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Ah... this was a matter of Domain, wasn't it? It had to be.

He'd been struggling for what felt like ages trying to figure out what the power of Domain truly entailed. He'd already come to the conclusion that aura was a major factor in it, if not THE factor, but considering everything he'd learned about aura from Pauline Gaolanet, it seemed to him that there had to be more to it. She told him that everyone had an aura, so if Domain was supposed to be some kind of super special blessing from Malast, then it stood to reason that aura wasn't the only thing involved. Otherwise, Malast would've just called it aura.

Right?

Well, maybe not. Malast had been quite the cryptic asshole, not entirely unlike Rasalased in that regard, though he might've differed greatly in execution.

Whatever the case, it struck Hector as logical now that Domain might also have to do with proximity. With the area immediately around him. Perhaps that, too, was just another component or incarnation of aura, but he felt it would make sense if they were independent of one another, too.

Maybe he was splitting hairs here.

What mattered was this metal. He felt deeply within himself that he needed to give it a distinguishing name, now.

Zeff had mentioned this to him once or twice. The naming of techniques helped to codify them in one's mind, making them even easier to perform.

Could this darker metal be considered a technique? Debatable. Would giving it a name help, anyway? Probably, Hector felt.

Calling it "darksteel" was certainly a temptation. It would've been both fitting and pretty cool, he thought.

But it would also be confusing, too. He was Darksteel. Increasingly, that was what people were calling him. Whether it was because Darksteel Soldier was too much of a mouthful or because Darksteel just sounded a bit cooler, that was the name that appeared to be sticking to him.

So calling himself Darksteel and the metal darksteel wouldn't be a good idea.

Plus, it wasn't steel. Or at least, not only steel. It was, as he recalled, a complex blend of steel, titanium, and tungsten carbide.

Though, it may not have even been those things, anymore. It had appeared here as goop, after all. And it felt so similar to his normal iron, now. He couldn't be sure that this place hadn't altered it dramatically.

So rather than naming the material, maybe it would indeed be better to name the techniques that he created with it.

The armor that he created with it.

For that was what this stuff was most suited to, Hector felt.