Blacksmithing Gun

Mission: https://www.narutoroleplaygame.com/t54567-the-hand-that-guides-fate

Having proven herself capable with her last assignment of missions, two C ranks, she’d been given permission to take a B rank mission. Of course, a lot of the missions on the B rank board were outside of Sakuragakure and Gun had not been given permission to do missions like that, so she had spent a good deal of time perusing the board looking for something that she thought she’d be able to do. She knew Kana had already done a B rank mission, one that leant itself to her budding profession as a ninja doctor. Gun needed to find something that utilized her skill set, as Kana had done.

She’d seen some crafting missions where gathering and finding materials that could be used for augmentation were likely, but they were generally located outside the village and Gun was just a genin so going one of those missions alone was not advised. Then, she saw one, creating a weapon. While she had just created some javelins for herself, the idea of manufacturing a weapon for someone else to use was ultimately imposing. Even when she’d made her own weapons, a fellow blacksmith had overseen her work to make sure it was suitable; he’d even given some tips here and there along the way.

Even with that in mind, Gun wanted to do this mission. Putting her newfound skills of blacksmithing and augmenting to use was an exciting proposition; one she just couldn’t pass up. She pulled the little sheet off the board and went about letting them know she would be working on it. After a few weeks of getting to know the Quartzermaster better and numerous weapon proposals, Gun was now attempting to gather some materials for the client's new weapon. Luckily, the client had given Gun some ryo to help purchase all the things she would need to work on the weapon that they'd discussed. Unfortunately, the shop that Gun usually went to for this sort of thing couldn't get their hands on everything that she needed. They had, however, heard that a shop on the other side of the village had some of the things that Gun needed. Gun raced across the village, hoping to get there before someone else bought the items on her list.

Gun had the physical list stored in one of her pockets but she couldn't help mentally going over the items as she ran. For such a renowned weapon master, the best materials are needed. I'll need some meteoric iron or maybe some titanium, we'll have to see what we can afford. Senju wood is a must, I've never done any augmenting with it, but I've heard the benefits of using it are top notch and not seen in any other augment material. Every little bit helps in a battle of masters.

Gun was by no means an expert in augmentation so most of her information had come from others thus far. She planned to ask the sales person at the shop she was heading to about their best augmenting materials as well. She figured the more people she got info from, the better she’d be able to tell what was personal bias, truth, and misinformation. She arrived just a few minutes before the sign on the door said they would be going to lunch. Gun wasn’t pleased with that fact, she didn’t want to be rushed or make someone miss out on their meal.

She opened the door, looking around. This was the third shop that she’d been to, but she was always amazed at all the cool things they had. There were battle axes hanging on the wall, a rack with bunches of swords, cases with unique metals and materials, and even an abundance of racks with armor and a changing room so you could try them on and get alterations to the fit if necessary.

”Hello, how can I help you today?”

Gun had been so in awe of the things around her that she hadn’t seen the girl, who was likely only three or four years older than herself, come up to her. She tried a friendly smile before responding ”Yes, I’m looking for… stuff.” Her nervousness at talking to a stranger had gotten the best of her.

”Yes, most people who come in usually are. Is there anything specific you’re looking for?” The teenager was polite and her smile seemed genuine and didn’t seem to indicate that she was making fun of Gun.

”Right.” Gun said, a light chuckle following the statement. She knew she sounded silly, but Kana wasn’t here to talk for her so she steeled herself and began again. ”I’m a blacksmith,” Gun started, having learned early on that if you said that to shops like these, they’d give you a discount if you were a fellow smith. ”and I’ve been commissioned to make a weapon. I heard you might have enough meteoric iron or titanium for me to purchase.”

The girl seemed a bit surprised at Gun now; at first, she’d seemed more like an errand girl, someone who would show up, pull out a list and just hand it over and wait until everything was gathered and take it away. But when the genin began asking about specific materials, and some of the most expensive and sought after ones to boot, the sales girl knew that Gun wasn’t just an errand girl. She also saw a good opportunity to make a big sale. ”Of course miss, come this way and we’ll see how much of both we have in at the moment. Do you know how much you think you’ll need?”

