A reply to Kriim-Sauce786's review:
He was special forces – a highly trained Shock Trooper who had been chemically enhanced, so he was already proficient in his use of his current weapons and various forms of combat, but don't worry as I don't plan on charging headlong to the guild. The run-in with Erza in chapter 3 was a freak incident and was to set up the events in chapter 4. He might have another chance run-in in chapter 6 but it won't be a close contact that he is familiar with. But yeah, I never planned on hard-charging back to the guild for those exact reasons you mentioned, he needed to train with his swords and move past the pain of losing everyone before he can face them without breaking. And that isn't to mention the fact he has no background with these people, he'd have to work his way in from the bottom.
Thank you for the review!
Day 52
I've been training Lelyanna in using an M12,
she's doing pretty well, catching onto the basics
fairly quickly. There are a few things she needs
to work on, but polish can come later, I just need
her fit for combat, well, fit to defend herself in
dire situations.
I received a call from the owner of Pierce The Veil,
Saiko, the other day. She was having a little trouble
getting the alloy to form properly, but she thinks she
has gotten it correct and has begun work proper.
I hope to receive at least one of the weapons today.
She's supposed to be a Master Smith, so she might
even surprise me in her craft speed and accuracy.
I admit, I don't exactly know much about swords…
but hopefully I don't get screwed by her, I did
provide her with knowledge of an advanced alloy,
so hopefully she'll do her best and create weapons
that put her other Masterworks to shame.
One more thing before I sign off; Ceres has
contacted me about my old world. Apparently
the Gods and Goddesses who sit above her have
decided to include it as an experimental zone.
They plan on sending monsters there too to see
how they adapt to the heavily irradiated
wasteland. This makes things difficult for me as
I'll have a fight on my hands every time I need to
go back and source something from my home
world…
Seems like Lelyanna needs something, so I'll
finish up here. Until next time.
Natsu closed the diary and sent it to his pocket dimension as the archbishop came to a stop in front of him. They were in the octagonal gazebo in his garden, rain pounding down on the tiled roof and obscuring the firing range. Lelyanna didn't want to practice today but he had rather firmly informed her that there will be times where she would have to fight for her life in very adverse conditions.
"Natsu, I need more ammo." Lelyanna sat down next to the man and massaged her right hand and wrist, soothing the pain from repeated firing of the powerful handgun. "I've run through another box."
"Here." A pack of fifty 10mm cartridges appeared from a glow in his hand and he placed it onto the octagonal table sat in the centre of the gazebo. "Take a short break once you've finished stacking the mags. Take the time to disassemble the pistol and give it a clean and oil. Normally you wouldn't do it until you're done shooting, but I want you to get into the habit of keeping the gun well maintained. The last thing you want is a jam right when you have a hostile bearing down on you" Natsu watched as the woman quietly went about filling all four of her magazines. He had noticed that he had fallen into his old mannerisms around her, from when he was a Shock Trooper. The way he carried himself, the way he spoke with a calm authority, even how he observed the area around him, it had all come back to him as easily as breathing. Strangely enough, it had caused a small weight to be lifted from his chest, that he could still be who he was and hopefully that still held true for the future.
"It's hard to get a good line on the far target in this rain…" Lelyanna complained quietly as she placed the last mag down and picked up her M12. She glanced out the side at the thick curtain of water hammering down around them. She turned her pale-turquoise eyes to the man next to her and tilted her head slightly, her short bluish-silver hair fanning outward. "Are you able to hit it?"
"In this weather? Yes." Natsu replied, evenly. He reached behind him and drew his own pistol, bringing it up without bothering to get into a proper shooting position, just lining it up in one hand as he stayed sat back and relaxed. His eyes narrowed as his vision sharpened beyond natural limits, a short exhale later; he began sending round after round towards the steel target, being rewarded with a sharp Tink as each shot met the head of the silhouette, all fifteen times.
"How?"
"In short, I'm a chemically enhanced 'super soldier'. Shock Troopers like me have greater strength, speed, and durability, we have more stamina and recover it faster. We heal faster and have limited regenerative abilities, but that doesn't mean we can grow back an arm…" Natsu chuckled softly and grinned at the slender woman, bearing his fangs. "But say we get shot; we heal the injury back to the state it was pre-infliction. Our senses are also sharpened, a normal Shock Trooper's vision and hearing are more acute than even the best humanity can naturally achieve."
"But you're a Dragon Slayer." Lelyanna inclined her head slightly, her eyes focusing on the sharp canines that looked capable of piercing her flesh with ease. "From what I've heard, you're hearing and sight are already enhanced by your magic?"
"Correct. Sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, even general perception of our surroundings, are all boosted by the mutations made by Draconic Magic. On top of that, we're stronger, faster, and tougher than regular mages."
"So, Shock Troopers who had Dragon Slaying magic were even stronger than normal Shock Troopers?"
"Yes, but there is a caveat to that; Natural Dragon Slayers, meaning those who received their powers directly from dragons, are more mutated than those created by lacrima infusion and therefore tend to have greater durability and senses than them. There was a case where a lacrima variant used some kind of sound magic to amplify his hearing, putting him above the natural variant, but he was the only lacrima variant to do that." Natsu dropped the mag into his waiting hand and placed his pistol down. He began filling the mag back up by summoning bullet after bullet from his requip space, each one glowing between his thumb and finger before being slotted into the growing stack. "So, with that in mind, those of us who had draconic magic already mutating us ended up becoming even stronger than the standard Shock Troopers. Though some Shock Troopers had further mutations occur, unplanned but no less beneficial. I fall into this category."
"What is it?" Lelyanna asked curiously as she watched Natsu slot the fifteenth round into the chamber of the pistol then let the slide forward and placed the mag back into the weapon. "Could you show me it?"
"I could, but I'd have to be in combat to properly display it. I call it Reflex, basically my brain enters an overclocked state which boost my reflexes." When he saw the confused look on the woman's face, he paused and quickly clarified what he meant as he slipped the pistol back into his holster. "Ah, sorry, think of it this way." He pushed back his left sleeve and held up his watch, facing Lelyanna. "Say, every second your brain processes a thousand bits of information when running at a hundred percent. That is your normal clock speed. But say if I used Reflex and one hundred percent gets doubled, now I'm processing a thousand bits of information every half-second. For me, it's like a mental slider or dial, so as I increase my processing speed, my reflexes become quicker, and the world around me becomes slower. When this is coupled with my vastly increased speed, allows me to dodge or intercept attacks too fast for even a normal Shock Trooper."
"That sounds very taxing…"
"And you'd be right in saying that." Natsu nodded. He turned on the bench to fully face the young woman, he could see goosebumps prickling her bare shoulders so he raised his body temperature to heat the ambient air and keep her warm. "The quicker the clock speed, the greater the draw on my mental capacity. So, the amount of time I can stay in this heightened state of perception is fairly short when using its maximum potential, but in that state, I can do a lot of damage to whatever I'm attacking or I can easily avoid whatever is coming towards me."
"Is there any way I can experience what that looks like?" Lelyanna leaned closer to the pinkette, her eagerness to learn and experience new things lit up her pale eyes.
