---

To say that Adrian was satisfied by the answer, would be a lie. It did not offer him the answers he wished for. The only thing it did provide was a tiny fraction of insight on the spirit god. Well, it was something. His time was not entirely wasted. But right now he had to return to his workshop with haste. With only a week to finish a sword worthy of a god, Adrian knew very well he’d miss many hours of sleep. But in the end, he knew it would be worth it. Once arrived at his workshop he unceremonially lit his forge. His great-grandfather would have cursed him for that. But then again, his great-grandfather only ever lit a furnace four times in his life. Every time it was the Dragonfang Forge. Which was not just some stone construction keeping the heat and the coals inside like this furnace was. The Dragonfang Furnace burned with the inner flame of a dragon. Such a lighting demanded a ceremony. But the brick construction of the workshop paled in comparison, thus no ceremony was required according to Adrian.

After adding the coals he began to take out the ingots of metal. He piled the steel up and wrapped it in wet paper. After that, he packed some clay around it and slowly put it in the hot fire. He did the same with the mithril and then started fanning the flames with his bellows. It was a tough job and filled the workshop with the smell of smoke. Inside the forge, the clay and paper kept the ingots together. At least for long enough so they were welded together to form one, big clump of metal. The paper itself would burn off, and the clay could be slammed off with a hammer. After some time, Adrian reckoned an hour or two, he was confident the ingots at fused with one another. Making one bar of steel and another made from mithril. He took each one out and laid it on a watered anvil. A method to protect the heavy object from the heat. With his wooden hammer, he hit each of the bars a few times, slamming off the hardened clay. After which he put them back into the forge.

But then began the difficult part. In his mind, the blade looked like a normal, steel one. The mithril laid in its core, hidden from the light and those who valued mithril only for its ivory white color. Adrian would only use the mighty material for its properties. That meant sealing away the mithril within the steel. He first folded the steel twice, to make sure it was nicely layered. Then, when he cut the hammered steel ingot in two, he did not fuse it immediately together. Instead, he pulled out the mithril ingot and put the white-hot bar in between the red hot steel pieces. He hit the entire bar a few times with his hammer and then the whole bar was shoved back into the coals to heat up again. Flames spat out from the forge as fresh air was pushed through the warm charcoal. Once sufficiently heated, he pulled the fused bar out again, hammering away but not folding it. Making sure the mithril was, at all sides but the top sealed away from view by steel. It was a harder task than he wished for. As he wrestled with hammer metal he had to read the difference in color, trying to see where the mithril was still thick and where the thinner steel began. Swallowing hard he started fearing that maybe he should have flattened out the mithril bar itself first.

---

---

The answers Lee had received did nothing but reinforce what he already knew about the academy's patron god. Letting out a lengthy sigh, he scratched his head in disappointment. "I guess you were serious when you said it was a shy god." At least it wasn't all bad; Lee did get permission from Teacher Kasumi to make use of materials that came from cherry blossom tree after all.

"Your help was much appreciated, thank you." Wanting to make the most of the time given to them, with a bow, he excused himself from everyone and made his way to the tree. As much as he disliked the teachings of his family, it was difficult to stray away from one's habits. Setting down his cabinet-like backpack, Lee stood in front of the tree and with his outstretched hand resting on its trunk. He had spiritual experiences before, but Lee was in no way a medium or anything of the like. He figured that despite how the tree was degenerating, it would just be rude to simply take from with without asking for permission from the god that was residing in it.

"My name is Lee Hikoshiro, a budding sword crafter and student at Seishun Academy." Lee didn't expect any sort of response from the god; he just wanted his intentions to be known to it. Kneeling on the ground, he pulled out a few herbal incense sticks from his bag and drove them into the soil beneath the tree before lighting them. Given what he had, this was the only suitable offering he could think of; a prayer accompanied by the soothing and sweet aroma of the incense smoke.

---

The amount of time it took Lee to gather what he needed was longer than he expected. Without any real means of carrying everything he had planned on using, he had no choice but to move back and forth from his station at the forge, to where the materials were. In total, aside from the large branches and sacks of petals he had gathered, Lee had managed to obtain eight units of Tamahagane and six units of Copper. With what he was planning, this amount of metal was probably more than enough. What was about to take place was definitely going to be tiring; Lee was wise enough and preemptively snacked on the remaining onigiri that he had packed in his backpack.

