"Hmph, you're finally coming around." A gruff voice said.

The voice belonged to a musclebound behemoth of a man, squatting on a wooden bench far too small for him. He was extremely muscular and covered in scars. If one could see his palms, they would see the roughness as a sign that he was truly a veteran swordsmith. In front of him stood a solitary cherry blossom tree. Petals danced in the wind as a much younger woman approached from behind. She wore a ceremonial kimono sort of loosely, and she was carrying a bundle of thick rope over her shoulder.

"It's agreed to move on, then, principal?" She asked, putting the rope down.

"Yup, but it's scared of me." The Principal replied, getting up and stretching. The tree shuddered, almost as if it was afraid of the loud cracks from the principal's joints. "I'm not as good with younger spirits as you are, Kasumi, so you're going to have to handle the ceremony solo I'm afraid."

"Hmmm…" She said, also taking the time to stretch.

She was nowhere near as muscled as the principal was but she was still considerably well built. She had short red white tied back in a ponytail, and even though she was relatively standard in terms of height, the principal stood a good 2 heads taller than her.

"I guess I'm alright with that," She replied. "I am this school's spiritist expert, if they need to ask something it'll be better if they ask me directly."

"I'll leave it to you then," The principal said, nodding once. "I'll handle the rest of the preparations."

As principal of the Seishun Academy of Swords, he was the one who had the final word when it came to the weekly challenges. There was no penalty for not participating in a challenge, as the academy didn't really enforce a strict curriculum. Students enrolled were free to leave the school any time, the only condition being not to come back until they were a master swordsmith in their own right.

But for this challenge in particular, the students who chose not to participate would be missing out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, to create the sword Seishun Academy's god was going to reside in. Even in his long history of smithing, he had been requested for a job of this kind of calibre only a handful of times, although the difficulty for this one was not significantly high like the other ones had been.

He was curious to see which of the students would claim the top spot, but he would soon see anyway.

---

There is a certain tree in Seishun Academy that has been around for something close to a century. It used to bloom beautiful cherry blossoms year-round but only when there were very few people to see it. Very few students knew the real reason the Sakura tree had lasted for so long; but with the announcement of this new challenge issued to the entire student body, everyone had found out the true reason for the tree's strange nature.

The Sakura Tree was hosting a God. Not a very powerful or old one by any means, but still a god all the same. When this fact had been initially found out, there were plans to seal off access to the tree, but the God itself expressed that it wanted to see how the world was. Time passed, many faces came and went, but now the tree was dying. It couldn't hold the power of a god forever, and the principal has finally managed to convince it to move hosts.

This challenge is a schoolwide challenge aimed at the best swordsmiths to create a God Sword for the God to reside in. The winner of the challenge will be decided by the God itself as well as Kasumi, the spiritual realm instructor.

The challenge will begin with all of the students standing in front of the tree which has been ritually prepared for the ceremony, complete with an altar in front ready to accept a sword. A stockpile of metals to be used is also there. The only materials that can be used are the ones from the stockpile as part of the challenge.

The list of metals are as follows:

• Iron - 30 units 13
• Copper - 30 units 17
• Steel - 30 units 8
• Bronze - 20 units 8
• Gold - 20 units 7
• Tamahagane(NEW!) - 20 units 1
• Mithril - 15 units 4
• Black Steel - 15 units 0

Materials are first in, best dressed. There are obviously more materials for all the students undertaking the challenge but for game purposes these are the only ones you can take.

The Winner of the Challenge is given the right to be able to talk to the God on occasion. Even though it won't be able to directly intervene with anything, it is a good informant that has been gathering information on Seishun Academy for almost a century. The God will appear only to the person who smithed the God Sword unless there is some kind of emergency.
>/list]

---

In order to create a sword, 10 units of combined material must be used in order to forge the blade. Other metallic parts such as the handle can be included in the 10 unit cost depending. Embellishments such as gold trim or chains and whatnot won't usually even take up one unit of material but still need to be mentioned as taking something.

Creating a scabbard takes 5 units of any particular material which includes its embellishments, depending on how overboard you want to go with the decorations.

