Re-Awakened :I Ascend as an SSS-Ranked Dragon Summoner - Chapter 81

Chapter 81: Danger signs Chapter 81: Danger signs “What’s the matter?” Noah asked carefully, studying her rigid posture.

The dim core-friendly lighting cast strange shadows across the corridor, making the moment feel somehow unreal.

“Leave me alone,” Lila said, her voice carrying an edge he’d never heard before.

She didn’t turn around, but he could see her shoulders trembling slightly.

Noah lingered, shifting his weight uncertainly.

“You can’t just storm out of lab like that.

We have a core extraction to-” Lila spun around so quickly that Noah took an involuntary step back.

Her face was streaked with tears, but her eyes held something far more unsettling than sadness.

“Is that all you’re bothered about?” she asked, her usually melodic voice now sharp as broken glass.

“Well…

yeah,” Noah responded, trying to keep his tone neutral.

“Grades matter.

You know that.” Lila wiped her tears with deliberate slowness, a strange smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

When she fully faced him, Noah felt his skin prickle with unease.

There was something wrong with her expression €“ like someone had taken all the warmth from her features and replaced it with porcelain.

“As much as your disgusting relationship with Sophie Reign?” The words dripped with venom.

“Because grades didn’t seem to matter when you left campus with her last night.” Her eyes narrowed.

“Or when you came back with her this morning.” ‘So Kelvin was right,’ Noah thought, a mix of confusion and frustration washing over him.

‘This is what the attitude’s about?’ But something felt off about her reaction €“ this wasn’t just disappointed attraction or wounded pride.

Lila moved closer, each step precise and measured.

“Tell me, Noah,” she practically purred his name, “is Sophie better than me?

What does she have that I don’t?” Noah stared at her, astonished.

His mind flashed back to when he’d turned her down €“ how composed she’d been, how she’d simply stood up with that cryptic smile and said, “I have more patience than you think.” The memory made his current situation feel even more surreal.

‘Why now?’ he wondered.

‘Why is she losing it now?’ His silence seemed to trigger something in Lila.

Her expression shifted, like pieces of a puzzle rearranging themselves into a new, more disturbing picture.

She reached out, her fingers cold as they traced his cheekbones.

“Oh,” she breathed, that unsettling smile growing wider.

“I understand now.

It was her, wasn’t it?

Sophie came onto you.” She nodded to herself, as if confirming a private theory.

“You’re too sweet, too innocent to understand how cruel this world can be.

But don’t worry,” her thumb stroked his cheek in what might have been meant as a comforting gesture, but felt more like a threat, “I forgive you.” Her eyes took on a fevered gleam.

“And now I’m obligated to help you escape from the trap you’ve put yourself in.” Before Noah could process what was happening, she patted his cheeks with finality and turned back toward the lab.

Her steps were light now, almost bouncy, as if she’d resolved some great internal debate.

Noah stood frozen in the corridor, his mind struggling to make sense of what had just happened.

‘What the actual hell?’ The spot where she’d touched his face felt cold, and something about her last words sent a chill down his spine that had nothing to do with the basement’s temperature.

The dim lights hummed above him, and somewhere in the distance, he could hear Professor Heimdall’s voice continuing the lecture.

But all Noah could focus on was the way Lila had smiled €“ like someone who had just discovered a new and fascinating way to dissect something.

Or someone.

*** “Dude, you’re being paranoid,” Kelvin said as they walked across the academy grounds, their footsteps crunching on the graveled path.

The afternoon sun cast long shadows through the ancient oaks that dotted the campus.

“You’re telling me you’re actually scared of Lila?

The same girl who cried when we were ambushed by intelligent monkeys on Cannadah?” Noah ran a hand through his hair, frustrated.

“You weren’t there, Kelvin.

The way she looked at me…

it wasn’t right.

And that thing about ‘helping me escape’?

Who says that?” “Someone who’s probably just processing rejection badly?” Kelvin shrugged.

“Come on, Eclipse.

You’re a beast hunter in training.

You’ve faced down things with tentacles and shooting spikes out their backs, hell a freaking Harbinger!!

And now what?

You’re jumpy because a pretty blonde got a little intense?” “It wasn’t just intense, it was-” Noah’s words died in his throat as he caught sight of a familiar figure lounging in the shade of a massive oak tree.

Sophie Reign stood there, one hand lazily trailing along the bark, the other giving him a small wave.

The sight of her made his pulse quicken, just as it had that morning when they’d woken up tangled in the silk sheets of her off-campus apartment.

She was wearing a micro mini skirt that somehow managed to be both daring and elegant, her long black hair styled in loose waves that caught the filtered sunlight.

The combination of her academy blazer and that skirt shouldn’t have worked, but on her, it looked like high fashion.

