In the small community of Patch, the island that lies just a bit away from the west coast of Vale, three children walked through the streets of this modest settlement.
Ruby Rose, the 10-year-old girl, zoomed to and fro across the streets. Her attention caught on everything she saw in the small number of shops lining the streets. Her silver eyes shining with delight as she took full advantage of this rare expedition out of her house. Especially when said outing was not for dropping her off at school.
"Ruby! Don't go too far!"
Her sister, Yang Xiao-Long, shouted out as she spotted Ruby moving further and further away from her with her semblance.
While there was no danger of something happening in this small community where everyone knew everyone, it was still possible for Ruby to end up getting lost, which would lead to her 12-year-old sister having to approach the police and initiate a search.
A lot of hassle that can easily be avoided if Ruby does not go too far.
"Okay!!"
Ruby shouted back, but did not slow down as she beelined towards the only forge in the town. Their very destination for the day.
Watching this, Yang could not help but sigh in resignation.
"She says 'okay' and then proceeds to do exactly what I said not to do."
"Haha! I guess she learned that attitude from you, then?"
"Hey!"
Yang glared at her friend, Ignis Ruben, who raised his hands in defeat. The 12-year-old boy who arrived in their lives nearly six months ago had become a close friend. One who could actually keep up with her in both her studies and her sparring practice.
Aside from his intelligence and strength, there was also how caring he was, especially towards Ruby, which made Yang trust the boy even more and consider him a really good friend of hers.
"But seriously, I told her many times not to leave all by herself, but she doesn't listen at all."
Ignis placed his hand on his friend's shoulder with a warm smile.
"She does listen. Remember that time she went out on her own to buy some candy?"
Yang's mind flashed back to a few months ago when Ruby went out on her own without telling anyone to get some cookies and candies with her saved-up pocket money.
The sheer chaos that erupted in the house that day, especially with a panicking Yang, a fuming Taiyang who had already left the home searching for her, and a calm but utterly serious Ignis who was already making all kinds of calls that Yang couldn't make heads or tails of, was legendary in their household.
However, nearly two hours later, the little girl happily returned home with a bag full of cookies and candy.
While Ignis and Yang were busy grounding the little one and making sure she was alright, Taiyang finally came back with a peculiar mix of pride and anger.
Turns out, Ruby had not been as reckless as they had imagined.
Instead of venturing out on her own, she had gone straight to their neighbor, Mrs. Esmeralda, and asked her to take her into town. Something that the middle-aged woman happily obliged with since she was going to head out anyway. Then, after buying what she wanted, Mrs. Esmeralda dropped Ruby off at home before heading back to her own house.
Remembering the whole incident, Yang reluctantly nodded as Ignis continued speaking.
"Ruby is not reckless. She just feels safe with you and I around to keep an eye on her."
"....Yeah. That makes sense. But still..."
"I get it. You are worried. So, how about we increase our pace a bit?"
At Ignis's challenging grin, Yang's excitement peaked instantly.
"You're on!"
At once, her Aura activated, boosting her body beyond human, while Ignis did the same.
It was an unwritten rule between the two of them that they would not use their semblances in any of their competitions. Or, in Ignis's case, not push it beyond its passive state.
Especially after the sparring incident two months ago, which made Taiyang cry.
Their bodies flickered as they shot forward with unbelievable speed, racing against each other.
Within minutes, they covered a distance that would have taken them half an hour and screeched to a stop in front of the forge at the exact same time.
Yang clicked her tongue and crossed her hands with a pout. Her twin tails still wildly flying in the air due to the abrupt stop.
"Darn it. It's another tie."
Ignis chuckled at her words before patting her on the head.
"So it would seem. Better luck next time."
Yang snorted before walking in sullenly, making Ignis chuckle again, following her into the forge.
Inside the forge, Ruby was already present, throwing all kinds of questions at the blacksmith who had a look between intrigue and alarm.
The moment the little girl spotted her sister and friend, she happily waved her arms.
"What took you two so long!? Look! Uncle Norma has already started forging his next project while you took your time!!"
"Ruby, we were literally arrived just a few minutes after you."
Yang shook her head and walked forward, easily picking up Ruby from the table where she was precariously sitting at before placing her on a proper chair, where the little girl happily swung her legs, watching everything with curious and excited eyes.
Ignis approached Norma and nodded.
"Is it ready?"
The old blacksmith nodded as well.
"It is. I must say, kid, it's rare to find students with an appreciation for classics. These days, it's all about mechashift this, mechashift that."
The old man muttered angrily as he removed the cloth covering what Ignis, Yang, and Ruby had arrived here for.
Sitting innocently on the pedestal was a rather long sword, the same size as an arming sword, with a distinct guard design and its width slightly thinner than a standard sword.
However, its designer, Ignis, and its forger, Norma, were well aware that its plain appearance was a deception of the highest order.
Because this was not just any Aura-Steel Blade. This was a weapon made with a material that is mainly used by Huntsmen who prefer hand-held artillery pieces, like specialized sniper rifle rounds or ammo for fixed chain guns designed to punch through extremely powerful and ancient Grimm. A material called Aura-Tungsten.
Similar to Aura-Steel, Aura-Tungsten is created when molten Tungsten is flooded with Aura during its ingot-making stage. After that, the ingot is heated and hammered into sheets and folded repeatedly while flooding it with Aura during the entire process. The quality and the ability to channel Aura of the Aura-Tungsten depend on the number of folds incorporated into it and the precise amount of Aura used during these steps. Then, during the final stage where this beaten metal is once again molten, they add Aura again at a specific quantity and finally set them into ingots, selling them to various weaponsmiths who want to use them.
The number of folds involved, the precise quantity of Aura used, the exact density of the Aura belonging to the workers who are doing this entire proccess and many other precise details are all secrets guarded rather heavily by the Kingdoms to make sure that those who are not Huntsmen can never have access to this physics-breaking metal, just like with Aura-Steel.
The end result of this state-secret crafting method is a metal that is so much denser than regular Tungsten with none of its drawbacks. A metal that can withstand temperatures upwards of four thousand degrees celcius and with a density so high that it is now four times as dense as Osmium.
That is why this deceptively simple-looking sword, which would have weighed 8 or 9 lbs if they had used regular steel or even Aura-Steel, is now more than 100 lbs in weight.
An absurd number that most huntsmen would consider an impracticality in a sword, but one that Ignis specifically requested to take full advantage of his semblance.
Ignis walked forward and picked up the extremely heavy weapon with one hand, its weight barely registering in his mind thanks to his semblance always remaining active and boosting his strength passively.
Norma watched with a level of awe as the 12-year-old boy easily swung the blade that weight as much as a two cushion couch or the same as a 12 gallon water tanks, as if it weighed nothing, going through various forms before letting out a satisfied sigh.
"It's balanced really well. I like it."
Ignis put down a few cards of Lien on the table, his final payment for the blade, and took the plan black scabbard that Norma prepared for the blade.
Norma took the money while still staring at Ignis before speaking.
"You are really something else, you know that kid?"
"Hm. I have been told that on multiple occasions."
The blacksmith watched as the kids walked out of the forge. Ruby continually pestering Ignis so that he would let her hold the weapon and coming up with various names for it, while Yang just shook her head at the antics.
"Looks like Signal is going to have rather interesting few years this time around."
----------------------------------
Jian Sword: (Click for Image)