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‘Alright, try hitting me,’ said Garovel.

‘What?’

‘That’s how we’ll gauge your progress. If you can hit me, then you can hit Geoffrey. Or another reaper.’

‘Are you serious...?’

‘Hey, I’m not thrilled about it, either. Why do you think I didn’t have you practicing this as soon as I revived you? Once you get it down, you’ll be able to kill me.’

‘Then I definitely don’t want to practice on you...’

‘Oh, please. You’re not going to kill me on accident, Hector. Give me some credit.’

He pursed his lips. ‘Alright... here goes, then...’ Hector inhaled deeply and closed his eyes a moment. He made a fist and focused on it. Like anyone, he didn’t need to see his own fist in order to know where it was, but there was more to it now. He could place a presence into his fist, and it felt as if his entire arm had doubled in size. It hadn’t, of course, but there was a weight in his mind there, and he knew it was ready.

He smacked Garovel in the torso.

Garovel eyed him a moment, not looking particularly fazed. ‘Hmm. Well, I felt something at least. That was kind of pathetic, though.’

‘Gah...’

‘You sure you’re not holding back on me?’

‘I... I don’t know, I mean... I really don’t want to hurt you, Garovel...’

‘Okay, okay. Fine. How about just aiming for my perimeter, then?’

‘Huh? Perimeter?’

‘Yeah. You said you see me as a skeleton, right? So I have hands and feet and everything?’

‘Uh... actually, I’m not sure whether you have feet or not. I see hands, though, yeah. You want me to punch your hand?’