Right and wrong is subjective, isn't it? In that case, it'd rather be wrong as many times as it takes to achieve my ideal of freedom.

Cloaked in a brown hooded robe, upon Yami's suggestion, Jackal went off in search of a shield to add into his fighting arsenal. The Seventh District, where he'd received his initial cestus, was obviously his first thought but alas when he'd arrived at Sam's Shop, the building was locked, and after minor investigation, he'd heard that Sam had passed and Devroux had inherited the business. Not paying it any more attention, as Jackal was pressed for time, he'd travel to the Trader's Market in the Seventh District.

The open market was more like a festival, with stalls as far as the eyes could reach. Swords, whips, crossbows, and even the newer sect of firearm dealers could've heckled the Mink as he'd traversed through the bustling crowd of mercenaries and mafioso representatives who had been shopping for items themselves. The cold mucky ground that Jackal trekked atop with his dog like appendages made him extremely uncomfortable but the latter option was wearing shoes, and that certainly wasn't even a possibility. If Jackal had any pleasure that was certainly leaning more towards his animal instincts, it was the need to mush his paw like feet into the earth. Though, it is common for even Mink's to wear shoes, more so the younger of the clan walked on their barefoot.

Nothing in particular caught Jackal's eye at first, of course, he'd still be completely trash at using a long-sword or any form of bladed weapon, as Yami confirmed for herself. However, his attention was drawn by rustic make-shift store front, merged together by several wooden planks, and a hand painted sign that read, 'Azrael Bizzare Dial Shop'.

"Dial?" Jackal pondered to himself, "I've never heard of anything like that in any of the books I've read about the Lesser Minks." Jackal's mind continued to wander, as his body changed direction, slowly strolling towards the stall.


Coming within pitcher's distance from the stall, the merchant and a group of disgruntle buyers seemed to be in a heat exchange, at least from one end of the squabble.

"Oi. Azrael. I gotta bone to pick with you." the jacked blacksmith stated, gripping onto the merchant's collar and lifting him off the ground.

"Ah! Mr.Jacob! Nice seeing you again! How may-" Azrael exclaimed in the most chipper of manners, only to slammed square in his mid-section by the man's crude right hook.

"I don't want hear another peep out of you... Unless it's to the questions I'm about to ask you." Jacob stated snaring.

Pressed for air, Azrael coughed frantically, clearing his throat, "Go on." as drool would hang from the side of his mouth.

"You told me these Heat Dials... or more like these pieces of Conch Shells could've produced enough heat to melt crafts on the go! Unlimited amount of times ya' promised!" Jacob shouted.

Finally regaining normal breathing patterns, "Yes. Indeed." Azrael responded, hiding the grin plastered on his face by hanging his head towards the ground. In that one moment, Jackal managed to catch a slight glimpse of the masked man's expression, and at a safe distance, he'd listen into the conversation with his astute sense of hearing.

"I'm sure that the temperature's indeed we're enough to craft your weapons... For a time. Dials only act as containers. Once their contents are empty, they are but hollow conch shells." the dealer Azrael explained.

The loud blacksmith dug into his personal carry-on bag, tossing the emptied dial at the man's face, as he'd crotched over onto the ground. Reaching at his waist for his longsword, "In the Seventh District... We have one rule. Your craft is your word. Break it, and it's the same as forfeiting your life." the blacksmith stated, peering at his reflection, blurred in the blade's metallic make.

Mustering up some mucus in his mouth, Jackal fired off a spit bomb projectile towards the Blacksmith's back, causing at explosion that instantly ripped away the man's armour, and left his body tumbling towards the ground. Removing his hood, the Mink revealed his head, his pointy ears and devilish smile being the first thing the angered Blacksmith's allies noticed. Once the man's face registered in both of their minds, the men fell to their knees in fear. "It- It- It's the Bandit King!" one of the men announced, petrified at the Jackal Mink's presence.

"Shishishi... I have some business with this merchant. Could you lads give us a minute?" Jackal inquired grinning.

"Y-Yes sir!" the fellow blacksmith's shouted, grabbing the passed out body of their ally.

As the trio scuttled off into the crowd that now gathered around them, Jackal walked towards the abandoned shell, picking it up and handing it over to the merchant.

"Dials huh? I'm interested. How about we have meal on me? I can hear your stomach grumbling from here." Jackal stated.

