A Shaman's Blade [Closed w/ Pyre]

[Haneroze]

Pyre
(Legend: Actions / "Haneroze's thoughts" / Speech)

Haneroze had just went out of Kumori's shop. She did a mental check of items she were supposed to have after all that crafting session.

"Vanity clothes... Cloth armor... Wearing them both. I have my old clothes in my inventory. My feather hairband is also in my inventory, and I'm also wearing my new ribbon. And I didn't forget my notepad and scribe tools. All good!"

She looked at her notepad, turning the pages to her grocery list. She slashed away the Cloth armor, Vanity cloth, and two of the accessories. Remained unbarred the three level 5 weapons, Sword, Staff and Bow, one accessory, the potions and the basic Artisan tools. She started back walking around for search of these items.

After a while, she found a shop with tools. She approached to see what was available in that shop. They were all Artisan tools. Or level 1 Artisan tools. Amongst those was a quill usable by both Artisan and Scribes, but not by other classes unlike the quill she bought before changing subclass. Haneroze picked it and examined the extremity, wondering if it could actually draw smaller. She then looked at the shopkeeper, that almost appeared to be sleeping on the chair, wasn't it for his answer.

-If you want to test it, help yourself.

The man appeared to be an Adventurer. Haneroze supposed he probably didn't want to be an Artisan, and thus is selling all the Artisan items he started with. But it didn't really matter. She tried the quill on her notepad and compared with lines that were already there. She could actually control a bit the size of it, unlike the generic quill. It still wasn't good enough quality, but she supposed that's the best she could possibly find before leveling up. So she decided to buy it. She looked at the man, showing the quill.

-Hmm? Want to buy it? 15 Gold please.

Haneroze deposited the gold on the counter, and waited a second for the man to pick it up, but he didn't move from his chair. So Haneroze bowed to him and walked away.


"Next, I need to buy weapons. There's a lot of weapon shops around, so... I guess I'll just visit the next one I see. Let's see..."

She looked around, until she came across a blacksmith shop. She approached it, seeming a good enough shop. Then she deposited her notepad on the counter, turned toward the shopkeeper so that he could read the list.

[Pyre]

Pyre had his back to the door when he heard it creak open, “Just give me a moment!” he called without looking back as he used the tongs to pull a bar of metal out of his forge and place it on the anvil to his right. Without even looking he pulled the heaviest hammer from the wall and turned giving the glowing cherry red metal a few precise hits forming it into the rough shape of an axe blade. A Lander had come in late in the evening yesterday asking if he could repair the old axe head, but it had been cracked all the way through causing it to fly off of it's handle.

Expecting to see another Lander, Pyre was quite surprised when he turned to see his visitor. A young girl with white hair stood at his counter and had placed a note pad on it sitting very quietly with big eyes that seemed to watch his every move. Leaning down Pyre read the list for a moment, the girl apparently was looking for weapons, but why just put the list here on his counter and not speak to him directly?

“Um well if you want I can make you a sword, but I really need to know the kind of blade you want and then take some measurements to make sure that I don't make it to big or to small or much to heavy. For a sword you have to be very careful cause just the slightest mistake in the balance can mean life or death on the field of battle, if we died here that is.” Pyre frowned when she didn't make one sound.

“You know I don't bite and you might have to communicate with me so I can make the sword that You want.” Pyre smiled trying to appear as friendly as possible.

(Blacksmith - 312 Words)

[Haneroze]

Haneroze waited behind the counter, watching the blacksmith as he was already working on something. It seemed to be an axe, thought unsure if it was for someone that wasn't there, for himself or just for selling later on. Then, as he turned over and looked at her list, she smiled, waiting for his answer.

But as soon as the blacksmith said 'measurements', Haneroze did a sudden step back.

"Measurements?! He wants my measurements too?! Wait, no, I may be misunderstanding, a blacksmith shouldn't need the measurements Kumori took! He probably just means the height and weight!"

