The zone fourteen entry corridor took fourteen seconds this time.
He noted the number without surprise. Fourteen seconds was below his previous best in this zone. The Dragon-line pool at ninety-seven percent, with the substrate fully expanded and the path-layer read running at what felt like a natural baseline rather than active effort, had changed how the body related to Rift-dense environments. It no longer had to adapt. It had simply arrived.
He moved east, toward the southern section, where the morning's contract lived.
