Chapter: 0.170 :Stillness and Fire

Rena sat on the edge of the velvet settee, her body bare and trembling, though not from the cold. The heat that lingered beneath her skin came from something else — a newborn inferno, a raw flame coiling through her bones, her muscles, her veins. She wrapped her arms around herself instinctively, though the act felt meaningless now. Her skin, smooth and taut, shimmered faintly in the candlelight, as if absorbing it.

She was... different.

Too different.

Her breathing was shallow. Her new body was too alive. Every inch of her felt sensitive, aware — as if she were wearing herself for the first time. Her breasts, now fuller, moved with a weight she hadn't known before. Her hips shifted differently beneath her. Her thighs pressed together with an unfamiliar friction. There was a pull to her center, not just physical but energetic — the Heart of Daisroth pulsed quietly beneath her sternum, invisible, but undeniably there.

She sat in silence, spine straight despite the deep soreness. Her cheeks flushed from a mix of confusion, discomfort, and… quiet awe.

Naoko, still seated at her immense desk across the room, didn't look up from her writing.

"Do not move too much," she said coolly, her voice soft but detached. "Your bones were shattered. Every cell in your body has been rebuilt. Even your marrow has changed. Until your new structure settles, clothes will only irritate your skin."

Rena swallowed hard and nodded, then quickly looked down — not just out of modesty, but from the faint embarrassment that Naoko was right. Every brush of fabric against her had felt like static on raw nerves.

She had never felt more exposed… or more powerful.

Naoko finally lifted her gaze. Her silver eyes, sharp as blades and cold as the moon, stared straight through her.

"Sit upright. Close your eyes. Breathe."

Rena hesitated, then obeyed. She turned slightly, folding her legs beneath her, and sat in the center of the office — exactly where Naoko had indicated earlier with the tilt of her wrist. She crossed her arms over her chest and tried to still her mind.

"Now," Naoko said, her tone still emotionless, "you will begin."

Rena's voice came out hoarse. "Begin… what?"

"Stillness. Breathing. Absorption." Naoko's fingers moved lazily over parchment as she spoke, her expression unreadable. "The mana in this room is not like the mana you used before. The fire in you now is not just Phoenix. It is dragonblood. Ancient. Malevolent. Chaotic. And you are barely containing it."

Rena closed her eyes, listening. Her heart raced.

"You will pull the mana from the air," Naoko continued. "Let it enter your skin, your throat, your lungs. Let it slide through your chest and rest inside your womb of flame. Do not shape it. Do not use it. Just… let it be."

The word "womb" made Rina tense. Not because of the literal meaning — but because her entire center now felt like it was wrapped in heat. Like the fire inside her had nested somewhere primal. Elemental. Feminine.

"I… I feel it," she whispered.

"Good," Naoko said. "Now feel nothing else."

Easier said than done.

Rena's thoughts buzzed. Her body tingled. Her memories flickered. Jin. His kiss. His games. The way he stared at her with those eyes — half amusement, half hunger. The things she'd done. The things she let happen.

Her skin prickled at the memory.

Focus, she told herself. Focus.

But her mind betrayed her — wandering into the soft places of her new form. How easily Jin could touch her now and ignite something inside her that had no name. How unfamiliar her own body felt in her hands.

She inhaled again.

Let it go. Let it burn.

Naoko's voice returned like frost. "You are not here to remember pleasure, Rena. You are here to endure pain."

Rina's eyes opened. Her gaze lifted to Naoko.

"Then why… why does this feel so alive?" she asked, her voice barely above a breath. "Why do I feel so... awakened?"

Naoko didn't blink.

"Because rebirth is not gentle. The heart you took was never meant for your bloodline. It is not a gift. It is a curse. And you must learn to wear it as both."

The room fell silent again.

The candles flickered. The walls seemed to hum. The mana in the air was thick now — almost humid, almost sweet. Rena's body absorbed it greedily, her pores open, her cells thirsty. A sheen of sweat clung to her skin, and her hair clung to the nape of her neck like silk threads.

She sat taller.

The pain remained — low in her back, tight in her ribs, bruised around her hips — but her spine no longer trembled. Her jaw no longer clenched.

She was beginning to stabilize.

Naoko watched.

Still expressionless. Still perfectly calm.

The great black gown she wore shimmered slightly when she moved, her silver hair spilling over one shoulder like a living banner. She looked less like a mother-in-law and more like an ancient monarch carved from moonstone — perfect, timeless, cold.

"Tomorrow," she said, folding the last paper on her desk, "you will begin your next lesson."

Rina's voice came hesitantly. "Which is…?"

Naoko's silver eyes locked onto her again.

"Control."

Rena nodded.

She didn't speak further. Her body was tired. Her throat dry. Her thoughts — a quiet storm behind her breastbone.

But there, in the stillness…

With her new fire silently pulsing inside her…

With the moon-witch watching…

Rena felt it begin:

Not just the transformation of her body —

But the slow, certain, terrifying transformation of her soul

............ 

Heat: What do you think of Rena's transformation? Share your opinion with us. Do you think she has become stronger than Jin or is she as strong as him? Can Rena defeat Sarafina Frost ???