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‘It’d be stupid of me to think I can protect everyone by myself,’ said Hector. ‘If our time in Sair taught me anything, it’d definitely be that.’

‘Heh. And here I thought your self-confidence was growing.’

‘I... I don’t--I mean, uh... eh... that’s a different... thing.’

‘Eloquently put.’

‘Shut up.’

Hector kept walking for quite a ways, and Garovel kept giving him sass all the while, as expected, until at long length, finally, one of his attempts to create the shield succeeded. Partially. Half of it was missing. He annihilated it, took another step forward, and tried again.

The shield materialized in full this time.

‘Welp. That confirms it.’ Garovel hovered around him, looking the shield over. ‘I’m not sure if I like this “blessing” from Rasalased.’

‘I wonder if he can hear you.’

‘I hope he can. Hey, Rasalased! Why’d you give this to Hector, huh?! Why couldn’t you just upgrade his soul power with your own or something?!’

‘Would that have been possible?’

‘No, but I didn’t think this shit was possible, either, so who the fuck knows?!’

Hector couldn’t help laughing as he started back toward the Rainlords with his second shield in hand. ‘You sound very upset.’

‘Yeah, well, I am. If we’re not super careful, this shield bullshit is gonna bite us on the ass. And I bet Rasalased knew that, too. What a fuckin’ prick.’


Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Seven: ‘Buried in the Dark...’
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There wasn’t a lot of time left until they needed to leave, but Hector spent every moment of it making as many extra shields as he could. And after seeing the kind of punishment that his work was capable of withstanding, the Rainlords were quite keen to help him out.