(Inside the Castle Gallows, Riven’s POV)
For several long moments after the guard disappeared, Riven remained standing exactly where he was, his chest still rising and falling heavily while blood dripped from his knuckles onto the cold stone beneath his feet.
Only after his heartbeat gradually slowed did he finally lower his gaze towards his own hands, slowly opening and closing his fingers several times as though trying to convince himself that what had just happened was real.
"So..."
He muttered beneath his breath.
"This is what my new body is capable of."
Even now, the outcome of the fight felt almost unbelievable.
Back in Ashfang Village, grown men had always been figures worthy of his fear and respect.
Even the weakest labourer possessed enough strength to effortlessly overpower a child, and against men like Torak or Garron, Riven had never once entertained the thought of resisting.
Yet today, despite fighting with one hand chained to a wall, he had overwhelmed two adult men so completely that neither had managed to land a single meaningful blow upon him.
Granted, both prisoners were clearly weak.
Years of imprisonment had left their bodies thin and unhealthy, while neither of them possessed the physical conditioning of an Ascendant.
Even so...
They had still been grown men.
The realization quietly settled within his mind.
The Section Carving had clearly been extremely successful to the point where he had no precise idea about his own strength.
However, although he knew that he was stronger than the average mortal now, that thought offered him only limited comfort since strength meant little while he remained chained inside another prison.
’Why do I keep finding myself blacked out and chained up again and again?’
Riven wondered, as after enjoying a brief taste of freedom inside the White Castle, he found his current situation extremely miserable once again.
"...Just one month."
He whispered to himself.
"No need to be rattled. This is not permanent...."
He reminded himself to keep his morale high.
Father had sent him here to harden him before the academy.
He had sent him here, because the Duke truly believed that it would bring him benefit, and so Riven trusted that he could only endure it until those thirty days eventually came to an end.
’Prison life can’t be any worse than the life I once had...’
He thought, as with little else to do, he slowly lowered himself against the wall before allowing the last of the adrenaline to leave his body.
---
The hours that followed passed with agonizing slowness, as having nothing else to distract himself with, Riven gradually began observing the rhythm by which the prison operated.
Shortly after midday, several guards pushed heavy carts through the corridor before sliding wooden bowls of thin vegetable stew beneath each cell door without speaking more than a handful of words.
Then later, once every day another guard followed behind carrying large buckets of fresh water, replacing the stale barrels inside each prison cell before immediately moving on to the next.
However, apart from those brief interruptions, the underground prison remained strangely forgotten.
Occasionally a distant scream echoed through the stone corridors.
Sometimes someone laughed uncontrollably for several minutes before abruptly falling silent again.
Elsewhere, prisoners argued with invisible people, cursed the gods, begged to be released, or simply stared blankly towards the ceiling for hours without moving.
The deeper Riven observed them, the more convinced he became that this place had not merely imprisoned criminals.
It had gradually hollowed them out until very little remained besides broken shells wearing human faces.
Some time later, Diddy finally regained consciousness.
The man groaned painfully before instinctively reaching towards his shattered jaw, only to immediately recoil as fresh pain shot across his face.
Across the corridor, Jeffery’s condition appeared little better.
Each breath caused him to wince, while dried blood remained caked around his lips from where several ribs had evidently punctured something inside his chest.
Neither man spoke.
Neither tried to threaten Riven or even looked towards his cell.
Instead, they quietly sat upon the prison floor, occasionally letting out muffled cries whenever they shifted their bodies into a less painful position, as watching them suffer, Riven gradually allowed himself to relax.
’They should have learnt their lesson...’
He thought, as he made the mistake of underestimating them.
---
Meanwhile, across from him, Diddy slowly lowered his hand from his swollen jaw before carefully spitting another mouthful of blood onto the floor.
His tongue drifted over the empty spaces where several teeth had once been.
The memory of being thrown around like a rag doll replayed itself again and again inside his mind, as humiliation burned far more fiercely in his mind than the pain.
Very slowly, making certain none of the guards were paying attention, he reached beneath a loose stone near the corner of his cell.
His fingers found what they had hidden there months earlier.
A narrow piece of sharpened metal that was barely longer than his palm, yet more than sufficient to slide between a person’s ribs.
As without making the slightest sound, Diddy slipped the crude shiv into the sleeve of his tattered clothing before once again leaning against the wall as though nothing had happened.
---
As evening approached, footsteps once again echoed throughout the corridor.
"Yard time."
One of the guards barked lazily while unlocking the rows of cells one after another.
When he finally reached Riven, the heavy shackle fastening his wrist to the wall was removed for the very first time since he had awakened inside the prison.
"Move."
The guard ordered.
Riven quietly rubbed his sore wrist before cautiously stepping out into the corridor.
Although uncertainty still lingered inside his heart, simply walking more than a single pace without the chain restraining him felt strangely liberating.
Behind him, Diddy quietly emerged from his own cell.
His swollen face betrayed no emotion whatsoever as he pretended to be scared and actively avoided making eye contact with Riven.
And yet, once Riven had turned the corner and disappeared from sight, the corners of his lips slowly curled into a crooked smile as his fingers brushed against the hidden shiv concealed inside his sleeve.
"You will pay for breaking my teeth.... You little cocksucker!"
He muttered vengefully, as he slowly limped his way out behind Riven.