Step 1: Floating Bodies. [Renai/Research]

[Hirosame]

Hiro walked ahead just a little ways, through the overgrown city, reaching a small workshop, where he was to meet up with a fellow crafter. He knew that there would be much work to be done today, and he was more than willing to work as hard as he could for quite some time today. Hiro had put up a flyer on the town board earlier that day, requesting a Woodcrafter get into contact with him soon, so that he may begin a long-term project. It was his ultimate goal to create a working Airship, like one of those from the Final Fantasy series, in order to traverse the world easier. Of course, there were already mounts and flying mounts in this world, but perhaps it would be best for everyone to be able to get around much easier. Although, an airship will never be quite as fast as a flying mount, it would still make travel that much easier.

The place in which Hiro was to meet the Woodcrafter, Renai, was just up ahead. Luckily enough, it was nearby a body of water, which was more than perfect for the Monk. His plan for making an Airship was a long ways off, so he had come up with a contingency plan: a Hot Air Balloon. This will allow for a little air travel, using the newly-created Steam Engine. This was one of the reasons why he was glad that he had chosen Mechanic for his Crafting class, as he'd be able to create more things as they became available. He was also hoping to create even more things as time went on, hopefully becoming an influential member of the crafting community. He'd love to be able to make a large amount of machines and advancements in technology as time goes on, making a name for himself in this world as well.

Hiro arrived at the small, worn down workshop, looking around at all the parts that were programmed in and left over. He had figured that this place would've been picked clean by now for all the spare parts, but even still, there was plenty for the to get by. He looked around a bit more, even though there wasn't much to look at in this tiny workplace. There was a work table in the middle of the room, but there was a large amount of room for work to be constructed on the floor. There were crafting hammers, and all sorts of necessities that Hiro knew that he'd be using sometime in the near future. He only needed to wait for his crafting counterpart to show up now, before they begin their work on creating a small, floating device, crafted through a unison of metal and wood, and hold up at least two people without sinking. That will be the beginning for them, and the sky will be the limit from there.

[Renai]

So there he had been, relaxing and sleeping and stuff, when along came a spider. Just in his way, getting in his face and making life difficult. A handy and somewhat little known fact was that Renai detested spiders. Detested them with the force of a thousand suns, and had he not been busy nonstop cleaning, he probably would have attempted to create a miniature sun at home just so he could cleanse his house of the nasty beasts. So he had flinched and rolled right off of the building he had been sleeping on, flopping straight onto the ground in front of some flyer posting board. There, he saw it. This seemingly nice guy named Hirosame had posted up some sort of request for a woodcrafter, and wouldn't you know it, that was exactly what Renai was. Scrawling a message out rapidly, Renai responded in kind and figured he might as well get some work done. It wasn't as though this city was going to clean itself, and the sooner he taught other people how to pick up after themselves, the better off everyone would be.

Ugh, just look at that railroad. Ridiculous.

To Hirosame,

Good morning to you! I could not help but notice your flyer as it flapped mockingly in my face after a rather nasty spill I had and I thought to myself, this looks like a rather fantastic opportunity for some real progress. I can see that you, by the content of your flyer, have the spirit of progress running deep through your blood.

I, however, do not. That said, I think that I'll lend my hand anyway, if you don't mind.

Stay well,
-God Emperor of Insanity
That is to say, Renai. Me. Yes.

So there he was, writing a joke personal message to calm his nerves before he wrote a proper and friendly one. It looked pretty stupid and honestly, if he received it, he was pretty sure he'd consider the sender to be a little insane. That was a reasonable conclusion, given the content, so Renai hastily moved to delete the message and rewrite it. Instead, he hit send.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

Now he was obligated to go. Holding back the urge to slap his own face, Renai let out a bit of a sigh and scratched his head. Shoot. Alright, he supposed he was going. As he held back the urge to clean everything in sight and smack the people he saw littering (did they even have any idea how hard it is to clean that up?!), the player made his way briskly through the streets, eyes moving from one spot to the next. Sure, he had been playing that old version of Elder Tale, but this was completely different. He could barely remember what was what, but there was no helping it. He'd just have to continue onward and make do with what he had. He managed to make good time to the designated workshop, glancing around and spotting what he presumed to be Hirosame. Was this Hirosame? Probably. Raising his hand to say hello in a non-psychotic way, Renai took a step forward and promptly tripped over himself, falling face first into the ground. What would his parents say if they could see him now?

[Hirosame]

After looking around the place a little longer, Hiro realized that he had more than enough things to help him get by a little more. He felt that there was more than enough stuff in here to be able to craft a large amount of stuff, without running out of resources. He might need to spruce this place up a bit more, in order to make some sort of a crafting business. Perhaps he could make a business with the Woodcrafter that was coming here soon. But, the message he received from the player was a bit... weird, to be blunt. But, it was certainly effective, to say the least. It certainly caught his attention right off the bat. And that's how you make someone remember who you are, ladies and gentlemen.

It wasn't all that much longer before Hiro found that the person who had offered to help him out with his endeavor. And, this character certainly made one hell of an entrance, having fallen flat on his face after giving Hiro a wave as a greeting. Hiro held back a chuckled, before looking at the player's name. Renai. That was certainly the person he was looking for. Hiro thought about it for a moment, and realized that this person was certainly a weird one. After the message he had received earlier, he figured that this probably meant that the male just before him was probably going to be like this for a majority of the time the two of them worked together.

Chuckling once more, Hiro walked over to the man, knelt down, and extended his hand out. "A pleasure to meet you, Renai. I'm Hirosame, but you can call me Hiro. I look forward to working with you." He said, giving a kind smile to the man. He had to feel a little embarrassed for the person who had just fallen right before him, but he realized that it was a common thing to trip every once in a while. Hiro only hoped that this didn't scar the man for a long period of time. Hiro laughed a little again, before finally saying, "So, you want to get started?" He couldn't just leave the poor guy to stay on the ground, and he offered his hand once more. With a character much like this on his side in this project, he felt things would go by smoothly... He hoped.

