Kevan and Lynn slipped into the room. After Kevan spoke up, the silence hung for a few beats before Lynn's eyes found him.
Riven stood there, half-dressed, the soft light tracing the cut of his chest and the defined lines of his abdomen. Her gaze lingered longer than she intended, rising slowly until it met his face. His expression was unreadable, detached in a way that only made him feel further away. Yet when he tilted his head, the gesture carried a curious edge, as though he were studying her in return.
Kevan broke the stillness with a laugh.
"You disappear for a week, and now you're putting on a show for poor little Lynn?"
Riven blinked, then glanced down at himself.
"Oh," he said with a sheepish laugh, reaching for his shirt. 'A week?' he thought. 'Felt more like two, maybe three days at most.'
Before he could slip it on, Lynn smacked Kevan across the back of his head.
"I'm not little, you idiot."
Kevan only grinned wider, rubbing the spot she struck.
"Still good to have you back."
Pulling the fabric over his shoulders, Riven exhaled slowly, as though grounding himself.
"It's good to be back," he admitted, voice low and genuine. "Better than I can put into words."
That warmth lingered a moment before Lynn finally asked, softly, "What… happened to you?"
Riven's hands paused at his sleeves. He held still, then shook his head.
"It's all a blur, really," he said so convincingly that it left little room for doubt.
They spoke for a while longer, Kevan carrying most of the chatter, until Riven asked, "So… what about the exam trials?"
Lynn perked up, then glanced at Kevan.
"Oh, yeah. The written exams weren't that hard."
Kevan snorted. "Of course she'd say that. She's a Genius after all. But, to be fair, the questions were practical."
"What kind of questions did they ask?" Riven pressed.
"Survival questions," Kevan said, leaning back in his chair. "Scenarios and theories. How you'd live if the world threw you into its worst corners in the worst conditions."
Riven hummed, mulling it over. "And when's the next one happening?"
"In two days," they both said at once.
"Alright then," Riven nodded. "I should be able to participate in that. Already lost points for missing one. I can't afford to miss anything else."
A small silence followed, worry flickering in their eyes as they exchanged a glance. Lynn was the first to voice it.
"Are you sure? This time… there's a ninety percent chance it's physical. Compared to the last trials, this one could be—"
"—a bloodletting," Kevan finished grimly. "She's right, you know."
Riven looked between them, then gave a faint, unshaken smile.
"Oh, I think I'll manage. And besides, what's there to lose if I fail? Better to try than regret never doing anything."
The words struck the air with a firm resolve, silencing both Kevan and Lynn for a beat.
"Then," Riven continued, shifting the weight of the moment, "catch me up. What's been going on while I was gone?"
Kevan leaned forward, voice lowering slightly.
"Well… not much really. But there's been chatter about the Urvac Syndicate again. This time they made an appearance on the Sigils Continent's left wing, Mornveil. Word is, they hit an auction house. Raided the whole stock and made off with some high-powered weapons."
"Yeah," Lynn added, her tone sharper. "But it's being kept quiet. Don't want the masses panicking."
Riven frowned. "If it's being kept quiet, how'd you both hear the news?"
Kevan glanced toward Lynn, who sighed.
"My brother's been deployed because of it."
Riven's frown deepened. "Quen was deployed? To another continent, no less? What happened to Mornveil's own authorities?"
Lynn shook her head, lips pressed tightly. "I don't know. He couldn't say why exactly just that he and two other teams had to go."
For a long moment, Riven simply studied her, then sighed, voice gentling.
"It's probably nothing. Whatever's happening, it'll be dealt with before you even notice. You'll see."
Lynn's lips curved faintly into a smile.
"I hope so."
---
The cool night air greeted Riven as he stepped out of the hospital's sliding doors, the faint scent of antiseptic fading with each step he took. The sky had already darkened, the moon was hidden behind a thin veil of drifting clouds. Lynn and Kevan had left hours ago, leaving only Arven who came back to sign and to settle the bills. Now, dressed simply in a plain black shirt and shorts, Riven finally breathed deeply.
'It's good to feel the fresh air again… without worrying about some deviant clawing at my back.'
He tightened his fists once, loosening them again, savoring the quiet evening. His feet carried him as he started strolling back to his home. He stopped at an intersection. To the left lay his crappy home, which to be honest he's missed so much. 'Never thought I'd ever say that about the crappy place.'
He stopped glancing that way briefly, but then his body turned right instead, his steps unhurried and silent.
The further he walked, the emptier the streets became. There were rusted signs, cracked walls, and the skeletal remains of old industry up ahead. He passed into the abandoned forging district where the tier three deviant had attacked six years ago, its silence pressing against him as though the years themselves had weighed it down.
Before him lay a broken pipe. He stood there for a moment, staring at the landmark that had defined half a decade of his life. A rueful smile tugged at his lips at coming back to his torture spot or as he was convinced to believe, his training ground.
'Who'd think I'd be back here so soon?'
He stripped off his shirt and hung it across one of the pipe's jagged edge. The wind carried the scent of iron and decay.
"After half a decade of training here," he muttered, "I still can't get used to that stinking rust smell."
The odor was sharper now, almost unbearable due to his heightened senses refusing to dull it. What should have been an advantage felt more like a burden pressing against him.
He settled down cross-legged with his spine straight. He rested his hands loosely on his knees before closing his eyes, he exhaled slowly.
'My form and control, they're all out of sync. Awakening sure did throw everything off balance. Two days, that's all I've got to figure something out.'
And so, he began.
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