CHAPTER 11 — The Hunters Notice Something

  The plaza was silent after the Hybrid fell.

  Aiden stood in the center of the destruction, chest rising and falling with slow, uneven breaths. Heat still shimmered around him, fading gradually as the new Force settled into his body. His muscles felt denser. His skin tingled. His blood felt hot.

  Strength Lv.2.

  Heat Lv.1.

  Gravity and Pressure pulsing beside them.

  He wasn’t the same person who had walked into this district.

  He wasn’t sure what he was now.

  A distant alarm blared.

  Aiden stiffened.

  It wasn’t a civilian alarm.

  It wasn’t a hunter distress signal.

  It was deeper.

  Lower.

  A warning tone he’d only ever heard on broadcasts.

  A Titan?class alert.

  Aiden ducked behind a collapsed wall as hunters poured into the surrounding streets, sprinting toward the plaza with weapons drawn. Their armor glowed with Force energy. Their scanners pulsed in frantic waves.

  Aiden stayed low, invisible to every device.

  A squad leader shouted into his comm:

  “Sector Twelve reporting a massive Force spike! Repeat, MASSIVE spike!”

  Another voice crackled through the channel:

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  “Is the Titan forming early?!”

  Aiden’s breath caught.

  Titan?

  He peeked over the rubble.

  Hunters spread out across the plaza, scanning the area. Their devices flickered violently, glitching as they tried to process the residual energy.

  One hunter slammed his wrist scanner.

  “These readings are impossible! It’s like something detonated a dozen Special Cores at once!”

  Another cursed.

  “That’s Titan?level output. But there’s no Titan here!”

  Aiden pressed a hand to his chest.

  The Hybrid’s Core still burned inside him—Heat Force settling, Strength Force stabilizing, Gravity and Pressure reacting to the new presence. The energy swirling inside him wasn’t subtle.

  It was loud.

  Loud enough to trigger a Titan alert.

  A hunter knelt near the Hybrid’s corpse.

  “Whatever did this… it wasn’t us.”

  Another scanned the cracked pavement.

  “Look at the impact marks. Something hit this thing with concentrated Gravity and Pressure. That’s not a natural Forceborn ability.”

  Aiden swallowed.

  They were close.

  Too close.

  A third hunter spoke quietly, almost afraid:

  “…is it possible the Titan is forming *inside* the district?”

  The squad leader shook his head.

  “No. Titans don’t hide. They don’t run. They don’t fight like this. Something else is happening.”

  He looked around the plaza, visor sweeping the shadows.

  Aiden held perfectly still.

  The scanner passed over him.

  Glitched.

  Reset.

  Passed again.

  Nothing.

  The squad leader frowned.

  “Whatever caused this… it’s still here.”

  Aiden’s pulse hammered.

  He shifted his weight—lighter—preparing to slip away.

  But then the Rift pulsed.

  Hard.

  The ground trembled.

  Windows shattered.

  Hunters staggered.

  Aiden felt the pull again—deep, resonant, unmistakable.

  The Rift was calling him.

  The squad leader steadied himself.

  “Everyone fall back! The Rift is destabilizing!”

  A hunter shouted:

  “Sir—readings are spiking again!”

  Aiden felt it too.

  The Forces inside him reacted—Gravity tightening, Pressure compressing, Heat flaring. The pull from the Rift grew stronger, dragging at him like a tide.

  Hunters scrambled to retreat.

  Aiden didn’t move.

  He stared at the swirling wound in the sky.

  It wasn’t calling the hunters.

  It wasn’t calling the Forceborn.

  It was calling him.

  Aiden tightened his grip on the rebar.

  “Fine,” he whispered. “If you want me…”

  He stepped away from the plaza, unseen by every hunter.

  “…then I’m coming.”