Riven dressed in fresh clothing, simple and comfortable. He looked at himself in the fogged mirror and saw only vague outline, details hidden by condensation. Better that way. Better not to examine too closely what fear looked like on borrowed features.
He unlocked the bathroom door and stepped back into his chambers. The main room felt safer, more open, less likely to contain walls he might accidentally teleport into.
His legs were still shaking slightly. The residual fear had not entirely dissipated. But beneath it, determination remained. He had survived the integration. Had gained enormous power. Had learned a valuable lesson about the danger of overconfidence.
'I'm stronger now,' Riven thought, flexing his hands and watching the enhanced muscles respond. 'Stronger than yesterday by magnitudes that should require years to achieve. But strength without wisdom is just another path to failure. I need to remember that. I need to let it guide how I approach everything that comes next.'
A knock at his chamber door interrupted his thoughts.
"Young Master?" Esme's voice came from the hallway. "May I enter?"
Riven composed himself quickly, pushing the fear down where it would not show on his face or in his posture.
"Yes, come in."
The door opened and Esme entered, carrying the scroll bound with red ribbon. Her lemon green hair caught the light as she moved into the room. Her hidden face turned toward him and her entire posture shifted, surprise radiating from her movements.
"Young Master," she said slowly, wonder evident in her voice. "You look different. Did something happen?"
Riven glanced at the mirror across the room. Even from this distance he could see the transformation was visible. His more defined physique. His enhanced presence. Something about him had changed enough that even Esme noticed immediately.
'I can't tell her about the system,' he thought, the reasoning automatic. 'Can't explain Primordial Physique or integration or any of it. Need a cover story that makes sense without revealing too much.'
"I've been training," Riven said, keeping his voice casual. "Testing my awakened capabilities. Pushing to understand what my body can do now that my Meridians are open. The Aster is settling into my system and affecting my physical form."
It was not entirely a lie. The Aster was settling. His body was being affected. He just omitted the part where a system granted Trait had fundamentally restructured his biology.
Esme seemed to accept the explanation, her posture relaxing slightly. "You should be careful, Young Master. Newly awakened cultivators often injure themselves by pushing too hard too quickly. Your body needs time to adjust to having Aster flowing through it."
"I'll be careful," Riven promised, meaning it absolutely after his near disaster with Space manipulation.
Esme moved closer, the scroll still clutched in her hands. "Head Steward Tesha gave me this. It's the Aster Contract that binds stewards to Stars. She explained all seven clauses. She said we should review it together and that I should only sign when I'm absolutely certain."
She offered him the scroll. Riven took it, his enhanced fingers registering every detail of the aged material and red ribbon. He untied it and unrolled the document, reading through the clauses with attention that his increased Perception made almost automatic.
Absolute loyalty. Complete confidentiality. Authority to act in his name. Compensation through the bond itself. Willingness to die protecting him. Prohibition against all forms of betrayal. Duration until death claimed one of them.
'This is serious,' Riven thought, absorbing the weight of each clause. 'This ties Esme's entire fate to mine. Makes her responsible for my wellbeing and me responsible for hers. Creates a bond that cannot be broken except through death.'
He looked up at her, at the woman who had served him faithfully even when he had been nothing but the family's disgrace. Who had cried with relief when he accepted her continued service. Who had chosen to bind herself to him despite knowing what the crystal's silence meant to the hostile Elders.
"Are you sure?" Riven asked quietly. "This is for life. There's no going back once we sign. If I fail, if I remain the disgrace in their eyes, your fate is tied to mine. You'll suffer whatever consequences come from being bound to someone the family considers worthless."
Esme's posture straightened immediately. Her hands clasped together in front of her with determination that transcended any doubt.
"I'm certain, Young Master."
She paused, gathering her thoughts.
"Something tells me you're going to change things. That despite what everyone thinks, despite how they dismiss you, you're going to become someone significant. Someone whose name will be remembered. And I want to be there when it happens. I want to serve you as you rise. I want to be the one who stood by you when no one else believed."
The conviction in her voice struck something deep in Riven's chest. Loyalty offered freely rather than demanded. Faith given without evidence beyond what she had observed. Support provided despite every rational reason to walk away.
