"Hee hee! Are you giving up so easily?" 'This... this is unlike you. Aside from the annoying laugh. 'I can understand a towering menace. Your incessant blends were due to pay off. But a towering unstoppable menace? No shriek of agony? You declined to even attempt to parry! 'Who are you? I cannot state with any conviction that you are truly Plague Knight.' "Heh. That weakling... is long gone."

'I... yield.' "Already? You won't call in your backup? You won't test your feeble winds against my form?" 'There is no point. 'The Enchantress is gone. The Order is disbanded. I have no loyalty to you and I possess little worth protecting but my life, home and dashing features. 'I gain naught from finding a weakness.' "But you accepted my challenge." 'It was purely courtesy. Your point is made.'

"Hee... I'm not used to my tests ending so anticlimactically. "Nevertheless, I pronounce it a success. "A purely powerful form was indeed not sufficient. But coupled with a great deal of introspection and confidence, I have truly become something worthy of respect."

"Liberal use of potent arcana didn't hurt, either. "No, I should revise that. There was indeed an injury sustained from his fancy toothpick. Fortunately, well-timed application of the berserker's brew eliminated those troublesome symptoms, and I have tonics on hand for larger emergencies. "Hee hee! You know what they say about sufficiently advanced alchemy!"

"At this point, I can think of no further tests to run. My new power is sufficiently permanent and formidable, given sufficiently replenished energies and a proper mindset. "Which means... I am ready to return." "Completely undetected. Either my new smoke bomb recipe is exceeding expectations or the guards remain fools. "I noticed my minions in town... hee hee! I am not surprised by the answer!"

"Unusual. The torque lifts are lowered. Mona must not be here right now. "I thought I told those simpletons! Always have someone stationed at the engaged lifts when I am not present! "Of course, considering how many of them snuck away from work, I wonder if there is even any-"