God Eater 3: The Twin Devils

by E2Moto

God Eater 3 AU story. Instead of one main protagonist, what will happen if there are two protagonists who are brother and sister instead? How will this twist affect the original story of God Eater 3? Rated 'M' for violence, and possible slight profanity.

35. Chapter 35: The Pendulum of Oppression

Disclaimer: I do not own God Eater, and any contents already in the game.

---

Chapter 35: The Pendulum of Oppression, and Freedom

After a seemingly long, relaxing sleep, Frida slowly opened her eyes, and made short glances around her. All she saw was a familiar metal above her, and wanting to further assess her situation, she turned her head to the side, and found everyone she could see still asleep. Claire was still asleep on her side facing the bulkhead with a tiny white haired girl still asleep on her chest, Misha was still asleep facing up with her right hand laying beside her head, but Lulu was already awake reading a small book, likely her novel she borrowed. She slowly sat up, but as soon as she did, she yelped from a pulse of pain in her head.

Being able to hear even the faintest noise, Lulu closed the small book, and turned around, raising her eyes at seeing her friend finally awake. "Good morning. Are you alright..?"

"Good morning..," Frida whispered back. "I just feel a slight headache, that's all."

"Oh..," Lulu paused. "Maybe you should have Claire check you on that."

"Yeah..," Frida stretched her arms.

"Heh, you're finally up, huh?" Trista spoke from above before suddenly jumping down.

"Trista, keep it down," Lulu grimaced. "Misha, Claire, and Phym are still asleep."

"Bah, it's time to wake up, anyway. Did you even look at the time?" Trista groaned as she pointed at their clock.

Then the three heard the rest moaning before shifting in their beds.

"Oh, that's right. Rise and shine, ya sleepin' beauties," Trista snickered.

"Come on. Can't you be more nice about waking us up?" Misha groaned after sitting up with her hair covering her face like a lady in a horror movie before stroking it back, and then she stretched.

"I've been saying it," Lulu murmured before quickly hiding her small book under her pillow.

"Deal with it. There ain't gonna be sissy crew here," Trista grinned.

"Goodness, I hate rude awakenings," Claire complained after sitting up with Phym.

"How did I get here, anyway..?" Frida stared at her outfit. "I'm still in my uniform..? Last I remembered, I was in the lobby…"

Then everyone paused.

"Last night, you..," Phym giggled before Claire quickly clasped her mouth.

"Hm..?" Frida blinked her eyes. "Phym..?"

"You just passed out last night after a few sips, and it was all lights out for ya," Trista forced a grin. "And after we finished, I just carried you all the way back here like a princess."

Then she laughed.

"Oh..," Frida blinked her eyes before making a slight frown.

"Hehhh? Wished it was your prince who carried you, huh?" Trista smirked. "I had no idea you had a taste for fairy tales…"

"W-what are you talking about?! Gosh!" Frida embarrassingly clutched herself.

"...I was just kidding, anyway," Trista laughed again.

"I smell quite terrible..ew," Frida sniffed her arm.

"Yeah, go take your morning shower," Trista suggested. "You're definitely not gonna smell nice."

"But, my..," Frida paused.

"Skip it. It's not like your muscles will shrink to nanos if you don't work out a single day, you know?" Trista cut her off. "Resting your muscles is part of growing them, too. I got these, and also took some breaks."

She proudly flexed her slender yet muscular right arm. "So, don't worry about it. No one here is gonna judge you. We all get it. Capiche?"

"Fine..," Frida closed her eyes before swinging her blanket aside, and placed her feet on the deck.

"Ca..pish..?" Lulu murmured.

"Oh, just something Ricardo likes saying time to time," Trista explained. "One of his Italian things. Just means, 'understand?'"

"Oh..I see," Lulu nodded.

---

"Ooh, man," Zeke recently sat up, and started stretching. "That was really hell of a good time last night. Got an awesome night's sleep for once."

"Yeah, me too..," Jerad sat up from his bed, and sighed.

"And you've already been awake, Shin, and just reading your tablet?" Zeke turned to him.

"What I've been saying? I'm an early bird," Shin grinned.

"Oh yeah. Wanna know what's funny? I got curious enough to look up this 'snu snu' thing you whispered to your captain last night. It was so hilarious, I was glad to have checked it," Jerad laughed as planted his feet on the deck. "Can't believe that came from an old TV show. You guys wanna see?"

"Hm," Already sitting up from his bed, Hugo raised his eyes.

"That's…quite interesting," Ricardo chuckled, who also just placed his feet on the deck while still sitting on his bed.

Then Shin laughed. "Can't believe you tried to look into that, but hey, show us."

And Jerad pressed a few buttons on his tablet, and everyone moved to watch. After a few minutes, everyone laughed.

"My god..," Levin blankly commented.

"Ooh, man," Zeke laughed again. "Those three guys sure died happy. I didn't know you could die from 'that.'"

"Well.., that's unlikely for normal humans," Ricardo rubbed the back of his head. "But for herculean people like us God Eaters? Maybe…"

Then everyone laughed.

"By the way, Shin. Don't you see something similar about those three strong women?" Jerad gave him an evil grin.

"Oh great. I know you're gonna bring that up!" Shin glared at him.

"Ohhh, I know where this is going," Ricardo laughed.

"That She-wolf. Besides her voice not being as deep, and her muscles not as big, everything else checks for her," Jerad snickered. "Maybe besides Hugo, I think you might have to watch yourself, too."

Then Zeke made a hard laugh.

"Damn, you bed that red headed Amazon, and there'll be nothing left of you by the time she's done," Jerad laughed again. "Broken pelvis? Ouch!"

Then Hugo, Ricardo, and Zeke laughed while Levin repressed his with a chuckle.

"Then, I would highly advise you to take care of your duchess in bed, buddy," Shin grimaced. "Especially with you being a stronger type of God Eater, and then that big sniper gun you have down there."

He glanced at Jerad's groin.

"Ohh! OHH!" Zeke laughed. "Damn, Shin's got you! What are you gonna do about it?!"

"Noted..," Jerad forced a smile before Ricardo, and Hugo laughed.

"Sorry about that, Levin," Shin closed his eyes.

"Well..at the least, I can't necessarily disagree with that advice, either," Levin chuckled. "We all definitely don't want to injure or worse kill our spouses in our…moments of passion. Perhaps this is good advice to know while we are still young."

"With all that being said, do you guys really think that's how God Eaters…do it?" Zeke shrugged.

"Hell do I know?" Jerad shook his head with a chuckle. "I'm barely just an adult, and none would dare fuck in prison, either."

"Oh, that's horseshit, buddy," Shin swung his hand at him in dismissal. "You got girls trying to move on you back there. A few days before Trista and I got sent on a mission to die, one even tried to sit on you while you're asleep, and you threw her back before Tris herself grabbed her against a wall, and tore her a new one in the middle of that night!"

"And what? As if I'm gonna let her fuck me in front of you guys?" Jerad scrunched his face before everyone laughed.

'It must be really terrible in there,' Levin mused. 'Even with these vague shared memories. No privacy, barely any food and water…nothing.'

"Nah, Shin. Remember Jerad as a heartbreaker," Zeke cackled. "Always tellin' those AGE gals to fuck off."

Then the two men laughed.

"Well, since none of us would know..," Zeke sighed before turning to Ricardo as everyone else also followed.

"Heyy, don't look at me just because I'm an old man," Ricardo chuckled while waving his hand. "I'm still a 27 year old virgin. Sorry."

"Oh, man. What a mystery," Zeke gloomily slouched. "I just hope we don't get so crazy that we end up breaking them."

Then everyone loudly laughed.

"We'll definitely have to take it easy to be safe, alright?" Hugo chuckled. "We really..don't want to kill our lovers."

"What the hell, Zeke?" Jerad continued laughing. "Is it just me, or are you getting into these things since that She-Wolf gave you the talk?"

"Well..we are in fact young adults or reaching that stage," Levin closed his eyes while smiling. "It's only natural for us to start becoming curious."

"Yeah, well, maybe we'll learn more overtime," Hugo shrugged. "Many adults before us had to go through it one way or the other. How else can you become a parent?"

"Adopting..?" Jerad chuckled.

"Well, the actual one," Hugo chuckled back.

"I know one, but too bad Zeke can't watch one yet," Shin smirked. "Gotta wait one more year."

Then Ricardo laughed. "Ouch. Definitely not until you're 18."

"Wait, you're telling me there are videos like that around?" Jerad grimaced. "That's disgusting..! Why would anyone want to watch two people fuck?"

Then everyone paused.

"Uh.., to be honest, I don't think you know what you're talking about, kid," Ricardo chuckled while holding his face. "A lot of adults do that way more often than you think, but it's a closet thing so you might not have heard much about it. Maybe if you watch just one alone, you might change your mind."

"I don't think so," Jerad scrunched his face as Ricardo laughed. "The thought of just me doing that…is already making me sick to my stomach."

"Hey, suit yourself," Ricardo shrugged. "I mean, you can watch them for educational reasons, too. Just a simple tip."

"Man, I had no idea Jerad would think of them as that," Shin chuckled.

"I'll judge that as good character on his part," Levin added while placing his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Yes, I'm agreeing with him. I wouldn't watch those once I'm old enough, either. Seemed quite…wrong, maybe for a lack of a better word."

"It's fine as long as you keep it in moderation," Ricardo shrugged. "But yeah, too much viewing of those can ruin your brain, too. It ruined societies before."

"Kinda figured," Jerad murmured.

"Well, is it about time we start dressing up?" Hugo curved his lips.

"Yeah, I gotta meet with the owner, and Amy soon to talk about our next plan," Ricardo replied. "We will be in Arrowhead today."

"Wait, do you mind if I go with you?" Hugo turned to him.

"Sure, why not?" Ricardo turned back. "I mean, you are kinda like the lead person of you guys. Almost like a captain, even. I'm sure it would amaze the owner that you start showing up in our important meetings, to say the least."

"Hm," Hugo stared down.

"Doesn't have to be every meeting. It's mostly admin things," Ricardo explained. "Not even the two shows up in every meeting."

"Alright, but I gotta fix myself quick," Hugo started grabbing his usual clothes.

"Hey, take it easy. No rush," Ricardo chuckled as he also began grabbing his clothes. "I gotta fix myself up, too."

"Heh, Hugo as a captain," Shin chuckled. "If only Trista is here to hear that. Hugo, the 3rd captain of the Chrysanthemum's…Hound Unit. Another elite group."

"Ooh, I like the sound of that," Zeke grinned.

"So, if you're really a captain, who would you pick as your right hand person?" Shin grinned with anticipation. "Your vice captain."

"Hm, that's interesting," Hugo finished grabbing his clothes. "Let's see..I would pick Jerad."

Then Jerad laughed. "That was unexpected. You'll break my sister's heart if she hears that."

"Nothing against her, but you also have leadership qualities," Hugo smiled.

"Like what..?" Jerad furrowed his eyes.

"Are you serious, man?" Zeke grimaced. "You just whooped a newbie into shape!"

"And that's just one in the record," Jerad argued back. "Outside of that, I led no one."

"So? Everyone has to start somewhere," Hugo shrugged. "More on that, you've disciplined your sister into being more upkeep, too."

"Yeah," Zeke nodded.

"I really don't think I'm fit to be a leader at all," Jerad shrugged. "You're the one who always talked for us. I think my sister would be more than happy to work with you..for obvious reasons."

"Oh..," Hugo stood up to face him. "Didn't you once want to be a captain, too? A captain of a defense force before Pennywort?"

And Jerad paused for a few seconds, and then frowned before quickly breaking into a laugh. "Defense force..?"

He continued laughing. "Childish crap.., but it's just a pipe dream now. Long..gone."

"It's not too late, just so you know," Hugo shook his head. "We're not in Pennywort anymore. What's stopping you?"

Then Jerad made a loud chuckle. "Ohh, only god knows when we're finally off the hook. Maybe not until we're all dusts in the wind, or in some Aragami stomach."

"Really..?" Hugo murmured.

"Life will always find a way," Jerad grinned. "Remember, the world hates us, and it ain't done yet."

"Kid, let me tell you something, I know I'm not much in a position to say this myself, but I think you're dwelling too much on the past," Ricardo chuckled. "You guys are bound by Hilda's contract, and hers alone. Who else can touch you now?"

And Jerad snickered again. "I just said earlier…life will find a way."

He took his towel, and a bottle of liquid soap. "I have no use for pipe dreams anyway. Once it's lost, it's lost. That's just the way shit is…"

Then he began walking towards their cabin exit.

"Wait. I also want to tell you something a good old friend once told me. Please hear me out," Ricardo smiled.

And Jerad paused, already facing the door before being close enough for the automatic motion detector to open for him.

"I'm not the one to preach this, but maybe try this on yourself. "Always look into the future," that's what he always told me years ago," Ricardo continued. "I think you should at least start making an effort for it."

"Do we even have ONE?" Jerad began gritting his teeth.

"Of course you do," Levin also stood up. "As long as you are still alive, you can make it."

"Alive, huh..?" Jerad began snickering. "I died a long time ago, and ever since then, no matter how many times I've tried looking ahead myself, it's always blank. I always saw nothing…"

"Please do not be absurd," Levin argued. "No one can see the future. You can only create your future through your present, and it always begins at this moment. Only you can make yours."

In response to this, Jerad paused for a few seconds. "I appreciate your consolation, Levin, but there are also things you can't control, and that's LIFE."

He turned to him with a seemingly calm gesture before raising his left hand to show his AGE armlet. "For example, do you think we two armleted kind chose to be in prison as if we're criminals? Let alone even choose to have these on us?"

He twitched his wrist to shake his armlet. "Maybe that's something new for you to think about in your philosophy."

Then he turned to the door, and passed through the exit, and as soon as he was finally outside, it quickly shut behind him.

Levin sighed at this. "Pipe dream…"

"Hm..?" Hugo turned to him.

"He just said something about that," Levin murmured. "What is it? I'm curious."

"Oh..," Hugo paused. "You know what his sister told me about him?"

---

Across the hall, Jerad sighed as he walked, and then saw Frida, and everyone walking behind her.

"Oh ho, guess who's finally awake?" Jerad grinned. "Good morning."

"Oh.., good morning," Frida suddenly raised her eyes.

"Had fun last night?" Jerad flashed his eyebrows.

"Kinda..?" Frida timidly replied which made him laugh.

"Hell of a 'thing' you did last night, huh?" Jerad laughed.

"What 'thing?'" Frida furrowed her eyes.

"You drinking, and then passing out, what else?" Jerad made a short laugh. "It's all good. You don't have to drink anymore, though. You've done it."

"No, I'll try again," Frida crossed her arms. "I'll definitely get used to it."

"Nope. You drink, and pass out again, you're just going to..," Jerad paused as he expectedly saw Misha waving her hands, Lulu shaking her head, Claire making a zip mouth gesture, Phym covering her mouth, and Trista glaring at him as she sharply crossed her neck with her finger. "Never mind."

"Huh..?" Frida furrowed her eyes, and she turn around only to find the four girls standing so casually. "Something tells me you guys are..hiding something."

"What..?" Jerad raised his eyebrows, and in spite of this, however, he is near his limits in trying not to laugh.

"Never mind, whatever," Frida winced with a pout. "Where's everyone?"

"Your darling's still in that room," Jerad pointed at their cabin door behind him with a grin. "You're a little late to wake up your lord with a good morning kiss."

And the three girls behind her finally released their laugh.

"I-I'm not just asking about him," Frida pouted harder. "I really meant everyone, jeez..!"

"They're all awake, and Hugo and Ricky are about to meet the owner," Jerad explained.

"Meet the owner? Hugo?" Misha blinked her eyes.

"Yep, apparently he decided to become more…leader like," Jerad snickered. "They just wanna talk about the plan before we arrive back in the damn Port, that's all."

---

"I see," Levin murmured. "A father who was a God Eater, and a high ranking officer at that?"

"Add to it, their mother, too," Hugo murmured. "Misha told me she was their dad's vice commander, and was also the one who taught her brother his marksmanship."

"We're quite similar," Levin smiled with his eyes closed. "Both of my parents were also God Eaters. My father met my mother in the field of work as well."

"Ah, aren't you in a military family?" Hugo raised his eyes.

"That's correct," Levin nodded. "It is our tradition, actually. I suppose it's in our blood to seek strong people as mates."

Then Zeke chuckled. "Like Claire."

And the rest also chuckled.

"Needless to say, for me, only my dad was a God Eater," Shin murmured. "He told me he isn't one of the best, but held up pretty well, anyway. He's the one who taught me that brute force isn't everything in fighting, and I used to watch him swing his wooden sword from time to time to keep practicing his techniques. He also told me that effort is always the beginning of finding strength…"

"Then you nevertheless had a good father, Shin," Levin smiled. "That's what's most important. He taught you a very valuable lesson."

"I should have taken his lessons to heart earlier," Shin murmured. "I used to struggle a lot..people called me weak in Pennywort, and then I got too obsessed with becoming stronger and yet, I didn't know how. It was some damn weird luck that I found a data disc that had martial art techniques in it. One of my people decided to document all that many years ago, not wanting it to die since his grandmaster decided to take it to the grave with him thinking it's no longer useful in the modern world. He wrote it in the document's foreword before the lessons started, and was kinda pleading to earnestly learn them all for those who are interested, and find more disciples to pass them on to keep it alive. I studied it all, and am close to mastering them. It was crazy how much info was in there because ninjas were supposed to be very secretive of them, and were only to be passed from generation to generation within their clans. Father to son, mother to daughter, or both, but this guy was desperate to keep it around so he had to compromise for the sake of it, and it's a good thing I found it. I guess with this Aragami thing, and us going back to swords again, he saw that chance before he passed on."

"Heh, and here you are doing poking stuff on Lulu when you fought her last time," Zeke chuckled.

'He's just like me,' Keith mused while staring at his hand. 'He found his, and I found mine, but…'

He turned to him. 'His skill is definitely not easy to learn..unlike mine. He even knows some technical things I already knew.'

Then he bitterly clutched his hand.

"And somehow, she slowed down. How the hell did that happen?" Zeke continued.

"Heh, I went easy on her, just so you know," Shin smiled. "Some of those techniques are so dangerous, I can't even use them in spars."

"Alright, but still. How does that work?" Zeke placed his hands on his waist. "So, you just poke people hard, and that's it?"

And Shin chuckled while shaking his head. "I shouldn't be telling you this, but nope, it's her nerves."

"Huh?" Zeke blinked his eyes.

"Everyone has a nervous system, and everyone has weak spots in them, mostly the same," Shin explained. "I attack them with just this finger or two."

He showed his index, and middle finger. "Your body parts go numb depending on which I hit, to say even the least."

"Hm," Hugo raised his eyes.

"The exact reason Lulu slowed down is because her arms, and leg went numb after I attacked her weakspots, and there's another one on top of that," Shin murmured. "I also slowed her blood flow so her heart gets less oxygen, tiring her out faster than normal. Why do you breathe more when you get tired? Because your body needs more oxygen into your bloodstream to recover."

"Man..," Zeke scratched his head.

"That is quite terrifying," Levin commented.

"Oh yeah. No one has beaten me in taijutsu yet.., or in other words, hand to hand combat," Shin murmured. "No, actually Lulu did, counting her knocking me out once. Damn, I still remember how that reverse roundhouse kick hurt. I did not see that coming."

Then he laughed.

"I don't mind if you try that on me this time," Zeke began smiling.

"Then give me your arm," Shin smiled.

And as Zeke extended his arm, Shin abruptly grabbed it, and hit a pressure point just behind his elbow and between his triceps."

Zeke grunted at this, and pulled his arm back, holding it. "That really hurts..! You don't have to hit that hard."

Then Hugo laughed. "You said you wanted to be tried on."

"It's as soft as I can hit it, so sorry or it won't work," Shin shrugged. "Your pressure points are protected by your guts, so I have to hit hard enough to penetrate, and hit it. Tell you what, in some of them, hitting them too hard will hurt you for hours, some even permanently…"

"Crap..yeah," Zeke hissed, still holding your arm.

"Felt a numbing jolt of electricity in your arm, right?" Shin grinned.

"Yeah, felt like I can't use it for a bit," Zeke hissed.

"You'll be fine in a few minutes," Shin chuckled. "Your woman had it a bit harder."

"My woman..?" Zeke grimaced.

"Anyway, I'm not gonna use them in spars again," Shin closed his eyes. "It's only practice, so I should handicap myself to learn more on the basics of fighting, and have a bit more honor. In a sense, Lulu also taught me I need to train more on just fighting alone. No more pressure point poking unless I'm killing someone."

"Is taijutsu another martial art like Lulu's?" Hugo asked.

"Nope, it's just a blanket term for hand to hand combat," Shin replied. "Lulu's karate is more specific. Do you know what that word means in my language? Empty hand. Teaches you how to fight with your bare hands and feet, and also teaches you how to fight someone with a weapon. I highly bet Lulu knows how to disarm all of you if you try fighting her with your God Arcs while she's barehanded. It's one of the basics."

"And how she would?" Zeke curiously leaned forward.

"Commonly twisting your arm to force you to drop them for a start," Shin replied. "I know those, too. A more brutal way will be breaking it."

And he laughed.

"Mm," Hugo closed his eyes. "Definitely not a woman someone would want to mess with."

"Experienced it first hand," Shin flashed his eyebrows with a smirk. "Not even I'm sure if I want to spar her again. She's skilled enough to be scary."

"So wait, what is really yours, then?" Hugo confusedly furrowed his eyes.

"We ninjas are a cocktail of martial arts, I'll just say," Shin chuckled. "A big history behind it, but in a nutshell, all kinds of people came to their clans, and offered their skill sets, some had various martial arts like besides karate, there's also judo, kenpo, and a bit more uniquely, kenjutsu, the practice of Japanese sword fighting. I'm only naming the few of many the outsiders brought in, and they simply used the ones that worked for them."

"What about..nin-jutsu?" Hugo raised his eyes. "I heard you mention this before."

"It's only a practice of a certain type of warfare," Shin explained. "Mainly covert warfare..doing sneaky stuff like spying, sabotage, infiltrations, and even assassinations, and after that, the disciplines within it branches off from there, taijutsu being one of them."

"Wow, sounds like a lot of badasses," Zeke grinned.

"Ah, you know who's closest to this?" Shin smiled. "Might be a little eye opening for you guys since this one just happened, but it's the Crimson Queen."

Then everyone paused.

"I figured," Levin murmured. "I just remembered what aunt described about them. Everything Shin just listed fits."

"I'll have to say that it was even quite impressive that we never saw them," Shin commented. "Let alone somehow being steps ahead of us that whole time. They just stuck in the shadows, and if my instincts are right, they're watching us right now so we gotta keep our wits about ourselves until we're at least done with this big job. Who knows when they'll finally show up?"

"Right..," Ricardo murmured. "Being an intel officer myself, I can also predict that it is likely just a matter of time before they do if we keep pushing on with what they probably don't want us to do. Also, remember what Sofia once said?"

He glanced up. "They rescued, and recruited AGEs all the time, and with how good you guys are, they likely already took interest in you, so at the right time, they'll stick out of hiding, and talk to you. That's how they are. They don't appear unless they have a mission, and that's usually something that isn't pretty as history has been showing. They're a dangerous bunch, even scarier that considering the fact that they recruit AGEs all the time from many Ports, nobody also knows how big they are, and yet they pose a big enough threat for Gleipnir and other Ports' interests."

"Yeah, the more I think about it, the scarier they're becoming to me," Hugo murmured. "Plus we all already know they can kill Ashborns like us, and I can only guess how long they have been doing it. Definitely years ahead of us. I wouldn't want to clash God Arcs with them. At least not yet."

Then Ricardo sighed. "I guess that time is soon. Let's get ready now to meet Amy, and the owner."

"Gotcha," Hugo nodded before suddenly frowning.

"What's wrong?" Ricardo paused after standing up.

"Oh..I was just thinking back," Hugo murmured. "I miss that part of him, you know? Ambitious, full of energy, and then that fire was lost sometime after we got to Pennywort..after Owl and Dean's death. He just stopped caring ever since."

"Ah..those two," Levin frowned. "That incident with a Vajra…"

"We must have missed out a lot," Zeke commented.

"Yep, before you, Neal, and Keith came, he already lost it..A few years before, even. He's just a mere husk of what he once was," Hugo closed his eyes. "Even now, I'm still trying to figure out how to get him back on his feet. If our Port dream wasn't enough to light at least a bit of hope in him, then…"

"It takes time," Levin also closed his eyes. "Emotional scars are difficult to heal. That I can at least understand, and…"

He opened his eyes. "I believe he still holds his father deep in him. That amount of pride he has as a God Eater, I cannot think of any other…"

"I can vouch..," Hugo turned away. "He does show ambition then, and there. Something tells me that maybe..he's still loyal to him. It was part of the reason why he once scolded his sister for her once poor upkeeping habits.

"Yeah, it's only natural for him, and there's nothing wrong with that," Ricardo nodded. "Boys always need good fathers. If they don't, then they get lost, and some eventually lose themselves to violence because no older man they trust is keeping them in check. We males are built to fight, so we get that natural crave for it with some being worse than others, and that kid is going through it, but at the same time, he isn't alone. He's also still young, so puberty is probably still driving him crazy on top of that."

Then he laughed. "It's also a common problem for boys in Chrysanthemum who occasionally get into fights in our school just because most didn't have fathers to teach them to control their warrior urges.., and the grim fact that most teachers have been women. Jerad definitely needs one, but at the same time, I don't think he'll buy it because like you just said, he probably still dearly remembers his dad. He's likely trying to remember everything about him."

"Then..what should we do? None of us definitely qualifies," Hugo sighed. "The two of us have been trying to beat things in his head, but other than that…"

And Ricardo clicked his tongue. "You got it right there. Just keep at it."

Then Hugo glanced at him. "Problem is, he's as stubborn as a rock. He doesn't even listen to his own sister, sometimes."

"So? It's still working, right? Like Levin said, it takes time," Ricardo replied. "Plus it's all you got."

"Yeah..," Hugo murmured.

"Don't forget the Beauty..," Zeke grinned. "And the…"

Then the door suddenly opened, and Jerad entered.

'Holy shit, that was close..!' Zeke raised his eyes.

"The..hell..?" Jerad paused before furrowing his eyes. "You're still sitting around here? Aren't you going to meet with the owner?!"

"Relax, we still got time right now, but we can't waste anymore," Ricardo chuckled.

"Okay..," Jerad blankly nodded. "And the girls are up now. All of them, and they're all getting themselves washed."

"Including Frida..?" Levin raised his eyes.

"Yep," Jerad chuckled before waiting for the door behind him to close. "Hey, she did forget that she confessed to you, and tried boning you last night, so let's keep all our mouths zipped about this, OK?"

"Got it," Hugo nodded. "Glad to know…"

"Wait, what?" Ricardo blinked his eyes. "Did something happen last night?"

Then everyone glanced at each other.

"Alright, let us fill you in on this," Jerad smiled. "As short as possible…"

And after a few minutes.

"Great, sexual assault in our ship? You don't want the owner to know about this," Ricardo scratched the back of his head.

"Which is exactly why we're covering her up," Jerad shrugged with a chuckle.

"She'll definitely secure drinking in here altogether if she finds out, and it won't be a good first thing she'll want to hear this morning, so I'm just gonna pretend I didn't know about this," Ricardo laughed before standing up. "Levin, are you alright? No emotional trauma or anything?"

"I am perfectly well. I'm certainly stronger than this," Levin closed his eyes with a chuckle as Jerad, and Zeke quietly laughed.

"Can't go wrong with her when she wants to give herself to you in front of us, and bore you ten kids," Jerad and everyone laughed.

"You guys better be more careful with that. I know romance has been flying around here, but there's a rumor that we God Eaters are a hornier bunch compared to normal humans," Ricardo chuckled.

"Are you serious..?" Hugo raised his eyes.

"I don't know myself. I'm still a 27 year old virgin," Ricardo grinned. "Who knows once all of us eventually get a taste of that..sexy time? We're all grown men. You know what I'm talking about."

"Yeah," Hugo curved his lips.

"Hugo, write a will before you get on with my sister just in case, alright?" Jerad laughed. "She'll probably suck your life dry."

Then everyone laughed.

"Misha will ride, and destroy you, man!" Shin kept laughing.

"If true, then that could explain why Frida did that in her drunken state," Ricardo laughed while covering his face. "It's been known that Oracle cells inside us make us superhuman, which means more testosterone for males, and more estrogen for females, which increases our libido, and also contributes to our health which is why God Eaters also rarely get sick. Well, we all know that being drunk makes us more honest, and there's just no way that girl is gonna do anything like that while sober, which is exactly why you covered her up, right?"

"Yes," Levin curved his lips.

"Hah! So it's likely that girl has been having fantasies about you for a while now, kid," Ricardo laughed again. "Better watch your pants from now on."

"Man, she just tried to unzip him last night before Claire stopped her!" Zeke laughed.

"Mmm," Jerad flashed his eyebrows before everyone laughed again. "Damn, I never imagined that girl be like that."

"Hey, there's also a saying that the nicest girls have the dirtiest minds," Ricardo also flashed his eyebrows. "So the next time that girl goes into heat, you might not be as lucky."

"Nicest girls..?" Keith raised his eyes.

"I will take note of that," Levin embarrassingly chuckled.

"And I can only imagine how you AGEs are going to be," Ricardo smirked. "You guys do have higher testosterone, and estrogen than everyone, so you're probably going to be like vampires having their first taste of blood."

Then he laughed.

"Yeah, now you mention that," Hugo curved his lips again.

Then they saw Jerad browsing his tablet, snickering before he turned his screen to everyone.

"Imagine my brother-in-law, and my sister finishing with this," Jerad showed them a picture of a destroyed bed before everyone exploded with laughter.

"Oh, boy," Hugo winced while also chuckling.

"Hardcore..!" Shin kept laughing.

"Ooh, I'm really starting to feel sorry for you, Hugo!" Zeke held his belly while still laughing.

After laughing for a few more seconds, everyone gasped for air before taking their deep breaths.

"Well, let's go guys," Ricardo threw his towel on his shoulder. "Meeting is coming soon. The rest of you get cooking while we're in the office."

"Yep, let's do this," Zeke stretched his arms.

"I got time to kill, so I might as well hang back in the showers," Jerad shrugged.

---

And in the shower sinks.

"Hoo! Finally got my face washed after that weird epic dream," Shin sighed. "Drinking last night must have done that."

