"Oh, yeah. Dai does that kind of thing too. He was just some kid with no real training, but he saved me from a gargoyle about five minutes after we met." Saying it out loud this time. It's very normal to have flashes of combat genius, Avan! Lots of cool people are combat geniuses and still manage to live fulfilling lives.

Maybe don't think too hard about why Popp would have had trouble with a gargoyle, though. Why didn't he just say monster.

"Uhhh. You... remember your grandfather, right?"

He has no idea what he's going to say if the answer is no.