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The prospect of training with Lynn again had certainly crossed his mind, but there were multiple reasons why he wasn't eager to give that a go. And frankly, he was a bit surprised by her apparent enthusiasm. "Ah... you really want to fight?" he'd asked.

"Of course! It'll be fun to gauge each other's progress."

Hector had nodded at that point. It did seem fun. In theory. "But, uh... the problem with that is... well, most of my 'progress' has been in the usage of killing techniques."

Lynn had just kind of stared at him for a time, her expression as unreadable as always. "So... you're saying that you think you can pierce this purple shield of mine, is that it?" And she summoned the violet shadow, making it bubble up from her gauntlet and hover in front of his face.

He hadn't seen her make that kind of shape with it before. It was like bubbles connected together by a blanket, constantly rolling over one another. Boiling, perhaps. It was a little gross-looking, honestly, but kinda cool, too, in its own way.

He hadn't been sure how to respond to her question, though. Would it have been too cocky to say that he was confident that he could pierce it? He hadn't thought so, but he hadn't wanted to upset her, either.

She'd ended up a little upset with him, anyway, though. "Well? You were implying that you were worried about killing me, weren't you? That means that you think you can pierce this thing, doesn't it?"

"Ah... well, er..." Agh, why had she looked at him like that? Was she actually mad? Or just messing with him? What should he have said?

They were interrupted when Ms. Rogers arrived to inform him of some rather mundane but necessary banking paperwork that the Madame Carthrace was in need of.

And now, on the last day of the King's visit, Hector had nearly forgotten that conversation, but Lynn apparently had not.