After washing his meal down with some water, Lee took in a deep breath before taking off his black coat. "I guess its about time I start." he said with a hint of hesitancy. There was no denying that Lee wasn't that much fond of working. As he tied up his hair, Lee recalled the information given to him earlier that day and began to envision the blade he was about to craft. "Let's see. A spirit that's shy and is fond of observing? I suppose a tanto would do; probably around ten inches." Folding his sleeves, revealing his scarred arms, he simply continued with his train of thought. "For the handle and scabbard, I can use those massive branches." The furnace's roaring flames were telling Lee that it was time to begin. "Oh yeah." he suddenly remembered. "The lingering energy and scent from those cherry blossoms, can't forget about those."

His hair and the entirety of his eyes suddenly turned pure white as white magical energy seeped out from all over his body, in a manner similar to steam. Lee first reached for several handfuls of cherry blossom petals, with each apparently being enveloped by the steam-like magical energy he was exuding. This created a bed of flowers within the furnace that actually didn't burn, but instead released a distinct aroma and pink-tinged luminescence. This is where Lee had placed the tamahagane ingots to heat.

---

Actions

• Gathering of materials (8 Tamahagane Ingots; 6 Copper Ingots; Large Cherry Blossom Branches and Petals)
• Preparation of the petals and heating up the metals.
• Resources used: Cherry Blossom Petals; Tamahagane (8)

"Sure thing, I got a bunch of different colors." Tao said to Alduous. He'd promptly disappear to his shack and come back with a bunch of jars with colored liquid, brushes, water, and some bowls on a little cart. He then said upon return, "Pick your colors and go to town man." Tao reserved two jars of the paint to himself along with a separate bowl and brush for himself to use. However before he could start he saw there was new guest at his humble abode.

He began to paint the wood very delicately applying thin layers of the paint in segments so he could thoroughly paint it completely. While doing so he eyed the stranger trying to get a hold of him. However the only signals he got was that of a weirdo especially when he came in talked. He managed to speak the same language but what said was weird. Did he really say "out of character"? What the hell did that even mean? Regardless he could parse the rest of his sentence seems he had another potential fan who smelled the greatness that was cooking and he wanted bum his forge or lay his stuff down. He just said, "Yeah go ahead, but that pork is gonna take a bit before it's done but I'll go check it once I'm done painting. Oh yeah one more thing, what's your name dude?"

Nathaniel Mason's mouth continued to water as he plodded towards the pork. He took in a deep sniff of what was to come and then smiled towards the skinny man that was Tao. "Still it smells like it's gonna come out all well and good." Nate blinked as he plodded towards the furnace and dumped his golden materials in it, and scattered the copper on the ground near it. "Yeah, I'm going to just borrow this for a jiff, feel free to some of the copper in exchange for that, and more importantly the pork." Nate said with a nod.

He casually looked towards the gold, before focusing his attention back to Tao. Nate Mason smirked as he dramatically posed, "I am The Exile, Apostate of the Pact of the Blue Quill, the Templar Solomon Doveheart of the Stormbearer Isles! Long have I traversed through nations and realms plagued with unspeakable horrors, constantly battling them off to bring glory to my God!"

Nate scratched the back of his head, "Though that's just in character. Out of character, it's Nate."

“Hmm, Hmm, helping friendly animals makes me fell all sorts of good,” Lidia sing-sang to herself, keeping the squirrel nice and cozy against her buxom. The small animal didn’t mind too much since it was getting a free ride, but seriously, it didn’t need any treatment. All that had happened was just a small fall from its tree, no big problem. The tree….that was in the complete opposite direction.

If the squirrel could sigh, it would have but nature hadn’t gifted it with such an ability quite yet. All it could do was nuzzle further against Lidia and wonder where the human was taking her. But alas, there was a reason why students and staff alike traveled in these woods in numbers and the squirrel sensed a sudden change in the air, fear scent wafting from its form.

“Oh, maybe if I ask one of the professors they’ll let me keep you as a pet? What do you think of that friend? Well, at least until you’re healthy and strong again-hey, what’s the matter?” Lidia asked with a gasp as the squirrel began to buck to and fro. With a sudden pop, it leaped off of her chest and dashed onto the forest path heading right for the God Tree’s clearing.