[Renai]

"Eheh..."

Renai did his best to throw on a grin, but it was more than a little awkward. His eyes were quickly flicking from one spot to the next with the speed one might normally attribute to a hummingbird, a somewhat inquisitive expression taking over as he attempted to pick himself up slowly. There wasn't really much else to say beyond that, seeing as Hirosame was chuckling or something. Still, he was speaking now, so Renai's eyes immediately darted back to the other craftsman. "Right. The pleasure is all mine." Renai was back on his feet quickly, accidentally bypassing Hiro's attempt to give him a hand up. Not that he would have accepted it, but the manner in which he had done so was a little unkind. Pinching his nose slightly, as if to stop any hypothetical nosebleed that may or may not show up, Renai glanced around and nodded.

In an instant, that somewhat comically beaten expression hardened into a sharp glare at the workshop in front of the duo. It was the look of someone who knew how to get work done and was used to making an unreasonable situation work to their advantage. In other words, someone with the self-proclaimed hobby of making "the impossible possible". "Mmm... Let's discuss what it is we're trying to get accomplished today. If I'm understanding correctly, you want to make some sort of floating container that can hold multiple people. Presumably for a boat or a hot air balloon or something like that. Am I understanding that correctly?" Without waiting for a response, Renai rolled his paltry sleeves back a bit and combed one hand through the side of his hair, pulling it behind his ear for a bit. Time to get cleaning. "Don't mind me, I'm just making the place a bit more... usable. Best to create a safe working space now and increase efficiency in the long term, right?" Soon, Renai was creating what looked like stacks of materials in different places, using a rag in the corner to dust off the work table. His main focus at the moment was safety and workspace. Maybe if he had time for it later, he could make a few cabinets for better storage and compartmentalization.

"If that's the case, then we should probably work out a small scale model and test it. This is probably a bit rude, but what's your experience in physics and engineering like?" He was still moving around, looking back every so often at Hiro to gauge his response. Catering to the audience wasn't usually terribly difficult and Hiro seemed like a reasonable fellow, so there was probably no harm in being somewhat frank with him. Certainly, Renai was still eccentric in his own way as he continued to clean the area and reorganize materials, but it wasn't as though he was just moving things around for no reason. After a while, some form of organization would steadily make itself known, with a high value on the separation of Woodcrafter materials and Mechanic materials. "Thoughts so far? If we're aiming big, it's best to create a solid foundation. This might be a little rude, but I don't want to have to rely on the quality of other crafters in order to ensure our success. Feel free to interrupt me at any time if you think there's something else to be done or said, but for now..."

For now, he was just engaging in the basics of a crafter's job. Before the work can truly begin, preparations must be made. Years of living under the elegant maid and gardener had left Renai with a knack for housekeeping and his skills were sharp, even in this strange situation. With a strange rhythm and beat to his motions, Renai continued to clean, correct, and organize. He'd definitely have to come back here later and really give this place a shine. "I assume you need my help because of weight problems, but if we're talking about resilience to damage and unexpected occurrences, that seems to be your domain. Perhaps what is going to be created is a lightweight frame capable of supporting the weight of multiple people coupled with a metal frame and guard to provide more structural stability and overall durability? Ah, sorry if I'm rambling or taking the words from your mouth. We haven't got drafting paper, so it's not like I can write all this down or present it in powerpoint format, right...?" A rather bad attempt at a joke, but it was what it was. The only question was whether Hiro would be surprised by Renai's suddenly talkative nature. Actually, that was a lie. The second question was whether or not Renai would suddenly go mute for the rest of the day thanks to how much he had just blurted out and, once he stopped, how anxious and unnerved he became. The cold, calculating expression on his face refused to wither, however.

[Hirosame]

Hiro was rather surprised at how quickly this strange man got up and just started cleaning, even after a rather embarrassing spill just a few moments before. He stood up and watched the man for a minute, wondering just how quickly he had rebounded. Hiro had no idea whatsoever as to how or why this person decided that this place needed to be cleaned up a bit more, but he figured that that's probably something that he shouldn't worry about. Renai probably has some sort of a rhyme or reason with this, and it wasn't really Hiro's place to judge the man for it, however ridiculous is may seem to him. He should leave stuff like that to the madman- err, the crafter, before him.

Still being mildly taken aback, he finally stood back up, and watched Renai sort things in specific areas. It looked like he was just doing some normal cleaning, yes, but there was something else in there. Something that gave Hiro the feeling that there was more than just some sort of order. Perhaps this was a special skill of the subclass Renai had? Or maybe it was just his methodology of going around, and picking things up. Although he realized that he wasn't saying anything, and just staring at the man, he couldn't help but marvel a bit. In all his years as a Blackbourne, he'd never really seen this kind of organization. It was new to him, really. Maybe this organization was beyond the level of his family, and something that only a true nobleman could understand. Hiro blinked at the thought, and chuckled. That might not be the case, but if it were, that'd be something he didn't expect.

"Well, you pretty much said what my plan was already. My ultimate goal is to make an Airship, much like the ones from the Final Fantasy Series, but I figured it'd be best to start off small, and work up to that as a final goal. So, my immediate goal is a Hot Air Balloon, which will use the Steam Engine that was just recently created. Sure, it might not sound like much to start with, but it truly is a beginning. But, yeah, today I just want to focus on making a body for the hot air balloon, something fusing Metal and Wood, to make it light yet sturdy. If you'd like to, I'd love to work alongside you through the entirety of this project, making simple steps here and there, and finally reaching our goal. But, don't think that I'll just expect this for free. I'm more than willing to return the favor with another project that you might need a Mechanic for. Let's just call it a favor, and I'll help you out with anything you may need in the future. Sound good?"

