Strength and Determination. [INV]

Theocelese smiled and nodded. "You will meet Sophia in time, dear child. And my offer will always stand for you. If you're not keen on living where you're at now, and once I have obtained my own slice of heaven away from....this," The man gestured around them. But it wasn't just Las Noches, it wasn't just the other Arrancar or Hollow. It was everything he'd known in what accounted for just a blink of an eye. Karakura, the Soul Society, the Shinigami, Quincy. The whole it and kaboodle, as it were. "you are more than welcome to come stay with us. You may have to learn how to play an instrument or two...and you will have to learn to live as a farmer, but it's far more rewarding than most people give it credit for." He shrugged at this. Truly, that was what he desired most now these days. Given the option of slipping into chaotic, and rage filled bouts of bliss, or tending to goats and cows and chickens. He'd take the latter. "As for your armaments...Yes. You've only just woken up, and there is work to be done."



Slowly, the Arrancar stood up and then, his feet began to take him to where this next set of lessons would be given. No longer was there a need for any gestures for the girl to follow. When it came to time to teach, Shiro knew when to follow. The human was taken back to the forge area connected to the laboratories. He'd had the place readied for this moment, and all the tools and materials were waiting to be used. First things first, Theocelese would go on to explain the basics of sewing and embroidery. He'd repair a bit of her tabard, talking threw it step by step and then, he'd have Shiro continue what he was working on. It wasn't a hard process, just tedious as Hell. "Can you believe I made this all by hand? Could have saved a great deal of time using a sewing machine. If the worst should ever happen though, you need to know how to do this without the aid of power and machinery." Ah...the worst thing imaginable...Theocelese was of course, talking about nuclear armageddon. Many regular, every day people would die but the girl wouldn't, one of the many ways he'd talked about spiritual strength and insight being both a blessing a curse. At the rate of her rapid expansion, a simple barrier would keep her from being destroyed and more than likely, free from radioactive damage. Until said barrier was dropped, at least.



It was always one of the things Theocelese, when he was a human, prepared for. Regardless of the spiritual world's interference, he knew the pockets of humanity that survived would resort to the ideology of might makes right. The haves would prey on the have nots. The overpopulation of Hollow would be a literal nightmare, more so than the raiders and post-apocalyptic dictators.



Next on the docket was chainmail. Once more, not so hard to do and again, just tedious work. All that was needed were the right tools to bend the individual rings back into place. What he stressed were the types of metal used--back then, he'd used high-strength steel, but the assortment of rings on hand were made from metal forged right here in Hueco Mundo. The next thing to be stressed was when closing the rings, to leave absolutely no gap what so ever. "When you run your hand along the shirt, it should be nice and smooth. You'll know you've made an error when you feel the metal scratching against your hand." The third most important crafting tip was to make sets of five. One ring holding five inside of itself, rinse, repeat, connect, and continue. Theocelese also showed Shiro the easiest way to make her own set of rings. Using the night world's provisions, he had this ready to go. A coil of pliable metal was set beside a wooden contraption. It was simply three pieces of wood screwed together securely with a rod set inside the middle. It looked somewhat like a paper towel holder. The coil of metal was wrapped around the rod tightly, snipped off when finished, and with some squeeze room, the rod slipped out and the single mass of still-connected, uncut rings were taken off. From there...all that needed to be done was to cut straight down the line. Instant set of rings.



As for the other pieces of armor, the bracers and greaves, that required for more work, but explained it as best as he could. There were four layers to each piece. Starting on the inside, shock-absorbant material, kevlar, metal plating and leather. The pieces were cut to size, and riveted together using steel rivets. "Never use pop rivets. They are for show like ah...what is that thing you kids call? Cosplay? Great for that, not so wonderful for combat. Brass works as well, but I prefer steel. Remember, this will give you an edge against slashing weapons. Piercing weapons like arrows or spears will"



With garb and armor out of the way, all that needed to be done was to fix up the broken bits of the sword. There were numerous ways to do this, and he'd prepared one for this purpose. The material looked to be bone. He didn't say what kind, or where he'd obtained it from, but if it wasn't real, it was a high quality replication. Theocelese manufactured this one to be able to slide onto the handle's core and then, a quick pop and it a locked into place. He used thinned hide to remake the handle, giving a bare or gloved hand a better grip. And while it was being worked on, Theocelese instructed Shiro on the basics of blade maintenance. He ran the length of the blade up and down with a whetstone and told her how to test it's sharpness. "Always keep it clean, and keep it polished. Just like with a gun, you never pull the trigger unless you absolutely have to. Maintain this mindset. Never draw your blade unless you absolutely have to. When you swing your weapon, you must have full conviction for doing so. You cannot undo that action, just as you cannot undo the firing of a bullet. Speaking of which..."