Then Jerad chuckled. "Really? What did you dream of..?"

"I was some messenger ninja who had to save the world from some demon king by carrying a huge scroll with me, and deliver it on top of some mountain," Shin grinned. "Weird, huh?" 'And I still hate that shopkeeper cunt!'

"Yep, interesting, though," Jerad chuckled. "Keep going."

"So I had to travel far to deliver that message to some high mountain, and went to all sorts of places. Swamps, forests, grottos, volcanoes, and even a snowy peak which I'm obviously used to," Shin continued. "And I swear, man. That journey pushed my ninjutsu skills to the limit. Climbing, and jumping on walls, and even using my grappling hook on bad guys so I won't fall into bottomless pits, even in the sky itself a couple of times. Gets even more wacko from there. Had to time travel between past and future to get through, and finally defeated that demon. And lastly I had to save some old man who was imprisoned inside a music box, and then woke up after that's done."

"An old man in a music box..?" Jerad murmured.

"Yeah, weird as hell, huh? But it's just some epic dream. When do dreams ever make sense, anyway?" Shin shrugged. "But I think I even learned some new tricks from it. Kinda can't wait to be out in the field again. Those Zygotes better be around."

And he made a short chuckle.

"So, you kicked Jerad's ass who was the demon king?" Zeke snickered.

And in response, Shin laughed. "Nah, not him. The demon even looked a bit grotesque."

"Heh, I've had those long dreams before," Ricardo finished washing his face. "Some woke me up tired, especially if they're bad ones, so I kinda know how you feel."

"Yeah, just hope things don't get too crazy if we have to be out there today," Shin chuckled. "Just wanna try some new tricks."

"Huh, to learn something from your dreams," Hugo also chuckled. "That's an unusual way to think."

"Man, that felt so real, I tell you," Shin laughed. "I even fought a couple of monsters TEN frickin' times bigger than me, too."

"Imagine fighting an Aragami that big..," Zeke scratched his head. "I'd be scared shitless."

"As a matter of fact, one type existed a long time ago, but we haven't seen one since the Calamity," Ricardo finished wiping his face. "I'd like to tell you more, but Hugo and I have to meet the owner, so look it up yourself. It's an Ouroboros."

"Huh, never heard of it," Shin murmured.

"Oh, going to be an interesting one," Ricardo grinned.

"You know what? I think I'll go, anyway," Jerad sighed. "Can't help but want to know what's going on today before we get back to that bastard Port."

"Great..being a vice captain myself, I'm starting to feel obligated to go, too," Shin murmured. "I think the She-Wolf should also come."

"That's good. The more, the merrier," Ricardo chuckled. "Plus that will impress the owner more, too."

"Let's move quick before we miss the chance to bring her," Shin urged them before he ran out.

"That happened fast," Hugo chuckled before everyone shrugged.

Once in the Residential Hall.

"Hey, Tris. Perfect timing. There's a meeting with the owner, and I think you should come with us," Shin said.

"A meeting? About what?" Trista paused.

"Just about our plans before we get back to Arrowhead," Shin replied.

"That's it?" Trista raised an eyebrow.

"The hell you mean that's it? You're still a captain, and I'm your vice," Shin glared at her. "Even Jerad is coming now..!"

"Huh?" Trista turned to Jerad. "Why..?"

"Just to know what's up," Jerad crossed his arms. "I'm just gonna listen…that's all."

"Oh, great. Now I'm feeling obligated to go, too," Trista slouched. "How about you girls? You're gonna be fine with cooking with one less person?"

"It's only breakfast, so it's nothing," Lulu replied.

"We'll be fine," Claire smiled. "We'll take care of this."

"Alright, then. We'll catch up with ya later," Trista waved her hand before turning to her other friends. "Ready to roll?"

"Let's do it," Ricardo nodded. "I'll lead you."

Then in the office, Hilda, and Amy began sipping their coffee before they heard knocking on their door.

"Who is it?" Hilda glanced up.

"It's Ricardo, ma'am. Request we enter?"

"We..?" Hilda murmured before she, and Amy glanced at each other.

"Please enter," Hilda replied before their door slid open, and after Ricardo entered, the rest behind him followed.

"Oh, my..," Hilda blinked her eyes. "Did something…happen?"

Then Ricardo chuckled. "Nothing, ma'am. They just wanted to attend our meeting as well."

"Oh…I see," Hilda paused, who was still in disbelief, and began glancing at Jerad, Hugo, Trista, and Shin.

"Good morning, Hilda," Hugo smiled.

"Good morning. Please be seated besides Amy," Hilda began moving quickly. "Would you all want some coffee, too? I'm sorry I wasn't expecting this, so please wait while I grab more mugs."

"I apologize, ma'am. It was me," Ricardo chuckled. "I encouraged them."

"Ah..that's good," Hilda grabbed several clean mugs with both hands. "Glad you all decided to attend."

"Wow, suddenly we have a lot of people showing up in our meeting now," Amy giggled. "And you both as well?"

"Well, we figured we should start attending more matters," Trista chuckled as Shin glanced at her. "We are among your officers."

"Correct, but you're not necessarily required to attend, however..," Hilda tipped her monocle. "It would be definitely nice that you do, anyway. So, shall we get started?"

"Yeah," Hugo placed his mug on the table after sipping. "So, what's the plan from here on?"

"As mentioned yesterday, we will arrive in Arrowhead in the early afternoon, approximately at 1300. Our transit is currently on schedule," Hilda explained. "And after that, we will be on standby for further orders from Gleipnir, so in other words, we'll have leisure in the meantime."

"Standby..?" Hugo paused.

"Gleipnir will have to deal with processing Inukai to a prison with maximum security before we commence our real mission," Hilda further explained. "And he will be subject for a long session of interrogation, some personally by the governor-general himself to possibly extract more information about the Crimson Queen from him. I also think he wants to make sure he's completely out of their way so the Reclamation won't ever be compromised. He definitely won't take chances."

"I see," Hugo sipped his coffee.

"With that being said, you might have a chance to restock yourselves of whatever you need once we arrive in Arrowhead," Hilda continued. "I'd like to do so myself, so count me in as one of your escorts, and it might be the same drill, but please remain in your best behavior. Levin, and Frida might also come with us."

"Hm," Shin furrowed his eyes.

"What is it?" Hilda turned to him.

"Oh, it's nothing," Shin shook his head. "I just remembered having a quick look at the Restricted Ash Zone far away while we're on Inukai's tail outside, and just thought of…buying new set of clothes."

"Ah, that makes it even more perfect," Hilda smiled. "But, I'm a bit curious. How does this relate to that area?"

"Well..looking at my outfit..," Shin tugged his white scarf. "And a seemingly dark place like that, I don't think this would be suitable at all."

Then Jerad, and Trista laughed.

"Finally going real ninja outfit?" Jerad grinned.

"Beat me to it," Trista also grinned.

"More or less," Shin shrugged. "Just gonna buy a darker themed one…kinda like yours, actually."

"Whoa, you ain't borrowing mine," Jerad kept his grin.

"Of course not," Shin curved his lips. "Frankly, yours doesn't pass. It shows your light skinned arms, but mine will be totally covered. Think of it as what I'm wearing right now, but mostly dark."

"Ah, I see. Camouflaging yourself, huh?" Ricardo smiled before it faded. "But against Aragami?"

"Nope," Shin shook his head. "Something else besides that…"

"Ah..now I have a good guess," Ricardo raised his eyes. "The Crimson Queen."

"Mm," Shin's eyes furrowed. "You said they might be watching us once we're out there again, right? Not to mention they tend to be sneaky, so I figured maybe I should start thinking about doing counterintelligence on them, and I might try catching one for questioning, if they spy on us."

"Ooh," Trista leaned back.

"Hm, interesting," Hugo smiled.

"That is indeed, clever, and considerate, Shin," Hilda smiled. "Then I will be definitely more than happy to shop around, and support your objective. Shopping in there again will be almost guaranteed."

"Thank you, ma'am," Shin nodded with a smile. "I'll start preparing..other things for it."

"Other things? Like what?" Hugo leaned forward.

"Sedatives for a start," Shin smiled.

"What?" Hilda raised her eyes. "Sedatives? Have you been keeping those in here?"

"Yes, I confess," Shin closed his eyes. "But it's all for apprehension in case bandits attack our ship, and as a matter of fact, I may have to use it to apprehend a spy, if caught."

"Understood, but for any sensitive substances such as that, please inform me from now on," Hilda murmured. "As long as it's for the best interest of our crew, I would hardly ever object. Could you please tell me what other things you might be hiding here?"

"Clean handkerchiefs, and throwing needles, both to be used with sedatives," Shin replied. "And I also have a remote, and actuators for explosives, but please know that those explosives are all custom bullet based, and I will not assemble them until shortly prior to use, and if they aren't used, then I immediately disassemble them for safety reasons. I also have a few smoke bombs to help escape if things go down. Though, I always carry a few with me in case we have to escape Aragami."

Then he pulled a small brown ball out of his pocket about half the size of his hand. "They're mostly safe. You have to throw them hard enough on the ground to detonate, but I can also build ones that work like a pin based stun grenade."

"I..see," Hilda plainly nodded.

"So wait, did you also say throwing needles?" Ricardo leaned forward. "Like, you throw syringes at people?"

Then Hugo, Jerad, and Trista chuckled.

"Nope, they're a lot bigger than you think," Shin replied. "About eight inches long. Points on both ends."

"And you can throw those at people..?" Amy blinked her eyes.

"Yes, I could. I practiced them for the last few years," Shin replied. "They're not generally fatal..unless you throw them at their vital spots. At most, they just incapacitate people, and add to it that I can coat them with sedatives. A person hit just with one regardless of which area of the body center mass would be out in seconds even with the sedative dried on the needle tips. They are potent enough for that."

"Oh, my," Hilda raised her eyes as Amy covered her mouth.

"And lastly speaking of throwing weapons, I do have those that are lethal," Shin sighed. "Shurikens, or throwing stars as best as I could describe them."

"Throwing stars..," Hilda's eyes blinked.

"Ohh, have you seen any action movies involving ninjas, ma'am?!" Trista exclaimed. "If you do, you'd know exactly what he's talking about!"

"Oh, yeah. I've seen a few of those as a kid on TV," Ricardo laughed. "Ninja stars."

"I generally do not watch action movies, so I can't really say," Hilda replied.

"OK, those things have sharp edges in the shape of a star people like Shin throw at others," Trista explained.

"Ah, I see," Hilda turned to Shin. "I'm amazed with how much you have been keeping from us, mind you, but they aren't God Arcs so won't they work on Aragami?"

"They won't," Shin shook his head. "They're just meant for people who invade our ship if it ever happens, which was why I crafted and kept them here."

"I understand," Hilda chuckled. "Thanks for being very considerate of everyone here, but again next time, please completely inform me of your weapon inventory besides your God Arc, especially pyrotechnics, and substances. Being an owner, and maybe in another context, a captain of this vessel, I have to know everything that goes in here. This is your home, too."

"I understand, ma'am," Shin nodded.

"Just a second, but aren't sedatives medical?" Jerad raised his eyes.

"Yes, they're sometimes used on patients," Hilda replied.

"In that case, don't let Claire know, and even my sister, anyway." Jerad warned. "Knowing how Claire thinks, she might protest to confiscate them."

"Mine can't be medically used, anyway," Shin argued. "They're too strong for that, and they can kill a person if you use it on someone who is already weakened by sickness or injury. It could stop their heartbeats, and then that's it. I'm not going to let her use them, if she finds out, and needs them. Not meant for it. It's meant to knock a person out while in action."

"Just hide it from her, anyway. Play it safe," Jerad shook his head. "She gets a bit too nosy, sometimes, and then my sister? Working closely with her, she might slip her tongue."

"Hm, I think he's right, Shin," Ricardo leaned back with his hands behind his head. "Save yourself the potential trouble."

"I almost forgot about Phym," Jerad added. "Do those things smell?"

"Not at all," Shin shook his head. "But I do NOT ever recommend inhaling them, and that's what my clean cloths are for. Grab people from behind, grip that thing on their noses, and it's lights out for them in a few seconds."

"Good," Jerad sighed. "That girl has a dog-like smell, and I don't want to imagine what she'll do if she finds them..wherever you're hiding them right now."

"She likely won't since they're odorless," Shin shrugged. "And I stored them inside a fire resistant box in a spot you won't expect. It's just above where my God Arc is, above one of the rectangular ventilation ducts, and I even have to hang with one hand, and reach a bit for it with my other so only I can grab it. Just…don't stare at it from now on. Your little girl is pretty curious."

Then Hilda laughed. "Indeed."

"As a precaution, anyway, let's just keep this between us for now," Shin murmured.

"Fair enough," Hilda nodded.

"So, are there any other plans besides arriving back in Arrowhead?" Hugo finished his coffee.

"Not really," Hilda shook her head. "You guys can rest around for now…Though, I once considered having you guys stationed at outside as watches in case of an Aragami attack right before entering the Port, but I also don't think it's necessary since we already have two Gleipnir, and one Baran military ashcrawlers with us. But then, what do you guys think?"

"Hm," Hugo held his chin. "I still don't think it's a bad idea, and it can't hurt much to increase firepower in security. Speaking of that, we could also show more on what we can do."

And Ricardo suddenly laughed. "Flexing on others, are ya?"

"Something like that," Hugo smiled before turning to others. "How about you guys? What do you think?"

"I don't care," Jerad shrugged. "I could probably use a little sightseeing, anyway. Breathe of fresh air, maybe."

"In the ash..?" Amy raised her eyes.

"I don't mind, either," Shin murmured. "Ash doesn't do anything to us, mostly."

"I agree with Shin," Trista grinned.

"Oh my, I think you're all taking this a little too luxuriously," Hilda chuckled.

"You people are getting a little too cocky with the ash, you know that?" Ricardo also chuckled.

"It's what we're built for," Hugo smiled.

"Very well. Thank you for volunteering so far, but please talk to the rest first before making the final decision," Hilda also smiled. "And then let me know as soon as possible."

"We'll do. They're cooking our breakfast right now so it would be perfect to talk to them there," Hugo nodded.

"Mm," Hilda nodded.

"Is there anything else we should discuss?" Hugo asked.

"Hmm, I guess that will be all," Hilda sighed. "Things are pretty slow right now, so bear with it until we arrive, and we'll hit shopping as soon as possible. And knowing her, I'm definitely sure Sofia will come to greet us."

"Ah..yeah, that's right," Hugo smiled.

"And it's very likely she'll invite us for dinner in their manor tonight," Hilda chuckled. "Partly because as you already know, she was also involved in Gleipnir's plot to apprehend Inukai, and she may want discuss this with us a bit."

"I just simply hope he won't come back to haunt us again," Hugo glanced at Jerad.

"Because next time he tries again.., he won't be as lucky," Jerad's face darkened. "That's all I'm gonna say."

"Alright, I guess the morning meeting is over," Hilda sighed. "For now, just relax until we arrive there. We might get a bit busy once we do..in a good way."

"Alright," Hugo nodded before everyone stood up. "We'll head to the kitchen, and help everyone finish cooking breakfast. We'll call you in once everything is ready."

"Thank you," Hilda smiled.

And once outside Hilda's office.

"Dammit, Shin. What other things have you been hiding from us?" Trista turned to him.

"Nothing else other than my techniques," Shin murmured.

"And what got you finally fessing up to her?" Trista pressed further.

"She has to know one day, or she will," Shin shrugged.

"Now I'm getting curious," Jerad smiled. "Might as well show us your stuff while we have the chance."

"Are you serious?" Shin turned to his friend.

"If you think about it, right now is our best chance," Hugo grinned. "Gotta keep it between us in the meeting until then, right?"

"Yeah, let's keep them waiting a little longer. They don't know how long the meeting will last, anyway," Jerad snickered.

"Alright, fine..," Shin sighed. "Problem is, the vault is on the same floor as the kitchen right now."

"Then we'll just tip toe across the block. Isn't that what you're good at?" Trista grinned.

"Yeah, just leave it to me," Shin grinned back.

And once they're in the Laboratory Block, the four quickly, but silently disembarked the elevator as soon as the door opened, and the first thing Shin did was to look around the hallway to make sure no one other than them are present, that someone might be already checking for them to investigate why they are still in the meeting. Gladly, no one was present, and they quickly hogged the right side of the bulkhead, and began sidewalking along with it.

"Wait..," Shin hand gestured to them to stop right at the cross intersection before peeking through. Besides his sights, he also used his sharp hearing to listen to a potentially oncoming presence from a small hallway leading to the kitchen, and only hear consistent faint voices, and frying noises from it, showing no signs of any occupants inside. Shin raised his hand, and gestured for them to proceed across the intersection as he continued observing, and once they were clearly across, he also swiftly, but quietly crossed the intersection. "Alright, now that's out of the way. Get in the vault now. Open it."

"You got it," Hugo almost whispered before he pressed the button, and the vault door slid open. Considering its humming noise, Shin peeked at the kitchen's direction again to make sure no one heard them, particularly Lulu, whom he believes to potentially rival his senses.

"Good, let's get in, and then shut the door. We don't want them to hear us," Shin whispered.

"Alright, I'll shut it after you," Trista whispered back before Shin finally entered, and then his captain herself. As soon as she entered, she pressed the red light button and the door slid shut. "Hooh, that was quite fun. Sneaking around trying not to be noticed. I gotta say, that was quite..thrilling."

Then Shin snickered. "Maybe you should become a kunoichi, too."

"Coo-no-ichy..?" Trista furrowed her eyes.

"A female ninja, remember?" Shin grimaced.

"Oh..that," Trista scratched her head. "I don't think I'll fit, anyway. What kind of a ninja wields a big weapon?"

"You kidding? When I was a kid who happened to watch an anie-may while bored scrolling through channels, I saw this ninja girl who wielded this huge…what do you call it? Sure-ree-kens..?"

"Oh, you're definitely talking about fuma shurikens," Shin whispered. "They're fictional, unfortunately, considering their obvious size which makes them impractical."

"Really..?" Jerad blinked his eyes. "That girl I saw using one freakin' threw that huge thing, and tore anyone into two with it before coming back to her like a boomerang."

"Yeah..but can you realistically make it come back to you?" Shin smiled as Jerad paused. "That's the problem."

"Aww, that sucks," Jerad sarcastically remarked. "I hardly remembered that ninja girl, but I sure damn remembered she had a black spiky ponytail, and now speaking of that, imagine Tris wearing a kunoichi suit. That would be hot for Shin. Hm?"

"Oh, shut up," Trista spat back before Shin chuckled.

"Let's already get to what we already came here for, alright?" Shin awkwardly smiled. "Can't take too long here."

"Yeah, those people really might start worrying," Hugo chuckled. "They might think we're malingering, and we'll get our asses handed to us with push ups."

"If we do, sure, I'll show 'em," Jerad laughed.

"Alright, guys. Stay back a bit," Shin chuckled before everyone took a few steps back from his God Arc storage spot, and he jumped straight up. As he described earlier, he hung on one of the rectangular ventilation ducts with his left hand, and used his right hand to reach around above it. With a bit of struggle, he finally pulled a metallic box out before letting himself go, and falling back down.

"Ooh," Hugo raised his eyes. "That box is a bit…"

"Yep, got all sorts of my stuff in it," Shin began opening his box, and then turned it to them to show his arsenal, all organized in their categories. Two bundles of long needles strapped together by rubber bands, black metallic four point stars neatly stacked like cards, a few white cloths, a couple of rolled and tied chains, two whetstones, empty test tube like containers, and four jars, two of them having a colorless liquid inside, and the other two being purple. Lastly, there is a one, and a half foot long pipe with three dart-like objects with black fluffy-like features behind them.

"Jeez, it's like looking at a doctor's box," Trista commented.

"Except they aren't," Shin grinned as he watched Trista grab a clear liquid jar. "And do NOT open and sniff that, if you get curious. One whiff of that, and you're in dreamland for a few hours."

"Ah, those are the sedatives you just talked about?" Hugo murmured.

"Yep," Shin nodded. "So potent, their fumes are enough to put you to sleep if you ingest them."

"This one looks interesting," Jerad carefully grabbed one of the stars.

"And be careful putting your fingers on those edges, they're sharp," Shin warned. "Just hold them on the flat sides."

"OK, got it," Jerad turned his eyes back at the star in his hand, and carefully shifted his hold. "Damn, it's just like what I saw on TV as a kid…except they're less fancy looking."

"Yeah, those are all theatrical. Ninjas don't really have time to make their tools too fancy, plus those are disposable," Shin shrugged. "Not to mention, most of our weapons are based on farm tools."

"Farm tools..?" Hugo blinked his eyes.

"Long story short, we started as farmers in ancient Japan who got tired of being picked on by the samurai, the warrior class," Shin explained. "Back then, only the samurai were allowed to own swords, so what happens if you don't allow the common folk to take arms, and keep them helpless?"

"They get oppressed," Jerad murmured. "Predatory human nature."

"Exactly," Shin nodded. "And we got lucky later on. A dynasty in another Far East country collapsed, and some of those military people fled to my country before making friends with our farmers while settling there. Some of them were even high ranking officers who brought their covert warfare knowledge, and taught those to the common folk, mainly underhanded tactics such as disguising their weapons as tools so the leery samurai wouldn't notice. Ninjas, I could say the least, seldom do their thing in daylight, at least not openly. They just act like normal folk during the day, being farmers, and merchants, but at night, it's on. They're out there spying on enemies of those who hired them for information, sneaking and sabotaging fortresses, and on a few occasions, killing someone."

"Scaaary," Jerad commented.

"Yeah, there are more scary things they do than most people know," Shin chuckled. "And speaking of daylight, besides acting like normal people, some disguise themselves."

"As what?" Hugo continued.

"Komuso monks, and some as…women," Shin curved his lips.

Then Trista suddenly laughed. "Really? Can you do that?"

"I don't know," Shin shrugged. "And no way in hell I'm ever going to!"

"Aww, that's a shame," Trista smirked. "I wanna see you lookin' like a geisha chic in a kimono."

And she laughed again.

"How did you even know those words?!" Shin glared at her.

"Heard it a few times in Asian TV shows, and then your ramen old man, Jun," Trista glared back. "He also told me I'll look beautiful with it."

Then Jerad, and Hugo laughed.

"Both of you should do it," Jerad smirked. "Shin, make your captain squeal by dressing as a geisha, and Tris, wear a kimono that will make Shin's nose bleed."

"Shut up!" The two Wolves spat at him as Jerad continued laughing.

"Hm," Hugo turned his attention to a strange looking pipe, and picked it up. "What is this thing?"

"That's a blow gun," Shin replied.

"A gun..?" Hugo glanced at the small pipe on his hand before noticing Jerad making a gesture of holding a pipe in his mouth, and abruptly blowing through it.

"He nailed it," Shin followed. "The way it works is you propel this dart here."

He picked up one of the fluffy darts. "You insert this thing inside that pipe, and you launch the dart by blowing through it."

"Huh..," Hugo blinked his eyes.

"Seen that in many Asian action movies," Trista chuckled. "To even see a real one."

"Now speaking of that," Shin chuckled. "You know why those komuso monks are one of their favorite disguises? It's quite interesting. Here, I'll show you."

He pulled his tablet, typed a few words on screen, and showed them a picture.

"Huh?" Jerad furrowed his eyes. "Is that a basket they're wearing on top of their heads, and he's playing a..flute?"

"Yep, now you see it, can you connect the dots?" Shin smiled.

"Hm," Hugo stared at the dart gun. "Identity concealment, and…pretending these blow darts as their flutes?

Shin chuckled. "Yeah, now imagine yourself being like one close to your target, and blow a poisoned dart at him before blending back into a crowd, pretending to be just minding your own business by playing your flute again? Mission accomplished."

And he chuckled.

"Crazy..," Hugo commented.

"Speaking of identity concealment," Jerad chuckled. "Why aren't you wearing a ninja mask like those on TV?"

And Trista laughed.

"I don't see a need to," Shin shrugged. "It's not like I sneak out there, and kill people..like ever. Identity concealment is also impractical to Aragami."

"Fair enough," Jerad nodded before glancing at the empty glass tubes.

"And those are where I pour my liquids in before dipping either these throwing needles," Shin held one up. "Or these blow darts to coat them."

And he also held one of his blow darts up.

"So, you're gonna knock people out with those, huh?" Trista murmured.

"Yep, these aren't generally meant to kill," Shin spun his throwing needle with his fingers. "Only for incapacitating people."

"I can't believe how long these things are," Trista held one before straightening her other hand beside it. "Almost as long as my hand."

"Yep, and the only thing here meant to kill as I said earlier?" Shin picked up one of his shurikens. "Is this.., and I suppose this one, too."

He picked a bundle of chains. "I can also strangle a person with this."

"That thing has like..an anchor or something," Jerad pointed at the end of it.

"It's a grappling hook," Shin smiled. "Remember me using it a few days ago?"

"I didn't see you at all, but then that's..," Jerad paused.

"I know it's a rope, but I've been thinking about switching to this since they're more durable," Shin replied. "Not sure if you guys noticed when we fought Ra, but I used it one night before we fought it. Lulu saw me."

"Hm," Hugo raised his eyes.

"Wished I could kill them with it, but for obvious reasons, well, best I can do is strangle or reel them," Shin shrugged. "Plus that Nemain's carapace tore my rope one up a bit. Those things got tough skins."

"I bet," Hugo nodded.

"Hm," Shin glanced back at his chains. "I got an idea, Tris. How about…you attach a chain on your God Arc's hilt so you can swing it around, and throw it at Aragami..? If you're strong enough."

"Hah?!" Trista arched her head forward.

"Are you kidding me?" Jerad paused. "Just swinging one of those alone could throw me around, and now you wanna swing that big hunk like a lasso?"

"Do ninjas even do that?" Trista pressed on.

"Oh, yes they did," Shin grinned. "They attached weighted chains on knives and hand sickles."

"I don't get the strategy behind that," Hugo crossed his arms.

"Like how I used my grappling hook to reel that Nemain before I ended it the other night, it's all about grappling," Shin explained. "Imagine this little anchor here being a weighted ball for swinging instead, and then you attach the other end on either a knife or small sickle. Point of that is to swing the chain around, strangle or disarm your opponent, and finish it with your weapon attached to it."

"Ah, that makes sense now," Hugo blinked his eyes. "Now that looks effective as hell."

"Yep. Pretty hard to deal with opponents who have those things swinging around them. Intimidating, too," Shin smiled before turning to his captain. "Yours might be a bit different. You just swing your heavy moon around before throwing and crushing Aragami with it, or you just simply throw it by hand, and reel it back with your chain and catch it."

"That's crazy..!" Trista commented. "Interesting, though."

Then Jerad laughed. "So, is Trista going to be a ninja, too?"

"I don't think I'm cut out to be," Trista shrugged. "I'm not patient enough to sneak around like Shin."

"Hmm..?" Jerad smirked. "What's with you, and Faith sneaking behind, and groping my sister, and Frida once?"

Then Shin snickered. "Oh, here's an even funnier one. Those groping pranks you've been doing to our two girls in the showers in Port?"

"What..?" Trista froze as the two men snickered with Hugo chuckling.

"Didn't think I was aware of that?" Shin flashed his eyebrows. "You know..? It must have been so bad that Amber, and Selene had to talk to me to get you to stop."

"Oh, great..," Trista groaned. "Can't believe those two confided with you about that..!"

"Like I said..it must have been so bad that they had to talk to me, a guy," Shin made a short laugh.

"Pshh, you speaking about that..," Jerad laughed. "Didn't you rat us out about pulling Levin's towel off, and Zeke screaming about how…big he was? You even put us in the spot for that…worse, you also made Frida know about that 'legend.' It's the only reason why she tried unzipping him last night. She wanted to draw his legendary sword from an anvil."

Then Jerad, and Shin laughed while Hugo chuckled.

"Anvil..?" Shin continued laughing. "I didn't see that coming."

"He is like one," Jerad laughed again. "That super macho man kinda makes me look like a twig in comparison."

"Super macho man," Shin laughed again. "You're killing me, man. Call him that next time. Do it!"

"I'll find the right time," Jerad flashed his eyebrows.

"Alright, you got me..," Trista slouched. "I only did those for kicks and giggles, alright?"

"And..?" Shin turned back to her.

"I could never practically use that. That's my point," Trista explained.

"You still have the potential for it, and also, you don't have to learn everything about being a ninja, but you can take whatever suits you. No one ever said you had to," Shin also shrugged. "Why do you think my hand-to-hand style was mixed up like I explained earlier? They did the same thing. They only took whatever worked for them."

"You got a point," Trista murmured. "That idea you have definitely looks interesting.., and kinda badass, too."

"Just say the word, and I'll make a chain for it," Shin smiled. "But first, you'll likely need practice with a dummy God Arc before you do the real thing. You might kill us swinging that huge thing around."

"Oh boy. That reminds me of Misha..," Jerad sighed before Hugo laughed.

"Oh, I still remember," Shin laughed.

"That girl couldn't control her scythe," Jerad complained. "She almost lopped my head off once."

And he jokingly shuddered. "And then I had to chew her ass each time."

"If I had to, then I'd do it," Trista shrugged. "I'd tie a rope on it."

"Yeah, I'll be there when you do," Shin noted. "A lot of things to worry about. How to not strangle yourself while fighting, how long would you want your chain to be, learning how far you could throw it because if you throw farther than your chain length, you'll get pulled, and possibly break your back, and also how to manage it. Some other things we..don't know yet…wait, I definitely need to drill you about how you'll pull your God Arc back if you miss. That's freakin' very important, but seriously I think it has potential. Imagine smashing a Chi-You against a rock when you throw your heavy moon at it."

Then he slowly made a wide smirk. "I'm already betting you'll find that pretty fun..right?"

"I hate the fact that you're reading me that much, Shin," Trista curved her lips before smiling. "But fine. Teach me about that."

"You got it," Shin chuckled.

Then Jerad laughed. "Thinking about it, that's definitely something you would do, Tris."

And Hugo also laughed.

"Well, we better get moving, or they're gonna start looking for us," Shin murmured.

"Right," Hugo nodded before everyone gave Shin's tools back.

"Wait a minute, Shin. One last question," Trista suddenly asked. "Where are you getting these stuff to make them?"

And Shin chuckled. "I've been wondering if any of you will ever ask. I've been having my secret business with Hope by asking her to gather some small scrap metal for me out there, and in return, I buy those from her. We always meet up near my cave whenever she comes back to our Port to do our transactions, and I just haul them up to my cave to start crafting them. Quite an amazing girl, if you ask me. She can find all sorts of things, and even found some useful crafting tools I never asked for, and always paid her extra for them. She'll just do anything to squeeze as much money as possible from people, but in the end, it's a win-win for us."