[Renai]

Hmm...

Renai had clamped his mouth shut at this point, figuring there wasn't much else to be said at this point. Hiro hadn't really answered his question about whether he had experience with engineering or physics, but it didn't really matter. Whatever the case was, they could make it work somehow. After all, it wasn't like Renai was particularly lacking in knowledge, provided he wasn't expected to act friendly or sociable. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to move through the checklist for work. What was the order again... He felt like he was forgetting something, but it probably wasn't too important if Hiro hadn't noticed it either. They had designated a work area, Renai had cleaned up part of the area and was continuing to organize as he worked, so what was left? These were all important steps to creating anything, Renai knew, but perhaps Hiro was starting to get a little bored. After all, just watching someone clean up was bound to be uninteresting. Renai glanced at Hiro once more to try and gauge the man, the cold stare almost knife-like in its gaze.

Sighing a bit, the woodcrafter let his expression relax and nodded over his shoulder. Hiro's plan sounded solid. Renai was still cleaning up at this point, creating a proper workspace and organizing materials, but within 30 seconds, he slowed to a stop and dusted his hands off against his pants. There. It wasn't perfectly organized, but the general structure was apparent. Mechanic stuff on one side, Woodcrafter stuff on the other side, and stuff that could mix in the middle. Larger parts were kept off to one side and more fragile pieces were placed on stacks of sturdier objects to prevent spilling. Reaching into the pile of wooden materials, Renai pulled out a medium sized block of wood, something that looked to be about the size of his head. Plopping it down on the corner of the table, the woodcrafter glanced at Hiro. "In the worst case, how many people do you anticipate will need to fit on board?" Biting his bottom lip with his canines, Renai placed a single finger on the table and started drawing invisible symbols on it, what appeared to be numbers of a sort. Every so often, he'd point at some previously calculated group of symbols, refusing to let his gaze drift away. His ears were pricked, waiting for a response from Hiro, but there was only so much that could be said without knowledge of the required maximum capacity.

On the most basic level and using Archimedes' principle, for any object to float in water, there would naturally need to be the counteracting forces of weight and buoyancy. If he was remembering correctly, weight was essentially mass times gravity. Buoyancy was the product of the density of the fluid, the volume of fluid displaced, and the gravity of the surrounding area. Unless they were making an incredibly large scale steam-liner cargo ship, there was probably no need to consider differentials for the density of the fluid and simply assume it was constant over a certain height. This assumption was naturally only reasonable for certain maximum heights of the container, but it probably wouldn't be too much of a problem. After all, because density increased with depth, it would essentially mean that Renai had underestimated the buoyant force. Usually a good thing, provided a certain amount of stability. Then, if he just factored out gravity, he was calculating the mass of the container and all those inside against the volume and density of the displaced fluid. Working in metric units, that was going to be... Assuming each person is at max 150 kilograms with all their gear, that would be 150n+x = pV, right...? And water was 1 kilogram per meter cubed, so he could replace that and essentially get 150n+x kg = V m³ * kg/m³. For just Renai and Hiro, they could get away with displacing... 200+n so... If they managed to get the boat to be about 20 kilograms, 6x6x6 meters? Ooof. Kayaks were 8 meters for two people, if he was remembering correctly, so there was probably something a bit off about his math. Still, now that he was thinking about it, it really wasn't all that much. If this was a proper boat, it could certainly handle that.

Even better, it was a prototype for an air balloon basket, which meant width was not a major concern. It could be oblong as they wished. This was definitely starting to look feasible. Using those old examples, Renai was starting to understand more clearly where his calculation errors had shown up and what failed assumptions he might have made.

[Hirosame]

Hiro felt that he was probably giving the Woodcrafter a bit of a weird feeling, thinking that his staring while the man went about cleaning was a bit weird. It was at that moment when he realized that he never fully answered the man about his experience with Physics and the like. He figured he might as well tell the man now, before much longer. "Well, to have answered your Physics question, and how much I know, I went to a private school back in the real world. Granted, I wasn't a perfect student, but I know a good deal of stuff relating to it." He sighed a bit, remembering how his parents weren't all that pleased with Hiro's 95 in Physics, while his sister had gotten straight 98+ in that class. The only reason she didn't get 100's all the time was due to her having grown deathly ill, to the point where she couldn't move without major consequences. Perhaps there was a bit of a powerful expectation there, especially with the whole Blackbourne family belief that knowledge is as important as status. He never grasped that idea firmly, nor did he really want to.

His being a bit of a black sheep in the family was a bit useful for him, though, as it gave him a fruitful childhood, to which he could conduct his own experiments. One thing that he probably should tell this man was the fact that his friends in the real world, when they were younger, actually made a small boat, and sailed it across the lake behind one of his rich friend's house. He was congratulated for heading up that project, and doing a lot of the heavy lifting. His friends were a bit pompous, sure, but he offered to do the heavy work. While his parents weren't especially happy for that, but they were proud of him for leading the others. Their rationale was that those friends were "of a lower social standing," and "It was right of you to have to lead them, as we're superior to them." Hiro wasn't too fond of that elitist ideology, and still treated them like they were his friends. Even still, it was a crowning achievement for him, for which he was proud.

While thinking about this, he overheard Renai ask him something as to how many people were going to be in the craft. Hiro thought about it for a moment, and, since it was a prototype, there wouldn't need to be many people inside it. "Probably two, at most." He said in response to the Woodcrafter's question. "Since a Hot Air Balloon back in the other world didn't hold many people, we might as well keep the same idea here." He started to look over the materials just nearby him, on the, what he could gather, Mechanic side of the room. There were plenty of strips of metal, pliable and flexible strands, as well as long boards of sheet metal that looked to be stripped off the walls of the old buildings nearby. He then looked over at the Woodcrafter, waiting for the floor plan to begin. He walked over to the table, where the man had the block of wood.

