Chapter 56: A villager?

Hundreds of thoughts exploded in his mind at once as his face turned to cold stone.

“…who is this guy… why is he here…”

“…why is he with Kivara? Is he mocking me by saying… I’m not too bad?… I… is… is he with her… the way he’s holding her!!…”

All these thoughts exploded in his head, colliding to make his head swell. Veins appeared on his head, heavily imprinted on his skull, and his eyes flashed with a chilling intent.

Kivara lightly reached the platform and Riven disengaged quickly, a sheepish smile on his face as he felt embarrassment with the way he clung to her. But it was so sudden.

And the way everyone was looking at him as if he’d committed a crime, especially the boys. Riven felt a touch of killing intent in front of him. It was small, a touch, but it was enough to get his head sharply up and jump back, crouching.

He felt as if someone had slashed a sword at him, but when he looked up, he realized it was Tong. Riven grimaced. “…just what is Kivara starting?…”

Tong was doing his best to keep the killing intent from his eyes, but it was too much, suddenly seeing a man together with Kivara.

Everyone seemed to hold their breath as they waited for what was going to happen next. After all, they all knew how jealous Tong was. Since he couldn’t have her, then nobody else should.

Riven felt a prickle at his neck as the place suddenly got silent. Every eye was on the three of them who were on the center platform.

Tong forced a smile even through his throbbing forehead. He totally ignored Riven. “I didn’t know you were coming back today, Kivara. You sure took your time. Your master was here a long time ago.”

When she heard that, Kivara turned to glare at where her master was sitting, which wasn’t far from the center platform. The man was thin with a small head and big ears. Riven was surprised because, to him, Kivara’s master was below average. How can he be the master of someone like Kivara?

“…but he must be impressive for him to be her master… and he’ll probably be mine too… I’ll know what’s special about him then…” Riven studied the man even more, and when he reached the eyes, he flinched and resisted a gasp.

The man’s eyes were like desert stone that had been scorched by the elements, leaving behind something harsh and hard. The eyes didn’t go with the face and body.

Kivara’s master had the face and body of a random nobody, but his eyes were different.

Before Riven could focus more on that, Kivara huffed and slapped Riven on the back so hard he stumbled forward. “I ran into a little trouble on the way. But look at who I found! A new recruit for the Green Clouds Sect. Although he won’t personally join the sect directly since he’s already in rank two!”

The intensity of the eyes on him sharpened like blades and whispering started.

“A rank two? Join the sect at that rank?”

“Where do you think she found him? She’s been gone for a while. Do you think that guy is her lover?”

“Joining the Green Clouds Sect is likely an excuse so they could remain close to each other. Wow. A love story!”

“Poor Tong. A mere rank two was picked above him.”

“Hush! You don’t know if the guy comes from a powerful sect or clan!”

“Yes! Exactly! Do you think Kivara will just pick anyone? He must be a hidden dragon or a coiling serpent! A genius from a prominent clan or sect.”

Everyone picked their own narrative and ran with it while Riven stood there awkwardly. Out of everything that he expected to happen, he didn’t think there would be one where he was said to be Kivara’s lover. Just what is wrong with those students?

But for Tong, every word was like a nail to the head and his eyes narrowed as he focused entirely on Riven, a small sneer on his lips. He tried to compose himself, but his eyes were like two cold ice. “Kivara, where did you find him? Is a young master from a prominent sect and clan really joining us?”

As he asked the question, he was thinking another sinister thing in his mind. “…how will I get rid of him if he has such powerful backing?…”

Kivara scoffed. “Who? Prominent? No. I found him in one of the villages in the Shadowwood. Their village was destroyed by a monster and I ended up saving him.”

Everyone paused. Including Riven. What?

The silence was broken when they began to laugh.

“He’s a villager from the Shadowwood? I’ve heard those villages are very barbaric and they don’t even know what’s going on outside!”

“So it turns out he’s not even from a clan or sect, not to talk of prominent! How dare he touch our rank one that casually!”

“A toad from nowhere wants to fly with the swan? Such arrogance!”

“He was saved by Kivara and now he’s taking advantage of her?”

Again Riven was baffled by the misunderstanding being spun, and by how quickly they changed their words. Not to talk of how Kivara flipped the story on its head!

Tong was flushed, his face radiated joy. “…yes! I can personally deal with the little bastard… how dare he get close to my Kivara… a mere villager from a nowhere Shadowwood…”

Riven cleared his throat and made his voice firm. He shot Kivara a look and then said, “I am Riven, a rank two practitioner.”

He was facing Tong when he said that because he felt that he was the one the other students were reacting to.

Tong smiled faintly. “Ah. Riven from the Shadowwood. You must have been the brightest one in your village for miles to get to rank two so easily.”

Snickers and giggles spread around at that.

Riven took it in good grace because he really didn’t want to come in conflict with Tong. He must be the number two for a reason, and his fight earlier reminded him of the power gap between them.

Besides, he was sure that Kivara wouldn’t lift a hand in support.

But Tong wasn’t done, because with his next word, it was like a wolf jumping a rabbit.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep