"So, our next stop is a police station?"
Artorias sighed from where he stood in the shadows, wondering if his cousin was either brave, stupid or a rare combination of both.
Walking down the middle of the streets of the ruins around them was one thing but doing it with his hands in his pockets and a bright smile on his face only made Artorias question if his cousin was right in the head.
In hindsight, he didn't have much of a foot to stand on when it came to mental stability, so he kept his mouth shut.
"Yes, one of the marks I mentioned before should be stationed at its gate."
Seirios hummed casually.
"You think we'll be able to find some armor or weapons?"
Artorias stepped out of the shadows, his longsword in hand and his posture tense but now walking with his cousin.
Whilst he didn't like being so exposed, he knew that Seirios would sense any danger before it could get close to them. It was why he was being so casual right now, after all.
"Hopefully, some armor would be invaluable right now," Both Artorias and Seirios had lost the armor given to them by the garrison weeks ago and were now both walking in layers of clothes that offered no real protection.
Seirios gave him a strange look. "Armor? Why have armor if we can keep our distance with guns?"
'It seems it's time for yet another lesson.' Artorias thought to himself.
"Didn't you find it a little strange that the garrison only offered us melee weapons?" He turns his head, facing Seirios with a raised brow.
His cousin shrugs his shoulders, a light frown marring his face.
"Not really? I thought it was just budget issues or something limiting them."
If Artorias didn't know that Seirios had only just began to receive his education about the world, he would have labelled him an idiot and a lost cause long ago.
The teen was lucky they were cousins, otherwise Artorias would have kept him to be used as bait for later.
"First of all," he began with a tired sigh. "Garrisons never have to worry about budgets when dealing with death zones such as this. The United Nations will provide billions to us Ascended to make sure we can destroy the gate and salvage the cities remains for later use."
Seirios nodded, showing his understanding.
"As for guns, well, unless you have a Talent specifically orientated around the creation of bullets and arrows, they're all but useless against Fallen Spawn."
"Huh, so what's the difference between them?" he asked, confusion clear in his tone.
"Use that thick head of yours Seirios. If our bodies are physically enhanced by our awakened souls, then that means…?" Artorias didn't finish his answer, content with leaving his cousin to figure it out himself.
"You're an ass," Insulting him, Seirios lifted his head to look up at the dark skies in thought.
Artorias kept quiet, ignoring the crass words and focusing instead on the rooftops around them.
If he could figure it out at the tender age of seven then he had no doubt his cousin would have the ability to figure it out now.
"Is it…that our souls make us stronger than a speeding bullet?" he finally asked, turning to face Artorias.
"Close," he nodded, shifting his grip on the longsword. "It's more to do with the fact Fallen Spawn have thicker hides. Only our enhanced strength and bullets crafted by enhanced souls can pierce them."
Artorias shrugged at the betrayed look his cousin gave him, a slight grin tugging at the edges of his lips.
"It's a trick question that all Ascended fall for. I couldn't give up the chance." He explained. "But you're mostly right. After a Spawn grows beyond the rank of brute, anything mundane simply fails to affect them."
"I guess that makes sense, but what if we run into anything below that rank, wouldn't it be smart to have something on us that can deal with them without us having to physically exert ourselves?"
"That's got three answers, want to guess them?"
"Not really," Artorias snorted at the answer he received.
"It wasn't a request, idiot."
"Ugh, you annoying bastard, fine," Seirios grumbled, throwing his arms out. "I'm guessing the noise produced, the lack of ammunition and…" Seirios trailed off, a frown once again on his face.
Deciding to pity him, Artorias raised three fingers and explained.
"Your first guess was correct, the noise would only attract spawn of a higher rank to our location," he lowered one finger as he continued.
"Your second guess was a good point I hadn't considered, and one that applies to this as well. Fallen Spawn have ridiculously complicated bodies from the constant evolution of being both prey and predator, meaning their weak points are never as obvious as they seem."
His second finger fell, leaving only his middle still standing in the air. Artorias grinned through the dry look his cousin threw his way and continued.
"The third and probably most important point, is the fact that anything below the rank of monster has already been devoured and consumed. Finding anything weak to mundane bullets right now would be the same as looking for hay in a needlestack."
Seirios gave him a weird look.
"Isn't it finding a needle in a haystack?"
Artorias raised an eyebrow.
"Is that really what you're focusing on?"
His cousin shrugged, putting his hands back in his pockets.
"It's just a weird thing to say, that's like saying the 'turns have tabled' instead of the 'tables have turned'."
Artorias could only sigh, feeling his healing factor work through a slowly building headache.
"And here I was feeling proud of us, for managing at least one normal conversation without it turning into an odd direction."
Seirios grinned, his voice gaining a teasing tint to it.
"Awh, come on gold brow, there's no need to pout- "
Seirios froze in his steps, his words leaving with the faint breeze around them. Artorias, already tense, only grew more taunt, his grip strengthening on his longsword.
Finally, after an uneasy minute passed, Seirios spoke, his hands moving to pull his blade out of its sheath.
"Remind me again, how low were the chances of us finding anything below the rank of a brute?"
Artorias swallowed his resort, the shadows beneath his feet pooling.
Because there, in the horizon of the dark sky, just a few streets away from them, a large wave of pink abominations appeared, moving in an eerie synchronized manner.
"Run!"