"So," Ernesti spoke as we settled into one of the many offices that our family manor held on the first day of my summer break. This office specifically was the one that we had commandeered years ago to be our blueprint drawing room, both for original Knights and the unique spell formulas that they would need to function.
"I've waited until you were finished with the relevant courses before we started this, as you had requested." he began, waiting for me to nod in confirmation before continuing. "What are your findings? Is my dream mecha possible?" he asked, excitement and longing evident in his voice.
I grimaced, gently scratching the back of my neck with my claws as we both sat on a small couch in the room.
"We both knew that it wasn't going to be easy, not by a long shot..." I began wearily, dreading and agonizing over the eventuality of this conversation for the past few months. Ernie, the ever positive, gave a sharp nod, his energy not diminished in the slightest. A sigh escaped my lips.
"Ernie... it's not looking very good..." I softly said, only for my brother to give the unfortunate news a small frown before bouncing back.
"That's ok! If the technology to make my dream Knight doesn't exist, I'll just invent it!" he declared triumphantly
"It's not something that can be just invented, Ernie!" I huffed, lifting two dangerous digits in front of his face as he blinked. "There are two reasons why your idea cannot be done. Firstly, there is no Ether Reactor in existence that could power so many energy-demanding systems as your Ikaruga has planned." I opened my hand to keep him from interrupting, gesturing for him to wait. "That technology is black boxed and a national treasure. There is absolutely no way you're going to get that kind of tech without first getting the attention of the crown."
Ernie gave a huff as he crossed his arms and maturely pouted.
"And the second reason?" he grumbled
"The second reason is that any hypothetical Ether Reactor that was in fact strong enough to power Ikaruga would have to come from a Division-class beast, Ernie. You know? The literal Kaiju that you need at least a thousand Knights to reasonably have any chance at killing it? Sometimes two thousand?" I shook my head as I saw his undaunted expression. The frown on my face grew more severe as an epiphany visibly appeared on his face.
"I'll do both!" he cried with an ecstatic grin "I'll just kill one and that will get me an audience with the king!"
"... Without Ikaruga?" I questioned slowly, watching as the silver haired boy deflated.
"Oh, yeah, that'll be rather difficult to do..." he murmured
"Difficult to do?!" I had to restrain myself from raising my voice too much. "Those things require a literal army to kill! Trying to fight one in any sort of singular capacity is suicide, Ernie! You'll die like a swatted fly!"
The little shit had the audacity to grin challengingly at me.
"Nah, I'm pretty sure I'd win." was his cheeky response.
"In what mech?!" I growled "There is nothing currently built that can go fast enough and hit hard enough to be able to do that! And if you're thinking about just removing the limiters to pull it off, you're a fucking idiot!" Ernie looked taken aback by the insult, obviously having been thinking exactly that. I grumbled and tried to calm down, reminding myself that he honestly doesn't really know any better.
"Removing the limiters would cut your operation time to mere minutes Ernie. Those mech have them for a very good reason, remove that and the mech will literally fall apart in less than ten minutes." I tried to calmly explain, but my annoyance was still bleeding into my words.
"But... they have the Boosting magic-" he started, only for me to cut him off.
"That can't keep up with going any further! They've had this technology for centuries; they've already repeatedly tested and explored just how far you can push these things!" I rebutted
"So that's it?!" he snapped in response, annoyance evident. "You're just going to give up on it?! We can do this! You said it yourself; that all we need to do is kill a Division-class!"
I snarled as I got close his face, rage building as the fool still didn't see the problem.
"People will DIE because of this, Ernie! Do you not see it?! There is nothing on this planet that will prevent that! Trying to fight something like that is akin to fighting a hurricane! How many corpses are worth your precious dream?! Because you will still need that army to achieve it! How much blood are your willing to have on your hands just to have that ridiculous wonder weapon?!" My voice was raised by the end of it, and credit where credit is due, Ernie got right up into my face as well.
"Like you have any room to talk! I've seen some of your entries within the G.R.I.N.! Many of those are in the same boat as my Ikaruga!" he snapped back
"I've been making spells and tailored tactics to pull off the much smaller and safer kills necessary to have my Battlemechs, Ernesti! It will be a slow, gradual build up as I expand the arsenal of options and upgrades as I work my way up the tech tree! Where's your excuse?!" I rebutted hotly
"I've designed tactics too!" was his reply
"Tactics that only you yourself can use! Not even I can pull off that ridiculous crap, Ernie!" I stop myself and take a steadying breath. "That isn't the point Ernie, do you not see the problem?!"
"No," was his blunt reply, shocking me into a moment of silence.