"Well, we both know that Ceres has a way to project her consciousness into another person, but I don't know if that is an ability restricted to divinity. Maybe she'll give you the ability or pull your consciousness in with hers?"
"I'll ask her now." Lelyanna murmured, sitting back and bringing her hands together in prayer and bowing her head with closed eyes.
"Master." Henriette whispered from behind Natsu as the android tapped the man on the shoulder. "You have a call from Saiko. I told her you were currently busy doing some training in the garden and wasn't close enough to a handset for me to transfer the call to you."
"Did she leave a message?" Natsu turned to the android. He had noticed over the last few days that it has started to have more human-like mannerisms, referring to itself as a singular entity instead of a collective, no doubt Ceres had been sneaking in during the night while he was asleep to fiddle with the behaviour routines for Henrietta's main hub.
"She is currently on the line, Master." The android softly informed the pinkette in its fluttery voice. "She said she wants your opinion on the material's progress for your order as this is the first time she has worked the alloy. She has an example made, just a standard dagger, but is disappointed with how it came out.."
"Tell her that I'll be around shortly."
"Yes, Master. I'll also prepare the motorcar so you can be out of the rain."
"Wait?" Natsu gaped as he rose from the bench and turned to face his servant, gazing into its blank eyes with shock. "You mean that I have a car? Since when?"
"Lady Ceres had it prepared for you prior to your arrival at the manor, Master. Though it arrived two days after you moved in. It is currently sitting in the garage." The black-haired android raised its right arm and pointed to the building sat in the front right corner of the estate. True to its words, when he explored the estate the day after he had arrived, the garage had been empty. "It's a Leopard SC made by the Leona Motor Company."
"Ok, prepare the car. I'll finish things here and go inspect her work." Natsu turned back to the priestess just as she parted her hands, revealing two ornately engraved golden rings. "Looks like Ceres got back to you?"
"She said she couldn't directly provide me the power to do it. Like you said, it's restricted to divinity. But… she did say she could bend that slightly by blessing a pair of rings to link both wearers consciousness. Make a Divine Treasure for it." She raised her pale-turquoise eyes from the shiny rings and gazed at the man, noticing the look of recognition in his eyes. "Do these rings ring a bell?"
"They belong to Ceres; I spent a full week in her house in the divine realms so I've seen them often." He took the larger of the two rings and slid it onto his right ring-finger. He clicked his tongue as a thought popped into his mind. "I better make sure it isn't going to melt on me if I use my fire." The pinkette pushed a little demonic power into the jewellery and used Enhancement to boost its thermal resistance. "There, now it won't turn into a puddle if I need to ignite my fists."
"The Goddess said something about pushing a little mana into it while focusing on the other person and it'll pull your consciousness into them." Lelyanna closed her eyes and did as her goddess had instructed, her skin instantly becoming pink as she let out an embarrassed whimper while at the same time, Natsu felt a familiar sensation of another's spiritual body entering his own though this one felt softer and smaller than Ceres' powerful spirit. "Why didn't she warn me that I'd feel your body as if it was my own? And why don't you feel embarrassed?!"
"This isn't the first time I've had a woman inside me." Natsu lowered his body temperature back down to its normal level and looked the woman up and down. "Not getting any headaches or anything?"
"No. No headaches, and I don't feel nauseous. Though, it is odd seeing and hearing things through you. You make my vision seem very blurry by comparison, and the rain sounds more defined…"
"Focus further out than immediately around us. You should be able to notice the sound of ticking through the rain, the sound of all the clockwork mechanisms of this city, and Henrietta's bodies."
"You can hear all this?! Wait, is that what I smell like to you?"
"Yes. It's normal for females to smell that way, it has to do with the various hormones and pheromones the human body contains and emits. Consider yourself lucky, you have a pleasant flowery scent. I've come across women who smell rancid and don't know it." Natsu turned his attention to the firing range and drew his pistol, lining it up with the distant target. "See what I mean? I can see them clearly, even in poor conditions like this."
"Can you show me that Reflex ability you were talking about?"
"Brace yourself, I don't know how well a mortal would be able to handle seeing this without going through what I went through." The former Shock Trooper warned the Priestess, giving her a short few moments before he steeled himself and his mind cranked into overdrive, slowing the raging storm around them to a gentle drizzle. A gasp echoed in his head as he lined his right eye up with the sights of his pistol and started to fire upon the target, pacing his shots normally.
"I… I can see the bullets flying through the air… see them cutting through the rain and smash against the target… this is insane! And you can fight like this? At high speeds?!"
"Yes. That's enough for now." Natsu murmured as he sent the empty mag away and replaced it with a fresh mag from his storage. He had fired fourteen of the fifteen rounds which left him with one left in the chamber when he reloaded. The world around him finally returned to normal as he placed his weapon away and looked down at the priestess. "This will be useful for when I return to my world to gather supplies and equipment. Since I can't take you there due to everything being heavily irradiated, I could at least show you it through my eyes."
Lelyanna withdrew her spirit from the man and slowly opened her eyes, the pale-turquoise sparkling softly at the chance to witness something so alien to her, even if it would have to be through eyes that weren't her own. When she was about to agree, she noticed a glimmer of sadness flicker in Natsu's dark green eyes, so she quickly changed tact. "It would be an honour to see where you came from. I'll provide you with some flowers to give to your friends on my behalf."
"I'll see if Ceres would allow a trip to their graves. I'm sure she would, but my main objective is to recover munition manufacturing equipment from a factory south of Malba." The man let out a slow, soft breath and grabbed his coat from the edge of the bench where it had sat alongside Lelyanna's hooded half-cloak. He placed two more boxes of ammo down on the table and slipped his arms through the coat and flicked it up on his shoulders. "Continue with your training, once you're out of ammo you can head back inside and study that book on medical practices. Henrietta, please stay with her and attend to her needs."
"Yes, Master. I have another message from just before Saiko hung up; just come through the door behind the counter and into the forge."
Natsu stepped out into the rain and stuck to the brick path as he made his way to the detached garage. "Holy fucking shit, it's pissing down…" He muttered harshly, shooting a glare up at the black sky. The rain had almost instantly soaked through to his clothes, so he cranked up the heat once again to combat the water. He broke out into a jog and quickly crossed the manor grounds, ducking under the partly open garage door and coming face-to-face with an extremely old-fashioned car by his standards, in fact he had probably seen something like it in a museum one time.
The stately-looking car had long flowing lines, painted in a deep and dark shade of Prussian blue with black wheel arches. The sides of the engine bay were walled with glass that had very faint runic etching running along it, most likely to strengthen the material, and within the casing was a running brass and glass engine but it didn't seem to be a combustion engine that ran on fuel since he couldn't see or smell any combustion coming from the visibly spinning triple rotors. A faint high-frequency pulsing vibrated the air, disturbing the natural magic around him. The engine was another lacrima powered device, it seemed, but this one was quite unusual… if he had to put a name to it, he'd have to call it a Rotary Magic Pulse Engine.
