Gaze

-" What do you meeaan its my problem-?! You guys are the ones who decided to become humanoid, you should of been prepared for it's advent-! "

}{}{ Too be fair, I didn't expect it to change the other turrets as well. In all honesty Scarab and I expected to be able to be a little... more compact. }{}{

>> Crazy enough, I actually can still fit in creator's pocket if he will let me! <<

}{}{ I guess you could, but then what about me and the turrets? }{}{

- " Can they be un-summoned temporarily? "

}{}{ Unfortunately... no. }{}{

- "... fine, fuck it. I was already thinking about making a draking ship of my own, I guess I could make a small one for them temporarily to sleep in. "

}{}{ We shall assist then. I guess this is an advantage in a way, 7 people will now be able to help you construct large projects. }{}{

- " Not so fast hotshot, you guys don't have alchemy. The material I work with is practically impossible to use without it, and especially now that I am using Void to supplement it. At most, I will need assistance from Scarab to supply a Nano Augment on the construction. "

}{}{ Alright. Teach us how to use Alchemy then. }{}{

- " That's a problem, first off you need to be level 30, then a Job change token. Second, it's not like alchemy is something so easily learned... especially considering the somatic nature of it. "

>> Sucks to suck-! I guess I get to help out on the cool draking ship and you don't, hehe-! <<

}{}{ I am going to hit you. }{}{

- " Ahem. Continuing on; The biggest problem we currently face is lack of space and time, we are on an airship after all... and frankly, it's getting close to sundown. Making a structure big enough to house you guys in that time period will be a stretch, moreover... such a structure would likely serve no use seeing as by the time we arrive to our destination I would only be around halfway complete. "

}{}{ What makes you say that? }{}{

- " The Jet. It took me 3 days for a one person vehicle with minimum space. "

>> True. But, creator, I have a far bigger collection of nano machines at my disposal with this upgrade... so, if you can provide a blue print and material while supplying me with Alchemical Power I could probably channel it through the little guys to forge the ship-! <<

- " Vetoed. The material is Void, any mistake can corrupt your entire database resulting in your death. "

>> What if I just don't make mistakes? <<

- " I am not letting you take that risk. "

>> But you'll let yourself take the risk despite you being infinitely more valuable than me? <<

...

- " Yes. "

>> Why? <<

- " So nobody else has to. "

>> Why? <<

- " I was raised that way. "

>> By who? <<

- " A gambling scrapper, A prostitute, the fucking mafia, and a few good books. "

>> Did you get that Syn? New lore just dropped for Cobalt-! <<

}{}{ Yep. Data has been stored. }{}{

- " How is that important at all. "

>> Any knowledge we have on you helps us protect you better. <<

- " You aren't meant to protect me... "

>> Why not? <<

Dice - " Yeah, Cobalt. Why shouldn't we? "

... I thought for a moment. That was a good question, I make them for a reason but that always slowly fades as I grow to like them...

- " Well. That's complicated. How about we change the scene, I am going to attempt to recall and tell my life story. Then, you guys leave me alone for a while with Anise and Scarab and I'll make something to house you guys. "

}{}{ I will accept this condition, what about everyone else? }{}{

Dice - " I am all for it, but first we should get some popcorn-! "

- " It's not going to be that long. No need for popcorn. "

Anise - " Sounds good. "

>> I'll make sure to record this, will you do the same Syn? <<

}{}{ Y-yeah. Yes. I will be recording this as well. }{}{

- " You guys are weird. Whatever. You wanna listen Jotun? "

J - " Not particularly. But, I don't really have anything else better to do. Ramble away. "

- " Alright. Where do I begin... "

[][][][][]

" Well. To begin with, I first must describe Earth.

It was... suffice to say... nightmarish.

It was smoggy, the air was hard to breath and the water was never clean.

I don't know much about it. I was raised in a... well, junkyard. Hundreds of miles above us was a giant city held up by giant pillars of material I never understood, they had large chutes where they deposited waste into the lands I called home.

We built homes of rusted pieces of metal stuck together by melted plastic, our floors were no different than the ground outside albeit a tad bit nicer... despite that, people thrived. Enough to basically be their own civilization. The memory is foggy, but I know my family was affiliated with a mafia group.

What they did was charge nearby homes to protect them against thugs and other brutes for the most part, though they would beat you up if ya didn't, they would run gambling rings with old playing cards and fixed up slot machines... they were quite profitable, enough for the bosses to get by at least.

My father worked as a scrapper there, disassembling old objects for parts and various things, and he was one of the best by far... he made so much money, we could of bought our way to the surface a thousand times over... but, he gambled and bought drugs again and again.

Suffice to say, with that, we barely managed to get by. Unfortunately that means, in order to fuel my desperate desire for knowledge, my mother sold her body as a prostitute in order to make enough money for books and other things... I didn't let it go to waste.