Then he laughed.

"I swear, Shin," Trista paused. "I can't believe you hid so much shit from us until now…"

"Thinking about it. I have a last confession to make," Shin made a short glance at Trista, and she quietly raised her eyes. "Actually two, and it's something I still don't want the owner to know as much as I hate to say it, but you know she plays a little too nice sometimes, right?"

"Hm, yeah kinda," Jerad replied.

"Remember this bullshit we had to go through to save Phym because of that fucker, Inukai?" Shin's face darkened.

"Yeah," Hugo shook his head.

"It's pretty damn ironic how he likes calling us "filthy dogs" considering his name," Shin grimaced. "Makes me sick that he's Japanese like me, too. His name literally means 'domesticated dog.' Maybe he should check himself before he wrecks himself..but that's too late for me to tell him that to his face now, but anyway, the time he came to our ship, I was planning to smog the whole bridge up if things got any more sour, and raise some hell there. I was dead serious when I threatened that Gleipnir grunt not to get any closer to Jerad, and not to move a 16th of his finger on the trigger. If he was stupid, well, too bad I was already ahead of him. I had my acceleration trigger on with one blade pointed at him, and my other in reverse grip ready to slice that gun in two, if he moved. I'm just glad he listened."

Then he sighed. "The other one? After we saved Phym from that damn Balmung, I prepared for the worst considering the owner's tone. On our way to that same Port we're going to right now, I made remote explosives out of custom bullets when I told you I have to work on my God Arc. I already planned our escape, and even stole some flour and water from the kitchen to make them sticky. I tried to make sure to put them back exactly as I saw them before, and leave no evidence, but I wonder if Lulu still noticed. I can't underestimate the attention to detail of that woman."

"Hm," Hugo nodded. "You're not wrong. She is terribly sharp."

"Once we got inside Arrowhead, and started walking through the passageway to get reprimanded by them, I set my plans in motion," Shin murmured. "I started planting them in all sorts of places on our way there. Under tables, push door locks, and even one right by the vase in the hall itself where we took the shit from them. I was really close to detonating them when that guy told us that we're about to be put in the firing squad for supposedly breaching their contract. I wasn't about to have it, but good thing Claire spoke up, and then the governor-general came."

'That time, huh..?' Jerad frowned.

"Sheesh, I can't believe you're actually gonna go that far," Hugo furrowed his eyes.

"After we finally got together again, I'm not going to let anyone pull us apart again. I'm NOT taking any chances," Shin shook his head. "Sorry that I had to do this, but in a sense we owe it to Claire, and then that governor-general."

"I still don't trust that old bastard," Jerad hissed. "Remember, he's behind everything we went through. How any AGE would be cool with him is just going to be beyond me."

"I know, buddy. Just being honest," Shin shrugged. "You're not the only one who hates Gleipnir, but I'd rather they just leave us alone..if even ever."

"Something suddenly caught me earlier while we're still in the owner's office," Jerad furrowed his eyes. "I remembered Phym saying that she smelled gunpowder from you. Was she right?"

"Heh," Shin turned away. "Your little girl got some sharp senses, and she had me in cold sweat when she almost ratted me out. I did NOT foresee that at all."

Then he turned back. "Anyway, after we got lucky, I just took those explosives back on our way out. Remember that trip I made?"

He smiled. "That was nothing but an act. I did that to quickly get that last explosive back, and then took the rest on our way out."

"Now you mention it, it's really not like you to fall down like that," Hugo chuckled.

"I'll have to fess up, too. I'm just as guilty," Trista murmured as Shin turned to her in shock. "I know, Shin. I'm your captain so it's fine, but I'm the only one who caught him picking up one of his fireworks from under a table. At least I hope so…I confronted him alone later, and even I couldn't complain because he just told you why…"

"I can't promise you guys that I won't do this again, but I seriously hope I never have to," Shin murmured. "I just tend to see things ahead that most people sometimes don't, and you won't likely believe me if I tell you, but I'm not blaming anyone for it. A ninja must read what's underneath the underneath, and to stay ahead of everything. I've been practicing that mindset for years now, but just know that everything I do is for everyone here. You're all my family, and you're the only ones who matter."

"It's pretty hard to swallow.., but I believe you," Hugo unfolded his arms. "You're right, we're family. Always been."

"Thanks," Shin smiled. "I'm glad I met you guys back in prison. I can't tell what else could happen if I didn't. I would have been long dead already."

"Heh, Hugo definitely has a knack for keeping a lot of people alive," Trista grinned.

"That's…giving me too much credit, Tris," Hugo winced. "People died around me, too…"

"We can't save everyone. That's a sad fact we have to deal with," Trista shrugged. "I know too many people we knew died.., and yet here we are still breathing. I think most of us here still owe you our lives."

"Hm," Hugo frowned.

"Huh," Jerad murmured while almost blankly staring at his tablet, and then he stared at Shin with a smile. "Shin…It's a bit personal, but who named you?"

"Huh? Named me..?" Shin was about to lift up his box before placing it back down.

"When you're born, which parent gave you your name?" Jerad's smile turned into a smirk.

"It's…neither," Shin curved his lips, seemingly anticipating something considering his gesture. "It was my grandfather who suggested it to my dad, and then he went along with it. I became Shin."

"I see..," Jerad stared at his screen. "Got a little more curious, but after reading a bit, you ninjas are also called..shinobis?"

"Whoaaa..!" Trista paused before glancing with Hugo. "Shin-obi."

And she laughed.

"Great. I was lowkey wondering if any of you will ever find out," Shin shyly chuckled. "But I did not expect it to be now. You're getting really curious, man. I don't remember you being like this before."

"Well, now I can access just about any information I want to know about," Jerad shrugged. "So, why not? Information does get pretty interesting, sometimes, and reading in my bed helps me fall asleep. If you ask me, shinobi sounds more badass than ninja. Shinobi, it has some… intimidating tone to it."

"Really..? I thought you westerners are so used to calling us ninjas," Shin furrowed his eyes.

"It's just my personal opinion," Jerad chuckled. "So..was that intentional from your granddad?"

"Hm..I highly think so," Shin turned away. "I'll tell you what…I hardly remember him since he passed on when I was little, but when my mom and dad were still around, my dad once told me that my grandfather said that we're descendants of the Koga clan."

"A clan..like you just told us about..?" Hugo murmured.

"Yeah..," Shin nodded after turning back. "That clan was also one of the most powerful in its time, and there was even a famous ninja who served a warlord that won the war of reunification of my country after they fought each other for political power, and had a few hundred years of peace. I'm sure you guys might have been thinking this, but didn't you find it weird how fast I learned my martial art?"

"In hindsight..yeah," Hugo murmured.

"Me, either," Shin murmured. "I was so obsessed that I studied it all the time, and even did live experiments with them. I hunted Aragami alone time to time, trying those tactics on them. Trista can tell you."

"Shin, what the hell?!" Trista grimaced. "Going out on your own is one thing, but hunting alone?! If something happened to you-!"

"It's fine. I never went after the large ones, anyway," Shin shrugged. "There's just no way I could have taken on a Vajra alone at that time, so when I spotted them from above, I just quietly got the hell out. I'm not that stupid."

"Oh, dear..," Trista facepalmed. "Aside from that, there's just too many things to talk about, but in a nutshell, Shin suddenly had a knack for setting traps, and then later on, he started being sneaky as a tiger. Ruined me, and Ricardo's Aragami fun hunts a few times because he would just get behind one, and strike it to its core, killing it before us two even raised our God Arcs. That's all I could say."

"Aragami information wasn't in that data disc, but I looked it up from different sources to find where their CNS cores are in their bodies. Each of them I could find. I simply converted tactics it had on people to Aragami, and it worked after a few trials and errors," Shin explained. "Either way, it was the only way for me to get stronger, and I realized that quickly. I guess that was my calling, and if true, then perhaps it's been in my blood. I never looked back since, and I'm done with my old self. This is who I am now."

"Yeah," Jerad nodded with a smile. "Again, look at you now, a vice captain…"

"I'm not one to say since I never had parents, but I bet your parents, and grandparents are proud of you," Hugo smiled as Jerad glanced at him. "It was all your hard work, and perseverance alone that got you this far."

"Heh, he is DAMN reliable, Hugo," Trista grinned. "I can't remember a time when Shin ever failed me. I task him with something, and I might as well assume it's going to be done."

"Thanks, I'll keep that up," Shin smiled before glancing up "We gotta get going, so get back. Gonna jump again."

He stood up with his box in hand before everyone took a few steps back, and he leapt up with a grunt. Like earlier, he hung himself with his left hand, and swung his box with his right, and began shoving it above the ventilation duct. After a few struggling grunts, he finally let go, and landed back down.

"Thanks for taking the time to show us these," Hugo smiled. "I think I got to understand you a little better now."

"Thanks. I wasn't supposed to be telling anyone about this considering how secretive we are, but we're on the same side, so..," Shin shrugged with a grin. "It's only right."

"Damn right, we're glad we're on the same side," Trista murmured. "Otherwise you'd kill us in a flash."

"I don't wanna think about that, but maybe," Shin shrugged again. "That dark ruined city might be the first time I'll test my skills on people, but I just hope I won't have to kill someone. They're probably not exactly bad guys, either. They are a pro-AGE bunch."

"We'll see," Hugo stood forward. "If we do encounter them."

"I'll start bringing my sedative coated needles with me, and a chained grappling hook once we're in that area," Shin said as they walked towards the door. "Count on it."

Then the four finally passed through the exit after the door slid open, and then shut.

"So, Shin. What do you plan on doing with your martial art?" Hugo waved his hand as they walked through the hallway. "Is it going to stay with you, or will you eventually pass it to someone?"

"Hm, I don't know, to be honest," Shin murmured. "Considering what the author wrote in that data disc, I think he wanted me to keep it alive, somehow."

"Yeah, I think it would be a shame if you don't, really. Possibly even a bit worse than that," Hugo replied. "I also think you have that kind of obligation to carry on what he left for you, and it is really an amazing art. You should probably start thinking of a way to spread it out. Find potential students, maybe starting with the kids in Chrysanthemum."

Then Jerad suddenly made a short laugh. "I just remembered, but ninjas are damn popular with kids, too. I used to see them pretending to be ones in playgrounds when I was still a little brat, and I also hate to admit, but…I kinda think they're cool, too."

And he laughed again.

"Wait, you guys haven't seen it, huh?" Trista also started laughing. "Shin is actually a bit popular with them. They keep calling him a 'real ninja,' and sometimes nag him to teach them!"

And she finally laughed.

"Oh, jeez. That's a bit embarrassing each time," Shin groaned.

"Why? What's wrong with being good with them?" Trista furrowed her eyes. "I mean..we live in an orphanage Port, and most of them are pretty innocent. Hardly any bad ones, either."

"Can't say I hate them," Shin shrugged. "It's just that..they can be a bit annoying, sometimes."

"Hmph..! Jerad would disagree with you," Trista grimaced.

"I only agree with his first part," Jerad also shrugged. "But being annoying? Some can't help it, but you can get used to it. I had that same kind of issue with those three, especially Marr, but I put up with him until he learned to stay in line. Phym wasn't that much different, and she used to blow Claire off about leaving her while she's still asleep until I started punishing her. They just don't know any better yet, so put them in their places until they learn. Most are going to listen."

"You're right," Shin smiled. "I'll give them more chances, then."

"So back on topic. Hugo, are you saying that Chrysanthemum should have more ninjas like Shin?" Trista chuckled.

"Why not?" Hugo shrugged with his arms crossed. "Our Port could always use as many as it could to survive. I personally urge you to think about it, Shin. I'm pretty sure it's what the author wanted, and I always believed that the living should always carry on the will of the departed. I highly think he left that for you to do."

'Carry on the will of..,' Jerad frowned.

---

"Son, one day I want to see you wearing that white Fenrir uniform. Imagine how much your mom, and I would be proud to see you with that once you grow up. A grown good looking man in white."

---

"I suppose I could start from there. I did teach a few guys in Daris' unit about sword fighting techniques," Shin murmured. "I kinda saw myself in them, you know? Not the brute types, and would rather fight smarter instead of harder."

"Then that's definitely a start," Hugo smiled before glancing at his other friend, and then his smile faded.

"Dad…I'm..," Jerad blankly whispered while staring blankly at his hands…"

"Hey! Are you alright?" Hugo abruptly patted his shoulder.

"Huh? Wha..?" Jerad suddenly jumped.

"Are you OK?" Hugo asked again. "You looked gloomy just now."

"I'm..fine..," Jerad waved his hands. "Speaking of kids, though. Didn't you talk about teaching YOUR daughter, too?"

"Uh, yeah. I suppose I did," Shin murmured. "But wait. Why daughter?"

"Well, I figured that since you already existed as a male one, maybe it should be your future kid girl for a change," Jerad chuckled. "Kuno-itchy, was it?"

"Yeah, that's right," Shin chuckled back. "Honestly, it doesn't matter to me who: son or daughter, I'll teach them the same way, if they want to."

"There you go. That's another way to start," Jerad grinned.

Unaware of this, however, Hugo quietly kept watching him...

"Heh, Shin's little ninja girl?" Trista smirked. "I'd like to see that..!"

And Jerad responded with a teasing snicker. "And I definitely bet you'll be proud of her…"

He glanced at Trista.

"What..are you trying to imply..?" Trista glared at him.

"What? You think Shin's gonna make a kid by himself?" Jerad laughed. "Come on. You're old enough to know that."

"Of course, I know, smartass!" Trista growled.

"OK, enough, you two..! We're almost in the kitchen now," Hugo sighed.

"Tch! Cheeky bastard..!" Trista grimaced.

Then they finally passed through the passageway to the kitchen, and found everyone already setting plates on their dining table.

"Oh, here you are," Lulu paused.

"The hell took you?" Zeke grimaced.

"Sorry, the meeting took a little long," Hugo chuckled while scratching the back of his head. "Our discussion took a bit longer than expected."

"What did you discuss?" Levin asked.

"About our ETA to Arrowhead," Hugo replied. "Also…Hilda is thinking about having us take stations on the sides of our ship both port, and starboard side, but she wants to hear your opinions first. What do you think?"

"Opinions..?" Lulu blinked her eyes. "Well, if the owner wants us out there, then we'll be out there, but personally, I don't mind at all."

"It's not exactly a requirement, either," Hugo scratched the back of his head. "Hilda just wants to play it safe with security even if we already had three military ships protecting us, but if you don't think it's fine, then she won't force us."

"I see," Lulu murmured.

"Then like her, I also wouldn't mind," Levin added. "Maybe I could use a little sightseeing."

"I'll do what the owner wants," Frida replied.

"Daddy, I wanna go see stuff again!" Phym beamed. "With you, and mommy! Please?"

"Alright," Jerad said with a faint smile. "You got it."

"Yay!" Phym latched onto him as Claire smiled, adoring the sight.

"I don't mind either way," Misha shrugged. "It is nice to be out there after a while."

"I guess majority wins," Trista also shrugged. "Not that I care being out there, anyway. Shin and I got this."

"Didn't even ask me, first..," Shin crossed his arms.

"OK, I guess we're all in agreement," Hugo chuckled. "Thanks, everyone."

"If possible, I'd like to bring a soda out there," Jerad grinned. "Adds flavor to the scenery."

"By all means do so," Hugo smiled. "Just make sure you buy from Faith."

Then he turned back to everyone. "I guess that's it. I'll tell Hilda once she comes here. Let's finish the set up."

"Alrighty, let's do this," Zeke grinned before everyone resumed work.

As soon as they finished a few minutes later, Jerad cleared his throat before tapping his earpiece. "Ma'am, this is Jerad. Breakfast is ready."

"Ah, I see. Thank you," Hilda replied. "We'll be on our way."

"Owner's coming," Jerad turned to everyone, and saw Trista, Hugo, and Misha smiling. "What..?"

"Not bad, this time," Trista snickered.

"Oh, please," Jerad groaned. "It's just one freakin' awkward moment yesterday. You think that's hard to fix?"

"For you, maybe," Trista shrugged.

"Whatever. I don't give a damn, anymore," Jerad dismissively waved his hand.

And as everyone began sitting down to wait for Hilda, the three finally arrived.

"Good morning," Lulu greeted.

"Good morning, Lulu. How have you been?" Hilda smiled back as she sat down.

"Been feeling fine," Lulu smiled.

"Good to hear," Hilda smiled again.

"Ooh, bacon and eggs," Ricardo rubbed his hands. "My favorite kind of breakfast."

"So Hilda, I already spoke with everyone," Hugo smiled after swallowing his bite. "We can support standing security outside here."

"Oh, is that so..?" Hilda glanced at everyone. "Thank you, everyone."

"No problem, ma'am," Jerad also smiled after swallowing. "Plus, I'm also starting to like the idea of doing a little flex."

Then Ricardo laughed before grabbing his napkin. "Sheesh. You almost made me spit my meal there."

"That's fine. Just..don't do anything too rash, OK?" Hilda covered her mouth while chuckling.

Then everyone continued their breakfast for several more minutes until they finished.

"OK. We still have about five hours until we're close to Arrowhead," Hilda leaned back after finishing her meal. "Make preparations as necessary until you're stationed outside for security, but please take it easy, too. We'll have quite a long day after we dock there..well in a good way."

"We'll do," Hugo nodded.

"Somehow, I can't wait to see Shin wearing dark clothes once we're at the mall," Trista snickered.

"Hm? The mall..?" Lulu paused.

"Yeah, he wants to buy some black outfit to look more ninja for that dark city," Trista replied.

"It is called the Restricted Ash Zone," Hilda chuckled. "Please remember to call it that to avoid any confusion."

"Alright," Trista nodded.

"Jeez, it's just a dark version of my outfit," Shin complained. "Almost like Jerad's. Why make such a big deal out of it?"

"What did you guys talk about this morning?" Misha furrowed her eyes. "I'm kinda confused."

"Pretty much most of what I mentioned earlier," Hugo replied. "But Shin wanted to change his outfit, and Hilda decided to go along with it since she wanted to also buy stuff, anyway. So yeah, we're shopping once we arrive there. Same drill, alright everyone? Avoid trouble."

"Ooh..," Misha turned away, and cupped her cheeks. 'I wonder which shampoo should I try next? Something men like Hugo would like..?'

"Misha, my dear little one," Trista intimately leaned on her. "Ready to look at shampoos together, hm?"

"O-of course..!" Misha stuttered.

"Hey, kid. Just a friendly reminder for you," Ricardo smiled.

"Hm..?" Jerad turned to Ricardo, and his eyes furrowed from his widening smirk.

"If there are some Gleipnir AGE babes in there, you better watch yourself," Ricardo kept his smirk. "Because before you know it, they'll pounce, and try getting a 'piece' from you. Remember what we went over this morning?"

Then Shin, and Zeke exploded with laughter while Levin, and Hugo chuckled. Claire, however, pouted at this.

"And what did you talk about at that time..?" Hilda turned to him.

"It's all man's talk, ma'am," Ricardo confidently smiled.

"Oh, you men..," Hilda groaned.

"Ohhh, I think I got the gist," Trista smirked. "You, too, Claire. You better protect your boyfriend's pants."

And everyone laughed except Hilda who just sighed.

"WHAT..are you even talking about?" Claire fumed.

"Come on. You know what I'm sayin,'" Trista flashed her eyebrows. "Gotta keep his DNA all to yourself."

And she loudly laughed.

"Then I'll protect daddy from those…bad babes," Phym suddenly spoke before everyone laughed again, including Hilda herself.

"Phym…do you even know WHAT you're talking about..?" Jerad shut his eyes, and curved his lips.

"Alright, that's a good enough laugh to finish our meal," Hilda chuckled. "You guys take care of yourselves for now, and if you decide to train, please don't overdo it. I'll also task Amy to write a list of which parts of our ship's exterior you'll be assigned to."

"I'll get to it asap, ma'am," Amy smiled.

"Excellent. I'm counting on you," Hilda smiled. "That's it. I have to wrap up some paperwork before we arrive, so please do what you need to do in the meantime."

"We got you," Hugo replied.

Then Hilda, Ricardo, and Amy stood up.

"Amy, please begin writing the outboard watchbill station for everyone," Hilda said.

"Yes, ma'am," Amy nodded before turning to everyone. "Please give me one hour max to finish it. I'll also have to assess our potential security situations in our resonance radar before I write everyone into their stations, and I will call you once finished."

"Sounds good," Hugo smiled. "Thanks."

"I'll see you guys in an hour, then," Amy turned to the exit. "Please take care."

And after the first few minutes of cleaning up.

"Hey, Keith," Jerad smiled.

"What's up?" Keith raised his head while wiping the deck together with rags.

"I'm not sure if you have noticed, but Amy has been staring at you time to time while we're eating," Jerad snickered.

"Really..?" Keith paused.

"Uh huh," Jerad made a single nod before flashing his eyebrows once. "What's going on?"

"I..don't know," Keith hesitantly shrugged. "All I did was deliver coffee to her, and then chatted for a bit last night. That's it."

"Oh..," Jerad paused.

"Keith, don't tell me you're hitting on her," Trista chuckled while crouching on fours beside him to start scrubbing the deck. "I mean, I'm not against it, but she is definitely available. No need to be afraid of heartbreak."

"Oh, please. Not again..," Keith groaned.

"Hey, like I told your brother last night, you can't go wrong with her," Trista flashed her eyebrows for encouragement. "Amy is a very nice girl, and now thinking about it, you both like busting your asses off at work. You two might be compatible. Hmm..?"

"Ooh," Jerad smirked at the young teenager. "I never thought Keith would have a taste for ladies. Older ones, too."

"Hey, you two stop picking on my bro, alright?" Zeke glared at the two in his defense.

"Hey, no harm meant here, OK?" Jerad argued. "What? You think that's a bad thing?"

"And having Amy as your sister-in-law?" Trista added. "I can't see why the hell you should complain. You're a moron to think otherwise!"

"But wait a minute. What do you mean you talked to my bro?" Keith turned to the red head.

"While you're gone for her coffee, these two were on each other's throats about you, and her," Trista explained.

"It was just some random banting I did to you last night for fun," Jerad shrugged. "And then your brother tried to jump me after you left."

"OK, OK, I get it now, but don't mess with my bro, alright?" Zeke grimaced.

"I just told you we weren't!" Jerad spat. "Are you saying you don't like Amy? Suit yourself, then."

"Alright, whatever," Zeke turned away as Trista laughed.

"Good," Jerad resumed cleaning.

"Just for the note, but whoever guy wins that girl's heart is a lucky one, just saying," Trista chuckled. "Even more so at her age, she never seemed to bother looking for one, so if you did that somehow, then you got some magic charm in you, Keith."

"Maybe," Keith wrung his rag on top of a dirty bucket.

"Maybe, huh..?" Jerad cracked a short laugh.

"I never see myself as anything special, really," Keith murmured. "All I can do is tinker, and fix stuff. Nothing more."

"OK, then how about I train you how to fight?" Jerad smiled. "Then if you bulk up, you can sort that out."

"He's mine, don't worry about it," Zeke brought them a fresh bucket of soapy water.

"Oh great. Now Keith is in this circle of your love teasings now?" Hugo murmured. "What's up with you guys with that? Seriously?"

Then Jerad, Trista, Shin, and also Levin laughed.

"Hey, I was the innocent guy at first here, brother-in-law," Jerad argued. "I was just fighting back."

"Oh, that's funny considering what you just called me," Hugo curved his lips.

"It's true, though," Jerad sarcastically shrugged before continuing his work. "It was just me, and my sis, and then you guys suddenly jumped me. What the hell?"

"Oh yeah? I was also just fighting back, brother," Misha tapped her dustpan with a smirk.

"Checkmate..," Shin chuckled.

"And it's also true, though," Misha put her arms around Claire, and affectionately leaned her head on her shoulder. "Right, my dear sister-in-law..?"

"Misha..," Claire growled with embarrassment. "Please don't drag me into this..!"

"But mommy, and daddy are together, right?" Phym grinned before everyone laughed.

"YES!" Trista flexed her arm.

"OK, then..," Jerad curved his lips. "If that's how it's going to be, then this war continues."

Then he turned to Keith. "I hate to say this, buddy, but..welcome to the club."

And Shin laughed.

Then after a few more minutes.

"OK, so..," Hugo scratched his head. "Do any of you guys have any specific plans?"

"Not in particular," Lulu replied.

"OK, then…how about we check on our God Arcs before we do security watch out there?" Hugo suggested.

"Works for me," Lulu murmured.

"Anyone else cool with it?" Hugo turned to the rest.

"I don't care," Jerad shrugged. "Might as well, right? That got me thinking, but I think I need to stop by Faith real quick, and buy a new custom bullet kit. Maybe even a couple more, heh."

"Heyy, I think I wanna do the same thing," Shin grinned. "You mind?"

"Be my guest," Jerad smiled back.

"Hm, Frida. How are you feeling right now? Do you still have migraines?" Claire turned to her. "I figured you're probably just hungry earlier since you didn't eat much last night."

"Heh, you could have definitely eaten lavisciously last night," Jerad whispered as low as he could for only Shin to hear, and he responded with a quiet laugh. However, Trista was still somewhat able to hear him, and quickly elbowed him just below the center corner his rib cage. Jerad responded with a grunt while clutching his lower chest.

"I already warned you to shut the fuck up about that, did I..?" Trista glared at him.

"Umm," Frida paused.

"Hey, if you're still not feeling alright, you better fess up, got it?" Jerad warned her while still holding his chest with one hand. "That's what Claire, and Misha are here for. I don't want you falling off our ship, or throwing up overboard later while we're standing security."

"I guess a little," Frida murmured.

"Alright, please come with us to the Medical Ward once we leave. I'll give you a glass of water, and an aspirin," Claire replied before turning to the three, furrowing her eyes. "Did…something happen?"

"Nothing. Your boyfriend just needed a bit of discipline, that's all," Trista plainly replied.

"Okay..," Claire hesitantly nodded as Frida innocently glanced at them.

"I might as well as go with you," Levin murmured. "

"Alright, we'll head straight to our God Arc vault, and there's no rush," Hugo smiled. "We got a lot of time, so we can wait for you to catch up."

"Sounds good," Jerad nodded. "I'll head over once Shin, and I are done buying our kits."

Then Misha turned to him. "Huh?"

"Hm? I'm coming over just for the hell of it," Jerad turned to his sibling. "I don't think my God Arc needs a lot of work, anyway. That thing is ever reliable, and if anything, I'll just load her up."

"Ookay," Misha nodded.

"Let's split," Hugo said. "I think I need to work on mine quite badly, anyway."

Then several minutes later in the Medical Ward.

"Here," Claire handed Frida a glass of water, and one piece of white tablet. "It's only 500 mg, but should be enough to help."

"Thank you," Frida took them before placing the tablet in her mouth, and quickly gulped all the water.

Misha giggled at this. "Dehydrated..?"

"Yes..kinda," Frida murmured.

"Please do not be afraid to stand up, and refill your drink during meals," Levin closed his eyes. "It's why we have a drink dispenser there.., and it's not rude to do so. You also recently suffered from intoxication last night, so please take care of yourself a bit more."

"U-understood," Frida paused.

"I agree with him. Listen to your man a bit more," Misha smirked. "Here."

"Thank you again," Frida sighed with a smile.

"Hm, now may be the good time to view that log," Claire turned to the small book on a table.

"The bias factor log..?" Misha raised her eyes.

"Yes, it's already been a few days so it might be a good time to check," Claire began walking over to the table, and opened the book.

"Quite compelling," Levin murmured before moving next to his cousin.

As the two Victoriouses began reading, Claire raised her eyes, looking at the date, and time each God Eater crew member took their bias factor refill.

"It's the same..," She murmured. "I still see Trista, Frida, Hugo, Zeke, Lulu, Keith, and Ricardo being the most frequent, and yet…"

She flipped a page. "You, me, Jerad, Misha, and even Shin remained far less frequent in bias factor refills, and most of us take an average of two days to do so. Also, you, Jerad, Levin, and Misha are even more noticeably less frequent. What is going on..?"

"I have no idea, either," Levin furrowed his eyes. "Let me think of something…Wait, Misha. Did you once tell us that both of your parents were God Eaters?

"That's right," Misha nodded. "Why? What is it?"

"I think I see a pattern between you, myself, and your brother," Levin replied. "Both my mother, and father were God Eaters, too, and looking at this log book."

He picked the book up. "All three of us have approximately the same rate of bias factor refills…according to this log. In the past two days, we only had one."

"Are you saying that having God Eater parents can affect our need for bias factor?" Claire raised her eyes.

"That..is where I think it's leading to," Levin replied. "However, I'm still not certain enough for a conclusion. Not yet. I think we still need to gather more data by continuing this log."

Then their entrance suddenly hummed open before Jerad, and Shin entered.

"What's up?" Jerad waved while glancing at everyone.

"Daddy!" Listening quietly for a while, Phym suddenly jumped from her seat, and latched on to him.

"Heyy, you're acting like you haven't seen me for a while," Jerad chuckled while patting her head. "Bought some nice bags of candies for you."

Then Phym beamed. "Yay! Thanks, daddy!"

"No problem," Jerad continued patting her head. "Just don't eat them too fast, OK? Bad for your teeth."

"Okay..," Phym began opening her bag.

"That is…quite generous, this time," Claire furrowed her eyes.

"Call it my apology," Jerad replied.

"Huh? What are you..?" Claire paused for a few seconds before she realized his hint, "Oh…"

"What's going on here? Did the reaper cutie get her pill?" Jerad asked.

"Yes, I already took one," Frida murmured.

"Great," Jerad smiled before turning to Levin. "And that's the log book you're holding, right? Something up..?"

"You came at the perfect time," Levin smiled back. "We are discussing a trend here. Apparently, it's still the same. You, me, and your sister still had the least requirement for bias factor refills. We only needed one for the past two days."

"Huh, that's true," Jerad murmured.

"And yet, the rest needed more, including Shin," Levin turned to him. "And your father was the only God Eater, right?"

"Yep," Shin nodded. "Why? What is it?"

"Claire and I were starting to think that perhaps…having parents as God Eaters may have an influence in this," Levin explained. "Especially the three of us, you, myself, and your sister..who had both parents as God Eaters."

"Right..," Jerad's smile faded as Claire noticed. "So…you're saying that… genes have anything to do with this..?"

