[ How little of an impact...? Sorey is instinctively inclined to view it from a perspective antithetical to that. Though, what if he had died during his first fight with Eizen? (Which his player absolutely did not do five times before figuring out the ‘run’ command.) He could have just as well been snuffed out in a blink, leaving the world to be overthrown by chaos and malevolence. Yikes.

But he wasn’t, and that -- more than anything -- truly birthed Sorey the Shepherd. Or at least lit a fire under him. And it still burns today, even without his fancy title and (admittedly really useful, now that he’s without them) powers. ]

You’re not wrong. He could have killed us all by now, honestly. But... [ Here’s the biggest ‘but’ you’ll see all day. Sorey’s head shakes. ] He hasn't yet. So we've got to keep looking for a way to stop him.

[ And yes, he sincerely believes that. (And this would be what we call ’unrealistic optimism’. ]

So you mean that’s not what you’re here for? [ Okay but is he actually surprised by this? ]