The transition was violent dimensional forces that felt like being dragged through broken glass while simultaneously drowning. Alex tumbled through space between dimensions, his partially-healed body screaming protest as reality bent around him.
Then he crashed onto corpse-strewn ground.
The impact drove air from his lungs. Pain flared through damaged ribs that his Enhanced Recovery hadn't fully repaired. He tasted blood, felt it running from his nose where capillaries had burst from the rough dimensional transit.
**[HP: 52/120]**
**[Essence Channels: 42% Functional]**
**[Warning: Extended combat inadvisable]**
**[Warning: Dimensional Marker Detected - Cannot Be Removed]**
Alex pushed himself upright, coughing blood onto the corrupted ground. His system notifications flickered quest rewards still trying to integrate, level advancement pending, but his body too damaged to process them fully.