"I'm very inclined to believe so," Levin stared down. "But this is all speculation for now, and I cannot make conclusions yet. I'd like to continue with this trend analysis a bit further, but unfortunately, we do not have much time left. Perhaps, the best thing we could do is to speak to our aunt."

"Hm, I don't think it's a bad idea," Jerad murmured. "She seems pretty wise, and has a ton of knowledge."

"She taught me, and Claire many things," Levin stared up. "And even now, I still have much to learn from her in comparison..well, both of us."

"Yeah," Jerad nodded with his eyes closed.

"So, by that logic, there's a genetic dilution on having one God Eater parent, and the other isn't, right?" Shin murmured.

"That's where it seems to lead us," Levin replied. "But aunt may really have the answer to that. I also don't want to forget to ask about our lineage."

And he grinned.

"Ah, yeah. To see if you have American blood in you?" Jerad laughed. "Just finished reading about its history last night. Long story short, we are indeed bloodthirsty killers overall who fought for freedom twice in their own soil, love burgers, getting involved in wars, and then now hunting Aragami for sport."

Then Shin laughed while glancing at his friend. "Well…"

"OK, OK..," Jerad jokingly grimaced at him. "Be quiet…"

And Misha also laughed.

"You, too, sis. You're starting to look as guilty," Jerad snickered. "Let's go have some more fun next time we go out."

"No, thank you," Misha curved her lips.

"Anyway, I'm just glad Zeke isn't here," Jerad shrugged with a chuckle. "Otherwise, he'll rag on us doing this American thing, American that."

"Burgers..," Phym suddenly murmured. "Daddy…I wanna eat burgers..!"

"Phym, you're acting like you've never eaten one before," Jerad curved his lips. "I told you it's the one we ate in Chrysanthemum fast food joint, remember?"

"But it really tastes yummy!" Phym beamed. "Could you make me one?"

"Wait a second…I-I don't know how to cook one yet," Jerad nervously waved his hands much to Claire's bewilderment. "Besides…being here, I don't have much control in what we eat..but we'll buy and eat some once we get back, OK?"

"Okay," Phym giggled.

Seeing his cousin quietly frowning, Levin blinked his eyes. "Claire..?"

"Ah..what is it?" Claire almost jumped.

"Is something bothering you?" Levin furrowed his eyes.

"I'm fine..," Claire murmured before catching a glimpse of Jerad across from her, watching her with a plain faced expression which she could not tell what he might be thinking.

"We're all finished here, right?" Jerad glanced at the rest.

"Yes, I think I'm finished hydrating," Frida placed her empty cup on the table.

"Good," Jerad nodded with a smile.

"You treat me like a child, sometimes," Frida slightly pouted.

Jerad laughed at this, "And how old are you?"

"Brother, that's not appropriate!" Misha glared at him.

"What isn't?" Jerad turned to his sister.

"You should never ask women about their age!" Misha warned him.

"Heh, it's not like ignoring your number is gonna keep you young. Get over it," Jerad smirked. "No one lives forever. Is all I'm gonna say."

"For your information, I'm still 17," Frida nevertheless replied.

"Yeah," Jerad nodded with a grin. "Means you're still teachable."

"Just to play a little devil's advocate, but maturity is also a mindset," Levin chuckled.

"Well.., she doesn't know how to take care of herself yet," Jerad replied. "At least not completely given that she won't be telling us that she's still sick from booze last night if I didn't push her, AND considering that we all need to stand ship security out there around noon. Can't have someone working a life-risking job while drunk because if I'm a boss at work, and I see one of my employees being like this, he'll get an earful from me as a verbal warning before sending his ass home, and come back ready the next day. Second time will get his ass reprimanded, and he better be back sober the next day. 3rd time? He's packing out, and hitting the highway. If she had thought of this situation, I wouldn't be saying this. Takes some maturity to do that."

"You made a point," Levin murmured.

"Honestly, I think I'm being a bit too nice giving three strikes," Jerad raised his three fingers. "I might make it only two…depending on how bad it is."

"I think three chances are enough," Claire commented. "Nothing more."

"What if say I made it clear firsthand to always come sober to my workplace, and the punishments that come for breaking it, and that guy still does it?" Jerad smirked. "He made his choice. Would it be fair to give him three? Especially if I have to think about the dangers he could pose to my other workers? I think not."

"Right," Claire murmured. "A violation like this would need to be more corrected."

"Yep. Before he gets somebody killed, something has to be done," Jerad nodded.

"Ohh, you're talking about getting drunk on duty? Imagine my captain," Shin smiled while curving his lips. "You haven't seen her yet. I tried to convince her many times, and she just kept telling me she fights better when drunk."

"Are you serious..?" Jerad grimaced.

"Incomprehensible," Claire added.

"Yes," Shin plainly replied. "The only reason she hasn't done it with us is because our owner is just right here. She won't do it if both us, and the owner are in Port, either."

"Sneaky cunt..," Jerad murmured.

Then Shin laughed.

"Still, though. I'll give you credit for your more…rebellious personality," Jerad made a wide grin. "You're starting to be more fun to talk to…more like to bant."

And he laughed.

"Oh, gosh," Frida crossed her arms with a pout. "Stop it..!"

"Hey, don't tell me you're starting to like her," Shin smirked as Claire glared at him.

"Like a little sister, yeah," Jerad grinned back as Frida blushed at this. "I'm Frida's big brother now."

And he laughed.

'Ah, Frida's onii-chan..?' Shin almost snickered.

"That's a little awkward, brother," Misha pouted before Levin laughed.

"What? You jealous?" Jerad flashed his eyebrows before Claire also laughed. "What's wrong with considering someone not blood related your sibling?"

"Nothing. I swear, you're insufferable, sometimes!"

Misha crossed her arms.

"Okay, gotcha," Jerad made a short laugh. "It was you, and brother-in-law who made me, and Claire as Phym's daddy, and mommy."

"Hm..?" Phym glanced up after eating her candy. "Blood…related..?"

"Anyway, let's get the hell outta here, or else we'll end up staying forever here..as much as I still wanna have fun," Jerad chuckled. "Shin, and I still need to restock our custom bullets."

"Me, too. I'm going to work, and inspect my God Arc," Claire murmured.

"Phym, work on yours with mommy, OK?" Jerad turned to his little girl. "And enough candy for now. Back to work."

"Okay, but..," Phym tipped her lower lip with her finger. "Can I work with you, too?"

"Custom bullets are volatile, and also choking hazard for kids," Jerad warned. "Plus you got a thing for wanting to eat something that itches your curiosity. Get your God Arc ready, and ask mommy for help if you need it. No more buts. I'll check mine, too once we're done restocking."

"Okay," Phym slowly nodded.

---

In the God Arc Storage Vault.

"I'm just about done here," Zeke placed his God Arc on the table. "Mad Hammer is ready for some hammer time. Any time!"

And he loudly chuckled.

"Same here," Hugo held his long blade up. "I'm pretty much ready. How 'bout you, Keith?"

Then they saw Keith grunting, and pulling his God Arc's charging handle. "I can't seem to pull this thing all the way back. I just wanted to make sure the chamber is clear."

"Hah! Maybe you just need a little more elbow grease," Zeke began rotating his arm. "Let me have it."

Then he took his brother's sword.

"Zeke, wait-!" Keith suddenly froze as he now saw his brother holding his sword."

"Wha-? Oh, crap!" Zeke defensively gritted his teeth before he slowly paused. "Huh, it didn't kill me at all."

"Now what were you saying about us being reckless about holding our God Arcs?" Lulu furrowed her eyes.

"H-hey, shut up. I-I just wanted to help him..!" Zeke argued back before staring back at his brother's sword. "Wow, so it is true we AGEs can hold other God Arcs…"

"Heh, why else did you think I used to own two heavy moons?" Trista chuckled. "We all should have known that by now."

"Anyway, gonna pull this thing back," Zeke held the charging handle before pulling it. "Hmph..!"

"Even you too, huh..?" Keith murmured.

"Just give me a sec more," Zeke grunted again, still trying to pull the charging handle down.

"It's OK, bro. I'll just add lube oil into the mechanism," Keith closed his eyes.

"Dammit..!" Zeke finally gave up before handing his brother's short blade to him. "Here, you gotta oil it up."

Then Keith took his God Arc back while holding a blue, and yellow can in his other hand, sprayed inside the ejection port, and placed his assault gun pointed up. He pulled the charging handle down, and after grunting for a few seconds, it finally released itself.

"Hell yeah, Keith. That's how you do it," Jerad entered the vault with Claire, Levin, Frida, Misha, Shin, and Phym behind him.

"Phew," Keith rubbed his forehead. "That finally did it. Now onto the next part."

"What took you guys?" Hugo turned to them.

"Aww, did you miss me, Hugo?" Misha teasingly blinked her eyes.

"...Not just you. All of you," Hugo murmured before Trista behind him shook her head. "I'm just about finished."

"No biggie. We got a ton of time, anyway," Jerad shrugged with one hand. "Shin, and I are gonna make some new custom bullets."

And Hugo sighed. "Alright. Once I finish mine, just ask for help when you need it."

"Gotcha," Jerad waved his hand. "Phym, get to work with mommy."

"Okay," Phym nodded.

Then the new arrivals walked to their storages to grab their God Arcs, and placed them on tables. Jerad shifted his spear to gun before Shin followed, and then he pulled his charging handle open.

"Ahh, don't you love the sound of that?" Jerad flashed his eyebrows. "The sound of the stuff moving inside the round chamber."

"I'd be lying if I say no," Shin also pulled his charging handle. "Turns you on?"

And Jerad snickered. "Hell yeah, it does. I think my pants are about to rip."

Then Shin laughed as Jerad pushed it forward, and pulled it back again. "Mmph!"

"You guys..," Hugo awkwardly smiled. "God Arcs aren't toys, OK?"

"Huh?" Jerad contentiously furrowed his eyes. "This is my God Arc. There are many like it, but this one is mine. I do whatever I want with it."

Then he glanced inside the ejection port. "Clear, and safe."

"Mine, too," Shin placed his sniper gun down. "Let's start rebuilding our custom rounds."

"Let's do this," Jerad pulled his kit closer to him before the two snipers began working. After a few minutes, they already made twenty spread bomb rounds together, already well versed in the process of building them, but after a few moments, Jerad paused. "Hm."

"What's up..?" Shin glanced at him.

"I have a slight idea of a variant," Jerad murmured. "Ricardo once said that the main cannons on those mil ashcrawlers are not effective on large Aragami, right?"

"I think so..?" Shin nodded.

"Heh. How about…we make something that has the same firepower as those?" Jerad began smirking. "After all, Hugo wants to flex."

And he snickered.

"So…you're going to make nuke custom bullets..?" Shin paused.

"Yep," Jerad nodded while still smirking. "How about it?"

"I don't think it's a bad idea," Shin chuckled. "Let's go."

"Hell yeah. Let's get right on it," Jerad flashed his eyebrows.

"So, you guys want to blow everything around you," Hugo curved his lips.

"Well, you wanna flex, don't you?" Jerad snickered again. "Might as well as show some firepower. How about we also make ones like napalm?"

"Nay-palm..?" Hugo raised his eyebrows.

"Antique bombs where it spreads fire around with ignited liquid gas..more like gel based gas once it hits the ground," Jerad kept his smirk. "Gonna set the bastards on fire, if they show up, and turn their area into an inferno. Haha! I'm sure Shin likes it."

"Huh..?" Shin paused, and turned to him.

"Weren't you ninjas love setting everything on fire to burn fortresses and castles to the ground after your sneak and surprise attacks?" Jerad grinned.

"You're..right," Shin murmured. "But we aren't pyromaniacs, jeez. It was just the most effective way to cause a lot of damage in structures, and also a lot of chaos and disarray to our enemies. Everyone panics when there's fire, and rightfully so. How did you know about this, by the way?"

"I did my homework on top of what you told us earlier," Jerad chuckled. "Same time I found out about shinobi."

"Hm? Shinobi?" Lulu suddenly turned to them.

"Read about it last night, and saw a pattern," Jerad lied. "Brought it up to him on our way to the kitchen. Apparently, his granddad named him after it."

"Damn, you serious?" Zeke grinned. "Shin..Shinobi."

Theh he laughed.

"Yeah, my dad himself told me," Shin murmured.

"Heh, I wish Shin was a pyro," Trista chuckled. "You'd make our Aragami fights more interesting. Into the fire, and fury!"

"Hah! I can do more than just setting fires. Welcome to the modern world," Shin smirked. "I can make all sorts of explosives, too."

"I swear. You ninjas as such badass mofos," Jerad laughed as he continued making his two custom bullets. "Setting stuff on fire, being spies, and killing people with silence. What could be more badass than that?"

"Sadly, assassinations aren't our forte despite how the media has been showing them..historically speaking," Shin murmured as he kept working. "There were quite a lot of documented failed assassination attempts. One feudal lord in my country got pissed off enough to try wiping a whole clan behind a lot of it. Spying, and sabotage are our best."

"Still cool enough, I'd say," Jerad shrugged.

"Nah, you know what will make Shin really cool?" Trista snickered. "Eating pizza."

And she cracked a laugh.

"That again..?" Shin groaned.

"You've said this before," Frida murmured.

"Huh? Ninjas eating pizzas?" Jerad awkwardly paused. "What's the logic of that?"

"I used to watch this kid's show that had pizza loving ninjas," Trista chuckled. "Dammit! I just can't remember the title since I've binge watched too many of them now. Teenage Reptiles, or something."

"Okay..," Jerad blankly nodded before turning back to his work.

"Phym, and I finished our God Arc checks," Claire murmured. "All good to go."

"Daddy, what is pit-zah?" Phym murmured.

"Uhh, let me try explaining," Jerad paused. "Some round shaped bread with a lot of things on top of it, meat or veggies."

"Oh, I have one law for that to add," Trista murmured. "No pineapples..Ever!"

"Hm? What's wrong with that?" Jerad turned to her.

"Are you serious? I'm already disappointed in you," Trista grimaced. "Why would you add something sweet in a salty food? That makes no sense!"

"I've eaten one myself with them before," Jerad shook his head. "I don't think it's bad."

'I remember,' Misha mused. 'Mom, and dad used to sometimes bring them home together after work, and then we watch movies together…' "I agree with him. Our mom, and dad used to bring them home before watching movies together."

"Ahh, movies!" Trista jumped. "Your parents like movies, too?!"

"I can't say they do, but we watch them time to time," Misha smiled.

"But from your brother here, your parents order pizzas with pineapples..," Trista furrowed her eyes.

"I…guess?" Misha blinked her eyes.

"Oh, that puts a bit of damper in their taste," Trista disappointedly closed her eyes.

"OK, that's just as far as you could go," Jerad suddenly turned darkly to her.

"Wait, what?" Trista raised her eyes in a bit of shock.

"Tris, I get your upbringing, but never speak ill of the dead," Hugo stepped forward. "Especially if it's about someone's parents..even as a joke."

"Ah..OK," Trista turned to Jerad. "Sorry about that…"

"Oh..," Jerad pauses before turning back to his work. "It's fine…now you know."

"Pit-zaaah," Phym beamed with almost a whisper. "Daddy, does it taste good?"

"Uh, definitely," Jerad turned to her. "I don't think there's any pizza that I didn't like..Nothing I remember."

"I wanna try it!" Phym beamed even brighter.

"Heyyy, I have an idea. How about we buy some pizzas, and watch Bugarally movie night together once we get back to Chrysanthemum?" Trista smirked. "We have some lobbies in there that are vacant a bit late at night, but sometimes you'll see some of Daris' men hanging in there, just drinking and having a good time. Doesn't hurt to let them with us, though."

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea," Hugo smiled.

"Then it's settled," Trista flashed her eyebrows. "Pizza is on me, and Shin."

"What? I never agreed to this!" Shin grimaced. "You didn't even ask!"

"C'mon, we haven't partied these people yet," Trista smirked. "We already treated them once, but compared to how often we did with our pups, theirs are still nothing in comparison. One more time."

"Fine," Shin groaned. "I'll pitch in. Alcohol is still on you, though. I want nothing to do with your drunkness. I got pizza, and soda."

"Perfect," Trista chuckled.

"Yay! Party, party! Pit-zah!" Phym cheerfully jumped before latching on Claire. "Mommy, will you eat pizza with me?"

Then Jerad suddenly turned.

"Um," Claire frowned. "I guess…maybe."

"Daddy, let's eat pit-zah together," Phym turned to him next.

"Yeah…sure," Jerad turned back to his work. "Once we get back…"

"Are you two alright?" Trista put her hands on her waist. "You both suddenly looked glum..! What's wrong with partying?"

"Don't get me wrong. I was just busy," Jerad glanced at her. "I'm honestly down for it."

"Uh, okay," Trista nodded.

And a few more minutes later.

"Alright, finally done," Jerad placed his materials down. "My nuke bullets."

And he snickered.

"Nuke bullets..?" Claire paused.

"Wide area highly explosive rounds," Jerad smirked.

"For what..?" Claire almost gasped.

"Well.., since we'll mostly be on the sides of our ship, and we'll likely be gunning Aragami down if they show up, I figured we should have some more…firepower," Jerad grinned with flares in his eyes as Shin laughed. "Plus I heard those two big guns from those mil ashcrawlers are too slow to hit large ones…if they show up."

"Not a bad measure," Hugo commented. "Though, there isn't much us with shotguns can do. I suppose we'll standby until we have to jump down for CQ, if we have to."

"And with that being said, we probably should bring rolls of lanyards with us," Trista suggested. "One roll for each team in case any of us jumps down, and then needs to be picked back up. I don't think the owner would want to stop her ship, plus we might have another ship or two behind us, and I don't know if they'll agree or not."

"I mostly agree," Levin nodded. "Stopping a ship in these lands can make it more vulnerable..especially after an Aragami attack has occurred."

"Then let's get these ready," Trista walked to a closed shelf before opening it, and pulled a few bags out. Opening both, they revealed rolled ropes inside. "Good, we still have 'em, and I don't think they've been used yet. Nylon ropes."

"Even better, nylons are very durable," Levin added. "Our family has them in our ships, too."

"Then let's keep these bags out here until we start stationing ourselves," Trista replied.

"Hm," Jerad stared at Claire's God Arc, which is on a table in gun form. "Claire, have you been thinking, or messing with custom bullets?"

"Hm? No, not really," Claire murmured.

"OK, I have an idea, but I'm not sure if it works," Jerad replied. "Have you thought of firing semiautomatic?"

"Huh? That's crazy, brother," Misha protested. "Why would you have a rapid firing gun to fire single shots. That…kinda defeats their purpose, right?"

"True, but it won't be just a single shot. The trade off is that better accuracy and power," Jerad explained. "You know rifles like that existed in the past, right? They're called special purpose rifles, and they're normally rapid firing, but specially built to fire single shots, but higher caliber."

"Caliber..?" Zeke furrowed his eyes.

"Just think of it as the size of rounds, and I will say their sizes in inches," Jerad replied. "The general rule of rifles is that rapid firing ones have smaller caliber, and the semiautomatic ones fire bigger rounds. The biggest reasons are the recoil, and the stress your gun can take from firing. I can almost say obviously that if you try rapid firing a gun that takes a caliber bigger than it's designed for, you'll blow it up. If you look at it, our God Arc guns are pretty much like..rifles. You're both getting this?"

"Yes..I believe I'm seeing your point," Claire murmured.

"Also, higher caliber rounds mean longer effective range," Jerad added. "Meaning you can accurately hit Aragami farther than your gun normally could when spraying. Where is your custom bullet kit?"

"I stowed them inside here," Claire walked to a closed shelf, opened it, and pulled out a box. She placed it on the table, and opened it.

Jerad leaned forward to examine. "Huh. You haven't used any of the offensive materials yet."

"Yeah, because we've been spending time making healing bullets," Misha answered.

"You probably should start thinking about using them," Jerad suggested. "You both spent money on this. Try not wasting it."

"Okay," Misha shrugged.

"Effective range..," Hugo rubbed his chin. "I'm still trying to understand the exact meaning of that. I mean, there is a range for how far your bullet can reach, but effective..?"

"You're thinking about maximum range, brother," Jerad continued examining available materials in Claire's kit. "The fine line between effective range, and maximum range is effective range is how far can your bullet accurately hit, and maximum range is just that, how far can your bullet travel before it loses all its kinetic energy, and hits the ground. You see, as bullet kinetic energy degrades overtime after firing, so it's intended trajectory from where it was fired from. It loses it from a lot of things, mainly gravity, and wind drag, and especially important for snipers to think about before planting a bullet on someone's head, wind itself, the direction."

"Plant bullet in head..?" Phym picked up a bullet from Claire's kit, and placed it on her head. "Like this..daddy?"

And Jerad turned to her before curving his lips, much to the giggles of Claire, and Misha.

"Quite literally..," Jerad kept curving his lips. "Gimme that before you choke yourself with it. It's not a toy."

"Okay," Phym handed the bullet to him.

"Good girl," Jerad patted her head with a small smile.

"Where did you learn all this from..?" Levin leaned on their table. "You seemed to have extensive knowledge about guns, and I must say I'm quite amazed."

"More so, you mentioned kinetic energy, and how other scientific things affect it," Claire added.

Then Jerad stared at them for a few seconds before turning back to his work. "My mom told me about these things a long time ago."

'I knew it..,' Misha's eyes furrowed. 'She spent a lot of time lecturing you about shooting.'

"Maybe I should have known about these a long time ago," Hugo chuckled.

"Not your fault. You, and Zeke use shotguns. You hardly needed to worry about accuracy, and range as long as you aim up close," Jerad chuckled.

"And you're making us sound like meatheads," Zeke commented.

"Not at all. They're shotguns, it's what they're built for. Blowing bastards up close," Jerad shook his head with a chuckle. "I bet you even get off from its firepower, and recoil, and seeing Aragami get shredded by its little pellets right in front of you."

And Zeke suddenly made a loud chuckle. "You got that right. I love it!"

In response, Jerad grinned back before pausing for a few seconds. "She was a gun enthusiast, and even owned a few vintage ones, one semiautomatic called an AR and some kind of number I can't remember anymore, a black one, and the other a bolt action rifle. After this Calamity, I don't know what happened to them, but if I could, I want to at least take them back…"

"I see," Levin murmured, not being able to think of any other comment. "Do you…by any means know where you used to live?"

Then Jerad turned to him with a serious yet non-confrontational gesture. "Satellite Base 18."

'Satellite Base 18..?' Claire quietly raised her eyes before frowning. 'What is this..? This somehow..feels familiar.'

"It's where my sister, and I grew up before this whole shit happened," Jerad murmured.

"I'm getting curious, but I'll try looking into that," Levin leaned up. "Maybe one day you might have a chance to."

And Jerad made a short laugh. "As if I'll ever get one. I don't even know where it is, and I'm not gonna have the owner waste her time and fuel just to take me there for a field trip, but thanks."

"You'll never know until you try," Levin shook his head. "I'll check it out myself once I have time to spare."

"Then be my guest," Jerad shrugged before turning back to Claire's kit.

"If you ask me, I could always use a little adventure," Hugo crossed his arms. "Maybe it won't be as bad to ask Hilda, probably if we happen to even travel close enough to it in one of our errands, someday

Then Misha turned to him.

"We'll see," Jerad murmured before turning back to Claire's kit again. "Let's see.., I bet this 5 inch looking one is for your rapid fire, right?"

"Maybe," Claire murmured.

"Alright. Sucks that we can't compare solid rounds to energy types, but looking at this, it looks comparable to what Misha has been shooting, which looks like..this 6 inch one," Jerad glanced at the casing in his hand before grabbing a bullet, and dry fitting it.

"Yep, pretty much."

"So…what are you planning?" Claire murmured.

"Maybe insert the largest bullet possible in front of this casing, and also insert the most powerful combustible pellets in it," Jerad replied. "Gotta be a bit careful about putting too much power so we don't blow the casing up, and that could also damage your gun inside."

"I…see," Claire raised her eyes. "If I may ask, how large are yours?"

And Zeke suddenly snorted with a smile before Jerad glared at him.

"Mine is 8 inch as explosive rounds," Jerad replied. "Regular sniper gun rounds are likely…"

"7 inch, I know that for sure," Shin quickly added.

"That's huge..!" Misha almost gasped.

"Heh, Aragami either get big holes in their bodies, or lose a part when hit by them," Jerad smirked. "And a headshot guarantees making them look like dullahans."

And he laughed with Shin.

"Doo-lah-hun?" Zeke leaned forward, furrowing his eyes.

"It's a…headless horseman in a western folklore legend," Levin chuckled.

"Headless..?" Phym murmured. "Looks scary…"

"Yes, like boogeyman," Jerad snickered before Phym shuddered.

Then he turned back. "So if Misha's rounds are around 6, then maybe a 7 inch might fit. Hmm…"

He stared back at Claire's kit. "Claire's largest casing is 7 inch, and my smallest one is…"

He turned to his new kit. "6.5 inch..?"

"6.5 is for special types that you can't even call it a sniper shot," Shin chuckled. "Like shooting some laser that goes up and then forward. It's pretty stupid, and it's even a default of one of our modes."

"Huh?" Jerad furrowed his eyes.

"You never knew?" Shin smiled.

"Never bothered," Jerad shook his head. "I was in regular sniper shots, and switched to explosives after that prison."

"Then yeah, that's what 6.5 inch casings are for," Shin sighed. "Useless for snipers..unless you wanna goof around while on mission."

"Hm..," Jerad glanced at Claire's gun, and then the casing in hand. "Let's try if it fits."

"Whoa, are you serious?!" Shin paused in shock.

"If it can be chambered and ejected without problems, then maybe we can find use for it. It's as good as garbage for us three, otherwise. A waste," Jerad glanced at Lulu.

"I can't see any use for that, either," Lulu shook her head.

"Poor bullet..," Phym frowned.

Then Jerad glanced at the little girl, surprised by her capacity to…pity an object. "Hang on. I still haven't tried anything."

And he moved towards Claire's gun on the table.

"Wait, you're..," Claire paused.

"Uh, we AGEs can hold any God Arc we want, right?" Jerad smirked. "Too bad."

"Not..fair," Claire crossed her arms as Levin laughed.

Moving on, Jerad held his hand over for a few moments, preparing to 'adapt' himself to a foreign God Arc, and then he gripped the top handle. He blinked his eyes at this. "Huh, that's weird. Haha! I was expecting a tingly thing, but…"

"Ooh, maybe Claire's God Arc likes you, too?" Misha smirked, and her brother only curved his lips as everyone chuckled.

"Anyway…on to business," Jerad pulled Claire's God Arc closer to him. With his left hand forward on her gun as its arm guard, and right hand on the charging handle, he pulled it straight back. "Jeez, pulling this thing back is so easy. Mine is a lot harder."

"And is that supposed to be a bad thing?" Claire furrowed her eyes.

"Nah, just not as fun to cock it," Jerad peeked inside its ejection port. "At least you keep it clean, and likely because mine has a higher caliber."

"Hmph..," Claire crossed her arms, and ignoring her, Jerad held an empty 6.5 inch casing on his left hand. "Let's see how this fits."

Then he placed the casing inside the chamber, and pressed the bolt catch, releasing the bolt carrier inside her gun, and letting the spring inside press it forward, chambering it.

"Just almost went right in," Jerad snickered with a grin. "Ooh, I'll never get tired of that sound. Mmph..!"

Then Hugo, Shin, and Zeke chuckled at his comment.

"Next, can I borrow one of your, uh, healing rounds?" Jerad raised his hand. "Just want a comparison."

"Um, OK," Claire grabbed a live healing round, and gave it to him.

"Thanks," Jerad turned back to Claire's God Arc. "Now let's see how well it ejects."

He quickly pulled the charging handle back, and the casing flew from the ejection port, tinging on the deck. "Ohh, that ejected like normal, I think. Lookin' good..!"

"Here, daddy..!" Phym gave the casing back.

"Oh, thanks," Jerad chuckled, and took the casing from her tiny hands before patting her head. Phym giggled at this. "Alright, now I'll try this real round."

He inserted it inside the chamber, and pressed the bolt catch again. As he expected, the bolt carrier slid itself forward without any mishap, and pulled the charging handle back again and locked it to the rear, causing the casing to eject again. Phym picked it up, and gave it back to her 'daddy.'

"Still looking good so far. Just requires a bit more effort to cock the handle back," Jerad murmured.

"Though, our God Arcs..are semi-automatic as you called it," Hugo suddenly asked. "Why would you worry about how much more effort?"

"Because I'm trying to see how much stress her gun might have," Jerad explained. "The more stress, the more likely it will have mishaps like double feed, failure to feed, and stovepipe."

"I can understand where Jerad is going," Keith added. "Mechanically speaking, everything has to move in near perfect harmony, particularly the timing of all moving objects, and any small deviation of that could cause a whole mechanism to fail."

"Genius kid totally gets it," Jerad smiled at the younger AGE. "A lot of engineering has been done to these guns. Always been since their beginning of time, and they weren't that reliable at first, but compared to these God Arcs, they've come quite a long way."

"But wait. With these in mind, you are doing something that it isn't designed for, shouldn't you be doing it or else you might break it?" Hugo crossed his arms.

"Yes, and no," Jerad turned to him. "That's why I'm worried about putting too much power in these casings because I don't think Claire's mechanism is designed to handle higher caliber like mine, and why I tested if it could chamber and eject this 6.5. It's all about limits, and if I wasn't satisfied earlier, I would have called it quits. This 6.5 like Shin said, is too underpowered for an average sniper's taste, and I bet not many snipers out there use these poor things so I might as well find use for it."

"I..see," Hugo nodded.

"Can you…tell me about these two things you just said?" Zeke scratched his head before Lulu turned to him. "Double feed, failure to feed, and..stove..pipe?"

"I'll start with failure to feed, which is a bit self-explanatory. It's when a magazine fails to insert a new round into the chamber after firing," Jerad explained. "And then your bolt carrier thinks you're out of ammo, so it both mechanically and automatically stays locked to the rear. Can't fire like that."

"Oh," Zeke blinked his eyes.

"So, what do you have to do to fix that if you know you still have ammo in your internal magazine?" Jerad smiled.

"Cock that bolt thing forward..?" Zeke murmured.

"Right..more like just release it," Jerad pulled Claire's charging handle back, pressed the bolt catch while holding the charging handle back before showing him that it's locked to the rear.

