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Then the orb vanished completely. Annihilated harmlessly by Zeff. And Hector was briefly confused--until the splashing boom came in the next moment, this time located right on top of the shield.

The impact was so strong that it shook the huge chamber and nearly knocked Hector on his ass. Streams of water vaulted in all directions before dissipating into a light drizzle, and for a few lingering seconds, it was actually raining underground. The water quickly turned to steam, however.

Hector’s eyes searched for the shield but didn’t see it anymore. He ventured out from behind his corner in order to get a closer look, and at length, he found a sliver of it remaining. A chunk of its pointed bottom, he was fairly sure.

It was steadily regenerating, he noticed, but it was still a bit slow, comparatively. He waved his left hand, and the shield retook its full shape almost instantly, just as pristine as before.

Garovel hovered over to him. ‘Well, that was informative.’

‘Yeah,’ said Hector. ‘It’s definitely just as strong as before. But the self-regeneration seems a little redundant now.’

‘And not being able to materialize anything else with the right side of your brain could be problematic.’

‘Don’t you mean the left side of my brain?’ said Hector.

‘Ah. No, I don’t, actually. The right side of your brain controls the left side of your body. And vice versa.’

Hector tilted his head. ‘Really? But that’s so counter-intuitive.’

‘I know, right? Evolution should really get its shit together.’

Hector stooped down and picked up his shield. He held it up in front of himself and turned it over, inspecting it another time.

‘We still don’t know for certain if it can boost your passive soul defense,’ said Garovel. ‘I’m guessing not, since Asad didn’t feel anything when he held it, but I suppose it’s possible that the boost only works for you now.’

‘Hmm.’

‘Probably not, though. And this isn’t a good place to test it out.’