"Happy birthday, Solon!" Mason and Mina say in unison, presenting him with a small cake adorned with seven burning candles.
"Happ…y birth…day… son," Mallory, his mother, mumbles weakly, her voice trembling as she tries to focus. But her attention fades almost instantly, and she turns away, her gaze distant once more.
"Thank you, Mom, Grandpa, Mina," Solon says, hugging each of them in turn.
He quickly blows out the candles and digs into his favorite cake, specially baked by Mina for the occasion.
"Don't forget to take a few slices for your friends later. You're planning to go metal hunting with them, right? And be careful! If you come back all scratched up again, I'll ground you, young man!" Mina warns, her tone stern but laced with affection.
"Yes, Mina. Don't worry about me!" Solon replies with a grin.
— [Scene Break] —
"Happy Birthday, Solon!" The Four Fiends shout in unison as Solon arrives at the well, dragging a small, empty cart with six neatly wrapped slices of cake sitting awkwardly in the middle.
"Happy Birthday…" Cloud mutters lazily, standing a good distance away from the group.
"Thank you, everyone. Here's some cake Aunt Mina baked for us," Solon says, carefully placing the cake in front of the group.
"Wow, thank you! That looks amazing," Lester says, while Tyler immediately grabs what appears to be the largest slice and starts devouring it. The others quickly follow suit, chatting about Tifa's presents from the day before and Solon's birthday. Cloud, however, stands apart, trying to look cool with his head turned away.
Solon can't help but shake his head as he glances at Cloud.
That is so lame…
Once the cake is gone, the group heads toward the abandoned Shinra mansion, a once-luxurious building now slowly falling into decay.
"It's such a huge place—why would Shinra just abandon it? What a waste," Solon muses aloud.
"It's creepy… let's leave. I don't like this place. I hate ghosts," Tifa says, her voice trembling slightly.
Don't talk about ghosts, please… I'm trying to forget!
Solon leads the group behind the mansion to a small garden shed filled with supplies. He opens the door, the lock already lying on the ground, having been painstakingly removed by Solon earlier.
Took me hours to smash it open with my hammer! My arm is still sore!
Solon drags the small cart inside the dusty shed and uses a small light he brought to illuminate the space, a welcome improvement to their vision. The windows are so dirty that nearly no sunlight is making it through. He points to a set of old, rusted cabinets filled with metal spare parts.
"Tifa, grab some of the smaller parts and put them in this bag. Cloud, help her and fill this one," Solon instructs, handing each of them a bag. Meanwhile, he and the three boys start loading the larger, more valuable pieces, carefully chosen by Solon, onto the cart.
An hour of grueling work later, the group finally reaches Solon's house with the heavy cart, completely exhausted and drenched in sweat as if they'd been caught in a rainstorm. Cloud, sulking as usual, stands apart from the others, clearly upset that Tifa paid him no attention.
I gave you a chance—you should give up. She just doesn't like you!
They quickly dump the cart's contents and the filled bags inside the workshop, entering from the backyard, before heading off to clean up.
"Thank you, guys! That was the best present ever!" Solon calls out, thrilled with his haul.
I wonder why so many metal parts were stored in that shack. It seems… odd.
After saying goodbye to his exhausted friends, Solon heads inside, where his grandfather Mason is waiting for him.
"You've got some good friends there. It's kind of you to include that blonde boy, too. Looks like you've got quite a haul! I'll help you with sorting later… and I've got a few presents for you as well!"
Grandpa's presents!! I can't wait!!
The two sort and place the metal parts into suitable places inside the workshop, and Mason picks up a small piece. With a wave of his hand, the metal begins to float in midair, spinning slowly in front of Solon.
What?!
"Grandpa, what trick is this?" Solon asks, his eyes wide with curiosity as he watches the metal piece hover and then begin to circle around him.