"You just tap this little lever," he pounded the bolt catch with his palm, and Claire's bolt carrier released forward. "That's all you gotta do, and fire away..hopefully. Ooh, I love that sound…"

He snickered. "Next is kinda related, which is double feed, and is a lot more dangerous, if you're not careful. Can you guess what it is? It's also kinda as self-explanatory as failure to feed."

"Uhh, when..," Zeke rubbed his cheeks. "When two ammo goes into that..chamber thing?"

"Nailed it," Jerad chuckled. "Yeah, in other words, your two rounds get stuck, somehow because another round is trying to enter the chamber when another one is already in it, and you can't fire, but it gets worse from there. Don't try forcing your gun to fire when it does or else to say the least your God Arc chamber might blow up before it has to be fixed in some God Arc shop. Your bro definitely ain't gonna be happy with that. You could get hurt too…and possibly others."

Then Keith laughed. "Don't worry about me. It's part of my job."

"So, Zeke. What should you do first if that happens?" Jerad smiled.

"Uhh, stop firing..?" Zeke guessed.

And Jerad laughed. "Nah, that should be after you tried your first remedial action, and you got no time to do more. One more try, and I'll give you a hint: it's a quick one."

"Hmm, I believe I know..," Claire almost giggled.

"Can you tell me, Claire?" Zeke turned to her.

"Hey, you're the one I'm asking," Jerad chuckled. "Claire, don't tell him. Try to think about earlier, Zeke. I ain't gonna make fun of you for not knowing. What is it..?"

"Dammit..," Zeke held his head.

"You're overthinking, man," Jerad made a short laugh. "Give up?"

"Yeah," Zeke groaned while everyone chuckled.

Then Jerad stood Claire's gun with its barrel facing up, and pulled the charging handle back and forth a few times while having the ejection port facing down. "A little awkward, but that's the answer, and do that until that round falls off, and if not, forget it and go full melee. Eject it, and hope to God your shottie could fire again. And if it still can't fire, then it's done until you and/or your bro fix it back here. You pretty much have to Mad Hammer the rest of the Aragami to death with your jammed gun. Back then when a lot of guns used magazines, you take the mag off first before you do the procedure I just told you, and then after you make sure your chamber is clear, put that mag back in fully seated in the mag well, and release the bolt forward. Bam! You're ready to tear bastards down with your slug shots again. You gotta learn to do that fast by making that second nature, or else an Aragami will maul you alive before you can even fix it. I know you don't use custom rounds but..I think you should know it, anyway. Goes for all of us."

Then he glanced at everyone before sighing. "Shi-I mean stuff happens with guns all the time back then, but with these God Arcs, I think they're over engineered as hell that you don't have to worry about it most of the time, especially if you're using normal shots which are energy or..Oracle based, but it's good to know remedial actions anyway unless you want to die just because your gun stopped working."

"So..how do you expect us to practice with this, then?" Zeke leaned forward.

"Good question. Make about two dummy rounds," Jerad replied. "Get a casing, but do NOT put a primer and these combustible pellets in it, and then put whatever the tip it needs to make a real looking one. All you gotta do."

"Alright," Zeke chuckled. "Looks fun, anyway."

"Yeah, you shottie people have big rounds like mine," Jerad also chuckled. "In the old shotguns, they're not even called rounds, they're cartridges. Shot guns don't even use magazines, they use magazine TUBES which are internal, but a pain in the ass to reload, though. Have fun loading your cartridges one by one."

"Seen those boomsticks in old movies," Trista suddenly added. "They go 'boom, click-click, boom, click-click, boom, and send some people flying, too."

She said this while making motions of pump action shotguns.

Jerad laughed at this. "Pretty brutal, huh?"

"I think I'm gonna want one of those!" Trista grinned.

"If you can still find one," Jerad flashed his eyebrows. "They're reliable as hell, too."

And he turned back to Zeke. "Last is a stovepipe, and it's kinda weird. It's when your empty casing gets caught by the bolt carrier sliding forward to chamber another round right after firing. Mechanically speaking, do you know your God Arc does this each time you're firing custom rounds since it's using solid?"

Then he abruptly cycled Claire's charging handle back and forth a few times before holding it open to the rear.

"J-Jerad, please don't abuse my gun..!" Claire pleadingly waved her hands.

And Jerad only laughed at this. "Don't worry about it, because in comparison to when you're actually firing this, this isn't abuse at all, trust me. If your gun can't take this, then something is already wrong."

Then he turned back to Zeke while still holding her charging handle back. "Anyway, this is when it ejects an empty casing before the bolt carrier moves forward to chamber in a new round after firing, ready for you to blow another hole on an Aragami's chest. Same for automatics like Claire's here, but imagine these things happening fast. It's because of that, stuff like this can happen. If your gun suddenly stops firing, and you see that stupid casing stuck in your ejection port, stopping your bolt carrier from doing its job, what do you think you should do?"

"Uh, just…pull it out?" Zeke murmured.

"That's what she said..," Shin smirked as Jerad just simply glanced at him, also returning a quick smirk.

"Not exactly," Jerad smiled. "But you are getting there. Just swipe the damn thing off, and let that bolt carrier finish its job, and fire away. Though, if you have time, and want to be safe, cycle the bolt again, and blast them. ONE thing you have to be careful about is to NOT ever let even a tip of your skin inside the ejection port, or your gun will just eat it, and you'll have a bad day until Claire or Misha patches your skinned bleeding hand back in the Medical Ward. GOD forbid if it's your finger that gets caught."

"Oh, man..," Zeke paused.

"It happens," Jerad chuckled. "Like I said again, God Arcs are reliable..at least mine is, but you still can't assume that nothing could go wrong which is why you all gonna want to know how to deal with any malfunction that can happen at ANY time."

"Murphy's First Law," Keith suddenly murmured.

"Hm?" Jerad turned to him.

""Anything that can go wrong will go wrong," as he said it," Keith explained. "He's also a historical engineer."

"Oh.., well there it is," Jerad laid Claire's gun on the table. "Nothing is perfect, yeah. Nothing also lasts forever. Your God Arc will become less reliable as it wears out, and you have to replace the worn out parts as part of your maintenance."

"Your knowledge about firearms was very astounding," Levin commented.

"I'm surprised, too," Hugo chuckled.

"I really didn't expect you to have extensive knowledge about firearms," Lulu murmured. "You must have a good mother."

"Gran-mommy..?" Phym murmured.

"...Yeah," Jerad murmured back. "She's the one who taught me these things. Can't believe I still remembered them…"

"So, Misha. You also know about these, right?" Lulu turned to her next.

"Umm, some," Misha leaned back. "Just not the mechanical stuff. At least I listened."

"Good enough," Jerad shrugged.

"You know? It would be an interesting conversation between you, and aunt to discuss this topic later," Levin smiled.

"I wouldn't dare," Jerad chuckled.

"Why? What's wrong with that?" Levin furrowed his eyes.

"She definitely showed a ton of knowledge while she was here," Jerad replied. "I'm just going to get dwarfed in comparison. I'd rather not knowledge drop around her to probably provoke her."

"It's fine. I don't believe she will judge you based on what you already know," Levin shook his head. "Perhaps it would be a good experience, and she would be more than happy to teach you more."

"I was strictly trained to handle my God Arc, and even I was amazed," Lulu added. "You even knew the mechanical basics of firearms, and consequently why those malfunctions can happen. That is not unimpressive at all."

"Heh, so you think we're poorly trained in comparison," Hugo commented. "But you're right. Pennywort isn't interested in educating their AGEs, only to swing and shoot."

"And yet they're the ones telling us that the conditions of our God Arcs is OUR own responsibility, right?" Zeke sarcastically shrugged. "They send us out there to kill Aragami, and yet they'll give us a ton of crap banging our God Arcs up after. Can we ever win?"

And he laughed.

"That makes no sense at all," Levin commented.

"They're just finding excuses to keep being assholes to us simply because they CAN. Welcome to society," Jerad chuckled.

"Hm..?" Claire turned to him. "What are you..?"

"Anything is fair game as long as everyone agrees. Who cares about morals, and logic after?" Jerad chuckled again.

"But it's still wrong," Hugo argued.

"And..?" Jerad turned to him. "I think you're missing my point a bit. People will always do their worst as long as they can get away with it, that's my real point. What do you think is the proof of that right now..?"

Then Hugo remained silent.

"Seriously..? I don't know if you're really clueless, or you're just purposely turning a blind eye from it. You're always like that thinking too highly of others," Jerad grimaced. "I'm sure that being in prison for years, you should know by now how unjustly cruel people can be, and this is why civilizations created ORDER. It's meant to keep people in check, and if you get out of line and commit a crime, your ass is crass. This isn't rocket science."

"I am inclined to agree..," Levin murmured. "If human nature is good, then laws to protect good people would never be necessary, and additionally, parents would not be required to discipline their children."

And Jerad chuckled. "Right. It's a simple explanation of why people keep doing all this nonsense crap. Only because they can simply get away with it, and they don't care..as long as no one will spank them for it, so right now, there is order, but it's so upside down. It's like people were suddenly born with their brains flipped."

And he laughed cynically.

"So daddy…are people..bad..?" Phym frowned.

And Jerad stopped laughing to stare at her for a few seconds as everyone waited, seemingly worried about his response. "Most people are…"

He turned away. "A lot of people in this world are cruel, Phym.., and uncaring at that. Be careful who you talk to outside of us…OK? Don't ever talk to strangers…like your mommy already told you. Got it..?"

"Okay..," Phym nodded.

And Jerad sighed. "OK, Phym..You have been listening to what I've been talking about handling your God Arc, Gun Mode, right..?"

"Y-yeah..!" Phym confidently replied.

"OK, then. What's your remedial action for failure to feed?" Jerad asked with a firm monotone. "Answer quickly."

"Um," Phym mused for a few seconds before explaining her actions.

"Very good," Jerad raised his eyebrows. "Double feed, what do you do?"

"Ah," Then Phym explained her remedial action to him in less than one minute.

"Heh, good enough. And stovepipe..?" Jerad's tone softened, and Phym answered his last question flawlessly. "Oh, jeez. You just memorized, and regurgitated EVERYTHING I said."

And he facepalmed as everyone chuckled. "Ugh! I hate memorizing, but you understand everything we discussed, right? Like..fully?"

"Yeah," Phym proudly giggled.

"Why would you even ask her that?" Claire curved her lips. "She already had it memorized."

"Memorizing is stupid," Jerad replied. "Teachers used to have us do it all the time."

"Oh.., I hated those," Misha scoffed.

"You can memorize anything without understanding it, and yet you can still pretend that you do," Jerad added with his sister. "It is better to read, or watch to understand instead of this time consuming brain draining crap. I think those teachers were just being lazy. 'Oh, memorize these sentences word for word, and I'll test you tomorrow.' God!"

Then Hugo chuckled. "I get you, but memorization still has its uses like your security pin number for your room, Fenrir Credit card pin number, and stuff like that."

"That, I don't care at all," Jerad turned to him. "They're short, yet way more practical."

"I definitely wouldn't want to be doing those," Zeke slouched. "Hell, no. I'd rather jump off a cliff."

And everyone chuckled.

"Anyway, let's…get back to business," Jerad turned back to Claire's God Arc. "Gonna make some ammo for this, and give her a test run. I'll have to say..I'm getting a little excited."

Then he grinned.

"Jerad, please don't destroy my God Arc," Claire pleaded again. "I am NOT liking that look you're having."

"Of course not," Jerad snickered. "Besides…in a sense I also own your God Arc now, so of course I care."

"Oooh..!" Claire pouted as Misha, Trista, and Levin laughed.

"Well, here it is," Jerad turned back to the table. "6 inch with as little sniper gun power as possible from my kit, or 6.5 with half and half with sniper and assault gun power as possible from Claire's. Gotta make several of both for tests."

"Okay..," Claire slowly nodded.

Then Jerad began his work, pausing and musing for a few seconds in some steps before either continuing on, or discarding the idea out of his concern for the safety of Claire's God Arc, and of course, himself and those involved, especially her. "Here they are."

He finished the last custom round, and placed it on the table, which he sorted into two groups. "6, and 6.5. Hybrid bullets from my kit, and Claire's."

"Hybrids, huh..?" Levin smiled as Frida behind him let out a small giggle.

"What..?" Jerad turned to him.

"It's nothing. Perhaps producing the best of both worlds will yield the best results. I'm actually beginning to look forward to it," Levin mischievously smiled.

Jerad paused for a few seconds for this. "Okay…Thinking about this now…Claire, if this flies, don't tell your aunt about this."

Then he chuckled.

"Hm? " Claire blinked her eyes.

"Because of the way your aunt said about, uh, modifying God Arcs?" Jerad smiled.

And Levin laughed at this. "I see. She is quite a purist when it comes to them, but at least you still put safety of both personnel and equipment into consideration. I will turn a blind eye to this as long as you keep following this."

And he suddenly turned to his bodyguard beside him. "How about you, Frida?"

"Um, it's not really my place to make my own decision on this, nor do I plan to inform Her Grace, but..," Frida paused. "I will just simply go along with you. I'll pretend to not have known this."

Then Jerad chuckled. "Alright, thanks. If she gets wind of this, anyhow, then don't try lying to her. It's on me."

"Understood," Frida nodded.

Then Jerad turned to everyone. "How about you guys? Finished?"

"Just did," Hugo smiled.

"Done with mine," Trista added.

"Been done, and watching the whole time," Misha also replied.

"I'm about to hit the range with Claire for a bit. You guys can come, or hang in the lobby. Whatever you want," Jerad shrugged.

"I'll go. I want to see more of your creations," Hugo chuckled. "Plus Zeke, and I have been interested in making our own custom bullets."

"Ah," Jerad blinked his eyes with intrigue. "Be my guest."

"I don't think I need to say what my intent is," Levin smiled.

And in the range, the crew settled in the area, and as diligent as she is, Claire began her safety checks with her God Arc still in gun form. "Clear, and safe."

And Jerad suddenly turned to her.

"What is it..?" Claire turned back to him, and blinked her eyes.

"Oh, just surprised with how you said it," Jerad chuckled.

"It's a formal way of saying it in our family," Claire smiled. "It's nothing unique."

"Oh yeah. My mom told us to report it the same way every time we hold any of their guns, and it's the first thing she always wants us to do," Jerad explained. "Or she'll kick our asses if we don't."

And Trista laughed. "Wow..your mom is pretty damn iron fisty..!"

"A strict one at that, but understandable," Lulu commented.

"She's just being serious," Jerad turned to the redhead. "She can be uptight like Hugo here almost all the time, but I ain't complaining."

"Hey! Don't don't put me on that spot," Hugo curved his lips as Misha giggled.

"I see.., but their?" Claire paused.

"Oh..uh," Jerad made a slight frown. "My…dad also owned one, a handgun called a SIG or something. He always carried one with him."

"I see," Claire murmured.

"And with me ranting about memorization earlier," Jerad continued. "She also had me, and Misha memorize the range safety rules."

And he turned to his sister. "And you still remember them, right?"

"Yeah, she drilled them in our heads," Misha pouted.

"Alright, then," Jerad chuckled. "Let's see…

Rule #1: Treat every weapon as if it were loaded.

Rule #2: Never point at anything you do not intend to shoot.

Rule #3: Keep finger along the receiver until ready to fire.

Rule #4: Keep weapon on safe until ready to fire."

"Whoa!" Trista made a wide grin. "Hearing you two saying it together? Like twins in TV!"

And everyone laughed.

Then Jerad turned to her. "Uh huh? Our mom made us recite these together every time we practice shooting.., and had to be freakin' verbatim, too. If one of us is even a bit off, our ass is crass. Misha screws up, her ass and then my ass are kicked, and if I screw up, my ass, and then her's are also kicked. Apparently, we're supposed to check each other to make sure we both know..!"

And Hugo chuckled. "I get that. Sibling teamwork, huh?"

"Aand you're using like..old guns for this, right?" Zeke smiled.

"Of course, you idiot," Jerad awkwardly curved his lips. "You think our parents would want their kids to get killed by their God Arcs?"

"Just messin' with ya," Zeke laughed. "Of course I already know that by now."

"Thinking about that..," Jerad murmured. "Maybe thanks for bringing that topic up. Rule 3 is kinda weird for God Arcs."

"Huh..?" Zeke paused.

"Trigger ain't along the receiver. It's in our shafts," Jerad showed his trigger from his God Arc, also in sniper gun form, and had his index finger straight to avoid touching it while still holding the shaft with the rest of his fingers. "Still kinda applies, though. It's called trigger discipline."

"Yeah," Zeke nodded.

"Well, let's hit it," Jerad placed his sniper gun down with its barrel pointing down range. "Let me see your gun, Claire."

"Here," Claire carefully passed her assault gun to him with her barrel also facing down range.

"Here's range safety rule number 1," Jerad pulled her charging handle back to make sure her chamber was empty. "Clear, and safe. Time to lock an' load."

And he placed her assault gun on the deck with her charging handle still locked to the rear, and inserted ten 6 inch rounds in it. "Ten rounds to try for now, but I'll try your normal shots, first."

"Wait..! Let me inform Amy before we start firing," Hugo stopped him. "We don't want to alert her with our gun fires."

Oh…yeah," Jerad paused. "Go for it, brother."

Then Hugo pressed his earpiece. "Amy, this is Hugo. Can you hear me?"

"Loud, and clear," Amy enthusiastically replied. "Need anything?"

"I just wanted to inform you that we'll be shooting at the range for an experiment, so you won't be false alerted," Hugo explained. "Don't want to stress you out more than you probably already have."

"I stand informed. Thank you," Amy replied. "I'm almost finished with your broadside watch stations, so feel free to check after about..15 minutes."

"Gotcha. Thanks," Hugo smiled. "Hugo, out."

And he turned back. "Amy now knows. Go for it."

"Right. Thanks," Jerad smiled before turning back to Claire's gun. "Loaded, and made ready. Here goes."

He aimed Claire's gun at the stationary target, and fired a few rounds each time in a few bursts. "Alright..but jeez. I could hardly feel any recoil."

"Is that supposed to offend me?" Claire curved her lips.

And Jerad chuckled at this. "Maybe."

"Brother, know that I use the same gun as her," Misha added. "And I can confirm that."

"I don't get what you're trying to say, but you wanna try my sniper gun to see what real recoil is?" Jerad grinned.

"No, thanks," Misha winced before Shin chuckled.

"OK, now at 6 inches..," Jerad aimed her gun again down range before turning to Claire, and his smile slightly faded, a sign for her that he was at least a bit worried. He turned back at the range, spent a few seconds aiming, and fired, hitting the target. After firing that first round, he watched the ejected casing ting on the deck, and saw Phym walk towards it. "Phym, do NOT touch it!"

"Hm..?" Phym paused.

"That thing is hot! Wait a few minutes before you pick it up..!" Jerad advised.

"Okay..!" Phym smiled.

Then Jerad raised Claire's gun to inspect her ejection port. "Bolt all the way forward. Good."

And he aimed, and fired three more rounds which all of them hit. "Accuracy lookin' nice so far, but lacks a bit power. Shin, can you move that target around while I'm shooting it? I wanna test how accurate this really is."

"Gotcha, bud," Shin moved to the console and begun shifting the stick. The target disc began moving around randomly, and his friend shot three rounds. All of them hit.

"OK, move it a little farther, and then move it around again," Jerad instructed.

"Alright," Shin tilted the stick forward, and the object moved farther. He began randomly moving it around again, and as soon as he did this, Jerad began firing. This time, only one round missed, and with the way Claire's gun both sounded and behaved, he glanced at her ejection port, and found it locked to the rear, indicating empty.

"Alright..just as what I'm afraid of, accurate but not so good effective range," Jerad commented. "Really wished it had more power, but Claire, you should try this yourself. I'm gonna reload it, first."

"Understood," Claire sat down in front of him as she watched him open her magazine port, and inserted another 10 six inch rounds in it before releasing the bolt forward, chambering its next round.

"Loaded, and made ready," Jerad reported before handing her assault gun to her. Claire took her gun, and positioned herself in the range.

"Ready..," Claire murmured.

"Remember, you're kinda sniping so relax your arms and shoulders a bit, take a slow but relaxing breath, and..," Jerad held her hands to shift her aim as Claire blushed. Seeing this, Misha and Trista glanced at each other with a smirk. "Aim a bit more straightforward. You're pointing a bit too high…"

"Alright, here goes..," Claire relaxed herself with a sigh, and fired. Her shot hit.

"Two more rounds," Jerad said, and Claire fired two more, hitting the target twice.

"Heh, good," Jerad proudly grinned. "Now, Shin. Move the target closer to where it was, and start moving it around."

"Gotcha," Shin shifted it closer before moving it.

"Three rounds, Claire. Three rounds," Jerad raised his three fingers.

"Understood," Claire responded.

"Stand by..!" Jerad boomed as Claire readied herself while keeping her aim at the moving disc. "Commence fire!"

Then as he instructed, Claire fired three rounds at the moving target, and only one of them hit.

"Ceasefire! Ceasefire!" Jerad boomed again. "Next time, don't try aiming while on standby. Aim once I give the order to commence fire."

"Huh?" Claire blinked her eyes after turning to him.

"It's to up your aiming challenge a bit."

"Fine," Claire turned back at the range.

"And Shin, move the target farther, and move it around again once I order stand by," Jerad gave him a thumbs up.

"Gotcha," Shin smiled as he moved that disc farther again.

---

"Is it just me.., or did something change here..?" Trista whispered to Hugo. "Why did this suddenly become…formal?"

"I don't know..," Hugo shrugged. "I'm liking it, but I'll ask why."

"Mom drilled us the same way," Misha suddenly murmured.

---

"Alright, all set. Claire, three rounds! I repeat. Three rounds! Staand by!" Jerad paused as he watched Claire ready herself while still keeping her eyes on the moving target. "Commence fire!"

Then as soon as she heard his command, she quickly aimed her gun, and fired a few times at the moving target, but only one round managed to hit

"Hm..," Jerad furrowed his eyes. "Ceasefire! Ceasefire! Verify weapon is clear, and safe!"

Then as if her body, and mind somehow knew exactly what to do, she quickly glanced at her ejection port, found the bolt locked to the rear, and relaxed her finger on her carrying handle's safety trigger. "Clear, and safe..!"

"Good. 6 inch is very accurate at up to 400 yards, and then that's it. Accuracy suffers after," Jerad commented. "I think it also lacks power, and could make your more well placed shots less worth it, but let's see how the 6.5s will go."

"Alright," Claire nodded. "Should we begin?"

"Definitely. Can't wait to see if this is going to be any better after this," Jerad replied. "Here, I'll load your gun with them, and try it. Same process."

Then Claire walked towards him while keeping her gun pointed downrange to make sure she would not violate Range Safety Rule #2, and then placed her gun down. Jerad picked up ten 6.5 inch rounds from a bag, and loaded them in Claire's gun before picking it up, and positioning himself.

"OK, Shin. Move the target close again, and keep it still. Gonna be the same as last time," Jerad turned to him.

"Heard you earlier," Shin grabbed his stick, and moved the target closer. "Ready."

"Let's do this," Jerad aimed, and fired one round. His gunfire, and the sound of that round hitting the disc were louder than earlier, and in addition, made an explosion on impact similar to his normal sniper blast shots, but significantly smaller.

He snickered at this. "Ooh! I am LOVING this one!"

Then he quickly glanced to his side to observe the casing, and saw it tinging on the deck a few times, showing that it successfully ejected from Claire's gun.

He grinned, and turned back at his target before firing three more rounds, all made the same results. "Hahaha! I am really loving this! Shin, start moving the target! Gonna fire three rounds at it!"

"Gotcha," Shin began tilting his stick as the target started moving, and Jerad began firing. Due to his slight overcompensation, the first round narrowly hit the target, almost grazing its edge, and being both amazed, but quickly adapting to it, his last two rounds hit the center of the target.

"Woo..! The muzzle velocity is a LOT faster!" Jerad laughed. "Loving it! Shin, move it farther now, and start movin' it! Don't need to test it stationary cus' I already know how fast these are. Do it!"

"Alright," Shin shifted his stick until the target was far like last time, and began moving it in random directions.

Now treating Claire's gun like his sniper gun, Jerad took his usual carefully placed aims, and began firing. To his surprise, his sniping experience, and as well his recent adaptation to the nature of Claire's gun with these new rounds helped him, hitting the target with all three shots. Already grinning with high hopes, but also not letting his excitement overcome him at first, he glanced at his side, and found three still smoking casings laying on the deck, showing that all of them were successfully ejected after firing them. His grin widened with a snicker before releasing all restraint, letting out a laughter.

"Yes! Yesss!" Jerad exclaimed in deep, evil-like voice while victoriously clutching his right hand in success. "Really loving this! Claire, you should try it! Come on!"

And Claire blinked her eyes at this seeing how happy he was. A rare sight…

"Um, sure."

Then she smiled. "I really hope it works…"

"Just treat it like a sniper gun like I taught you a while ago," Jerad smiled. "Though, you won't have to worry about recoil as much as I do with mine…well, compared to your normal assault gun fires, you do have to worry a bit more about recoil."

And he scratched his head with a grunt. "It's a single shot, anyway. Don't worry too much about more recoil. Take a bit more time to aim, and fire."

Then Claire giggled at this. "Understood. Here, I'll try."

"I'll reload her, first," Jerad grabbed his 6.5 inch bag, and pulled ten rounds out of it. Then he began inserting rounds into the internal magazine port. After he finished. "Here you go. Bolt still locked to the rear. Ready?"

He smiled.

"Of course," Claire smiled back before taking her gun back.

"Make..ready," Jerad grinned as Claire slapped her bolt release lever, and her bolt quickly slid forward. She glanced at her ejection port to make sure her bolt was fully forward, and impressed by this, Jerad chuckled. "Shin, move the target closer, and keep it still."

"Alright," Shin moved the target closer. "Done."

"Alright..," Jerad cleared his throat. "Shooter..50 yards, three rounds to the target. I repeat. 50 yards, three rounds at..the..target! Shooter, stand by!"

Hearing his command, Claire readied her aim.

"Commence fire!" Jerad boomed before Claire began firing, and following his advice, she took her time with her aims before firing. However while watching her, something also caught Jerad's attention that made him curve his lips at an awkward sight. A part of her that jiggles caused by the stronger recoil of her gun…

After firing her three rounds, Claire glanced at her instructor whose eyes were in the direction slightly below her neck, and furrowed her eyes at this. "...Three rounds."

"Ah," Jerad jumped. "Yeah..! Cease fire! Cease fire..!"

And Claire kept her leery eyes at him. "You weren't paying attention, huh?"

"I was..don't get me wrong," Jerad replied.

Then Claire glanced down at her chest before turning her glaring eyes back at him, and waited for his new excuse.

Understanding her physical gesture, Jerad's smiled faded. "Sorry…"

He embarrassingly held his head. "All three hit…Good job…"

Then Claire snorted. "Let's move on to the next evolution, shall we..? I'll show you more of what I can do."

And Jerad laughed. "Oh, really..? Go for it, then."

Then he turned to Shin. "You know the drill. Do it!"

"This is getting pretty interesting," Shin chuckled before he began moving the target.

"Alright," Jerad grinned. "Shooter, 50 yards, three rounds. I repeat. 50 yards, thrreee rouunds! Shooter, stand by!"

And Claire eagerly readied her gun.

"Commence fire!" Jerad boomed, and Claire snapped her aim, and fired three rounds. All three shots hit the moving target within two seconds.

---

"Ooh!" Everyone watching froze.

"Did she just hit that moving thing so fast?!" Trista's jaw almost dropped.

"She certainly did," Levin chuckled.

"Damn! Claire is getting serious!" Zeke laughed.

"Now the real stuff will start soon," Hugo smiled with his arms crossed.

"Go, Claire!" Misha cheered her on.

"Hey, Claire. Just admit it. You liked Jerad staring at your juggies, don't ya?!" Trista hollered before everyone laughed with Levin covering his face to hide his chuckle.

"Go, mommy! Go!" Phym also cheered.

---

"Hey! Careful with your gun!" Jerad warned her. "I told you to fire slow with that! You wanna blow it up?!"

"I'm not worried about her anymore," Claire glanced at her God Arc. "I am sure she can handle it."

"Oh yeah? You blow your baby up, it's totally on you!" Jerad argued back.

Amidst their quarrel, Shin chuckled. "You're into those, huh? Buddy? Mmm…"

And he flashed his eyebrows with a smirk.

"Silence, Shin!" Claire gritted her teeth, but he only laughed.

"Alright, the real stuff starts now," Jerad smirked. "OK, Shin. Move the target farther, and keep it still."

"You said 'real stuff,' did you?" Claire grimaced. "Final session. Moving target."

"Ohhh! Getting a little too ahead, aren't ya?" Jerad laughed. "Maybe not a bad idea. Shin, go ahead, and start moving the target. Do your best to make her miss!"

Shin also laughed at this. "Right on. Let's do this."

"Here we go," Jerad turned back to Claire. "Shooter, 100 yards, four rounds at the target. One hundred yards, four rounds at..the..target. Shooter, stand by!" Jerad paused to make sure Claire is earnestly following his instructions. "Commence fire!"

And after aiming for two seconds, Claire fired her first two rounds, and both hit the target. Then she paused for a moment to refix her aim from the recoil, and fired her last two rounds. The target stopped moving after her last round hit, not because Shin believed it was finished, but rather shocked in awe.

"What in the..?" Shin remained frozen. "She actually did hit them..! I even moved it more erratically!

"Damn..! The woman actually got it," Jerad proudly chuckled.

"Ooh! Claire hit that like a CHAMP!" Trista commented.

"Mommy, good!" Phym clapped her hands. "Mommy, best!"

"I am NOT 'woman,'" Claire pouted. "I am Claire."

"Yeah, yeah," Jerad brushed her off with a wave of his hand. "Nice shot, anyway."

"Thanks..," Claire winced.

"So…which round is the winner for you?" Jerad asked.

"Hmm," Claire stared down. "I don't know…6 inch was definitely more comfortable, and accurate, but 6.5 inch feels more confidence inspiring in damaging Aragami…What do you think?"

"It's your gun. You decide," Jerad replied. "Personally..I prefer the 6.5 inch. Less accurate, but as you said, more stopping power, and it's not like you're going to shoot a fly with it. Aragami are big targets, and even an Axe Raider is about twice our size, so I'd say go for it, and we can work on your aim until you get used to it. Maybe I would have worried a bit more if there's a huu..man..sized…"

He tried his hardest to resist a glance at Phym. "Aragami."

