Riven remained on the cold stone floor, his chest rising and falling in steady rhythm as his breath slowly evened out.
[[ Reconstruction of the body is now complete. ]]
A sigh of relief left his lips as he read the system's notification, though the mont he attempted to push himself up, a sharp ache rippled through his limbs. He winced, forcing his muscles to comply as he slowly stood.
Nyx, who had been hovering nearby, rushed forward to steady him. "Back to normal?" she asked, though her gaze lingered on him with sothing unreadable.
Riven straightened fully and imdiately noticed sothing was off.
He was taller.
His eyes flicked downward, and for the first ti, he could clearly see the top of Nyx's head without needing to angle his gaze. His limbs felt foreign, unfamiliar in their newfound strength, as if he had been reborn once more into a body that wasn't entirely his own.
"What in the…" His voice trailed off as he took a tentative step forward, his movents lighter, faster - effortless.
Nyx stared up at him, her expression montarily distant. When she finally spoke, her voice was quieter. "You look just like him…"
Riven didn't need to ask who she ant. He smirked. "Well, I am his descendant, aren't I?"
Nyx let out a soft chuckle, though the sadness in her eyes remained.
Riven flexed his fingers, studying his newly defined muscles. He could feel it - the sheer power coiled beneath his skin, refined and honed. His entire body felt different. Stronger. Lighter. As if the weight of his forr weakness had been stripped away.
He didn't hesitate.
Spinning sharply on his heel, he drove his fist straight into the marble wall of the chamber.
The impact detonated like an explosion, sending a shockwave rippling through the room. Nyx was nearly pushed back from the sheer force of it, her shadows whipping around her to absorb the residual blast.
When the dust settled, Riven's eyes widened at the gaping hole now carved into the wall. His fist, still wreathed in shadows, was completely unhard.
Slowly, he unclenched his fingers, feeling the lingering hum of power beneath his skin.
Oh, yes.
This was perfect.
Riven rolled his shoulders, a confident grin stretching across his face as he t Nyx's bewildered stare. "Alright, I think I'm ready for a rematch now."
Nyx huffed, crossing her arms. "Hey! Wipe that smug look off your face - you literally just stole my moves!" She pouted before bouncing lightly on her feet, creating space between them once more.
Riven didn't waste a second.
The mont she shifted into a defensive stance, he lunged. His body moved instinctively, seamlessly executing the techniques that had been burned into his muscles. Every motion felt natural - fluid - like he had been fighting this way his entire life.
Shadows clashed as their strikes t midair. Fists blurred, kicks arced through the space between them, their movents so swift they left afterimages in the dim chamber light.
Riven's blood thrumd with exhilaration. The shadows around him pulsed with his every motion, reacting instinctively, enhancing each strike. He could feel it - his newfound strength, the raw efficiency of his attacks. His reinforced muscles drove each hit harder, faster, forcing Nyx back step by step.
For the first ti, she was on the defensive.
And gods, did it feel good.
Nyx's eyes glead with exhilaration, a wide grin spreading across her face despite being pushed back. "Not bad," she admitted, pivoting on her heel to avoid a sharp jab aid at her ribs. "Looks like you're actually keeping up now."
Riven didn't reply - he was too focused. His movents were sharper than ever before, his instincts honed to react without hesitation. Each strike flowed into the next, no longer the sloppy, unrefined swings he had used before. He felt the difference in his body - stronger, faster, more precise.
But Nyx wasn't going down that easily.
Just as he launched a sweeping kick aid at her legs, her form vanished into the shadows. Riven barely had ti to register what had happened before she reappeared behind him, her fingers pressing lightly against the back of his neck.
"Dead," she whispered.
Riven stiffened.
Then, shadows exploded from his back like tendrils, spiraling toward her in retaliation. Nyx twisted away, flipping midair before landing in a crouch a few paces back.
He turned to face her fully, exhaling through his nose. "That move was cheap."
Nyx cackled. "That move was smart. You've got power now, Riven, but you still think too directly." She waggled a finger at him. "You fight too direct - too clean. You need to learn to fight dirty."
Riven clenched his fists, rolling his shoulders. "Fine," he muttered, stepping forward. "Then teach ."
Nyx's grin widened. "Now we're talking."
