"What took you both so long?" The man asked.
"We... ran into something while there," Aria said, glancing at Riven. "Let's come in so we can talk better."
Thorne scrutinized Riven, then ushered them in to sit while Dame returned to his post.
Once they settled, Aria and Kasey took turns in recounting what occurred when Riven found them, prolonging the part where Riven has saved them.
'Are they trying to paint me in a good light before him? Maybe they're trying to convince him to propose for me to stay with them.'
'But that would make no sense. I'm sure they're suspecting me already,' Riven thought.
Through their explanation, Riven got to know that they were sent to scout the previous camp because they caught wind of the beast horde when they'd attacked.
'That makes me wonder, how'd the system know they'd be there? Why did it give me that hint?' Riven mused.
'Seems this system has more secrets than I thought.'
When they finished, Thorne sighed with a smile on his face and turned towards Riven.
"Well, there's nothing I can do better than thanking you. Thank you very much for saving them," Thorne said.
"They're actually our best fighters at this camp," he continued. "That's why we sent them both out on their own with the belief they could handle whatever they came across."
"Ah, its was all just a coincidence I was there. There's no need to thank me that much," Riven replied.
There was a short silence in the room before Thorne spoke up;
"If perhaps you don't have a group you're with, or you're looking for a place to stay for a while, you're welcome to stay with us."
"Err... I don't think I'm..." Riven was cut off.
"Don't worry, it doesn't have to be an immediate decision. You can rest over for the night, then in the morning you can decide whether you want to stay with us or leave," Thorne said.
'Well, I do have to stay to complete my mission so i have to pass the night here anyways,' Riven inferred.
"Okay, I'll pass the night here," Riven answered.
"That's great. Kasey and Aria, you both can sleep here for the night too." Thorne stood up.
"Come on Riven. My room's spacious enough for the both of us, Aria and Kasey know their way around. Let's go."
Riven stood up to follow Thorne to his room. Just as he said, his room was quite big, well enough for them both, and he had more than a bed in the room too.
"You can sleep there," Thorne pointed to a bed. "I'll be going to have a talk with the guards, and I'll be back in soon."
Thorne left Riven alone in the room, and Riven walked to the bed he was supposed to sleep in and lied on it.
'With the way things have turned out, I won't be able to stroll around to find someone to steal their affinity for the first time, and I have to get it done tonight.'
'The only option I have is to steal the Thorne's affinity, but I don't even know his affinity, neither do I know how strong he is,' Riven mused.
'I don't really have a choice. I think I'll just have to do it when he's asleep, hopefully he'll come back in quickly and maybe he's a deep sleeper also.'
'Though I doubt he'd sleep deeply with a stranger in his room.'
Riven decided on his plan and waited for Thorne to come back to the room, which he did quite quickly.
Thorne entered and went straight to lie on the bed, and Riven waited and waited, lying stiff on his back to act like he's asleep before finally deciding to go though with his plan.
After getting up slowly, he tiptoed to Thorne's bedside, trying to be as quiet as possible.
Standing beside Thorne, Riven had his hands outstretched over Thorne's chest.
'Having to put my hand on my target's chest is actually a disadvantage of this skill,' Riven thought, placing his hand on Thorne's chest.
'I wonder what element he has,' Riven accessed the system menu to check the skill when Thorne's eyes snapped open.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
'Oh no,' Riven saw Thorne's palms slowly lighting up. 'Activate! Activate skill!' He screamed internally.
Flames shot out of Thorne's palms, breaking the roof of the house and sending debris everywhere.
"Activate Absorb skill!" Riven panicked.
Screams were heard outside and Riven felt Thorne pushing against his hand, trying to stand up before a ding resounded.
[Skill -Absorb- has been activated]
[Progress- 4/100%]
Thorne suddenly fell stiff on his bed, no longer trying to puck Riven's hand away.
Riven stood shocked as Thorne's body went limp. He managed to move his mouth to ask;
"What are you doing to me?"
Soon, Riven heard knocks in the door.
"Thorne? Riven? What's going on in there?" It was Aria's voice. Riven couldn't respond.
The door was soon forced open and Aria rushed in, followed by Kasey.
"What are you doing to him?" Kasey asked.
"Kasey, Aria. You both promised to help me in any way you can right? You can go back in it now. I'll need your help now," Riven stated while jerking Thorne's body up and putting it front of him like a shield.
"But..." Aria was cut short at people stormed into the room, all lead by the other guard beside Dame when they were entering the camp.
"What? What are you guys doing to Thorne? Aria? I knew it, you guys brought a stranger into the camp to get rid of the leader huh? Why would you do that? I knew there was a reason Dame didn't trust this stranger," the guard screamed.
"No, Brian. Let's explain. We also just.."
"No need for you to explain, we've seen enough evidence. Kill them!" Brian roared.
"Oh no you don't!" Riven stepped forward, holding Thorne's body in front of him.
"If you want your leader alive, you're to let us go. We'll drop him at the edge of the dome and leave with no harm done," Riven said.
"What! Don't generalize this. We have no hand in it. Guys, you all should please believe us," Kasey tried reasoning with them.
"All of this is pointless, the leader can fight by himself, you cannot hold him captive. Now what are you all still waiting for?" Brian asked.
"No..." a weak voice sounded. "Listen to him, let them go," It was Thorne.
"Thorne? But..." Brian wanted to argue but saw the weak Thorne looked in the hands of Riven.
"Fine. Everyone make way for them," Brian ordered, making the agitated crowd part for them.
Riven moved, and Aria and Kasey has to follow to avoid being attached by the angry crowd.
Slowly, they got to the dome with the others behind them and when successfully out Riven stays there staring at them for a few more seconds.
[Progress-100%]
[Earth affinity absorbed]
[Fire affinity absorbed]
'He has two?'
Riven couldn't afford to think too much about this, he dropped Thorne on the ground and turned to Aria and Kasey.
"You both could either follow me or stay here to face their judgement."
He was about to start running into the woods before block of earth slammed into him followed by a ball of cold water that seeped into his body through the pores.
[Warning! Critically low Health]
Crashing into the ground, he looked at Aria and Kasey;
"I saved your lives... You both promised..." he muttered as his consciousness faded into darkness.