Batting did not change overnight.
That was the first truth Rudra accepted without resistance.
There was no sudden leap, no moment where effort transformed into dominance. What changed instead was weight—accumulated quietly, carried daily, and never removed once earned.
The Shape of the Weeks
The following weeks settled into a rhythm that appeared unremarkable from the outside.
School in the morning.
Academy in the heat.
Extra nets when the ground emptied.
Home when the body finally demanded rest.
There were no match-winning innings and no moments that drew attention. Nothing about the routine suggested progress to anyone watching casually.
But every session carried consequence.
Coach Raghav shortened the nets again one evening and spoke only once.
"Same drills," he said. "Longer duration."
What he meant was not intensity.
What he meant was endurance of correctness.
When the Body Began to Argue
By the third week, Rudra felt the cost clearly.
His forearms burned earlier than before. His lower back tightened sooner. His legs began asking questions that discipline could not immediately silence.
This was where most boys changed their approach.
Rudra changed nothing essential.
He reduced his range rather than forcing extension. He lowered power instead of chasing timing. He protected shape even when fatigue tempted shortcuts.
Correctness came first.
Completion came second.
System — Honest Accounting
The system reflected the grind without embellishment.
Batting Timing, already established, climbed slowly under sustained fatigue rather than clean conditions.
Batting Timing: Lv 09 → Lv 10
Progress within level: 55 → 68 / 100
There was no celebration, no sensation of breakthrough—only confirmation that enough correct repetitions had survived exhaustion.
Supporting skills moved in quiet alignment.
Shot Selection (Lv 11):44 → 49 / 100
Hand–Eye Coordination (Lv 07):85 → 88 / 100
Balance (Lv 08):44 → 51 / 100
Nothing spiked.
Nothing disconnected.
Everything remained usable.
What the Coach Actually Watched
Raghav noticed the change before any numbers crossed thresholds.
Not in Rudra's shots.
In his recovery.
Breathing stabilized faster between sets. Grip adjustments happened without conscious correction. Repetition counts rose, not because Rudra pushed harder, but because he wasted less motion.
One evening, Raghav spoke while closing his notebook.
"Batting isn't about adding new things," he said evenly.
His eyes stayed on Rudra.
"It's about removing the wrong ones."
The Mental Cost of a Slow Climb
Progress this slow tested patience more than technique.
Some days, the numbers barely moved at all. The system did nothing to soften that reality.
Focus held steady without growth.
Emotional Control absorbed the strain instead.
Emotional Control (Lv 06): 100 → 106 / 200
(Level remained unchanged, stability reinforced)
Restraint was no longer effort.
It was habit.
Understanding What Lv 15 Really Meant
That night, Rudra reviewed what Batting Lv 15 actually represented in real terms.
Not power.
Not dominance.
Not highlight shots.
Reliability.
The ability to produce the same response under fatigue, under mild pressure, and under imperfect rhythm.
It was invisible to crowds.
But it was unmistakable to selectors.
And to systems that never lied.
End of the Phase
Standing on the balcony, bat resting against the wall beside him, Rudra felt neither pride nor impatience.
Only readiness.
Batting Lv 15 was not impressive.
But it was stable.
And stability was the ground from which real acceleration could begin.
The climb had been slow.
Which meant it would last.
And somewhere beyond this phase—beyond repetition, beyond fatigue—
Pressure was waiting.
The kind that did not care how clean training had been.
The kind that asked only one question:
Would this still hold when it mattered?
That answer would come soon.