Location: Starforge Nexus - Green's Training Pavilion | Dimensional Pocket (6:1 time dilation)
Time: Day 448, Morning
Three days had passed since the quakeboar incident. Three days of forced rest, accelerated healing, and Isha's promised lecture on proper tier assessment. The wounds had closed—Runeinfused medical supplies and her abnormally fast healing rate saw to that. But the lesson stuck harder than the cracked ribs had.
Never assume. Always verify. Overconfidence kills.
Jayde stood in Green's training pavilion, morning light filtering through crystalline walls that caught and scattered essence-light like prisms. The air here tasted clean. Sharp. Nothing like the sulfur-heavy atmosphere of the Dark Forest.
Green circled her slowly, amber eyes assessing. "Your Crucible Core feels different."
"Settled," Jayde said. "The near-death experience forced consolidation."
(Like everything got squeezed tight, then released.)
