章 89: The New Arm

Earth land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

January, x781.

A few days have passed since Marin became a member of Fairy Tail. After announcing the news to Alfonzo, Elicia, Cana, Erza, and Sun the six celebrated with a meal Alfonzo cooked. However, Alfonzo did not enjoy the process like he usually did when cooking.

For this particular meal, Alfonzo used his magic and right hand to hold the utensils. Although his control over his magic was good enough, leaving no detectable difference in the food's flavor, he complained about the process not feeling the same.

This feeling made Alfonzo put extra effort into creating his new arm. And now, after talking with Nell and receiving permission to use her workshop, Alfonzo brought the metals he had in storage and began working on his project.

After heating the furnace in Nell's workshop with a magical fire, Alfonzo began his work. First, he made the skeleton from adamantite, a glossy black metal after being processed, causing the chance of the arm breaking to reduce significantly. Then, he made a frame that mimicked the dimensions of his original arm from the same material.

For the joints, he created ball bearings that would make the elbow, wrist, and fingers bend more naturally. At the same time, these bearings were coated in a long-lasting oil that would reduce the need for maintenance. Though Alfonzo would perform maintenance regularly regardless.

After that, he created the surface of the arm and hand from orichalcum, a dull golden metal that occasionally released a silvery hue. With its high magic conductivity and strong defense, Alfonzo could not think of a better metal to use in its place. This part of the crafting, however, is what took the longest to finish. Not only did Alfonzo have to make the surface area to exact specifications, but he also had to create covers for the joints that would not hinder flexibility.

Unfortunately, Alfonzo did not know anyone who could help him with that part. Instead, after several days of trial and error using his magic to stress test the arm, Alfonzo was finally able to make the flexibility perfect.

After all that was done, Alfonzo wanted to use the hide of a magical beast to cover the entire arm. And since he had no talent in the field of leather working, he asked Elicia to help with this step. And she was happy to do so.

In fact, she even threw out the hide that he had chosen originally. Instead, she chose one that gave a feel closer to human skin. She also threw out the idea of covering the entire arm. Instead, she only made it cover the hand and forearm, giving it a two toned, black and gold, appearance, leaving the wrist and upper arm exposed for the mechanisms that Alfonzo built into the arm.

Speaking of those mechanisms, Alfonzo really only included two. The first, like he told the girls when they looked over the drawings was a hollowed out upper arm that could flip open to store and eject metal sand. Also, like he told them, there were space expanding sigils built in so that he could store much more sand than the size of the arm would suggest.

The next of the mechanisms was a small opening below the wrist along with a hollowed-out forearm. Stored inside the forearm there would be a thin cable made of braided threads of adamantite connected to a spike that Alfonzo could shoot from the small opening in the wrist.

Not only would this projectile aid in the capture of targets, but it would also serve as a quick means of escape if the situation called for it.

Next came the most tedious part of the creation process. Since Alfonzo wanted to have a sense of touch in the prosthetic arm, Alfonzo used mithril, with its unparalleled magic conductivity to replace the nerves. So, he had to make thousands of ultra-thin mithril threads that needed to connect to various parts of the arm. Luckily, [Metal Magic] made that job much easier than it would have been otherwise.

Last, but certainly not least, Alfonzo drew weight reduction sigils all over the arm. It was imperative to make the arm feel as though it were the same weight as his right arm. Otherwise, his balance would be off, reducing his combat capability.

Finally, after working for six days, Alfonzo put the finishing touches on his new arm under Nell's watchful gaze.

"I'll admit, watching you work is incredible." Nell said, finally over trying to keep Alfonzo's pride in check.

Years ago, Nell always made sure to let Alfonzo know that he could do better, be better, even when he did something impressive. However, after knowing him for years, she realized that he was proud, but never let it go to his head. So, she dropped the act.

"But seriously, you can't always use my workshop, Kid." Nell said after taking a drag from her cigarette.

"Yeah, I know." Alfonzo replied with a sheepish smile. "Funny thing is… Lici and I just realized that we had not included a workshop for me when we designed the house. You know, since I was working with you on all my biggest projects, it kinda slipped our minds."

"Well, this is the last big project you'll be doing here." Nell said, putting out her cigarette as she spoke. "You're making me fall behind with my orders."

"*Sigh* Understood." Alfonzo replied respectfully. "I'll still make sure to drop by from time to time, though."

"You make it sound like I'm a lonely old woman." Nell said with a slight frown on her face. "I don't need your pity, Boy. Besides, I just adopted a girl who I intend to teach everything I know."

'Hmm… I wonder if the girl's name is Nico…' Alfonzo mused. 'But if I asked her that, it would be pretty suspicious.'

"Well, at least you won't be lonely in your old age." Alfonzo said with a smile, before ducking the hammer Nell threw at him.

"Now that you're done with your arm, get out, Boy." Nell said with a scowl.

"Okay, I'm going, I'm going." Alfonzo said before picking up his new arm. "But seriously, I'll be back to see you every once in a while."

"Just go.!" Nell said as she picked up another hammer.