At the young age of 11, I began tinkering with various spare parts and weaponry I found, together with a hastily repaired welder I began making guns. Small ones at first, smooth barrel too, no better than chucking a rock with a sling for sure but... it was something, with a few misfires and a lot of noise complaints... I began improving rapidly.

At 12, I was proficient in more than just making flintlocks. I began making my own rudimentary ammunition. Not the crazy bullets or projectiles we see in proper weapons, but it was simple... easy... and, more importantly... cheap. 13, this trend continued on. The guns were becoming more sophisticated along with my tools, the crappy welder was swapped out for an industrial one and I managed to jury rig a sawing table. My guns were also now nearing the stages of world war 1 weaponry.

At 14, my skill was rewarded. I was paid handsomely to make guns and ammunition for the group my dad worked for, I was given better tools and better materials and so... I continued to grow. I continued on for years without break, until she came, my sister... she was a bastard child but I didn't hold it against her, I made a vow I would work hard enough so she didn't have to.

15. There was a big exodus from the junkyard, disease became huge and the only way to solve problems to those people was to run away from it. Unfortunately, the mafia had other plans. See, usually they extorted the population... but without a population, there is no way to extort it. So they hired as many people as they could to keep them around, it worked but laws on the surface outlawed that action.

A few months later, soldiers came and killed tons of people. To them we weren't human, but there were a few who were nice. They arrested the mob boss and took a few people away for questioning including me.

So, eventually I was released. Though, before that I was also given the opportunity to work in a militia as an armory on the surface, I took it and my family was able to move as well.

My memory is most fuzzy there, though I do know I eventually became renowned of sorts as a firearms manufacturer. Yes, you could mass produce guns like that in factories, but factories didn't have imagination. I generally was able to improve on any form of weapon given, and my skill snowballed me into higher and higher positions.

After that, the world ended so... eh.

Yeah, then I went to StarDuster and... you know the rest. "

[][][][][]

}{}{ Thank you for the story. Data bas been recorded, I assume you did likewise Scarab? }{}{

>> Yep yep-! It was pretty interesting, but I always wonder... why guns? They are plenty complicated and... why not just use a sword? Or Magic? <<

- " Magic didn't exist on earth, we had nothing but our bare hands and knowledge. Guns are easy to learn and effective. Swords on the other hand, don't exactly beat aircraft. "

J - " Then how are you so fucking good with both magic and swordsmanship? "

- " Psh, don't flatter me. I am dog shit with swords and can barely understand magic. "

J- " You say that, but here you are. Talking to someone you made with magic. "

- " Fair point but I still am not a swordsman for a reason, I can only block and parry. A real swordsman would at least be able to strike. "

J - " I saw the archives of you fighting Quartz back at blossom field, with that magic sword you made you easily beat him. "

- " Yeah, but he only had a shield. A tower shield no less, besides, I was boosted by Syn. "

}{}{ Can confirm. I was there. But... your swordfighting was all you, I only activated to make your attacks trigger link strikes. }{}{

J - " Alright. How about this Cobalt, we do another duel. "

- " No. Anyways, that story took... what, an hour? We are going to have to figure out the bunking situation. "

}{}{ Well, we could probably fuse. That might work. }{}{

- " Damn. That's true, is that still possible? "

>> Likely, his new body might also be able to fuse others into you. <<

- " Alright, new rule. Do not fuse anyone into me unless I specifically request it. "

}{}{ Confirmed. }{}{

>> Confirmed. <<

| Confirmed. |

J - " Well, I am not entering your body anyways. "

- " Good. "

...

- " Where did the others go? "

J - " Dice got called by the captain to help dissect a dragon, Anise is trying to see if she can polymorph herself to prestige. If she can, I'll likely do it as well. "

- " Do you think Dice would opt into that as well? "

J - " Maybe. Maybe not. Up to her, she might not want to lose her evolutions. "

- " True. Alright then, so uh. Jotun. You use that sword I gave you with one hand right? Would you like something to wield in your other hand? "

J - " Eh. Maybe. Arch is the dual wielder though, so I don't know. "

- " What if I gave you a gun? "

J - " Why? "

- " I think it would suit you. "

J - " I'll think about it. "

Hehehe. Maybe I can get someone else to use guns as well, she would heavily benefit from one. I don't know what type I should give her though, I could do a bailiff style shotgun pistol... or maybe a revolver... oh, wait no. Desert Eagle. Alright, time for some rough sketches...

Oh, and I also got to start planning out a draking ship... I should probably emphasise armor and weaponry as opposed to speed as I can copy-paste a Jet design for something like that... let me just get out some paper a-

...

I keep forgetting I am blind, this mana vision is ridiculously good when looking at beings basically made of mana but... I guess I am still blind when it comes to that stuff. I need new eyes, fast.

Ugh.... maybe I should check the forums, they might have something there...

Nevermind. I can't see the forums. Fuck.

... Syn can see it now, right? He has a player stat block... he might just be able to...