The man, however, wanted straight away Haneroze to speak. She did a silent sigh, then opened her mouth and pointed it. Then she closed it, crossed her arms into a X, and shook her head left and right. So far, no one misunderstood what that meant, they all understood right away that it meant she was mute.

Without waiting for Pyre's reaction, she turned her notebook's pages to the first blank page, and quickly drew the shape of a Scimitar.

[Pyre]

Pyre saw the look on the girl's face when he mentioned the idea of needing measurements and suddenly it occurred to him what it sounded like he was asking for, a deep frown crossed his face. The girl opened her mouth and pointed to it, then she crossed her arms in front of her making a big “X”. It took Pyre a moment to ascertain the meaning of what it could mean. When it finally dawned on him what it meant he felt like an idiot, this girl in front of him was mute.

When she stepped back to the counter to flip a few pages on her notebook and started to sketch the rough shape of the blade she wanted. With a small smile Pyre walked over and watched the girl at work. It appeared to be a crude drawing of a scimitar and now Pyre new the measurements he would need to get for the blade and hilt.

Leaning back from the counter Pyre smiled, “Okay miss, the first thing I need to make clear to you is that this blade will cost you only the material's price to make. That is going to be a unit of iron, coal and oil. The next is I am going to need to measure your arm and hand for your sword so I don't make it too big for you.” Pyre reached under the counter and pulled out a thin piece of cord. “It's actually very simple really I just tie a knot at the very top and then run the cord down your arm to the tips of your fingers and tie another knot. Then I do the same thing from your wrist to the tip of your fingers. Of course I will need to know what hand you will wield the sword in; because that is the arm I am going to measure.

(Blacksmith - 315 Words)

[Haneroze]

Haneroze nodded as the blacksmith said she needed to pay.

"Off course, that goes without saying!"

She continued listening, nodding that she also understood what he wanted to measure.

"So there needs to be a balance in arm's length and sword's length? I never knew that. I thought I could just shop any sword and wield it normally. I'm glad I found a competent blacksmith, then!"

She nodded again at his instructions. Then she stretched her right arm toward the blacksmith, waiting for him to take the measurements.

[Pyre]

Pyre smiled as he walked around the counter, “You don't need to do that miss, it's really quite easy to get your measure naturually.” Pyre started to reach for her hand, but stopped himself; not wanting to scare the frail looking girl in front of him he felt the need to explain exactly what he was going to do. “I am only going to tie get you to hold the end of this cord between your middle and ring fingers and then very slowly and carefully I am going to guide it up your arm to the top of your shoulder. I need you to try to keep very still the closer I can get this measurement to true, the easier time you will have to make this blade an extension of you.”

Wasting no time Pyre deftly handed her the end of the cord and waited for her to hold it between the ends of her fingers. After that was done he very gently ran the cord up the outside of her arm using his thumb to guide it, when he reached her elbow he would hold that point of the cord and use his other hand to guide the rope to her shoulder before letting go of the point on her elbow. Now with the end of the shoulder know Pyre would tie a knot there so as to have his entire sword length laid out in front of him once the he laid the rope on the counter.

Looking down he frowned, the blade was rather short, just shy of two feet long. If this sword was for anyone else other than the girl before him he would wonder if he hand messed up his measurements. “Okay I am going to start making your blade now; if you want to stay and watch you are more than welcome to do so but it's going to take a few hours. I refuse to use the short cut of using the menu to make what my pieces...” Pyre frowned, “...To me they just don't feel as sturdy and almost brittle.”

Walking back around where Pyre kept his tools and supplies he picked up a crude bar of heavy iron weighing it idly in his hands. Deciding that THAT bar was not the right one he tossed it aside and picked up another bar almost identical to the one he had just discarded and hefted in one hand then the other and smiled. Setting it on the anvil he reached for his huge tongs to pick it up and set it deep in the coals of the glowing forge.

As the fire glowed and sparked at the disturbance in it's coals Pyre worked methodically and fluidly as he set the tongs on the lip of the forge and grabbed the bellows in both hands. The sweat was already rolling down his brow from the heat, but it didn't bother him. For Pyre right now nothing mattered it was just him and the forge he didn't even notice if the girl had decided to stick around or not. He watched the bar in the flames waiting for the right time.

