As promised, the town guard never followed Riven inside the Passersby Inn.
However, he lingered outside for a few more minutes, quietly observing the building in hopes of getting a better look at the people staying inside.
Hushed whispers
From the second floor, he could hear quiet whispers drifting down toward the street, as several children cautiously peeked through the windows while trying to catch a glimpse of the guard standing below.
However, after studying them for a while, he failed to notice anything particularly unusual.
None of them appeared to be Ascendants.
None of them had green eyes like Riven.
’Hmmm...’
He thought, as he slowly rubbed his chin.
’In most sects, the unascended aren’t even granted official disciple positions, yet this Redpine Sect is sending an entire group of them out on an official mission?’
The thought lingered in his mind for several moments.
’Something about this story ain’t right...’
He concluded, as he eventually shook his head before turning around and disappearing into the busy streets of Stoneville.
What he did not know, however, was that Garron had already noticed his presence from a nearby rooftop, and from that very moment onwards...
The town guard had quietly been marked as a potential threat.
Meanwhile, Riven slowly climbed the stairs leading toward the second floor before carefully pushing open the door to the communal room.
The moment he stepped inside, every conversation came to an abrupt stop.
Nearly every child inside the room turned to look at him with expressions that were anything but welcoming, as within seconds, several of them surrounded him, forming a loose circle as the atmosphere rapidly turned hostile.
"Hey!"
One boy with long golden hair snapped, as he stepped forward and shoved Riven hard in the chest.
"I don’t care if you’re a panther killer! You don’t get to put my life in danger!"
He shouted.
"I’m not going back to being somebody’s slave because you couldn’t follow one simple order!"
Another child immediately stepped forward.
"Where the hell did you run off to?"
He demanded.
"Did you meet some slave trader outside and sell the rest of us off for a share?"
More suspicious voices immediately joined in.
"Why’d you leave?"
"Didn’t Garron tell us not to?"
"Have you completely lost your mind?"
"I... I..."
Riven stammered, as he instinctively searched the crowd for familiar faces, hoping somebody would speak up for him.
Instead...
He found Garsim standing near the very back of the room with both arms folded across his chest.
The look on his face seemed to say only one thing.
’I told you so.’
Standing beside him, Mary and Stacy remained equally silent.
They did not look angry or afraid, just.... Disappointed, as the expression in their eyes seemed to quietly ask him why he had ignored everything Garron had warned them about?
Finally, Riven’s gaze found Dara.
Unlike him, Dara had somehow escaped everyone’s suspicion, as standing near the back of the room, he merely gave Riven a small shrug before silently mouthing two words.
’Don’t sell me out.’
"We asked you a question!"
The golden-haired boy barked once more, stepping forward and shoving Riven in the chest for a second time.
"Where the hell were you?"
Riven lowered his head.
His lips parted slightly.
However, no words came out.
He couldn’t bring himself to tell them the truth.
Yet at the same time...
He couldn’t think of a believable lie either, as his silence only made the room grow even more agitated, causing the circle to slowly shrink in size.
"What happened, eh, boy? Cat got your tongue?"
A mature voice suddenly cut through the growing commotion, as every child inside the room immediately fell silent before instinctively stepping aside to make way for Garron, who slowly walked in with both fists tightly clenched and his head slightly lowered beneath the shadow cast by his damp hair.
Nobody needed to be told what was about to happen, as the fury radiating from the instructor was already enough to make the children quietly part before him until a perfectly clear path remained between Garron and Riven alone.
"Instructor..."
Riven murmured, as his heart nearly leapt into his throat the moment their eyes met.
Lub DubLub Dub
Fear surged through every part of his body.
The expression on Garron’s face left absolutely no room for hope.
As at that moment, Riven knew he was completely fucked.
"So..."
Garron said quietly, as he stopped directly in front of the trembling boy.
"Where were you, boy?"
He asked again, his voice frighteningly calm while his clenched fists trembled ever so slightly.
However, despite his probe, Riven remained completely silent for several moments, as the tension increased severalfold.
"Good answer..."
Garron replied eventually, as he slowly combed back the hair covering his forehead, as he revealed his eyes in full.
"Because it doesn’t matter where you were, or for what reason you left...."
His voice suddenly hardened.
"The moment you walked out of this inn... you became a rule-breaker!"
Before Riven could even react, Garron grabbed him by the wrist, twisted his arm sharply behind his back, and violently spun him around before forcing him down toward the floor, placing tremendous strain upon his shoulder until every muscle in Riven’s arm felt as though it were about to tear apart.
"ARGH!"
Riven screamed in pain, as he could feel the tension in his tendons and ligaments as they barely held together the bone to bone.
However, Garron never eased the pressure.
One...two...ten... twenty.
The seconds continued to pass, as he slowly kept pressing harder and harder until–
SNAP!
A loud noise echoed through the room as Riven’s right shoulder popped clean off its socket.
"ARGHHHHHH!"
Riven screamed in pain, as tears streamed down his eyes, while snot flowed down his nose, however, Garron did not care.
The moment he finished breaking the first shoulder socket, he immediately released Riven’s wrists and began working on the next, as he grabbed Riven’s other arm and repeated the process.
"ARGHHHHHHH, INSTRUCTOR PLEASE.... I MADE A MISTAKE, PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"
Riven pleaded, mustering all the wind he had left in his lungs to make this one plea of mercy.
However, unfortunately for him it seemed to fall on deaf ears, as Garron continued to push his body away from his second arm, as though trying to see what would break first?
The arm, or Riven’s mind from all that pain.