The air between them crackled with anticipation.
Nyx shifted her stance, her shadows swirling like a living entity around her. "Lesson one," she began, voice laced with amusent. "Forget everything you know about honorable combat. There's no such thing in a real fight."
Riven smirked, shaking out his hands. "Sounds good to ."
"Then let's see if you're actually ready." Nyx moved - and this ti, she didn't just attack.
She hunted.
Riven barely had ti to brace before she closed the distance between them in an instant. Unlike their previous exchanges, this wasn't a clean duel - it was ruthless. Nyx ca at him with sharp, unpredictable angles, striking at his joints, aiming for his ribs, his throat, his knees - every weak point she could exploit.
Her speed was blinding, but Riven was faster now. He deflected a jab toward his throat, pivoted to dodge a brutal kick aid at his ribs, and countered with a punch of his own.
Nyx grinned as she dodged - only to feint, twisting mid-motion and driving her elbow toward his sternum.
Riven barely caught it in ti, his forearm absorbing the brunt of the impact. The force sent him sliding back a few paces, dust swirling around his feet.
"You're thinking too much," Nyx taunted. "You're still reacting. You need to be anticipating."
Riven growled low in his throat, the shadows within him stirring restlessly. "Then stop talking and make ."
Nyx's eyes glead. "Gladly."
She surged forward, this ti even faster.
Riven moved to dodge - but that was his first mistake. Nyx's foot hooked behind his ankle, yanking it out from under him. Before he could recover, she was already moving again, shadows whipping around her like a storm.
His instincts scread at him to counter.
Instead, he let himself fall.
The mont his back hit the floor, he twisted, using the montum to sweep her legs out from under her.
Nyx's eyes widened slightly as she fell, but she recovered in an instant, landing in a roll and springing to her feet with unnatural agility. "Better," she admitted. "But you're still too predictable."
Riven scoffed. "You just hate that I'm catching up."
"Oh, is that what you think?" Nyx lunged.
This ti, Riven didn't dodge - he t her head-on.
Their shadows collided midair, their blows a flurry of lightning-fast exchanges. Riven could feel his body adapting, his movents becoming smoother, sharper. He was no longer just keeping up - he was pushing back.
And then, as he ducked under a sharp strike, he saw it.
A tiny opening.
Without thinking, he shifted his weight, drove his knee into her stomach, and swept her legs out in one fluid motion.
Nyx gasped as she went down, her back slamming against the cold stone.
Riven didn't give her a chance to recover. He pressed his forearm against her throat, pinning her in place.
They both froze.
A beat of silence.
Then, Nyx grinned.
"Not bad," she murmured, her breath a little ragged. "You learn fast."
Riven smirked down at her, his pulse thrumming with adrenaline. "I told you I was ready."
Nyx's laughter rang through the chamber, full of delight. "Alright, alright. I may have underestimated you." She gave him a pointed look. "But don't get cocky. You still have a long way to go."
Riven finally released her, stepping back and offering a hand.
Nyx took it, pulling herself up with ease. She stretched, rolling out her shoulders. "Alright, lesson two. We're going to work on—"
A shift in the air made them both stop.
The shadows thickened.
And for the first ti since they'd begun training, Riven felt sothing watching them.
Nyx stiffened, her playful deanor vanishing. "Do you feel that?"
Riven nodded, his entire body tensing. The mana in the chamber had changed - thicker, heavier. It wasn't just the remnants of their fight.
Sothing else was here.
The shadows along the walls shuddered.
"The academy?" Riven asked quietly, his voice barely above a murmur. His eyes flickered with sharp focus as he reached out with his senses, stretching his awareness toward the disturbance beyond the mausoleum door. Since his last conversation with Elder Thorne, he had been careful to keep track of any potential spies. The usual presence of mages trailing him had vanished, their scrutiny absent.
But this… this was sothing else.
"No, not the academy." Nyx's voice was low, her brows furrowed as she took a step toward the heavy stone door. The shadows there quivered, pulsing against the surface like sothing alive. They rippled from one side of the entrance to the other, restless and agitated.
Curious, Nyx lifted a hand, allowing her own shadows to slither outward like seeking tendrils. They extended toward the ones at the door, hesitant but deliberate. The foreign shadows hesitated, twitching at the contact before, tentatively, they stretched back.