Natsu slowly walked down the left side of the car, running his fingers along the long front end as the thrum of engine tickled the hairs on the back of his neck. He saw a Henrietta unit standing by the right-hand door, dutifully waiting for her master to reach her. While he ran his hand up the A-Pillar and along the black leather retractable roof, he gazed inside the cabin, finding fairly familiar controls with ebony wood furnishings and a thick black leather bench seat. The rear end swept down with a nice and steady curve until it reached the base, overall, it was a beautiful car but he couldn't help but wonder if it suited the kind of person that he was supposed to be portraying himself as.
"Master, please hop inside." Henrietta bowed her head as she opened the driver's door. "Your profile has already been uploaded to the car's systems, so it'll automatically unlock and lock as you move within a metre of it." As Natsu slid into the seat, the android stepped around the door and crouched down to lean into the cabin. Yet again, it was exhibiting strange human-like mannerisms and movements that blurred the line between man and machine. "I'll assume you know how to drive a motorcar based on your history, so I'll just give you the quick rundown."
"Well, there are three pedals and a shifter by my knee. So, I'm going to guess that this is a manual gearbox with the pedal on the left being the clutch?"
"Yes." The android nodded before pointing to a switch to the right of the steering column labelled Prime below a button labelled Start/Stop. "To start the car, you need to flick the prime switch up and wait a couple of seconds for that button above it to illuminate, then you can press that and it'll start up, and when it does, that switch will automatically come down. The indicators are the lever to the right of that, and the window wipers are the lever on the dash to left side of the column." Henrietta straightened up and stepped back, placing her hand on the door. "That should be all you need to know about this motorcar. Both this garage and the front gate should open for you automatically. Safe travels, Master."
"Thank you, Henrietta." Natsu replied with a smile. After the black-haired android closed the car door, she stepped back further and the garage raised open to allow him to drive out. It felt good to be behind the wheel again, but it was a vastly different feel to the vehicles he was used to. Even his own personal car had more room, the steering was much lighter, it drove smoother, plus it had an onboard AI that allowed it to pilot the car autonomously which Lucy had loved to take advantage of, that and the blacked-out tint on the windows. But he wouldn't complain as the freedom to travel in his own personal vehicle again outweighed the negatives about the Leopard SC.
Thankfully, while the streets were narrower than what he was used to, the general layout of this Magnolia's various districts somewhat matched the one from the larger Magnolia of his world. This allowed Natsu to navigate his way mostly by memory, though he did come across areas that didn't match up and had to detour here and there. He pulled off onto the side of the road and parked the Leopard across from Pierce The Veil, quickly getting out and dashing across the road to the store.
Ignoring the Come Back Later sign hanging from the door, Natsu pressed the button for the intercom mounted to the wall. "Saiko, it's Báleygr. Am I right to come in?"
"Door is unlocked. I'm in the back"
"Alright." He released the button and pushed open the door, entering the store to the chime of a bell. The weapon racks were empty, Saiko's stock were probably all in the store room since she was busy smithing weapons. He quickly crossed to the back of the shop and passed through the door behind the counter, there was a stairway leading up to the floor above and another heading down from where he could smell molten metal. "How's it coming along?" He called out as he jogged down the flight of stairs and came out into the workshop.
"I've made progress, but still running into issues." Saiko glanced over as she guided a vat of materials into the forge to be melted down. She closed the door and cranked the power to maximum before waving the man over to a nearby workbench where she handed him a dagger with an annoyed frown. "I can't seem to get the same final ratios as the knife of yours. Here, take a look at this."
Natsu flipped the unsharpened and gripless blade over and over in his hands, his eyes roaming the surface. It had the same blackness that came from the materials that his KMXX had but something did indeed feel off. "You don't care if I break this?"
"Go ahead. I'll just be throwing them in with the raw materials anyway." The mature woman shrugged her shoulders indifferently, adjusting her tube-top and overalls while watching the man inspect her work.
The pinkette held the raw blade between his fingers and thumb, slowly putting more and more pressure on the weapon until it began to bend. He narrowed his eyes slightly at it and drew his knife from its sheath on his left thigh, putting Saiko off to his left as he sliced at the weapon and cutting through it with ease. "Yeah, feels like the ratio is definitely off. It's far weaker than it should be…" He turned to look at the furnace and pointed to it with his combat knife. "Do you remove anything from that while its melting?"
"Just some slag from the top… Huh…" Saiko folded her arms and cocked her hips as she gazed at the furnace, her yellow eyes widening as she tilted her head slightly in realisation. "That slag, it's not impurities, is it? I found I got a better mix when I ran the furnace at maximum heat."
"You probably aren't getting it hot enough for this mixture to fully melt and combine into an alloy." Natsu nodded. He placed the knife back on his thigh and tossed the destroyed weapon onto the bench. "You said it is at maximum? How does it work?"
"A series of emitter rings that sit at the base and come about two-thirds of a metre up the wall. The heat is generated thanks to a lacrima containing fire magic in the housing next to it." The smith explained, watching as the man removed his coat and tossed it over some barrels before neatly folding his sleeves up to the elbow. He removed his rings and watch and placed them in his back pocket before walking over to the machine. "Wait, that's still running!"
"It's fine." Natsu reassured her, flatly, and giving her a bland look. "I'm immune to fire." He grabbed the ceramic door – which was usually opened by winch – and wrenched it open, sticking his whole head into the furnace and inspecting the fiery jets shooting from the rings. "Yep, there's your problem." He called out, his voice muffled by the thick ceramic walls. He tilted the vat a little and peered inside, there were materials starting to collect at the top instead of liquifying and mixing together. Once he was satisfied with his findings, he pulled his head out of the furnace without even a single bead of sweat rolling down his face and closed it up, turning to look at the weaponsmith. "It's definitely not getting the heat it needs. How much hotter can this furnace withstand; I can work some magic and reinforce it if it is needed?"
"Umm, probably do that anyway. I don't want to burn down my livelihood because I needed more firepower for a new alloy." Saiko suggested. She sauntered over to the control panel and powered down her furnace. When she hit the eject cell button, the power unit's narrow door opened and a vertical tray emerge from within; carrying a metre-tall lacrima disk. "That's the fuel source."
"I'll check it in a sec; just altering the inside surface of your furnace to reflect as much the heat inwards as possible, instead of absorbing the thermal energy and heating up." Natsu glanced over at the disk while keeping his left palm flush against the furnace, pushing his demonic power into the circular wall and modifying the attributes with his Enhancement curse. His brow furled as he narrowed his eyes at the lacrima. "What's the deal with the disks? Do you own them and pay for them to get charged, or are the rented and cycled through with new stock?"
"I own them and have them charged when I run down to the second last one; I have a dozen of them including this one. Why do you ask?"
"Find a new person; whoever is charging those doesn't have a good quality of fire magic. I can tell just by looking at that." Natsu nodded at the power core and turned his gaze to the woman who once again stared at him with surprise. "I'll deal with your current stock so you don't have to worry for a bit. But I suggest talking to Titania about getting someone like Salamander to charge these, her magic should be more than potent enough to give you the results you're after. And since Titania is most likely a regular customer, she may be inclined to help if it means even better weapons."
