Kojiro had his eyes closed, listening to the rhythmic hammering of steel against steel. The heat of the forge was a gentle embrace, which would've turned him sleepy if it weren't for his mental discipline. With his arms crossed, he centered his mind. Honed it, in order to master the pressure and strain of the Kaleidoscope more. The myriad of colors assaulted his spirit, yet his only sign of discomfort was biting his lip. Until, eventually…
"Aaand there we go. All new and good." Kojiro opened his eyes, interrupting his 'session' as the blacksmith emerged. Covered in sweat and no shirt, Welf wiped his brow before respectfully presenting Kojiro's sword, glistening in silver and shine. "Should stand up to anything that isn't Adamantite or anything ultra high class."
Humming thoughtfully, the swordsman grasped the handle and performed some practice swings with both his hands. He nodded a few times, testing the slightly increased weight before sheathing it, with a grin directed at the blacksmith.
"Excellent work as usual."
"Happy to serve." Welf pulled out a towel, drying himself off properly before slinging it over his shoulder, his back resting against the pillar of his home. "Y'know, I was wondering why you wanted a hardier blade instead of a sharper one." He raised an eyebrow. "Don't you usually just parry everything?"
A certain memory, on a fateful night. Thousands of exchanges, between west and east, legendary weapon against nameless steel. A gamble. And a failure all the same. Kojiro laughed lightly, shaking his head with mirth.
"There can be cases where parrying is not an option. When that happens, I prefer my steel not to bend and create an opening in my techniques."
"Fair enough." Welf shrugged before going into the back of his room. Then, he emerged, with two mugs filled. Kojiro accepted the cool drink and both let out a satisfying breath after taking a sip. Welf chuckled before pointing at himself and then at Kojiro. "Man, it's been ages since we first met. When it's just been us. Yet it's been what, maybe a year and a half at most?"
"A lot has happened." Kojrio tilted his head. "Anything on your end, Welf?"
"Eh, not something you can write a book about." The blacksmith paused before snapping his fingers. "Though that reminds me…you never got to meet my goddess, back in Rakia, did you?"
Kojiro nodded slowly. Now that he mentioned it, they didn't. He didn't recall why that was. Maybe she was out of the city during their stay? Still, it wasn't like the predecessor of Hephaestus was a complete unknown to him.
"You mentioned her name was Phobos, wasn't it?"
"Yeah…" A soft smile faced Kojiro as Welf closed his eyes. "Besides Lord Quirinus, she was my entire motivation to be a blacksmith. Real supportive and what not. Kinda a shame you guys never met her."
"You seem to respect her a lot."
Welf nodded before looking down at his palm.
"She showed me that I really enjoy it. Encouraged me to look past all the complicated stuff. The shaping of the hardest of materials. To create something entirely new, from just my imagination. Not for fame. Not for politics or war. Just…" Welf let out a deep breath before clenching his hand into a fist. "Just for the sake of it."
"You did say you disliked your bloodline at first. Are those the reasons?"
"More like the expectations that came with the bloodline, but yeah. Damn vultures…" He licked his lips. "'sides, the only thing that bothered me at first were magic swords being destroyed so easily."
"Is that always the case?" Kojiro asked, rubbing his chest. He did recall that those magic swords back in the War Game broke after just one use. Welf nodded before giving him a smirk, smacking his fist into his open palm.
"I've been looking into different ways." An awkward laugh escaped him as he scratched the back of his head. "It's a work in process though."
"Any ideas?"
"Best I got so far is using the sword as a medium. Most magic swords are swing and done deals, which means they have limited hits to pull off." Welf pointed at the ceiling, at his ambitions far above him. "But if it only channels the power and magic of other people…it should be a lot more sturdy."
Kojiro's mind wandered, immediately, to the past of another world. Excalibur, Clarent, Caladbolg…He couldn't help but chuckle. Chaldea sure had a lot of swords that lived up to the ideal Welf was aspiring to reach. With a nod, he patted Welf's shoulder.
"I believe that is the best way to go forward."
Welf blinked before smiling, a bit put off by that gesture but appreciating it nonetheless.
"Heh, thanks for the confidence." He pointed at Kojiro's weapon, raising his eyebrow playfully. "Want that feature too?"
