Riven

Was LeBlanc the one?

Ato pieced together the events of the past.

Fifteen hundred years ago, LeBlanc had followed Mordekaiser. The Immortal Fortress had been built by Mordekaiser, and Noxus had been founded atop it.

"Every Noxian emperor over the past thousand years was probably that old woman's puppet..."

"Yikes. Better stay out of this... Maybe only Jericho Swain can keep her in check."

Hearing the commotion, the coachman looked back and asked, "Sir, is something wrong?"

Ato waved a hand. "Nothing. Are we close to the Recruitment Office?"

The coachman smiled. "Still a ways to go. We've only just reached the edge of the capital."

With that, the carriage turned onto a narrower road.

"Why aren't we taking the main road?"

Ato grew wary. Scenes from the novels he'd read in his past life came to mind: the protagonist arrived somewhere new, took some form of transport, then got led into a dark alley and walked straight into a prepared trap.

"Heh, that's just how things are done in the capital," the coachman explained. "It didn't used to be like this, but five years ago, the empire bought a lot of four-wheeled motor vehicles from a city in the south called Piltover or something. Things have been like this ever since."

"Those four-wheelers are strange. They don't need horses to move! I still can't figure out how they work."

"With carriages like ours, horses aren't people, after all. You never know when they'll leave something on the road and get in the way of the four-wheelers, so the empire ruled that carriages can only use the side streets..."

"..." Ato almost failed to keep his expression composed.

Piltover's technology had advanced this far? They could even make cars? How much had he missed?

He probed, "The four-wheelers sound more convenient, and they even have the empire's support, but I still see plenty of people riding in carriages."

The coachman said with some relief, "That's right. It's a good thing not everyone can afford those cars, or I'd be out of work. And this is the capital! Even here, only a few can afford them. Only nobles and wealthy merchants buy them! Once you leave the capital, you won't see a single one!"

Just as he'd expected. At the start, every new industrial product came with a very unappealing price tag...

Ato gave a brief reply, then fell silent.

Sometimes he felt like there was a stark contrast between the styles of these city-states.

Piltover already had cars and the Hextech Gates, not to mention the Hoverboards in the undercity. It was practically a futuristic city of technology, more advanced than the real world where Ato had lived in his past life.

Meanwhile, places like Ionia and Freljord were tens of thousands of years away from even seeing a steam engine.

Suppressing the urge to complain, Ato turned his gaze out the window and took in the sights of the Immortal Fortress.

Most of the buildings here were made of gray-white stone. Their architecture was imposing, and the streets were narrow and enclosed. The rooftops were lined with battlements, making them ideal for defensive battles.

Even some of the more modest homes were built like fortresses, and soldiers could be seen patrolling the streets every so often.

Before long, the carriage stopped in front of a solemn-looking building.

"We're here, sir."

Ato jumped down from the carriage, said goodbye to the coachman, and entered through the Recruitment Office's wide-open doors.

The two fully armed soldiers at the entrance glanced at Ato but didn't stop him.

Anyone willing to come here would become one of the empire's most loyal soldiers. Especially with war approaching, people streamed in and out of the empire's Recruitment Office every day.

Inside the gate was an open yard. A wooden table stood there, with several stacks of papers on it. Behind the table sat a middle-aged man with a scar on his cheek.

Ato walked up and was about to speak when the man asked, "Name?"

"...Harris." Ato gave the false name he'd used since Delverhold.

The middle-aged man wrote something down, then asked, "Where are you from?"

Ato recalled the map of Runeterra. "Port Horezu."

"How strong are you?"

"I've never measured it, but I should be pretty strong."

The middle-aged man looked up at him. "Go through the door behind me. The instructor is waiting there. Try a match with her first. She'll give me the exact figures."

"Yes, sir." Ato had already decided to hold back during the match and avoid standing out too much.

He went through the door behind the middle-aged man and entered a much larger yard. A number of soldiers were training in the distance, and an assortment of weapons lay nearby.

A slender figure stood there, arms folded as she supervised the training.

Compared with the other tall, muscular soldiers, the instructor looked as frail as an ordinary person. Most out of place with her build was the sword on her back, no less imposing than the Demonic Sword of the Dark behind Ato: a Giant Rune Blade.

"Riven... This is going to make it hard to hold back..." Ato smiled. His knack for attracting heroes had kicked in again. He really hadn't expected the Recruitment Office instructor to be another game character he knew.

The instructor noticed the movement behind her and turned to look Ato over.

Her skin was a warm, wheat-brown, and her white hair was neatly tied back. Her features held both feminine softness and masculine resolve. Combined with her light armor, she exuded a bold, heroic air.

"Nice sword." That was the first thing Riven said to Ato.

"Instructor, how do you want to fight? Should we use weapons?" Ato got straight to the point.

"You seem quite confident." Riven gripped the hilt of the sword on her back. "A sword reveals its wielder. Let your sword speak."

Riven drew her greatsword, but the runes on its blade did not light up.

"Come on, recruit." Riven gave him the first move.

"Instructor, watch out."

Ato drew the disguised Demonic Sword of the Dark and leaped forward, using his momentum to slash at Riven.

Riven raised her sword to block. The instant their weapons met, she felt a tremendous force and staggered back several steps.

Riven shifted the greatsword to her left hand, shook out her right wrist, and slowly let out a breath.

"Did I see that right? That recruit knocked back the Swordmaster?" A soldier training nearby noticed the commotion and asked his comrade.

"I saw it too. The Swordmaster's already a monster. Where'd that recruit come from?"

"Get back to your training!" Riven turned and snapped at the other soldiers. Then she looked at Ato differently.

"Very good." Riven's fighting spirit surged. She gripped the sword with both hands. "That strike alone means you won't start out as an ordinary soldier. You could lead a squad, at the very least."

I still couldn't hold back... Ato thought bitterly. The more he stood out, the harder it would be to slip away once he reached Ionia.

"I used to work as a mercenary in Bilgewater, so I know a little, just a little, about martial arts..." Ato said, giving her the excuse he'd prepared.