He kept walking.
Behind him, the boy hesitated for a moment—then hurried after him.
"Wait—Riven!"
Footsteps followed briefly across the stone path.
But Riven was already moving faster.
Not running.
Just… not slowing down.
Within a few turns of the walkway and a short set of descending steps, the sound of the boy's footsteps faded behind him.
Eventually, the voice stopped calling.
But Riven continued walking until the paths grew quieter again. Lanterns flickered softly along the stone walkways, their warm light spilling across pale walls.
He slowed then, coming to a stop near the edge of a small courtyard.
For a moment he simply stood there.
The Resource Hall was somewhere behind him now.
He had come all this way intending to see Lumi.
That obviously hadn't worked out.
Riven exhaled quietly.
He leaned lightly against the courtyard wall, staring across the empty path as his thoughts drifted.
If he was going to remain in the sect for a while, he might as well use the time properly.
Something Kael had said earlier resurfaced in his mind.
The Venom Hall.
Poison arts.
Riven straightened slightly.
Learning them would probably be useful. Especially if he planned to leave the sect again later and keep earning spirit stones before the auction.
He turned to start walking.
Then stopped.
Riven looked down at himself.
Travel clothes.
Dust from the road still clung faintly to the fabric. The outfit had been practical for moving through forests and villages.
Less so for walking into one of the sect's official halls.
He frowned slightly.
Sect matters had their own rules.
If he was going to show up at the Venom Hall, it probably wouldn't hurt to look a little more… appropriate.
Riven turned around.
Jasmine Garden wasn't far.
He headed back the way he had come.
First he would change.
>>>
A bell rang out.
Elder Seris looked up.
She had overseen the Venom Hall for nearly two decades and had long since grown far too familiar with that sound.
Someone had arrived.
She set aside the scroll she had been reviewing and rose from her seat, brushing a faint trace of silk from her sleeve. The deeper chambers of the hall were quiet tonight, the spiders in their glass terrariums resting in their webs while the scent of venom and bitter plants hung in the air.
The bell rang again in her mind as she walked.
She stepped through the inner doorway and into the reception area.
A young boy stood by the counter.
Fourteen, perhaps.
His hair was black, streaked with thin lines of green and blue that caught the lantern light. More noticeable than that, however, was the empty sleeve hanging where his right arm should have been.
Seris' gaze lingered on it for half a second before she dismissed the thought entirely.
She wasn't one to judge.
Her eyes lit up slightly as she stepped closer.
At that age there was only one reason a disciple would come here.
To begin learning the sect's venom arts.
That was the part of her work she enjoyed most.
Watching the spiders judge them.
Some disciples were ignored completely. Others were rejected outright. Every now and then one of them would be accepted.
Those were always the interesting ones. The soon to be core disciples.
She was already opening her mouth to greet him when her eyes dropped briefly to his waist.
And stopped.
A gold tassel hung there.
For a moment, Seris simply stared.
Gold.
Core disciple.
Her mind stalled for the briefest second.
Anyone who carried a gold tassel had to have already mastered the sect's venom arts long before.
And she knew every one of them.
Yet she had never seen this boy before.
Her eyes moved back up to his face.
The confusion lasted only a moment before a memory surfaced.
A conversation from several weeks ago.
The sect master mentioning—almost in passing—that he had taken in an unusual recruit.
An exception.
Ah.
Seris' expression smoothed out again as she looked at the boy with renewed interest.
"So," she said calmly.
"You must want to learn the sect's venom arts?"
The boy agreed.
She gave a small, approving nod.
"Well, you came to the right place."
She began explaining the venom arts in broad strokes.
Learning them was a process.
You had to separate a portion of your soul force.
Then bind it with an agreeable spider's venom.
And use that to form a controllable venom reservoir.
As she spoke, she noticed something strange.
The boy's expression shifted slightly.
He looked… thoughtful.
Then faintly annoyed with himself.
A moment later he interrupted her.
"Actually," he said, rubbing the back of his neck slightly, "I'll have to come back."
Seris blinked.
"…What?"
"Bad timing." he said simply.
For a moment she simply stared at him confused.
Then she folded her arms slowly.
"Very well."
She waved a hand dismissively toward the door.
"Come back when the timing isn't bad then."
She was a bit annoyed.
Her entertainment just got postponed.
The boy nodded once.
Then turned and left as calmly as he had arrived.
Seris watched the doorway for a few seconds after he disappeared before returning back into the depths of the hall.
>>>
Riven stepped back out into the evening air.
The doors of the Venom Hall closed quietly behind him as he walked down the stone path leading back toward his residence.