He rolled the scroll back up carefully and handed it to her. "We'll sign it together. But when the time feels right. When we can acknowledge the weight properly."
Esme nodded, accepting the scroll. "Whenever you're ready, Young Master."
She moved to set it on his desk with reverent care, then turned back. "Is there anything you need? Breakfast? I should prepare something for you after your training."
Riven's stomach reminded him that he had not eaten since waking. The integration had consumed enormous energy. His transformed body needed fuel to sustain the changes.
"Breakfast would be good," he agreed. "And after that, I need time alone. To think. To process everything that's happened."
"Of course, Young Master. I'll bring food immediately and make sure no one disturbs you."
She bowed and left, closing the door softly behind her.
Riven stood in his chambers, looking out at the estate grounds visible through tall windows. The morning sun painted everything in golden light. Somewhere out there were the Elders who had mocked him. Somewhere were his brothers who had set standards he supposedly could not meet. Somewhere was the Patriarch whose judgment he had yet to face directly.
But here, in this room, he had gained power they could not comprehend. Had integrated a Primordial Physique that doubled his capabilities. Had learned that Space affinity was too dangerous to use carelessly. Had nearly killed himself and pulled back just in time.
'I'm stronger now,' Riven thought, his reflection in the window glass showing features marked by determination and residual fear in equal measure. 'But strength alone is not enough. I need wisdom to match it. Need patience to let me develop properly. Need caution to keep me alive long enough to prove what I can become.'
The vow he had made yesterday remained. He would remember every Elder who had insulted him. Would catalog their faces and words and satisfaction in his humiliation. Would climb until he stood above them and could make them understand exactly what their mockery had earned.
But the path to that future required survival. Required growth that did not end in catastrophic failure. Required learning when to push forward and when to pull back.
'One step at a time,' Riven thought, watching morning light spread across the grounds. 'One careful, measured step at a time. Building a foundation that cannot be shaken. Developing capabilities that cannot be countered. Becoming what the Genesis Star promised I could be without killing myself through reckless stupidity along the way.'
Esme returned with breakfast, setting it on the table with practiced efficiency. The food smelled incredible to his enhanced senses. She bowed and retreated, leaving him alone with sustenance his transformed body desperately needed.
Riven ate slowly, savoring each bite, feeling how his enhanced Vitality processed the energy with perfect efficiency. His Perception tracked everything, showed him exactly how his body converted food into fuel that sustained the Primordial Physique's demands.
When he finished, he sat back and let his mind settle. The morning had brought enormous changes. Had granted him advantages and taught him limitations in equal measure. Had shown him both what he could become and what dangers waited if he pushed too far too fast.
The system waited in his consciousness, patient and eternal. The Guide remained accessible whenever he needed information. The Primordial Physique hummed in his biology, permanent transformation that would shape everything that came after.
And somewhere in his awakened affinities, Space manipulation waited like loaded weapon, powerful beyond measure but dangerous to the one who wielded it carelessly.
'I have advantages no one else possesses,' Riven thought, the certainty settling in his enhanced frame. 'Capabilities that transcend normal cultivation. Power that the measurement crystal could not process because it fell so far outside standard parameters.'
'But advantages mean nothing if I'm dead. Power means nothing if I kill myself using it stupidly. I need to be smart. I need to be patient. I need to remember that the goal is not to prove myself immediately but to survive long enough to become what I'm capable of becoming.'
The resolution felt right. Felt like wisdom earned through near disaster rather than abstract theory.
He would grow stronger. Would develop his capabilities methodically. Would climb through Gates and Realms with the system's guidance. Would eventually master Space manipulation when he possessed the experience and control to do so safely.
But today, this morning, after integrating Primordial Physique and nearly teleporting himself into oblivion, he would simply rest. Would let his transformed body stabilize. Would accept that some lessons were learned through fear rather than triumph.
The chamber felt peaceful. The morning stretched ahead without immediate demands. And Riven, sitting in a borrowed body with doubled stats and a pool of sweat still drying on bathroom tiles, allowed himself to simply exist for a moment.
Stronger than yesterday. Wiser than an hour ago. Alive despite his own recklessness.
That was enough progress for one morning.