Meanwhile, Bruce followed the map with effortless velocity, the world blurring past him in seamless streaks of color. The capital's stone roads vanished beneath his feet, forests, fields, and trade routes flickered by like fading memories. Ash clung to his shoulder, claws lightly sinking into his clothes, pupils stretched thin in exhilaration as the wind roared past them.
Thousands of kilometers?
For him, it may as well have been a street corner.
In only a few minutes, Bruce slowed, boots grinding into the thick soil at the edge of the outer territories.
The portal stood ahead, a massive vertical rupture in space, shimmering with dark blue ripples. It pulsed like a breathing beast, exhaling an unsettling chill that crawled across Bruce's skin.
He inhaled slowly.
A faint, unnatural cold leaked from it. Not the ordinary kind. A chilling aura… familiar yet ancient, like the dungeon itself was hungry.
"Mm," Bruce murmured, eyes narrowing. "So this is it."