For the purposes of this challenge, a fitting scabbard is required to create a complete sword. The completed sword won't have to be particularly practical, as a god can fit inside any real medium. The only reason it really has to vacate the tree is because the tree is a living object. Since swords are non-living and a fitting host, the God will most likely be able to fit inside any sword the students create.

Kasumi the instructor is there to judge whether or not the sword will be suitable for the god. The winner of the challenge will win the right to be able to speak with the god on a fairly regular basis. The god can provide a lot of information on the school, old forging techniques, monsters of the forest etc. being the household god of Seishun Academy.

There is an 8 post limit per person for this challenge. Students have 8 posts to set up, plan and begin the forging of the sword before time skips the rest of the process and the sword is completed. The post with the completed sword may or may not be included as part of the 8 posts. Banter time and asking the instructor for advice will also be counted as a post. We are basically skipping the introductions, unfortunately. We're jumping straight into it essentially, but if you can manage to fit in an introduction it's all fine really.

Each post should have a maximum of 2 forging elements before wrapping up, such as heating the forge and melting down the metals. You can talk as much as you would like during the post, however, do be reasonable about it. Banter will also be limited to about 2 actions per post but one action could potentially be a lengthy conversation which takes an hour, but do note going back and forth will take up a fair amount of posts.

Be comprehensive with your questions, and be exhaustive with your insults. Aim to get something with every line in order to maximize your time.

---

Challenge #1 is God Sword creation. The Sakura Tree hosting Seishun's resident god is dying and a new vessel needs to be made. A God can choose any kind of host to manifest in so any kind of sword will do as long as it is a fitting sword for a god to reside in.

Materials are limited with a first in policy.

New Features:

• New Technical;
  -Sword Crafting
  -God Swords
• New Material;
  -Tamahagane
  Tamahagane is created by placing iron sand in a clay furnace and adding charcoal during the forging process in order to give it hardness. To create a blade using Tamahagane is a complex process involving folding together several layers of metal to create a thin, but strong blade. Mostly suited for creating eastern style swords, its full potential is realized when creating a Katana or a Jian. When creating a Tamahagane sword, the most important component is its core. The edge can be made of different metals but the core must be Tamahagane as it doesn't make too good of an edge without its core.

There is an 8 post time limit for the challenge which is subject to change. The number 8 is an experimental value because I'm not entirely sure how long we'll usually take for this yet. If needed, it can be increased.

Seeming to blend in with the falling pink blossoms of the tree was a particularly colorfully dressed student who stood tall with one hand in his pocket and the other tapping on his chin. "Hmm..." Aldous looked down at the tree... "I hope they realize that the process of making this sort of steel is only a way to circumvent the fact this nation had very small reserves of iron due to being a volcanic archipelago and the reason nobody else did it was because nobody needed to... not that other cultures lacked the knowledge to." The boy brushed his hair and took his hand from his pocket before casually walking closer to the tree.

The exact nature of the challenge, it seemed, was unknown to him as it was to the rest of the students. Still, the boy was not a stranger to the art of sword smithing, and thus begun his duties without a second thought. He knelt down before the tree to inspect the materials and seemed a little disappointed at the lack of variety of metal he had to choose from as well as the apparent lack of understanding for the inner workings and particularities of metal-working which were oh-so-important to the creation of a proper sword. Aldous scoffed, though brushed it off, picking up two different pieces of iron. It wasn't particularly easy to visually inspect the quality of a piece of metal, though such a thing was not incredibly important to Aldous. "Softer..." he whispered, placing a piece of steel on his lap. He then eyed a piece of black steel and seemed to almost keel over in disgust. He picked it up. "Oh, you poor baby. Left here alone where these foolish rubes might pick you up, not even knowing how to use you, but you're lucky." he whispered into the metal hunk, then placed it in his lap among the other pieces. Finished collecting his steel, Aldous looked for a proper place to actually work them in.

"I hope I can properly heat you" he said to the black steel piece, then looked around. "Though by the looks of things, it seems they expect us to bash rocks together until we get something resembling a weapon. It's like these people don't know properly how to run a forge." Aldous adjusted his glasses in a snobbish manner, then walked off.