The girl started over to one of the cases that had small pieces of metal inside. Next to each piece of raw material was a dagger, presumably made of the material. ”Hmm, it’s going to be pretty large… maybe 15 or 20 kilograms. Think that should give me a little extra to work with. Was also hoping to buy some Senju wood as the weapon will have a wooden base.”

The clerk’s eyes lit up. She really was going to make some good commission off of this sale. ”So do you know the differences between meteoric iron and titanium? They are both excellent materials for weapons, but besides hue, there are some other slight differences.” The teen gestured towards the case, using her left index finger to point to the example of titanium and her right index finger to point to the example of meteoric iron. One could clearly see that titanium was shinier while meteoric iron had a darker look to it. ”But let me check to see how much we have of both before we get into the differences.” With that, the teen disappeared through a curtain, leaving Gun alone to look at the metals in the case.

She wasn’t terribly interested in how they looked. She wasn’t creating this weapon to look pretty, but to be a deadly tool for one of Sakuragakure’s most notable weapon users, aside from the Kage. She couldn’t however disregard the use of certain looks being useful for certain shinobi though: a stealthy swordsman might need a matte blade, meanwhile a more tricky swordsman might use the glare from their shiny blade to their advantage. The Quartzermaster was neither of those types of warriors though, so Gun didn’t need to worry on that front.

”Unfortunately,” the teen said as she pushed the curtain out of her way as she stepped through it. ”We don’t have 15 kg of either metal in the back and it doesn’t seem like we are expecting anymore in the next couple weeks.” The teen said to the young kunoichi with a slight frown. ”However we do have 20 kg of Senju wood that is available for purchase.”

Gun’s face lit up, she was glad they had one of the items from her shopping list. “Yes, yes! That’s great.” Gun was clearly pleased with the purchase. Her face then contorted as she began to think about how to make the weapon work without the metal that she had planned to use.

”Are you familiar with Hoshimura Steel? It is more readily available in this part of the world, just as sturdy as the other metals you were interested in. Of course, Damascus Steel seems to increase the damage done by weapons, so sort of depends on what you're looking for. Both of those are a bit cheaper than the two metals you mentioned, mostly because of how much easier it is for us to obtain.” The teen had a friendly smile as she pointed into the display case to the example of Hoshimura Steel and Damascus Steel.

Gun looked to where her fingers were pointing, as the girl’s words sank in. The Quartzermaster didn’t seem to care much about how expensive it was, as he’d told her to come back for more ryo if she needed to, but he did want a weapon by the end of the month. That meant she had a deadline and using one of these two steels may be a better option than waiting for either of the other metals which might never show up. The daggers in the case didn't seem special but Gun did seem intrigued by the prospect of doing more damage. “You have 5 kilograms of the Damascus Steel, I guess?"

"We do, more if you need." The girl used a soft tone, trying to not be too pushy. A formidable sales person, the teen despite being rather young had seen many customers scared off by sales staff being too pushy and always attempting to add more onto the customer's bill. While she understood the desire to add more items, the teen also understood that the customer had to buy something if the sales person wanted their commission. Gun looked back down to the metals for a moment before looking back up to the sales girl.

“And the Hoshimura Steel, you have 10 kilograms for me to purchase?" Gun could see the benefit of using two separate metals since they would serve separate purposes in the weapon she had planned. The Hoshimura steel could be used as the base of the weapon and the damage dealing parts could be made of Damascus Steel. In that way, the weapon would be both sturdier and have a higher damage output than most would expect. Include the Senju wood and it'd be able to sap foes while inflicting more damage. Seemed like the perfect combination in her mind. The question was whether or not she was skilled enough to take the plan in her head and bring it into the real world for the Quartzermaster to use.

The teen hesitated for a second, then replied "I'm fairly certain we do, yes."

“"Yeah, go ahead and add the 5 kilograms of Damascus Steel and 10 kilograms of Hoshimura steel to my order with the Senju wood." Gun then pulled the list out of her pocket and proceeded to unfold it before perusing it with her eyes. “Hmm, I already have the '30 meters of wire'," Gun said, more to herself than the teen in front of her. She looked back up and spoke to the teen this time “Throw in some leather straps, like 1 meter, and I think that should be everything I need, for now."