"Then, I've decided," Claire smiled. "Thank you."

"So..even a useless round for snipers can have its use elsewhere right, friend?" Levin held Jerad's shoulder with a smile.

"Yeah," Jerad murmured.

"So…wait. How did you go from uh, being casual to being super formal?" Zeke scratched his head.

"Oh, that," Jerad shyly scratched his head. "My mom used to drill me, and my sister the same way to keep us safe by having us do the same steps together with her watchful eyes. Also..I figured it would work well for Claire."

Then he turned to her with a smile.

"What is that?" Claire furrowed her eyes.

"Your formality," Jerad grin widened.

"Huh?" Claire blinked her eyes.

And Jerad cleared his throat while keeping his smirk. "Gleipnir's 6th Engineering Battalion, Special Transport Unit…"

Then he held his chest. "Claiirre Victoorious."

And Hugo, and Misha exploded with laughter before Jerad himself followed.

"Whoa! Really..?" Trista chuckled.

"I was there..!" Misha kept laughing.

"Claire..," Levin repressed his laugh at his best while Frida hid behind him also trying not to been by Claire giggling. "Is this..how you have been always introducing yourself..?"

"You..!" Claire made the most intense pout she could remember at Jerad. "I-I'm just being completely professional, you know?!"

"Yeah, but isn't that only if you're introducing yourself to a superior?" Jerad chuckled. "So uptight back then…"

"Quiet..!" Claire hissed.

"Jeez, I'm starting to have more fun giving you a hard time, you know?" Jerad smirked.

"I don't appreciate it..!" Claire pouted again with her arms stretched down.

"Oh, you definitely will later on," Jerad spitefully flashed his eyebrows.

"Do what you want! I don't care..!" Claire snorted while crossing her arms.

"I will. Count on it," Jerad made a deep snicker.

Then Hugo cleared his throat. "So…it is quite interesting how you ran that shooting session that way. Maybe that's how we should do it in training."

"I don't see why not?" Jerad shrugged. "You can do it to a whole group of people, too.., and speaking of safety, I have a new policy to add to that from now on. Have FFI, the session has to be paused, and the violator will owe the instructor 100 push ups. Same shooter violates one more time, and he or she is kicked out of the training."

"Ooh, man. So strict," Zeke laughed. "Like Lulu in the kitchen…"

"What did you say..?" Lulu turned her glaring eyes at him as Trista laughed.

"Nothing," Zeke snickered.

"I did hear you, actually. Don't think about lying to me," Lulu glared at him. "Like Jerad just did to our range, I'm also doing this not only for us, but for the whole crew's safety, and with that being said, I agree with him."

"Yeah, I know," Zeke waved his hand. "Just messin' with ya. I've always washed my hands before kitchen job, OK?"

"Good," Lulu murmured in monotone.

"Zeke gets it," Jerad smirked. "Anyway, yeah. It ain't so bad until you're stupid enough to accidentally kill someone."

"I couldn't pick up all the brevity terms you're saying earlier, so..," Hugo scratched his head. "Can you write all those on paper? And what is FFI?"

"Oh, no problem," Jerad nodded with a smile. "And FFI? Short for Failure to Follow Instruction. Say, I ordered 'Load,' and you inserted rounds in your magazine, but also you got ahead by chambering a round. That's FFI because I only ordered you to load it, but not chamber it, which is 'Make Ready.' Also, if I call 'cease fire,' and you still fired another shot after I called it, that's also FFI. Follow instructions to a tee, not behind, not ahead of the instructor's orders."

"Oh, brother. You're starting to give me PTSD for this," Misha facepalmed. "I now remembered Mom grilling me for falling behind…"

Then Jerad laughed. "Uh, yeah. Me, too. She chewed me for getting ahead, remember? What I just talked about 'Load and Make Ready' was what I've been through."

And he laughed again

"I see. That's terribly strict," Hugo chuckled. "But I like it. Please write a draft, and we'll get familiar with it."

"You got it," Jerad smiled. "Hm, something I also want to write about, but it might be obsolete since it involves removable magazines a lot. Most God Arcs use internal magazines now, right..?"

"That's correct," Levin nodded.

"You know what? I'll write it anyway, just in case," Jerad scratched his head.

"Aand what is it?" Hugo asked.

"Weapon conditions," Jerad replied. There are four of them."

"Oh, great. I'm not sure if I still remember them," Misha murmured.

"That's fine. Just review it after I write it," Jerad sighed. "You'll remember it, and I'm sure it's in the back of your head somewhere."

"If you still know, can you tell us?" Hugo smiled.

"If I still remember them," Jerad chuckled.

"Condition 1: Magazine inserted, bolt or slide forward, round chambered, safety on.

Condition 2: Only applies to revolvers, and I don't know, so don't ask.

Condition 3: Magazine inserted, bolt or slide forward, round NOT chambered, safety on.

and finally…

Condition 4: Magazine not inserted, bolt or slide forward, round NOT chambered, safety on.

See? I think only Condition 1, and 3 applies to God Arcs. 2 and 4 are useless."

"Heh, I'd say, write them down, anyway," Hugo chuckled. "Who knows? We might have to handle old firearms, anyway. Wait, doesn't Gleipnir still use guns?"

"Yes, I have mine in storage," Claire replied.

"I remember," Jerad turned to her.

"Unfortunately..based on what you said about magazines, my assault rifle does not use external types. It's a gauss rifle," Claire explained.

"Gauss..?" Jerad furrowed his eyes.

"Also known as coil guns," Levin explained. "Uses quick intense electrical magnetic propulsion through a series of coils inside its upper receiver to launch projectiles. The projectiles are also small spikes instead of bullets commonly used until early 21st century firearms."

"I see," Jerad blinked his eyes. "Looks kinda boring. Centerfire is where the fun is at..like our custom bullets."

"Hey," Claire grimaced.

"Uh, what?" Jerad turned back to her.

"That's my rifle," Claire pouted.

"Your gun? That's Gleipnir property that was issued to you for your job, wasn't it?" Jerad argued.

"Yes, but our family owns them, too," Claire argued back. "Did you not notice our security guards carrying them while you were at our manor?"

"Huh," Jerad paused. "I..guess I wasn't paying attention?"

"In a small defense of that, but spikes are more cost effective than rounds due to less complexity and size," Levin explained. "They also have higher muzzle velocity which means more kinetic energy, more damage, and this might pique your interest, but there are variants of Claire's rifle for different purposes..such as semi automatic sniper versions. I doubt you have seen one since only few are made for its specialization on marksmanship, and only Gleipnir's and as well our family's best marksmen can use them."

"Right," Jerad nodded. "I've only seen the one like Claire's, and also whom some bastard guards at Pennywort had."

"Then I would like to suggest you give them a look," Levin smiled. "Something tells me you'll like the sniper version, and there's quite many kinds of them. Also, another variant is a shotgun, and considering how buckshots work, it still uses cartridges like the early 21st century."

"Ooh, really..?" Trista grinned. "Is this something I can look into?"

"There's nothing confidential about them," Levin shook his head. "I am certain you can read about them in the database."

And Jerad snickered. "I'll check into that myself..the sniper one. Probably gonna want one of those depending on performance.., and looks."

"Looks? Why would you care about looks?" Claire challenged him.

"Because I like badass looking guns," Jerad grinned. "Plus most snipers look cool, especially semiautomatic precision types. I also like their long barrels, looks intimidating, and I wanna to look cool holding one."

"Long barrels, huh?" Zeke smirked. "You got one, already…You don't need another one."

"Shut up," Jerad grimaced as Shin chuckled.

"This looks…pretty childish," Claire closed her eyes in disappointment.

"Hey, I also said performance also matters, right?" Jerad flashed his eyebrows. "If that gun has both, then win-win."

"Suit yourself," Claire murmured with her arms crossed.

Then in a sudden hindsight of his excitement, Jerad suddenly remembered what happened in Hilda's office earlier. "Wait…does any of you know how the owner thinks of owning personal firearms?"

"Oh…now you mention it," Trista paused. "I have no idea."

"You guys need to know your rights," Shin laughed. "I'll get to the point. You CAN possess firearms in your living quarters in our Port, BUT there are rules. First, your firearms with the exception of handguns must be safely in a carrying case when in storage, especially during transportation around Chrysanthemum's grounds, but handguns can be publicly carried as long as they are concealed, and are only to be drawn when necessary. Second, it has to be completely unloaded when in storage. Third, you need to have it registered with the owner because she only wants to know for accountability reasons, and frankly, she has that right to know. And lastly, you need to be certified as proof that you can handle your firearm responsibly, and right now, only Captain Edwards has the authority to test and certify you for safe weapons handling because obviously, these aren't toys."

"Huh, I'm a bit surprised…in a good way," Jerad murmured. "Honestly with the way she is, I thought she wouldn't allow it, or at least have them stored in some armory instead of our rooms."

"In what way?" Claire asked.

"Being a bit too nice," Jerad replied.

"The interesting story behind that was, the owner did this to keep people in check, ironic as that sounds," Shin added.

"Story..?" Hugo blinked his eyes.

"Captain Edwards himself told me, and he's the one who actually convinced her," Shin chuckled. "While the Port was still new and people were still moving in, the owner was starting to become worried about keeping law and order because she noticed that I'd say, a few people needed some fixing, and at the same time, she couldn't afford even a small law enforcement agency because she had her hands financially full to accommodate for the kids. Daris had a daring solution for it, which was to arm the citizenry to keep any potential crime guessing. Pretty hard for her to swallow at first, but nevertheless passed it into law, and to her surprise, the crime rate did drop to an almost zero. Not saying that Chrysanthemum had it high in the first place, but rather the owner decided to do something before it got worse. Damn worked, which is why people in Chrysanthemum have been staying in line."

And he laughed.

"Whoa..," Trista raised her eyes. "Not..even I know that. Daris himself convinced her like that?"

"Let alone even me thinking of that idea," Hugo shook his head. "There's nothing political about this at all."

"I get it. It's all psychology, and it was effectively mixed in her politics. Perception, to be more specific," Shin turned away. "If you ask me, ninjitsu also involves psychological warfare so I can see why that works. It's been all about being perceptive of other people, and at times, weaponizing it. But…"

He turned back. "That's not even the only reason why Daris came up with that idea, and he once told me that "crime is always predatory." That all came from his past experiences, and he told me he grew up from a poorly run down satellite base as a kid."

And everyone was awed with this.

"His home was infested with crime, and everyone was on their own to survive," Shin continued. "He used to bring his gun that his late dad used to own whenever he's in the streets all the time, running errands to take care of his mother, and whenever someone or even a group of people try to mug him with knives, he would threaten them with his gun, and most of them will just simply back off and run to find someone else more vulnerable to rob. It's how Daris realized that fact while growing up, and convinced the owner with that since she had no other options for crime prevention."

"The 'predatory' part caught my attention," Lulu murmured. "Because that's how they really are in the jungle. Minimize risk, subdue the prey, and maximize survival."

"Right," Shin nodded. "Because think about being in their shoes. If you're a criminal living in a place where anyone can be armed and keep you guessing who can shoot you dead if you try mugging them, would you gamble your life for it?"

Then Jerad snickered. "Assuming he's not out of his mind, hell no."

"Exactly," Shin grinned. "It's part of the reason why crimes rarely, if even there's any that I don't know of, happen in our Port. Of course you gotta give people credit, too. Majority of people in our Port are good guys."

"So..are there any gun owners in Chrysanthemum?" Jerad asked.

"None of our pups are, but I think a few of Daris' men do," Shin replied.

"Also..you can bet that anyone you see in our Port could have a handgun with them," Shin smiled. "Besides by law of the owner, they also conceal them because well, most people still don't take kindly to seeing weapons in public so they hide them to avoid any unwanted attention, but that's the good part as Daris said. Keep the bad guys guessing."

"I also heard Daris, and his men sometimes go out for plinking every now, and then," Trista chuckled.

"Plinking..?" Jerad paused.

"From the way they've been saying it, I think it's just them having fun shooting together," Trista chuckled again. "I once saw those guys hauling a bunch of empty soda cans, bottles, and even metal plates discarded by our cafeteria and a few of our restaurants in bags. They'd be blasting those things somewhere wherever shooting spot they like going to. "

"That looks…environmentally harmful," Claire commented.

"Uh, we're already living in the wastelands, so who cares?" Jerad laughed. "Plus Aragami will just eat them like chickens pecking on dirt, making them our trash cleaners. They eat just about anything..like even rocks. Seen them doing it."

"Ah, daddy! Do those broken things taste good?" Phym beamed. "Can I eat them?"

"No, and you will NOT eat trash..!" Jerad shot a glare at her before everyone chuckled.

"They also bring a handful of guys with God Arcs as lookouts…obviously to defend themselves from Aragami if they come," Trista continued. "It's also funny how Daris makes of these. He always tells the owner that they're out for field training, but that's just complete BS just looking at him, and the faces of his guys."

And she laughed.

"Yeah, that sounds really fun," Jerad grinned. "Now I wanna check on that semiauto sniper Levin just told me about, but we got a bit more work to do besides putting our God Arcs back."

"Hm?" Claire blinked.

"Makin' more of them. I have a lot of 6.5s from my last two kits to be used," Jerad smirked. "Can't wait to see you pick Aragami off with those once we station ourselves out there…if we fight them. Gonna teach you how to make them, too, and I'll write the process on paper. Misha's also gonna need them."

"What..?" Misha paused.

"You use the same gun as Claire. You're getting those," Jerad explained.

"But I'm not interested," Misha murmured.

"Oh, I'm not about to let Mom's marksmanship training for you go to waste," Jerad furrowed his eyes. "With that now, you owe me training like what I just did to Claire, and I hope you've kept your skill sharp."

"Oh, great. I shouldn't have said that," Misha slouched.

Then Hugo chuckled. "Your brother on you again, huh?"

"You're not helping at all!" Misha spat.

"It's training. Just take it," Hugo closed his eyes. "It's your mother's legacy, too. I wouldn't complain if I were you since I don't have my own legacy from parents to keep.., and I don't even know them."

"Right..," Misha sighed.

"We'll go ahead, and check Amy's station bill before we hang in the lobby. We'll wait for you there after," Hugo turned to him. "Sound cool?"

"Just about perfect," Jerad replied. "And Misha, you are coming with us."

"Are you serious?" Misha furrowed her eyes.

"It's only less than an hour for you to be away from Hugo," Jerad grinned.

"Where did you even-?!" Misha blushed with a glare before Shin, Zeke, and Trista laughed.

"Fine..," she grimaced as Claire giggled.

"Let's split," Hugo turned to everyone.

"Yeah, I think I could use a bit more time to chill," Zeke stretched himself.

And as they picked up their God Arcs, and started heading to the training room exit, Claire suddenly stopped walking, and held her head with a groan. Then she began leaning back.

"Whoa, hey..!" Jerad caught her from behind. "You, OK?"

"I just felt a little nausea..," Claire stood herself back up. "But I'm fine…"

"Ooh, Jerad. Did you..?" Trista smirked before Shin, Frida, and Levin laughed. "Too early to be a 'real' daddy right now."

"Shut up..," Jerad grimaced.

"Mm? But he's already daddy," Phym hugged him.

"Not like that, Phym," Trista snickered. "As in…"

"Having a baby brother?" Phym beamed.

"No, Phym! That's NOT how it works," Jerad glared at her.

"Then how..?" Phym frowned. "I want one…"

And everyone laughed.

"...Not gonna happen, Phym," Jerad replied before his glare slightly faded into a frown. "Sorry…"

Then he facepalmed. "Oh, goddammit..! Can't you leave us alone for ONCE? It's like walking in a minefield all the time!"

"I must have..over-concentrated during my shooting session," Claire murmured before removing her hand from her forehead. "It did kinda feel like..I went over myself. It was a bit unnatural for me…"

Then Zeke cracked a laugh. "Went overdrive, huh?"

"I..see," Levin blinked his eyes. "You did Engage with Jerad before, correct?"

"Yes," Claire sighed.

"Please be careful not to overexert yourself," Levin also sighed. "You may already have his marksmanship skills, but your..mental aptitude in not trained for it yet..for a lack of better word."

"I get it, but we'll start practicing later on until you get used to it," Jerad murmured. "Take it slow at a time."

"I agree," Claire smiled.

"I want a baby brother..," Phym murmured before everyone laughed. Jerad plainly glanced at her before he groaned.

---

Back to the God Arc Storage Vault.

"There. That's all you need to make them," Jerad waved his paper. "You two try making one based on what I wrote. I'll watch."

"Understood," Claire nodded.

"Gotcha," Misha replied after.

"Those little color pellets look like candies..," Phym murmured before Misha, and Claire giggled.

"Except they're not..," Jerad quickly replied in monotone.

Phym just simply giggled before her daddy turned back to the two girls, watching them carefully assemble their 6.5 inch round, and after a few minutes.

"Wow, this round is a bit bigger than I thought," Misha held it up in front of her.

"Yeah, and packs quite a punch, too," Jerad leaned back on their table. "I don't even think I can make it any stronger than that, or you'll start having problems. Glad it worked."

"Shall we make more?" Claire smiled.

"Oh, yeah. I'll help out, too," Jerad smiled back.

And after several more minutes.

"Well…no more 6.5s just laying around my kit," Jerad grinned. "All here ready to bust Aragami heads."

"Wow, we made quite a lot..," Misha commented as she held the large bag up. "And it's a bit heavy, too."

"Knock yourselves out the next time we're in the field," Jerad chuckled. "We got about what? 1,200 rounds?"

It was definitely a lot," Claire murmured.

"1,200 Aragami heads at most to blow, or..," Jerad smirked. "If you're lucky enough, more through double or triple kills. Hah!"

"Can you..?" Claire smirked back.

"I got lucky a few times with Zygotes years ago," Jerad shrugged while laughing. "It's pretty satisfying each time."

Then Phym picked up one of the rounds with her two fingers, and examined.

"Warning. Choking hazard," Jerad smiled. "Not candy, reminding you again."

"I know," Phym giggled before placing the round back into a bag.

"Here, keep this bullet recipe safe," Jerad gave his notes to Claire. "Better yet, take a snapshot of it in case you lose that copy."

"Understood," Claire nodded before taking the paper, screenshotted it, and placed it in a locker where their healing bullet recipe was also stored.

"Ready to go back to the lobby until we go outside?" Jerad smiled. "Oh, wait. Claire, do you mind if you let me see your gun?"

"Um, oh yeah sure," Claire paused. "It's stowed in this locker right now."

Then she moved to a locked storage, pressed a few buttons, and opened it. She pulled the green assault rifle out, and safely passed it to him. "Here."

"Thanks," Jerad took the rifle, and Claire observed him pausing with slight contempt at the Gleipnir emblem printed on the side of her gun which he tried to hide before he saw an opening under. "And I believe this is the magazine well?"

"Yes," Claire nodded with a smile.

"And here is the eject..wait, you said this is a gauss rifle, right?" Jerad turned to her.

"Yes," Claire nodded. "And this is the switch for turning it on, and the other on the right side of the trigger assembly is the magazine release button."

"I see," Jerad returned to examining her gun. "So without casings, this one seems to be only for clearing the chamber."

"Yes, but additionally, you have to deenergize the rifle, and then remove its magazine," Claire smiled. "Then most importantly, ensure the safety trigger is on, which is on the left side of this trigger assembly, and pull this charging handle back to remove the chambered round, and release it."

She pointed at the toggle lever. "The round will simply fall through the magazine well."

"Ah, I see now. Thanks," Jerad smiled before Claire smiled back. "Looks pretty simple compared to the older ones I know."

"Your..mother's, right?" Claire murmured.

"Yeah, and they're both purely mechanical," Jerad pointed Claire's rifle at the bulkhead. "Feels weird without a buttstock, though. How's the recoil of this?"

"Very minimal," Claire replied. "I could hardly feel it when firing while I was still in training."

"I see. Also considering that we're God Eaters," Jerad chuckled. "Regular people would have a much harder time firing these things straight without buttstocks to use their shoulders to help brace the shock. It definitely wasn't meant for them. What's the name of this gun?"

"It's an AR-35 Draugr," Claire replied.

"Draugr..?" Jerad paused.

"I don't know the origin of that name, but that's what it's called," Claire explained.

"AR, huh?" Jerad turned back to her gun. "An assault rifle."

Then he glanced at the safety lever. "Yep. Auto, semiauto, and safe."

And as he realized he forgot another person with them, he turned back. "Hey, sis. Forgot that you're actually with us. Heh."

"Uh huh..?" Misha nodded with a smirk.

"...Wanna see?" Jerad carefully passed her the gun."

"Um, sure," Misha took the rifle, and also aimed at the bulkhead to feel for it.

"Sis..?" Jerad plainly raised his eyebrows. "What is range safety number 3?"

"Um, keep finger along the receiver until ready to…fire..?" Misha turned her eyes down at her right index finger placed on the trigger, and felt herself turn blue from embarrassment. "Uhh…"

"Mhm..?" Jerad nodded with a smile. "Claire did it herself when she took her gun."

"Sorry," Misha made a fear grin.

"Just don't do it in training, or if you haven't made sure that gun isn't loaded," Jerad smirked. "Good thing I checked that for you."

"Right," Misha kept grinning before moving on to pointing, and this time with her trigger finger straight.

"How is it?" Jerad murmured.

"Pretty light, but yeah," Misha glanced at her gun. "It does feel off without the buttstock."

"I could never understand guns without them outside of handguns," Jerad murmured. "Even more so with shotguns. Those boomsticks got huge recoil."

"Here, I'm done," Misha handed him the rifle before her brother abruptly snatched it with both of his hands, causing both girls to whimper in shock.

"Just playing with you," Jerad made a short laugh. "I just remembered watching one of the military videos where during an inspection, an instructor will snatch his trainee's rifle off his hands to check it out, and after he's done, his recruit better snatch it back the same way he did or else he won't let it go, and give him a ton of crap to his face."

And he laughed. "Wanna try it?"

"...No, thanks," Misha shook her head with a pout.

"I don't quite understand that mentality," Claire murmured.

"It's to toughen you up," Jerad chuckled. "Like mentally. You are joining the military, so you gotta have a tough mindset, or you won't win wars. It's as I've been saying why I was super hard on that girl. Can't have her being meek out here, or else she won't last long."

And he snickered. "Think about it, though. Since I've done it to a girl already, how about a guy next?"

"Who do you have in mind?" Claire smiled.

"You're not thinking of Hugo are you?!" Misha shot him a glare.

"Nah," Jerad shook his head. "That would be boring since he's been well..disciplined, I'd best say. Maybe…Zeke?"

And he laughed.

"Why him?" Misha also laughed.

"Cus' that kid's got a bit of an attitude," Jerad cracked a laugh. "He's like that kid delinquent in school who gets into fights everyday because someone messed with his banana bros."

"Banana bros..?" Misha puffed her lips before bursting out laughing.

"Courtesy of Phym and Lulu," Jerad patted Phym's head before all four burst into laughter.

"A world without Aragami, and us living normal lives," Claire murmured. "I wonder what it would have been like."

"Well, you're going to be a fun one for a start," Jerad smirked at her.

"And what do you think I would be..?" Claire glared at him as Misha began giggling with anticipation.

"Straight 'A' honor student, and a valedictorian," Jerad chuckled. "Of course..one who sticks by the rules who is a teacher's pet."

And Claire fumed at this before Misha finally laughed. "Gosh..!"

"I have another one," Misha smirked. "You, and Claire as high school sweethearts. Aww..!"

Then she laughed as the two plainly stared at her.

"Oh yeah? How about you having googly eyes while watching behind Hugo's back like in prison?" Jerad sneered. "And then you tell your best friend Claire how..HANDSOME he is in every way, and then you think about him before going to sleep every night, rolling on your bed hugging your pillow?"

And he laughed, and much to Misha's surprise, Claire was also laughing with him.

"So.., what would you think the kind of person Hugo would be as a student?" Claire smiled.

"Uh, I think he's more going to be a class leader type," Jerad smirked before bursting into laughter. "Yeah, definitely. Thinking more about how a bit stuffy he is, he's definitely going to be an enforcer of the class."

"That's quite insulting, brother," Misha grimaced.

"Not really? Does it sound like a lie, either?" Jerad smiled at her. "He's also the man of reason that could even imagine him being a good cop!"

"A cop..?" Claire blinked her eyes.

"Law enforcement, or police/peace officer..like Shin talked about earlier " Jerad chuckled. " Doesn't Arrowhead have those?"

"I..don't think so," Claire shook her head with her eyes closed.

"That's a bit surprising, considering how uptight Gleipnir's been with their Ashland Navigation Laws," Jerad shrugged.

"Well, speaking of enforcement, it is part of our duty as God Eaters," Claire explained.

"Oh.., I see," Jerad paused. "Like those ancient knights, huh?"

"I suppose," Claire murmured. "Our family works the same way, too."

"Heh, with the way society is, we probably need people solely for law enforcement," Jerad turned away. "And yet at the same time, can't give them too much power, either. The irony of that, but that's probably none of my business to begin with. I'm not an owner, or any of that. Not that I'll ever be."

Then he sighed. "Anyway, we're done here, so I suppose we should head for the lobby?"

"Yes, maybe we could use a little break," Claire smiled back.

---

Meanwhile on the bridge.

"I see," Hugo viewed Amy's station bill. "Me, and Misha on the front starboard side. Jerad, Claire, and Phym in the mid starboard side. Levin, and Frida in the aft starboard side. Port side will be Shin, and Trista in the aft, and Zeke, and Lulu toward the bow."

'Port side..,' Lulu glanced at the resonance radar to become more oriented with her position, and her eyes quietly widened. In their port side aft traveling along with them is a military ship that she recognized all too well…

"That's right," Amy smiled.

"It's funny how you kept Jerad, Claire, and Phym together," Zeke cracked a short laugh.

"It's only…natural to keep close people together," Amy curved her lips while staring up.

'Natural..?' Lulu glanced at the two brothers.

"I guess that works. No objections," Hugo passed the watchbill back to her. "We'll be in the lobby in the meantime, and we'll prep lunch in two hours."

"Thank you," Amy smiled. "Enjoy yourselves."

"Is there anything you need, Amy?" Keith asked. "Any systems out of the ordinary?"

"Um, everything is green so far," Amy kept her smile. "Thank you."

"If you need anything like coffee, please call me," Keith nodded. "I'll jump right in to help."

"Very much appreciated," Amy still kept her smile.

And the crew walked into the lobby, but only a few minutes later as Amy kept a close watch on her monitor, Jerad, Claire, and Phym entered.

"Oh, hello you three," Amy smiled again. "So…if I may ask, did anything happen?"

"We just got a bit more work to do after our shooting session," Jerad replied as they walked towards her station. "And I dragged my sister with me."

"I…see," Amy kept smiling. "So..how did it turn out?"

"Success," Jerad chuckled. "Now…we might have another sniper or two with us..well kinda."

And Amy giggled at this. "Good to hear. Hugo came here a few minutes ago to check your security stations. Would you like to review it?"

"Yep," Jerad smiled. "Just wanna have a look at it."

Then Amy handed the bill to him.

And after Jerad took the paper in his hands, he spent less than a minute looking at the list with the two girls also looking over his shoulder, and as well as…an impressively detailed drawing of their ship with their names written on each section of their exterior.

'Hugo and Misha on starboard, and me, Claire, and Phym on starboard, too, and then Zeke, Lulu, and then Keith on port side…Trista, Shin together, and lastly, Levin and Frida together…What the hell were you thinking..?' Jerad almost grimaced, who was trying to hide his reaction. "Did you draw this..?"

"Um, yes," Amy proudly replied. "How is it..?"

Then Jerad laughed. "I'm impressed, you know? I could never draw like this."

And the two laughed together as Claire plainly glanced at the two. Unbeknownst to her, however, Misha was watching behind her, curving her lips, and smiling.

"I've been drawing since I was a little girl," Amy smiled. "It's been my passion."

"I heard some rumors that you're an artist," Jerad chuckled. "And you definitely are."

"Thank you," Amy smiled again.

"So..," Jerad glanced at the bill again before turning to their resonance radar to try picturing themselves in their station. There are three other ashcrawlers cruising behind them as a convoy, however, a ship cruising almost too close for his personal comfort on their port side caught his attention, and with its rotating cannons present, he quickly knew it as a military ship, but what made him raise his eyes was its indicated name. "Is that Baran's?"

"Hm..?" Amy blinked her eyes. "Yes, Gleipnir asked them to cover for the convoy's port side. Is there something wrong?"

"I'd rather have any of those two Dusty Miller ships beside us because I heard some horror stories about those Baran bastards from the owner," Jerad replied as he happened to glance back at their station bill. "Plus Lulu has beef with…"

Then he slightly raised his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Claire leaned forward to look at Jerad's station bill in his hand before seeing him glance at their resonance radar again.

"Amy, can you switch me, Claire, and Phym with Lulu, Zeke, and Keith?" Jerad kept his eyes on their radar.

"Huh..?" Amy raised her eyes.

"I wanna keep Lulu out of sight from that ship," Jerad replied. "This doesn't sit well with me, but I can't believe no one saw this."

"Ah, I see," Amy murmured. "I'm sorry for the oversight, but you're right. It's where she indeed came from…"

"It's fine. You probably didn't see what happened in that damn Arrowhead after our first conference, but I saw two of those bastards whispering to each other after they saw her," Jerad explained. "Please switch us for her sake, too. For me, I don't want them to get any more ideas, if they're already planning something."

"Yes, right away, but I'll need a reapproval from the owner, first," Amy replied.

"Do it. Tell her why, and I'm sure she'll get it," Jerad murmured.

"Understood," Amy tapped her earpiece. "Ma'am?"

"What is it, Amy?" Hilda responded.

"I would like to request a small change in our security station bill. Jerad wanted to switch positions between him, Claire, and Phym, and Lulu, Zeke, and Keith since Ashcrawler Baran is currently transiting in our port aft for security, and that Lulu should be moved to starboard side, instead," Amy explained.

---

"That's a good call, brother," Misha whispered.

"Yeah, considering how schemy they probably are, I ain't taking chances. I'd rather flex on them, instead, anyway," Jerad whispered back.

"For what..?" Misha furrowed her eyes.

"Call it intimidation," Jerad chuckled. "I don't want them to think we're pushovers considering how they looked at us back then. I'll show them what could happen if they try messing with us, and it's probably a good thing Shin and I made those nuke bullets."