[Renai]

He was getting carried away again, he knew. He was making some base calculations for what was acceptable and what wasn't for weight limits and size, but he was probably leaving Hiro to just stand around and wait. Still, Hiro was answering that he had gone to a private school. Renai's own education was somewhat scattered, so he supposed the sort of knowledge that the upper crust learned might come in handy. He remembered hearing about some sorts of experiments at the public schools when he had been a teenager and they had sounded pretty interesting, but Renai hadn't gotten his hands on practical experience until later. Well, practical experience in a controlled setting that didn't accidentally set fire to an asphalt road. With the preliminary steps taken care of, Renai took the block of wood that he had procured earlier and placed it in the center of the table.

"I'm thinking of a trapezoidal shape. Boats are different from aircraft in that, unless they are motorized, the passengers do the work. Therefore, the sides can usually not be too tall. However, a trapezoidal shape would allow slight adjustements for something more suited to the air or the water, depending on your intent." Pulling a small, sharp piece of metal from one of the piles, Renai lightly scored the block with what he figured the wooden frame would best look like. It was somewhat trapezoidal and might remind someone of a strange mix between a carriage for a hot air balloon and a paddle boat. In the back of his head, Renai was considering the usage of the Inversion skill in order to power a motor and create a more reasonable form of thrust, but the skill didn't have a low enough cooldown in order to justify such a thing. It would probably be attached to a chain like a bicycle gear, allowing the rotation of the gear to be operated smoothly without the pedal flying out of control when the user wasn't holding it. Either way, it might be worth considering some sort of flaps to help control direction both in the air and in the water. It was all fluid mechanics anyway.

"What do you think? How would you place a metal frame around this to ensure stability? Is there a shape more suitable to a frame that would allow for a more seamless compromise between woodwork and machinery? If we create a proper wooden model for work and testing, it may be easier to imagine. As a slight aside, I am personally thinking of creating the possibility for the addition of steering flaps or a motorized or hand-crank method of motion. If I create a giant flapping device some time, I'll let you know." That was really all Renai could say or do at this point without getting some of Hiro's input. After all, this was a joint project and monopolizing all the conversation time was bad form. More than that, he was starting to ramble again. A lot. A lot a lot. Renai bit his tongue after he stopped speaking, trying to remind himself not to be quite so... overbearing and eccentric. His eyes seemed to be scanning the block of wood and searching for all possibilities, but he still wanted to make sure he didn't come off as hurtful. Insensitive? Something negative like that that wasn't just "talks a lot".

[Hirosame]

Hiro listened silently as the Woodcrafter spoke, watching him carve into the wooden block. He followed the design, and started to visualize it in his head. Ironically, it had begun to look something like the boat he and his friends made long ago. He smiled a bit, laughing to himself, and continued watching. He knew that this was mostly unintentional of the Woodcrafter to make a design that Hiro was already familiar with, but it would serve to be helpful in the end. He was more than certain of that fact. But, maybe a trapezoidal shape wasn't going to do all that well in the air, as that might decrease the speed a bit too much. While the air has less resistance than water for a moving object, a little more speed couldn't hurt.

After a moment, Hiro spoke up. "Y'know, a trapezoidal shape isn't all that bad of an idea, but perhaps a little less like a trapezoid and more like a triangle." He used his hands to show more of a shape that he was thinking of, and he said, "I know it's probably obvious, but having a triangular shape would decrease the resistance of the water, or of the air. However, I'm not saying like a perfect triangle, to the point where it has, well, a point. There should certainly be a bit of a flat end on it, so there would be more room in the cabin of the ship. Carrying space is a really good thing to have, and it shouldn't really be overlooked often." He pointed it all out as he was speaking, making multiple gestures as he went along.

After he finished his small rant, the other player spoke up again about flaps on the side. For an airship, that'd be a good idea. On a Hot Air Balloon, that would also work. On a boat, though, it was rather pointless. But, that's probably why the Woodcrafter mentioned that it would be used in later versions. "I like the idea of flaps, but certainly not on the boat body." Hiro felt that he probably didn't need to make that point, but it was still a good point to have. He returned his vision to the makeshift model that they had going on, and examined it further. This had much potential to it, and just thinking about it even more gave him a tingling sensation. He was rather excited to get this thing off the ground. No pun intended, though.

[Renai]

Renai's eyes flicked to Hiro's face as the metal worker's expression shifted, not exactly sure what that was about. When Hiro spoke his thoughts, Renai couldn't help but feel a strange emotion that felt something like, "Ah, I explained poorly." He knew the feeling well from his college days, but they were back again now. After all, it was a crafting world. The reason Renai had suggested a trapezoid originally was to ensure stability. He didn't want both people to get near the tip of the triangle, for example, and cause the entire boat to flip over because it was poorly balanced. Wait, a ship?! Renai's eyes flicked to the other craftsman again, a little surprised. He hadn't realized it was going to be quite so... large. Still, that was even better for water antics. Buoyancy scaled with volume, so a slightly larger area could have a massive impact at larger sizes. Renai nodded his agreement with the mechanic, lightly scoring a few alterations onto the small model ship. It was a lot more triangular in shape and reached a rather nice compromise between what Renai thought would work and what Hiro seemingly knew would work.