The teen smiled and nodded, "Yes mam. Let's see," the girl pulled out a pad from under the desk and began scribbling on it. After a minute of calculations, the teen looked back up to Gun and said ""Your total will be thirty three thousand, four hundred and fifty ryo." The teen gave a friendly, professional smile as she seemed to be waiting. She had seen people order things before and then not have the means to pay for everything. Sometimes, they'd leave embarrassed while others would begin removing things and getting a new total until it was a level they could afford. She hoped this kunoichi wouldn't have that problem, partially cause she seemed nice if not a little meek, but also because she wanted the commission for such a nice order.

Gun took the hint “Right, of course." She pulled the wallet from her pocket, opening it carefully. She proceeded to begin pulling ryo out of it “One... two..." Gun was clearly counting to herself as she collected the money. Once she was done, she handed the wad of money to the teen who proceeded to double check Gun's counting and math skills.

"Give me a couple minutes to get that order together and we'll have you on your way." The teen said as she put all the money away and left through the curtain. Gun began looking around, perusing the already created weapons. She picked up a sword, feeling its weight and balance. She slid her finger along the blade, feeling how sharp it was. She was impressed with the workmanship, she wasn't sure she could do better yet. “Yet," she whispered to herself as she placed the sword back on the rack.

"Here you go." Gun grabbed the satchel which stored all of her purchases, four things in total. She then proceeded to leave and head back to her workshop. She had a lot of work to do and she wasn't sure how long it would take her to bring forth the image in her mind.

Two days later...
The heat from the forge was causing sweat to seep out of Gun's pores. The headband kept the sweat from pouring into her eyes. She had the hammer in her right hand as she was trying to flatten the Hoshimura steel out. For what she had in mind, she would need the steel to be relatively flat and lengthened to create the handle of the weapon. The blacksmith had told her that some metals, like Damascus steel, can be melted and then a mold can be used to to shape it quickly and easily, but other metals, like Hoshimura steel, couldn't be melted with regular means which meant that molds wouldn't work. That was why she was here continually beating this piece of metal until it yielded to her will. She kept it in the heat and then pulled it back out, smashing it over and over before returning it to the heat again. It was a slow process but she wanted the durable metal to be utilized for the handle. There was no easy way to do this, so she just kept banging it and forming it. She had gotten the steel to be about 3 feet long but she wanted it to be nearly 5 feet long.

When her arm got tired, she would take a rest and work on whittling the Senju wood into the proper shape. For the weapon she had in mind, she would turn the wood into four concave "plates" that she would then affix to the handle. This would allow the weapon to utilize the Hoshimura steel's durability and the Senju wood's unique trait of sapping energy from foes. Woodwork was also a slow process, but it took a lot more finesse than the metalworking part of the job. A small knife and small strokes, slowly turned the wood into the shape she wanted it to be.

The Damascus Steel was much easier because she simply melted the steel and then poured the liquid metal into a mold that she had made. When it was cooled, a few hammer knocks to the mold and the newly formed steel was out and ready to be used.

Once the handle was completed, she took the leather strips and wound them around the handle. It was a tried and true handle technique to give the wielder better control over the weapon. Of course, this weapon's handle was rather large so it took more leather than normal, but once she had all of the leather well wrapped, she tied them off.

Exactly twenty one days later...

"Alright! You got it?! My new toy!" The Quartzermaster acted just like a kid on Christmas morning, unable to hide the excitement they felt. He seemingly danced back and forth, shifting his weight from left to right and back again.

“I do." Gun's nervousness came through even with her incredibly short response, a stark contrast to the man's excitement in front of her. She pulled one of the scrolls out of her pocket, the one that had the new weapon stored inside it. She was nervous because the dancing behemoth in front of her might not like it. He was an expert with a wide array of weaponry and her weapon might not be up to his standard. She worried that, despite herself being very happy with the weapon that she'd made, he wouldn't like it. If he didn't, she'd likely have to pay him back all the ryo, which meant she'd have to pay him for years to come at her current salary as a genin, and she'd fail the mission, which was also terrible.

