Have You Seen My Raven?

Spoiler:

Looks like it was back to the mine for Miko, and she hoped that this time she could actually accomplish some work as she had become fascinated unintentionally by the denial of it occurring last time. This was now her sixth mission and since she was returning to a location she had been to as a ninja, there was a confidence inside the small bosom of the lady. Even if she had not processed it quite yet, Mikofujo had indeed stepped up a plateau in social confidence on her own. Like most steps in growth done by an individual, it was not noticed when first it manifest and so the ninja went about her business oblivious to the fact that it was now easier for her to do without a sense of social dread. For her this would just be a simple return to something that she was owed, an experience to be made up for and so it consumed her focus more than the anxiety that would normally creep in among her outer thoughts until it consumed her. 

Donning the same garb that she had for mining before the young lady set out, embarking on her journey to the depths of the earth in search of knowledge about things like general mining, smelting and other cavernous curiosities. The world of mining was foreign to her, but her earth chakra nature compelled her back underground with a gusto, as though it were some warm and soft embrace instead of the dusty, harsh rock and soil. Odd how things could be perceived differently through the lense of another's experiences, but that was a thought for another time, for now Mikofujo had to focus on the elevator that loomed in front of her and awaited the shaft to have the platform come back up once more. 

The grinding noise of the metallic beast could be heard as it pulled itself up from the rocky depths below, echoing up the man made tunnel that housed it and allowed them all to travel under the ground with less worry than they would have without the machine. It signified a sense of safety, due to how it was originally constructed and now subsequently monitored that to an outside observer would seem foolhardy, the citizens of the village knew better however and not once had there been an accident that the ninja had heard of. It did not take long for the doors to open and the girl along with man others moved onto the platform before descending into the earth below, soon to be swallowed by darkness that was only punctuated with the flames of lanterns on the earthen walls.

[[445/2,000]]

Grinding gears, metals scraping on rock, the teeth gnashing as it's tongue descended the elevator made it's way downward...noisily. It was not an altogether uncomfortable experience however and the lift went smoothly carrying it's human cargo without sloshing it around as it went. This was fortunate for Miko who got to focus solely on her excitement that came from the exploration of new and foreign concepts, it was a joy that overwhelmed her fears and had caused her to fidget back and forth in excitement rather than worry today. It was a nice change that she only registered subconsciously.

The doors opened and the group was greeted by many winding tunnels and many lanterns which completely illuminated the entrance to the mine itself with a nice orange glow that eliminated the shadows unlike when the lanterns were more sparse and cast them to only be longer. It was quite the juxtaposition compared to the mine shafts to come and the elevator shaft they had descended which were a bit darker than this, punctuated by lone flames rather than the communal hive they now saw before them. As the flames danced the shadows did not, the light sources were too many to properly maintain a shadows shape in this environment, it would be interesting for someone with Nara clan knowledge to go from such extremes the young Yamanka trained girl thought to herself as she walked towards her designated tunnel.

The tunnels branched out from the trunk that was the elevator in many ways, each shaft winding to a different goal and this time instead of tungsten the girl needed high quality steel for this mission. So it was that she would bring herself down another path on this day to explore the new segment of an underground belly belonging to the beast that was the mine itself. Armed with her pick, the girl wondered how long she would spend mining and how when she would have to go back up above the ground to smelt and thus avoid choking to death on smoke. Apparently she would learn how to fold and bend the metal forging it into bars as well, this she quite looked forward to for learning some extra craft she could work into her work on her puppets. With that, there were a lot more options and paths she could bring her own dolls more to life but for now she had to focus on her work.

Dull echos accompanied her pick falling into the wall and chipping away at it to claw at the silvery substance beneath to pull the iron ore from it's earthen cocoon in order to help usher it into a new form and shape it into something a bit more useful than just supporting the mantle of the earth. There was plenty of dirt for that. Though her arms burned, her shoulders were sore and the sweat felt uncomfortable Mikofujo pushed forward nonetheless and kept pumping her axe to a steady rhythm to ensure she did not burn out too quickly. Within a couple of hours she was rewarded with a bounty of enough ore that she reckoned it would be time to start the smelting process, as such it was time for her to load up a cart and bring it up to the surface with her. Back to the elevator it was, and out of the shadows once more into the sun.

