---
The hours passed in silence after the incident.
I couldn't shake the weight of what had happened. The man's face, his last desperate pleas, were etched into my mind like a scar I couldn't erase. It was a lesson Riven had wanted to impart — but it was one I didn't want to learn. Not this way. Not by blood.
---
I hadn't spoken to him since.
I hadn't spoken to anyone.
I simply moved through the motions, existing, but not really living.
---
I had taken a walk in the compound, my mind restless.
The sun had set, casting long shadows across the courtyard. The place felt even colder at night, the air thick with unspoken tension. I hated the way it made me feel like I was suffocating. There was no escape. No way to run.
---
As I walked past the training rooms, I saw a figure standing by the glass wall. It was Riven.
His eyes were fixed on something outside, his posture rigid. There was a darkness about him, a quiet intensity that always made my pulse quicken.
---
I stopped for a moment, unsure whether to approach.
Riven noticed me then, his gaze shifting toward me. There was no warmth in his eyes. Only calculation.
"Did you think about what I said?" he asked, his voice low.
I didn't answer right away.
I didn't know how to.
He hadn't asked me for a direct answer, but I knew what he wanted — what he always wanted.
Obedience.
---
I stepped forward cautiously, keeping my distance.
"What's next?" I asked quietly, unsure whether I was ready for whatever he had planned.
"More training," he replied. "You're not ready yet."
---
I nodded, though I felt the words stinging.
Not ready yet.
Had I ever been ready? Or was I just going to keep pushing forward, pretending I didn't care?
I couldn't answer that. I didn't know what was worse — the training, or the realization that I was changing in ways I couldn't control.
---
The silence between us stretched on, thick and uncomfortable. I had so many questions, so many thoughts swirling in my head, but none of them felt safe to voice. I wasn't allowed to question.
I was just a tool.
A weapon in Riven's hands.
---
After a long pause, he spoke again, his voice cutting through the air like a blade.
"There are things you don't understand yet," he said. "Things you don't need to. But the sooner you accept your place here, the sooner this will be over."
---
I didn't know what to say to that.
I had accepted my place. I had no choice.
But what if there was more to it? What if this wasn't the only path I could walk?
---
"Don't think too hard," Riven continued, his tone growing darker. "Overthinking is a weakness."
---
I had learned that lesson already.
But somewhere in the back of my mind, I couldn't stop myself from thinking.
I couldn't stop myself from feeling.
---
The rest of the evening passed in a blur, training sessions growing more intense with each passing hour.
My body ached, my mind screaming for rest, but I couldn't afford to slow down.
I had to push through. There was no other way.
---
That night, as I lay on the cold bed in my room, I stared at the ceiling, my thoughts racing.
What am I doing here?
Who am I becoming?
---
I turned over, burying my face in the pillow.
But even in the darkness, I couldn't escape the nagging feeling that something was wrong.
Something inside me was shifting.
---
The next morning, Riven was waiting for me outside my room, his expression unreadable as always.
"Today's lesson is different," he said, his voice flat. "You will learn how to manipulate."
---
I blinked, confused.
"Manipulate?" I repeated. "How?"
---
Riven's lips curled into a cold, thin smile.
"By using your mind, your presence. You'll learn how to control people without lifting a finger."
---
I frowned.
Was that really what he wanted me to learn? To control?
I had thought I understood power. But now I was beginning to wonder — was this really about power, or was it about control?
Was there a difference?
---
We moved through the halls, my mind racing with questions I didn't dare voice.
We stopped in front of a large glass room — a kind of observation area.
Through the windows, I could see a man sitting in a chair, shackled at the wrists.
---
Riven's voice broke through my thoughts.
"This is your first lesson in manipulation," he said.
"The mind is the most powerful weapon you have. Once you can control someone's thoughts, their actions will follow."
---
I looked at the man in the room, his eyes flicking nervously toward us.
He looked familiar, but I couldn't place him.
He was sweating, his breaths shallow as if he was waiting for something.
---
Riven stepped forward, his voice lowering to a whisper.
"This man has been a traitor. His actions put us at risk. But instead of physical punishment, we're going to break him mentally."
---
I watched, fascinated and repulsed, as Riven began to speak to the man.
His words were soft, almost soothing, but they carried an undercurrent of threat that was impossible to ignore.
And the man responded. His body tensed, his eyes darting around, his lips moving without sound.
---
Riven's voice grew colder.
"You will tell me what I want to know. You will forget everything else."
---
The man's head jerked back, his face contorting in confusion, but there was no defiance left in him.
It was as if Riven's words had twisted his mind, bending him to his will.
---
I stared at them both, my heart pounding.
I didn't understand how Riven did it.
But I knew one thing: I wasn't sure I wanted to.
---
[End of Chapter 9]
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