"Nay, I am a purist you see."
Not that he would have any magical energy worth using for such a what if artifact. The both shared a smirk at the idea of Kojiro swinging fire around for example.
"Fair's fair."
"Still…I'd have never come up with the idea if I was stuck in Rakia." Welf stared out of the window. "Coming here has widened my horizons by a lot. Not to mention all the different stories you never hear about back home. If Lady Phobos didn't give me that last push…" He scratched the back of his head, an awkward air around him. "Can you imagine she encouraged me to leave? You'd think she'd want me to stay, given how much she was fussing over me."
"A good mother allows their children to leave the nest, so that they can spread their wings," Kojrio responded with a sagely nod. To surpass stagnation and regression, one had to grow beyond their origin. Welf let out a snort at that.
"Heh. Yeah. Said something along those lines. And honestly? She was right. I wouldn't replace this for anything in the world."
It was then that they noticed something was off. More and more people began to pass by the window, back and forth. Not only that, there was a certain change in the air. A tension that wasn't there before. Kojiro and Welf shared a confused look at that.
"What's the commotion about?" The blacksmith asked, yet already feeling in his spine…that he knew what was going on.
After all, a lot of people were moving towards the walls of Orario for some reason…
/
There were many questions that went through Bell's head right now, as he was seated in front of Solaris. He stared at the miniature field she set up on the table, a forest leading to a cave, said to be somewhere in the dungeon. Since when was Solaris this good with her hands to make those little models, when did she had the time to set it up and how come she never brought this sort of stuff up before? He licked his lips, glancing up at his captain. Times like these he underestimated how much of a poker face she could have if she really wanted to. With a sigh, he crossed his arms, refocusing his attention to the field. It was set up in a way that he was mostly seeing it from his 'pieces' side of perspective. It didn't help that everything was a miniature, so details were rather hard to make out.
He didn't spot anything like monsters, as much as he tried. He could make out small footsteps…at least he hoped they were, or they were just random imprints that Solaris accidentally made, but he gave her the benefit of the doubt. With that in mind, monsters had to be close by, he just didn't know where they were. Some spots were marked black, so he couldn't make out if there were footprints or anything like that, so he pushed that out of his mind. He checked the walls idly before passing them over too. In the end, he leaned forward and made his 'move', moving the four pieces representing Hestia Familia in an all too familiar formation. He himself was in the back, with Solaris in the middle and Kojiro at the front in a sort of triangle formation. After shoving the pieces forward a bit, he stopped and looked up at Solaris in expectation.
His captain hummed, tapping the table with her fingers a few times.
"Good move…" Seeing him smile in relief, she sent him a smirk before leaning forward, her hands reaching into the model field. "To getting ambushed. Monsters jumping out from here, here aaaand here. Nasty claws too."
Bell felt his smile melt off his face, as he blinked at the figurines she pulled out of…the walls and the ground…how did they even fit in there?!
"Close space means we gonna have a tougher time acting freely, which could lead to some nasty cuts that'll eat away at our resources."
"How was I supposed to know that?!" Bell shouted, feeling frustration dwell up in his chest as he threw his arms up in the air. Solaris shrugged nonchalantly, not taking his outburst personally and rolled her shoulders a bit.
"See these claw marks I made? Sign that a recent monster fight occurred there, and information what you might be up against. Since the walls regenerate, it meant it had to be recent." She pointed over at the darkened spots. "There's a hole over there in the shadow that you could've seen if you had followed the footsteps more. Perfect spot for monsters to jump out of. That's ignoring the gaps in the walls you missed from your point of view." Solaris clapped her hands together. "Even if you missed all of that, you could've diminished the danger with the right formation. In this case, you made a mistake sending all of us in. One of us would've been enough for now."
"You always told me to always stick together," Bell muttered, causing his captain to shake her head.
"There's a difference between sticking together and bunching up a lot. One formation isn't the cure it all for everything." She raised a finger. "For example, this is a scenario where you want to 'scout', not 'advance'." Leaning back, she crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow at him. "So. Who would you send in to scout?"
He bit his lip, pondering over the question. Looking at the admittedly small roster, everyone was quick on their feet, so it wasn't like he was lacking in choices. But if he had to pick one…he picked up the red piece and presented it to her.
