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‘What does that mean, exactly?’ said Garovel. ‘How does it come from you?’

“It was replicated from my abilities. Stolen, others might argue, but I’ve personally never felt that way. In fact, perhaps I would even be flattered, if the results hadn’t been bungled so miserably.”

‘How was it copied from you? And by whom?’

“How, you ask? Oh my, now that is indeed a question for the Ages. I have often wondered that myself. If you ever discover the answer, please be sure to inform me. As for who was responsible, that I do know. Perhaps it will be a familiar name to you: Skapa the Deceiver. Or Skapa the Savior, if you prefer.”

Welp.

‘Holy fucking shit times two,’ said Garovel, again privately.

And at that, Hector couldn’t help taking a moment aside with the reaper. ‘Garovel, I seem to recall you telling me that all these ancient, godlike beings never actually existed.’

‘Alright. Yeah. Well. Shut the fuck up. Have you thought about that?’

And despite the tense circumstances, Hector snickered under his breath.

‘Also, I never said Skapa didn’t exist. I’ve always thought he was a real dude.’

‘Yeah, okay.’

Caster was chortling again. “Yes, of course you recognize that name. Whenever I reincarnate, I think that perhaps he has finally been forgotten, but that never seems to be the case, no matter how many times someone tries to make it so.”

That made Hector curious, but he also wanted to be careful with his words here. Plenty of memories from the Candle were bubbling up in his mind at the mere mention of Skapa’s name, but there wasn’t time for that, right now. “Do you still hold a grudge against him?” asked Hector.

“Still? Oh, I never did. Unlike many of the others, I have always remained rather fond of the man.”

Hmm. “Really? Even though he ‘bungled’ the replication process, as you put it?”

“Heh. Yes, well, we all make mistakes.”

Difficult words to trust, Hector thought.

But man, now there were so many more questions coming to mind. And this guy, oddly enough, seemed like an open book, right now. It was almost overwhelming. Hector was more accustomed to dealing with cryptic and cagey dudes like Rasalased and Malast. This felt extremely strange, by comparison.

And it gave him pause, as well. Maybe this guy was being a little too forthcoming with these ancient secrets of the world that even old reapers like Garovel didn’t know about. Why might that be?