CHAPTER 250: FROZEN FISH

Riven got up from the floor and sat at the edge of the bed, he stared at the ground.

"So those red crystal monsters are beings from the other world that work with the devils," he said.

"Seems so, or that’s what the vision showed at least," Twilight replied.

"Then our best course of action from now would be to hunt through dungeons until we get the answers," Riven said.

"You should check when your next trial will be, that’s the only way you can get clearer information about it," Twilight said.

"Yeah, that’s true," Riven said.

[Riven Von Grave – Status Screen]

[Level: 23]

[Class: Flaming Sword Master]

[Title: Disciple of the Sword, The One Loved by Chaos, Apprentice Blacksmith]

[Race: Human]

[Affinities: Blood, Fire, Hellfire]

[Mana: 3320]

[Second Circle Battle Mage]

[Strength: 35]

[Agility: 35]

[Endurance: 31]

[Intelligence: 24]

[Willpower: 23]

[Perception: 22]

[Charisma: 23]

[46 free stat points]

[Next trial in 365 days]

Riven looked at the time and was stunned, it would take a full year for him to get to the next trial.

"I guess we can take our minds off anything that has to do with the trial for now," Twilight said.

"Yeah, I think I’ll do what the queen said, start handling the smaller issues and leave the larger ones for now," he said and got up. He looked at the bed, and the book was there again, but this time rather than one skill alone, Riven saw two things written in the book.

His eyes lit up because he might have come into something that could actually be of use to him and increase his battle power even more.

[Flame Spirit: Summon a being made of flames to fight for you. Its presence increases all flame attacks by double and increases personal resistance to flame attacks by fifty percent.]

[Blood Threads: Create fine and nearly indestructible threads of blood that can be used to slice and trap enemies.]

Riven’s eyes lit up when he read the two. They weren’t just any type of abilities, they were special from the looks of it, because he could already see the destructive potential they had.

He felt eager to try them out, but now wasn’t the time, so he held back. Tonight he would sleep, and then tomorrow he would have the opportunity to test them out.

The moment his back hit the bed, he drifted into sleep.

[System Major Upgrade happening, duration: four hours]

While he slept, something started happening. Twilight saw it and wanted to wake Riven up, but no matter how she tried, something blocked their connection.

So she watched, hoping that whatever was happening wouldn’t harm him. A strange energy encircled his body, twisting around him like a vortex, while his body floated in the air.

It lasted for a full four hours, and then his body dropped back onto the bed. Twilight watched, hoping nothing had happened to Riven.

The sun came up a few hours later, and Riven woke up. His eyes fluttered open, and right away he could tell something was different.

[Congratulations on upgrading your system, master.]

A voice reached his ears, and then a screen popped up. Riven was shocked, he looked at the screen with wide eyes.

"Twilight, was it you that spoke just now?" he asked.

"Sure, the voice was female, but did that sound like me?" Twilight asked.

"No, then what’s happening?"

[After your third trial, the system was set for major upgrade to enable master to continue his growth,] the system said.

"So this is the upgrade? You got a voice?" Riven asked.

[The voice is the least of the system’s changes. There is more, but before that, a message was sent to you, master. It came from Frozen Fish.]

The moment Riven heard that name, his attention was pulled, he looked at the system screen eagerly.

"What’s the message?" he asked.

[Loading message now, master.]

The screen suddenly changed, showing a video. A man sat down on a wooden chair inside a completely white place.

He wore a black cloak, and though his face wasn’t covered, there was some sort of black distortion around it, and Riven couldn’t see the person’s features.

"Riven Grave, an extra character built for death and to be wasted at the side," the man spoke, his voice distorted and twisted.

"Luke, the random kid that has a shattered life, seeking validation because no one ever told him ’good job’ aside from his mum, and even she was killed."

"Two figures that had issues, that’s what you are," he said as he pointed, his hand distorted by the darkness as well.

"When I wrote the character of Riven, I had nothing in mind. I just wrote a delinquent that didn’t listen to his parents and did what he wanted.

I wrote him to be someone that was simply a nuisance, and his family ignored him," Frozen Fish said.

"Wait, what the hell do you mean you wrote him to be ignored? Riven was hated, not ignored, everyone despised him," Riven said, then he stopped, remembering that this was a recording, but then Frozen Fish responded.

"Oh yes, he was supposed to be ignored, that was all. Riven was not an important extra, he was nothing to the story, a side thought, a random name thrown in.

The main reason that the Grave family was written by me wasn’t because of Riven or anyone else, it was because of Noel.

He was a main character, a pivotal figure to the world that you are in. Riven wasn’t to be hated, he was meant to be ignored.

Then one day I had a funny thought, and I decided to make you the fiancé of three Duke’s daughters. Crazy, right? Hahahah, it was a funny thing to do.

After I did that, I realized I needed a reason, so I made up something linked to your grandfather. It wasn’t meant to be anything.

Well, it wasn’t, up until the moment that you, Luke, got transferred into the body of Riven. That was what changed everything."