A few minutes passed as he used the bellows to pump oxygen into the forge and keep the flames burning hot. Then without any noticible reason Pyre stopped and grabbed the tongs to hold the now cherry red bar and hefted it to the anvil where a heavy hammer waited. Grabbing the hammer Pyre started to pound the bar out flat stretching it and shaping it into the crude shape that would eventually become the young girl's sword.

When he thought it looked about right Pyre grabbed the rope he had knotted and compared it side by side with the crude shape. Taking the hammer he smoothed out the shape and added just a few more inches to the blade and started to narrow the end that would eventually become the hilt. From the other end Pyre knocked a small unformed hunk of metal off and started to form it into a bell shape that would eventually serve as a guard for the sword. As the metal started to cool and harden he picked it up in the tongs and once again stuck it in the flames before giving the bellows just a few more pumps.

As he waited he started to get an assortment of smaller hammers and files as well as a few small pieces of wood and strips of leather. “Now is the hard part, I have to time the next forging just right or the blade's will be too brittle and any edge would break” He spoke to himself.

(Blacksmith - 782 Words)

[Haneroze]

"Eh? I don't?"

Haneroze watched as the blacksmith walked around the counter and explained to her how exactly he would measure it. She took the end of the cord between her middle and ring fingers, and watched as he simply made a knot at her shoulder.

"I see. That's a nice trick!"

She nodded as the blacksmith said it could take a few hours. She didn't really mind, she still had lots of time ahead. She watched him start working, then as he seemed to enter a repetitive phase, Haneroze decided to take her leave. She picked her notepad, tore the blade drawing out of it and left it on the counter, in case the blacksmith would need it. Outside the shop, she looked around in order to memorize the shop's location. And once she had memorized it, she walked away.


"So, the sword's being taken care of. Remains the bow and the staff, the accessory, maybe a few other artisan items, and some potions. I'd need a woodcrafter for my two other weapons."

She lined out the sword from the list. She walked around, trying to find woodcrafter shops. But she couldn't find many. Most weapon shops were blacksmith shops, it seemed Woodcrafter wasn't a popular job. After she was sure she had gone through the whole Market place, she rememorized herself the few woodcrafter shops. Two of them were from Adventurers, but either too low level or too high level. Three others were from Landers. She walked back to the nearbiest of these Lander shops.

The shopkeeper, a woman of the Land, was already busy with another client as Haneroze arrived. There were items already ready to be sold around the shop, so she looked at the weapon part of the shop. She first looked at the bows, examining them and trying to determine which one was the best suited for her.

"Hmmm... Their forces aren't identified. I can't be sure which one is better for me. Guess I'll have to try them."

She picked a bow that seemed to be of the good size, and held it like a normal bow, left hand on the hold, and right hand on the string. She tried to memorize herself the feel of pressure from her practices in real life, then she pulled the string, as if she was going to shoot, but without any arrow. She felt nearly no resistance.

"This bow's force is too low. Let's try another one."

She placed the bow back where it was, and picked a different one. She pulled its string, but felt too much resistance. She tried again a different bow, this time the resistance seemed correct.

"This one seems good."

As she looked for the price and level, the shopkeeper arrived behind her.

-Do you need help, young lady?

Haneroze turned toward her and bowed to salute her. She then smiled as she slowly shook her head left and right. The shopkeeper took two seconds before answering.

-...If you say so. Once you've decided, be sure to see me at the counter.

Haneroze nodded before the Lander turned back to her counter. She looked for the arrows this time. There were a lot, since they were sort of consumable items. She deposited her bow on a nearby table, picked an arrow that seemed to be amongst the smallest half, placed it in front of her neck, arrow's head away, and stretched her arms to reach the farthest possible of the arrow.

"Hmm... Slightly too long."

