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--Donation Bonus Day (page 3 of 4)--
He blinked another time. With his hands covered by the suit, he couldn’t look at them directly, but hope swelled in his chest as he imagined what it was. He concentrated, and sure enough, he was able to make the powdery feeling vanish, then reappear, then vanish again.

True, he’d been able to make powder already, but only when concentrating hard. This time, he hadn’t even been thinking about it. Maybe this was progress? It was enough to give him hope, anyway.

There was no point in stopping here, he decided. He pushed harder. He wanted a metal lump in the palm of his hand--outside the suit, this time.

He got a lot more than he bargained for.

A full heater shield materialized in an instant and dropped onto his left hand with unexpected heft, then clattered to the ground. Even inside his bulky suit, Hector had jumped with pure surprise.

A moment of stunned silence longer, and then Hector was laughing. ‘Garovel!’

The reaper came rushing over, quick to notice Hector’s work on the ground. ‘Whoa. What’ve we got here?’

Hector looked down at the shield. It was more than a little familiar. The vertical stripes. The darker color. It was metal, certainly. But that was not iron.

Disbelief struck, and Hector’s eyes narrowed. ‘It can’t be...’

‘Is that what I think it is?’ said Garovel.

Hector waved his left hand, and the shield annihilated itself. Hector still couldn’t believe it. Another wave of his hand, and the shield reappeared, this time resting comfortably in his grip. ‘Garovel...’

‘You’re able to materialize Haqq’s shield,’ the reaper said, sounding about as shocked as Hector felt.

Hector couldn’t help the smile that crossed his lips. He made the shield disappear and then reappear again. It really was true.