Noah glanced at Kelvin, who was already grinning and making shooing motions.

“Go on, lover boy.

Your princess awaits.” As Noah approached Sophie, she stretched out her arms in welcome, her smile warming in a way that made his stomach flip.

“Hey, boyfriend,” she purred, pulling him into a hug that drew several envious stares from passing students.

When she pulled back, her fingers lingered on his chest.

“Are you hungry?

Because I’m starving.” She gestured toward her Clexus parked nearby, its sleek chrome body hovering a few inches off the ground, the anti-grav generators humming softly.

The vehicle probably cost more than most people made in a year.

‘Thank god Lila left early,’ Noah thought, noticing the various eyes following their every move.

The memory of her unsettling behavior in the corridor made him suppress a shiver.

Behind them, Kelvin was grinning like he’d just won the academy lottery, giving an enthusiastic thumbs up that made Noah roll his eyes.

“Where are we going?” Noah asked, turning back to Sophie, trying to push thoughts of Lila’s strange behavior out of his mind.

“Out,” Sophie replied simply, her red lips curving into a mysterious smile as she opened the Clexus’s upward-swinging door.

“Off campus again.” The way she said it made it sound both exciting and slightly dangerous, which, Noah was beginning to realize, described most things about Sophie Reign.

As he slipped into the passenger seat, the vehicle’s bio-sensors automatically adjusting to his presence, he couldn’t help but think that his life had become significantly more complicated in the past twenty-four hours.

‘But then again,’ he thought as Sophie slid into the driver’s seat with practiced grace, ‘some complications are definitely better than others.’ The memory of Lila’s cold fingers on his face flashed through his mind, and he pushed it away, focusing instead on the way Sophie’s hand found his as the Clexus lifted higher into the air.

Later that evening, they returned from their adventure outside school.

Of course food wasn’t the only thing they went to do.

They caught up on other “things” as well.

Noah was practically living the dream.

But it all sadly had to be put on pause as they arrived at the boys dorm.

The Clexus’s departure left scattered leaves dancing in its wake, its anti-grav generators painting ripples in the evening air.

Noah watched Sophie disappear around the corner, still tasting her goodbye kiss on his lips.

He felt lighter than air, like he could take on a thousand beasts single-handedly.

“Looking good, Eclipse.” The familiar voice made Noah turn, finding Lucas Grey leaning against one of the dorm’s support pillars, his senior’s blazer worn with its usual calculated casualness.

“I’d say my matchmaking services deserve some kind of compensation, don’t you think?” Lucas’s presence commanded attention without effort €“ a quality that had made him famous even before he claimed the academy’s top spot.

The casual observer might have missed the faint scars on his knuckles, the only visible reminder of the Cannadah incident where he and Noah had stood their ground while others retreated.

Much like Raven, Lucas hadn’t gone for treatment.

Noah had healing abilities so he understood his own situation but how tough was the upperclassman?

“How did you even manage it?” Lucas continued, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

“One introduction at The Rave and suddenly you’re the talk of the academy.” Noah couldn’t help but smile.

“Just luck, I guess.” “Luck?” Lucas pushed off from the pillar, shaking his head.

“Noah Eclipse doesn’t do luck.

You’re forgetting you’re the most talked about in the entire year one, you survived Cannadah when half the third-years couldn’t, and now you’re dating Sophie Reign.” He paused, his expression turning more serious.

“Speaking of interesting developments…

meet me tonight.

There’s something you might want to know about.” “Please tell me we’re not hitting The Rave again,” Noah groaned.

Lucas’s smile turned enigmatic.

“Fingers crossed.

Can’t guarantee anything yet.” He turned to leave, then added over his shoulder, “But I promise it’ll be worth your time.” Noah shook his head with a smile while entering the dorm.

Inside the dorm room, Kelvin was sprawled across his bed, grinning like he’d personally arranged Noah’s entire love life.

“All hail Noah Eclipse!” he declared dramatically, throwing a pillow in the air.

“Headline maker!

Needle mover, the undisputed bad boy god himself!” Kelvin hailed.

“May your legend live forever in the halls of academy glory!” “You’re ridiculous,” Noah muttered, heading for the bathroom.

“Says the man who conquered Sophie Reign’s heart in one night!” Kelvin called after him.

“They’ll write songs about you, my friend!

Epic poems!” Noah shut the bathroom door, leaning against it for a moment.

As soon as he was alone, the smile slipped from his face.

His expression turned focused, almost grave, as he spoke a single word: “*Domain*” The air shimmered, and a blue translucent screen flickered into existence before him.

Before Kelvin could even register the sudden silence from the bathroom, a wave of purple energy engulfed Noah’s form, swallowing him completely.

When it receded, the bathroom was empty, steam from the unused shower the only evidence anyone had been there at all.