"I might get a better deal going through that guild anyway." Saiko admitted as she turned to face the man. She sat against the edge of the control panel and crossed her arms under her bust, causing her top to strain a little more under their size. Her yellow eyes followed the man as he took his hand from the foundry wall and calmly strode to the exposed disk, examining it closely. "So, what's your story? I'm not really after your history, you already mentioned your homeland was destroyed, but what about you? You seem to know your way around fire magics, that and you could stick your head in the furnace while it was running full bore which is something I've only ever heard Salamander be capable of."
"She's stuck her head into a furnace before?"
"Not that I'm aware… I more meant the immunity to fire."
"That's simple; she's part dragon, I'm part demon." Natsu replied, placing his right hand on the lacrima as his eyes and markings turned a demonic red. "Our aspect is fire, and since our abilities come from powerful benefactors, we too become powerful. Don't get me wrong, we're both human, but we've been mutated by our powers which gives us the immunity you asked about." His hand closed into a fist but didn't fully shut, instead it grabbed a hold of something ethereal. The man pulled on the air and an orange power coalesced between his fingers and the disk and he began to pull the fire magic from the lacrima. "That's how I survived what ruined my homeland, my demonic mutations made me survive when those around me died." He sighed softly at the ball of fire magic as it was consumed by his demonic flames. "My wife included. So, I came here, to try and start a new life."
"There was nothing left?" Saiko asked softly, her eyes dropping to her boots but she quickly raised them out of respect.
"Just dust and echoes rolling and whispering through ruins. I'm lucky to have gotten a knowledge crystal that allowed me to do this otherwise I'd be shit out of luck and down to just my knife and a pistol. It's not that I can't fight with them, I just I don't want to wear them out or run out of ammo for the pistol since we had different cartridges and powder than you guys have." Natsu switched out his fire for one that was a rich reddish-orange and pushed the magic into the lacrima, filling the magic crystal to 98% and leaving the little bit of room on top to prevent a criticality event which could likely blow up everything within the block, give or take a few dozen metres. "Zero that dial before you slot the core back in, for safety reasons."
"Right…" Saiko spun around and turned a dial before pulling the power core's lever, slotting the recharged disk into the machine. "Let's see how much power my baby can crank out now…" She slowly turned the dial up while keeping her eyes on the temperature readout. "Hey, come here and set this to where it should be. I'm getting a much higher output than before, so we should be good for a proper go at it."
Natsu took position in front of the control panel, keeping his eyes on the temperature gauge as he slowly dialled up the heat. When he hit the sweet spot, the dial sat at just below half capacity, leaving plenty of room left to go higher. "There. Once it's all mixed properly, you shouldn't have an issue forging it into weapons."
"Now that you've worked your magic, I can work mine." Saiko grinned and hurried past the pinkette, quickly readjusting her hair bun and tying back the black strands that hand come loose. She grabbed a pair of goggles and snapped them over her eyes before flicking the tinted caps down and pulling the lever next to the furnace to open the door. "Lookin' good so far, might give it a stir. But damn is it hot in here, it's an intense heat too, much different than the other lot."
"The Enhancement I put on that would be part of the reason; all the heat is getting reflected around the kiln. Should be more efficient overall, that and the magic I put into that disk is more potent than what was in there before." Natsu informed the weaponsmith as he walked across the workshop and opened the power core storage box, ripping the fire magic from each disk and replacing it with his own far stronger magic. Once he had finished all eleven disks, he sat on a barrel by the workbench, next to his coat. "I can put the same Enhancement on your work gear if you like, would probably cut down on the heat?"
"Nah, the heat is good. Plus, I'm used to it so it'll be weird for it to suddenly go away."
"Suit yourself." Natsu murmured. He requipped the acoustic guitar he had found among the ruins of one of the warships, it had probably been one of the Pergrande Navy's ships, but it didn't matter anymore. He took a coin from the money pouch on his belt and used it as a pick as he began to tune the guitar.
"You know." Saiko hollered at the pinkette, shooting him a quick glance while she got the continuous casting machine warmed up. "When you first walked into the store, I thought you were some kinda noble looking for a fancy blade to shove under the noses of the other nobles… Lookin' at you now, though…"
"What do you see?" Natsu's red eyes raised from the head of the guitar and met the yellow eyes of the weaponsmith.
"You have a sadness that you try to pave over with an air of indifference or toughness and roughness. I didn't notice it at first but seeing you now, when your attention is turned inwards and the shell falls away, those demonic eyes of yours barely hold back the pain in your heart."
"Heh, what is with my luck with women…" Natsu chuckled softly and bared his fangs in a sad little grin. "I always seem to find the ones who can see right through me. Lelyanna was the first one since I came here, then Titania seemed to notice something was up, and now you. You'd think being a big bad demon would scare people off, looking into my eyes and seeing these markings, you would think the fairer sex would be put on edge. But nope, you women just see right through it."
"Demon or not, you seemed decent enough." Saiko shrugged her shoulders and rested her back against the machine. "Plus, the Archbishop was helping you, so I figured you were on good terms with the Church of Ceres. And you did provide me with the recipe for this alloy, and then helped me get it to work. So, I mean, you don't seem all bad, just don't go burning down the city on a whim." She finished with a playful chuckle, giving the man a grin and a wink.
"I bet you're wondering if I burst into flames the very second that I had set foot into their cathedral?"
"Knowing some of what you can do now, I wouldn't be surprised if you did it as a joke."
"Ha, fair point." Natsu shook his head lightly as his grin lightened up a little. He let out a soft sigh and went back to tuning the instrument. "I debated on whether I ought to provide you with details of things from my homeland, that alloy mainly. I'm not the biggest sword person, great with knives and firearms but as I said before, I don't want to run low on supplies before I find a way of getting more cartridges. But I've been in the country long enough to know about Titania and her lot, so when I heard from Lelyanna that she is one of your clients, I decided it may be worth providing you with the information. The quality of the weapon at one's side could influence whether they live or die."
"Especially now days since the monster population boomed and those bastards seemed to have become tougher. Tell you what…" Saiko pushed off the machine and walked over to the man, standing in front of him with her hands on her hips. "I put a maker mark on all my weapons, and since you've had a big hand in making this new line of weapons possible, I want to put your maker mark along with it." She clapped her hands together and flashed a grin at the red-eyed man. "So, do you have any ideas?"
Natsu opened his mouth to refuse the offer but a thought shot that down instantly; he could use this opportunity as a means to legitimately manufacture the munitions and supplies from his old world. "Yes, actually… Báleygr Arms." He drew his pistol and held up the left side for the woman to look at. He tapped his finger just above the Flaming Eye that he had engraved into the slide. "All my weapons have this marking, I did it as a way to signify what was mine but if we could do a joint venture in this, then I would be happy to put it alongside your own marker."
"One of the weapons from your homeland?" Saiko glanced at the unusual pistol but didn't give it much thought as she grabbed a pencil and some paper, glancing between the page and the emblem as she made a perfect copy of it on a larger scale. "Alright, I'll get a die made up. Your mark will only go on the weapons made with this alloy, since the recipe belongs to you."
