolutions and cloning them. And the reason I bring this up is because that theory is starting to feel more real every day. I mean, look at those hooded figures who healed you and Harkel. Healing abilities are extremely rare—and yet, three of them showed up to check our wounds."
"And are you gonna tell?" Riven asked.
"No," both Joey and Harkel said immediately.
Riven was surprised by how fast they responded.
"I don't know Harkel's reason, but here's mine," Joey said. "I need to help my mother. Riven, if you really have a shop tab, that means we can sell weapons without spending money. I can get my mom out of debt and finally help her. So yeah, I'll keep your secret."
"I need to surpass my brother. He's a dean here—for the third years. I can tell I'm nowhere near his level, and I'd bring shame to our family's code: the next generation should always be stronger than the last. But the way my brother is… I won't surpass him. And I don't want him or my father to look at me differently. If what you're saying is true, then I can grow stronger than even my brother—in a short time," Harkel added.
Riven smiled. "Okay then, this is our secret."
Everyone smiled in agreement.
"Alright, enough with all this sentimental stuff. You said you got rewards, right? Okay, unwrap them!" Harkel said like Riven's rewards were Christmas presents.
"I'll do the party quest first since that gives a system reward—which seems to be the best tier of reward so far."
[Quest Complete]
[Your party can live another day. Here are your rewards:]
[All party members have gained two levels.]
As soon as that message appeared, Riven felt his body grow stronger—not just him, but everyone in the room felt it. Even Wren, who was still talking with Tessa, noticed the change.
"Whoa, was that your evolved ability?" Harkel asked.
"Yeah. You all just gained two levels."
"I don't feel so different," Jordan commented.
"But I do! That was only from two levels? What level are we now?" Joey asked.
[Joey Cross – Level 3]
[Harkel Voss – Level 4]
[Wren Fallow – Level 5]
[Jordan Harlow – Level 7]
[Riven Harlow – Level 4]
Riven read their levels aloud.
"Jeez, why is Jordan's level so high?" Harkel asked.
"It's because of something I'll explain later," Riven replied.
[System: You have received a system reward. A system reward is different from other rewards, as it strengthens the system itself.]
Riven opened the system reward, which appeared as an envelope.
[Party Tab – New Skill: Connection]
[Your party members can now see the system and how many members are in the party.]
"I'm not the only one seeing this, right?" Joey asked.
"No dude, I'm seeing it too. Jordan?" Harkel said.
"Yeah, same here," Jordan replied.
[Connection has more abilities the user can activate.]
Riven was about to check the rewards from his other quests when Jordan called his name.
"Riven, you need to remove Wren from the party. If we're seeing this, that means she is too."
Riven hadn't even thought about that. He quickly opened the party tab and removed Wren. "Hopefully she didn't see it…"
"Okay, before I forget—we have to figure out which evolution you want, Jordan," Riven said with an awkward smile.
"Oh yeah, I'm level 7. That means I can get another ability."
They could all now see the grayish system interface appear before their eyes. Harkel reached out to touch it, but his hand just phased through.
Then first-person video footage appeared, showing clips of Nico, Wren, Harkel, Luka, Joey, Skye, Jude, and the pink-haired man—each clip highlighting their abilities. Above each clip, their evolution type was listed. But something was off, at least for Joey's.
"Hey guys… I think mine's off. It says 'Time Manipulation.'"