Being able to surprise this serpent - just tactfully ignoring the fact that it was already rather wounded - and kill it so easily filled me with a fresh surge of confidence for the near future, which would undoubtedly be clamped down on sometime in said near future.
It wasn't really an impressive feat whatsoever, but Valentina just gave me this shallow nod as she informed me that "It is a Third Blossom." in her usual flat tone that helped that confidence take root within me.
A weak root, but a root nonetheless, and it was because of this confidence that I was able to push aside what I had been feeling moments earlier and instead focus on more productive things, like asking "Would you say my paltry technique is fast enough to catch 'Evander' off guard?" to a stationary Valentina.
I wasn't particularly hopeful for a good answer, so when she stared at me for a few seconds I was about to just shrug it off and start coming up with a new plan for whenever we encountered Evander again.