"I'm fine with that." Once the woman had finished drawing, he placed the weapon back into its holster and went back to turning the guitar. When it was finished, he set it aside and hopped off the barrel, heading over to the furnace and opening it up to inspect the molten material. He slipped his hand into the hot liquid metal and stirred it around; he could feel the discomfort rolling off the weaponsmith as she came up behind him. "Seems to be coming together much better, nothing sticking to the top anymore, and I don't feel any clumps of material in it." Natsu glanced over his shoulder at the woman before giving the liquid a brief burst of intense heat, ensuring that it was all liquid before he removed his hand and holding the unharmed limb out for her to inspect. "You should be right to move onto the next step now."
"Nice!" Saiko cheered, grinning as she lightly punched the man's shoulder. "I'll get to work on some practice pieces and hopefully get started on your weapons in a few days. Sorry that it has taken so long."
"It's fine. Had I known your foundry couldn't reach the temperatures needed, I'd have done this sooner. But neither of us could have known until you started working on it." Natsu took his rings and watch from his back pocket and slipped them back into place before reducing his demonic presence, causing his eyes and markings to return to normal as he fixed his sleeves and refastened the gold cufflinks. "Take your time and get it correct. I want to see just how good you are."
"Heh. I'll make you swords perfect for both an art museum and the bloodiest of battlefield." Saiko grinned and flipped the tinted lenses down over her goggles. She grabbed a pair of thick gloves and moved the man aside so she can get at the furnace, cranking it open and attaching a pair of hooks to the vat inside. The black-haired woman winched the vat out and used the overhead crane to move it over to the next machine, pouring it down the large funnel of the continuous casting machine. "You're right to head out now, things should be all set here." She refilled the vat with ingots and chucked in some of the test daggers, then placed it back into the furnace to be melted down. "Oh, before you do!" Saiko called out, quickly spinning around and smacking the lever, shutting the door while she flicked her tinted lenses up. "I want to give you a loaner sword, just to get you by so you can take jobs while you wait for your weapons to be done."
"Lead the way." Natsu replied, grabbing his guitar and coat; sending the former away in a flash of light and slid his arms into the latter, flicking it up onto his shoulders. He followed the smith up the first set of stairs, then up the second set that led to the second floor.
"Wait here for a moment, I'll get a sword out of storage." Saiko left the man at the top of the stairs and entered into a nearby room. She came out a few minutes later with a sheathed longsword attached to a backstrap holster. "It's a Grosses Messer, about a hundred-and-ten-centimetres, so similar to the one I'm going to be making for you. Figured it would do good for you to get used to what you'll be using."
Natsu took the offered sword and drew it from the sheath, it was a silvery longsword that was mostly straight save for near the tip where it had a gradual curve. "Thank you." He smiled at the weaponsmith and returned the blade to the scabbard before slipping his arms through the belts and adjusting the holster so it fits comfortably against his back with the blade cantered to the right, its single cutting edge facing up so the draw could smoothly transition into a slash.
"This is just a normal sheath but the ones I'll be making for your two swords are called a clamshell scabbard; basically, when you draw the sword two-centimetres, the sheath opens up about a centimetre-and-a-half along the cutting edge which allows for a quick draw. And to put it back, you just swing it back in place and move it past that two-centimetre section and the sheath will snap shut again." Saiko explained, putting her fingers to her thumb like a clamshell and opening and closing it to illustrate her plan. "I don't have one here, so I can't show you. But trust me, it'll be handy especially for the Kriegs Messer. The Messer short swords will have standard sheaths since they're not long enough to warrant the special sheath."
"That's fine with me, I'll probably have those attached to a belt around my hips or waist under the coat, while the two longer swords will be put on my back in a parallel mount."
"Sounds good to me. I'll get it all set up for you as part of your order." Saiko grinned happily and gave the man a thumbs-up before leading the way back downstairs and into the shop. As they passed the counter, she turned to Natsu and gave the man a thumping pat on the back. "Thanks again for stopping by and helping me sort out the little gremlins. I'll call you again if I come across any more issues but it should be smooth sailing from here on out since I'll be following my standard process for crafting Masterworks."
"Good luck." Natsu gave the smith a farewell nod and headed for the door, opening it and letting a groan as the rain seemed to have gotten a little heavier. "Fucking rain." He muttered and turned up the collar of his coat as he hurried to his car, quickly sending his loaned weapon away as he opened the door and slid into the driver's seat. The man let out a long sigh and closed his eyes, relaxing deeply into the comfortable leather seat. He pushed a little bit of magic into the ring and felt his consciousness leave his body, his mind felt weightless for a moment before it sank into a soft and supple body that was much smaller than his own. The black shroud covering his eyes lifted to reveal crème-coloured sheets on a large bed and a large book lying on top of them, it was one of his spare bedrooms. "You feel cold."
"That's the first thing you notice when you enter a woman's body? I even had a nice bath to warm back up." Lelyanna remarked, smiling softly down at the book in front of her. "How'd things go with Saiko?"
"There was an issue at the smelting stage; her machine couldn't get hot enough so I had to fiddle with it. Now it should be all good, she just wants to do some practice pieces before she gets mine done. But she did give me Grosse Messer to wield in the meantime until I receive my order."
"Oh, good." Lelyanna flipped the velvet tassel bookmarker down between the pages and closed the book. She pushed herself up on the bed, sitting with her legs splayed out to her sides as she stretched out and groaned. "I can't wait to see what she comes up with. I finished off those boxes you left me, but I stopped when I had four full magazines left." She dropped her gaze to her chest where the pistol sat to the left and the magazines sat to the right of her breasts. "I think I've gotten to a point where it feels pretty natural to draw the pistol."
"Show me. Go to the mirror as natural as normal, like you're having a nice chat, then draw the pistol and bring it into a firing position."
The priestess complied instantly; leaping from the bed dexterously and landing on her feet with a soft, light thud. She put on a gentle smile and brought her hands together just below her bust as she approached the mirror, her wavey silver hair brushing her bare shoulders while her fitted white dress rippled around her thighs. Looking every bit the gentle priestess everyone knew her to be. She approached her reflection before her hand suddenly snapped to the grip of the pistol, her thumb flicking up to push the hoop out of the way as she began to draw the weapon then dropping back down to flick the safety off as the muzzle flipped around to point in front of her. The smile dropped as her eyes narrowed with focus, gripping the suppressed pistol with both her hands but keeping her trigger finger parallel with the barrel.
"Good, good. I felt no hitches in your movement; it was nice and smooth, and well-practiced. Keep it up and you'll get even quicker. I do have one question though: you didn't pull the slide; do you have a round already chambered?"
"Yes. I decided to do as you do and keep one cartridge in the chamber at all times, with the hammer back but the safety on." Lelyanna relaxed, smiling once more as she flicked the safety on and returned the weapon to its holster. "Did Lady Ceres ever tell you were to take jobs?"
"No. Back in my world we had contracts come in from the government to our companies, before the war that is. Wherever they needed to send a group of special forces soldiers, whenever they had a job that they needed doing where plausible deniability was a factor, they contracted mercs like my faction to drop in and get their hands dirty instead." Natsu explained softly. "So, jobs came to us. I don't know how it works here, is it different?"
