Powerful ghosts... Zagreus can't say he's ever met a 'powerful' ghost, but he knew they could appear solid enough if they were strong willed about it - Theseus and Asterius were quite solid. So the young priest(?) had a point.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it. I've met plenty of good shades, and count quite a few of them among my friends, it's just..." It's just that ever since he'd gotten here, he'd been wondering just how long it would take for him to keel over and return to the Styx. That it hadn't happened yet defied all logic, and honestly made him quite hopeful. To have someone point out so plainly that perhaps he wasn't meant to be alive...

"... I'm not used to being allowed on the surface this long, that's all. Though I've been on the surface at least a hundred times, I usually can't stay for more than an hour at a time at best." Lately it had been more like ten minutes at best. "I'm assuming that talisman is meant to ward off anything associated with death - including the Cthonic."