The night's cold didn't wake him this time.
He woke before dawn, clear-headed and strangely calm. The ache that had lived in his bones since the first day was gone. When he breathed, his lungs filled deep and steady, the air crisp with soot and wood smoke.
The System stirred.
[Core Sync: 67%]
[Neural Alignment in Progress]
The sound wasn't a whisper now. It pulsed through him like a quiet heartbeat.
He pushed open the door and stepped into the gray light. The district looked the same—shacks sagging under coal dust, smoke lifting in lazy threads—but he felt every detail more sharply. His mind caught movement the way a hunter catches sound. A child sneezed two streets over. Someone's shovel scraped rock against metal in the mines.
He could feel rhythm in everything.
At the market, the crowd was small. Traders kept their heads low, moving quick before Peacekeepers started patrol. Vince joined a line for broth, still half-expecting the woman behind the pot to bark at him.
Instead, he spoke first. "Two cups."
She frowned. "Three coins."
"It's the end of shift. No one's paying extra now."
The woman hesitated. The corner of her mouth twitched. Then she poured both cups without another word.
He watched her, studying the way her eyes flicked between customers, the timing of her breath when she lied about price. The world unfolded in details he hadn't noticed before—tiny movements, hidden meaning.
[System Log: Behavioral Analysis Successful]
[Trait Enhanced — Charisma (Stage II): Instinctive Persuasion Depth Increased]
[Neural Sync: 83% — Physical Adjustments Initiated]
The message flashed in his vision, then faded. Heat rippled across his chest, spreading to his arms. His heartbeat steadied to a low rhythm. When he glanced at a window's reflection, he froze.
It wasn't dramatic. No lightning, no glow.
But his shoulders looked straighter. His jawline a little firmer. The boy staring back seemed carved by discipline, not hunger.
He touched his face as if testing whether it still belonged to him. The System pulsed once.
[Adaptation Stabilized]
By the time he reached the edge of the Seam, the sun had climbed over the treeline. Steam rose from the ground where dew met soot. He sat on a rock and ate what little bread he had left. Every bite tasted richer, every scent sharper—the air, the coal, even the metallic tang of the fence nearby.
"System," he murmured, testing the word. "You're still here."
[Online]
"What's the point of all this?"
[Progress is Survival. Survival is Progress.]
He let out a slow breath. "That's not an answer."
[Clarification Unavailable]
He smiled, not from humor but from recognition. The thing talking to him wasn't human. It didn't understand why he needed meaning.
Back in the district, children chased one another through the mud, laughing despite everything. For a moment, the sound pulled something soft from inside him—a memory of light, maybe, or freedom.
He watched until the laughter faded and smoke swallowed it whole.
That night, as he lay on the cot, the System hummed louder than before. His chest tightened, his pulse quickened, his mind filled with rushing noise.
[Synchronization Final Phase — Initiating]
He gripped the blanket. Heat and cold pulsed through him in waves, like his body couldn't decide what to be. The world tilted, blurred, then locked into focus so clear it hurt.
When it stopped, silence fell.
[Core Synchronization 100% Complete]
[Host Integration Stable]
[Physical Status: Optimal Human Condition (Chronological Age 12)]
[Trait Unlocked — Perception I: Environmental Clarity Enhanced]
The hum faded into his heartbeat.
He stood, breath slow and measured. His reflection in the basin's dark water looked the same but not the same—still young, still lean, but balanced and steady, as if someone had trimmed away every imperfection.
He flexed his fingers. No pain. Only precision.
For the first time since waking, he didn't feel misplaced.
He felt ready.