"Kinda, yeah." Lelyanna nodded. She walked back to the bed and sat on the edge, looking down at her slender pale legs. "The various Guilds do get jobs sent to them, but they are distributed by the Jaeger Association of Fiore. So, people can band together and make a Guild though they have to register it with the Association, or join an existing one, or they can work independently of a Guild and visit one of the Branch Offices to pick up jobs. The Association has a shared database using Archive magic, so whenever a job is taken by someone in one city the entire system is automatically updated so there is no chance of two groups going on the same job and getting into a fight. You and I will have to visit an office and register as a team, I need to register as a Jaeger too, or at the very least I need to make it known that I'm assisting one."
"I'll probably have to update my profile, or have one created if Ceres hasn't done that. But she told me that everything should already be in place before I came here."
"In that case, you shouldn't have anything to worry about." The woman smiled to herself and started to idly play with her fingers. "But maybe we should go there and double check, just to be sure."
"I don't mean to push this onto you, but could you get in touch with Ceres and check with her while I head back home to pick you up?"
"That's fine." Lelyanna nodded quickly. She glanced around, looking for her socks and finding them further up the bed, so she twisted around and reached out, groaning delicately as she stretched too far and fell face-first onto the sheets. "You didn't see that…"
"All I see are some sheets obstructing your vision." Natsu chuckled softly within her mind. "I'll be around soon."
"Ok, see you soon, Natsu." The silver-haired woman lifted her head from the sheets and smiled to herself as she crawled to the socks, spinning around once she grabbed them and sliding the first down her legs which were pointed to the ceiling.
Natsu pulled his consciousness back from the woman and opened his eyes. It was a strange feeling, being inside someone else's body as a spirit. He understood her embarrassment now that he was on the transmitting end, he felt everything about her and it highlighted the differences between them. She was much smaller, lither, and weaker, and that wasn't to mention the way her body felt. He understood what she meant by feeling her body as if it was his own, it was strange being inside a woman like that. Pushing the feeling from his mind, he flicked the prime switch and waited for the light to come on before hitting the start button and being greeted by a magic thrum, again it was another strange feeling that he'll have to get used to. He flicked on the indicator and checked for cars before pulling out onto the road, circling back the way he came to reach his home.
The trip back to his house was much quicker than coming to the weaponsmith since he knew where to go now, and as he rolled up to the front of his manor grounds, he found Lelyanna and Henrietta waiting for him by the pedestrian entrance underneath a broad umbrella. The android sheltered the priestess as she opened the door for the argent-haired woman and stepped back once she was inside the vehicle.
"I spoke with Ceres." Lelyanna informed the man as she lowered her hood and got comfortable on the leather bench seat. "She said that she had your profile set up before you arrived and had it updated to contain new information a few days after you appeared in the cathedral, said she did some 'divine trickery'…"
"Yeah… sounds like something she's say." Natsu sighed and shook his head as he pulled back out onto the street. "So, where is this Branch Office you were talking about?"
"In the centre of the city, near the city hall." The woman turned on the seat and rested her back against the door, folding her legs between them but keeping the main body of her boots off the leather seat. "Do you know the way?"
"Providing the city centre is in the same place as my world's, I should roughly know the way." Natsu looped around the block and began to head deeper into the town, towards the large lake. "I've already noticed that the roads have a slightly different layout but that could be because of the era difference."
"I'll find you a map of the city, I wouldn't want you to get lost out on your own." Lelyanna giggled softly. She unfastened her clock and brought it to her lap as she began to fiddle with her hood, popping open some press studs and slipping the veil into the pocket behind them before sealing the delicate fabric away for safe keeping. "Do you plan on taking a job right away?"
"I want to at least take a look at the system, to see how it works, even if I just observe people."
"Well, you're in luck then. You won't look like a dodgy bugger spying on everyone since they have a café there as part of the establishment, we can have something to eat and some tea or coffee."
"Oi." Natsu grinned softly and gently smacked the woman's knee, earning a light-hearted giggle from her as she refastened the half-cloak around her neck but left the hood down. "Well, with my hearing and eyesight it would be pretty easy to learn through observation. Plus, I've only had breakfast today, so food sounds like a good idea about now."
"That makes two of us, so once we formalise our team, we can sit down and have a late lunch." Lelyanna rested her hands on her lap and smiled softly at the man. She tilted her head curiously. "How do I look?"
Natsu glanced at the woman, she was still in her usual white and gold religious garb with nothing out of place with the exception of the hood being lowered which revealed her bluish-sliver wavy bob, pale-turquoise eyes, and cute face. She looked normal, so he narrowed his eyes slightly and realised what she was really asking. "You look natural, nothings out of place. People wouldn't even know that you have a powerful weapon on you."
"Good." The archbishop giggled lightly as she raised her arms, raising off her to show the pistol and magazines tucked under her arms. "I might also have you teach me how to fight."
"I'd rather teach you how to kill and then teach you how not to kill, so you can properly defend yourself. A woman as small as you probably won't be able to do much against most aggressors." Natsu bit his lip in thought and glanced at the woman once again. He was searching for areas they could hide a combat knife on her body with her normal outfit. "Hey, question…" He murmured softly. "Would it be unusual for people like you to carry a knife, like the one strapped to my thigh?"
Lelyanna leaned forward and reached for the man's thigh, lightly gripping the knife's grip but she was stopped by Natsu's large warm hand coming down and wrapping around her smaller hand. "May I?"
"Don't cut yourself." Natsu grunted softly, taking his hand off hers and placing it on the gear knob. "Actually, I'd prefer if you grabbed the whole thing instead of taking the knife out. For safety reasons since this isn't the smoothest ride or road."
"Ok." The woman carefully unstrapped the sheathed knife from his thigh and sat back, looking down at her body and the knife. "Now, where could I put this…? Why do you wear this on your left leg when you're right-handed?"
"It is so I can use the knife in my left hand and the pistol in my right."
"Oh, okay." Lelyanna glanced at her thighs, pursing her lips at how her dress was designed; it had a split running up the right side to just below her hip and it tapered to the left side, stopping below her knee. "I wanted to have it under my dress on my thighs, but I won't be able to grab it very easily on the left side."
"I'd suggest against that, you won't be used to fighting ambidextrously so it would be best keeping everything accessible by your right hand." Natsu pulled over onto the side of the road and turned to the woman, lightly taking the weapon from her grasp and placing it back on his thigh. He brought out a second from his magical storage and pat his thigh. "Put your leg here."
Lelyanna hesitated for a brief moment but did as she was instructed; extending her right leg so it laid across his lap and allowed him to start strapping it to her thigh.
"Stop squirming." Natsu murmured, ignoring her smooth and soft pale skin and how it felt against his fingers. "You're making it harder than it needs to be."
"I'm sorry, it just tickles, especially on the inside of the thigh, and that high up…"
"Bear with it, I'm almost done." He tightened the straps just enough so it wouldn't budge from where it was but wouldn't also cut off the circulation in her leg, he made sure of this by slipping a finger between the straps and her thigh then also giving the sheath a little tug. "The blade is indexed forward, so when you go to draw it, you'll want to grab it with the point facing the bottom of your fist and give it a short tug up to overcome the friction point which holds the knife in there. Or at least be prepared to turn the blade in your hand as you bring it to ready." He sat back and looked at the slightly self-conscious and blushing woman. "I'll teach you how to use it tonight or tomorrow, even if I need to make some practice knives out of wood. Maybe I'll try and find the training ones we had in my world."
