Jax stood up slowly, brushing dirt from his suit.
His body felt fine. No exhaustion. No soreness. The VR settings kept him at peak condition, even after everything that had just happened.
'Thank god for 0.1% pain settings. In the real world, I'd be wrecked right now.'
He checked his stats quickly.
[HP: 33%]
'Regenerating. Slowly. But I'm still vulnerable.'
The forest around him was quiet. Too quiet.
Then the ground trembled.
Not an earthquake. Something else.
A deep, resonant pulse echoed from the mountains, like a heartbeat magnified a thousand times.
The trees swayed unnaturally. The sky flickered, purple deepening to near-black for a moment before lightening again.
Jax's chest tightened. 'That presence again. The Alpha. It's reacting to something. To me?'
He scanned the horizon, trying to pinpoint the source.
Nothing visible. Just the echo fading slowly.
'Not ready for that fight yet. Need to avoid it until I'm at full strength.'