Soon enough, it was Renai's turn to actually get to work. He had considered flaps for their use with motorized vehicles, providing turning mobility rather than the obvious turning ability afforded by oars and paddles. A steam engine really would be good there. Still, there were better things to be engaging in than fruitless conjectures about designs that were unrelated to the current project. It was a little rude of him to be wasting Hiro's time like that. "Give me a bit so I can carve out the model. Feel free to interrupt if something looks a bit different from what you envisioned." Shuffling over to the pile of woodworking materials, Renai pulled out the saws and holders, pulling out finer tools and laying them out methodically to the side. The most obvious thing was to remove the largest pieces of excess with the fastest and most unrefined tools. It was like like rapidly coloring in the insides of an outline, to put it as an analogy. The scraps were pushed into a neat pile quickly after before Renai got to work cutting off the smaller pieces and smoothing out the edges, borrowing a bit of sandpaper from the pile create a nice feel. It was a quickly explained action that glossed over a lot of the important steps, but in a bit of time, Renai had a decent looking butt ready. A boat, rather. Scoring the top of the boat as well, the crafter continued to hack and chisel away at the wood, moving quickly with the experience of someone who had repaired structural faults in beams and other equivalent nonsense. When it came to house work, he was top notch. Sort of. Even if it didn't translate into the game, the confidence boost and cutting safety techniques it gave him prevented him from doing stupid things like accidentally cutting off a finger or lopping off an entire half of the important part of the boat. That would be the worst.

Either way, the visualized boat soon came into form. It wasn't fantastic, but it was fairly decent. About what you'd expect for more than seven posts of planning and preparation. Handing over the boat to Hiro to use and attempt to visualize with, Renai got to cleaning up his tools and scraps. An unclean workplace was a dangerous workplace. "Your turn. Where do you think it would be best to work your magic on something that looks like that?" Renai had done his best on the woodcrafting side, but now it was Hiro's turn.

[Hirosame]

Hiro was doing a fair deal of watching today, as he observed the man move around and create a small scale model of how the ship would look. It looked pretty good to him, and he started to walk around it, while his crafting partner had begun to clean up the work space. He envisioned a few things about it, wondering where he could put metal into the equation. There was more than enough to be able to cover the entire thing, about eight times over, but that wouldn't be a good idea. That'd make this thing sink like a rock. A rock covered in metal. A metallic rock. Something to that effect, anyways. And that wouldn't be good for a prototype, let alone an actual model. That'd sink like a Led Zeppelin, speaking of metallic rock.

He started to walk over towards the piles of metal, and looked at them for a moment. He wouldn't be able to do this on his own, at least, not at his current state. Being a level 5 Monk did have its advantages, but certainly, he could use a little more brute strength. So, he figured that it was about time for him to reveal his Sigilmaker skill. He put the image of Aquarius into his mind, and clasped his hands together, containing the energy. He tightened his grip for a moment, and silently whispered, "Strength." He relaxed his hands, and looked at his them, observing the twin blue seals, glowing faintly. This should get him through at least one post-err, this should let him do what he needed to do for the moment. He grabbed onto the smaller metal pieces, and started to bend them with his own hands.

It took a fair deal of strength, but the seals made it a fair deal easier. He made a small, empty metallic box to represent a steam engine, and he put it on the table, leaving it there for last. He extended his reach out a bit, and started grabbing long pipe-like metal strips, and picked up the model boat, carefully, and flipped it over. Hiro had begun making intersecting lines of metal beneath the boat's hull, to give it a little more suspension up from the water. He then took a large slab of metal, and started to cut it up into a large, hallow base to be put right on the bottom of the boat. This would add a bit more buoyancy to the boat, and a bit more resistance to stuff in the water like seaweed or metallic rocks- why was he getting back into that again?

He grabbed the nearby hammer, and a few nails, and started hammering it into the bottom, along the outsides of the base plate. He started to hammer in nails along the sides of the metallic beams he put on the boat as well, and he picked it back up, noticing it weighed a deal more now. It wasn't all that heavy, maybe a total of 100 pounds, but thanks to his seals, he could lift it up with a little extra force. He turned it back, right-side up, and started to put metal beams on the sides of the craft, to make some sort of a frame to the boat. It would also keep things from falling apart, should enough wear and tear be put onto it. It certainly would be able to stand up to more now, which would certainly be better off in the long-run.

He took the small box, and placed it towards the back of the boat's hull, and stood back to let his counterpart observe it significantly. Hiro looked at the man, and smiled. "Okay, so what this will do is the metal plate on the bottom is hollow inside, so that will aid it's ability to float, and eventually, act as a small shield from lower attacks or rough landings. The boat has a metal frame, which helps support the wood beneath it, as well as giving it more of a design, in a sense. But, all in all, it should protect and aid the ship's capabilities further." He took a few steps back, and pointed to the small metal box. "That right there's gonna be a steam engine, which will be used to bring the Hot Air Balloon up into the air, as well as power the propeller in the back to give it some forward motion." He figured that he'd wait for a little bit, so his partner can respond to him.

[Renai]

Hoo boy. Hiro was really self-motivated, wasn't he? Renai let the player have the model boat and suddenly he was zooming forward with creation of a hull and strong support frame for the holder that was the wooden frame. So that was the plan, was it? Create a pocket of air while simultaneously using the wooden base of the carriage as a means of creating a softer interior. It was important to take humane considerations into account as well and it seemed Hiro was doing just that. Renai's eyes alighted on on Hiro's hands as he worked, noting the sigil that had shown up. Oh, so he was a sigilmaker, was he? Not bad, not bad. Pretty useful, now that Renai was getting a good look at the younger male's work. There was certainly no waste to his work and the strength shown by the player was of the type that made Renai clearly reconsider any plans to get on Hiro's bad side. Was he some sort of fighter class? That seemed likely, all things considered.

Rubbing his head briefly as he saw the entire craft come together, Renai watched the hull take its full shape. 100 pounds? That was kind of heavy. "Seems a bit heavy for a model...Hmm. Well, it should be alright. Let's test it?" Renai wasn't particularly strong, admittedly, but he had enough strength in him to justify helping carry a 100 pound model boat. Gesturing for Hiro to take the other side, Renai cocked his head towards the lake. With a bit of a huff as he began lifting, Renai's orange eyes burned golden momentarily as he tried to help lift the model boat. Eventually, they'd remake it in larger size, but the model had to be tested for now. The woodcrafter was making calculations even now, trying to predict the results based on the size of the model. He hadn't exactly planned for such a large model, but he could make it happen. When the duo put the boat into the water, it would probably float. Probably. With the model complete, they would probably be able to get to work on the larger model too. It was just a lot of resizing and patience. But hey, it was a carriage for what could become a hot air balloon, so there was certainly progress to be made.

