Chapter 38: Adept Stage!
Ren’s eyes flew open like a switch had been flipped, and the moment he sucked in a breath, it felt like inhaling lightning.
His vision spun wildly before stabilizing, and for a few seconds, he had no clue where he was. The white ceiling, the scent of fabric softener, the gorgeous damsel in front of him—it hit him all at once.
"Dorm room?" he whispered, blinking a few times in disbelief. The last thing he remembered was the forge, the crystal, the loom doing ballet, and then, darkness.
He tilted his head slowly, trying to shake off the dizziness, but the moment he moved, his skull felt like someone had swapped his brain with a nuclear reactor on the verge of meltdown.
And then came the heat. Not the kind that made you sweat, but the kind that made your bones itch.
It crawled along his spine, up through his skull, and settled right behind his eyes. Every part of his mind felt like it had been dipped in liquid fire.
Before he could groan or curse or process any of that, a slight movement caught his attention across the room.
Lia was sitting on her bed in a lotus position, her entire body unnaturally stiff. Her long hair clung to her forehead, drenched in sweat.
Her brow was furrowed so deep it looked like she was trying to crush a watermelon with her thoughts, and her jaw was clenched like she was wrestling something invisible and dangerous.
She looked like she was about two seconds away from turning into a volcano. "...She’s probably breaking through too," Ren mumbled, eyes narrowing, but that was as far as his concern could go.
Because his own body wasn’t exactly throwing a welcome party either. A second later, his back arched and his breath hitched.