Riven watched, both intrigued and wary, as the two sets of shadows reached for one another.
Then, without warning, the ones from the door leapt forward, racing up Nyx's arm in an instant. They coiled around her, spiraling along her limbs, weaving through her form before settling around her neck like an affectionate creature. They trembled and pulsed against her skin, nuzzling into her chin as though it had found sothing long lost.
Nyx chuckled, running a hand along the sentient shadow as if petting an overzealous pet. "It seems our sparring match woke soone up from below."
Riven frowned. "What?" His eyes narrowed as he studied the shadow's odd behavior. "Soone… from the Abyss?"
As if sensing his attention, the shadow suddenly peeled itself away from Nyx. It hovered in the air for a mont, its form flickering and shifting like an unstable mirage. Then, before their eyes, it began to change.
It stretched, darkened, and molded itself into the faint outline of a man - its features blurred, undefined, but unmistakably humanoid.
Riven tensed.
Then, it spoke.
"… My king…"
The voice was fragile, distant - like an echo from a long-forgotten past. But the weight behind those two words slamd into Riven with unexpected force.
The figure stiffened, as if realization had just struck it all at once.
"…My king!"
And then it moved.
The shadow launched itself at Riven before he could react, wrapping around him in a desperate embrace. Its arms clung to him with a startling intensity, its head pressed against his chest as if it were clinging to sothing irreplaceable.
A sound filled the chamber - low, mournful, layered with a thousand voices.
A wail.
A cry of sothing ancient and lost.
The sound clawed at sothing deep within Riven, stirring an emotion he couldn't na. A weight pressed against his soul - recognition? Sorrow? He didn't know why, but sothing about this shadow made him feel sothing.
He clenched his jaw, forcing himself to steady his breathing.
Across from him, Nyx remained eerily still, her gaze distant, unreadable. But Riven caught the way her fingers curled subtly over her chest. The way her throat tightened.
There was a sadness in her expression he had seen only a few tis before.
Clearing his throat, Riven flicked his gaze toward her in silent plea for assistance.
Nyx snapped out of her trance instantly. "Ah! Right," she muttered hastily before stepping forward and prying the shadow away from him.
The shade resisted, kicking its legs like a child throwing a tantrum, but Nyx had none of it. With practiced ease, she yanked it off Riven and pushed it down until it was kneeling.
Riven exhaled, dragging a hand down his face. "… Nyx, who the hell is this?" He shot a wary glance at the shadow, who now sat sulking in its forced position. "Is he like you?"
Nyx sighed. "Yes," she said simply. "He's one of ours - not a threat."
Riven raised a brow. "Then why does it look like he's about to cry?"
Nyx smacked the shade on the back of the head. "Because he's dramatic," she huffed. "But he's strong."
The shadow hunched its shoulders at her scolding, its form flickering with sothing almost petulant.
Riven didn't look convinced.
Nyx crossed her arms. "This is actually good news. It ans the others will begin to awaken soon." Her eyes glead. "It's happening faster than I thought."
Riven stared at her, absorbing her words carefully. "Is that so?" He tilted his head, his tone dry. "Are they all as expressive as this one?"
Nyx let out a short laugh, shaking her head. "No. This guy's just… special."
Riven's skeptical gaze flicked back to the sulking shadow.
Right.
Nyx straightened. "Let investigate what's happening in the Abyss. If they are beginning to sense your presence then I need to warn them to not just show up like this dumb guy." She smacked the shadows head again for emphasis.
Riven gave a slow nod. "Go. Just be careful."
Nyx grinned. "I should be the one saying that to you, my king."
Before Riven could roll his eyes, Nyx and the shadow both dissolved into darkness, vanishing in an instant.
The chamber fell silent.
Riven sighed, raking a hand through his hair. He turned and exited the mausoleum, stepping out into the crisp night air. The cold breeze cooled the sweat on his skin as he inhaled deeply.
So the others are waking up.
That ant he wasn't just dealing with one Nyx anymore.
A headache was already forming behind his eyes.
"…Great," he muttered under his breath. "I guess I won't have any peace and quiet from now on."
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