[Hirosame]

Hiro considered the thought of the Woodcrafter for a moment, and nodded. "Yeah, it probably is a little heavy for just the model, but that's not really the point of it all." He began. "I think the point is that we just make sure this floats to start with." Hiro looked down to his hands, as the seals on them started to disappear. He noticed that that had used up a little bit of his total MP, so he figured he'd have plenty of juice to make a few more attempts at this later on. Unless this model was the only thing they were doing that day, Hiro had more than enough MP to last. He nodded over at the man as he mentioned that they should test it, motioning his head towards the water nearby. Hiro walked over to the other side of the boat, and helped lift it up. Child's play, for the Monk.

Hiro aided the man with the boat, and offered to carry more of the weight, which pretty much went unanswered. Hiro's strength made it so he could certainly lift the craft himself, but if the other member was so adamant on lending a hand in the carrying, then Hiro wouldn't complain... much. It was a bit obvious that Renai was no fighting class player, especially due to the fact that the Enchanter symbol appeared nearby the health bar. Hiro figured not to say anything about it, having the feeling that main class didn't matter all that much to him, or to the other player. Right now, the most important thing was getting this model to float. After that, the real work can begin.

Hiro and Renai brought the boat to the water's edge before setting it down. This was a crowning moment for the Monk and Enchanter duo, for the little work they had already put in, as well as the work to which they were going to be putting into this project. And Airship... No, a Hot Air Balloon would revolutionize the way in which players traveled from place to place. Hiro nodded to his partner, and started to push the boat into the water, before hopping in himself. The water this close to the shore wouldn't be a problem if the boat started sinking, since the water was relatively shallow at this point. Hiro let the water carry him out a little bit, and the boat rocked back and forth a little. Hiro quickly took a seat in the craft, and waited for the boat to calm in the water.

It was floating.

[Renai]

Even though it was obvious that Hiro could take care of the boat by himself, Renai appreciated being allowed to help carry it. It added to a sense of the teamwork put into the craft and it was fun seeing the thing slowly sink into the water and begin floating as they let it go. As an Enchanter, Renai wasn't exactly high up on the strength ladder, but it seemed like Hiro respected that this was a joint effort. It was a welcome change to what Renai was used to, which made it even better when he got a chance to see Hiro step into the butt boat, standing firmly on the craft without it sinking into the deep. Now that Renai was thinking about it, if they really did get airborne vehicles to work, they might have to deal with airborne opponents. In that case, it was almost mandatory that every airborne vehicle had someone capable of ranged combat. The last thing anyone needed was to get on a craft and be unable to fight the opponents that came after them. Especially in the case of a hot air balloon, where a ruptured balloon meant death.

Feeling a little excited himself, Renai allowed a twitch of his lips in an upwards curled expression, carefully stepping onto the boat itself. Was it still floating? One person was one matter, but this was supposed to be able to handle two. Did it? Renai waited patiently, carefully... Floating. Still floating. Even with both of them on it. Turning to Hiro with a small twinkle in his eyes, Renai timidly offered up what appeared to be one-half of a hi-five. If Hiro didn't return it, then the woodcrafter would just slide that hand back behind his neck as though that was what he had meant to do the entire time, but he could at least offer this much in terms of camaraderie, right? It wasn't like Hiro and Renai were on particularly terrible terms, so this much was probably alright. Either way, Renai would step off the boat afterwards, helping to pull the butt back out of the water once they were done testing it. They didn't want their prized model floating away, after all. "Now... the real thing." That was all there was to be said.

Heading back inside, Renai took a few deep breaths before elegantly heaving several large blocks of wood out of the corner. It wasn't like a large size container could be made out of one piece of wood. What were they using, an entire tree? Geez. It might be a little boring for Hiro again, because these tasks were ones that could only be completed in succession and not simultaneously, but it couldn't really be helped. Pulling out that piece of metal again and using it as a pencil for scoring lines and prepping the pieces of wood for carving, Renai got started on the container. He'd make one half first so Hiro could get something to reinforce, join it with the other half, then secure the entire thing together once more with the outer rim. With that in mind, Renai's eyes sharpened on two blocks in particular that he quickly fashioned into curved planks. The good part about having multiple distinct pieces was that it added an extra level of flexibility as well. That was naturally important. As Renai scraped out pieces and cut and sanded away, he eventually ended up with one half of a boat. "There. The second half and the connectors will come soon after."

[Hirosame]

Hiro accepted, and returned the motion of the half-high-five that Renai had offered, feeling a little shocked, but rewarded. He didn't seem like the kind of guy to do that, mostly. He was still happy to return the motion, as it did sort of show a small bond of crafter's friendship. It was ceretainly rewarding for them, since the rest of the project was scaling it up a few sizes, tops. Since both of them were able to stand in the model boat, without making it sink, it certainly meant that the larger sizes would be able to hold more than just them up. But, since they had some pretty basic sizes already, being multiples of 5, all they had to do was multiply it by maybe 3 or 4 times. Still, it'd be successful in the long-run.

Hiro followed Renai back into the shop, and immediately started working on the harder part: the under-body metal plate. This was, of course, used for buoyancy on the bottom, yes, but it would also serve as a small shield, in case of lower attacks. It would also serve as a bit of an impact plate, should there be a hard landing in the near future. Of course, this will be built so that it has no damage on the outer layer if such an occasion were to occur. He hoped that it wouldn't but it certainly didn't hurt to be prepared. He made it from the same kind of metal, but added in a few metal trimmings to it, so that it would actually be able to stand up to a little more. He put in some screws here and there, just to seal the deal, so to speak.