The winged merchant gawked at the Mink with puppy dog eyes, "M-M-eal!?" Azrael announced, drool trailing down the side of his mouth. Gulping loudly, and flapping his tiny wings in excitement, "Wait one sec!" the Winged man declared, dashing to pick up all of his belongings from the stall, packing all of the into large brown blanket, which he'd used to carry all of his possession in. Attaching the bulky makeshift suitcase onto a wooden pole, he'd prop the staff onto his shoulder and peer at the Mink once more with much glee. Tossing his hood back on once again, Jackal waited for the merchant to finish his affairs.

"So, about this meal on you!?" Azrael exclaimed merrily.  

Right and wrong is subjective, isn't it? In that case, it'd rather be wrong as many times as it takes to achieve my ideal of freedom.


As the man scarfed down his tenth bowl, the Mink sat patiently sipping away at his milk. Almost choking on the lowmein twice, Jackal simply wondered what'd make a man so hungry. He remembered hunger like this once in himself, it was the day he'd been freed from his life as a slave. Eating to his heart's content almost brought tears to his eyes.

Tapping a single finger nail from his index finger on the table repetitively, Jackal awaited a simple pause in the man's feast. Eventually, that moment came about three bowls later, as the man paused his ordering of more noodle bowls from the moving Noodle Stall, with pop up furniture to guzzle his lukewarm tea.

"As payment for your meal, I want you to explain to me what these 'Dials' are." Jackal stated, breaking the new found silence between the men's seating.

"Ahhh... I thought your words we're 'The meals on me.'" Azrael responded cheekily grinning.

"My master always used to tell me... Nothing in life is truly free." Jackal retorted smirking.

Sipping his tea calmly, "Most people drudge past my stall without even giving it a second look once they see no 'Cursed Blades' or Rare Meito's... I figured after I fell from heaven- I mean, took a vacation... The famous Baltigo, the place where you can sell the rarest of items for top coins... These items would fly off the counter.... but alas... People are more concern with shotguns, rifles and blades." Azrael stated, sulking slightly.

"Now he's telling me about his life's story... Did he just say 'heaven'... Is he a nut after all?" Jackal thought to himself. "Look. I'm sure it's been rough. Judging from the way you ate those noodles, it'd suspect so. However, once again, if your telling me these little conch shells can be useful to me in conquests. I'll be glad to take them off yer' hands. I'm a bandit after all. The more tools, the experience I'll have for different heists." Jackal explained.

"REALLY!" Azrael exclaimed excited at the prospect of selling off his merchandise.

"Shishishi... Easy... I'm not done. I should also inform you lying to me won't work. I have a Sixth Sense about these things. I'll tase you if you do." Jackal stated, arching his thumb and index finger to allow electricity to spark between them.

"Now talk. What are Dials?" Jackal asked for the third time.

Finishing his tea, "Calm and Intimidating... Your the type I hate the most." Azrael stated smiling broadly. "My last student was like you too... before God awakened but I digress. Dials  are strange, mysterious devices made from the remnants of particular shellfish, which have the ability to store energy and matter. The shellfish remains are gathered from the shallows near the shore of the White-White Sea... 10,000 Meters above surface level from here." Azrael explained.

"10,000... Meters... above surface level. That'd be..." Jackal mumbled astonished.

"Yes. My homeland. The Kingdom in the Sky. A place known by you Blue Dwellers as Heaven - Skypiea." Azrael stated.

"This is the same heaven you 'fell' from? Does that make you a Devil then?" Jackal inquired smugly.

"You picked up on that huh? Devil, no. What primitive neanderthal fed you Dweller's that idea? A winged man falling from the sky... becomes a Devil. Hilarious. I just didn't like the way things we're going to go after that little brat awakened 'God'. I fought against the new regime and failed." Azrael explained.

"Awakened God... Forgive me if I'm slow... on the uptake. God exists? He was sleeping? Who woke him up?" Jackal inquired, literally baffled at the revelations before him.

"Ha. Your the first person I've told this too that believed me." Azrael retorted, asking the stall operator for another cup of tea by motioning his empty cup onto the service counter where all the bowls were dished out.

"When you've been around as long as me... You kind of believe the obscure. The more grandiose the story... the higher the possibility of it being real. We live in a world where eating fruit gives you supernatural abilities. Whose going to make up a Kingdom in the sky?" Jackal theorised.

"I like you kid. As thanks for the meal and the company, I'll tell you anything else you want to know about Dials. However, Skypiea is a sore topic for me. The person who awoke God, and subsequently caused my people to be banished from Upper Yard... is the Pirate this World Knows as Mashyuu. He's a famous thief on Skypiea." Azrael explained.

"Nope. Never heard of em'. He wasn't in the last Coo either." Jackal retorted.

