Emotion Hunter: System Awakening.

One week later....

The week had been hell.

Every day of the week that passed brought new questions from Maya and Jake, each more specific than the last...seems they're have been doing their research.

They'd started following Riven's routine, timing his disappearances, even asking other classmates about his behavior changes.

Maya had apparently consulted her medical textbooks, creating theories about everything from steroid abuse to traumatic brain injury.

Riven sat in the same student center where their ultimatum had been delivered, waiting for the confrontation he couldn't avoid.

His enhanced senses picked up Maya and Jake approaching before he saw them

...elevated heart rates, the chemical signatures of stress and determination.

Marcus arrived at the same time they did, looking like he'd slept about as well as Riven had over the past week. Which was to say, not at all.

"Well?" Maya said, settling into her chair with the confidence of someone who held all the cards. "We're listening."

Jake looked more uncomfortable but equally resolved. "And before you start, we did some research this week. We know about the Veil incident in the Riverside District last Tuesday. Same night you claim you were at 'family therapy.'"

Riven's blood went cold. "What kind of research?"

"Public records. Police reports. Hunter Guild notifications." Maya pulled out her phone and began reading. "The Gray Veil manifestation, the duration approximately six hours, the threat level minimal. Officially cleared by Hunter teams, but locals reported seeing two figures near the site before the official response arrived."

"Could've been anyone," Marcus said weakly.

"Could've been. But then Jake remembered something." Maya nodded to their friend.

"Your ex-girlfriend Sarah," Jake said. "She's a registered Hunter now, right? So I asked around, found some people who know her. They mentioned you'd been acting weird, wondered if she might know why."

The trap was closing around him and Marcus.

Riven could feel his system interface flickering in response to his rising panic.

"Sarah told them something interesting," Maya continued. "She said you'd been 'obsessed with Veil research' since your family died. Apparently you used to ask her detailed questions about Hunter protocols, survival techniques, system mechanics."

"That doesn't prove anything," Riven said.

"By itself, no. But combined with everything else..." Maya spread several printed pages across the table. "The Unauthorized entry into Veil sites is a federal crime. The penalty is imprisonment or conscription into Hunter service, depending on whether you survive the experience."

Jake leaned forward. "We're not trying to get you in trouble. We're trying to keep you from getting killed doing something incredibly stupid."

The words hit harder because they came from genuine concern. These weren't enemies trying to expose him....they were friends trying to save him from what looked like suicidal behavior.

Through their connection, Riven felt Marcus's resolve cracking. The week of lies had worn them both down, and the weight of deceiving people who cared about them was becoming unbearable.

"You want the truth?" Marcus said suddenly. "Fine. But you're not going to believe it, and once you know, you can't unknow it."

"Marcus," Riven warned, but his friend was already committed into telling the truth.

"Riven did enter that Veil," Marcus said. "He survived it, and he awakened abilities that most people can only dream about. He's trying to find his family, who might still be alive somewhere in the dimensional network. And I've been helping him because it's the right thing to do."

The silence that followed was deafening.

Maya was the first to speak. "That's... that's actually worse than I thought it would be."

"You awakened a system?" Jake asked, his voice barely a whisper. "A real Hunter system?"

There was no point in denial now. Riven reached into his backpack and pulled out the Resonance Blade in its neutral form. The moment it appeared, both Maya and Jake recoiled instinctively.

"It responds to emotions," Riven said quietly. "Fear, rage, determination. Each one creates a different weapon form." He let determination flow through him, watching the rod extend into its spear configuration. "This is why I've been different. Why we've been disappearing. Why everything's changed."

Maya stared at the weapon with a mixture of fascination and horror. "The physical changes, the enhanced reflexes, the way you've been acting... you're actually a Hunter now."

"Unregistered," Jake added, understanding the implications. "Which means if the Guilds find out..."

"They'll either recruit me or eliminate me as a rogue element," Riven finished. "That's why we couldn't tell you. The fewer people who know, the safer everyone is."

"What about me?" Maya asked. "What am I now that I know this secret?"

Marcus answered that one. "Either an ally or a liability. And since we just told you everything, we're really hoping for ally."

Maya looked between them, her analytical mind clearly processing the implications. "You said your family might still be alive. What makes you think that?"

"People can survive in Veils if they're strong enough or lucky enough. My parents and sister have been missing for two years, not confirmed dead. If there's even a chance..." Riven let the spear return to rod form. "I have to try."

"And you're helping him," Maya said to Marcus.

"He awakened abilities through our connection. I can sense emotions, share his enhanced capabilities during combat. We work better as a team."

Jake was quiet for a long moment, staring at the weapon on the table. "This is insane. All of it. You're talking about fighting monsters in other dimensions to rescue people who are probably dead."

