The woman from the Glass Corridor had found him.
She stopped a short distance away, eyes fixed on Riven with the same steady focus she had carried inside the dungeon. Up close, there was no sign of panic, grief, or the kind of anger careless people wore openly. Whatever she felt had already been sorted, filed away, and brought here only if useful.
Her two men spread out without being told. One remained near the gate. The other moved a few steps toward the office ruins, giving Garron a long look before deciding the larger man was either harmless or not worth solving first.
Both judgments were questionable.
Riven let his breathing settle.
His body was tired from training, his head still carrying the dull pressure Prism Shift liked to leave behind, but none of that needed to be visible.
Garron leaned back on the broken desk, cigarette in hand, looking deeply satisfied with the turn his afternoon had taken.
"Well," he said, "now this feels like a proper business arrangement."
"No one asked you," the woman replied.
"People say that often. It never seems to matter."
She ignored him and returned her attention to Riven.
"You left quickly."
"You took longer than expected."
A faint shift touched one corner of Garron's mouth.
The woman did not smile.
"My name is Selene."
"Good to know."
"You know who I am already."
"I know enough."
She accepted that answer with a small nod.
Then she said, plainly and without drama, "I watched you kill one of my men."
The yard went quiet.
Even the city noise beyond the walls seemed farther away for a moment.
Riven met her gaze.
"You watched him rush a trap room."
"I watched you turn his mistake into a grave."
"I seem to remember him trying to shove a blade into me."
"I guess he did."
There was no denial in her tone, no attempt to paint the dead man nobler than he had been.
"That was Taren," she continued. "Strong, impatient, and too certain that strength solved every problem. I told him to slow down twice before we entered that chamber."
"And he ignored you." Riven said but it didn't sound like mocking.
"He was also dumb."
Riven said nothing.
Selene took another step forward, stopping near one of the puddles he had been using to train.
"I didn't come here for revenge," she said. "If I wanted revenge, I wouldn't have brought conversation."
The man by the gate looked mildly disappointed. The older one near the office ruins looked unsurprised.
Riven glanced between them. "Then why come at all?"
"Because you might become useful."
He almost laughed.
"That sounds troublesome."
"Why do people always assume that?" She sighed and gestured lightly toward the yard.
"You took a chamber reward in front of three witnesses, escaped with a rare movement skill, and then started practicing in a rented lot people already talk about. Men with money are asking who you are. Men without money are asking how to profit from you. Both groups become irritating."
Garron lifted a finger. "My lot has become fashionable."
"Your lot smells like rust and bad decisions," Selene said.
"And yet fully booked."
Riven rubbed at the side of his jaw.
"You tracked me down to warn me?"
"I tracked you down to judge whether warning you would be wasted effort."
"And?"
She looked at the scattered steel panels, the puddles, the polished scrap he had arranged for training.
"You came here the morning after acquiring a new skill and started drilling fundamentals until your legs shook. That tells me more than most conversations."
Riven did not know whether that was praise. He suspected it wasn't meant as any kind of gift.
The younger man near the gate spoke first, voice edged with old irritation.
"We could have taken him in the corridor if Taren hadn't rushed."
Selene turned her head slightly.
"We could have left with three people if Taren had listened."
The rebuke landed cleanly. The man fell silent.
Riven filed that away. She did not defend her people blindly. He wasn't sure if it was good or bad but it seemed to work in his favor for now.
"What exactly do you want?" he asked.
"Two things," she said. "First, understand that people are looking. Some will be polite. Some won't. If they ask about your skill, they are asking what price to put on you."
"And second?"
"If you plan to keep growing, stop doing it alone."
Riven's eyes narrowed.
"Did you come here to recruit me?"
"Well, you were the reason a spot opened up in our squad" she paused. "And you don't seem like you'll be dead weight either."
"You really need to work on your people skills." He said with a doubtful look on his face.
This time, very briefly, she smiled.
"I've been told that before." She replied without really considering it.
She folded her arms.
"You don't need a team right away but you do need information, contacts, and somewhere safer than this yard when attention rises."
Garron looked offended. "This yard is extremely safe."
"You rented it to him yesterday and exposed him today."
"That's networking."
The older man near the ruins coughed into one hand to hide what was clearly amusement.
Riven looked back at Selene.
"And why would you care whether I stay alone?"
"Because lone men with talent either get swallowed or become problems. Sometimes both. I prefer to know which kind I'm dealing with before you decide to show up on my routes again."
There it was, not kindness.
Practical self-interest.
Much easier to trust.
Riven considered her words for a while.
Joining people meant chains. Refusing everyone meant standing in open ground forever.
Neither appealed to him.
"I'm not joining anyone," he said at last.
"I didn't ask for an oath."
"I'm also not taking orders."
"I noticed."
He almost smiled despite himself.
Selene let the silence breathe before continuing.
"Then take this for what it is. When someone comes offering easy money for a skill test, refuse. When someone acts friendly too quickly, assume they were sent."
"That sounds like a cheerful way to live."
"It is if you want to keep living."
She turned to leave, then paused.
"One more thing."
Riven waited.
"The next time we meet in a dungeon, if one of mine rushes you foolishly, I'll still blame them first."
She glanced back over her shoulder.
"But if you exploit us again, you won't escape a second time."
Then she walked toward the gate.
Her men followed without argument.
When they were gone, the metal gate scraped shut behind them.
Riven stood still for a moment, replaying the conversation.
Garron dropped from the desk and wandered over, hands in his coat pockets.
"I like her," he said. "Reasonable eyes. Violent posture. Good balance."
"You like everyone who complicates my day."
"That is not true," Garron said. "My intentions are always pure."
Riven ignored him.
Garron looked over the training field, then at the sweat on Riven's shirt and the tightness in his stance.
"She was right about one part."
"I'm sure you're about to tell me."
"You need more than skills now."
Riven frowned. "Meaning?"
Garron's tone lost some of its usual humor.
"Power gets noticed. Notoriety gets hunted. Men survive the gap between those two with allies, leverage, or money."
He nodded toward the gate Selene had exited through.
"You have none of them yet."
Riven looked at the reflective scrap spread across the yard.
For the first time since gaining Prism Shift, the problem in front of him felt larger than mastering the skill itself.
He was improving fast.
But trouble always seemed to be faster. He had to start planning right away.
He had spent years learning how to survive this city, now he would learn how to own a piece of it.