"He's wanted by the Kingdom. Turning him could be big coin... Especially since our currency is 1 to 10 to yours. Though, getting back to Skypiea would truly be a task." Azrael stated, nodding in self-approval.

"Even if you have a Flying Ship? Wait... Did you say one to ten?" Jackal inquired smirking.

Azrael broke out into laughter. "That's a funny one Mink-Boy. Such things don't exist in this world. If that was possible, more Dwellers would've surely ventured into the sky." Azrael stated, rejecting the man's idea.

"Dwellers have their own wars to fight too you know?" Jackal responded. Jackal decided not to push the issue of his ship any further, "Alright. Essentially these dials can store energy and matter. They're like handy pockets. From the looks of your last squabble... They are even dials that can store heat? That's crazy." Jackal stated.

"That's just the tip of the ice burg really. I'll show you. I don't have many rare ones on me but the Common Purpose ones, I'll show you what they can do. I also have a book I wrote back home on them... It can show you the various species... Some fall from heaven via the White Sea to the Blues and even Paradise. Different species of shells... Produce different dials. Each have their own magical properties. Once used correctly, certain ones can be engineered for warfare." Azrael explained.

"Oh? Do tell more." Jackal responded.

Right and wrong is subjective, isn't it? In that case, it'd rather be wrong as many times as it takes to achieve my ideal of freedom.


Digging through his massive bag of goodies, he'd reveal seven dials that would be used simply for the purpose of demonstration. The dials would spread across the counter of the noodle shop, on the makeshift wooden tabletop in front of the duo.

"Now they're two things you need to know about dials. You can make dials with direct activation by creating a button mechanism. There's also the way I make dials, which is adding legitimate dials onto the shell itself. This way, you can tune the amount of output released." Azrael explained.

"Not going to lie, you lost me on the second point." Jackal retorted.

"Alright. I guess it's better to show you then." Azrael stated, nodding to himself in approval.

Reaching into his purple robe, the man would reveal a dial similar to the centre most dial spread across the table. The difference between the two was extremely subtle.

"I'll use the same Heat Dial of the man you took out as our starting point. The one I just removed from my person is a Standardise Dial. Meaning, once I click the button, there's no way to fine tune the output. It has two functions. If I click the button twice, it'll absorb the heat from an active source. Meaning, it can only drain temperatures above a certain point." Azrael explained.

"However... If I click once." Azrael stated, hovering the dial in hand above the bowl of unfinished noodles in front of him. The moment he'd press the button, a burst of heat released, causing the bowl to crack apart under the shear heat the dial released.

Impressed, Jackal didn't even murmur a word, he'd simply whistle at the action.

"Now. The dial the customer returned... Works the same way, accept for one catch. This." Azrael stated, placing the dial eye level near Jackal's face, pointing his finger towards the distinct difference between the two. It was indeed a mechanism different between the two, subtle but it was the fact that this returned Dial had notches on it.

"Turn the notches, you can regulate the amount of the resource used. I told that idiot to turn the notch to 'Nil', he had it at XX, that's maximum release." Azrael explained, breaking off topic to curse the ignorant customer. Around the face of the dial, we're roman numerals from from 0 to 20, or Nil to XX, the higher the notch, signified the rate at which the resource was released Azrael would go onto to explain.

"However... This feature isn't always the best addition. For quick purpose dials such as the Lamp Dial and the Flash Dial, simple activation and deactivation is more efficient." Azrael stated.

Jackal sat quietly absorbing the information presented to him, after the Heat Dial, Azrael would being to cycle through the various Dials on his person:

• The Breath Dials capable of storing air-currents. These Dials are usually used to propel wavers through water and on ships if there is no wind for sailing. These Dials can are often attached to the sides of a snowboard or "skates" as alternative methods of travel.
  
  
• The Flash Dial is one of the three known types of Dials that store and release light. The Flash Dial lets out an extremely bright amount of light for a very brief period, effectively causing temporary blindness(1 post) if used against a person similar to a flash bang grenade. The range of the flash is five meters.
  
  
• The Heat Dial stores and releases heat energy. It is commonly used to power up ovens and other heating devices for citizens of sky islands. It appears to be able to let out heat in different amounts. This allows it to be a great enhancement for weapons.
  
  
• The Lamp Dial is similar to the Flash Dial, capable of storing and releasing light. Unlike the Flash Dial, however, it releases light steadily rather than all at once, hence the name, making it much less useful for combat purposes, but much more useful for domestic purposes.  
  
