Pascual's Lessons: Nenners

Puffing up his chest, Pascual couldn't help but feel giddy as he heard his son enter his workshop. Ever since Rouge had decided to learn more about fighting from Maira, he just couldn't help but feel jealous at being left lacking in the teaching department. Their son was a Nenner like him, and yet there he was learning how to fight like a Zahler...

It really irked his nerves at times. Not that he'd ever say that to his wife's face though.

"You're finally here," Pascual greeted with a smirk as he faced his son. "We can start where we left off last time then."

"Of course, Father," Rouge dutifully nodded. "I'm here to learn as much as I can, especially from a master blacksmith such as yourself."

Pascual did his best to cover the smirk threatening to form over his lips. As much as he knew that his son was just patronizing him, he couldn't help but feel proud of the praise he was getting.

"R-Right," he coughed as he composed himself. "Now, as we all know, Nenners like us control Seigel Wesen. From there, our art branches out to Seigels themselves along with blacksmithing and craftsmanship."

"Oh, Mother said something about Seigel Wesen last time..." his son interrupted with a thoughtful frown. "She said that it comes from the heart as opposed to the stomach like Elementar Wesen..."

"Ah, your mother's right on that one, Son," Pascual nodded. "Also, unlike Elementar Wesen where it's safe to run out of it during prolonged usage, if us Nenners ever run out of Seigel Wesen, we risk dying of exhaustion."

And it was a painful way to die as well. Feeling your heart stop was not a pleasant feeling, and it was only through clever thinking that he even managed to recover from that stupid incident he once had back when he was still working in one of the Furnaces.

"I see," Rouge nodded. "So we should be careful whenever we use it then."

"Of course," Pascual sagely agreed. "Though thankfully, imbuing carved Seigels with our Wesen doesn't really take much of it unless what you're working on is big enough to warrant it."

"Speaking of Seigels, what exactly are they?"

Pascual blinked at his son's words. Rouge was talking like an adult. Then again, his son had always been intelligent like that, to the point of even spooking his mother even.

"To answer that question, Seigels are rune-like sigils that we etch onto any surface that can handle them," he explained. "They're usually weapons and armor, of course, but most Nenners don't even realize that so long as you can put it on something, it'll work... to an extent at least."

"So, say that I etch Seigels onto my skin, it'd work?"

Pascual opened his mouth to retort, only to hesitate for a brief second before he replied, "I-I don't think that's smart, Son. As much as it's possible in a sense, there's a reason why we only use Seigels on metal and, to a certain extent, wood." He took a deep breath before he continued, "The softer the material, the less likely it is to hold Seigel Wesen, thus reducing the effectivity of the Seigel in question in the first place."

"And if what I just learned last time about Seigels is true, then we'd need all the power we can get, don't we..."

"That's correct," Pascual nodded. "So, in a sense, while we're only limited by imagination, we're mostly still limited by the material we have in hand. That's why we have to get creative if only to maximize our chances of making a good product."

It was just the way of the world. He could only imagine what he could do if he somehow got a hold of stronger metal or some kind of miracle wood that wouldn't splinter at the earliest of usage.

"Anyway, we should move onto Seigels itself," Pascual added as he began scribbling down one Seigel onto the next. "The hardest thing about being a Nenner's mostly focused on these things anyway. I fully expect you to memorize all of this, by the way."

He smirked as he saw his son scowl at the number of Seigels that he had to memorize. Well, too bad. These Seigels were their life. And besides, they were just the basic ones. He couldn't wait till he could start teaching about the more advanced Seigels and concepts. Sure, Rouge would probably be in his late teens by then, but they had time. It wasn't like something was going to happen to them any time soon.