She compared the arrow to others in order to get one of the correct size, and then picked a few dozens of the right size. She then picked a quiver that would be attached to her belt. Finally, she headed to the staves and picked one that seemed to be of a good weight and size.

She double-checked all of her choices, making sure they were all of the right level, size and weight. After confirming they were all good, she brought everything to the counter. The woman of the Land looked at everything, thinking for a small while. Then she replied.

-That will be 300 gold, please.

Haneroze handed the price, then picked everything, sending them into her inventory through her menu interface.

-Thank you for the purchase, young lady. I wish you a good day.

They both nodded at each others, then Haneroze headed out.


"Now then, let's try finding a third hair accessory."

She walked around the Market place again. But there weren't any good accessory. The accessories she found were either not for hair, too high level, or not beautiful enough for Haneroze's taste. She still bought a few health potions in the way. So after a while, she decided to head back to the blacksmith.

She entered again the blacksmith's store, heading straight to the counter and watching how he was doing on her sword.

[Pyre]

Over the next few hours Pyre repeated the process of taking the blade and pounding it into the shape he wanted, the shape he could see in his mind. With each turn on the anvil the soon to be blade required less and less work until the last time he had to work with it on the anvil the last time when you could clearly see the blade of the scimitar. The blade swooped back slightly curved into the very end when the back would suddenly slant back towards the cutting edge to keep the point of the blade in the center. A scimitar's design was simple, elegant and quite deadly. Pyre smiled, he had no doubt in his mind that this blade would reflect it's master quite well.

Reaching back for the tongs he placed the blade back into the coals to keep it malleable while he finished what he needed to do for the guard of the sword. He took the bell shaped piece of iron out of the fire and using small sharp tools he made a rectangular opening in the top trying to guess the size of the blade. It would be better to make it bigger than the sword's width because then I could push the excess back onto the blade and make some crude welds to make it harder to break the guard and hilt from the sword itself.

Doing just that Pyre used the tongs to pull the blade back out and without a moment's hesitation he slipped the guard up the swords narrow bottom, sliding it up to the point where the blade would begin and the hilt would end. Then taking the one of the sharp tools he had used earlier he pushed the soft metal onto the blade and using a small hammer he firmly attached it to the blade. Reaching for a small rag he dip it in oil and used it to pour it down the blade and guard making them steam and darken in color. He had done this to harden the finished blade but his word was far from done.

Reaching for a small chisel Pyre scratched his name on the bottom where it would be hidden under the hilt. This way if someone found this sword and tried to claim it as their own it would be a simple matter to break the hilt and show them his name.

Grabbing once of the smaller pieces of wood he held it to the bottom trying to decide if it would be right for the hilt. Deciding not he tossed it and grabbed the other and held it to the side to make sure. When Pyre was happy with it he started to use a small drill, slowly and carefully he made a rectangular hole in the middle. Once it was all the way through the wood he slid it up the bottom of the sword and quickly pounded the bottom of the hit and capped the wooden hilt in place.

Reaching down he picked the blade and have it a few spins and even flipped it over the back of his wrist. Pyre was sure this hilt wouldn't twist or turn when it counted. Using a resin compound Pyre took the length of cord he used to measure the young girl's arm and started to wrap the hilt so the blade wouldn't slip in a sweaty palm.

Finally it had come to the finishing touches, Pyre reached for one of the files he had already gotten down and started to file and sharpen the edge he had formed in the blade during the numerous hours spent shaping. When he finished Pyre took the piece of wood he had discarded earlier and put it on the counter. Picking up the blade he turned, for the first time noticing the young girl again. “Just about finished, I just need to make sure the blade is sharp enough to hold an edge and not to sharp that it will need to sharped everyday.” Pyre smiled as he quickly brought the sword down and sliced the small piece of wood in two. “That is a good sign.” He reached down and studied the cut and smiled it wasn't so clean that it would lose it's edge but at the same time the girl wouldn't want to go chopping down trees.