"Okay, okay, I'm going." Alfonzo said as he put the arm in a case.

A few moments later, Alfonzo left the workshop, leaving Nell behind.

"*Sigh* It won't be the same around here without you taking up my work time for your own projects." Nell said as she lit another cigarette.

After leaving Nell's shop, Alfonzo made his way straight to Porlyusica's tree house. When he arrived, Porlyusica was outside watering the flowers in her garden.

"You're early." Porlyusica said with her signature scowl after noticing Alfonzo's approach.

"Yeah, the stress testing and finishing touches didn't take as long as I expected." Alfonzo replied as he continued to approach. "And there was no point going back home first. If I did, I would have been late without question."

"That doesn't really matter." Porlyusica replied. "You'll have to wait until I'm ready."

"I expected as much." Alfonzo replied with a shrug.

With that, the two fell silent. Eventually, Porlyusica finished tending to her garden. Then, she turned toward the front door of her tree house.

"Come along." Porlyusica said without turning around. "I'll be ready in a few moments."

"Understood." Alfonzo replied as he followed Porlyusica into the house with the case in hand.

"That girl of yours will be here to pick you up, right?" Porlyusica asked, once again not turning around.

"Yes, she'll be here." Alfonzo replied.

"For your sake, I hope you're right." Porlyusica replied. "With all the artificial nerves you added to that arm, every step is going to give you a jolt of pain like you've never experienced until you're fully healed."

Porlyusica then went on to explain why she said that.

Apparently, some of the sigils Alfonzo used in the arms creation, which were taught to him by Porlyusica, were made to smooth out the signals that the brain sent to the arm. Unfortunately, because the mithril used to connect the old nerves to the new arm would have a different charge then the electrical signals from the brain, the pain would be immense until the mithril's electrical charge was adapted to that of his brain.

Hearing the explanation, Alfonzo could only breathe out a sigh of relief. Though it would not be instant, Alfonzo could shorten the time his body would take to adapt significantly with the use of his [Electromagnetism Magic].

After a few hours, Porlyusica finished the procedure. And just as she said, Alfonzo was in severe pain from the incompatibility of his new nerves. However, through trial and error, Alfonzo was slowly reducing the pain he felt by changing the electrical charge of the mithril acting as his new nerves.

If things kept at this pace, Alfonzo would adapt in about a month, instead of the half a year that Porlyusica expected.

"Thanks for your help, Miss Porlyusica." Alfonzo said respectfully through the immense pain.

"Just make sure I don't have to do this again." Porlyusica said dismissively.

"I will." Alfonzo replied as he slowly got up from the operation table. Then, without putting on a shirt, he left the operating room just as slowly. Although Alfonzo could use his magic to make sure that his arm doesn't move, the pain was messing with his concentration. So, he decided to just walk as slowly as possible to minimize the amount his arm moved.

Eventually, when Alfonzo finally made it outside, Elicia and Sun were sitting in the Escalade, waiting for him to come out.

"Fonzie." Elicia said, opening the driver's door and jumping out of the vehicle. Then, when she arrived next to Alfonzo, she wrapped an arm around his waist and helped him to the back seat as she continued. "How are you feeling?"

"It hurts like a bitch." Alfonzo replied as he slowly walked with Elicia.

At the same time, Sun had also hopped out of the passenger seat. Then, she opened the back door. Before she could sit in the back, however, she was stopped.

"It's fine, Sun." Alfonzo said with a pained smile on his face. "You can sit up front. Just move the seat up."

"Are you sure?" Sun asked unsurely.

"Yeah, I plan to stretch out across the back seat. Laying down, even if just for a little feels like an awesome idea right now."

With that, Sun stopped arguing. However, she did hold the door open for Alfonzo. A few moments later, after Elicia got Alfonzo situated in the back seat, she and Sun took their own seats and Elicia drove off.

February 27, x781.

A little more than a month had passed since Alfonzo had his Automail arm attached. And in that time, Alfonzo was not allowed to do anything, something that Porlyusica made sure to drill into his head. On top of the pain caused by the incompatible nerves, Alfonzo's injury needed time to heal around the new arm as well.

Today, however, on Cana's birthday, Alfonzo was cleared to resume normal activities. Meaning, he could cook and do other low intensity activities. Not only was Alfonzo elated with the news, but all of the guild was as well. For the last month or so, none in the guild tasted Alfonzo's cooking, and they were showing severe symptoms of withdrawal.

I that time, both Erza and Marin also completed their moves. While Erza moved int Alfonzo and Elicia's mansion, Marin moved from Hargeon to Magnolia, more specifically Fairy Hills.

On a side note, after Erza moved in with Alfonzo and Elicia, the other girls in the guild who had feelings for Alfonzo became more restless, with Mirajane becoming even more antagonistic to Erza, leading to quite a few more fights.

Those living in the mansion, however, welcomed Erza with open arms.

Today, however, everyone who visited the mansion made sure to leave their baggage at home. Today was Cana's fifteenth birthday, after all. And no one wanted to see Cana both more drunk and more upset than usual if her birthday party were to be ruined.