"Your hands…" Lelyanna murmured softly as she brought her leg back and curled them together, pressing her thighs together and placing her hands in her lap. "Are so very warm… and feel so rough…" She cleared her throat and composed herself, ignoring the lingering warmth as she levelled her eyes on the man. "There will be a multistorey car park near the administrative buildings, it's about a ten-minute walk from the Jaeger Associations' building, probably a little longer in this rain. Most buildings in this area have awnings so we won't have to worry too much about the rain once we're on foot."
"I'll keep an eye out." Natsu pulled out onto the road once more and continued on to the city centre. After a few minutes, the faint rustling of fabic and the sound of two patches of soft, smooth skin began to tickle his ears, causing him to turn his head to the woman. "Are you ok, I didn't make you uncomfortable?"
"I'm not uncomfortable, no." Lelyanna smiled meekly and stopped her fidgeting, quickly adjusting her legs. "Just trying to deal with the residual sensation of having your hands and body heat that far up the insides of my legs."
"You'll calm down soon enough, especially once we get out of the car and into the cold sodden weather. If you get this needy just from me strapping something to your leg, I can't imagine how you'll fair when I train you in hand-to-hand combat…"
"W-why?"
"Because I'll be using my size, weight, and strength advantage against you, potentially putting you in compromising positions and not very gently either, which I know can be a turn-on for some women." Natsu informed the priestess, flatly. He glanced up through the rain as he spotted a sign telling him where to go to find the Jaeger Association's Magnolia Branch, so he turned down that road and glanced at the woman once more, noticing the blush that was creeping back up her neck and colouring her cheeks. "More so when they get pinned to something, their mind tends to wander south. Incidentally, you should probably find a pair of shorts or pants to wear, and either a shirt or singlet, something form-fitting so it doesn't get in your way while training."
"Y-yes, of course!" Her voice peaked sharply as she stared at the man with wide eyes. She quickly made a mental note to get the clothes he mentioned and to also keep her mind on the training when the time came, but she was a grown woman and her body would respond like it had a mind of its own, such is life. "Please be gentle…"
"Well, you may come out with some bruises, but I won't be breaking any bones or dislocating joints. So, you ought to be alright."
Lelyanna fanned her face lightly, forcing herself to fix her current mindset and focus on their current situation. She glanced around the road as they came to a stop at an intersection then leaned forwards towards Natsu, pointing out his window to the street on their right. "Head that way, the carpark is on the left so you'll just have to turn into the building."
"Yeah, yeah. I see it." Natsu turned down the street then turned into the multistorey carpark, driving over to a section that had few motorcars, and away from the arguably cheap-looking motorcars. It seemed that while they existed, motorcars were still catching on for the general public and were definitely still in their infancy. Yet, they all still looked like buckets of bolts in his eyes, even if the engine they used was a surprising twist.
As they made their way across the ground-floor of the three-storey structure, Lelyanna brushed herself down, making sure that her weapons were concealed so it didn't take away from her harmless appearance. Though, the knife was a little harder to conceal thanks to the slit in the dress. The right corner of her lips pulled back as she debated on turning it towards the inside of her thigh or keep it where it is to be easily grabbed if needed. "Natsu, I need your opinion."
"On?"
"Should I move the knife to the inside of my thigh or keep it where it is?"
Natsu met the woman's gaze as they came out into the sodden open air, sticking to the awnings as they walked down the street. He dropped his gaze to her thigh and tilted his head slightly while he watched her walk. "No, I think it will be fine where it is. Your dress has a slight overlap on that slit, maybe a centimetre on both sides, so that would conceal it better than you'd think."
"But I can feel it trying to peek out from that side as I walk."
"If you're overly concerned about it, put one or two press studs into the slit to hold it closed over that portion of your thigh."
Lelyanna lowered her gaze to her leg, watching it as she walked with her hands folded in front of her hips. After a few moments, she looked back up at the man who had been watching her out of the corner of his eye. "I probably just have to get used to it. Just like the other thing." She brushed her hand across the side of her thigh, feeling how easy it was to access the combat knife, and then slipped her hand between the slit to grab the handle of the knife. "No, it's fine where it is, I think."
"Like I said, I'll teach you how to effectively wield one of them later, even if I have to get Ceres to nab some rubber training knives for me. At least then I can show you what to do without the risk of accidentally harming you with a wooden toy."
"You could hurt someone with a wooden knife?"
"Lelyanna… I could easily kill someone with a stick from a tree, let alone a wooden knife. Hell, find me a small pebble and I'll be able to put a hole right through someone's skull…" Natsu murmured quietly as they neared a rough-looking crowd coming their way. He stepped in front of the woman to make room and shield her from opportunists, keeping an eye on the pedestrians as they passed by.
"I wonder if you could do that to a rock golem though." Lelyanna mused, quietly, as she stepped back out and came up beside him. "They'd probably just bounce off."
"Depends on how hard I throw it, I guess. Also, how strong the pebble is, it could just shatter on impact."
The priestess glanced up at the man and gave him a small, kind smile before focusing on leading him to the office. After a few more minutes of walking, they were out the front of the Jaeger Association and Lelyanna grasped Natsu's arm, stopping him before they entered. "I'll need to make a profile with them for us to team up. I won't be a Jaeger like you, since I'm not strong enough to hunt monsters even with the gear you provide me, but I'll be classified as a supporter. Someone who assists a Jaeger out in the field. So, sorry if it takes a little while, I've never done this before."
That made two of them. Natsu shook his head lightly and gave the woman a supportive smile. "It's fine. Let's go in."
Lelyanna nodded quickly and pushed her way through the door. The feeling of the man's warmth right behind gave her some comfort in the alien situation as she timidly crossed the room, her eyes darting about as she began wishing that she had left her veil down. She approached the receptionist and put on a small smile. "Hello."
"Good afternoon." The woman glanced up from the thick book she was skimming through, her light orange bangs flicking forward. She was well dressed, with a white dress shirt and black and grey vest which had the Jaeger Association's crest pinned to her lapel, she also had a long black pencil skirt, and a two leather belts sitting at her hips and waist and forming a cross in front of her. A flicker of shock passed across her face before a kind smile replaced it. "Oh, hello there, Archbishop. What can I do for you?"
"I would like to register as a Supporter, I plan on following a Jaeger into the field so I can tend to the wounded we come across."
"Well, I'll he happy to help you with the process. Please call me Isolde." The receptionist bowed her head and reached under desk. She glanced over the archbishop's shoulder at the man behind her. "Is this the Jaeger you are travelling with?"
"Yes, Isolde." Lelyanna turned and waved the pinkette forward, smiling as he came up beside her. "This is Báleygr, he has helped me previously and offered to take me out into the field to help those in need of medical attention."
"A pleasure." Natsu bowed his head politely to the receptionist.
"The pleasure is mine." Isolde replied as she lifted a small brass panel the size of an A4 sheet of paper yet a centimetre thick, and placed it onto the desk. "Please put your hand here, Archbishop, and I'll get started on your profile."
