That Old Mine

Mission Details:

When Asahi was told that his latest mission was to visit one of the mines just outside the village walls he thought the task would be an easy one. How hard could it be to visit some old mine? he thought to himself. The village wanted some of its ninja to learn about the mines and the ore that was gathered from them. It would be a valuable skill for them to have, he was told. They should all learn how to produce the precious commodity, and then how to turn it into steel. The steel could be used a hundred different ways, and was quite vital to the business of being a shinobi. Many of their ninja tools were made from the metal, in fact, and without it they would be defenseless. So it was that he headed out to the mine where he was bid. The place was an old one, perhaps one of the oldest in the Land of Wind still in operation.

Before he left he wanted to quickly work on a Fuinjutsu technique he had recently learned, that of Seal of Absorption. He sat down on the open floor of his home and began making the hand seals necessary to perform it. His hands made the signs of Tiger, Dog, Ox, Dragon, Boar, Rat and Tiger in the order. When he was finished he pressed down on the outside of the middle of his right arm. He could feel the energy flowing through his hands and forming a seal on his arm. When that was finished he removed his left hand from his arm to admire his work. He could see that the ability left a marking that looked like a black tattoo which was in the shape of a diamonds with chains wrapping all around it. Neat, he thought, and gave it a pat. This will come in handy. With that he got up and began his journey to the mine.

It was a short jaunt from the village gates to the old mine. The sun was hot overhead but there was a nice breeze that helped lessen its severity. His feet took him along the harsh desert terrain and before long he had made it to the outside of the mine. There were several huts and buildings erected around the entrance, and from some of them he could see great plumes of smoke escaping a chimney on their roofs. He assumed that these places were where the metal was worked in a forge to produce the steel. Part of his mission required that of him, but for now he had to focus on getting the ore first before he could begin to work the steel. He walked to the front of the mine where an old man was leaning against a stone.

"What're you 'ere for?" the old man asked with a toothy grin.

"Mission. On the orders of Sunagakure." Asahi produced a scroll containing his orders and passed it to the man.

The old man took the parchment from the ninja. He gave it a once over, then looked back towards Asahi. "Looks to be in'orda," he replied. "Down there you'll find Murray. 'ell show you how to get y'Ore."

"Thanks."

Asahi took a lamp from a table next to the mine. He lit the flame inside, closed the little glass window back up, and then began his journey. It gave him the creeps as he entered the entrance of the mine. Before long the light from the outside was just a small blip in the background when he turned around. The lamp gave enough light for him to find his footing, but beyond that it left him surrounded by darkness and vulnerable. Anything could be creeping around just outside the range of the light, he thought to himself as he continued his descent. The air began to take on a different smell the further down he got. Dripping water echoed along the tunnel in a rhythm every three seconds. He looked back up the path to see how far he had gone and he discovered that the entrance was now just a small dot of light somewhere off in the distance. Well, into the darkness I go.

He followed the path only illuminated by the small sphere of light produced by his lamp. For minutes he walked deeper and deeper into the dark abyss. A drop of water splashed off his head and he jumped in surprise, thinking some monster had finally got him. Moments passed and his fears subsided and he continued forward. In the distance he could begin to see something coming into view. A flickering light appeared and began to grow larger as he moved towards it. The tunnel finally stopped its decline and was now running flat along its length, making it much easier for the Genin to traverse the rocky territory. A sound of hammering grew apparent and he could feel the walls vibrate in time with the sound. The tunnel was so long that it took him another few minutes to reach the source of the light, but eventually he did, the sound at this point so loud that he wished to cover his ears.

There he saw a man, covered in dirt and grime, wearing a hard hat and a heavy set of overalls. In his hands was a giant pickaxe, through which he threw at the wall with all his force time after time. Pieces of stone broke off the wall and fell down into a large cart pressed up against the wall. As he approached he could tell that this person had been down here at work for a long time. The cart was about halfway full of stones of all different shapes and sizes. The amount of dust and dirt that covered his frame was significant and Asahi knew that it would take a lot of work to scrub all of that out. The man seemed oblivious to his presence, so preoccupied with his work was he. The miner threw the pickaxe back towards the wall one final time with all his might. It connected with a section and broke off a large piece of rock that tumbled into the cart below. Then he turned and finally greeted the Genin.

"You're the boy I'm teach, is that right?"

"I am," Asahi replied. "Here to work, mine some ore and then smelt it into steel, on the orders of Sunagakure."

"Hmm, very well. It's not easy work, certainly harder than whatever it is you shinobi do all day. Take one of the pickaxes and hardhats," the man directed the ninja to a table that held what he needed. "We're to fill this cart to the brim and then return to the surface with what we've collected. However long it takes is how long we'll be down here, so don't slack and slow me down."

