He started toward her counter… but paused.
To the side, maybe three desks down — one of the smaller counters that was usually empty — someone was sitting.
A thin young man with paper-pale skin, hunched behind a ledger.
And stepping away from him—
Someone he recognized.
Taro Fei.
The boy who'd been involved in the forest murders.
He must be here to get his rewards as well.
If Riven remembered correctly, he had ended top 16, unable to advance into the final eight.
Still, he looked… pleased.
Too pleased for someone who'd barely scraped a reward.
He clutched a small pill container in one hand, robes freshly changed, steps light.
Riven tried to catch a glimpse of the pill type — color, label, anything — but the boy tucked it away almost instantly and disappeared out the main doors without a glance back.
"Curious, are we?" Lumi's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. She was still watching him — annoyingly perceptive, as always.
He had reached her counter by now.
"Yes."
No point pretending.
She followed his line of sight to the side desk. "That," she said, nodding toward the pale figure hunched behind it, "is our temporary addition. Just for the next two weeks."
What?
"With the Newcomer's Trial just finished and all the fresh blood from the Initiation Trials arriving soon, the elders decided things were going to get chaotic." She gave a dramatic sigh. "So they opened a second counter."
Ah. So she wasn't talking about Taro Fei.
Made more sense.
"Finally," Lumi continued, clearly not done. "Now I can push some of the annoying paperwork onto someone else. Maybe even sit down and drink tea for once without someone breathing down my neck."
Riven had a sinking suspicion she was going to keep talking until his ears fell off. So he cut in, voice a bit sheepish.
"The rewards. From the trial. I'm here to claim them."
That shut her up — for about two seconds.
"Ahem. Yes, yes. The mighty core disciple, bringer of polite requests." She flipped open her ledger and began thumbing through pages while grumbling.
"Right. You're in the top sixteen, obviously. So — ten contribution tokens." She smiled a little. "Now you can finally buy some stuff from me again."
Riven's face crunched up.
"Additionally — a pill of your choosing. Minor-grade only, but still decent. Qi condensation, minor healing, focus enhancement... ?"
She listed out a few more pills until Riven made a choice.
"I'll take the focus enhancement pill."
He knew a little about the pills.
Qi condensation would help him amass qi a little faster for a short duration.
Minor healing was self explanatory.
And focus enhancement would clear the mind to help him focus on what he wanted to do.
And with all that had happened and the new Velvet Thorn Acupuncture he could learn, he figured that was exactly what he'd need.
Yes, there might be some other useful pills, Riven thought, watching the faint shimmer of the vial Lumi pushed toward him.
But in the end the reward was only a minor-grade pill, and this one, it fit perfectly for him right now.
His thoughts wandered for a second.
That guy — Taro Fei — had probably picked a different one though. He couldn't imagine all this effort for just a normal minor-grade pill.
Did I miss something in the list of pills?
But before he could think too much about it, Lumi slammed another ledger open.
"Alright, next — top eight bonus. Five additional contribution tokens." She smiled thinly. "That makes 15 plus the four you already have. That's a grand total of 19." She was a bit shocked herself. "Wow you're rich."
She exhaled. "And — lucky you — you also get access to the Martial Skills Pavilion or the chance to upgrade your cultivation method."
She waved vaguely.
"You can redeem that at either location yourself."
Then paused.
Tilted her head.
Gave him that look.
"But you probably won't need it, will you? Fancy core disciple and all."
Riven shrugged, half-smirking. "Jealous?"
"You little—" She narrowed her eyes, but her mouth twitched. "Next. Top four — Emerald Banquet. More instructions will be delivered to you later."
He smiled a little for the first time.
"And finally," she said, a bit surprised at his expression, turning one last page, "as second place, you'll also be awarded a low-grade artifact weapon. Collect it within the next day at the Armory. Don't slack. Here is a token you can use to claim it."
She slided a small token across the counter and then closed the ledger with a satisfying snap and leaned forward, arms folded.
"And with that, we're done. That's all your rewards."
A pause.
"So? How does it feel? Second place. A load of tokens. Free pill. Free weapon."
Riven pocketed the token and tilted his head slightly. "Feels like I still have more work to do."
Lumi let out a snort. "Tch. Why so humble?"
Just then, the door creaked open behind him. Footsteps — soft but deliberate.
Riven turned his head slightly.
Lara.
She stepped into the room, her robe neat, posture straight, expression composed — but when her eyes spotted him something changed.
Riven winced.
Lumi noticed.
Her grin sharpened.
"Well, well," she said under her breath. "Looks like I've got another customer."
She leaned closer to Riven. "And unless you plan on staying for her paperwork, get out of here before you cause a fight."
Riven gave her a flat look. then glanced once more at Lara — who, to her credit, wasn't shrouded in murderous air this time.
Lumi added on. "With your face and status I'd have expected you to be more popular with the ladies I can't lie."
"Shut it." Riven spat and stepped aside, also not fancying a turmoil right now.
He'd rather go collect his free weapon.
>>>
The Armory was just a few paces away from the Ressource Hall — squat, square, and made of dense, dark stone that gave off the distinct impression of being fireproof by necessity, not design. As Riven stepped through the open archway, the air inside shifted.
Warm. Dry. Metallic.
The scent of oiled steel hung thick in the space, mingling with faint traces of charcoal and resin.
Rows of weapons lined the walls — spears, swords, glaives, hooks — all racked in precision, their forms both functional and beautiful.
At a counter near the back, an older man sat cross-legged behind a low slab of obsidian-like stone. His robe was a muted brown, his beard streaked with iron-grey, and his arms… thicker than any elder Riven had seen so far.
The man didn't look up.
Riven lingered a moment, his eyes drifting across the visible weapons. None of them radiated energy, not overtly, but something in their placement, in their balance, made it clear they weren't treated bad still.
"Our forging disciples," the elder said suddenly, now looking up. His voice was rough, but not unkind. "Made those."
Riven glanced at him.
"They train by crafting weapons for the outer sect," the elder continued. "You can usually tell who's talented by how long the weapon lasts before it falls apart."
He finally looked up.
"You're not here for those, are you?"
His eyes scanned the golden tassel signifying Riven's status as a core disciple.
Riven stepped forward and reached into his robe, producing the slim jade token Lumi had given him.
"I'm here for the artifact reward," Riven said, keeping it brief.
The elder was surprised for a second and then took the token without ceremony, gave it a brief glance, and stood in a single, fluid motion that didn't match his age.
"Follow."
He turned and moved through a heavy wooden door set into the side wall. It opened without a sound, revealing a stone hallway dimly lit with crystal sconces. The deeper they went, the colder the air became — not unpleasantly, but enough to remind Riven they were walking beneath a mountain.
Eventually, the elder stopped at a thick iron door etched with faint formation runes.
"Low-grade artifact room," he said, pressing his palm to the sigil on the side. A warm pulse of qi lit the engravings.
Click.
The door opened inward.
"Choose one. Don't touch anything sealed."
He stepped aside to let Riven pass.
Inside, the room was smaller than expected — more vault than display hall. Weapons rested in individual wall cradles, each illuminated by a focused strip of soft light. A quiet pressure hung in the air — the kind that made you instinctively lower your voice and check your step.
Riven's eyes lighted up.
Something tugged faintly at his senses — cold, sharp, and waiting.