---

"I see..I was also having second thoughts before I approved it considering their ship being there," Hilda replied. "But also, it's not like Baran can do anything to her, either. Very well, a good call on his part, anyway. Make the necessary change."

"Thank you, ma'am," Amy nodded.

"Hilda, out," Hilda finished her transmission with a radio cut off.

"The owner approves," Amy smiled before it faded. "Once again, I'm sorry for this oversight. I should have been more considerate…"

"I said it's fine as long as we do change it," Jerad slowly shook his head. "And if there's anyone we have to mostly blame, it's Hugo, and that he was also there when that happened. Thinking more about this now, I wanna punch his balls in once I get in the lobby."

"H-huh?" Misha froze as Amy giggled.

And Jerad turned to his sister with a smile after handing the bill back to Amy. "But I digress. How am I gonna have a niece and a nephew if I do that? Plus, Mom will come back to the living, and drag me to hell for stopping her from having a pair of grandkids."

"You..," Misha pouted as Jerad, Amy, Claire, and Phym laughed.

"You two had parents, huh?" Amy murmured. "Must be great to have them during that time. I never knew what that's like…"

"Oh..it's a different kind of hard after you lose them, trust me," Jerad murmured back. "Take it for what it is. You didn't have to suffer as much after that big cloud came, and took ours."

'Mother..,' Claire quietly held her arm.

"Look at the two bros, especially Keith," Jerad continued. "Zeke said he never knew his parents, either, and his bro is still all smiles."

'Keith..?' Amy froze.

"And also keep this between us, but Lulu hated hers," Jerad added.

"Huh?" Amy blinked.

"Coming straight from her, they hated and left her," Jerad explained. "It's how she ended up in that Port."

"I agree," Misha stepped forward. "I heard her when she was talking to Trista last week during a mission."

"I see…I feel bad for her," Amy frowned. "Not having parents myself, I don't think I could ever understand the weight of having them, being hated, and then abandoned…"

"Yeah, and you could have ended up like her, too," Jerad shrugged. "You never know if you dodged a bullet or not, so like I said, take it as it is. How long have you been with the owner?"

"I've known her before the Calamity. I was living in Fenrir HQ's orphanage," Amy frowned. "She's been taking care of me, Iris, and other kids at that time from as far back as I can remember, and continued even after that disaster."

Then Jerad chuckled. "Hey, you really had it good. Imagine what we went through compared to you, and Iris. Misha, and I were still heartaching about our parents before that bastard Port called Pennywort dragged us in, and turned us into something they hated so they can crap on us every day..talk about adding more insult to injury as if the world hated us so much that it would never be satisfied in making our lives more hell for its own pleasure. Can you imagine what we went through?"

"B-brother..?!" Misha painfully clutched her chest, frowning. "Please..! That's enough."

Then Jerad stared at his sister for a few seconds. "Okay…no hard feelings for Amy at all, just telling you that..."

"It's okay..I understand," Amy frowned. "Just because I didn't have parents doesn't mean I had it the worst compared to those who did..right?"

"...You got it," Jerad nodded. "You're..LUCKIER than you think..trust me. Chrysanthemum might be the only good Port out there, and you're damn blessed to be in it."

"I agree…I'm sorry to have brought this up, and thanks for the consolation," Amy smiled. "You're right, dwelling in the past and envying others won't change anything, and.., we have to deal with the cards we're dealt with. We can only move forward."

And she glanced at her paper in hand. "Now with me saying that, please give me a moment to revise our bill."

"Go for it," Jerad shrugged.

After one minute.

"Here you go," Amy passed the bill back to Jerad. "How is it? Any questions?"

"Perfect," Jerad smiled after reviewing, and passing the bill back to her. "I'll tell everyone once we get to the lobby. Could you also forward this to everyone, including us three after?"

"Oh, yes. Of course. I already had it planned, actually," Amy smiled.

"Diligent as ever," Claire giggled.

"And super reliable at that," Misha added.

"I can only wish I have that level," Claire smiled.

"That's..not true, Claire," Amy shook her head with a smile. "You certainly have a great sense of duty."

And Jerad suddenly cracked a short laugh. "Yeah, teacher's pet…"

"What..did you say?!" Claire pouted as Misha, and Amy laughed.

"Jerad..that's not very nice," Amy giggled.

"It's true, though," Jerad smirked.

"I was wondering why you three haven't come yet," Keith suddenly spoke.

"Oh, hello, Keith," Amy began stroking her hair as Jerad glanced at her. "Do you need something?"

"Besides that, I also came here to see if you need anything like a drink," Keith replied.

"Umm, I don't think I need one yet, so thank you," Amy smiled. "Maybe a little later?"

"OK, cool. I'll be back later, then," Keith nodded.

"Hey, I've switched you banana bros, plus Lulu with me, Claire, and Phym," Jerad said.

"Banana bros..?" Keith froze as Misha suddenly laughed. "I don't get it…"

"Zeke..banana on his head," Phym tipped her cowlick.

"My little girl gets it," Jerad chuckled. "Plus your 'older sister' pointed it out, too, and then your hair color."

And Misha, Claire, and Phym giggled.

"I think I do remember hearing that almost a month ago," Amy repressed her giggle. "But wait..Lulu as Keith's sister? How did that..?"

"Ohh, she will be once his big bro gets with her," Jerad flashed his eyebrows with a smirk. "Big sister. In. Law. Mmm."

Then the twins laughed.

"Anyway..," Keith sighed. "May I ask why you requested the change? Must be..something important enough."

"You see that stupid ship in our port aft," Jerad pointed at the resonance radar. "That's Baran's. Ring a bell?"

"I see..right," Keith frowned.

"What's wrong?" Amy furrowed her eyes.

"Tell you what.., Lulu has been looking a bit..glum," Keith scratched his head. "I also wondered why, but now you mentioned it."

"Huh, so she hasn't been feeling cool with this?" Jerad grimaced. "Did she say anything?"

"Not at all. She's been quiet this whole time, too," Keith murmured.

Then Jerad groaned. "That woman needs to start speaking up more. How the hell can she expect us to help her if she won't say anything?"

"It's just…how she is," Misha murmured. "She's probably still too used to that Port. They must be very strict."

"Heh, I think that might be an understatement, and as much as I hate to say it, but I'm also starting to think Pennywort pales in comparison," Jerad sighed. "Well.., I just did it for her, anyway."

And Keith groaned. "I should have known…"

"It's fine. At least it's done," Jerad shrugged. "Also thanks to Amy, and the owner's approval, too. If anything, I hold this on brother-in-law the most since he's our head honcho, but I'm not about to start any drama so I'm just gonna walk in there, tell them that our security stations changed a bit, and leave at that."

"Yeah.., and I feel bad for not thinking this enough, even after I saw signs," Keith frowned. "I mean..Lulu always acted like she's been well over this, and not to mention, she's been looking after me almost like Zeke does. Though, far less overbearing."

"It's only natural," Jerad put his arm above Keith's shoulders with a smirk. "Big sisters take care of her younger siblings, too."

And Amy made a short laugh. "It can't hurt to have an older sister figure. I'm sure of it."

"See?" Jerad flashed his eyebrows. "We're talking about a woman who is really stealthy, and will slit the throat of anyone who messes with you, plus a mad hammering big bro who will go gangster on anyone who disrespects you. If things got worse in that stupid Port, Zeke would have busted that bastard's ass."

"Wait. Did..something happen back there..?" Amy blinked her eyes.

"Some Gleipnir reggie asshole shoved Keith for being in his way, and Zeke nearly punched his head off," Jerad snickered. "And they dared disrespected my sis, too. Hell, I would have been more than happy to also go gangster on them with Zeke, and Tris by beating their asses together against the wall..but thankfully..Claire's aunt, and Levin came, and saved the day. Hah!"

"That could have been worse, you know?" Claire crossed her arms.

"You mean for them?" Jerad smirked. "They might as well call their medics before they start. No one disrespects my little buddy like that."

And he patted Keith's shoulder.

"We're heading back to that Port as we speak, so please stay out of trouble," Amy murmured.

"We'll try, but how about them?" Jerad chuckled. "At least it's a good thing our owner will be with us, though, but who knows? Some people still have guts, and others can sink as low as possible."

"Let's just hope for the best," Amy smiled.

"Well, you need anything right now before we leave?" Jerad grinned.

"Not right now. Thanks," Amy kept her smile.

"Cool. If you need anything later, Keith is your MAN," Jerad patted his shoulder hard.

"Ouch..! Jeez," Keith glared at him.

"C'mon, show some more..man," Jerad flashed his eyebrows as he lifted his arms from him before Misha giggled. "Make your big bro proud."

"I'll keep trying," Keith groaned.

"Alright, we'll see you later, Amy," Jerad winked as Claire winced with her arms crossed.

"Please take care," Amy smiled.

"Ooh, I can't wait to sit down, and look into that DMR," Jerad cracked a chuckle as the four began walking up the bridge.

"Dee..Em..Ar?" Phym tipped her lip.

"Designated Marksman Rifle," Jerad replied.

"Designated..Maxman Rifle..?" Phym tried to repeat before Misha laughed.

"Marks..Man," Jerad curved his lip.

"Designated Marksman Rifle," Phym said again.

"Good," Jerad walked past Hilda's seat.

"It's such a hard word," Phym whined.

"You'll learn. Don't worry about it," Jerad waved his hand as the lobby door opened, and in there, everyone seemed huddled closely to Hugo…much to Misha's moue as she saw Lulu leaning too close to him even if only to view his tablet.

"You guys are finally here," Hugo sat up, who was reading his tablet. "You might wanna see this."

"Yeah, look at this hell of an Aragami," Zeke waved at the four to move closer.

After the four settled at the couch opposite of them, Hugo passed his tablet to his friend before the three girls leaned over to see.

Jerad raised his eyes as unknowingly those opposite of the four started watching him in anticipation with others like Zeke already trying his best to resist his grin. "Huh, never seen this Aragami before…Ouro-boros?"

He scrolled further down, and suddenly raised his eyes before Claire, Misha, Keith, and Phym gasped.

"Two hundred feet tall? Are you kidding? This thing is colossal!" Jerad exclaimed before turning back to his friends, who finally burst out laughing. "...Can you even kill this thing? And what if it's an Ashborn, and we fight one? You wouldn't think that's funny anymore, would you?"

"Nah, we're just waiting for how you'll react to it," Zeke kept laughing. "And it was damn priceless."

"Showing fear..that's a first," Lulu teased him with a smile.

"Who the hell wouldn't? Tell me," Jerad grimaced before staring back at Hugo's tablet. "Seriously..not even my super thrust Burst Art(Mocking the Gods) would hurt this…titan. It's just going to be a mere ant bite for it."

And Levin chuckled. "Please don't lose hope too quickly. In fact, Ouroboros had been existent before we were all born, and have also been slain before as well…quite numerous times."

"What..?" Jerad blinked his eyes. "And who's badasses might have done it?"

"The Far East Branch…most notably," Hugo added. "If you read further, you'll see it there. Last slain reported to Fenrir HQ was roughly 15 years ago."

"Crazy..," Jerad blankly commented. "And on foot..?"

"Yeah," Hugo plainly nodded.

And Jerad dryly laughed. "You need a ton of firepower to bring this thing down, but wow, these Asians are surely..BAD-ASS. On foot, huh..?"

"Thanks," Shin proudly smirked.

"Yep, it was hard to believe..," Hugo awkwardly smiled. "If you think about it..AGEs did not exist back then. Only Old and New Types so.., if they can do it, then why can't we? Especially considering that these aren't Ashborns."

"It still doesn't change the fact that we're literally facing a titan, if we run into one," Jerad made an exaggerated shudder. "I still hope we won't ever have to fight one of these..if they are still out there."

"Hey, Hugo's got a point, you know?" Trista suddenly argued. "Size doesn't matter, and I'm sure Ashborns are still far worse than these giants."

"David, and Goliath. Have you heard of it?" Levin smiled.

And Jerad suddenly paused at that familiar story name.

---

"So, Jerad and Misha, have you heard about the story of David, and Goliath?" Emilio smiled.

"Um, no?" Jerad ate his last bite in his family's dinner while his father sat back after properly placing his spoon, and fork on his plate. "What is it?"

"Alright. I have an interesting lesson for you two," Emilio chuckled. "There is a biblical story about a young man named David, who was just a shepherd, and fought an opponent named Goliath, a soldier who was much larger and stronger than he was. Goliath was an arrogant jerk, having his natural size, and of course, more strength, and bullied a lot of people into dueling him, but none ever stepped up because of those, which in a sense rightfully so since the giant also wore an armor, and even in top of that, had a shield, sword, and a spear. This went on for 40 days until David stepped up."

"Really..?" Misha paused. "But Gliath was way bigger than him..! Why would he..?"

"He must be stupid," Jerad snorted.

And Emilio chuckled at his twins' responses. "Well, we're about to get to the good part. Ready? So David stepped up, and everyone told him that he can't win, but this guy didn't care. Goliath simply just laughed at him not only for being puny in comparison, but also because he's just a mere shepherd. How can someone who is not even a soldier hope to stand against one who is supersized, right? But David took none of that, so when the duel started, he picked up a rock, put it in his slinger, and threw it at the giant's forehead, ending the match with a single blow."

Then he chuckled. "David won."

"What..?" Misha leaned forward. "Just..like that?"

"Oh, yeah," Emilio chuckled. "An amazing tale, right?"

"I find that hard to believe," Jerad commented.

"Well..it's a very important story, so..what do you think is the point of it?"

"Uh..," Jerad mused. "Size..don't matter?"

"Yes, you're especially in the right direction, son," Emilio grinned. "But I'll go over that a bit with you later. So…Misha, how about you? What's the moral of the story? There's more than one."

"Um..believe in yourself..?" Misha murmured.

"YES! The most important one!" Emilio pointed at his daughter as praise.

"Good job," Catherine smiled at her after quietly listening, and sipping her drink.

"It's all about faith," Emilio continued. "I know religion isn't popular anymore, but David wasn't scared not only because he had faith in himself, but he also believed that God was on his side. People nevertheless need faith to survive, and as long as you have it, you can always win. Remember what I taught you once after a practice. Dad had nothing at first, and only kept working hard until a great man thought I had potential, and took me under his wing. Guess where I'm at now?"

"My dear commander," Catherine proudly turned to her husband.

"And his faithful vice commander who gave him a pair of awesome kids," Emilio wrapped his arm around his wife before giving each other a light kiss. Jerad, and Misha glanced at each other for this somewhat awkward display before their parents turned back to them with a smile, not caring of their children's predicament.

"So..here's a fun thing, son. About what you did the other day," Emilio snickered. "Wasn't that bully about a couple of years older than you?"

"Yeah..," Jerad frowned.

"And yet you took him out with a single sock on the face," Emilio made a light laugh.

"Dear, please do not encourage him," Catherine pouted. "I don't want to treat another child who might become our son's next victim."

"I'm not, but trust me, I had to apologize to our orphanage caretaker for that poor kid," Emilio chuckled. "Also told her I would punish my boy for it…but of course that was a lie..kinda. Big father and son talk with orange juice, instead. Right?"

"Yeah," Jerad answered more energetically.

"Great power comes with great responsibility, right?" Emilio smiled with anticipation. "Violence only as a last resort?"

"Yeah," Jerad nodded with a faint smile.

"Violence is never good," Emilio slowly shook his head. "But sometimes..it's the only way to solve the worst problems. That's how this twisted world is, sometimes. We're not ordinary people, which is why it's so important for us to be responsible for what we have compared to the ordinary folk."

"I still can't believe our bias factors are hereditary," Catherine murmured. "Our former commanding officer did say that?"

"He had a story about that himself when we hung out that night, too," Emilio smiled. "It started with his eldest son years ago when he was exercising in his family's private gym, and he saw him carrying a 100 pound dumbbell with one hand, and showed it off to him…as a 7 year old like our boy right now. Then recently his little cute daughter Jerad and I met the other day, who scared their maids seeing their furniture moved around by her alone, too. It was adorable in a sense hearing a small cute girl like her could do that, and then I told him a story of our boy sending a kid a few yards away with a single punch standing up for his sister."

And he laughed. "I was..kinda surprised he laughed at it, actually, but that's gotta be because we're both already a bit drunk, and we both know he's quite a serious one. He said at least the victim was alright, but also warned me to have this important talk to our kids as soon as possible because well..apparently, we tend to breed Hercules kids."

And he turned to his daughter. "Just to catch you on to this, but your mom, and I are both God Eaters, and you took after us. You are both gifted with super strength as a start which is why it's so important for you both to take care of the gifts we gave you, alright? Don't start any fights unless your life is threatened. I've started worrying about you B slapping another girl over a handsome guy you like once you're in high school."

Then he laughed again.

"And Misha, I know I have been pushy in training you, but we won't force you to become a God Eater like us," Catherine smiled. "Since you also had potential like your brother, I believe it would be best put to good use, at least. 'It is better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in war,' as the Far East's saying goes, and in a sense, your brother showed it. In spite of this violence, he was only protecting you. He loves you."

"I understand," Misha murmured.

"You're always a kind girl," Catherine reached her hand to caress her daughter's cheek. "If you're lost once you've grown, please consider it. We will support you. Always."

"So…son. You get it, right?" Emilio chuckled. "What you faced in that playground? He's a one big kid, and you didn't care about anything but to teach him a lesson, and I really bet he won't think about messing with you, and your sister again. You were the David."

"And your dad, and I fight Aragami all the time," Catherine smirked. "And none of them were our size..ever. I shoot their heads off, and your dad minces them like a Grim Reaper. Everyone called him..the Deathscythe."

"Heh, I wonder what you'll be called, if one or both of you make a name for yourselves once you're in Fenrir," Emilio smiled. "Thinking of how you've been fighting me, son, I think you're going to be assigned a charge spear God Arc."

"Really..?" Jerad raised his eyes.

"You prefer stabbing more than swinging," Emilio explained.

"But I swing, too," Jerad argued.

"True," Emilio nodded. "But your stabs have more weight than your swings. I've been trying to be careful with your thrusts, actually. You stab really hard, and you're only 7. I could get hurt if you hit me the wrong way."

"Like your groin, dear?" Catherine snickered.

"That's..the worst one," Emilio made an embarrassed chuckle. "Ooh, I can't wait to see what your God Arc will look like, son. A spear? What should people call you? A demon? A devil?"

"Darling..?" Catherine gave her husband a soft glare. "How about Misha? She's your girl, too."

"Of course, honey," Emilio smiled. "If she decides to be a God Eater, too, then I'll have both of them working under us..hopefully by the time me or both of us are higher ranking, then we can use our authority to make it happen. Fenrir isn't as uptight as the US military, so I'm sure they'll give it to us without a sweat, anyway."

"Definitely hope so," Catherine giggled.

"Well, it's time for us to wrap up, and clean the kitchen so our kids can relax and go to sleep," Emilio stretched himself. "First, I'll confess though, but if I can completely put the bad part of that incident aside, I would have simply said 'that's my boy!' We had such an awesome son. Our David."

And he proudly laughed while his wife sighed with a smile.

---

"Heh, a small guy who took a giant down by flinging a rock between his eyes?" Jerad chuckled. "Yeah, I heard that story before. Parents told us about it."

And Misha raised her eyes.

"You had quite a long pause from that," Zeke chuckled.

"Really..?" Jerad turned to him with a slight embarrassment. "Sorry about that."

"The hell you apologizing for?" Zeke furrowed his eyes.

"It was a long conversation," Jerad murmured. "Our parents, and us just finished dinner, too. We're just chilling, and.., my dad suddenly brought it up. Remember that story I told you guys about how I socked that fat bastard kid down for shoving my sister, and nearly murdered him for it? Came from that. That recently happened not long ago when he brought that tale up."

"Ah, I remember," Levin nodded. "Standing up for your sibling even at that young age. I must say, that was quite remarkable.., and your father definitely chose the right time to tell you that."

"I've also caused our parents quite a lot of trouble for that, so it wasn't anything remarkable as you said it," Jerad murmured. "Ironically, I even heard that Mom had to treat that kid to accept responsibility."

Then he sighed again before staring back at Hugo's tablet. "Anyway..I suppose we can figure out how to deal with a gigantos like this thing, if we fight one. I'm already getting tactically curious."

"Now, that's a much better answer," Hugo nodded with a smile.

"And Shin, you might become our star for this," Jerad smiled.

"Uh, how?" Shin raised his eyes.

"You're good at this," Jerad smiled. "You can run, and jump walls, and you jump pretty high."

"Ooh, that was quick," Trista grinned. "But I'll say…I agree with you."

"Yeah, jump and run up along these tentacles if it tries striking you, and stab it in the face for a start," Jerad chuckled.

"I can see it, but it might be easier said than done," Shin replied. "This isn't like a video game."

"I think you can definitely do it," Jerad smiled.

"I'll see what I could do," Shin smiled back.

"Those tentacles are just gross..," Misha curved her lips. "They look icky, and that thing is hairy, too?"

"If you hate them that much, then just slice them off when they come at you," Jerad chuckled. "Your scythe is good at it."

"I agree with him," Hugo nodded. "Slice the tentacles off, and have others move in for the kill. That's our starting strategy."

"I've never imagined such Aragami exists," Claire murmured. "And they're made out of Oracle cells colonized together, aren't they? It's eerie, if you think about it."

"Yeah.., part of the reason why I was so thunderstruck," Jerad smiled. "I don't ever want this thing to touch me. Gross..!"

"You're..telling me," Misha murmured.

"But..will this Aragami taste good..?" Phym suddenly murmured as Jerad quickly turned to see her almost salivating as if she was seeing a very delicious food.

"No, and no, and no..! No Aragami will taste good for you," Jerad began roughly ruffling her hair as everyone laughed. "It is not your buffet."

"Aww..," Phym whined.

"Anyway, I'm gonna look into a gun," Jerad gave Hugo's tablet back before sitting down. "You guys play your poker in the meantime."

Then as he sat down, he sensed a gestural glance from Claire, and turned to her direction. She was giving him a plain, unusual stare with a somewhat firm tone to it. In only a few seconds, Jerad understood her. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot to make a bit of an announcement, but I requested a switch between us three, and Zeke, Keith, and Lulu with Amy, and the owner also approved it. The change is already done."

"Huh?" Lulu suddenly turned to him.

"You're in starboard side now," Jerad explained.

"I see..," Lulu murmured. "Was there a reason why..?"

Then Jerad plainly stared at her for a moment. "Because I think you won't be cool being there."

And Lulu raised her eyes. "

"You knew about that ship that was cruising in our port aft, did you?" Jerad furrowed his eyes.

"Well..," Lulu frowned.

"Speak up, next time," Jerad continued.

"But.., it's not our place to," Lulu murmured. "This is duty. We can't…"

"I don't think it hurts to at least ask instead of pushing," Jerad slowly shook his head.

---

"Damn, even Lulu is getting a bit chewed by him?" Shin whispered.

"I think she needs it now he brought it up," Trista whispered back. "I should have said something, too."

---

"You know this yourself that Port could be on your ass right now. You saw them back there," Jerad murmured. "You definitely don't want them to get any more ideas watching you with their outboard camera. Plus, our owner is more reasonable than that, and I was almost sure she'll be cool with it, or else I would have argued a bit more through Amy. Wasn't she the one who told you to avoid any contact with them? I couldn't see any reason why she would refuse."

"Yes.., that's true," Lulu frowned.

"Yeah, you really should have said something," Jerad said. "We are a crew here, and it's not like switching positions would hinder our job. If you need something, just ask."

"I understand," Lulu closed her eyes. "I'll be more mindful about this. Thank you."

"It's all good," Jerad smiled. "At least it's done."

Then he pulled his tablet out while leaning back on their couch, and began fiddling with his screen, smiling. After a few minutes…

"Ooh, I think I have a dream gun now," Jerad snickered.

'Dream..,' Hugo glanced at him.

"Check. This. Out!" Jerad showed everyone his screen. "Such a cool LOOKIN' baby! The SR-50 MKII Valkyrie, a sniper..rail gun made by Skoll and Hati Arsenals."

And everyone stared at his screen to see a green long barreled rifle with a magazine below the receiver, a pistol grip about the size of an average human hand, and a large buttstock.

"18 inch barrel, 50 round magazine capacity, fixed, but adjustable scope, and semiautomatic with a muzzle velocity of 16,000 feet per second. That's powerful as hell!" Jerad grinned. "Though, my only gripes are this somewhat bulky buttstock, and this is only to be expected considering how high powered the rail inside the upper receiver is. Two second charge per shot, and you're ready to pop another head. I also don't like how small the rounds are; just mere small spikes, but I could probably put it past that because you know, 16,000 feet per second of kinetic energy would do a lot of damage to you even with a small projectile, probably even worse than an old 5.56 that is roughly 3,000 feet per second."

"Oh, indeed. That velocity is definitely immense," Levin nodded.

"How big is an old 5.56, if you can tell me?" Zeke asked.

"A 5.56 bullet alone is like this," Jerad sized the bullet with index, and thumb. "And NOT counting the casing on it, which is why it carries 20 more rounds than the old conventional 30 rounds max per magazine."

"What the hell? That's so small!" Zeke grimaced. "At least compared to our God Arc customs."

"Yeah, but like I said, kinetic freakin' energy, man," Jerad grimaced back. "You don't understand basic physics?"

"So let me try scaling this in comparison, but how fast can our God Arc bullet shoot?" Zeke asked.

"That's a good way to know, Zeke," Lulu nodded with a smile.

"Depends on which type," Jerad smiled. "Sniper gun projectiles definitely travel faster than the ones in assault guns, but for sniper guns, it's probably around 10,000 feet per sec, and from what I can tell for those marksman custom rounds I just made for Claire, and now my sister, I'd say it's around 8,000."

"You kidding me?!" Zeke froze. "You can't be telling me you have a calculator in your head!"

And Jerad laughed. "I don't. My mom just taught me to feel them based on how many estimated seconds it takes from firing a gun to the bullet hitting its target. There is a formula to calculate that, but I'm not gonna go over it because it can be complex at first, but trust me, I can't do math that fast because that's just INHUMAN. I can only estimate it."

"Oh, man. No, thank you," Zeke laughed. "I'm just no damn good at math."

"Yeah..," Jerad blankly nodded before glancing back at his tablet. "Another thing is, I'll miss the muzzle blast of centerfires, but oh well. Times change."

"Not entirely true, my friend," Levin shook his head with a smile. "They also have them."

"I can agree based on my experience with mine during my Draugur qualification," Claire added.

"Huh? That doesn't quite make sense," Jerad furrowed his eyes. "This gun uses electromagnetic field instead of combustion for propulsion. How could a gun like this ignite any fire?"

"That's because of the particles of dust in the atmosphere, and very tiny parts of the wear inside the weapon's components such as metal shavings that were almost instantly burned by immense electricity during the firing process," Levin explained. "It was so fast that it would seem like an explosion with each fire. This also works very similarly with the AR-35 Draugur gauss rifle commonly issued by Gleipnir, but not as intense since coil guns are less electrically powerful than rail guns, so with yours using the rail gun technology, you can absolutely expect your muzzle flash to be..more explosive as I could best describe it."

"Ah, I see. Now that makes sense," Jerad smiled.

"And for further consolation since you enjoy recoil?" Levin also smiled. "Also yes, even gauss rifles still have them because of the resistance of the firearm's forward propulsion on the projectile…similar to pushing an object forward, and feeling a backward resistance from it. Like muzzle flashes, this also happens very fast."

"Huh, like the old rifles are," Jerad chuckled while glancing again at his tablet.

"Wait. I need to keep up with something, but you just said… Draw-ger?" Zeke tilted his head.

"That's the model name of Claire's gun," Jerad turned to him. "I checked it out earlier. AR-35 Draugur, automatic assault rifle just like Claire and Misha's assault guns."

"Where did that weird name come from?" Zeke scratched his head.

"No idea," Jerad shook his head. "Let me see real quick…"

Then he pressed his tablet a few times. "Huh, a zombie Norse monster. Jeez, why is everyone so obsessed with the Norse myth? A lot of them are hard to pronounce."

"I cannot answer that, my friend," Levin chuckled. "I can only guess it's a cultural thing considering where we are."

"Alright, got it," Jerad sighed before staring back at his screen. "Another interesting one is the SPR-10 MK14 Vidofnir made by Beowulf Arms. Better looking sniper railgun than the Valkyrie, and beats its charge time by a second due to having less power. Also 40 rounds per mag which probably makes it lighter. Kinda wished the Valkyrie had it that way."

Then Hugo leaned forward to stare at his friend's screen. "Huh, yeah. That surely was nicely made."

"I also like the way it was mixed with white, and golden," Lulu added.

"Cool thing about this is they had a color theme to choose from with these guns," Jerad grinned. "Never ever gonna pick green. I don't want to see Gleipnir in my gun."

And Claire quietly closed her eyes with a sigh.

"Ah, well. I guess I'm on the next move," Jerad jumped out of his couch with a chuckle.

"Where are you going?" Hugo asked.

"To talk to Faith," Jerad grinned as he headed over to her.

"What's up, Devil?" Faith grinned before taking a bite of her potato chip.

"How's it going? I've known you got some nice inventory of small arms laying around for a while now," Jerad grinned. "Plus you got some RPGs there to blow stuff up. Got any sniper like this?"

Then he showed a picture of the Valkyrie rifle from his tablet.

"Wait, that's..," Faith paused seemingly in shock. "That's the Valkyrie, isn't it?!"

"Yep, I want this thing," Jerad confidently replied. "You have one?"

"That gun is not only expensive, but also hard to find, you know that?" Faith murmured.

"Really..?" Jerad's face slightly fell.

"It's not even rare in a sense that only a few are made," Faith shook her head. "Your biggest problem was the Ashland Navigation Law. Are you aware that AGEs are not allowed to personally own firearms?"

"Huh?!" Jerad scrunched his eyebrows before his face fell again. 'Oh, that's right. We're the oppressed dogs, so of course it only makes sense…I should have fucking known! How stupid I was to get excited for this…' "Not really…"

"Now you know," Faith smiled.

"I see..," Jerad frowned. "Well, I guess…"

"Remember we went over this earlier?" Shin suddenly spoke behind him with Hugo on his side. "That the owner doesn't care about us personally owning guns, and why. You should know by now that she doesn't care about the laws that don't suit her in our Port."

"Oh..yeah," Jerad scratched his head.

"Don't give up too fast," Hugo added.

"Yeah, I was about to say don't wave that white flag yet," Faith warned him. "Here's a work around: have you heard about the black market?"

"Uh, somewhat..?" Jerad raised his head.

