Ash woke on the morning of Day 17 with the taste of dust in his mouth and the heavy quiet of the training room pressing against his skin.
He sat up slowly. The stone floor was cool under his palms. His body felt denser than it had before the jump—subtly heavier, as if every bone and muscle had been packed a little tighter while he slept. The new layers of Intent had not simply settled; they had begun rewriting the quiet architecture of his flesh. Mental energy still sat low, recovering in slow waves, but the worst of the exhaustion was gone. The blackout had done its work.
He stayed still for a moment and simply breathed.
