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--donation bonus (day #13, post 4/5)--
‘I’m glad you’re able to keep a clear head about things,’ said Garovel.

Hector took a long breath and listened to the motorcycle’s clanging engine. After a few minutes, a new question occurred to him. ‘Garovel...’

‘Yeah?’

‘My iron ability, um... will it always be able to grow stronger when I’m under stress? Because when I confronted Geoffrey, I was... I was in a really bad spot, and for a minute there, it felt like... like my power wasn’t going to grow... like I was just fucked... and everyone was gonna die and...’

‘That’s precisely the heart of the problem,’ said Garovel. ‘Your power can grow by leaps and bounds during a moment of extremely high stress. But such moments become increasingly difficult to achieve--and not because the amount of stress needs to increase. Rather, it’s because of your own mind. Over time, you become complacent--you begin to expect your power to suddenly grow and save you at the last moment. And guess what happens, then? Those very expectations reduce your level of stress, which in turn means that your power doesn’t grow when it otherwise would.’

‘Oh, what the--my expectations? What do I even do about that?’

‘That is the question, isn’t it? It’s a nasty psychological cycle, and I’ve known a lot of servants and reapers who’ve struggled with it. There’s been all sorts of research and experimentation with it, trying to figure out concrete ways around it. Some even believe that such growth can be instigated artificially if a scientific solution is found.’

‘Artificially...?’

‘Oh yeah. Imagine it. If you could force a servant’s ability to grow whenever you wanted, then the possibilities are--well. Personally, I find that prospect terrifying. If it could be done on a large scale, then the war between Abolish and the Vanguard would either finally come to an end, or escalate worse than ever before.’

‘Holy shit...’