Riven's apartment sat at the edge of the lower district, above a repair shop that never seemed to close. The staircase leading up to it smelled faintly of oil and metal, and the railing shifted slightly if too much weight leaned on it.
The room itself was small but functional.
A narrow bed against the wall. A metal table with a few scattered items—gloves, a worn utility knife, a half-used roll of binding tape. His clothes rested neatly folded in a corner, roughed up from years of use but anyone can tell that they were well maintained.
Riven stepped inside, shut the door, and dropped the bag onto the table.
The place was quiet.
He preferred it that way.
He took off his jacket and sat down, resting his arms on his knees for a moment before leaning back. The events of the day ran through his head, not in detail, just enough to keep track of where things stood.
The stone was no longer with him.
Daris had taken it.
"That's done," he thought.
For now, there was nothing else to do about it.
Riven stood up and crossed the room, pulling open a small drawer near the bed. Inside were a few neatly folded notes and a thin device used for encrypted money transfers which had become a norm in these chaotic days. He picked it up, checked the balance, and sent a portion out.
Not a large amount.
Just enough.
He put the device back without lingering.
No message followed it.
Riven grabbed his gloves from the table and adjusted the fit around his fingers. The worn material had molded to his grip over time, the seams stretched just enough to move without resistance.
His skills weren't suited for direct combat.
That had been clear early on.
[Skill: Shadow Veil]
[Tier: E]
[Skill: Burst Step]
[Tier: F]
No offensive edge. No finishing power.
He could move quietly. He could move quickly, in short bursts.
That was it.
It wasn't enough to join assault teams. Not the ones that mattered. They needed damage, control, something that could break through resistance. Riven had tried once, early on. The result had been predictable.
He didn't try again.
Scavenging paid less, but it didn't depend on strength.
It depended on timing and a knack for knowing where to find what you needed. They were like the unofficial clean-up crew who went in after the assault team was done with a dungeon and looted everything obvious.
Riven picked up his bag again, checking the contents out of habit. Empty stones. Basic tools. Nothing unnecessary.
He set it back down.
The next run wouldn't be until morning.
For now, there was nothing to prepare.
He turned off the light and lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling for a while before closing his eyes.
The exchange didn't take long.
Daris moved through the inner section of the district with the same easy pace he carried everywhere else, stopping only when he reached a building set slightly apart from the rest. No sign outside, no indication of what it handled.
Inside, the lighting was softer, controlled. Conversations stayed low, measured.
The buyer was already there.
Young. Well-dressed. Sitting with one leg crossed over the other, idly turning a stone between his fingers. He didn't look like he needed anything in the room.
Which meant he was exactly the kind of person who bought things out of interest, not necessity.
Daris stepped in and took the seat across from him.
"You said you had something unusual," the buyer said, not looking up immediately.
Daris didn't say anything and just took the stone out of his coat pocket.
The stone was placed on the table between them.
The system activated.
[Skill: Adaptive Grip]
[Tier: E]
[Status: Stored]
The buyer's attention sharpened slightly.
"Adaptive Grip?" he said, finally looking up with a collector's twinkle in his eye. "I don't recall seeing this one."
"Most people haven't," Daris said.
The buyer picked it up, turning it in the light.
"Variant?" he asked.
"Something along those lines."
The buyer studied the display for a few seconds longer, then leaned back slightly.
"I can't get it verified officially," he said trying to set the price even before it was quoted. "That usually complicates things."
"Oh it definitely will," Daris agreed casually like he expected this. "Or it can make them much more interesting."
A small smile formed on the buyer's face.
"That depends on the price."
"Nine thousand," Daris knew exactly what his regular buyer was looking for and that this is exactly the kind of thing he couldn't resist.
The buyer didn't react immediately. He looked at the stone again, then back at Daris.
"High for an E-tier."
"Low for something you won't find twice," Daris replied.
The buyer held his gaze for a moment, then let out a quiet breath.
"You're confident."
"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't."
Silence stretched briefly between them.
Then the buyer nodded once.
"Fine."
The transfer was completed without further discussion.
The stone changed hands.
Daris stood, adjusting his sleeve slightly. "Pleasure doing business."
"Likewise," the buyer said, already looking back at the stone.
The analyst's workspace was quiet.
Not empty—just controlled. Tools arranged with purpose, surfaces clean, lighting focused where it needed to. Nothing unnecessary.
The buyer placed the stone on the table.
"I want a proper evaluation," he said. "Not just surface-level."
The figure across from him didn't respond immediately.
He picked up the stone, the system display appearing in front of him.
[Skill: Adaptive Grip]
[Tier: E]
[Status: Stored]
His pupils dilated a little as he kept staring at the stone for a while.
Then he turned the stone slightly, watching the internal structure shift.
Silence stretched.
The buyer leaned back in his seat. "Well?"
"It's a rare variant," the analyst said finally. "You didn't overpay."
"That's it?" the buyer asked. "You're usually more specific."
The analyst set the stone down.
"This isn't something that comes with a clean classification," he said. "It functions within expected parameters, but the structure isn't standard."
The buyer smiled faintly. "So I got something interesting."
"Yes."
"That's enough."
The buyer stood, taking the stone back without hesitation.
"I'll keep an eye out for more like it," he said.
"You should," the analyst replied.
The door closed behind him, leaving the room quiet again.
The analyst remained where he was for a moment, his gaze resting on the empty space where the stone had been. He hadn't given his client his full analysis about the anomaly he just saw.
The structure had been clean.
Too clean for something unrecorded. The more stable the skills are, the more they show up in dungeons compared to their counterparts in the same ranks. The fact that he hadn't seen a skill this stable before even though it was a low-rank made him wonder about it's origins.
He reached for a nearby device, pausing just before activating it, then setting it back down instead.
No immediate action was taken.
For now, there wasn't enough to justify it.
But the pattern, or lack of one, stayed in his mind a moment longer before he moved on.