Alex glared at the burn mark he'd seared hours ago, his analytical mind dissecting the impossible mathematics of his predicament with surgical precision. The spatial distortion wasn't merely warping his perception it was devouring the fundamental architecture of the corridor itself. Every forward stride had somehow dragged him back to his starting position, weaving a loop that shattered basic physics.
Yet as he scrutinized the familiar symbol, his enhanced perception seized something new. The obsidian wall beside his marker bore a hairline crack that hadn't existed when he'd first branded the symbol into the stone. Not damage from his fire abilities, but a structural flaw that pulsed with its own faint energy.