Tao was sitting in the back with closed eyes and a calm face almost sagely in manner, but in reality he was half asleep due to the boring and lengthy preamble regarding the contest. "Yeah, yeah, god... cherry tree...new home... make a sword, the one it chooses wins." were his drifting mental notes as he pictured what materials he'd be using. The design itself wasn't an issue as he'd know what he'd do once he got the materials in hand. He was on autopilot as he got up from the chair with a burlap sack in hand which was used as a blanket. He briskly walked to the materials tables, emphasis on briskly as he didn't want to provoke someone to run and grab something he wanted. He smiled as he saw a very effete looking man eying the ingot of black metal of which they were almost out. He immediately grabbed the remaining amount of black steel and put it in the sack before putting a good amount of iron and some trivial amounts of the mithril and gold which were to be used later.

He pitied those who wanted the leftovers of the black steel that was took by that man. He turned to him as he continued to smile as his plan began to hatch the very moment he said, "Hey loser, wanna take a break and help with me with my lunch? I'll give you my permission to forge at my place if you want. I don't care what you make or you seein' what I make." He closed his eyes and pictured an area where there was some peach trees and smiled. Even in a competition there's no reason one can't make a friend or two in the midst of it. "So Whaddaya say?" he said to the guy again.

Nate Mason listened to the quick out of character briefing regarding details for the campaign and the current plot point that was developing. In the realm of Seishun, there was a minor demigod with a scant century to its name. It was bound into a single cherry tree, and it was dying because of some reason. Clearly the expedition would focus on why this minor being was decaying. Perhaps it was some manner of undead, they were fairly common sources for this sort of deal.

He wiped out some sweat that was starting to pool up in his jowls, and flicked his thick fingers sideways to remove the excess moisture. Adjusting his glasses, Nate proceeded to get into the mindset. And so The Exile, Apostate of the Pact of the Blue Quill, The Templar Solomon Doveheart of the Stormbearer Isles began to waddle towards the pile of metals strew about carelessly.

"Hrruuughn..." Solomon said in a huff, as he placed his left hand upon his chest. "To be armed with only my faith, in an unknown realm with only the scant advice of one of the Guilds of Artes Mechanicae..." He mused aloud in a monologue. The Templar knelt upon his right knee as he clasped his hands together preparing for prayer; and that was when he spied strewn about piles of copper and gold. "Curious, did a dragon's horde get rummaged or perhaps this was some former lord's tribute?" The Exile, the Apostate of the Pact of the Blue shook his head as he slowly got up. "It does not matter anymore, for now in the name of my Lord, I shall take these stones." And so Solomon Doveheart of the Stormbearer Isles proceeded to gather chunks of gold and parts of copper.

---

---

The challenge was begun with little ceremony, something peculiar given the sheer gravity of the task that laid before them. If the spirit of this endeavor was not so clear then she would have found it odd this was even a contest to begin with, and not simply a commission for the principal or Ms. Kasumi, which would have certainly been masterworks fitting of the God who presided over these budding smiths.

Still, the reality of things was that this was indeed a task placed before all of them present, and she would put forth her very best to find a fitting vessel for the being that commissioned them. Nika Strobel followed after the others with a small smile to find that there were still ample ores for what she intended to create. Seven steel, three iron, and five mithril were collected into a waiting bag that she, like all others here, had been advised to bring with them. It may have been a peculiar choice, but losing out on the Black Steel and the absence of Silver left few choices beyond taking up the unfamiliar Tamahagane to try a completely new style. In her experience, such a leap from the norm was never a good thing to do for the first time without practicing in your own time.

Satisfied with her choices and content she'd left ample resources for anyone else to make their swords from the three ingots she chose, the muscular woman chose to approach the principal and spiritual expert with a courteous nod. "Excuse me, but if I am to try and create a vessel for the Academy's God, could either of you elaborate upon the God's....interests. It seems only right to tailor this commission to the one inhabiting the vessel, and anything that could be elaborated on that would please it with our works would be appreciated." Considering she was but a student, it seemed the best course of action to consult the faculty who must have had a report with the Sakura tree to facilitate this.

---

Items Taken: 7 Steel Ingots, 3 Iron Ingots, and 5 Mithril Ingots.