"Okay." She hesitatingly placed her hand down on the panel and jumped lightly as a small shock ran up her arm, a second brass panel that was set into the desk flickered to life with a magical display.
"You can take your hand off it now." The receptionist directed while holding out a brass stylist which had a sky-blue crystal set into the tip, allowing it to interact with the magical displays. The panel in front of Lelyanna switched to a form. "Please fill in the full name, address, next-of-kin, etcetera. Once you're done, just sign the bottom."
Natsu took his eyes off his surrounds for a moment as he curiously gazed at the panel. His eyes quickly followed her hand, reading that her name was Lelyanna Tanja Wolfe. He hmm'd and moved his gaze back to the busy building around them. On the wall to the right of the entrance was a polished brass fixture, upon which were flickering blue panels, magically emitted from the apparatus. His eyes moved from one to the next, reading each one easily even at the distance they were standing, they were job notices. He had thought they'd be sheets of paper pinned to the walls, but magic did always have surprising developments when it came to technology. There was no doubt about it by looking at the city as a whole, he was definitely in an industrial era, but the influences of magic had caused sporadic advances in certain fields. However, the mechanical technology seemed to be lagging behind, for instance; cars like his were obviously an extremely new invention, the soft-skinned airships floating above the city were just archaic blimps, a far cry from the warships he flew in, though he could faintly sense the same thrum that his car emitted coming from the blimps. Everything mechanical was large and noisy with sometimes, or more truthfully, most of the time having exposed cogs and gears shielded with rune-engraved glass, like a highly ornate clock with the inner workings on full display.
"Mr Báleygr, could you please put your hand on the panel so I can group you two together?"
"Alright." Natsu turned and placed his hand down on the now blank panel. "Could you please bring up my profile? I recently had a change in address which I told the association about, I just want to make sure it had been reflected in the profile."
"Of course." Isolde nodded as her panel changed, she tapped on it with her own stylist and made the one in front of Natsu light back up with his own record.
Lelyanna handed him the stylist and he ran his eyes down the list of information. There were a few things he decided to change, sometimes giving more information and other times taking some away. Thankfully, his professional name was set higher than his actual name, giving it precedence, which was enforced by a tick-box saying that they'd prefer to be referred to by the professional name only. Hopefully, this would prevent regular questions about his full name, which was strikingly similar to Natsumi 'Salamander' Dragneel. And he could hopefully wave that away as a result of being a very distant relative which resulted in similar names, but he won't know for sure until the question reared its head. "Thank you. I've made updates to the information, it's all current now."
"Do either of you have a name in mind for your group, something we could use if we need to hail you?"
"Hellhound." Natsu replied reflexively but instantly shook his head and turned to the priestess. "Sorry, that was a suggestion not a reply. It's what my old group was called. Only thing that comes to my mind is that or Helldiver."
Lelyanna hid a small giggle behind her right hand and smiled cheekily. "The first one is fine, and you'd probably automatically respond that way anyway from what I just saw." The cheekiness quickly faded, replaced with sympathy as the woman nodded slowly. "I'm fine with calling us Hellhound. As discussed, I'll be your medic and help those in need of medical attention."
"Hellhound squad it'll be then." Natsu softly murmured as he turned to the receptionist and nodded, giving her the go-ahead to put that down as their group name.
"Alright." Isolde quickly wrote it down on her display then looked up with a bright smile. "Welcome aboard, Hellhound." She rose from her chair and lightly shook their hands before pointing to the large brass fixture to her left. "You'll find jobs on the bulletin board over there; they'll appear as they are requested and disappear upon a team or solo Jaeger taking it on. Anything up there is current, just speak to Siala at her desk by the board to take on a job. It might not be my place to say, but I suggest something light to start out with, for the Archbishop's sake." The woman turned and pointed to a set of doors further down the wall behind her. "If you are wanting something to eat or drink, or would just like a nice place to relax, then to my right is our café." She placed her left hand on the desk as she leaned in, holding her right hand by her mouth like she was about to share a juicy secret. "I recommend today's special; it's a delicious quiche. The smell has had me drooling all day."
"That sounds great!" Lelyanna chirped brightly, clasping her hands eagerly in front of her chest. "I haven't eaten since breakfast this morning, so let's go and fill our stomachs before we decide on taking a job now or waiting for your replacement weapons." She turned to the pinkette with a bright smile and grabbed him by the arm, enthusiastically dragging the larger, much heavier man along behind her to the café. "Thanks for the help, Isolde!"
This chapter ended up a little longer than I was expecting, but I had planned for each of the three main parts to play out in this chapter, what happened between them were just icing on the cake for me. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter; I'll do a little bit of exposition before I completely wrap this up.
So, I had wanted to put vehicles in this but wanted them to be very early. Originally, it was going to be something like the Daimler-Benz motorwagon with the clockwork drive sat underneath the vehicle in a glass case that could be seen from the seats above, that or a mechanical horse pulling a wagon. I decided on doing self-powered wagons but that changed while I was writing it to end up as an early motorcar.
So, while not fully prevalent just yet, cars are present in the world with the majority of them being low budget vehicles for moving cargo or people resembling an early Ford Model T, an American Underslung, and a Mitsubishi Model A. Coming in an open-air full-cab or single-cab-with-flatbed variants.
Moving to the more middle ground range, you'll find closed-air cabin vehicles that are similar to the Ford Model A, the Austin Seven, and the Lancia Lambda. Coming in a heavier duty truck variant, or a fully enclosed sedan, or even a convertable. These are seen more in the hands of business owners who are using it for goods transport, or as a Taxi cab for inner-city transit. These are Early Vintage Era cars
For those with more disposable income, there are higher-end cars (moving away from my Ford example now) which are based on the Early Classical Era cars and represent the peak of the motorcar industry; for those who can afford what lies at the top. The cars here are like the Mercedes-Benz 380, the Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A, the Alvis Speed 20, and the MG T series to name a few. This is where you'd find Natsu's LMC Leopard SC, sourced by Ceres and her divine meddling, which is based on the Bugatti Type 57 Gangloff Drop Head Coupé, with some design changes such as the glass engine bay which showed the Rotary Magic Pulse Engine.
All the vehicles have a standardised control layout, basically the one you see in modern cars, but themed to fit their era. They are also all right-hand-drive, with the cars driving on the left side of the road, this is mainly because it's how things are done in Australia and it makes things simple for me when writing since it's what I'm used to as a driver.
I'm building the relationship between Lelyanna and Natsu, because he needs someone who has his back in a world where he knows no one, and no one knows who he is. Not sure if I'll develop it into a way for him to let go of his Lucy, and let go of the pain, so they have a romantic connection. Right now, I'm trying to have it be friendly affection with some sexual tension, which could erupt down the line.
I think that covers everything, the weapons he is getting should be well explained in story, if you have questions about it then feel free to leave a review or message me, I'll get back to you fairly quickly most of the time. So, if you've enjoyed this story so far, please consider following and/or favouriting the story, and please also leave a review with what you think of the chapter and any questions you may have. I'll see you all in the next chapter.
