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With Garovel on board, Hector was a bit reluctant to go too crazy with the flight practice. That last fight with Banda had been the absolute pinnacle of what he could currently achieve when it came to flying--and he was still feeling the after effects, even now. Aches and pains lingered from breaking every single bone in his body a dozen times over.

He wasn’t sure the damage had ever been that extensive before. Thinking back, it was tough to compare. The fight with Harper Norez had been pretty damn bad, though. And the time he’d been blown to smithereens. And maybe the time he’d gotten dissected...

But no, this time still felt worse, somehow. Sure, he might’ve built his pain tolerance quite a bit since back then, but the intensity of the pain wasn’t the issue. It was the stubbornness of it. He again found himself in a state of existence where it felt like he might never be pain-free again. Like all these dull aches were just a fact of life now.

Was this how old people felt all the time?

Goddamn did he sympathize.

Still, he tried to push himself a bit during the flight to the Carthrace Nature Reserve. It was good chance to test his actual comfort level, now that he had definitive experience with being incredibly uncomfortable.

He kept checking in on Garovel, who’d tucked himself into the armor, but the reaper just kept telling him that he was fine.

‘Are you sure?’ said Hector. ‘I don’t want to bank too hard to the right and accidentally knock you out cold. Or worse.’

‘Relax already, you worry wart. As long as I’m attached to your body, I’m unaffected by physics.’

‘...Is that really how it works? Kinda sounds like bullshit.’

‘You think I’d bullshit you about something like that?’

‘A little, yeah.’

‘Wow, buddy. What the hell?’

‘Or you could just be honestly mistaken. I mean, you’re not exactly the most safety-conscious person I’ve ever met, Garovel.’

‘Okay, you’re the LAST person who can lecture me about that, Mr. Dimension-Hopping-Dinosaur-Wrestler. At least I’ve never needed to be puked out of a monster’s stomach before.’

‘...Wait, how’d you learn about the puking? I don’t think I mentioned that part.’

‘Roman told me.’

‘He saw that?’

‘He sure did. And judging from the way he described it to me, I think he might be scarred for life now, by the way.’

‘Aw, shit...’