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“Help me in what capacity?” said Abbas. “You’ve already done more than I could have imagined.”

“The Void,” said Hector. “Talk to me about it. When have you encountered it before?”

Abbas had no idea where this was going, but he supposed there was no reason not to answer. “That is a difficult matter. It’s something that inventors have contended with throughout history. Even before I ever faced it myself, I had heard the tales. About how the greatest minds to ever live could reach out and touch this... realm of brilliance. Some called it the Void, yes. Others called it Enlightenment. Or the Heavens. But all agreed that it was something beyond the self. A rarely reachable place where new ideas could be discovered, where old ideas could be found again, and where struggling ideas could come together and find beautiful harmony.”

Hector remained quiet, merely listening.

At the boy’s apparent attentiveness, Abbas decided to continue. “As for myself, I have been fortunate enough to encounter this feeling on... six occasions that I can remember. Now, whether or not I truly came face-to-face with the so-called Void in these moments... well, that may be unknowable. I can only report how I felt. And the results that followed. Each time, I was met with a great euphoric epiphany. A breakthrough in the work that I had been toiling away at for... years, in most cases. And there is no doubt in my mind that I would have been incapable of building my armor if I had never experienced those moments.”

Hector nodded. “Okay. I understand the problem.”

“Problem?”

“Yes,” the young lord went on. “The problem, Lord Abbas, is that you’re too smart.”

Abbas returned a dull blink. “Excuse me?”

“First, you need to adjust your mindset. Because you’re too smart, you need to slow down and come to the realization--the epiphany, to use your word--that you’re actually not smart. That you’re a big dumbass.”

“Hector, I am receiving some rather mixed messaging here...”

“Look. The Void will turn your own intellect against you. Your mind will become lost to infinity. So... yeah, in a weird way, you need to become stupider.”

‘In that regard, this conversation will surely help,’ said Worwal.

At that scathing remark, Abbas might’ve expected the Lord of Warrenhold to take offense.

But Hector just paused for a laugh, instead.

Which ended up pulling one out of Worwal, too.

Quite the uncommon sight from his reaper, Abbas noted with mild shock.