@RoflsMazoy

Kasumi was had been instructor at the Seishun Academt of Swords for some time now but this was the first big event she had ever done. She was mostly a teacher, and even then teachers at Seishun actually had very little scheduled classes. Students took classes as they needed them and forged swords, went out, and improved the rest of the time. She was glad that someone had come to ask her a question.

"It's an excellent query but the answer's a little bit... mundane, I suppose you could say?" Kasumi said.

She loved this girl's politeness. She really enjoyed working with children, especially those learning their craft. She specialized in the Spiritual aspect of smithing which was something not many people tended to specialize in, so there was always a young one to ask her something and she'd usually always have the answer.

"It's good that you're considering the God's interest before creating the sword and normally it would be a major constraint on this challenge, but the reason we issued this challenge without saying something about them is because this God doesn't want anything in particular..." She said.

"She's quite a young spirit, and all she wanted to do was observe everyone. She picked the tree because it was a good spot, but she's still able to fly freely around so it doesn't mean awfully much. So basically, she doesn't want anything specific, but it's more like she doesn't know what she wants and she doesn't want to trouble anyone."

The Principal nearby nodded, indicating it was a good answer.

"I will tell you a little secret though," Kasumi said, lowering her voice. "She's a little shy, so don't make anything too flashy."

Kasumi finished off her statement with a warm smile.

---

@Lonewolf685

Kathryn was very confused. She looked around as she watched every other person rush in and grab some kind of material. She walks up to the piles and takes the 16 Tamahagane and 12 steel units. She runs off to her post and places all the units before herself. She was slightly confused but she places them on the ground and arranges them into the shape of a sturdy looking sword with a hilt only large enough to be used as a one handed sword.
Diagram:

S-S
T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-S-S
S-S

She starts to draw circle in the dirt with a stick and tries to keep her distance from the other students around. After a few minutes she has a fully drawn out alchemical circle and she shuts her eyes and cuts her finger. Allowing the blood to trickle to the circle on the ground.

Aldous was just about to leave so that he could be the first at the forge- before anyone else had a chance to put their dirty, greasy fingers on anything. Then, before Aldous could get far, another boy stopped him. At the sheer sound of the boy's voice, Aldous rolled his eyes. For a moment, he wanted to simply ignore the boy; shrug him off as if he hadn't existed, playing it off as if he hadn't heard; though reluctantly, Aldous turned around to face him. A lanky blonde boy, not that Aldous could judge him very well on the former. Aldous examined the other boy contemptuously- he looked exactly as revolting as Aldous's mental picture.

"What do you want?" Aldous sighed, putting on minimal effort to hide his disgust. "Loser?" Aldous laid his ores on the ground where he could see them. "First off, you need to wash your hair properly, then I suggest getting it trimmed. It's dreadfully unkempt. Oh. And you want to invite me lunch as well? Splendid, allow me to bring my handkerchief. Perhaps I'll even offer to pay," Aldous replied in a patronizing tone, "and then maybe we'll just stop this entire process as the others finish their work before we do. No. I do not wish to take a break. I am not interested in your food. I am certainly- wait- come again?"

It seemed Aldous was offered an opportunity for some alone time, even if it meant he had to do a bit of extra cleaning before beginning his work. "Well, my... gre... friend... Tell me about this place. We've not been here very long. Have you already taken the time to install your own foundry? I should have my own servants do such a thing. I didn't even know it was allowed. I really should have better judgement, but for now I shall believe you. If you do not recognize me, I am Aldous von Rees the First. There is no the Second and I'm not degenerate enough that there will be one soon. Now, take me to this "place" of yours."

"Sure, but first I need to do some prepwork." he said to Aldous as he lead him to his area. His area was a bit complex as it not only consisted of his forge which seemed to have it's own modifications but also there was a sturdy but roughly constructed shack that was placed nearby which house his other equipment. He unceremoniously dropped his metals on the floor and grabbed an axe and then lead him to an area with peach trees. He told him to haul back the wood and any peaches that would drop as he promptly chopped the tree down and cut it into small chunks save two long segments.

