Riven and Esme had finally gotten to his room, the exquisite chamber with its painted constellations and silk curtains feeling more welcoming than ever after the intensity of the awakening ceremony. His borrowed body was exhausted, not just physically but mentally, emotionally. The weight of everything that had occurred pressing down like atmosphere.
Esme immediately began fussing over him, helping him out of the elaborate ceremonial attire with careful hands, folding each piece with reverence. Then she dressed him in simpler clothing, soft fabrics meant for rest rather than display.
"Young Master, please sit," she gestured toward one of the plush chairs near the window. "I'll bring you something to eat. You must be hungry after everything."
She disappeared briefly and returned with a tray laden with snacks. Dried fruits and cheese and small pastries. Simple foods that tasted impossibly good after hours of ceremony and stress.
He ate slowly while Esme busied herself around the room. Finally she settled into a chair across from him.
"Young Master," she said quietly, "I know today was difficult. More difficult than it should have been. But I want you to know that I'm proud you awakened. Regardless of what the crystal showed or didn't show. You opened your Meridians. That matters."
Riven nodded, not trusting himself to speak without revealing the bitterness churning in his chest.
"I should let you rest," Esme said, standing. "You've had an exhausting day. I'll be nearby if you need anything."
"Thank you, Esme," Riven managed. "For everything."
She bowed and moved toward the door, then paused. "Young Master, whatever they said in that chamber, whatever they think about the measurement, you are awakened. You have Aster flowing through you. Don't let their words diminish that achievement."
With that, she left, the door closing softly behind her.
The moment he was alone, the careful composure Riven had maintained throughout the day cracked.
His hands clenched into fists. His jaw tightened. The memories of the Awakening Chamber flooded back with crystalline clarity, each insult, each sneer, each moment of humiliation playing in his mind like scenes from a nightmare he could not escape.
He remembered their faces. Every single one of them.
The Elder with grey streaked violet hair who had first declared the crystal must be faulty. Who had spoken with such certainty that Riven's standards were too low for the system to register. That sneering confidence, that barely concealed satisfaction.
'I'll remember you,' Riven thought, his internal voice cold. 'Every word you spoke. Every implication you made.'
He remembered the Grand Elder who had questioned how the probability could be so unlikely. Who had implied that Riven's failure to awaken twice made this result inevitable. The dismissive tone, the academic detachment that treated his humiliation as interesting statistical anomaly.
'You too. I'll remember.'
The one who had suggested his talent was so minimal the measurement system could not even register it. Who had coined the phrase "awakened disgrace" with such creative cruelty. The delight in that voice, the pleasure taken in his suffering.
'Especially you.'
He remembered the Elder who had recounted Kieran's gold talent with reverent detail. Who had emphasized how the First Star's measurement had been instant, brilliant, filling the entire chamber. The comparison deliberately designed to highlight Riven's inadequacy.
'Every. Single. One.'
The litany of his brothers' achievements. Seth, Thane, Rein with their exceptional silver. Kameron and Ariel with their respectable violet. Six talented sons who had proven their worth immediately. And then the seventh, who had awakened with fanfare only to demonstrate profound inadequacy.
'You listed my failures like inventory. Catalogued my worthlessness with such precision. I won't forget that.'
The Elder who had suggested it would have been better if he had not awakened at all. That remaining powerless would have been preferable to awakening and revealing such profound lack of capability. That casual cruelty, that willingness to wish him continued failure.
'Your face is burned into my memory.'
The final verdict, delivered with such satisfaction. "Good for nothing. An awakened cultivator so weak that measurement systems cannot even detect his existence."
The words echoed in his mind, each syllable a brand, a mark, a wound that would not heal until he had proven every single one of them catastrophically wrong.
'You called me good for nothing,' Riven thought, his borrowed body trembling with suppressed rage. 'You insulted me in the chamber meant to celebrate my awakening. You took my moment of achievement and turned it into humiliation. You laughed at my failure when you should have witnessed my triumph.'
His blue eyes stared at nothing, seeing only the faces of those who had mocked him. The hostile Elders who had found vindication in the crystal's silence. The disappointed ones who had expected more. Even the neutral ones who had watched without intervening, who had allowed the insults to flow unchecked.
'I will make you pay,' he thought, the promise forming with absolute clarity. 'Every single one of you who spoke against me today. Who insulted the Patriarch's son in that sacred chamber. Who thought yourselves safe because I appeared worthless.'
He stood abruptly, moving to the window, staring out at the estate grounds bathed in moonlight. Somewhere out there, those Elders were probably celebrating his failure. Spreading word of the Seventh Star's continued inadequacy. Laughing about the dramatic awakening that had produced nothing measurable.
'Let them laugh,' Riven thought, cold determination settling over him like armor. 'Let them celebrate and spread their stories and feel satisfied with their cruelty. Because I will remember. I will catalog every insult, every sneer, every moment of satisfaction they took in my humiliation.'
'And when I stand above them, when I prove that the crystal's silence meant something far different than they assumed, when I demonstrate power that makes their achievements look like children playing with toys, I will remind them. I will make sure they understand exactly what they did. Who they insulted. What they denied.'
The shard had promised power to stand above the pinnacle of the cosmos. Maybe that promise was genuine. Maybe the crystal's failure to respond indicated something the Elders could not comprehend. Maybe Tesha's interpretation about falling outside measurement parameters was correct.
Or maybe he was worthless and grasping at hope to make humiliation bearable.
Either way, he would remember. Would carry the memory of this day, of their words, of their faces, until he had opportunity to respond in kind.
'You made an enemy today,' Riven thought, his reflection in the window glass showing borrowed face marked by determination that transcended simple anger. 'You made an enemy of someone who has already died once and learned that some things are worse than death. Someone who jumped off a bridge rather than accept chains. Someone who will not forgive insults delivered when he was vulnerable.'
'I am Riven Astravar. The Seventh Star. The one you called good for nothing. The one you dismissed as awakened disgrace. And I will make you regret every word you spoke in that chamber.'
The vow settled into his bones, became part of him alongside the Aster flowing through his Meridians, this was not just anger or wounded pride, this was promise, commitment, goal that would drive him forward when everything else failed.
He would awaken his full potential. Would master cultivation in ways they could not imagine. Would climb through Gates and Realms until their accomplishments seemed trivial by comparison. Would demonstrate capability so overwhelming that the crystal's silence became proof of transcendence rather than failure.
And then, when he stood above them, when they could no longer dismiss or insult or mock, he would remind them of this day. Would make sure they understood exactly what their cruelty had earned them.
'Revenge is a dish best served cold,' Riven thought, the phrase from his previous life taking on new meaning. 'And I have all the time in the world to let it freeze.'
His hands unclenched gradually, the white knuckled fury easing into something colder, more controlled, more dangerous. Rage that burned hot consumed itself quickly. Rage that turned to ice lasted forever, waiting patiently for the perfect moment to strike.
He moved away from the window, his exhaustion returning now that the immediate fury had been channeled into productive vow. But beneath the tiredness, beneath the humiliation and confusion about the crystal's silence, determination burned like banked coal, ready to flare into inferno when given fuel.
'Tomorrow brings the Shadow selection,' he thought, remembering Tesha's words. 'New responsibilities. New challenges. But also new opportunities. Every day I grow stronger is a day closer to proving them all wrong. Every advancement I make is another step toward the moment when I remind them what they said.'