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‘Cutting into flesh isn’t the same,’ said Garovel, ‘because I’m sure you were growing the metal from the back.’

“From the back?”

‘Yeah, you make the tip of a blade, for instance, and then add onto it from the back. Because the tip is already formed, it can cut through the body, and it can keep cutting through because you then keep adding to the metal from outside the person’s body, where it can form properly.’

“Eh... I’m still not sure I follow...”

‘You can test it on yourself, if you like. You won’t be able to make a blade grow OUT of, say, your brachioradialis muscle, but you WILL be able to grow a blade INTO the muscle.’

“Brachio... radialis muscle?”

‘It’s in your forearm. Primarily allows you to flex your elbow.’

“R-right. Uh...” He eyed his forearm. “Maybe I’ll test that out later. Or maybe I’ll just... trust you.”

‘You mean you don’t wanna stab yourself for the sake of science?’

He exhaled a curt laugh.

Garovel scratched his bare skull. ‘I don’t remember you ever doing that before, though. Growing your metal into someone’s flesh, that is.’

Hector’s eyes drew down, and he looked at his hand, closing it into a fist and then opening it again. “It’s how I killed Geoffrey.”

‘Oh.’

Hector lingered on the memory a moment before brushing it away and looking at Garovel again. “What about, um... what if I tried to flood a person’s blood vessels with metal? Blood’s a liquid, so it would work, right?”

‘Gruesome thought. It might be possible, but it would require a hell of a lot of precision on your part. And even if you could make such a complicated network of iron, I don’t think it would be very useful. It definitely wouldn’t be enough to stop a servant.’

“It wouldn’t? Even if I flooded the blood vessels in their brain?”

‘It’s good that you’re thinking creatively about how to use your ability, but remember, a servant’s brain doesn’t require blood to function. As long as the brain is more or less in one piece, it should work just fine.’ The reaper thought a moment and then added, ‘Unless you freeze it or something, I suppose.’