"Hehe, my dear Solon. This is a family heirloom. Remember when I told you about natural Materia? This little beauty is one of them. It's incredibly rare—it allows the user to control metal. Most people can't use it. My father tested it on dozens of villagers, and no one could make it work. It took me ten years just to get it to respond to me, despite carrying it with me every day. After thirty years, I finally learned to wield it properly, and now it's incredibly useful for smithing. I can mold metal into any shape instantly and carry light to medium pieces with ease. Our family has a special connection to this Materia—it's our inheritance."
Mason dangles a small bracelet in front of Solon, its surface glinting with an otherworldly light.
"This type of natural Materia is extremely rare. It's not even the standard size… It's only grown a tiny bit over the 50 years I've been carrying it around. It requires a customized Materia socket. You can have this tiny bracelet and wear it on your right arm. It has no effect besides allowing you to use that Materia, so it won't conflict with your other bracelet. I also want you to study it so you can one day create your own custom sockets."
Cool!
"From this day on, this bracelet and our family heirloom… it belongs to you, Solon! Please take care of it."
NO WAY!!
"THANK YOU, GRANDPA!!" Solon exclaims, his voice bursting with excitement as he hugs his grandfather and grabs the bracelet.
"I don't expect you'll be able to use it anytime soon. Even with our family's connection to this Materia, it takes time to bond with it."
Solon eagerly puts on the tiny gray bracelet and mimics his grandfather's movements, trying to control the metal piece with his mind.
"Solon… you need to be patient," Mason says, chuckling at his grandson's enthusiastic attempts.
Suddenly, the metal piece shifts slightly on the table.
I did it!!
"Grandpa, did you see that? I did it!" Solon says, his face lighting up with joy. Mason immediately scoops him up and spins him around in the air, his own happiness overflowing.
"Solon, you're a genius! If you can control it like that already, you might have a high affinity for this element. This Materia might be perfect for you. It's a non-standard element—a Materia related to metal. You could search the entire world and likely never find another like it. It requires someone with a special talent, which is why it's our family's heritage. It's incredibly useful for blacksmithing, though it's not particularly powerful in battle—at least, not in my hands. But with you… maybe it'll reach its full potential," Mason says, his voice filled with pride and excitement.
"Solon… your father's dream of you becoming a SOLDIER might not be just a dream. You've told me that, despite his plans to use you for revenge, you're still somewhat interested in joining SOLDIER. These days, the window for joining is narrow. People older than 18 to 20 are rarely accepted, and if they are, they're usually stuck at 3rd Class forever. But the question is… what do you want your future to be? Becoming a SOLDIER comes with huge downsides, and you need to be aware of them. I'll teach you everything I know, and the choice will be yours alone. I have an acquaintance in the Turks… I could send him a letter, and maybe he could test or even recruit you. But you're still way too young. Let's talk about this when you're a bit older," Mason says, his expression torn but honest.
"Okay, Grandpa! Thank you!" Solon replies, pleased that he'll have the freedom to decide his own path.
What do I want to do? I'll keep up my training and slowly decide!
— [Scene Break] —
Solon stands in the corner of his grandfather's workshop, where his own small forge and equipment are set up. He's using his new gray bracelet, which contains the family heirloom Materia his grandfather gifted him. He's started calling it the "Control Metal" Materia. It's a unique Materia—extremely small, unevenly colored, seemingly incomplete, and gray in color—it's appearance, unlike anything Solon has ever seen, even in all his books.
Inside the forge, an old Bronze Bangle, missing a few pieces, heats up. Using a tiny bit of molten bronze, Solon carefully wraps the molten metal around the hot bangle, controlling it with his mind and shaping it into the desired form.
The sound of a hammer striking metal echoes through the workshop.
Thirty minutes later, Solon holds the now-cooled bangle in his hand. He studies it carefully, using the tools he inherited from his mother to refine the repaired but unfinished piece. From time to time, he compares it to his own completed bangle, copying its inner workings and inscriptions to ensure everything of it's complicated structure, including the mako-lines are properly connected.
Three hours later, Solon rushes to his grandfather, who's sitting by the fireplace reading a book.
