The air had shifted.
Even the wind that once danced lazily across the Training Grounds now held still, waiting—watching.
Riven stood at the edge of the dueling ring, his body calm but coiled with that quiet, smoldering presence. The crowd barely whispered now. No chants. No open calls. Just a thick, anxious silence broken only by the sound of his footsteps as he approached the Monolith again.
The Monolith's glow pulsed gently beneath Riven's fingertips, its surface thrumming with living mana. He pressed his palm flat against the obsidian once more, letting his aura thread through the ancient stone like smoke curling into cracks. For a breathless moment, the air hung still—then the display shimmered to life.
Another heartbeat. Another name.
Rank 39 – Dareth Sirova.
