Walking back to their dorm room, the two couldn't come up with an excuse for why they had been gone so long.
So they decided to just wing it.
Opening the door, Riven expected to see the boys sitting on their beds, waiting for them.
Instead—
They were all asleep.
"…They're asleep?" Luka questioned, stepping inside. "It's not even that late."
He glanced out the window. The sun was beginning to dip, preparing to rise again the next morning.
"Yeah… I guess they were more tired than us," Riven said with a yawn.
He walked over to Jordan, pulling out the ring Nyx had given him. Rubbing it, a faint fog spilled out, wrapping around Jordan and masking his scent. Then he did the same for himself.
Across the room, Luka sat on his bed, activating his own ring before slipping into a meditative stance.
"You're staying up?" Riven asked.
"Yeah. I'm not tired… probably because Skye knocked me out."
Riven raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, we're already on a name basis with her?"
"What did you want me to call her? 'Hey, girl?' That's rude."
"…Whatever."
Riven dropped onto his bed, falling asleep almost instantly.
Luka watched him for a moment, a small smile forming.
"…Thank you, Riven."
⸻
Time passed quietly.
Luka continued meditating—
Until he sensed movement.
Harkel.
Luka quickly slid under his sheets, pretending to be asleep.
But Harkel wasn't fooled.
"This should be enough… Riven's definitely asleep by now. Come on, Luka. Get up."
A kick, reinforced with mana, struck Luka.
His eyes shot open.
"I know you're not asleep. Let's go."
Luka sighed and followed him out.
⸻
"Hey—we shouldn't be out here," Luka said quietly. "Don't we have a curfew?"
"We can't go outside," Harkel replied, stepping into the elevator. "But we can still move inside the dorm building."
Luka followed him in.
"The elevator's a blind spot," Harkel continued. "No cameras. Same with the dorms. I didn't want the others overhearing us."
"…Overhearing what?"
Harkel turned his head slightly, his gaze sharp.
"What's going on with you and Riven."
Luka stiffened.
"You've both been acting secretive," Harkel said. "Then a girl shows up asking for you, and you disappear for hours."
His eyes didn't leave Luka.
"As your leader, I need to know what's going on."
Luka hesitated.
"…It's nothing."
Harkel's expression didn't change.
"I haven't known you long," he said quietly, "but I know when someone's being stubborn."
His shadow shifted.
Darkness gathered.
"I'll have to force it out of you."
The Iron Shade rose behind him.
"Harkel, what are—"
Before Luka could finish, a hardened pole formed from number 1 blob slammed into the back of his head.
"Come on…" Luka muttered as his vision went dark.
The Iron Shade caught him before he hit the ground.
⸻
"You might hate me for this," Harkel said, lowering himself to one knee.
His shadow bubbled again.
Harkel had always been different from the others in the Voss family. Where they chased strength, he noticed people. Where they pushed forward, he paid attention to what was behind.
Even so, there were things he never told anyone.
Not his cousins.
Not his siblings.
There had been another shadow.
One he awakened as a child.
One he never used again after that day.
It had nearly killed him.
He never counted it as one of his shadows, but recently, something had begun to make sense.
Whenever he pushed his body or mana to its limit, when he came back from that breaking point… he was stronger.
His mana pool increased.
His control sharpened.
It was as if something inside him adapted every time he reached his limit.
He had named it himself.
Number Zero.
No one in the Voss family had ever shown anything like it. The Book of Knowledge held records of every known shadow, every ability tied to their bloodline—but not this one.
Which meant it had never existed before.
Or no one had survived it long enough to record it.
⸻
After the exam, when Harkel pushed himself to his limit, something changed.
His mana broke past a threshold.
And something answered.
A tall, dark, elongated figure rose behind him.
Its limbs were thin. Its presence unnatural.
A mask covered its face.
"Number 23… Mind Wraith," Harkel said under his breath.
He reached up and grabbed the mask.
But beneath it—
There was another.
And beneath that—
Another.
Layer after layer, endless.
The creature had no face.
Only masks.
⸻
Harkel exhaled slowly.
He placed one mask over Luka's face.
Then another over his own.
The conditions had already been met.
He knew Luka's name.
He had spent enough time around him.
And—
There were things he had done without telling anyone.
Things they would hate him for if they ever found out.
"…I'm a bad person," Harkel muttered.
Then his eyes went blank.
⸻
Time passed.
To Harkel—
It wasn't just moments.
It was life.
⸻
An hour later, his eyes opened.
He staggered slightly, breathing heavily.
"…Bleh."
He shook his head, pulling the mask off. It dissolved into shadow, the Mind Wraith disappearing with it.
Harkel stood there in silence for a moment.
He wasn't given a memory.
He lived it.
He was Luka.
Felt what he felt.
