Solon stands in his grandfather's workshop, in front of his own little forge—a place where he spends a large portion of his days. His eyes scan the huge collection of ingots he's produced himself from various scrap metals. Most are iron, but there's also copper, bronze, tin, aluminum, zinc, and even a few tiny silver and gold ingots. Every single ingot is neatly stacked in a huge cabinet, ordered by size, and metal.
Collecting and stacking ingots is so addicting. I wish I had more space! I'm running out already.
Solon grabs a few iron ingots, carefully weighs them, and places one larger ingot back into his cabinet. He picks up a few smaller ones until the scale shows the exact weight he needs. With a smile, Solon begins the process of forging the iron bangles. Despite the sweat dripping down his face, he stays fully focused, carefully melting the iron ingots with the highest purity he could find into a rough shape that already resembles a bracelet.
Solon uses a mix of simple hammer strikes—using one of his many hammers of varying sizes, tools inherited from his mother—and mental manipulation thanks to his Control Metal Materia.
The bangle is small enough that I can easily manipulate it with my Control Metal Materia. Combined with a few good hammer strikes, it's easier than I thought. I'm making fast progress!
A few hours later, Solon holds two iron bangles in his hands. Both are slightly modified, with leather straps added to tighten them—a feature not present in the original design, of course.
Solon begins to melt one of his tiny, precious silver ingots from his collection. Using his Control Metal Materia, he arranges the molten silver into a beautiful snowflake pattern on one of the bangles.
From the countless spare parts he's dismantled—found in the abandoned mansion and his grandfather's workshop—Solon carefully selects the pieces needed for the bangle's inlay, the most important part that requires careful attention to detail.
If I mess up this step, the bangle might look like a normal bracelet, but it'll just be a useless piece of metal.
After countless hours of careful carving, welding, and tinkering, Solon now holds two iron bangles in his hands. One of them is adorned with a beautiful silver snowflake, glittering under the artificial lights of Mason's workshop.
I think I did everything correctly. Let me check if I need to fix any tiny details. I also used a lot of Grandpa's hints—maybe this is even better than the standard iron bangle! I also need to add Tifa's Ice Materia.
Solon slots Tifa's Ice Materia into the silver-decorated bangle and uses his scanner to check both bangles—the one for Tifa and the one he made for Cloud.
[Iron Bangle]
Defense: 17 (16)
Magic Defense: 17 (16)
Materia Slots: X
Slotted Materia: Ice
Note: Item slightly varies from standard design, 23 deviations found.
Note: Performance minimally improved, minor improvement in design detected
[Iron Bangle]
Defense: 17 (16)
Magic Defense: 16 (16)
Materia Slots: O
Slotted Materia: Empty
Note: Item slightly varies from standard design, 21 deviations found.
Note: Performance minimally improved, minor improvement in design detected
Nice! They're both slightly better than the standard design! I did it! And the Materia is perfectly slotted in—it's working! These are probably worth some real cash—I can start selling my works, I think! A true bracelet with a Materia slot, all created by me, without repairing old ones! I did it all on my own!
Heh, and I did it before turning 9! I have to tell Grandpa!
As Solon turns around, he notices his grandfather silently watching, clearly not wanting to disturb him. Mason begins to clap and hugs his grandson, but he can't help asking, "Congratulations! But I only see two. You're still wearing your old bronze bangle. Isn't it time to forge a new one for yourself?"
"I like this one, Grandpa. It's your present, after all, and I don't have any more Materia to use, so it's more than enough for now."
"How about a little bet, Solon? You'll be 9 next week, right? If you succeed in creating a bracelet with two slots, I'll give you a special present. I'd suggest aiming for a simple Star Bracelet—it's relatively easy to forge, lightweight, and has two Materia slots. You'll notice similarities between the Iron Bangle and the Star Bracelet as well, making the process much easier."
"Heh, Grandpa, challenge accepted! But I'll go for something else," Solon says with a grin, already excited to earn his present.
"Solon, slow and steady, wins the race. Don't rush. Arrogance is something you should avoid! Everything has a natural order to it. Starting with a Star Bracelet is a good idea. It's lightweight and quite similar to the Iron Bangle material-wise, just requiring more fine adjustments. But it has similarly low requirements for the forging process itself. However, I'll accept your decision. You must learn by yourself, so do what you think is best. You'll be sorry if you have to wait another year to win your present, though, hehe," Mason laughs, clearly expecting Solon to fail.
"I think the Star Bracelet isn't good enough, Grandpa. According to the design I input into the scanner, it only has 30% of the defensive stats of the already weak standard Bronze Bangle. It focuses almost entirely on Materia slots, and I don't even have enough Materia to fill them. It makes no sense to craft something I don't need! I'll craft it sooner or later for the experience, but I want to challenge myself!" Solon responds earnestly.
"I'll see what you can achieve within a week, Solon," Mason says with a smile as he leaves the room.
Grandpa's right. Something like a Titanium Bangle, Mythril Armlet, or even a Studded Bracer is way beyond me. Even though Grandpa gifted me those designs a few months ago and I've been studying non-stop, I don't see any hope… But I'll aim for a Leather Bracer! If I succeed, I can tighten it and won't have to replace it in a year as my arm size keeps changing. I am not arrogant, I really want to forge something that is suitable for me.
