"You assume I'm brutal because that's what you heard," I said. "Well, what about what I've heard about you? Are you thinskinned, a coward, a fool?"
"You're a Noavek," he said stubbornly, folding his arms. "Brutality is in your blood." 
"I didn't choose the blood that runs in my veins," I replied. "Any more than you chose your fate. You and I, we've become what we were made to become."