A day passed after Riven woke up. The academy was still on hold for all academic activities. Riven got up early, cleaned up, and wore casual clothes—a black shirt and trousers—before leaving his room.
He opened the door and stepped out, only to see Liana standing there. He was shocked to see her standing there this early.
"Hey," she responded.
"Uhm, what’s up? You are up quite early," he said.
"Yes, I had a feeling you would be out early, so I wanted to catch you before you left," she said. Her hands behind her back, she fiddled with her fingers and looked slightly down, not meeting his gaze.
"Oh, okay. What did you want?" he asked.
"Uhmm, I just wanted to show my appreciation for the times you helped me and saved me," she said.
"Oh, that’s nothing. I’d do it all over again," Riven said. He waited for her to say something else, but she didn’t.
"Alright then, I’ll be heading out now," he said and was about to walk, but she suddenly grabbed his hand.
"I... I really want to show my appreciation, so can you come back later today for dinner... with me?" she asked, her voice getting lower with every word she said.
"Sure, why not? I’ll make sure to come back," he said with a smile. Her eyes widened slightly when she heard that. She looked up at him. Her eyes met with his, his soft smile still on his face.
"Then I’ll make sure I prepare something good. If you dare miss it, I’ll hand you over to my father and have you thrown into war," she said, her eyes suddenly turning cold.
’This went from cute to dangerous way too quick,’ Riven thought.
"Surely, I’ll make sure that I’m here," he said, letting out a nervous chuckle.
"Alright then, till then," she said and left, walking at a rushed pace and not looking back even once.
’She is weird. I don’t think she has any experience with emotions. Well, neither have I, because right now my knees are shaking. She was so close and so cute,’ Riven screamed in his mind.
He walked through the other hallway and left the dorm building. He looked around and saw some workers already fixing the academy. It was already near completion.
He walked into the building and headed for the training class.
He walked in. The place was empty. He walked to the rack and pulled out a wooden sword. He placed it down and pulled out Twilight.
He had been trying to get in contact with the lady in Twilight, but it hadn’t worked.
"Come on, please, I have so many questions to ask," he tried again, but nothing worked. He returned the sword and pulled out the wooden sword.
He walked to the center of the class, got into a stance and took a deep breath. He tried to feel his spirit zone the same way as before.
The spirit zone spread out, but it couldn’t spread as much as it did that day when he contacted Twilight.
"Sigh, I’ll take what I can get," he said and slashed. His sword cut through the air cleanly. He pulled the sword back and did it again.
"Not fast enough," he muttered and did it again, again.
"Not fast enough." Despite the fact that he had already gotten to sword mastery level three, he was fast and his cutting was far more precise than anyone in his age group, but he still felt like there was more he could get.
He adjusted his stance, bringing his feet closer. He slashed down again. It was faster than before.
"Lacks strength," he muttered again. He kept readjusting his stance for hours until he was covered in sweat.
He stopped slashing. He dropped the sword on the ground and sat down. "I am faster than before, but my swordsmanship could be better."
The door of the class suddenly opened. Noel walked in. He looked at Riven there on the ground.
"I didn’t expect to see you here," Noel said. He pulled out a wooden sword, weighing it in his hand. He looked up at Riven and dashed forward.
Riven reacted fast, rolling quickly and picking his sword up from the ground. He got on his feet and got into a defensive stance.
Their swords clashed. Riven pushed Noel back. Noel landed and charged again, coming with a flurry of attacks. Riven blocked all the attacks and retreated a few steps, but Noel closed the distance immediately and attacked again.
’He is faster than I thought, and he is blocking off all my route attacks. He wants to end this quick,’ Riven thought.
He moved his sword to block Noel’s attack, but the attack suddenly stopped and Noel changed the attack line.
’He switched up?’ Riven was stunned by this sudden movement. There was no way that he was going to block the attack. He bent his body backward, dodging the attack just barely.
He retreated back immediately and then started running, trying to get enough space and disrupt Noel’s rhythm.
Noel knew what his brother was trying to do. He rushed toward him, refusing to give him the space to get the advantage.
’Shit, he’s chasing. He really wants to end it fast,’ Riven thought. He came to a stop and decided to push forward, running toward Noel.
In less than a second, their swords clashed rapidly. They pushed themselves back and pushed forward again. They kept crossing swords with each other, no clear dominant side.
’I’ll show you that I can surpass you. It doesn’t matter how far you go, Riven, I’ll be right there—beside you or in front of you,’ Noel thought to himself. He increased his attack speed, forcing his way through Riven’s defense.
Riven was getting pushed back step by step. He glanced behind him and saw a wall.
’I guess this is what true geniuses are like. But I’m not allowing myself to lose to you here, bro,’ Riven thought. He gripped his sword tight.