"GRANDPA!!!!! I DID IT! I REPAIRED MY FIRST BRACELET!!"
His grandfather looks at Solon in shock and takes the Bronze Bangle from his hands.
"This side is 10% thicker than the others—you used too much metal to patch it up. Also, the inner workings are shoddy. The engravings aren't deep enough, which will decrease the bangle's effectiveness. And it looks like you only connected 7 of the 9 main Mako lines—2 of them lead nowhere. Overall, this thing will only be 70 to 80% effective," Mason says, analyzing Solon's first creation in meticulous detail.
That doesn't sound so bad to me? Considering it was broken and someone threw it away! Still, Grandpa's very strict when it comes to crafting… I need to improve!
"Here, there, and on the other side next to the connector. These are the problem areas," Mason says, pointing out each mistake one by one. But then his tone softens. "Disregarding all of that… congratulations, Solon! You're now an artificer—my apprentice, carrying a true title, something very rare nowadays. That's what our profession has been called for centuries. I'm very proud of you," Mason says, a tear slipping down his cheek.
"Now, let me grab something from the workshop…"
Mason returns with a small handheld computer equipped with a high-tech scanner on the back.
"I don't like relying on tech, but nowadays, tools like this exist to evaluate your creations. I spent a small fortune ordering this from Shinra."
Mason activates the scanner and runs it over the Bronze Bangle.
Solon glances at the display and sees a window pop up, listing 43 deviations.
So many?
"Most of these can be ignored—they're just deviations from the standard design. You did something that doesn't align with the original construction. But the points I mentioned earlier? See? They're highlighted here."
[Bronze Bangle]
Defense: 7 (10)
Magic Defense: 8 (10)
Materia Slots: None
Note: Total deviations found, 43
Note: 5 crucial errors found, reducing effectiveness
It may be incomplete, and Grandpa was right about that. But at least the scanner recognizes it! This is helpful for seeing what I did wrong. I can look at each error and deviation and slowly fix them!
Solon decides to scan the Bronze Bangle he received from his grandfather and compare it to the one he repaired.
[Bronze Bangle?]
Defense: 11 (10)
Magic Defense: 13 (10)
Materia Slots: None
Note: Item significantly varies from standard design, 115 deviations found.
Note: Performance slightly improved, superior design detected.
"Yours is better, Grandpa. Even the scanner praises it," Solon says, entering the design into the scanner under [Bronze Bangle Grandpa Version]. He's thrilled to play with the new tool. He also notices numerous weapon designs, especially those related to Materia, and quite a few other bracelet designs: [Iron Bangle], [Leather Bracer], [Mesmeric Armlet].
"Heh, of course. Always remember, Solon, while technology exists to mass-produce certain bracelets, the designs are all simplified. A true artificer can go beyond such mass-produced items. That's why, despite my age and this remote location, I can make a good living from rich clients, mercenaries, and even Shinra employees who order my work. Sure, I mostly do basic weapons and bracelets, like the ones shown on your computer, but they're still somewhat comparable, and cheaper, than Shinra's high-end products. Still, I can't deny that sooner or later, I'll be completely outclassed. Which is why I'm even considering letting you get closer to Shinra… If you combine their technology with the crafting methods I'm teaching you, you could create something incredible. Something that could even change the world, Solon! You can keep the scanner, but be careful with it—I can't replace it! It also has numerous other funct—"
Suddenly, Mina bursts into the room, her face pale. "Solon!! Your friend Tifa… her mother passed away."
"What?" Solon asks, his voice trembling with shock.
She died… So I wasn't wrong when I first saw her looking ill on Tifa's birthday. It's weird… I feel more sad about Tifa's mother passing away than I did about Father. I even celebrated his death. Tifa's mother however was a kind person… I feel sorry for her, but she looked sick for a long time. I guess it was inevitable. I should visit Tifa and make sure she's okay.
Without another word, Solon sprints out of the house, running toward Tifa's home.