"Aight now we get to the real fun part. You take the peaches and follow the recipe for marinading this here pork ass and I'll create some special charcoal out of these peach tree chunks. Anyways you can call me Tao, and this is my little slice of home. It's got what I need for everything I do. Good job on that pork by the way. Now with that charcoal should be done by now thanks to my secret technique and we'll be using it to heat the forge and cook our meal, which is killing two birds with a hot-ass stone. Anyway place the pork on that area over there with grill." Tao said showing Aldous a recipe and the meat piece which was large and already had scoring marks on the skin and some rub on it.

He then took a glass and splash its content onto the pile of black steel, smashed it into a powder, and then placed said powder into a glass. He then began to load the furnace with the fragrant charcoal and lit it. With his alchemickal knowledge he knew that this charcoal would give a special essence to the steel he'd forge with the iron he got. "Forge is nice and fiery," he said to Aldous casually, "Take the extra tools and get to town on your work. By the time we get done that pork should be nice and ready to take you on damn trip to flavortown."

---

Adrian listened attentively as the challenge was given. A sword fit for a god. His heart fluttered a bit. He could not imagine just how powerful a godsword was. However, a blade forged for something as mighty had to be well made. Not only from an aesthetic standpoint. No doubt the blade itself would have to be strong. Would it? Someone, either valiant or power hungry, would come around someday and wield it. That, and the god itself would have to be ‘comfortable’ in the blade itself. So instead of rushing over towards the resource table, Adrian sat down on one of the benches around the tree. Letting his mind wander and form an image of the sword he wants.

Though, when he got up and went towards the resource pile, he noted that quite a few people had already taken their fair share. Well, they were indeed first. He just started taking his resources. Some would say he took far too many kinds of metal. But Adrian would disagree. After all, there were so many ways to forge and so many parts to create. Ideas still flooded his young mind, but the more materials he took, the more specific the original image he had became. Though, as with all of Adrian’s work, he would have to put a lot of time in it. But the young Goodguard had no trouble with that. Though he would have to ask Lotte for a favor.

After taking the resources he wanted he swiftly moved towards his own workshop. It was a rather open room, with large windows and a wall that did not quite reach the ceiling. Leaving a gap so the smoke and fumes could rise. Against the wall stood several benches and in a corner: a small, brick furnace with two baskets of charcoal near it. Against the other wall stood a chest in which Adrian dumped his metals and locked it. He then moved towards the table in the middle. Unlike the workbenches, there were no other tools nearby, only paper. Normally Adrian would start designing. But He first needed some answers.

Once again he was outside, looking for Miss Kotori. Eventually, he found and approached her, quite clearly starting to get a little nervous about the challenge. “Hi, euhm, sorry. Miss Kotori? I was wondering if you could answer a few questions for me: first off… does the god have a name? Like you know, Adrian or something? Further, I got this theory. I just wanted to see if I’m wrong or right. So, my theory is that the god is ‘leaking’ or rather giving off magical energy. That’s why the tree could flourish all year around. Is this right? I’m sorry, I’m not so attuned to spirits myself. Oh also, I got this second theory… well It’s more like an idea. I’m thinking, because she or him chose a tree as its first vessel, I’d say it’s some form of nature god. Is that right?”

---

@RoflsMazoy

---

---

Nika nodded along to Kasumi's instructions, taking mental notes of every facet of the god she could gleam from the explanation which could serve to better understand the commissioner of their work. "I see. Thank you for your instruction, Ms. Kasumi. Principal. For such a humble spirit, I will be certain to give it's commission my utmost attention in the coming days. I believe I've already reconsidered my design a touch to better suit the god's personality, so thank you for helping this student try to satisfy our patron god."

She departed from the faculty members with a newfound understanding of their commission, and with it came the decision to abandon the Mithril Ingots in favor of five bronze. As much as any smith would relish the opportunity to use the finest materials available without paying out of their own pocket, but she had to consider the commissioner of their swords in this. Somehow, Nika didn't think it wanted a sheath so radiant it would have blinded all the students.

Seeing that the other students were mostly conversing among themselves or just undecided on what materials they would choose, Nika decided not to allow herself to be bogged down by those distractions. Instead she made her way to her own workshop and lit the forge in preparation for a long night forming the sword's billet of layered steel and iron.