This was a little bit of a surprise he'd wanted to save for the last part. "I have a gun for you. I'm not keen on these weapons much anymore...every kind of bullet, missile, or bomb will not phase me. I am a ghost. Unless those rounds are meant to combat spirits, they will not harm me. You, however, will not only face spirits, but other mortals as well. The bullets I have for your will have the capability to kill spirits and humans alike. Heavily armored targets are not advised to waste ammunition on. A regular set of kevlar can stop these." The box he opened contained the weapon, unloaded of course and with the safety on. There were four magazines, and a box of a hundred rounds. Theocelese picked the gun up, double checking there were no rounds chambered, before handing it off to Shiro. "When you finish the patch jobs, we can go shooting for a bit." Yes, he'd made sure Shiro would have to work on her own gear for a little while to get some experience in this field.



Now all he needed to do was make sure she wasn't a nightmare in the kitchen.

"For a girl who has not quite dabbled into this sort of thing before...Not bad. Part of a singles contest is perception. Someone who you are engaged with will take note to your ability to fix your own weapons and armor, and may find themselves questioning their own tactics. If you know the strengths and weaknesses, you will play to your advantage. Step into a slash against someone using something like a Katana, and you will have nullified their effective range, thus letting you deal a finishing or fatal blow." This slew of words turned into a whole new miniature lesson about some of the basic tactics Shiro could do when someone attempted to use the weakness of the chainmail against her. Most of it involved parrying, but some of the more risky maneuvers involved demonstration...which Theocelese was more than happy to demonstrate. He gave Shiro a small collection of weapons that could be used to thrust or stab with, including smaller and medium length blades, a staff, and the like. He gave her the instructions on where to make attacks slowly, to which he would walk step by step on how to divert said attacks, and either close the gaps, or clear enough space to reset the fight.

THIS turned into a quick lesson about ranges.

"Simply put, there are four combat ranges. A, B, C and D." He said this while moving several steps back. He swung the dull, training sword. It hit nothing but air. "D Range. I cannot hit you, and you cannot hit me." One step was taken closer. "C Range. I can hit you with some effort, but you need to put in a greater effort to hit me." A third step now. This should have been obvious. "B. We are able to hit each other with little effort. This is where one's skill, or sometimes luck, is the biggest factor." And lastly, the final step. Their forms were just inches from each other. "A. This is where shield work comes into play, and I will be more than glad to teach you how to fight with such a thing, if you desire it."

Leaving some well needed breathing room, Theocelese looked around and clicked his tongue. "Huh. Got off track, didn't I?" The Arrancar shrugged. If he had gone on about something that didn't have relevance, he wouldn't have made light about the rambling. All of this was good to get in the girl's head, and it'd only benefit her in the long run. Theocelese mumbled something in his native language before getting the shooting lesson on the way.

The targets were standard sheets you could find in any gun range. They were propped up on posts that were then stuck deep in the sand, and spread out at a variety of ranges. 20 yards, 40, 80 and 160. Some glass bottles and tin cans were set up on higher outcropping of rocks as additional targets. These were spread randomly, and sporadically. That being the case, some would be easy to hit. Some would not. Shiro was given a kevlar vest, which he instructed her to wear under the tabard, as well as a pair of safety goggles and ear plugs. Theocelese chose to not don any of these things, and as far as guns went, he carried a .44 Automatic of his own. With the gun in hand, he stepped forward ten paces. "The first thing you need to understand about any weapon, is to respect it and to know what it is capable of." He spoke loudly, so as to not be misheard.

And then, he raised the gun and shot Shiro in the chest. A double-tap, actually. Two rounds with extremely close grouping. Shiro wouldn't die, that was what the kevlar was for. It'd hurt like a mother fucker and more than likely knock the girl over. She knew the drill at this point, deal with the pain and get back on her feet. It'd actually feel almost like getting hit with a Bala, sans energy explosions and what not. "Now that you know how bad it hurts to get shot with the proper protection, you'll know how much worse it can be without." He returned to Shiro's side, and even offered to help her up if she still hadn't gotten off the desert floor.