  
• The Tone Dial often abbreviated as TD in the Blue Sea, is able to record and replay sounds spoken into it, akin to an audio recorder.
  
  
• The Vision Dial  is used for capturing images and displaying them back, comparable in use and looks to a modern-day camera. It is useful for scouting and recording evidence.
  
  
• The Water Dial  is used for storing and releasing water. It was spoken of as being capable of extinguishing the large fires.
  

"They are also Dials that absorb electricity... propel ships and even absorb fire. The whole works." Azrael explained.

"Maybe that's how our ship flies..." Jackal thought to himself. Getting up from his seat, he'd dig through his belongings once again, and this time, he'd reveal the book he'd mention to Jackal earlier and tossed it in his direction.

"With enough practice... If you follow the guidelines in that book... You can make your own dials. It's pretty much the same process for all of them... just the energy and resources vary." Azrael explained.

Catching the book, "Your just going to openly teach me an art native your people? Shouldn't it be sacred?" Jackal inquired.

"Eventually... All cultures are stolen. It'd rather teach people about the origins of it all, so it's appreciated. As opposed to be discovered as some tool of acquisition. That's how innocent people loose their lives." Azrael concluded.

Right and wrong is subjective, isn't it? In that case, it'd rather be wrong as many times as it takes to achieve my ideal of freedom.

The man's words made Jackal ponder about his own ideals on his homeland of Zou. No one knew his master plan, eventually, protecting Zou from those who'd dear to raid's lands. It was the reason he needed weight to his name as a pirate Captain, and the main reason that he didn't simply retreat to the simple life as a thief after being freed by Gin. Pluton, The Calico Pirates, and his rise to become a Supernova were all in efforts to eventually bringing Zou under his domain. He saw the short comings of the former rulers of the Night and the Day Time Sides, their power though Super Human, was only fortified within the realm of Zou. How would he feel about giving away Zou's secrets? As far as traditions went, Jackal found it dated to believe in such customs. However, that'd be a conversation for later, at the moment, he was just an upcoming criminal, who'd garnered fame from stealing from other pirates.

Turning towards Jackal, "As a trader's custom, I'll let you choose one dial from the six here. Anything else, you'll have to either strike gold and find White Sea Fish Shells or visit the Sky Kingdom... I'll be returning soon. I'll await your progress there." Azrael stated.

The man's words broke Jackal from his mental conundrum, back to the reality of being right in the middle of his first Dial Lecture.

Glossing over the dials, and re-running each of there capabilities in his head, Jackal simply grinned and extended his hands towards the Flash Dial. Curious, the man's amusement showed on his face, "Of all the abilities showcased, you choose that dial? Why?" the Winged Dial Dealer inquired in confusion.

Pointing to the goggles on his forehead, "I got these from some associates of mine. When it comes to defence against light, I can definitely use it to my advantage when the time comes. I like running away more than enjoying a good brawl. Escaping always pisses off the other party more." Jackal stated, smugly smiling broadly.

Tossing the dial towards Jackal, the Mink placed the dial into his messenger bag. Extending his hand, gesturing for a handshake, Jackal extending his own hand, placing his fingers in the 'Turkish Wolf' hand gesture.

"What's that mean?" Azrael inquired, lost at the custom, chalking it up to a Blue Dweller belief.

"It's something I picked up a long time ago from a book I read. It makes us nakama. I'm not fond of alcohol... so the whole exchange drinks isn't one I'm fond on. We've shared a meal, you've traded knowledge and made plans to meet again. This is my own way of handshaking." Jackal explained.

Sighing, the Winged Man mirrored Jackal's finger placement, "Your an odd little animal boy. Fine, like this? And what now? What kind of books have you been reading!?" Azrael inquired. "Shishihi... It was a novel about three Luchador's who created an organisation to change the world of Wrestling. See how our hand's now mirror that of a wolf's face. As the two faces touch, it's a motif of 'See You Again or Good Wealth.'" Jackal stated, extending his hand.

"Ah. Well. Until next time my furry friend. I have a feeling when we meet on Skypiea. Our very lives might be in danger, it'll be at that time, I'll ask for your support." Azrael concluded.

"Shishishi... Fine. Against God right? I've stolen from Kings, Gang Leaders, Government Agents and Mobsters so far. I'll help under the condition of getting the chance to 'rob' god. I guess it'll add to my legend of being the 'King' of all Bandits." Jackal chuckled, as the two men's wolf gestures collided.

Flickering through pages of his newest manual, Jackal proceed to retreat into the crowd's of the Seventh District, return his hood upwards, to conceal his identity longer.