When the bell rang across the dorm rooms, everyone startled awake again. Some of them were starting to get used to it, while others were still frightened by the noise. But when it came down to the main five—or, I guess you could say the main six, counting Tessa—the noise didn't seem to bother them as much anymore. At least not like it used to.
Now that they had awakened, their bodies didn't need much sleep. They all actually woke up before the bell even alarmed. After getting dressed in their uniforms, the boys met up with Tessa and Wren and made their way to the cafeteria. They got their breakfast and sat down, but there was one thing they all noticed: people were staring at them—like they were being reeled in by the group's presence. Everyone was feeling the same way the group had felt when they first saw Riven awaken in the middle of the training room.
"Anyone else feeling eyes on their backs?" Harkel said, shivering a little.
"Yeah… what's up with them? Do we stink or something?" Riven replied.
"Who's we? I know for a fact I don't stink," Wren said, interrupting the conversation.
That made Tessa laugh out loud. After a while, everyone finished their food and made their way to school. When the group entered their homeroom class, just like in the halls and the cafeteria, everyone was looking at them—including the teacher. But his reaction seemed a bit different from the others.
After a while of no announcements, the bell rang. As they were about to walk out and go to their next class, Mr. Sable stopped them.
"What did you six do?" Mr. Sable asked, in amazement.
"What are you talking about?" Joey questioned.
"I mean… originally Jordan was the one who gave off that energy, but now all of you are. This must mean all of you have awakened. With all of you being close, that can't be a coincidence," Mr. Sable said, his eyes narrowing.
"All we did was train in my private training room for a while," Wren said, putting on an innocent act.
"Hm," Sable muttered, with a face that said he didn't believe them. But he let them go anyway, not wanting them to be late for class.
The group split up again. The trio made their way to the Elemental Hall where they could see the same amount of doors—flourishing with no weapon hall in sight. Harkel, Wren, and Jordan all had different classes with different teachers, so they split up. When Jordan entered his class, he could see students already practicing with their elements.
"Hello there, Ink Boy," a boy with yellow hair said, laughing with a group of boys and girls.
Jordan wasn't liked in this class. Even though he'd only been there one day, most felt it was unfair for him to be in an elemental class since his evolution wasn't elemental-based. They just didn't know what to do with him, so most students viewed him as an outcast—especially those who grew up outside the walls. They felt like Wallborns were nothing but losers too weak to protect themselves, needing one of the Big Four families to directly help them.
This never bothered Jordan. He still walked up to the teacher, who had
Blackish brown hair. She was short for a teacher, but still looked cheerful.
"So, did you do as I told you?" she asked, a big smile on her face.
After the woman said that, Jordan pulled out a bottle filled with ink and placed it on the table. Closing his eyes, he made the ink shoot out of the bottle, forming a floating ball. He then moved it around, trying to shape it into a dagger, then into a hammer—but all of it fell to the ground.
"Still need a little practice, I see," she said kindly.
"Yes, Miss Widow. But I wouldn't have been able to do this without you," Jordan replied as he pulled the ink back into the jar.
Miss Widow had told Jordan that instead of using his ink to make his drawings come to life, he should try to control it in a different way. Since it was an elemental class, she could help him if he tried to treat the ink as an element—mainly water—using it to swirl around his body or form it into weapons. She also told him to try making ink creatures without using a piece of paper. These were the things Jordan was still practicing.
After a while, Jordan was sitting in a meditating position with a ball of ink floating in front of him, forming it into different shapes and sizes. But out of nowhere, a splash of water hit Jordan's back, making him lose focus and drop the ink ball. He turned around to see three students—two boys and one girl—chuckling in a corner. Everyone else continued practicing, but they were just watching Jordan.
They couldn't sense that Jordan had awakened since his fresh energy had settled days ago.
Jordan paid them no mind, but when he turned to practice again, another ball of water came toward him. This time, he blocked it with the ink still on the ground, forming it into a wall. This angered the trio, and all of them launched elemental blasts at Jordan—water, fire, and air.
But they were stopped.
A stream of fire intercepted all their attacks. They looked to see who had done it, but quickly looked away once they realized it was none other than Nico.
She didn't like what she saw. She couldn't stand the idea of people bullying someone just because that person was stronger than them. She believed that if you were mad someone was stronger than you, then you should grow stronger yourself.
When she saw the wall of ink, she realized Jordan was getting the hang of his new training. But when she saw all three of them attack, she couldn't help but step in.
"This is pathetic! Teaming up on someone because you attacked him first and all he did was defend himself? You people are the reason us Beyonders have a bad name in the Wallborn community," Nico shouted. Her voice caught the attention of other students—including Miss Widow.
As Miss Widow walked up, she asked what was going on, but everyone remained silent—including Jordan, which caught Nico by surprise.
When everyone split up, Nico went to ask Jordan something.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Nico asked.
"What would be the point? I already know I could beat all of them. So what's the point of me going down to their level?" Jordan said with a smile.
Then the bell rang, signaling it was time for them to go to their second block class. As Jordan was about to walk out, he said one last thing to Nico.
"You're a good person. I really thought you were just a stuck-up little girl. But I can tell that behind all that, you have a good heart. I'll make sure to put in a good word with my brother for you." He said that last part with a smile.
Nico blushed as she headed to her weapon class. When she walked out, she saw Harkel and Wren walking next to Jordan. She wondered when those five became close—but what she wanted to know even more was: what was that aura coming off the other two?
Wren, Harkel, and Jordan made it to the Weapons Hall. Thanks to Wren's mom, they all had the same class—but it wasn't the same class as Joey and Riven. It was with another teacher.
His name was Mr. Knox. He was big, with broad shoulders. When they got the same weapons they had yesterday—Wren with a spear, and the two boys with swords—they got into formation.
In class, they were doing the same thing Mr. Kain's class was doing: combat. Luckily, this teacher gave them time to actually learn their weapons, unlike how Mr. Kain treated Joey and Riven.
Mr. Knox started calling a list of names. After each pair went up to fight, the trio stayed close together. Most of the fights were quick and easy in comparison. After another fight was finished—
"Hey, maybe we won't fight today," Harkel said.
"Harkel Voss vs. Jordan Harlow."
Harkel slapped his forehead, knowing he jinxed himself. He looked at Jordan, and Jordan looked back—they both nodded.
Harkel was last when it came to being in the top five, while Jordan was in first. But Harkel didn't lose confidence. He felt stronger after those four level-ups and after awakening last night, so he felt like he and Jordan were on even ground.
They both stood apart on the same platform, swords out, getting into their stances as the teacher called out—
"Begin."
Meanwhile, on a terrain that didn't seem to be on Earth, a man with silver hair stood atop a massive beast. He then ripped a gemstone from the creature's heart, the stone marked with the Roman numeral VII.
As the towering man walked into a nearby cave, he noticed a glow coming from inside a bag. When he pulled it out, it revealed a large tablet. The screen displayed Sigil Gate Academy, Runemark Academy (which is the academy for people who can't evolve), and the other Big Four families. He watched as all their rankings rose—except for Sigil Gate, which remained in last place.
The man's expression darkened. With visible rage, he punched the cave wall, causing the entire cavern to collapse—but he walked out unscathed.
"This just won't do," he muttered. "Looks like I need to put us back on top. Get ready, kids… your principal is coming back to school