"Hurry up, lass!" Gun removed the weapon from the scroll and before she could say anything, the quirky guy grabbed the weapon. "Gimme!!" He then proceeded to swing it around leisurely, getting a feel for it. "Tell me about it!"

“Yes sir, well, it is based on a kanabo. This weapon is large, five feet long from the spike at the bottom of the handle, which is made of the durable Hoshirmura steel, to the flat top of the barrel. The handle, you can tell, is covered in leather strips for better grip on the handle which is just over two feet long. The barrel is three feet long with a diameter of about a foot at its widest. As you can tell probably tell, there is a cavity inside the barrel framed by the Hoshimura steel that connects to the handle. Outside the frame is Senju wood which will allow it to inflict blunt damage and sap the opponent's energy, the well known trait of Senju wood. Adorned throughout the barrel are twenty three Damascus Steel spikes, allowing them to inflict more damage than normal metal." Gun normally was a lady of few words, but the passion she felt towards her creation came out and wouldn't allow her to be short winded.

"Useful materials, good... but why the cavity? A solid chunk of metal would be more damaging..." He questioned the smith who'd made the weapon.

“Naturally, but, this is my favorite part," her own excitement began showing as she spoke. “See here," she reached towards the handle, near the top right before it starts to taper outward to create the barrel. “This is actually a button, push it while swinging the weapon." She took a quick step back, just in case and watched as the man swung the weapon with considerable force. As the weapon swung, all 23 of the spikes disengaged from their homes embedded in the Senju wood. It was then revealed that they were attached via wire to the inside of the weapon, as they came out nearly 3 extra feet.

“Let go of the button!" she called out. As he did so, the spool inside the weapon began reeling all of the spikes back to their homes on the weapon's barrel. “Holding the button releases the reel's hold on the wire which combined with a swing allows them to come flying out. If you catch a person, the spikes and the wire will sort of act like a bola, ensnaring your foes. Letting go of the button will reel the spikes back in, bringing your foe towards you or at least pulling them off balance enough for you to act." Gun was clearly proud of the wire mechanism she had included. “If you push the button just enough, you can lock the reel in place, leaving the spikes locked at a specific distance so that you can wield them more akin to a whip."

The man put the weapon down, letting the flat head of the barrel sit atop the earth. "OK. This is fun! I love it!" The man said, kneeling next to the weapon and peering at it quickly, moving left and right and up and down to see it up close from different vantage points. "Why the flat top? A spike for stabbing would be sick!"

“I considered that, but opted for the flat top for one reason: versatility." Gun nodded her head as if that explained everything. The man's questioning look made her realize she needed to explain further. “Well, you can put a fuuin on there, any one you wanted! Could be an exploding one or some sort of fireball shooting fuuin. Something that works with your fighting style. Ya know..." Gun began, clearly thinking things over before continuing “I could also build a spike that attaches to there BUT you could have an exploding fuuin there and when you activate the fuuin it would shoot the spike at your foes like an arrow or something. Yeah, I like that idea." It was clear that Gun was more talking to herself by the end of her statement than to the client that had commissioned her to make the weapon.

"Yes!" The man's exclamation pulled Gun's attention back to the task at hand. "The spike launcher! I need it, make it happen, lass!" The two of them laughed together, proving that both of them were a little bit quirky and obsessed with weapons.

“I'll need to find someone more skilled with fuuin than myself, but I think I know just the person!"

WC: 3603

[EXIT]

Claiming:

Mission Rewards: 9000 ryo, 30 AP

3603 WC - using the 25% discount due to max stats

1500 WC to learn Water Breathing
1125 WC to learn First Form at B rank
375 WC to upgrade Bull Rush from C to B
375 WC to learn Adjustment
188 WC to learn Fish Spit
40 WC goes towards Medea’s Mist at C rank, putting me at 40/900

Gunshin Juunan wrote:Claiming:

Mission Rewards: 9000 ryo, 30 AP

3603 WC - using the 25% discount due to max stats

1500 WC to learn Water Breathing
1125 WC to learn First Form at B rank
375 WC to upgrade Bull Rush from C to B
375 WC to learn Adjustment
188 WC to learn Fish Spit
40 WC goes towards Medea’s Mist at C rank, putting me at 40/900

Approved