What I did for Cloud's and Tifa's bangles with the leather straps is a quick and dirty fix, not a good permanent solution. Even though I made them larger on purpose so they can keep them for a long time, it's not ideal.
The Leather Bracer is also pretty light and overall a good fit for me. Physical defense is more important than magic defense, at least in a place like Nibelheim.
— [Scene Break] —
[Leather Bracer*]
Defense: 14 (26)
Magic Defense: 5 (6)
Materia Slots: O ? (ERROR)
Slotted Materia: Empty, ERROR
Note: Item significantly varies from standard design, 89 deviations found.
Note: 7 crucial errors found, reducing effectiveness, 1 Materia slot nonusable.
Solon sighs, throwing the obviously defective Leather Bracer into a bin next to another one that's even worse. He then carefully looks at the scanner, trying to find out what mistakes caused the errors.
The errors mention insufficient connections and missing structural integrity. I've analyzed each mistake, but I don't see what I did wrong. I stuck to the standard design as much as I could. I used every required component and placed them in the correct positions… so why aren't the connections working? The tools aren't the problem—is it my technique? No, I did fine. Grandpa taught me to do it that way.
I'm missing something… Tifa's birthday is tomorrow, and the deadline's the day after on my own birthday. I think I assembled it correctly, but it's just not coming together… why?! Obviously, there's something wrong with the Mako lines and the connections. The defensive boosts are way lower than they should be, and one Materia slot is even defective! Compared to the Iron Bangle, these parts are slightly more complex, and the Mako lines are smaller and more complicated, but it shouldn't be this different! What am I missing? The stupid scanner doesn't tell me! 'Not aligned, not connected, weak connection'—that's not helpful at all!
Grandpa said the first step is usually the Star Bracelet? Do I give up and try that one first?
It's not giving up… maybe there's something I'm missing for this one. I hate when Grandpa doesn't tell me the solution and wants me to figure it out on my own!
Fine! Let's do this…
Solon begins by carefully melting some of his iron ingots, using just a small amount—way less than the bulkier Iron Bangle requires. He carefully creates the sleek shape of the Star Bracelet, only needing to heat up the unfinished bracelet a few times, and doing some small corrections on the design. His growing skill with the Control Metal Materia is a huge help, allowing Solon's imagination and willpower to shape the metal with almost inhuman precision.
He then inserts the components, largely similar to the ones he used for his Leather Bracer, and begins shaping the Materia slots, the Mako connecting lines, and all the other connections to the various components of the bracelet finishing up with the Mako source.
I'm not doing anything different. Is this not helping? Will I fail again?! I need to try! I want something usable that doesn't cause someone's arm to explode when he recharges the Mako source a few years after buying my works.
As Solon finishes the Star Bracelet, he uses his scanner. To his absolute surprise, it displays a complete success!
[Star Bracelet]
Defense: 3 (3)
Magic Defense: 3 (3)
Materia Slots: O O
Slotted Materia: Empty, Empty
Note: Item is almost identical with standard design, 6 deviations found.
I… did it perfectly?! How?
Solon grabs his earlier Leather Bracer and carefully compares it to the Star Bracelet.
Why… there's no difference aside from the leather? But the inside has metal components too, and the Mako lines are on the metal, not the leather. What's the difference? Could it be…? I created the Mako lines first, put all the components in place, and then connected them to the Leather Bracer… I see!!! The order was wrong. But how should I do it? First, connect the two parts, add all components, and then work on the Mako lines. That'll make things way harder. I need to try anyway!
Solon grabs his earlier Leather Bracer and removes most of the parts, scrapping the ones that can't be reused. This time, he directly attaches the metal inlay and the new components to the bracer and only carves the Mako lines once the Leather Bracer is completely assembled.
Because the bracer is already complete, the process is more tedious and difficult. Some components block or complicate the carving process, but Solon persists, carefully carving the Mako lines to connect the slightly more powerful Mako source to the Materia slots and the defense-boosting components.
It doesn't look any different from the outside, but… let's see if this made a difference.
Solon scans the bracer, skeptical but hopeful.
[Leather Bracer]
Defense: 26 (26)
Magic Defense: 6 (6)
Materia Slots: O O
Slotted Materia: Empty, Empty
Note: Item is almost identical with standard design, 5 deviations found.
I… did it! It was because the leather was improperly connected. I had to finish the Mako lines as the final step after assembling the bracer! I get it now—with the previous metal constructions, it didn't matter as much, but with leather, it's different. If I do the lines first and then assemble it, the connections aren't proper, and the Mako supply is insufficient because of small errors!
I guess the Star Bracelet is indeed the easier choice, since it's similar to the Bronze and Iron Bangles. It's just smaller and requires more precise craftsmanship with a few more complicated components. Connecting two Materia slots to something this small isn't easy either. Well, all together, it doesn't sound easy anymore, but I somehow did it. I think I've really improved. I need to thank Grandpa for that!
Solon slowly leaves his workshop with a huge grin, excited to receive his reward. He walks toward the kitchen, spotting his grandfather, Mina, and Mallory.