"I see now."
The words settled into the space around him with quiet understanding. Kaiden didn't tense as the pressure thickened, didn't brace for the inevitable pull. Instead, his mind reached backward through the loops, replaying the sensations he had ignored while chasing outcomes.
He remembered the first approach. The reckless rush. The moment the creature appeared, and he lunged at it on instinct, Gluttony barely spun up before impact. The intake had been shallow then, hurried and sloppy, power dragged in sideways while his focus stayed on distance and violence. It had felt like sprinting while trying to eat. His breath was stolen by motion and strength gained too late to matter. He'd been strong, but unfocused, swollen in the wrong places, reinforcing everything instead of what mattered.
Then he remembered the other extreme.