"Then, who knows? There might be a few of those circling around, and if you're lucky, you might still get one," Faith smirked. "Can you guess who she is?"

"Uh.., your sister?" Jerad murmured.

"And what's her name?" Faith smirked.

"Hope," Jerad answered in monotone.

"We have a winner!" Faith giggled. "There is still my sister, Hope. Get it?"

"Uh, yeah..," Jerad awkwardly chuckled. "So, you're saying..?"

"She has dealings everywhere, both above and below board," Faith explained. "It's part of her job, and like me, she's also very knowledgeable about acquiring and trading firearms everywhere. Want me to hook you up..?"

"Then please do..!" Jerad pleadingly leaned forward. "Tell her that I'll pay her extra 50% on top of the rifle's cost for finding one for me. Also, I don't want anything green, or no buy."

"Then you got it," Faith grinned. "Deal is up. I'll link up with her by the end of the day, but considering the way black markets work, we can't guarantee anything, so..try not to get too excited since I genuinely don't want you to feel too let down, but we'll do our best. That, we can tell you for sure."

"Then thanks, anyway," Jerad slightly smiled. "I'm counting on her."

"Don't mention it. It's for fighting hard to protect us," Faith smiled back. "And on top of that, it's our business, and you're our customer. Also about earlier just as a kind of an insurance, but..is there another gun you also like?"

"Well..there is this one," Jerad showed her the Vidofnir sniper railgun from his tablet. "It's the second best in my book, but I want the Valkyrie far more. It is simply the best."

"Alright, we'll do what we can," Faith nodded. "I'll get a hold of my sister as soon as possible."

"Also…," Jerad glanced at a box behind Faith that had a diagram of binoculars in it. "How much do those binoculars cost?"

"Oh, these..?" Faith grabbed the box. "They cost around 800 FC."

"It's the same as the one Zeke has," Jerad murmured. "I'm getting it. Here's my card."

"You got it," Faith took the card from him, and swiped it at her register. "All yours Devil."

"Thanks. Have a good day," Jerad took the card back.

"You, too. Thank you for your patronage," Faith smiled back finishing her business, and Jerad returned to his friends.

"So, how did it go?" Claire murmured with Phym on her lap.

"Unfortunately, Faith doesn't have it right now. I was going to have it reserved for a fee until I get my safety cert once we get back," Jerad stared at his new box as Hugo, and Shin settled back on their couch. "Had to have her call her sister, and try fetching one in the streets while she's out there. I also offered to pay her extra on top of its price."

"Streets? You mean the black market?" Claire paused. "Isn't that illegal?"

And Jerad stared at her for a moment. "Not as long as I keep it inside Chrysanthemum's walls with the permission of the owner, and earn a weapon safety permit from Daris. The latter should not be a problem. Give me a handgun or rifle, preferably older types, and I can show you I can handle them."

"Then…I hope you'll eventually get it," Claire smiled.

Then Jerad stared at her again for a few seconds, partly out of surprise before smiling. "Thanks."

"Whoa, why did you buy that thing for?" Zeke grinned as Jerad started opening his binocular box. "It's the same one I got."

"Well, since we'll be standing outside soon, I figured I'd need one of these for more sightseeing, and maybe..," Jerad glanced at Claire. "A bit more marksmanship training for her if Aragami shows up. I'll be using this to spot for her."

"Ooh, Daddy! Can I borrow it?" Phym reached her hands.

"Not yet. Let me learn to read about this thing, first," Jerad pulled his brand new binoculars out.

And Zeke laughed. "It's all straight forward, man. Those two buttons are for zoomin' in and out, and that turning knob is for…you know? For making you see better?"

"Focusing, right?" Lulu closed her eyes.

"Yeah, that," Zeke chuckled while scratching his hair.

"I get it, but I need to know a bit more," Jerad began reading its instruction manual in one hand, and his binoculars in the other. "Like how to take care of it, maintenance, and stuff like how to not scratch your lens."

And he suddenly paused. "Oh, yeah. Hugo, I finished writing notes for weapon safety, and range command instructions."

"Already?" Hugo suddenly looked up.

"Wasn't too hard, but I recommend you memorize just the four range safety rules, and weapon conditions," Jerad gave him his notes. "Range commands don't really have to be exact, and you can say them in your own way as long as they mean the same thing."

"Gotcha. Thanks," Hugo took his notes, and everyone near him also looked. "Wow, these are well written. Organized, too."

"This is the first time you've seen his notes?" Misha smirked. "I used to copy them when we're still kids at school to study."

"Well, I know this is the second time after the Ashborn info one," Hugo chuckled. "But..I'm impressed how consistent he's been."

Then Trista laughed. "And those range commands always had "proceed" in the end!"

"That's very important, just so you know," Jerad grinned. "You don't execute my commands until I say that word, and if I catch you doing it before I say "proceed" out of your anticipation, you'll go down for 100 push ups."

"Isn't that a bit too uptight, and micromanagey?" Zeke complained.

"Maybe, but I have safety reasons behind that," Jerad explained. "What if I simply say "load," and then you loaded and made ready, assuming I say the second part, but didn't for any reason? Maybe to follow up with safe mode verification? That's definitely FFI because you might have put yourself and god forbid others in danger for that. Second violation of the same offense, in general, will likely have me, or any other instructor kicking you out of the range, and retrain you for remedial action."

"Jeez, so uptight," Zeke laid back. "But got it."

"Hope you don't learn this the hard way, Zeke," Jerad chuckled.

"Another thing is, I can't believe the Ashland Navigation Laws don't let us AGEs own guns," Zeke chuckled.

Then Jerad stared at him for a few seconds after reading a paragraph in his manual. "It's not surprising, but I should have known better beforehand, and the real question is, why did they even bother writing it? Vast majority of us are stuck in prison with these damn armlets together outside of fighting. Can you guess why?"

And Zeke paused, unable to answer.

"Shin, I bet you know the answer to this," Jerad turned his eyes to him.

"It's to take away the strongest means of the subjugated people to revolt," Shin answered.

Then Jerad clicked his tongue. "Bingo. Gleipnir wanted to keep us as oppressed as possible. That's the only reason why. History showed that the first thing tyrants do before oppressing their people is to completely disarm them. To take away any means for them to resist. Always, or that tyrant wannabe is just a moron. Do you remember what happened about…4 years ago, maybe? About Engage, and why Gleipnir banned it until this year?"

"I remember that," Hugo raised his eyes. "There were rumors of mass revolts in other Ports after discovering Engage, and before our guys started thinking about it in Pennywort, Gleipnir suddenly banned it."

Then Jerad snickered. "I bet Gleipnir, and their establishment cohorts got scared shitless for that, and acted quick. See? Tyranny has been all about keeping the oppressed from having any means to fight back. It's the same fucking pattern every time. Read some history, and you'll see."

"I wholeheartedly agree with our friend, and was also aware of those incidents," Levin closed his eyes. "In addition, there were rumors circulating around Arrowhead that Engage was purposely leaked out by the Crimson Queen in order to give the Ports' AGEs a chance for mass revolutions from their prisons, and hopefully join them. Unfortunately as you currently know, that never worked."

"Oh, I never heard of that one," Jerad laughed. "I'm starting to wonder when did the Crimson Queen come to be, and we Hound peeps never heard of them until what? Just last month when one of them saved me, and Phym from that ash spike? Figures, though. Gleipnir will definitely keep a tight lip on this because it could hurt their bloated egos for their public trust, and then more importantly, they don't want us oppressed "dogs" to know there's a group out there to save us, or else that will only encourage us to try more jailbreaks. Can't give your oppressed subjects any kind of hope for a way out, right?"

And he smirked.

"Sadly, correct," Levin nodded.

"There's simply nothing wrong with wanting a place to live, and be happy," Frida frowned. "It's only natural…"

Then Jerad chuckled. "Right, but do you think the world will simply just let us do that?"

And Frida stared up at him.

"Yeah, we dangerous 'monsters' had to be kept on a leash all the time. We are a "threat to society," after all," Jerad grinned.

"It's also likely why the Crimson Queen was formed," Levin murmured. "They just wanted a good place to live. Away from society's unjust scorns…"

"With that being said, I think I'm going to like the Crimson Queen a bit more," Jerad smiled.

"Are you sure..?" Hugo furrowed his eyes. "They have committed terrorist acts, and even went as far as starting Ash Storms."

"Of course not completely, but I'm giving them credit for just that," Jerad argued. "But also, what do you expect them to do when no one will listen to them? Protest, and either keep getting helplessly shot, or cut down by Gleipnir's God Arcs? I just talked about how tyrannical bastards are like, right? All roads lead to violence."

"Not always," Hugo shook his head.

"It will be, if you get pushed enough to drive to the end of it," Jerad confidently snickered. "Don't tell me you believe that "the pen is mightier than the sword." That's complete bullshit. Against tyranny who could simply kill you for disagreeing, how will you expect to defend your right to have a pen without a sword behind your back in the first place? Let me give you a solid historical example which is my home country, the United States of America."

He confidently kept his grin.

"Alright, go on," Hugo murmured.

"So..right after that continent was discovered during the Age of Discovery as I personally call it, a handful of the colonies was owned by an English country, the United Kingdom," Jerad began his historical education. "Eventually, the mainland started being unfair to their colonies, taxing the hell out of them, imposing more laws to control them, and many other stuff. The colonists eventually got sick of it, and these smart people we called our Founding Fathers, wrote their Declaration of Independence. Very important, so keep this part in mind."

He cleared his throat. "So after they sent their declaration to the mainland, the king responded by sending their warships and soldiers to their shores, and started seizing their people's properties, especially their own guns."

And he chuckled. "Ohh, this is where the fun starts, but after all that tension and heated arguments happening, do you know how the colonists responded to that knowing what was about to happen? They shot the bastards, instigating the Battle of Lexington, and Concord. It didn't even take long before they went into an all out war just overnight, and the colonists, now the Americans won, finally getting their freedom, and being free from that king's tyranny. It wasn't their pen that won their freedom. They tried that with the Declaration of Independence, but didn't have a choice but to shed blood in the end. It was the only way for them to get away from that king's crap. You see why I said that all roads lead to violence? Sometimes, it's the only damn way to get shit done, and the Crimson Queen, I think, knows that pretty well. I've been telling you, and even Lulu herself called it, that you can't play good guy all the time. Some people can be just hopeless assholes from the start that the only way to get your message across is to teach the bastards the hard way."

"I suppose you have a point," Hugo murmured.

"And I'm going to say it again that verbal comes first before physical," Jerad continued. "At least you warned first, and stay on the good guy side. That you can tell yourself that he had it coming instead of you. Back in that Port, I was THIS close..!"

He made a pinch gesture with his index, and thumb. "To punching that bastard's head off. I tried to tell him to fuck off more than once, and he kept chasing after me for a fight. I almost gave him what he wanted."

"I've been simply glad that Aunt, and I intervened soon enough, so thank you for doing your best to prevent that from escalating," Levin murmured. "Had that gone any further, I cannot guarantee if we can protect you."

"Heh, even if that bastard swung first while I keep backing away, Gleipnir will paint me as the bad guy, anyway," Jerad shrugged. "He can just tell them that I started it, and they'll all just side with him just like that before I'm off into the firing squad. They're just willing to sink that low. Look what happened to Tris' guys, namely Garret, and Gustav."

"We would certainly still take your side, and frankly, Gleipnir would do well to respect that, I highly believe," Levin replied. "Gleipnir owes a lot to our family, and our aunt held an immense amount of influence to that organization after Uncle Randall. You would definitely have a chance to be found innocent."

'I told you this before,' Claire mused.

"I guess you owe him that," Hugo smiled at his friend.

"No," Levin shook his head. "It is I who owed him."

"Hm..?" Frida turned to him.

"He saved my life once..during that Ashborn attack in our Port," Levin murmured.

"I see…I'm sorry," Frida frowned.

"Hm? For what..?" Levin suddenly raised his head. "You were off duty at that time…"

"It's just that..," Frida shook her head.

"It's fine, OK?" Levin closed his eyes. "If anything..I should have waited for you, and Lieutenant Sebastian before I fought out there to help others."

"Touching..," Jerad chuckled. "Though, here's the thing, but North America's got quite a long way to go to expand their history. It didn't stop there."

"Really? So, what went on from there?" Hugo asked.

"After their Revolutionary War, there's their civil war which was about states' rights and reunification, and their involvement in World War I, and II," Jerad continued. "I noticed that freedom has been often, if not always, paid with blood, but here's the most interesting part, the history of the Aragami outbreak, and the founding of the Fenrir North American branch."

"Huh," Hugo raised his eyes, remembering Ricardo's brief story. "Intriguing."

"I'm gonna warn you right now that it was bloody as well," Jerad snickered. "I'll start here. Before the Aragami outbreak, the country was in huge economical inflation, and civil unrest caused by their corrupt politicians that the people were eventually divided into two factions. One supported these corrupt bastards who wanted to sell their own country out for the elites to line their pockets, while the others wanted to preserve its traditional values written by their Founding Fathers. I forgot to mention beforehand that North America was actually known by the world for its armed citizenry, yeah you guessed it, people who can privately own guns, simply because their Founding Fathers wrote in their Constitution that "the right of the people to bear arms shall NOT be infringed." Very important part since I just talked about this. Those guys definitely learned their lesson from that oppressive king whose ass they just kicked."

Then he chuckled. "Anyway, these same corrupt politicians and their elites started banning their right of arms, hint hint, and did it slowly so people won't react. It worked, and then people just kept letting their rights get taken away bit by bit until their elites started thinking their own people were idiots, and abused their power, thinking they could get away with them. They were wrong. The American people eventually got sick of it, and started protesting in major cities. The bastard elites got cocky, and opened fire on their dissidents where a lot of people died. The Americans finally woke up, and fought back, starting bloody riots in those same major cities, and in the meantime, started forming militias. Their arrogant crooked politicians were also shocked to find out that their people have been stocking up on their weapons for years beforehand, probably anticipating for that uprising to happen, and while they started forming their militias, they also started purging ANYONE whose ideologies lined up with their elites who have been destroying their country without any care of who they were. Man, woman, or even someone as young as a teenager? Kill on sight, no questions. Some were done in 'fancy' public executions to be made examples out of, and some would even kill their own relatives."

"That was horrible," Claire gasped before covering her mouth.

"These people were really pissed off, and I'm not even trying to defend them," Jerad replied. "It was all just cause, and effect, and they didn't have a lot to lose, really. After a few decades of having their rights, freedoms, dreams, and lifestyles being taken away from them bit by bit..all for the benefit of the greedy elite few, who wouldn't be pissed? I'm going to be honest, but my people made a stupid mistake for letting it happen. They should have done something about this a long time ago since their forefathers gave them the means to, but now they had to pay the price by having to go through that bloodshed. I was also left to wonder, considering how long they've been letting these happen before their second revolution, if their kids, and on were also pissed at their fathers. If I'm going to be honest, they rightfully should. Their fathers, and grandfathers failed them, and now it's them who were going to suffer the most. The sins of the father shall also become the sins of the son, huh?"

"How the mighty have fallen," Levin closed his eyes.

"Yeah, but the elitist bastards were worse, and the people tried to make sure of that," Jerad laughed. "It cost them, mostly their lives, from angry mobs when they overplayed their hands, and got manhunted one by one, mostly being dragged out of their big houses they built with their people's tax money, and being shot outside for everyone to see. The people were also lucky that more than half of the whole US military took their side, mainly because they've been fed up with how weak their leadership has been, and sending them to stupid wars."

"Hm? What stupid wars? Serious question," Hugo furrowed his eyes.

"Oil, for a start," Jerad quickly replied. "As well as sending them to their deaths for the interests of their elite buddies. With that, they staged a coup d'etat against their own government, and in the end, the revolution was once again successful, albeit a short civil war in which some military also took the side of the current government, and died with them, deeming them all as traitors of their country. The bastards learned the hard way that they underestimated their own people. Though, the bitter sweet part was..their government system, democracy, died anyway...Well, kinda, actually."

"Demo-cracy..?" Hugo furrowed his eyes. "What is that?"

"It's a political system where people are the ones running the country instead of the elite, like kings, emperors, nobles, the like," Jerad explained.

"I've never heard of this, but a society that's run by the people, that looks ideal," Lulu rubbed her chin. "But that seems to be their system since their founding, why would these same people fighting for that principle abandon it? What new system did they move on to..?"

"Sadly, they realized that the average folk can't be trusted to have a say in big things such as running a whole country, anymore," Jerad replied. "It's what got them into that mess in the first place. One of the dirtiest tactics their politicians did to weaken their people to oppression is to push for decadence by promoting their sick ideology as good things, and a lot of people naively bought into it. And considering that it's a voting system, well, you know how those bastard politicians stayed in power, and created that whole mess that eventually got a lot of people pissed off. The majority of people were manipulated to keep voting for those clowns to stay in office."

"I see. I can connect the dots now," Lulu murmured. "This was so tragic…"

"It's not all too bad. They kept the same fundamental rights, but no more voting for just anyone," Jerad shrugged. "Instead, it became a military run state fully based on meritocracy because after all, they were the backbone of those hostile takeovers. In a nutshell, you have to earn your way high enough as a contributing citizen to have a say about your country, and if you don't have enough merit, you just simply sit the hell down since you contributed nothing. Here's the thing though, while they're trying to establish that and rebuilding their country, guess what happened next?"

Then everyone remained silent as they were unable to confidently answer.

"Right now is the year 2087," Jerad smirked. "What happened around early 2050?"

Then Claire suddenly made a low gasp.

"Hmm, looks like someone knew enough world history by reading books all day," Jerad's snickered. "You got the answer?"

"Yes, it's..," Claire paused. "The Aragami Outbreak, and then the Thorns of Judgement."

And then everyone froze.

"Unquestionably correct," Jerad curved his lips.

"Damn..! They almost had it," Zeke facepalmed.

"And the Fenrir North American branch wasn't made until about 10 years later, either," Jerad added. "What do you think happened in those years?"

"People fought each other again, did they?" Hugo murmured.

"Yep," Jerad nodded with a smile. "And that grudge between the two sides were still fresh, so…"

"I remember you told me this not long ago," Lulu murmured. "Aragami won't stop people from fighting each other as your country's history showed. There's been already an ideological conflict that is somewhat akin to genocide, and then now with fear of being predated by Aragami, your people likely fought over safer lands, and scarce resources."

"Yep, it got crazy in that country until Fenrir HQ sent God Eaters there to establish their branch through the construction of their first satellite base, and started feeding people, ending a lot of territorial disputes," Jerad chuckled. "But even with Americans becoming God Eaters themselves with Fenrir's help, and establishing their first satellite base for people to be finally safe behind walls, well, you think the bloodshed between them stopped?"

"Oh, hell no..!" Zeke leaned back while facepalming. "Enough, already. Why can't they just get along..?"

And Jerad only laughed at this. "Oh, trust me. They tried, but the thugs just preferred to take all the resources from other people for themselves, and caused quite a lot of trouble in their new settlement. If the Aragami outbreak wasn't enough for those thugs to get a clue, then what will?"

"I fail to see why you think this was funny," Claire curved her lips. "People were dying, and this is nothing to laugh about. They're your fellow countrymen, too."

"It's not the killing that's funny, don't get me wrong," Jerad let out a few more chuckles. "It's just that huge amount of beef they had with each other. It must be so bad that it lasted that long, but then, who's fault was it? The loser faction of that last coup d'etat who were still around during that time, and attacked innocent people to get greedy? I haven't mentioned yet that they're actually the same punks who instigated violent settlement invasions to try plundering them out while the traditionalists helped each other out to survive in scraps. Of course their hate fire would still be up, and bright."

"Some people just don't learn even in desperate times, don't they?" Frida murmured.

"Exactly," Jerad cracked a short laugh. "Going on with this, my people decided that it's finally time to clean up, and wipe that ideology and those who followed it out of their country's face for good."

"What ideology was this? I've been curious," Hugo murmured.

And Jerad chuckled. "That's an interesting question I had myself. The articles I've read avoided mentioning it as if the historians who wrote them didn't want their next generations to know about it, and I'm leaning towards the fact that the new traditionalist establishment took advantage of the world resetting, as I called it, that was caused by the Aragami outbreak to permanently bury it for good, so it won't tarnish the minds of their next generations. It was the one that nearly destroyed their country, to say the least, but I noticed a pattern of those people who supported it. Most of them were lowlives. Punks, goons, thugs, those types."

"I completely understand their motive behind this, but..," Levin rubbed his chin. "History has always been used as lessons to avoid repeating them."

"And yet, ironically still did, namely America becoming tyrants their forefathers hated, and tried to prevent," Jerad added. "They probably figured it was best to erase it from the books altogether so no one will ever get that idea again. They even forbade everyone from talking about it, like ever, and think about it, they likely took advantage of the fact that 90% of the world's population perished from the Aragami. That made it easier for them to control their influence. Was this a good thing? Personally no, but I'll just best call it a necessary evil. I honestly don't have a better idea myself, so I can't judge them, either."

"I see," Levin slowly nodded with his eyes closed.

"So, continuing on," Jerad shifted himself into a more relaxing position. "Murders among God Eaters in the ranks of the North American branch, and its residents alike, so happened that it caught the attention of Fenrir HQ's justice department, and sent their investigators there to quell it. People caught with these crimes were punished severely, and to be made examples of, but this didn't stop the body count from adding up as certain kinds of people still kept dropping dead like flies, some even disappeared and never found, and no one was able to prove who committed these murders. Innocent until proven guilty, right? I'm guessing that they figured out how to get rid of these people while still keeping their hands clean."

"In what way..?" Trista furrowed her eyes.

"Almost had no idea," Jerad replied. "I'm guessing sneaky stuff?"

"Hm, how about say..like just purposely luring your kill-target teammate to an Aragami infested area, and leaving them to die?" Shin suddenly spoke. "And then just telling the authorities that he was killed in action? But I'm sure they had more complicated methods since those had to be both more situational and opportunistic to make them less obvious…They have to be clever about it to not get caught, so this likely also involved the higher ranks of their new military."

"That's probably it," Jerad chuckled. "Sneaky stuff like that. Set ups? Scheming? The like. Anyway, as years went by, the unproven murders dropped, and the whole country was finally completely back to traditionalism, bringing back order, and then started having good families again which helped regrow their population. It actually brought them closer together, and lived by the mantra of 'no man left behind.'"

"And Garret said the same thing before," Trista added. "A couple of times."

"The North American branch was actually one of the most tight knit bunch," Jerad continued. "They're also considered one of the strongest besides Shin's people, the Far East Branch."

"Wow..," Shin raised his eyes.

"Congratulations, your people are bad ass, too," Trista chuckled.

"And later on, Fenrir HQ was impressed with how the North American branch militarily disciplined their God Eaters, and kept law and order among the populace. Most of the branch's higher ups were US military veterans, after all, who survived their political uprising, Aragami outbreak, and then the settlement wars, and carried on that tradition. Eventually, they started borrowing their instructors, and shipped them here to train their HQ GEs to reinforce their front which probably explains why Ricky saw a lot of my people here years ago."

"Pretty much," Hugo smiled.

"And that's where the book closes, and I think a little more than ten years later, Misha and I were born here," Jerad concluded. "Our parents must be among those Fenrir HQ handpicked to reinforce their frontlines to defend the regrowing population, and likely having more satellite bases built."

"I must say, I've been very astonished about your knowledge about history, and the lessons that came from it," Levin commented.

"Yeah, you never came off as being like a person with a…lie-breey in your head," Zeke added.

"Me either," Misha shook her head. "I still remembered you're good in class, but…"

"Whoa! You're going too far with that library thing, OK?" Jerad curved his lips as Claire giggled. "And I don't know much world history myself, only my homeland's so far, and I didn't learn all about this overnight, either. I spent a few days reading it every night before shutting my eyes to sleep."

"Ah, so what inspired you to read it?" Levin smiled.

"Ricardo rubbed on me, that's what," Jerad curved his lips again. "About him saying how we Americans are a bunch of rugged battle maniacs? I got curious enough to read it, and now thinking about it, I'm a little embarrassed…"

Then everyone laughed.

"Please don't be. I'd rather say that it was your people's rebellious spirit that enabled them to oust their tyrannical government. At least that's how I best saw it," Levin laughed. "I think you should at least be quite proud of your heritage. You are right, all roads do eventually lead to violence which is also why it is also very crucial to quickly mend problems before they worsen, and your history is an undeniable proof of that. Indeed, freedom from tyranny was very often paid with blood, and it is also very important to arm the citizenry to prevent such."

"The Founding Fathers really thought WAY ahead of time while writing their Constitution. I can't even imagine myself thinking that far," Jerad replied. "It's like they knew tyranny will happen again on their own soil by their own people who will take their political positions after them."

"The enemy within..," Levin murmured. "I am of the strong opinion that it is worse than those you face in front of you."

"I hate traitors," Jerad added. "And if I can say so, those bastards had it coming from their people, and they all got what they deserved for stabbing them in the back. Democracy is all about politicians working for their people, not the other way around, and the founders tried to make sure it stays that way as best as they can as part of their checks and balances. It worked in the end, but they were a hair close to being completely subjugated."

"Checks, and balances?" Hugo blinked his eyes.

"It is a system where no government position holds more power over the other, the balance part, so if one decides to go crazy with his own thing, others will have the authority to stop and out him, the checks part. Smart idea, I'd say. That's what saved the people from being completely oppressed by them."

"I see," Hugo commented.

"It's all about preventing tyranny," Jerad smiled. "And if those people completely gave up their arms at any time before that uprising, they're done. They just saw it happen which became obvious to them that tyranny is up, and that also became a catalyst for their short civil war."

And he sighed while laying back on his couch with his hands behind his head. "With that being said, I have an interesting question to ask all of you. With this history lesson done, think about this. Gleipnir is the tyrant, and then there's the Crimson Queen. Where do you think this is going..?"

And he glanced at everyone for an anticipated answer.

"War..," Claire frowned. "War could erupt at any moment with the way AGEs have been treated, and if this keeps up, all it will need…is a catalyst…"

"Yeah..," Jerad chuckled. "Something's got to give, right? It's how it works. Always."

---

'That's right,' Hugo mused. 'If freedom really has to be paid with blood, then are we really free yet..?'

Then he clenched his fist. 'There has to be another way. Maybe this reclamation could hopefully start making people change their minds about us AGEs. We have to succeed.'

---

"But I nevertheless hope this will never happen," Claire continued. "Humanity was already in a dire situation with the ash, and we cannot afford to turn on each other like this."

"Democracy is a really interesting system," Hugo commented. "Could you forward me those articles you've read?"

"I got no problem with it. Though, I don't think that's gonna work in your Port, if you're thinking about it," Jerad chuckled. "I mean, Ports are generally privately owned, right? It will be like spending your own money to build a house, and giving ownership to people you don't know for free. Considering that, you'll want your Port to be run by the family, right? You, then your two kids, and then your grandkiddies…"

"I get it, but I want to at least learn about how it politically works," Hugo also chuckled while Misha pouted. "More importantly, get some good ideas for what our laws should be."

"A good source of inspiration, if I may say so," Levin smiled.

"Fair enough," Jerad replied. "Another thing, what I told you in sum is nothing compared to what you're about to read. It's going to be a bit nastier by reading it, trust me, and I decided not to tell some parts. A lot of things to learn about, but I hope you're ready to see how a bit deeper the rabbit hole will go."

"It's fine, please do it by the end tonight," Hugo chuckled again. "You might not be the only one reading every night from now on."

And Jerad chuckled back. "Bring it."

Then the two laughed.

"Oh, great," Jerad groaned after staring at their clock. "It's almost lunchtime. I was going to read about railguns to see how they work, but I ended up using up our time for this."

"Please worry not, friend. It was a worthy education," Levin chuckled.

"Speaking of education..," Jerad glanced at Phym whom he found sleeping with the right side of her face so cozily on Claire's chest. "Huh…"

"Hm..?" Claire blinked her eyes before staring down to see their 'daughter' sound asleep. "Oh…"

"Aww, that's so cute," Misha cooed.

"Falling asleep in my lesson, huh..?" Jerad grimaced before his expression faded.

"What's wrong..?" Levin murmured.

"Never mind that," Jerad shook his head with his eyes closed. "Good thing she did, anyway. It was dark…"

"Understandable," Levin also closed his eyes. "Not a good tale for children to hear."

"But she'll have to learn later once she grows up.., or I'll make her," Jerad murmured. "Otherwise, she won't know how to deal with this damn cruel world. These Ashlands aren't good places to be innocent.., even for kids. Nobody cared how good Marr, Lil, and Sho were. They got those armlets on, and that didn't matter."

"I must agree," Levin nodded.

And Jerad shifted closer to Phym who continued groaning in her sleep, nuzzling herself deeper to Claire's chest. "Hey, Phym! Wake up! Falling asleep during my history lesson?"

Then Phym opened her eyes. "Hm..?"

"Need coffee..?" Jerad began his mischievous grin. "Heeere's one for ya..!"

Laughing, he clutched his fingertips on both sides of Phym's ribs, snapping herself completely awake into a laughter.

"Hey!" Claire shifted herself straight up on their couch to avoid Phym's flailing arms from her daddy's tickles, and raised her hands in defense, much to everyone's laughter. "Oh, gosh! That's reckless, you know?"

Not heeding her comment, Jerad snickered, and kept his gaze at the little girl. "Hey, once you're in school, I don't ever wanna hear your teacher telling me that you fell asleep in class, alright? Or else I'll make you sleep 30 minutes earlier on weekdays for each offense, and another punishment or two on top of that."

"Like..no candy?" Phym shuddered.

"Yep. That will be one of those, too," Jerad smirked before patting her head. "Anyway, it's almost lunchtime, and your uncle and I are gonna cook."

"Yeah, I'm starting to feel hungry myself," Hugo stood up, and stretched his arms. "Ready to get started."

"Let's do this," Jerad also stood up. "Beef stew time."

"We'll help, too," Misha followed after her brother. "Can't hurt, right?"

"Can't say no. Be our guest," Jerad shrugged.

"Phym, and I will help, too," Claire added.

"I can't wait for beef stew, Daddy!" Phym giggled. "So hungry."

"Just wait a bit until we finish," Jerad smiled. "We'll be back, and get some resupply, right? Might as well as abuse it a bit. Grabbing the oldest beef to cook for extra, and we gotta get rid of them before they spoil."

"Yay!" Phym jumped before the rest of them, including Faith, stood up, and headed together out of the lobby.