The mission had been a wake-up call. Even without his powers working properly, Nathan had managed to help, but he still felt it wasn't enough. He couldn't afford to struggle every time Echo failed him. If he wanted to be more than just lucky, he had to be better. Stronger. That's why he was here now, getting thrown to the ground by Astra.

  Nathan hit the mat hard for the third time, the impact sent a jolt through his entire body. Sweat dripped from his forehead as frustration coiled in his chest.

  Across from him, Astra stood in her usual calm, collected stance, her eyes sharp and focussed.

  "Again," she commanded, adjusting her gloves.

  Nathan clenched his fists and pushed himself back up, with determination burning in his eyes.

  He knew Astra was faster, more precise, but Echo helped him adapt. but every time he rewound, it became less accurate. He'd react too early, too late, or completely misread her movement. It was like trying to catch water with his fingers.

  He exhaled sharply and activated Echo as she lunged forward. The familiar sensation washed over him as time rewound. The world blurring slightly at the edges of his vision.

  Astra stepped in again, same strike, same motion. Nathan tried to counter, and missed.

  Astra slipped around him effortlessly, catching his wrist and flipping him onto the mat with such force that the air was knocked from his lungs.

  "This is getting ridiculous," Nathan groaned, staring up at the ceiling.

  Astra crossed her arms as she looked down with piercing eyes. "You're over-relying on your ability instead of actually learning. If you can't predict my attacks without Echo, you won't keep up in a real fight when it matters most."

  Nathan sat up, rubbing his sore shoulder, his hair all disheveled.

  She was right, and that only made it worse. Why wasn't Echo working the way it was supposed to?

  Astra extended a hand, her expression softening just slightly. "Get up. Try again."

  Nathan took it, determination flaring in his chest. He needed to figure this out.

  Frustration mounted as Nathan struggled to make Echo work the way he wanted. He activated it again, expecting the same flickering, unreliable results, but this time, something different happened.

  He rewound further back than usual.

  Astra hadn't even begun her strike yet. She was still shifting her stance, preparing. Nathan blinked in surprise. Why did it go further? A spark of realization hit him. He hadn't tried to change anything, just observe.

  He let the moment play out again without interference. As he rewound once more, he realized something, his power had fewer limits when he didn't force an immediate reaction.

  Nathan tested it a few more times, rewinding small sections, then longer ones. The longer he simply watched without intervening, the deeper into the past he could go.

  It was like Echo responded to his intent. When he wasn't trying to change events, wasn't forcing his way into the timeline, the power flowed more freely. Each passive observation seemed to require less energy, less strain, allowing him to stretch further back.

  Nathan experimented with this theory. Instead of pushing Echo to show him what he needed, he let it reveal what it would.

  The difference was subtle, but suddenly, he wasn't just reliving a fraction of a second. He could go seconds further, even half a minute.

  Time itself seemed to bend to his will in a way it never had before.

  Excitement flickered in his chest, but when he tried to apply it in the fight, he still couldn't react properly. He saw Astra's movements clearer than ever. He knew exactly when and how she'd strike, but his body refused to keep up.

  It was infuriating. He had all the knowledge but none of the execution. It was like watching an opponent in slow motion and still being too slow to stop them.

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  Astra knocked him down again. And again. Each rewind gave him better data, but that didn't stop his body from failing to act in time.

  His chest heaved as he lay on the mat, staring up at the ceiling. This wasn't working. He wasn't just struggling with a technique, he was fighting against his own instincts.

  Astra knelt beside him, her expression unreadable. "You're seeing it, aren't you?"

  Nathan swallowed hard, meeting her gaze. "Yeah. But I can't use it."

  She offered a hand. "Then stop trying to react, and start trying to understand."

  Nathan raised an eyebrow as Astra stepped back into position. "What does that even mean?"

  Astra's stance remained steady. "You're treating Echo like it's meant to help you dodge faster. But what if it's not about reactions? What if it's about recognition?"

  Nathan frowned, wiping sweat from his brow. He had always used Echo to fix mistakes, to adjust, to redo, to counter. But what if he wasn't supposed to fix things? What if he just studied them instead?

  He inhaled deeply and activated Echo differently this time. Instead of trying to react, he simply absorbed everything. He didn't try to anticipate Astra's strike, he let it unfold. Every time he rewound, he added one more layer of knowledge.

