Arctos/Stories
Quotes
- When Entering Dragon's Roost
- I've been waiting for you!
- So you just wanna chat instead of train? Hey, sure! Why not?
- What up? Need my help?
- After Receiving a Gift
- One good turn deserves another-- no matter if the good turner is your student or not!
- Proper training is about a little bit of carrot and a whole lot of stick!
- After Bond Level Increase
- I'm gonna train the freakin' daylights outta you!
- We trust each other now, which means I can train you even harder!
- Idle After Bond Level 1
- This castle is packed to the gills with the bravest and boldest warriors around!
- Remember, the best weapon is one used in service TO life, not just one that attempts to take it.
- Your blazing-hot courage sizzles like a newly-forged sword!
- Idle After Bond Level 10
- (music note) When I hear those clangs echo from the smithy, it makes me wanna do some smithing too!
- See the smoke rising over there? Looks like Ramona and her sisters are keepin' real busy.
- If you wanna study blacksmithing, come to me! All it takes is a burning-hot passion!
- Idle After Bond Level 20
- You're wondering whether I can even hold a hammer? Hah! Where there's a will, there's a way!
- (music note) If anyone can bring about peace without bloodshed, it's you.
- (music note) I want to live my life based on the example you've set
Dragon Story Episodes
The Dragon & the Coach
Arctos is a dragon whose heart
blazes with passion. With his
exceptional blacksmithing skills,
he serves as a coach for the three
smithing sisters of the Halidom.
His cries echo out across the land:
"Drag that log and run! RUUUUN!
A smith's arms and legs are life!
If you wanna swing that hammer,
you gotta TRAIN that hammer!"
While his training regimen is harsh,
it produces only top-tier results.
The sisters believe in their coach and
put their hearts into his program,
growing more and more each day.
After one particularly tough day,
Ramona asked her coach how he
had learned his smithing skills.
"By improving tirelessly and taking it
one day at a time!" he replied.
"But it wasn't always this way--
it took work and dedication."
The sisters had a hard time picturing
their coach as a young smith lacking
in talent, but clearly he, too, had
to work his way up the ladder.
"Did you learn your skills from
someone, Coach?" asked Ramona.
"Well, er... I don't know if I wanna
talk about that..."
It was the first time the coach had
sounded hesitant and awkward,
which left the sisters only more
curious. In the face of their
insistence, he resumed speaking:
"Fine, then! If you wanna hear my
story, strap in and get ready.
But this ain't no feel-good tale
where we walk it off in the ninth!"
His story began a century ago,
when a lone man wandered onto the
mountain a young Arctos called
home and set up a small smithy.
The young dragon had no interest
in smithing, yet curiosity drove him
to the shop. Once inside, he was
stunned by the beauty, elegance,
and style of the man's work.
"It was freakin' genius!" cried Arctos.
"One look was enough to make me
want to pick up the hammer myself,
but when I asked the man to take me
under his wing and train me..."
"He refused! Flat out refused!
Said 'it sounded like a pain.'
You BELIEVE that?!"
But with his request declined,
how did Arctos manage to come
by his blacksmithing expertise...?
When a genius smith came to
Arctos's home, the dragon petitioned
to become his student. The shiftless
man refused, however, saying only
that it 'sounded like a pain.'
The man did not seek to craft
ever stronger and better weapons.
He had no wish to be useful to others.
He simply wanted to make pieces
whenever the mood struck him.
When Arctos kept pestering him,
the man said, "Effort and all that is
pointless. Nothing really matters."
As the dragon believed in hard work
above all, these words enraged him.
"Fine, then!" the dragon cried. "If he
won't teach me his skills, I'll watch
him work and learn 'em myself!
Then I'll take 'em out into the world
and use 'em to help others!
For years, the dragon made his way
to the man's shop and committed
his every action to memory, until
one day he had learned every skill
the man possessed
"How ya like THEM apples?!" cried
a proud Arctos. "This is the power
of never quittin', never surrendering,
and never never givin' up! And that's what
YOU get for mockin' me!"
The man, old and wrinkle from the
passage of years, smiled. "Indeed,
Arctos, dreams come true with
struggle. And it was not only your
own dream you've made manifest."
"For you see," continued the man,
"I was once a smithing teacher
of great renown."
The man explained to a stunned
Arctos how he had grown weary of
nobles seeking to monopolize his
talents, and built his smithy deep in
these mountains to escape it all.
"I threw my efforts into improving my
skills as a smith, to aid the world and
all the people in it," said the man quietly.
"And when I saw what it
brought me, I feel into despair."
"Even so, my hand never let go of my
hammer; there was an inexhaustible
flame in my heart that smoldered
no matter what hardship came."
"I even dreamed of taking on a pupil,
though I lacked the will to do so.
And yet now you have come along
with naught but guts and hard work
and made yourself my pupil instead."
"I owe you for that, Arctos,
and I would have you use the skills
you learned from me as you see fit."
And with those words, the curtain fell
upon the man's mortal life.
Having finished his tale, a flicker
of sadness crossed Arctos's face.
"Can't believe that jerk waited until
the end to tell me something so
important..."
Yet within moments, the passionate
Arctos returned. "Right then, that's
enough woolgatherin'! We've got the
future ahead of us, and that means
you gotta get back to the program!
"Yes, Coach!" cried the sisters.
They then proceeded to take all
the respect and love they had for
their teacher and pour it into the
skills they inherited from their father.