[ Howl shrugs his shoulders, now seeming to play down the so-called parlor tricks he's been showing off a minute earlier. He'd rather show off than openly brag. ]

Hm, I suppose. Learning how to do anything takes practice. You could say I've been doing these sorts of things my whole life, too.

[ Not interested in getting into the details of that right now, he turns his attention back to Liem. ]

You look much better than the last time I saw you. [ Howl speaks in a casual tone, keeping the topic light in spite of how not light their last meeting was. ] I'm glad to see it. My arrival was quite awful too — I did not envy you back then.