"...I would send in you." Solaris maintained a neutral expression, so Bell gulped and pushed on. "You have a good sense for…heat. With your shield and spear as a backup weapon, on top of your fire magic and your chains, you have many options open."
She nodded a few times before snapping her finger at him.
"I can see the logic. But honestly? I'd send you in."
"Because of my speed?" Bell asked, causing her to smirk.
"Bingo." She counted off her hand. "You are the most agile. You can react the best to any surprises and get the information back to the team without suffering any injuries as soon as you can, in case we lose sight of you somehow. Also you have more options than I do. Dragon Fang. Firebolt. Morgenglocke. Tools for close range, long range and defense."
Bell couldn't help but just stare at her before glancing down at the board. He…had difficulty processing this. Where was Ryuu when he needed to destress?
…Oh right, she was out of Orario. Now he felt sad again. Solaris raised an eyebrow at him, crossing her arms.
"What, you think I just do paperwork as a captain? I get to have fun thought experiments too."
He cleared his throat, trying to wave it off before chuckling awkwardly.
"I'm just wondering why this never seems to come up when we go down the dungeon."
"You guys are overqualified," Solaris said with a flat look, causing him to flinch a bit. She rolled her eyes before letting out a sigh. "Not much need for hyper optimizing strategies for the strong. And hell, I am still pushing you around sometimes. You just don't notice."
"R-Really?"
"Subtle leadership is great when it works. Perfect for newbies to build up some experience without feeling like I'm handholding them." Solaris giggled playfully as she played with her hair. "Though in our case, it just saves me the brain power for good ol' fire fun." The mirth disappeared a bit as she pointed at herself with her thumb. "But I keep my eyes open nonetheless. The deeper we go, the more the Rakian battle doctrine becomes actually relevant."
"Rakian battle doctrine?" He asked, tilting his head at her.
"Large scale combat. Whether it be because of numbers or a force that can take on multiple of us at once." Solaris crossed her legs as she took a deep breath. "On the early floors, that knowledge isn't really needed. Most of the time you just fight off a couple goblins here and there. In that case, each person can just go ham. Middle Floors is where it gets iffier, but honestly, still doable. It's like pack hunting. At that point you have to keep your eyes peeled and have some basic knowledge in mind when it comes to strategy." She twirled her finger towards the ground. "It's when you either reach the quantity of armies or high mobile targets, when you really get to see who actually pays attention to the battlefield and who isn't. If you blindly swing your blades you could get in the way of your allies or even help the enemy by accident. If you cast your magic willy nilly, you might get blindsided by an enemy when you thought you were covered. Rakia usually wages large scale wars, so if you get lose in the chaos of it, you are done for without a guiding light. Hence me learning about that stuff."
Bell started to feel his head spin. So far, at their level, he never needed to think of so many factors, of so many ways battles could be fought. He couldn't help but let out a faint laugh.
"I never got the chance…It sounds…big."
"Whaddya talking about?"
Solaris gave him a frown when he looked up to look at her.
"You experienced something similar during the Xenos incident, didn't you? The chaos. Not knowing where to go or what to do. It wasn't even a conscious plan or decision to start dashing, right?" She waved her hand dismissively. "Eh, don't beat yourself up. Some people pick up on that stuff faster than others."
"Wait…" Now that she mentioned the Xenos incident…His eyes widened, as he remembered what gave them the chance to escape to begin with. "Did you…You didn't just swing wildly…?"
"Eeehh…yes and no."
Bell wasn't sure if he felt relieved or disappointed at her words. Solaris clicked her tongue, before running her hand through her hair.
"Look…I know I was being stupid at the time. Angry, confused." She smiled softly at him. "But I can guarantee you. A master of her weapon will never hit anything she doesn't want to hit. Even if I wanted to beat your faces in, I didn't want to kill you. So I tried to pull my punches there." Biting her lip, she closed her eyes. "Buuuuut…well, at the time, I really wanted to beat the shit out of the Xenos. Which all culminated in me having some real conflicted feelings. Soft hits, hard hits, soft hits, hard hits. Not really that helpful to having a game plan." She put her hand on her chest. "But still, even when I had my existential crisis, I knew I wanted you guys to be safe. You were higher on my priority. Which was why, may it be subconscious at the time or not, I started setting everything on fire. Both stress relief and giving you an opening to just get away. That's the decision I made, after all the input I got from my surroundings, what I perceived and what I felt."