Thought how he thought.
"…So that's what you were hiding."
His gaze lowered.
"I can see why."
A quiet exhale left him.
"…Don't worry."
He lifted Luka, carrying him back toward the dorm.
"I'll keep your secret."
After a moment, he added quietly—
"…Yours, Riven's… and I guess Jordan's too."
He paused briefly.
"…He doesn't even know, does he?"
Harkel shook his head.
"…I'll deal with that later."
He placed Luka back in his bed, then returned to his own.
Laying down, staring at the ceiling.
The silence felt heavier now.
"…Things just got complicated."
The next day passed quickly.
Everyone was awake, getting ready to head back out for more training. The dorm felt normal again—too normal.
Harkel stood off to the side, leaning against the wall as the others waited their turns for the bathroom. He kept his distance.
He didn't want to be near them.
Not after what he did.
The sound of the bathroom door opening snapped him out of his thoughts.
Luka stepped out, drying his hands, his expression calm—but the moment his eyes met Harkel's, something shifted.
The two locked eyes.
Then, almost immediately, both of them looked away.
Luka walked over to the corner, dropping his dirty clothes into the shared bin they had set up. The others were distracted—talking, laughing, completely unaware.
Good.
Luka turned and walked straight toward Harkel.
"What the hell?" he muttered under his breath.
Harkel didn't move. He simply folded his arms.
"So… you do remember," he said.
Luka's eyes narrowed.
"Yeah, I remember being knocked out," he said, his voice low but sharp. "Why did you knock me out—that's the real question."
There was anger there. Not loud, not explosive—but building.
Harkel studied him for a moment before speaking.
"I'm guessing… if you didn't have those eye lenses in," he said quietly, "your eyes would be burning right about now, wouldn't they?"
Luka froze.
The anger disappeared instantly—replaced by confusion.
And fear.
"…What?" he whispered.
Harkel slowly raised a hand.
"It's fine," he said. "I know."
Luka's heart started beating faster.
"I know you're a vampire," Harkel continued. "I know Riven isn't human either… and if he's a fairy, then Jordan is too."
Luka's breath hitched.
"And I know," Harkel added, "that Jordan doesn't even know."
Silence.
"My… memories?" Luka almost raised his voice but caught himself, glancing around. The others were still distracted.
He leaned in closer.
"You went into my head?"
Harkel didn't deny it.
"I'm sorry," he said simply. "But you weren't going to tell me. Not something like this."
Luka clenched his fists.
"No," he shot back quietly, "you could've just threatened me. Said you had a way to get in my head—I would've told you."
Harkel shook his head.
"Or you would've held something back," he replied. "Like the fact that that girl—Skye—is a vampire. That she was sent by your ancestor."
Luka's expression shifted.
"…What?"
"And the king," Harkel continued, his voice steady. "Luka… do you really think this ends with just you?"
Luka hesitated.
"If the king finds out about you," Harkel said, "then everyone connected to you is at risk. Not just you. Us."
That hit.
Hard.
"He won't just stop at you," Harkel added. "He'll erase anything tied to you."
Luka looked down.
He hadn't thought about it like that.
Not really.
He had been focused on himself… on what he was becoming.
Slowly, he looked back up at Harkel—and something about Harkel's expression made him pause.
It wasn't calm.
It wasn't calculated.
It was different.
"What are you thinking about?" Luka asked.
Harkel shrugged.
"Nothing."
Luka frowned.
"Bullshit," he said quietly. "Be real with me, Harkel. That's the least you can do after forcing your way into my head."
Harkel winced slightly.
"Don't say it like that."
"There is no other way to say it," Luka replied. "You literally knocked me out and—"
"Okay, okay," Harkel cut him off, exhaling. "Just listen."
He paused for a moment before continuing.
"Remember when we all talked about our goals?"
Luka nodded slowly.
"Well," Harkel said, "this king… he's in your way."
Luka blinked.
"…You're not seriously thinking about going after their king," he said.
"If you really saw my memories, you'd know—Riven barely beat Skye. And she wasn't even going all out. The king? He's probably hundreds of times stronger."
He shook his head.
"And that's not even counting the other leaders. We wouldn't even reach him."
"I know," Harkel said.
Luka stopped.
"…You know?"
"I know," Harkel repeated. "But we can grow."
Luka stayed silent.
"Fast," Harkel added, his eyes sharpening. "If we use Riven's system."
Now Luka's expression changed completely.
"Just like you and Riven adapted to mana so quickly," Harkel continued. "If we all get added to the system… we can close that gap."
He turned, walking toward the bathroom as if the conversation was over.
"I'll go next."
Luka stood there, frozen.
Then it hit him.
Hard.
His eyes widened.
"…The system."
Harkel was in his memories.
Which meant—
"He knows about the system…"