Everyone stopped what they were doing when they heard Joey's story in their minds.
Harkel was the first to speak telepathically.
"I'm sorry that happened to you, man."
"It's okay," Joey responded. "What we should focus on is Jordan getting a new evolution or Riven claiming that other quest."
Everyone could tell Joey wanted to move on—so they did.
"Hey Joey, after this we'll look in the shop tab to see about those items," riven said.
Joey nodded in response.
Riven then opened the system screen. Everyone could tell—because they could now see it too. He went to hit "Claim" on his quest, but something popped up:
[System: Error – Wren Fallow must be in the party.]
"What? Why?" Riven questioned.
The system then showed the already completed quest:
[Questlines are connected. Since you needed Wren Fallow in your party in the previous quest, you will need her again to complete the current one.]
"What now?" Riven asked, annoyed.
"We invite her back," Joey said plainly.
"Everything's been shady, we all know that. The fact that rare abilities are showing up in multiple people, the fact that almost nobody knows what our principal even looks like—and who knows what might change on a whim. We need to stay prepared and ready."
His words literally rung in their heads. And even more than that, they felt something deeper—that his experience with his mother and his struggles were pushing him harder than he liked to admit.
"Okay," Riven said, "but I'm turning off the link and her being able to see the system. We don't want her asking too many questions, now do we?"
Everyone agreed. Riven turned off the telepathic link and the shared eyesight effect. After that, he found Wren in the previous "Invite People" category and re-invited her.
The problem was… even without the system link, she could still see the colorful HUDs—and their names—at the top left of her vision.
Riven quickly claimed the reward, trying to make it a fast process.
[System: You have reached the top 3. Congratulations—you're the first loser. As a reward to help you reach first next time, you will receive 3× your current EXP max.]
Riven's EXP pool was 125/300.
⸻
Level up
Level up
50/500 on the EXP bar.
⸻
But it wasn't just Riven leveling up. He could see everyone's level rising thanks to the EXP share from the party system:
• Riven Harlow (Level 6)
• Jordan Harlow (Level 8)
• Joey Cross (Level 5)
• Wren Fallow (Level 7)
• Harkel Voss (Level 5)
Everyone gained at least one level.
After it seemed like that was the only reward, Riven was about to remove Wren from the party… until:
[The system senses that you might need more improvements.]
+1000 System Points
Riven blinked, confused. He mentally clicked on the "Explain More" button.
[System Points are the currency used to purchase items from the Weapons Tab. You can exchange units for System Points if desired.]
Curious, Riven opened the Shop Tab, completely forgetting about removing Wren.
⸻
Meanwhile, in her dorm, Wren was confused. She rubbed her eyes, but the HUD wouldn't go away. She could still see the four boys' names and levels—including her own. When she noticed her level rising, she felt a strange new strength building inside her, just like the time she was talking to Tessa.
Walking out of her room, she saw four glowing trails in the air: one black, one orange, one blue, and one golden. She followed them, realizing they all led to the same place.
⸻
Back with the group, Riven saw potions, weapons, and armor. He turned on the Telepathic Link skill and the System Share again so that everyone could see the shop.
Jordan was about to tell him to remove Wren again, but he too got caught up in browsing.
Of the items, one category drew everyone's attention more than the others: Potions.
Even though they could see Riven's system, each of them could control their own interface as well.
As they scrolled through, they spoke in their minds so the others could hear.
"Two-times stamina potion," Jordan said.
"Two-times EXP potion," Harkel added.
"A healing potion," Joey noted.
"An Awakening Potion," Riven said.
He immediately read the context:
[Awakening Potion – Cost: 1000 System Points.
This potion helps a person awaken, even without being fully aware of their abilities.
Note: This potion instantly unlocks Awakening One. Multiple consumptions are required for Awakening Two and above.]
"Woah. This is amazing!" Riven yelled in his head.
"You're telling us," Harkel replied.
Then a new voice rang out telepathically—a feminine voice none of the boys had.
"What the heck are you guys talking about? And what is this thing in front of my face?"
They all froze. They knew that voice.
"Wren," they all thought.
"Yeah—Wren,"
But this time, the voice didn't come from inside their heads.
It came from outside their door