Noah waited those two hours painstakingly, each minute feeling stretched and distorted by his mounting anxiety about what he would find upon his return. He tried to distract himself by reviewing his updated status, by planning his next moves, by thinking about anything except the gnawing fear that Lola might be dead or captured.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the time came. The system's restriction lifted, and Noah felt the familiar pull of world travel activate.
As soon as the portal became available, Noah's body instantly vanished from Earth, pulled through the dimensional barrier with such speed that it left no trace of his departure.
He materialised inside the shop, his feet finding solid ground in the familiar main floor where displays of items sat on their shelves exactly as he remembered. The space looked completely undisturbed, with no signs of battle or forced entry, which was expected given the safety mechanisms.