Not even a moment later and something burst out of the brushes beside Lidia, the girl shrieking as a massive black wolf leapt in pursuit of the squirrel. Lidia stared with trembling legs before glaring and taking off after both animals. “Hey, leave him alone! The squirrel did nothing to nobody! You’re not being a very nice friend,” she called out, waving her arms in the hopes to get the wolf’s attention.

In actuality, the wolf wasn’t even chasing the squirrel; instead, it had taken in the scent of freshly cooked meat being laid out and had simply charged to the nearest source of food. As a result, the squirrel’s natural instinct to flee kicked in and…well, the scene was evident enough. At once the squirrel barreled straight in the cooking scene with a small shriek, followed shortly by the wolf and then Lidia herself.

The squirrel scampered every which way, running circles around Aldous’ feet while the wolf immediately jumped to grab hold of Tao’s cooking pork. As for Lidia, she paused to catch her breath, cheeks flushed and panting from having to do this much exercise, only now noticing she was in the challenge clearing. “Um…salutations friends?” she managed out, ready to collapse.

---

Tao still had no idea what this guy was on about just rolled with it. "I uh... see Nate. Well I guess you can hang around, after I finish making the scabbard for my sword I'll take a look at my meat and then from then I'll tell you guys when that'll be ready."Having said that he began to do what he said he do. Given the sword had a wooden handle made of peach wood he decide it would jive best to make the scabbard out of the same wood. First he carved and sanded the wood into a rectangular shape and then he cut it in half. Then he began to carve an indentation which would fit the sword. It would be slightly wider than the blade but not too wide. He wanted it to slide in secure but not so snugly that drawing it would be a nuisance. Tao applied a special glue sensitive to the heat which would produce a strong bond and dry quickly and the applied clamps. As he waited for it to dry he eyed the pile of copper at the floor. He noticed the gold being heated but he really couldn't figure out Nate's plan for the copper so he asked, "So Nate why are littering my floor with that copper? Don't you know that's a safety hazard?"

He then check out the scabbard which was by now dry and began painting it a blackish color with brown undertones. However his tranquil painting would be interrupted by the sound of a loud CLANG, a high pitched whine, and the scent of singed hair. He stood up and saw what appeared to be a black dog rolling around in pain after hitting the very hot lid covering the meat. To the corner of his eye he saw a new person apologizing. He turned around and addressed her, "Ey girl, next time when you're playing with your dog next time use a leash so it doesn't run off and hurt itself or break other people's stuff especially when he's as dumb as two sacks of rocks. Also you should do something about your dog seeing as he got a face full of hot metal."

It seemed that Aldous was so caught up forging his blade that he hadn't even noticed the new, portly stranger who had made his appearance into Tao's abode. "No doubt smelling the food..." Aldous mumbled, quirking his brow at this new person. Aldous was already surprised once that day by a person he thought little of and he seemed intent not to make it happen a second time, certainly not in a row. Judging by his appearance, Aldous believed he was not going to have a very difficult time with such a thing.

Not attempting to pay so much attention to the newcomer, Aldous began work on the sheathe for his blade, roughly measuring and cutting the pieces of peach wood. His ears paid attention, if reluctantly due to that they were all in the same area.

"I am unfamiliar with these Stormbearer Isles, or what have you, though if they are your people, I must say that they've been spoiling you..." Aldous scanned Nate as his voice dropped to a whisper... "and it doesn't appear that you've been traversing anything as of late at least." Aldous wiped the sweat off his face using his shoulder. Like the others, Aldous had gotten a smell of the cooked pork, though only then took the opportunity to take in the whole aroma. "Well Solomon, Nate, or whatever you wish to call yourself;" Aldous returned to a normal speaking voice; "I am Aldous van Rees. Call me van Rees, and this-" Before Aldous could speak another word, a wild animal skittered past. It was not an unusual sight- Aldous felt he had already become acquainted with two wild beasts.

