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((Triple Wednesday -- Page 3 of 3))
Hector made his way over to him and observed the slow regeneration of Darktide. “H-hello...”

‘Ah,’ said Orric. ‘Hello, Lord Goffe.’ The reaper looked around at the warehouse full of armored servants and gave a faint laugh. ‘I see you are building an army of knights.’

“It’s--ah, for, y’know--” He stopped and gathered his thoughts. Slow and deliberate speech, he reminded himself. “...I just figured they didn’t all want to walk around in the nude.”

‘Yes, I thought as much. It is good to see you are well.’

“Ah--same to you.”

Melchor’s torso had just about finished regenerating, so Hector materialized an iron breastplate for him and got a head start on making the crotch-guard so as to help preserve the man’s dignity.

Hector had a question in mind for Orric. “...So you and Melchor fought this Leo guy?”

‘We did,’ said Orric. ‘And by that question, am I to assume he is still at large?’

“Yeah,” said Hector. “What can you tell me about him?”

‘Only that he is frighteningly skillful with materialization, though you might not guess it by looking at him. Not the most physically intimidating of specimens, but not to be underestimated, either. Clearly.’

“Were you able to figure out what his element is?”

‘I believe it may be boron, but I could be mistaken. The battle did not last very long.’

Boron? Hector didn’t know a damn thing about that element. “...Did he attack you guys without warning?”

‘Not exactly. He announced himself first, saying that he wanted us to help him with Sai-hee, but we did not find that very agreeable. THEN he attacked. In the middle of his own sentence. I can only presume that he did not like how negotiations were going, but even though we were mostly on our guard, that tactic still managed to catch us by surprise. Like I said, he did not look intimidating.’

“I see...”

Melchor’s body was mostly complete, as was the armor that Hector made for him. Darktide sat up with a groan and rubbed his forehead.

‘How are you feeling?’ said Orric.

“I’ve been better...” Melchor noticed his iron armor. Then he noticed Hector standing there. “Ah...”

“Hi,” said Hector plainly. He offered the man a hand to help him to his feet.

“That is alright,” said Melchor and stood up on his own. “What have I missed?”

Hector struggled his way through an explanation, until again, Garovel and Voreese arrived to help him. At that point, Hector considered returning to the ceiling to help dig out more brains, but from the looks of things, the others had it covered. There wasn’t much ceiling left to dig through, anymore.

‘So you’re the famous Darktide, eh?’ said Voreese. ‘It’s an honor to make your acquaintance.’

“Ah. Likewise.” The man sounded tired. Hector couldn’t blame him. The guy had been through just as many fights recently as Hector had, and he’d been right at the heart of them all, too.

Phew. Thinking about all that made Hector remember how exhausted he was, too.