"...Wow…"
Solaris giggled at his reaction before winking at him.
"Multitasking is an important skill." She cleared her throat before patting his head a bit. "I'm not gonna say I was or am being a tactical mastermind who sees everything…but I had a goal, even if subconscious, and my body followed through."
And Solaris wanted him to take over one day? He realized it was a missed opportunity to share notes with Lefiya and Aiz when he could. Finn must have dealt with even more complex scenarios than Solaris does. The world of battle truly was vast…
"Let's take a little walk." Solaris rose to her feet. "Might as well work a bit more on that awareness skill of yours." She glanced down at his legs and pointed at them. "Need some help there?"
Bell grimaced before putting on a smile.
"Still stiff, but I can handle it."
"We'll walk slowly then," Solaris responded with a nod. Thus, the two wandered through the streets of Orario. While having some small talk that was about nothing, sometimes Solaris would just suddenly ask how a person was dressed like a minute ago. Naturally, Bell was a bit out of his league trying to keep up with his surroundings while focusing on the idle topics they were speaking about. What was meant to be relaxing was just as mentally straining as that battlefield simulation from before, so eventually Solaris showed mercy and they took a seat on a nearby bench. Bell massaged his thighs a bit, feeling the ache. He exhaled slowly, trying to let the frustration seep out of his body and relax.
It would've worked if it weren't for the mischievous grin that Solaris directed at him.
"Panties were pink by the way."
He felt his face heat up immediately. He choked on his own spit before shooting his captain a glare.
"Why would I look there?!"
"You may never know what a woman is packing there." Solaris chuckled before patting his shoulder, nodding wisely. "Assassins, Bell. Assassins."
"You just want me to get into hot waters with the other girls," he mumbled under his breath.
"As I said before, my dear Bell. Multitasking." She wiggled her eyebrows. "Also I figured you were…pent up with Ryuu being gone."
"Why does everyone think I'm some sort of deviant?!" Bell shouted, very specifically not wondering what his girlfriend would have if he 'looked there'. Solaris in response tapped his head lightly.
"There has to be something off in that pure soul of yours. Don't take it so personally."
Bell sighed as his friend laughed at his expense. Seeing her so cheerful and happy…it was hard to compare that to all the lessons she was teaching him. A feeling of shame filled his heart, as he had dismissed her in some way. Thus, he couldn't help but lower his head a bit.
"I…I never apologized."
"What, for thinking that I was a dumbass who just plays around?" Solaris asked, raising an eyebrow at him as she spread her arms out over the bench. Bell coughed before shaking his head.
"No! Just…I didn't know you were doing so much in the background. All that paperwork, the finances, having those formations and plans in the back of your head…"
"Eh, not like it's anything to brag about. And relax, I was just kidding."
Solaris leaned forward, a somber look appearing on her face as she smiled weakly.
"Truth be told? I only started to brush up on those skills ever since the Familia was growing. Part of my inferiority complex of being better at at least something…but also because I wasn't just fighting for myself." She winked at him. "Good to know I impressed you. Means I'm on the right track."
"And you want me to take over…" Bell muttered. He felt a hand clap his back, causing him to almost stumble forward.
"C'mon, you'll learn to love this."
"Really?" He asked, a bit skeptical. Solaris snorted before nodding at him.
"New skills are never bad. Also brings some variety into your life. Sure, it's partially tedious, but a person can't just always do the same thing over and over again, as much as they love it."
"I suppose so…" Things were a bit hectic sometimes. The dungeon, Evilus, Knossos, the Night Queen…the mundane things really brought a change in pace that he might have needed a lot. Seeing him relax his shoulders a bit, Solaris smirked triumphantly.
"See? It's refreshing to do mundane stuff like training, studying and office work, and not drown in random chaotic bullshit, like-"
"Rakia is invading!"
"-yeah, like tha-" Solaris froze, as did Bell, when they processed the words that both of them very much heard. Then they snapped their heads towards the crowd moving towards the walls. "Hold up, what?"