---

Items Returned: Five Mithril

Items Taken: Five Bronze

It was surprising to the boy Aldous how intricate the personal area of this new person was. "Oh. So you want me to be your kitchen assistant." Aldous spat, not entirely agreeing to help, though doing so simply as a gesture of kindness and perhaps pity. Aldous never cooked before- he always had assistants to do such a thing for him. He was always busy doing other things which he had deemed more important. "Your language. It's incredibly crude." Aldous murmured a remark as he played with the fatty piece of pig in his hand. He nearly wanted to vomit. It was definitely differently from the steel he was used to working with.

His jacket was hung up by the entrance and his sleeves were rolled up. His tie was removed and placed in the pocket of his jacket.

Though normally he would have simply walked off, Tao had been cordial for the most part, even if his speech was a little low-brow. Aldous prepared the recipe, more or less simply listening to the other boy. Aldous did not want to admit, but he was much less experienced in such a field and did not want to appear so.

When he finished cooking the meal, Aldous leaned down, back against the foundry-grill to rest briefly before removing his refined ingots from it. As he did, Aldous took a peek toward Tao who seemed to breaking his own metal down. Aldous washed his hands and donned a pair of work gloves, which he carried in a satchel.

"Alchemy?" Aldous asked. He was melting down his own pieces, getting them hot enough to be worked. Of course, he did not want to over-produce his iron, otherwise he would introduce far too much carbon into the product through the process of heating, making it far more rigid than he would like. The soft metal was extruded like taffy between a hammer and anvil into a thin, lengthy bar. It was the core of Aldous's blade. "It's not a very common occurrence in my own kingdom and the smiths I've trained under had little experience with it. I'm fascinated that you of all people had the ability to use such a thing." he remarked, curious about the other boy's process.

The pieces of black steel were also processed. This time, Aldous had no problem working it, taking his time in the production in order to get the perfect final product. The steel was twisted and worked into a strange shape, though still more-or-less a bar. It was part of Aldous's signature technique- his pattern welding.

---

Lee had lived the majority of his life within the confines of their mountain residents. The only ones that were with him were his clansmen and those who worked for their family. The number of individuals that were Lee's age was relatively scarce; it wasn't a surprise that he found the sheer number of students around him was somewhat uncomfortable. Lee tried his best to keep his thoughts and emotions to himself. Tucking both of his hands inside the pockets of his black coat, he silently listened to the challenge that was presented to them.

"Basically, a new home for a god, huh? I guess I can do that." Lee thought to himself as he started slowly stroke his chin with his right hand.

Given Lee's "familiarity" for what was being asked of them, their request was simple enough. Like most clans, those from the Hikoshiro family also had a diety that they worshiped. A god that hailed from the spiritual realm who was said to have bestowed their ancestors with the same ability Lee was blessed with. The vessel their god resided in was a moderately curved odachi with a white edge and a distinct blue hamon that had the appearance of flames. Lee couldn't count the number of times he was forced to pay tribute to that specific blade; its details were carved into his head. Its tsuba was golden and shaped like a rounded cross pattée; the hilt was wrapped reddish-brown, with a golden clasp around its middle and a golden kashira pommel. The sheath of the sword was deep red and continues the design of the hilt, having two golden clasps in short succession around its middle, and the golden kojiri end cap. It remained simple but had an intimidating feel to it at the same time. However, since Lee knew nothing about the god that he was supposed to cater too, he couldn't really grasp an exact concept of what he was going to make.

He saw the depleting pile of materials that many of his fellow students had flocked over too. As much as he wanted to get some himself, Lee just didn't have an idea of what he needed. Instead, he decided to learn more about this so-called god. As he approached the faculty members that were stationed close to the cherry blossom tree, Lee noticed that someone had beat him to it. As he got closer, his eyes slightly widened as he took a step backwards. The young man that was a few feet away from him was massive, and apparently, was actually a young girl. Honeslty, even though his expression remained non-chalant, Lee was quite bothered and frightened, but this didn't stop him from overhearing their conversation.