From here, it was simple basics and these basics were as follows:

"Always keep the safety on until you're ready to fire. When you are, make sure you have a round chambered. Never aim at anything you do not intend to shoot. When you pull that trigger, just like I told you earlier with your sword, you better mean to. You cannot undo that bullet, just like you cannot undo a blade swing." The big three that were most important. From here, he explained to Shiro how the gun worked. How to load the magazine normally, how to load the gun, the .44's three functions: Safety, which obviously wouldn't fire, Semi, which would fire a single round with each pull of the trigger, and lastly, automatic, as the gun's name implied. Theocelese took a proper shooter's stance, aiming at the 80 yard mark, and after three or four seconds, he fired a single round and hit the target right between the eyes. "Squeeze the trigger, and exhale as you do. It's the same with using a sword. Go ahead." He stepped clear, clearing the chamber of its current bullet, flicked the safety on, and holstered the gun.

"Options win battles. Being lucky is just an added bonus." He would make comment on the regards of using a shield offensively. When the time came for the girl to take a non-lethal round to the chest, he'd give her a shrug. At least she knew what it was like to take a bullet, he'd spare her any lengthy speech for the time being.

Theocelese watched as Shiro did a rudimentary introduction into using a firearm. Turned out the girl was quite gifted in this regard, and he'd give a thumbs up in approval, or the occasional 'Nice shot'. And when it was all said and done, Theocelese drew both a pistol, and his sword with a wide grin. "Probably the most hip, action-movie fighting style is something like this. A one-handed melee weapon, and a firearm of some kind. Combined with your spiritual abilities, that gives you at least three methods to be offensive or defensive. Maybe when I get back we can experiment with that. For now, I think we'll wrap up combat training. I've taught you many ways to kill someone, how to harness your own inner strength...but I haven't shown you anything practical for every day living. You can't live on shop food or go out for every meal...and you need to know how to live like a normal person." The blade and gun were stowed away, and he motioned for Shiro to put away her own armaments and follow. Theocelese spoke no more about any of the subjects previously talked about. When they got inside, Shiro's instructions were to go clean up and meet him back in the diner.

Theocelese readied himself for kitchen duty, changing out of the garments worn to teach battle, and opting for something a bit more mundane in comparison. A nice button up, white shirt tucked into black slacks. A black apron hung around his neck, tied at the waist. When Shiro finally arrived, he'd point at it, then gesture to all the things he'd gotten ready to cook. "A proper diet is another major factor in winning a fight. If you eat like shit, you body will have shit energy and you'll feel awful. It's okay to treat yourself every once in a while, but you should know how to make proper meals. If you actually try...I'll show you how to bake a simple cake, and chocolate chip cookies." Now Theocelese taught Shiro things she could actually apply in the real world. Knowing how to kill someone would always be an extremely valuable skill to be sure, but you couldn't kill someone if you didn't know how to eat well. If he was going to turn this girl into a monster, he would also teach her more or less as a father-figure. She was going to kick-ass in a fist fight, and in a kitchen, as far as he was concerned.

Needing testers was key, so a good chunk of Arrancar from around Las Noches waited in the diner, as Theocelese was going to have Shiro help prepare two meals, and he would have her do the same for two more (with proper guidance, as always....except he wasn't going to drop a knife on her foot or anything crazy like that). These four meals would ultimately turn into twelve, at minimum, with four dishes per breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was obvious he was trying to fit in the maximum amount of nutrition in each meal without going overboard, but he also made sure these dishes would be relatively simple and taste amazing. After the deluge of recipes were made and tested by everyone, if Shiro was putting in some effort, Theocelese included the two desserts, letting her indulge in the sweets more than he should have allowed. Still, she was a good kid and learning fast. It wouldn't kill her to be allowed to be a kid every once in a while.

Once the pots and pans were all cleaned, the kitchen in order once again, Theocelese set up the two of them with coffee made from his country. Rather than putting the grounds in a filter like a normal coffee pot, these grounds were put right into the water. After some boiling, a few spoonfuls of sugar were added and the drink, liquid, grounds and all, were poured into cups. This style of coffee was found to be stronger than the American style. 'I know when I haven't been here to teach you, I've been busy with my personal affairs. I'm fast approaching my...date with destiny, as it were. I want you to stay smart and safe in my absence. When I'm back home and after I've recovered....we've business to attend to." He was referring to the little mission into Hueco Mundo's underdark. He then added: "Perhaps we can look for a student of your own, eh?" He took the coffee cup in one hand, and in Greek, cheered with "Stin ygeiá sas"