"Probably," Riven agreed. "But not definitely. And 'probably' isn't good enough when it's family."

"Show us," Maya said suddenly.

"What?"

"Show us what you can do. If we're going to keep this secret, if we're going to help or at least not interfere, we need to understand exactly what we're dealing with."

Riven looked around the crowded student center. "Here?"

"Not here, obviously. Somewhere private. Tonight."

The request was reasonable, but it carried enormous implications. Demonstrating his abilities to Maya and Jake would make them full participants in his secret, willing or not. It would also give them evidence they could use against him if they chose to.

But the alternative was losing their friendship entirely, or worse, having them report him to authorities who might not be interested in his good intentions.

"Alright," he said finally. "But not a full demonstration. Just enough to prove we're telling the truth."

"Fair enough."

They spent the rest of the afternoon planning a meeting location and discussing the rules of their new reality. Maya had dozens of questions about system mechanics and Veil environments. Jake wanted to understand the legal implications and potential consequences.

Both seemed to accept that their friend group had permanently changed, that normal college concerns were now secondary to interdimensional rescue missions and supernatural abilities.

As evening approached, they met at the same abandoned warehouse where Riven and Marcus had first tested their partnership. The isolation would allow for a proper demonstration without risk of detection.

"This place smells like rust," Maya said, looking around the cavernous space.

"That's probably accurate," Marcus replied.

Riven activated his system interface, letting Maya and Jake see the emerald panels that appeared in front of him.

----------

[Demonstration mode can now be used]

**[Demonstration Mode: Safe environment detected]**

**[Emotions detected: available for looting]**

**[Partner anchor: Active]**

----------

"I'm going to loot some of my own anxiety about this situation," Riven explained. "It'll give me mental clarity and show you how the basic mechanics work."

He focused on his nervousness about revealing his abilities to more people, letting the system drain the emotion and convert it into enhanced cognitive function.

The change was immediate and visible. His posture straightened, his breathing steadied, and his expression became calm and focused.

"Whoa," Jake breathed. "Your whole demeanor just shifted."

"The anxiety is gone, converted into analytical thinking," Riven said. "Now watch this."

He demonstrated each weapon form...the precision of the spear, the speed of the twin daggers, the raw power of the battle axe.

With each transformation, Maya took notes on her phone while Jake recorded short videos.

Finally, he showed them the emotional anchor connection with Marcus, letting his friend share in looted determination while they coordinated a mock combat scenario.

When the demonstration was over, both Maya and Jake looked like they'd been hit by a truck.

"This is real," Maya said, more to herself than to them. "All of it. The monsters, the abilities, the dimensional rifts adventures. It's all actually real."

"And you're planning to use these abilities to find your family," Jake said. "In dimensions full of creatures that want to kill you."

"That's the plan."

Maya was quiet for several minutes, clearly processing everything she'd seen and learned.

When she finally spoke, her voice carried a different quality....not the concerned friend trying to stage an intervention, but the with an analytical mind.

"You're going to need better equipment," she said. "Medical supplies, tactical gear, communication devices. Whatever you got from that military surplus store isn't going to cut it for extended operations."

"Maya," Jake started.

"And you're going to need better cover stories. The 'family therapy' excuse was terrible, but we can work with the grief counseling angle. Make it more specific, more believable."

"Maya, what are you doing?"

She looked at Jake with the patient expression of someone explaining something obvious. "I'm helping. They're going to do this with or without our support, and they'll be safer with it."

"You want to help them break federal law and risk their lives in monster dimensions?"

"I want to help them not die while they're breaking federal law and risking their lives in monster dimensions. There's a difference."

Riven felt something he hadn't experienced in months: Having more allies who understood the situation and chose to help anyway changed everything.

"What about you?" Marcus asked Jake.

Their friend was quiet for a long time, staring at the floor. When he looked up, his expression was resigned but determined.

"I think you're all insane," he said. "But I also think Maya's right. You're going to do this regardless, and I'd rather know what you're up to than wonder if you're dead in a ditch somewhere."

"So you'll help?"

"I'll help. But I want it on record that I think this is the stupidest thing any of us have ever done."

"Noted," Riven said, grinning despite himself.

As they packed up and prepared to leave the warehouse, the dynamic between them had fundamentally shifted. They were no longer a college friend group with one member hiding a dangerous secret....they were a team with a shared mission and complementary skills.

"Next steps?" Maya asked.

"Better equipment, better planning, and more training," Riven replied. "We've got a long way to go before we're ready for the kind of Veils that might actually contain answers about my family."

"And in the meantime?" Maya continued to press forward.

"We learn everything we can about Hunters, Guilds, and the dimensional network. Because sooner or later, this is going to get a lot more complicated."