[[571+445= 1,016/2,000]]

The process of smelting was super heating and then separating out the impurities from the metal rendering it to be of a sufficient quality for use in folding into bars. From there she would need to learn the folding process itself but for now the kunochi focused on the task of smelting and what she imagined it would entail as she was brought up the shaft, compelled by the lifting mechanisms of the elevator upon which she stood. The waiting process was truly the worst part of the whole ordeal, her impatience at being unable to do anything to hasten her ascent so she could learn sooner was a bigger deal than the physical exhaustion she had already gotten over. 

The second tower that struck her vision that day was that of a smelting oven's chimney which spewed black ash and soot into the sky above it as it churned it's work in the heat of it's belly. It looked like a very satisfied old unit and it had a spout off the side which had a grate functioning as a door for the aqueduct-esque line which then wound down to a pool where the now purified metal would cool. It was a simple process and as such it did not take Mikofujo too entirely long to learn the procedure and soon she set about to her own metal and began to smelt that when it came her turn after observing those in front of her. If she did not have to ask questions, she rarely enjoyed doing so. The young girl viewed that as bothering others after all and she had unfortunately been conditioned not to bother others with her needs or desires from a very young age. 

The device was rather efficient and it did not take a long time before the woman had smelted down all the ore that she collected, despite the fact that she filled half a mine cart just by herself. From here it seemed she was almost already done with the mission she had been assigned, that would be a good thing to get the sixth mission under her belt. The confidence that came from repetition of acting as a village representative was starting to get noticed by Miko who found herself already excited for her next mission. While she had to concentrate on the task ahead, her thoughts were partially on how she would go about obtaining another mission tomorrow and a slight concern for what would happen if the village ran out of work for her to do. Hopefully she could maintain this positive mindset even after she completed these menial tasks for her own village, hopefully this was just a stepping stone on the path to a better view of herself. It was something that she had been focused her mental efforts on working upon but it was also something she thus worried about often. 

As she looked into the metal that was cooling in the pool though, Mikofujo could only feel hopeful for her own future.

[[507+1,016= 1,523/2,000]]

Folding metal ended up being far more fun than the female could have guessed at, while it was a physical task similar to mining in this one Miko found it easier to store the kinetic energy into her next hammer blow as opposed to tiring from needing to re-adjust with the pickaxe. As it was more pleasant the ninja took her time as she went about heating and stoking the coals for the furnace in which she would hammer out more of the pooled metal into bars instead of a giant half-sphere brick like it currently sat. It would be ideal to gather at least five bars from the amount of material that had coalesced into the metallic lob that it existed as. Reforming metal was more relaxing than Mikofujo had expected as well and the puppeteer found this form of labor oddly comforting through the repetitive but slightly different hits one required to bend the metal exactly how one would desire it.

This allowed her brain to float free from the task at hand after she reforged her first bar in the flames of the forge she had been allowed to work at and had maintained the coals in. It was rather mundane being a genin after all this time, it seemed as though most excitement waited until the rank of chuunin was attained and Mikofujo preferred that. Thanks to the calm she was able to work on some techniques of higher caliber than she would have had combat been thrust upon her before this. It also allowed her to focus her crafting of puppets refined and on task, rather than rushing the assembly for her own defense. As such the training she did when she did not have missions, would probably benefit her more than fights would at this point in time. 

So it would be with her mind adrift that the final bar was smelted and her task completed before she anticipated it, it was truly a delight to surprise yourself that way and was not something the girl was used to. Was this another part of her growth? Not hyperfocusing her thoughts to ensure that she did not fail and was thusly punished? Perhaps it actually was, conditioning might actually be able to be broken after all. Though it would still be a long and hard journey just to do so on this one singular issue by itself let alone the others but it was truly a sign of hope for Miko, hope for a better future for herself. 

That was her ultimate goal more so than these five high quality iron ore, please subscribe to Raid Shadow Legends, was to better herself, to be able to look herself in the mirror and feel accomplished. The young puppeteer wanted to make a lasting impact on those around her and provide a sense of security to those weaker than she was. If she could do that, then the young genin truly believed that she could achieve whatever she set her mind out to doing. 

[[507+1,523= 2,030/2,000]]

-Exit-

Claiming:
2,000 Ryo
+100 Ryo
+5AP 
+1 High-grade Steel


1,500 words for 15 Speed
500 words for 5 Chakra


1,630+ 970 words = 2,500/2,500 for Sacred Spear

1,000 words towards Hiding Like A Mole
30 words towards 30/2,500 for Mind's Eye

Approved for exit and mission claims!