With only an hour left, Adrian dove back into the task, his hands moving with purpose.
He etched the remaining Thermic Runes onto the core, calibrated the mana regulator, and began assembling the Pyralis heating element.
The process was complex but Adrian worked as fast as he could, but eventually, time still caught up to him.
Access Time Remaining: [00:00:10]
With just ten seconds left on the clock, the heater was only three-quarters complete. Adrian sighed, stepping back.
"I'll finish it next session," he told himself, already looking forward to the three-hour window his recent upgrade promised.
As the white light enveloped him, he reappeared in his dorm room. Checking the System, he confirmed the cooldown:
System Factory Cooldown: [01:59:59].
"Still two hours," he muttered, grateful the upgrade hadn't extended the wait. With time to kill, his mind wandered to the Mana Grenade.