Taking it back to the workbench Pyre cleaned up his work and smoothed out the pieces that needed to be smooth. Then with a very small etching tool he scratched three interlocking circles at the very base of the blade. They were so faint that if you didn't know they were there it would be impossible to see.

Taking the sword he walked back to the counter and rested it on a piece of leather. Folding the leather over the blade Pyre sewed up the edge and made a crude sheath. When he set it in front of the girl he frowned. “I am sorry that I am not a tailor, so if you want a better sheath that is fitted to the sword I can't help you. Otherwise this blade will serve you well if you take care of it and use common sense.” He smiled and gestured for the young girl to try it. "If you like it then your sword is done ma'am." Pyre stopped he realized now that he had never gotten the girl's name and didn't want to see rude and use the interface to see her name.  "Um is there anyway I could learn your name? I mean I don't want to be rude and just look at your name through the interface."  Pyre didn't want to say it but now that they were in this world that felt like an invasion of privacy.  "Or if you want: You could add me as your friend and then your name would show up in my list.  It would also allow you to send me a message if you ever need anything from repairs to a new sword." 

Pyre smiled as he looked outside for the first time since he had started work on the girl's sword. The shadows had already started to slant the other direction meaning that dusk would soon be on them. Well the sword took a little longer to make than I thought but it was worth it if this blade saves her life or not just her life but the lives of those she chooses to protect for whatever reason. Pyre looked at the girl and not for the first time wondered if this frail girl could wield a sword with any power behind it.

(Blacksmith - 1114 Words)

[Haneroze]

The blacksmith seemed to be very concentrated on his work, as he took a small while to notice Haneroze. He informed her that he was almost done, only needing to verify the sharpness of the blade.

"A sword can be too sharp? I didn't know that!"

She continued watching him, wondering how he learned to be that skilled in blacksmithing. It wasn't something one would learn in real life, so it seemed odd. She thought that maybe there was books on it at some library. But then, as skilled as he seemed for crafting and testing the sword, he did something very fast and low-quality for the sheath, and excused himself for it. She did an awkward smile as a answer.

"I guess one can't be skilled at everything."

Haneroze then picked the sword in her right hand, and the sheath in her left hand. She turned away from the Blacksmith, and did a regular slash in the air, making sure not to hit anything. Then she placed the sword inside the sheath, took it out, and replaced it again. She then turned back toward the blacksmith and smiled, showing her satisfaction. He asked for her name, saying he didn't want to use the interface for it.

"But I can't tell my name otherwise! And you've never said your own name neither..."

She opened the Blacksmith's status window, learning he was named Pyre and was a Guardian. She then opened her menu interface and sent a friend request to Pyre. She also transferred the Sword into her inventory. She then picked a random amount of gold in her right hand and holding her left hand right over. She looked toward Pyre with an inquisitive face and moved her hands slightly toward him, as to ask how much it would cost.

[Pyre]

Pyre saw the request as soon as it went through, Haneroze, that was this frail young girl's name he smiled as he clicked accept then looked down as she tried to hand him a handful of gold as a payment for the blade he had crafted. “No that is way to much. How about this, since this is one of my first swords I have made for a fellow adventurer I just charge you for the materials used.”

Pyre had to stop and think for a moment, he had used a unit of iron, coal, and oil all level 5 so that would come roughly to 75 gold for it all. “Seventy-five gold for the sword and it's yours to take and use as you see fit.” Pyre smiled, “Also, Haneroze, if you ever need it repaired just stop by the forge and I will make it as good as new again, at least, until your ready for a stronger blade.”

(Blacksmith - 161 words)

Pyre Exit Post

[Haneroze]

Pyre did not understand Haneroze's movement as a question, but as offering the whole amount she picked. But in the end, he did say how much he wanted her to pay, so she didn't mind.

"75 gold? That's a good price."

She started counting her Gold to arrive at the total of 75 Gold, handed it down to the Blacksmith, and placed back the rest in her bag. She then bowed toward him, both as a thanks and as a goodbye, before walking out of the shop.

"It's starting to get dark. I better go to the Inn for now."