  His focus expanded beyond anything he'd experienced before. He saw the way Astra's left foot twitched before a feint. The subtle shift in her weight before a pivot. The faintest breath she took before committing to a decisive strike. He saw it all, every detail crystal clear in his mind.

  Then, without thinking, he dodged.

  Not because he anticipated it, but because he already knew.

  His mind wasn't racing to catch up anymore, instead, it felt like watching a familiar dance. Each movement was anticipated and understood. The pressure to react instantly had transformed into a calm certainty, like the eye of a storm.

  When Astra's fist came toward him, it wasn't about scrambling to dodge. It was about executing a move his body had already practiced dozens of times through observation.

  The difference was subtle but profound. Before, he'd been trying to cram split-second decisions into even smaller fragments of time. Now, he had already made those decisions, already known what would work.

  His body moved with the confidence of experience, even though that experience had come through Echo's unique lens.

  Nathan felt like he was ahead of her, even if it was just a little.

  Astra stopped mid-motion, eyes widening just slightly. Then, a small smile spread across het lips. "Now you're getting it."

  There was a hint of pride in Astra's voice that Nathan had never heard before. She'd always been professional, focused, but this was different. For the first time, he felt like he'd truly impressed her.

  "You knew this would happen, didn't you?" Nathan asked, studying her expression. "That's why you kept pushing me to fail."

  Astra didn't answer, instead she just went back to training mode.

  She pushed Nathan into a series of increasingly difficult observation drills, forcing him to apply his newfound understanding of Echo. He rewound through their sparring sequences again and again, analyzing the smallest shifts in Astra's posture, the way her breathing changed before an attack, the micro-movements of her hands.

  Then, Astra escalated the challenge. She added feints, unpredictable patterns, and mixed techniques, keeping Nathan constantly adjusting. She attacked from different angles, switching styles mid-combat to break his rhythm. The gym echoed with the sounds of their rapid movements.

  Nathan stumbled at first, his mind burning with the effort of processing everything at once. The sheer amount of information was overwhelming, leaving him frozen in crucial moments. But each failure became another lesson through Echo's lens, another piece of the puzzle falling into place.

  To further push his limits, Astra introduced blindfolded drills. Nathan had to rely entirely on Echo, memorizing movements before they happened. The first few times, he was utterly helpless. Every strike landed, every dodge failed. But slowly, his mind adjusted, adapting to this new way of seeing the world.

  By the end of the day, he was dodging blindfolded, recognizing patterns before they were fully formed. He wasn't just keeping up, he was adapting.

  Astra noticed. She no longer had the same clear advantage.

  "You're pushing through," she muttered, barely dodging one of his counters. "Good."

  Nathan stood across from Astra, sweat dripping down his back, heart hammering. He had spent hours rewinding and refining his understanding. And now, as Astra moved, he wasn't just seeing her attacks. He was predicting them.

  She struck with a feint, but he didn't fall for it. His body moved instinctively, sidestepping before she even fully committed. Astra pivoted into a real strike, but he had already adjusted.

  A perfect dodge.

  For the first time, he was ahead of her.

  Astra paused mid-motion, eyes widening. Then, slowly, a smirk formed on her lips. "That's more like it, Echo."

  Nathan exhaled sharply, a triumphant grin breaking through his exhaustion. He wasn't just reacting anymore. He was reading the fight before it happened.

  Before they could reset for another round, the gym doors swung open with a dramatic bang. Lucas strolled in, balancing a tray stacked with sandwiches and drinks. "Figured you two nerds forgot to eat," he said, plopping down onto the nearest bench. "Y'know, some of us don't survive on combat alone."

  Astra chuckled, grabbing a sandwich. "For once, you actually have good timing."

  Nathan sank onto the mat, taking the food Lucas handed him. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until the aroma hit him, making his stomach growl loudly.

  As they sat there, sharing a quiet moment of relief and camaraderie, Nathan found himself rewinding one last time.

  Not to change anything, but simply to observe.

  He watched Lucas enter again, saw Astra's genuine smile, and felt the warmth of their friendship. Each detail stood out with new clarity, each moment rich with meaning he might have missed before. The world seemed more vibrant, more alive than it had been.

  As he let the moment play out naturally, Nathan smiled. He wasn't just learning to use his power. He was finally beginning to understand it.