Just as he finished this part, he saw that Renai had finished the front half, and allowed Hiro to start putting things onto it, where it needed to be. He had to pull a few things up to put the nails in the bottom for the metal plate to be put on, while only half of it managed to cover up the bottom half. He figured he might as well use the metal plate as a stand of some sort, as he started putting nails into the boards, making the long, metallic strips like he had on the model, only much longer this time. He turned it back over, and stopped before putting the metal rails on the side, and figured that he might as well wait for the other half to be done before he did that. Until then, he would go ahead and started preparing the metal rails, and the other parts of the butt's boat's fittings. He simply waited Renai's consent, so to speak. Hiro was pretty certain that Renai would be alright with what he'd done so far, as the rest was pretty easy to put on. All Hiro needed to do afterwards was put the metal trimmings on the sides once it was all put together on the metal plate. Easy as pie.

[Renai]

It really wasn't that difficult to make the back half of the boat, all things considered. It might have been a challenge to get the model all fixed up, but scaling it up was a snap. Renai had more than enough experience making models larger and scaling them into usable proportions, so the act of turning something small into something large was no concern at all. Someone had once mentioned to him that making 2 out of 1 was easy, but the difficult thing was creating 1 out of 0. Although Renai didn't fully understand what was being referenced or said, he did vaguely agree with the sentiment. After all, it wasn't like he could easily 'create', but modifications and repairs had been his domain ever since he could hold a cleaning rag in his hand. He probably had his parents to thank for that. With a bit of a sigh, the woodcrafter shook the thoughts of the past away and focused on the work in front of him. He glanced over at Hiro to try and make things a bit easier for him, wondering if he had screwed up somehow.

The machinist wasn't really the type to correct someone if they did something unsuitable, it seemed, and instead flow with it. Renai could see him creating a few alterations in the bottom of Renai's wooden frame, so it was with that in mind that Renai joined the various pieces of wood he had been carving together. He attached them as cleanly as he could, but kept in mind the metalwork that Hiro had done earlier on the model and on the front part of the boat, creating a few subtle shifts in the back as compared to how he had created the front. He might not have seemed like it, but Renai did try to be considerate every once in a while. Besides, he didn't want to have to waste too much time having Hiro fix his own mistakes. He thought it was a little insufferable when he did that, so if he noticed it himself, then he wasn't about to continue with the same attitude. After a reasonable amount of working time that one could consider to be reasonable for the amount of work done and the output quality produced, Renai took to the next task. Their original boat model had been one that had been meant to check the outer layer of the butt and make sure it floated, but if they were truly to create a usable carriage, it needed to deal with the human factor as well.

Renai had mentioned it briefly before and had mentally give Hiro a thumbs up in regards to this, but the attention to the human factor in creation of new inventions and research was and always would be important. After all, the point of an invention was to better the lives of humans. Well, sentient, intelligent humanoids anyway. With that in mind, Renai started setting up a base to fit inside the boat frame to create a solid and stable 'floor' on which someone could comfortably sit. It would feature a way to store stuff underneath as well as a guardrail of sorts and a rather simplistic prevention method to stop people from getting too close to the front of the 'triangle' ship they were making. It was something that paid a nod to the human factor and Renai wasn't about to start skimping or slacking off here. Soon enough, that too was done, which left Hiro to properly assemble everything. If it worked as expected, then they could truly say it. They had built a functional carriage and a proper container for things like hot air balloons and maybe even airships.

[Hirosame]

Hiro was fiddling with the spare pieces of metal that he had set aside, and began to shape them how he needed them. He didn't really take any time to look over at Renai, as he figured that the Woodcrafter had an idea of what Hiro wanted by this point. Well, it wasn't what he wanted, per se, but what would be best for the both of them. It didn't make sense to have to make both of their jobs a bit harder, just to make the same thing in the end. It was about as pointless as a broken pencil. Sure, you can use the eraser, but there are separate erasers for that. In fact, some people preferred having the eraser separate, because it might be a memento, or maybe even something they regarded as lucky. Just something to make things go by easier.

Despite the speak of mementos and lucky erasers, Hiro had been given the chance to put his metal fastenings onto the back portion of the butt. First thing he did was flipped them both over, so that the bottom metal plate was resting on the back half of the craft, in perfect alignment. Hiro went ahead and put the metal strips along the middle of the boat, nailing them in, and creating the link between the front and back halves. The next thing he did was nail in the metal plate on the bottom. This would also solidify the bond between the two parts, as well as anchor the metal plate onto the bottom, significantly. With that piece done, he went ahead and finished up the metal reinforcement strips on the bottom of the cabin, before pivoting the craft, and turning it back over onto the base.

All that was left now was the rails, and then the interior reinforcements. After that, this butt was ready to float. Without wasting much time, Hiro put the rails on, added in the metal finishing pieces on the inside, and stood back a little bit. Now, the problem was just getting the boat to the water's edge, and then pushing it in. It'd be too heavy for Hiro to lift up himself, even with sigils on his hands. So, he looked over to Renai. "Hey, hold out your hands for a second, okay?" He asked, before walking over. As soon as he had a chance, Hiro placed strength sigils on the Woodcrafter's hands, and put the exact same ones on his own hands as well. He walked over to the butt's front, and nodded to Renai, and lifted the craft upwards.

((Note to Yuki: Apologies for the semi-powerplaying, but it was for the sake of making the next post.))

