[Riven's POV]
The preparation area was a sterile cell disguised as a medical room.
No windows, electronic locks, and a single chair bolted to the floor.
Riven sat alone, still processing the horror of what had happened during the evaluation. The memory of Elena's suffering echoed through his mind, along with the unsettling realization that his projection ability had felt natural once he'd accessed it.
How could something so wrong feel so right?The thought disturbed him more than he wanted to admit.
When I saw her pain, when I felt her fear... part of me understood exactly how to use it. Like muscle memory I never knew I had.
The Guild had known.
They'd known exactly what his system could become, and they'd systematically engineered the conditions to unlock that potential.
Every exercise, every psychological pressure, every moment of isolation.... it had all been designed to shape him into the weapon they wanted.