"Shy? Hmmmm." Lee pondered to distract himself from the behemoth-like physique that had just passed him by. Before he could get a turn to inquire regarding their patron god, another student had appeared and started asking questions. It was fortunate that Lee, in a way, had the same line of though.

"Pardon my intrusion. My name's Lee Hikoshiro." Lee said in a dull manner, making his presence known. "Could I join your discussion? I too am interested in the name and nature of the academy's god."

His face remained expressionless as he continued to speak. "Also, Teacher Kasumi. I was just wondering. If I could gather materials from the cherry blossom tree? I was hoping to make use of some of its petals and bark."

---

Tao's concentration was on the iron that he was working into steel so he let his insult slide as it just typical coming from a froufrou guy like him. Unlike Aldous he did not immediately work on the iron but instead let it melt completely and then he lowered the crucible to pour the molten metal into a mold where it would be given a similar treatment to the steel. The iron itself was molten with an nice red-orange color that reminded him of a peach but radiant.Thinking back to Aldous' haughtiness he'd knew his tune would change the moment he sinks his teeth into that cooked pork, with his meat cooking skills it'd take a real special person to deny the scrumptiousness of the cooked pork. "Damn right," Tao said as he worked, "My real skill is roasting meats with an open fire in case you couldn't tell, but my real talent laid in the control of heat. In this biz heat is an essential part almost like an ingredient who's importance is secondary to the meat. Obviously if it's too low or too high you risk either creating shoe leather or it's simply raw. However, there's another secret component to heat... it's a little silly to hear, but trust me it's something real. Your usage of heat can impart a certain essence to the meat and if you do it well you get a certain indescribable aspect to the meat that you just tell in it when it's done well or missing when it's done poorly."

Tao went off to fetch a knife and a piece of the wood which he then began to slowly start whittling away at. With long slow strokes flakes of wood fell to the floor in a delicate shower. Tao was deliberately slow not just to ensure the wood carving would be done well but also to make sure he didn't finish too early while waiting for the meat to cook. He then continued talking to Aldous while carving away, "Turns out controlling the fire is really essential in alchemy when you're trying to mess with ingredients. Also it turns out that having that skill and having a discerning eye when it comes to ingredients is also vital, so I ended up catching this of this old lady and I said yes to deal because it was better paying plus it was new and interesting. I learned a bunch of stuff and got interested in the application of alchemy with crafting and so I enrolled here and promptly set up my place so I can have everything I need. "

He took a moment to pause in between his talk to mentally calculate how much longer he'd let the pork cook before he'd check on it and give some more marinade. However his predication was that it was gonna be great. Amidst the soot and smoke there was a smell of sweetness, spices, and meat wafting. He then continued his monologue, "Way I see it there's plenty of cross-applicable skills here: you need a good eye, patience, and a certain resourcefulness to make due with crap materials cuz you can't always have the best plus sometimes even with something crappy you can make something good. Any ole' idiot can bang something out, but it takes finesse to create something good. You gotta... I don't know I guess you, gotta make love to your materials man. Gotta take your time and do it right, but sometimes you can't neglect need to do it fast too."

The prospect of a challenge was vibrant in the air and made the whole of Seishun Academy shake with a buzz. This time the prize was a sword that would contain an ancient god of blooming cherry blossoms; that alone was enough to make Lidia Merrywoth giddy with excitement. Indeed, she had the perfect plans all drawn up in her head, fit with custom accessories too!

A little flower emblem here, and polished blade there, the schematics were running wild in Lidia’s head. Had it not been for the next few set of events, she might have perhaps made it to the actual competition. But as it turned out, she spotted a downed squirrel from the corner of her vision, feet instantly turning her away from the God Tree and in the direction of the poor creature.

“Salutations friend!” she said, voice near startling the small squirrel. “Is there anything I can help you with? I was just on my way to the latest sword-forging competition when I couldn’t help but notice your cries of pain and need,” she said, as if the animal could understand her words.

To some extent it could, though it was wondering when it had made any such noises. All that it did was fall from the tree, no big problem. It could easily climb back up, but this incessant human seemed determined to diagnose it. It also didn’t help that its leg was twitching a little, startled as Lidia gave a heavy gasp.

