Riven froze.
Inside the room — barely visible through the cracked door — something moved.
Not a man.
Not the elder brother he'd expected.
A beast.
Broad shoulders hunched beneath mottled white fur, rippling with lean, silent strength. Its back rose and fell in slow, heavy breaths, each exhale a low rasp. Muscles bunched beneath the skin like coiled steel. Its long, thick tail twitched once against the tatami floor.
It sat with its back to the door, hunched over something — a scroll, maybe.
What the —
He blinked.
Did he see that correctly?
He took another peek.
Yep.
Snow leopard.
Still there.
Ever so slowly he inched back.
One more step and he'd run.
He didn't want anything to do with this.
That's when it happened.
Crunch.
A dried leaf under his heel.
Of course.
The massive creature inside stopped breathing for half a second.
Its ears pricked sharply.
The long tail stilled.
Riven's soul left his body.
Slowly—horrifyingly slowly—the snow leopard turned its head toward the door. Pale blue eyes, unsettlingly human in their clarity, met his own.
Riven froze like someone had poured ice down his spine.
Shit.
He braced to run—jump the railing, roll down the hillside, anything—when—
"Riven?"
The beast spoke.
In Vaern's exact voice.
Calm. Mildly annoyed.
"…you're early," the snow leopard continued, blinking at him. "Come in."
Riven's mouth opened.
Closed.
Opened.
Nothing came out.
Because the snow leopard was still looking at him like he was the weird one here.
Another second passed.
Then the beast exhaled a low, rumbling sigh, stood, and stretched.
And as it moved—qi flickered.
The fur rippled, tightening back into skin.
Muscles shifted shape.
The tail dissolved into thin motes of light.
Bones rearranged with soft cracks that should've been horrifying but were, somehow, weirdly casual.
And there he was.
Vaern.
Except he was naked.
"Oh. My bad."
Vaern turned around without urgency and grabbed a pair of pants from a nearby stool. Tugged them on one-handed while brushing his hair back with the other.
Riven still hadn't moved.
Still hadn't blinked.
He finally managed a noise.
"…What the hell was that."
Vaern finished adjusting his belt and turned to face him, now halfway decent.
"That," he said, pointing a thumb at the space he'd previously occupied as a snow leopard, "was my divine ability."
Riven stared.
Vaern crossed the room, picked up the scroll from earlier — now clearly filled with cultivation diagrams — and set it aside.
"One of the reasons I called you here," he added, tone almost casual now. "It's something you should know about."
Riven blinked. "Your… divine ability is turning into a cat?"
A vein seemed to pop.
"A snow leopard," Vaern corrected.
"Yes." Riven pinched the bridge of his nose.
Vaern ignored him. "Anyway. You already know, that I'm what's called a half-beast. Beast bloodline runs in my family. When someone with that kind of bloodline reaches certain levels of attunement with their bloodline heritage, it… reacts."
He tapped two fingers against his chest.
"And when it reacts, sometimes it awakens a divine ability. Mine's called 'Beast Form.' It lets me shift into the full form of the beast I'm descended from."
Riven was silent for a beat.
He had a divine ability too.
Only his gave him a burst of speed instead of transforming him.
Extreme Speed.
"Is it always the same kind of divine ability?"
"No." Vaern answered. "It is a random ability. In most cases it is somehow connected to your bloodline, but in some rare cases it is something completely different, probably due to you having introduced something else to your blood."
Riven's mind flickered.
Vaern leaned back slightly, arms folding across his chest.
"Now that you're here, I want to teach you how to increase your affinity and unlock your own divine ability."
Riven didn't say anything.
Didn't need to. He knew Vaern would explain anyway.
And he did.
"As someone with beast blood, you should be able to visualize your own blood cells," Vaern said. "Not now. But later — during meditation. Let your focus sink deeper. You'll see it."
He tapped two fingers against his temple.
"It won't look like a medical diagram. It's more like… your blood will glow in places. And if you look closely, you'll notice something strange. Colored spots on the cells."
Riven raised an eyebrow. "Spots?"
"Tiny. Subtle. But they're there. The color depends on your bloodline — for me, it's pale blue. For you? Could be anything."
He lowered his hand.
"Those colored spots represent your beast affinity. The more of your blood that's marked, the more in tune you are with your bloodline. That's how we measure it."
Riven nodded once. "Tiers?"
"Exactly."
Vaern lifted a finger.
"If less than twenty-five percent of your blood is marked, you're Stage One. That's the base level."
He raised a second finger.
"Twenty-five to fifty percent is Stage Two. That's when you unlock your first divine ability."
Riven stayed quiet, jaw tightening slightly.
Already there then.
Vaern didn't notice.
"And that's how it goes on."
He let that sink in.
"Oh," he added, rubbing the back of his neck, "I did hear of some bloodlines that awaken a divine ability at Stage One. Super rare. Usually tied to noble or ancient lines. But if you're like me, that won't affect you."
Riven folded his arms loosely.
His mind was already turning.
Was he already in Stage Two?
Or was his bloodline that rare?
He wasn't sure.
But he'd find out later.
Vaern cracked his neck, voice leveling out.
"Anyway, once you reach Verdance… try to see if you can get your hands on a beast core. One that matches your bloodline's element."
Riven blinked. "Beast core?"
Vaern nodded. "Right. Beasts — once they reach the feral stage or above — have a chance to condense a core. It's not guaranteed, especially in the lower ranks, but it happens."
He held up a hand, thumb and finger framing a small circle.
"Cores hold essence. Qi. A fragment of the beast's nature. If you absorb one that resonates with your bloodline, it'll strengthen it. Help push your affinity forward."
He paused, eyes narrowing slightly.
"Problem is, the lower the beast rank, the lower the chance a core even forms. And the lower the purity."
Riven stared at him for a moment.
Then his mind flashed — unbidden — back to the forest.
To that Sharpclaw Mantis.
Shit.
Riven had barely finished processing when Vaern stepped back and crossed his arms.
"Alright. That's enough bloodline theory for one day."
Riven raised an eyebrow. "You're kicking me out already?"
"Not quite." Vaern jerked his chin toward the low table at the center of the room. "Sit. We've got something more important to handle."
More important?
Riven hesitated, then followed him over.
Vaern dropped down onto a cushion, reached for a brush and a fresh sheet of paper.
"You've got a cultivation method, martial skills you haven't trained properly, bloodline to worry about, and god-knows-what else tucked up your sleeve…" He met Riven's eyes.
Riven said nothing.
Vaern gave him a flat look. "Before you throw yourself into another fight, there's something very important we need to do first."