"Really?" I ask softly "It doesn't bother you in the slightest that in order to achieve your ideal mecha, many people must die?"
Ernesti has the decency to look to the side with a grimace, rubbing the back of his head.
"This was what I was afraid of," I began with a sigh, drawing his attention back to me. "Ernie, battles with Division-class Beasts have a near guaranteed fifty percent casualty rate at best. While there might be an emergency that requires us to fight one at some point, hunting one it not an option, both in its difficulty and the cost of human life."
"I won't go deliberately hunting one," he replied softly as well "I promise."
I gave a weak chuckle at the tailored reply, reaching out and booping his nose with the back of a finger.
"I find that answer vague and hiding a loophole..." I lightheartedly grumble, a smile lifting my brother's face as he batted my hand aside.
"Would you get upset if I joined a response group to fight an attacking Division-class?" he coyly asked.
I laughed and pulled him into a one-armed hug.
"Figures that less than fifty percent survival odds wouldn't stop you for a moment," I huffed "Alright, I'll promise not to get mad if you were to run off to help defend against a Division-class, IF-" I hold up a hand to stop the words from coming out of his suddenly excited face. "If, you listen to my words and follow these guidelines, you ready?"
He nodded, pulling a notebook and pen from somewhere.
"Firstly: Never, ever, go it alone. Those things will focus you down if you're fighting it by yourself. This also includes fighting at a pace that no one else can possibly keep up with." I began, giving him a slight shove when he simply grunted in slight annoyance, before we both grinned and chuckled.
"Secondly: Unless the specific Beast has obvious weak flesh bits, don't bother with melee. Trust me, you're just wasting swords and you operation time otherwise. Those things have armor that can handle Beasts from slightly lower classes if not the same class. You're Knight will not be able to beat that." This one got a frown from Ernesti, the goober obviously wanting to rush in with a giant sword, but he eventually gave a begrudging nod.
"Thirdly: Through magic we have the elements themselves at our command as well as a modern understanding of those elements. If swordsmanship and the humble Fireball fail you, don't forget that you always have a much bigger arsenal. Use that big brain full of knowledge to think outside the box, almost every enemy you will ever face has an elemental weakness of some kind. You simply need to figure it out." I smiled at his pondering expression, clearly already thinking about various applications. That grin grew into a chuckle as his pen began flying across the pages of the notebook he was holding.
I gave him a few minutes before I gave my final point
"And fourthly: Pace yourself." I laughed at his flat expression "Yeah, I know that's terribly stereotypical, but it's true. Don't be afraid to tap out and disengage from a fight to go recharge. That's one of the main reasons why you can't go it alone, you'll burn yourself out and won't be able to recuperate. Another side of this point is to keep track of your Knight itself. Feel through the magic if there is any sort of damage building up. Trust me, having an eye on your "health" will prevent you from sitting there in confusion when your arm suddenly falls off."
"Is that all?" he rolled his eyes in faux weariness "that's so much to remember..."
"Yeah yeah," I grumble "I'm telling you, if you remember those point, you might just survive a Division-class fight."
"What about actually killing one?" Ernie focused in on that, for obvious reasons
"Unless you have a coordinated army with you; fat chance there, buddy." I grunted, leveling a light glare at him.
"Alright, I get it. BUT! Say I did have one? What then?" he brushed aside my warning with his usual eagerness.
"IF you had that coordinated army, IF you were using it to defend against an attacking Demon Beast, then..." I paused for effect, taking a measure of satisfaction at watching him fidget. "IF those are the case, remember that all Demon Beasts are organic creatures at the end of the day, and thus have the same universal weakness as any of the creatures that they resemble."
Ernie grumbled to himself as he continued writing
"Man, I can't wait for when I get to school. I'm going to need to find out which of the recorded Division-class species we can reasonably kill. With minimal loss of life." He added on the last bit at my pointed look.
"We?" I questioned flatly as I turned back
"What? You're telling me that you wouldn't help me fight a giant monster?" he challenged lightheartedly. I grumbled a bit as I leaned back into the couch.
"Eh, I can't say that I wouldn't join you if I'm being honest. I mean, come on." I gesture out before us and switch to a grand narrator voice "Imagine, two brothers taking up arms within giant robots rushing off to defend the kingdom against a rampaging Kaiju..."
"Me in my Ikaruga, flying on wings of light and wielding swords of energy..." Ernie breathed out as he lost himself in the daydream
"Me?" I chuckle a bit "Well, I kinda want to see what a King Crab could do against something like that."
Ernesti let out a groan as he rubbed his face.
"Seriously?! You just had to bring up that thing?!"
"What?! It's a valid option!"
"But it looks so-"
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE CRAB'S LOOK?!"