He exhaled slowly.
Bad timing indeed.
He hadn't known that the venom arts required soul force.
And since he had drained it earlier while practicing the soul technique from the manual, he wasn't in the best condition. The dull fatigue still lingered faintly behind his eyes even now.
Cutting off a portion of soul force now would have been reckless.
Riven continued walking through the dimly lit paths of the sect.
The lanterns hanging from the buildings swayed slightly in the evening breeze, casting shifting shadows along the stone walkways.
First Lumi.
Now the Venom Hall.
Neither had worked out.
Riven shook his head faintly.
He might as well go back and figure out what he wanted to do in the next weeks.
The auction was still three months away.
That wasn't a lot of time.
And he still wanted more money.
Lingering around the sect didn't seem particularly profitable.
Bosu's face flashed in front of his mind.
I should learn these venom arts… then leave again to make money.
That should increase my strength and give me more chances to profit.
I'm sorry about Vaern, but I'll have to find a different way to put his body to rest.
As he walked back toward Jasmine Garden, his thoughts slowly began organizing themselves.
By the time he stepped back through the gate of his residence, most of his earlier frustration had faded into quiet focus.
The night passed quickly.
Eventually he lay down to sleep.
>>>
Morning came quietly.
When Riven opened his eyes, the faint fatigue behind his mind had finally disappeared.
His soul force had recovered.
After a short wash and a simple meal, he left Jasmine Garden once more and headed toward the Venom Hall.
The sect was already awake now. Disciples moved along the paths in small groups, some heading toward training grounds while others carried bundles of scrolls or supplies between buildings.
Riven ignored them and continued walking until the familiar building appeared ahead.
The Venom Hall.
He stepped inside.
The reception room looked the same as yesterday.
But this time it wasn't empty.
Behind the counter stood the elder he had met the day before.
Sharp eyes watched the room from beneath slightly lowered brows. A spider-shaped hairpin held her dark hair neatly in place, and faint greenish stains marked the tips of her fingers.
Elder Seris.
She looked up as the door opened.
Her gaze landed on Riven.
"You're back," she said.
Riven nodded once.
Seris studied him for a brief moment, as if confirming he wouldn't leave before starting again. Whatever she saw seemed to satisfy her.
"Good," she said. "Then we can begin."
She stepped out from behind the counter and motioned for him to follow.
"For the first step," she continued as they walked toward the inner doors, "we check something."
Riven glanced at her.
"What?"
"Compatibility."
She pushed the doors open and led him deeper into the hall.
"The Venomthread method binds poison to a fragment of your soul force," she explained. "But that poison has to come from somewhere."
"The spiders."
Riven nodded slightly.
"If none of them accept you," she continued calmly, "then there is no point starting the process."
He frowned faintly.
"Why?"
He regretted the question instantly.
The answer flashing into his mind right after.
Seris glanced at him sideways.
"Because you would be cutting off a piece of your soul force for nothing."
They walked down a narrow corridor. The bitter smell in the air grew stronger here.
Riven hesitated for a moment before asking the question that had been lingering in his mind since yesterday.
"…Isn't that dangerous? To cut soul force?"
Seris stopped briefly and looked back at him.
"Of course it is."
Riven waited.
Then she added, almost casually,
"But the sect's ancestor left something behind for that."
She resumed walking.
"A liquid known as Spider Dew."
"It restores lost soul force."
Riven blinked slightly.
"Completely?"
"Eventually," Seris said. "That's why we allow disciples to perform the ritual."
She glanced at him again.
"As long as you follow the instructions, the damage will heal."
That was… reassuring.
Riven hadn't liked the idea of losing a part of his soul force.
Seris pushed open another set of doors.
"This is the spider chamber."
The room beyond was large.
And filled with glass.
Rows upon rows of reinforced terrariums lined the walls and shelves. Inside them crawled spiders of all shapes and sizes.
Some were small, darting across webs spun between bits of wood and stone.
Others were larger, their bodies thick and motionless as they watched the room through clusters of gleaming eyes.
Some had strange colors.
Deep crimson.
Pale bone-white.
Translucent bodies that revealed faintly glowing venom sacs inside.
The faint rustling of moving legs filled the chamber.
Seris stepped inside calmly.
"Let's see if any of them like you."
She gestured toward the rows of containers.
"Step forward. I want to see their reactions."
Riven followed the call.
He stopped near the first row of terrariums.
For a moment nothing happened.
Then—
Sounds filled the room.
Seris froze and involuntarily took a step back.
"…What?"
Her gaze was locked onto Riven and the mass of spiders moving toward him.