“Oh no, you’re hurt! Don’t worry friend, I’ll treat you with the highest care only Seishun Academy can provide,” she said, plopping the squirrel from its spot and cradling it in her arms. The creature’s head was deadly close to her buxom, something that many of the other students would have perhaps been envious of. But the squirrel merely squeaked in protest, annoyed as Lidia gave it a small pat.

“Shh, hush now friend. I’m sure we have a healing sword somewhere. Maybe Miss Kasumi has something just for this occasion. I’m sure she does since she knows all about spirts and animals! Or…maybe that’s the other teacher? Won’t hurt to try,” she said brightly.

"Hm." Mused the Templar as he pondered on how to make proper use of this lost hoard. The Exile, Apostate of the Pact of the Blue Quill glanced down to the materials cradled in his arms, then up to the sky. In a dramatic fashion the Templar looked up to the sky, "OH HALLOWED HOST" Spoke the Templar amidst a voice crack from Nate. "Provide me a sign!"

Lo, did the boy receive a message from his Lord. The air beckoned with an aroma filled with such sweet tenderness that enveloped the boy's nostrils. His way was clear as soon as he felt the rumbling in his belly. Nate could not help but salivate. He plodded in the direction his nose figured was right.

As he approached the compound in the peach trees, Nate noticed two others. He called out, "Hey, Out of Character, eats smell great! Can I snag some, maybe lay the stuff down?"

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Action 1: Gathering of Materials (8 Bronze, 1 Steel, 2 Gold, 1 Mithril, and 5 Copper)
Action 2: Heating Forge
@RoflsMazoy

The twisted bar was molded onto the iron bar and reintroduced to the furnace. He took it out, the combined metal glowing hot orange. It was clear that they were still two distinct pieces. Aldous knew simply the color that it was not hot enough to melt. Combining the pieces was Aldous's job. It was dull at first, Aldous pounding what would be the length of the blade into a thin piece with abstract whorl patterns and a bright luster in spite of the dark color of the steel itself. The tang, of course, had already been shaped, used to introduce the steel to more head as he pounded in the final details. Before he or Tao knew it, the blade looked close to a finished product.

The accents of the blade suggested it was to be a dual-edged blade with a broad body. The length of the tang suggested it was to accommodate a single person's hand, Aldous measuring it of course to his own. The core of the blade was pounded flat, where the pattern welding was most apparent. "Not as intricate as I'd have liked, but it will have to do considering the time. At Tao's monologue, Aldous paid little attention of course. He had more important things than to listen to a member of the common rabble bantering about this and that.

"Ah. Planning. That's an awful lot of hindsight for someone of your... stature." Tao remarked. He couldn't help but agree, however, to Tao's following words. Surprisingly soon for him, Aldous flashed a smile, trying to hold himself back, before finally laughing. "In spite of your crude language, your words hold truth. I like that. Finesse and making love. Yes." he laughed. "Could I ask you one more favor? I want you to help me create paint, just to give the sheathe a bit of color."

Aldous wanted to ask sooner rather than later, of course. with that, he picked up the larger pieces of peach wood and examined them. "I guess this will have to do," he examined the wood, "I've unfortunately got no magic to work with."

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1. Banged the metal into a proper, if dull blade
2. Asked Tao for paint

@Legion02 @Uno
"It's a good guess, but you aren't quite right." The teacher replied, referring to his question about whether the God was one from Nature. "You would be right about the leaking part, however, she had apparently solved that problem quite some time ago and she just likes to make the tree bloom."

The wind suddenly picked up a little and the tree started rustling a little. Kasumi looked into the air as if she was listening to something.

"She's something like a household God, but unfortunately I can't tell you her name." She continued.

It seems there were more than a few students who didn't have a great idea of what to work with. Unfortunately Kasumi couldn't really give anything except for hints in the vaguest sense, because even the God herself couldn't tell what she wanted. She had watched almost 100 years of swords being forged, but maybe it was because of over-exposure that she was uncertain.

"She only wants a few people to know her name since she's shy, she'll appear to you if you win this challenge. I'm sorry that I can't really say much more than that..."