[Renai]

Renai's eyes curved across the arcs of the boat, slipping from edge to edge as he observed, flicking from the sharp forward point of the boat to the sturdy frame that was going up around the rounded butt of the boat. It was a bit of a marvel that the two players who had never met before this managed to create such a thing as this boat. They had not only done so efficiently and well, they had cooperated well in order to create something truly impressive. Renai could only stare on and look at the invention as Hiro finished the final touches on the butt. It was interesting to see and interesting to participate, so Renai was satisfied. When Hiro finally finished up and asked Renai to hold his hands out, the woodcrafter complied easily. He had a good idea of what was coming before it happened and wasn't surprised to see a sigil form over his palms. His body felt a little bit lighter and stronger and there was a strange warmth to it that Renai simply hadn't expected, so Renai was a bit impressed. This was pretty useful, even if it was dangerously ephemeral.

When Hiro moved towards the boat, Renai followed suit and bent at the knees, taking a deep breath. Orange eyes glowed yellow momentarily and Renai's ears seemed to vanish underneath his hair, his expression becoming a little bit more defined and strong. He managed to keep his tail and ears from popping up, but there was clearly a difference in his expression as he pulled the boat up. With the sigil and his race strength boost, his arms exerted a force that would be impossible otherwise, able to effectively lift his end of the boat and keep it in the air. He wasn't as strong as the melee fighters, sure, but his strength was no joke. Soon after, the woodcrafter wobbled over to the water and set the boat into the water, making sure he was careful not to drop it or damage their new creation. Sure, it was sturdy, but the basics of keeping equipment in good condition was treating it well. As one might expect, the butt did actually float. Gesturing to Hiro that he should get in first, Renai would soon follow suit. Did it float? Would it float...

[Hirosame]

The duo began to carry the craft over towards the water's edge, walking in perfect unison with one another. Hiro held up the front part of the butt, while Renai had picked up the other side. Hoisting it over into the water, the two of them watched the boat float a little bit. Hiro looked over to Renai, who had given him the "OK", as it were, to hop on in and give it a go. Hopefully, it would provide enough space for the two of them to stand, and be able to float in the vessel easily. But, perhaps they should start with the heavier one. While Hiro imagined that he wasn't much heavier than the other man, it was still a good test. Hiro stood in the vessel of their combined craftsmanship, and settled in, before feeling the effects of the floating boat.

Hiro nodded over to Renai, verifying that it was holding him up just fine, giving the thumbs up motion to prove that all was well. He faced forward again, looking out across the water for a moment. He saw the ripples going along, and then eventually leveling out to calm waters once again. Taking a moment to lean against the back of the boat, he observed the other boats and crafts on the water, docked neatly at certain parts of the harbor. The city of London had wrapped around a small inner harbor, and made a very good natural bay. There was no wonder at all that this once-thriving city had gained most of its income from the trading industry, as well as a tourist center for the world. Well, this was back in the real world, as this world was much different from that one.

Hiro looked at the boat for a moment, and thought. Even in the air, one's feet would get quite tired, and would need to sit down. He turned over to Renai, and made a suggestion. "Perhaps some sort of bench should be put in here, on the sides of the boat, wrapping around itself. It'd be a pain to have to stand the entire time, don't you think?" He said to his partner. It would make sense to add that part in, as it would only take a little extra effort. Not to mention that below the benches could be a holding compartment, for which to hold food and other necessities in. Perhaps some ammunition, for an archer of some sort to shoot down arrows, in case of an attack from the ground, or from above as well. There would be many uses for it, but he wanted to know if the Woodcrafter was alright with the idea as well. Hiro hopped off the boat, and helped in anchoring the boat, just in case Renai had felt like it was a good idea after all. Hiro thought that it was a good move, and his partner usually thought on the same wavelength as Hiro, so it would probably make its way into the final project. He was almost sure of it, really. He nodded over to Renai, before turning back to the water, then up to the sky. He grinned, with the thought of flying fresh in his mind. He could already feel the wind rushing past his body, as the duo would soon be soaring over the city, with their hot air balloon that they created just below them.

[Renai]

After confirming there weren't any problems with Hiro's weight on the boat, Renai took a long breath and steeled his nerves. Carefully stepping onto the boat and steadying himself against the edge of the boat as it shook slightly, the player let out a small breath as the boat continued to float easily. Sure, it had been designed for two people, but now that Renai was inspecting it carefully, he somehow got the feeling that maybe one or two more people could fit. This was a fairly solid structure that the duo had made and Renai was a little bit proud that they had managed to do it. His eyes gazed out across the water, musing to himself. At first, this might not have seemed like much, but the ability to travel over normally impassable terrain was a big plus. Not only would it increase trade, it would open up a whole world to the players that they might not have been able to reach before. At the end of the day, Hirosame and Renai had done something seriously great for society.

As Renai stood around and fidgeted slightly, his eyes moved towards Hiro. It was true that there was a stable surface the duo could easily stand on and perhaps sit down on, but it wasn't exactly... comfortable. The human element, as Renai had thought many times before, was very important. And as Hiro had proved many times before, he too was thinking the same. "A solid judgement." Hopping off the boat a moment later and loosely anchoring the boat to the shore as best as he could, Renai scuttled back off towards the workshop. His hands moved quickly as he scoped out a tiny model and used their old boat as reference before he started cutting, bending, and forming the wood. It wasn't particularly hard work, especially considering the duo had made a boat, but it did take a fair bit of time. Dragging the largely finished parts back over to the boat, Renai scored out a few more locations and guides before attaching the bench to the boat.

It wasn't like Hiro had specifically said anything about the issue of compartments, but the duo had talked about it briefly when they were talking about the model and there was a bit of a compartment in the front. Following that idea and using the braces and supports that kept the bench from falling in on itself, Renai added a few pivoting compartments near the back as well. They were essentially nothing more than large, hollow wedges that pivoted and would slide up so their open ends were underneath the bench when not in use. Throw something in and push the compartment back up, no problem~ Finishing that up, Renai rubbed his hands against his pants and glanced over at Hiro once more. "That should do it..."