Asahi nodded, tough teacher, and grabbed the hardhat to put on. There was always an every present danger in a place like this and it was prudent to wear protection when at work. He grabbed the pickaxe and hoisted it over his shoulder. The weight of the tool was much more than he expected and it took him some time to adjust to it. He couldn't imagine how the man was able to do this day in and day out, and he hadn't even started yet. Asahi took up position beside the miner and found a section of wall to work on. The cart was long enough that whatever ore he broke off here would fall into it to help fill their quota for the day. With the axe hoisted above his shoulder he took a stance and then swung it towards the stony wall with as much force as he could muster. It made contact and broke off a small chunk of ore from the wall. He turned to look at the miner and watched as the professional broke off a rock about three times the size as the one he did with even less effort.

They spent the better part of two hours down in the tunnels under the earth, illuminated by the glowing of lanterns and torch sconces. It was hard work and if it wasn't for his shinobi training and long hours of physical activity there would be no way he could keep up. The miner, who was named Murray, was professional in every sense of the word, having worked this job for over twenty years. He made it look effortless and Asahi was impressed by his strength and work ethic. The ninja tried to take a break for a few minutes but Murray had scolded and shamed him back to his job. Asahi continued to hammer away at his section of wall with the pickaxe. His strikes were getting more and more precise and eventually the pieces of ore he was producing were not so tiny compared to Murray's, though he still had a ways to go before he would obtain such mastery of the craft. When the cart was finally full the two of them hauled it back up the tunnel. There were small tracks on the ground, which Asahi had not noticed before now, that allowed them to roll it back up. It was incredibly hard work, and by the time they broke out of the tunnel into the desert sun above he was exhausted. But his work was not finished yet.

Next Murray lead him into one of the tents set up outside the cave. Inside was a large burning forge through which they would create the steal from the rocks they mined. There were two identical stations, one in which Asahi would work at and then other than Murray would. It would make it easy for the Genin to imitate him and he hoped through that he would be able to learn the art of forging steel. Murray directed him to start shoveling the ore they mined into the forge. He did so until he was told to stop, and his arms were burning by the time he had finished. The tent was starting to get extremely hot and he was wilting under the heat from the forge, but Murray seemed completely unbothered by it. Then Murray brought out another cart filled with a different type of ore and directed Asahi to add it to the forge. He got his shovel out and threw in the contents of the cart until he was empty.

"This is tough," he told Murray. "What now?"

"Now we wait, you can take a break for a few minutes."

Asahi sat on a little stool and drank some water while the fire did its work. He was both thankful and surprised that Murray gave him a reprieve from the work, short as it was. He was sweating profusely but the water was helping to replenish what he was losing. Finally the forge was finished and got up to rejoin Murray to move onto the next step. From the forge the molten liquid metal poured out into both of their work stations. The liquid conformed to the flat mold that would produce steel plates. Murray put on a thick glove and grabbed a pair of prongs, and Asahi mimicked him in that. They would both grab onto the metal that was starting to solidify and lift it up. They carried the metal over to a large bucket of water and dipped them both in and held them there until Murray said that was enough. The water absorbed the heat and began to boil within only a few seconds. Steam flew up into the air from the water and made the tent even more unbearable to work in.

Next they had to return the steel to the workstation. They switched the metal prongs for a heavy hammer and then began to beat the metal sheets with it. Murray said something about beating the impurities out of the steel, but Asahi didn't really understand, he merely tried to copy the teacher as perfectly as he could. He copied the motion that Murray was doing with the hammer as accurately as he could. Then he had them carry the plate back to the water and then return it to station to hammer out once again. They repeated this process two more times. By the end the steel was nearly cooler and the final result was there for them to see. Asahi admired his work and thought he had never seen a better piece of steel in his life. Murray picked it up and turned it over a few times. He didn't look too impressed, but finally he gave a nod of approval and said the first words that resembled a compliment that Asahi had heard in the entire day of working with him in the mine.

"It'll do kid. You're done for the day. Take it back to Sunagakure to show them. You can keep that one." With that Murray walked out of the tent and returned to the mine. Asahi couldn't believe he was still working.

With the plate of steel in his hands he walked back to the village. It was dark by the time he returned home and he was exhausted. He hadn't done anything so physically demanding in his entire time being back in the village. There was no training or mission he had done to date that had taxed him so. His arms and legs ached and he knew when he woke up the next day he wouldn't be able to move. But he felt pride in what he had accomplished and it was nice to see the physical embodiment of that work in the plate of steel that sat on his table. Asahi soon fell into his bed and entered a deep sleep. He resolved the next day to, if his body would allow him, turn in his mission report from the day's work and claim his reward.

[EXIT]

Jutsu/AP/Calculations:

2315 Asahi WC
2315 Asahi Total WC

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Asahi places a Seal of Absorption on his right arm with a power of 60.

C-Ranked Mission Complete, 2315 WC, 4000 Ryo (new mission rewards) + 100 (Genin Ryo) and 1 High-grade Steel.

Spending 2315/3750 WC towards learning Widening Gyre (25% max stat discount) as my Slotless S-Rank ability for being C-Rank.

Approved.