Then, another, larger creature came running straight for Tao's foundry. Aldous immediately moved out of the way, more out of instinct than anything else. He nearly screamed, and his face was sure proof of it, before he heard the whimpering of the canine and the sizzling of its flesh followed by the smell of singed fur. Regaining his composure, or at least attempting to, Aldous curled his face into a look of disgust at the wolf, then up at the girl.

"Oh. Well look at me. Attracting all kinds of attention" he mumbled.

In a more audible tone, Aldous introduced himself. "I'm Aldous van Rees, these are my associates Tao and Solomon Nate Doveheart. It's a pleasure to meet you." he rushed, before turning his attention to the two pieces of wood he had measured to the length of the blade. Like Tao, he was working on a scabbard. Unlike Tao's approach, Aldous made it so that the wood fit together like a puzzle, connected also with bands and screws which he had fashioned out of the little remaining steel. Then, he scolded himself internally. Aldous had not picked up any decorative materials. It was not as if any person would simply carry jewels with them wherever they had gone, and thus Aldous could not show off one of his other many specialties in sword smithing.

Quickly, Aldous set aside little bits and pieces of steel and iron he had remaining and began measuring out the hilt, the guard, and the pommel as well as imagining their design, all with haste, keeping in mind he was timed.

---

1. Measured out and put together sheathe
2. Began design of handguard

"Uuuh..." Nate replied with his mouth agape when he heard about the copper. "No. Er, lem-lemme uh clean up man." Bending down to move the copper to a less dangerous place, in the process revealing ye olden plumber's crack, Nate paused for a moment before hearing a loud clang.

He blinked at the creature before shrugging and moving the copper aside. "Yeah, uh, wasn't sure what to do with it." Nate rambled aloud, "Y'know? Not quite the right stuff for a proper thing, mean it'll work, but you know." Nate focused on Aldous while blowing out some mucus that was firmly placed in his sinus.

He snorted it back up as he smiled towards Aldous, "Ah yes! I must regale you with the songs of my people and the spoils they have! And in exchange for my tales, you can inform me of the Van Rees heritage!" Nate looked from side to side as he held his right hand to cover his mouth. "In character of courssssee" He said as a spray of split flew from his teeth towards Aldous. "Feel free to tell me your out of character name later."

"Oh right, something I need to check." And so Nate checked on how far the gold was coming along in the furnace.

It seemed like it was the proper condition to start shaping. So he grabbed a pair of tongs and moved the molten metal to an anvil and then began smacking it with a nearby hammer to start shaping it into the two handed thing he had in mind.

Oh and there was the girl, which he probably should advise. "Be vigilant beast-tamer lest the ways of the beast taint ye! Never falter from the teachings of a civilized world, so adviceth The Exile, Apostate of the Pact of the Blue Quill, Templar Solomon Doveheart of the Stormbearer Isles!"

With the blade pounded out, Templar Solomon Doveheart of the Stormbearer Isles moved it to a spot where it could start cooling down.

---

Many hours past but eventually the bar was forged together. So it was time to grab the hammer and start beating. The now homogenous metal bar was glowing white hot every time Adrian pulled it out of the charcoal fire and started beating it with a hammer, pulling out the metal. The job was tougher than he had anticipated. Even with steel swords, it would take time. But the mithril core made it only worse. As it was harder to shape than steel. In other words, the steel was getting pulled out, but the tough, mithril core kept snug and thick. The only thing Adrian could do was slamming it more than the steel could use. Thus making the layers around the mithril thinner and the edges thicker. Eventually, after many hours of hammering out the metal, the metal finally started looking like a blade. But the hammering job wasn’t done yet. First, with the utmost precision, Adrian started beating out the only mithril that was coming out of the steel jacket. It took him a while, but he got the tang drawn out. Then he moved on to the edges. Hammering a slope downwards into them. Of course, that wouldn’t be enough for the blade to be able to cut. But it did shape it for him so grinding would be easier.

More than a day had passed already, but Adrian still had much to do. He grabbed a bar of beeswax and put it down on one of the workbenches. With various knives, scoops, hammers and chisels he started forming the shape of his pommel. Adrian was by far not as mastered in the art as his great-grandfather. Who could sit down with someone and sculpt a bust out of beeswax that looked so akin that Adrian often wondered if Aurelius was a sculptor in his past life? But maybe it was a trained art? The boy didn’t know. He kept going at the wax, sculpting the approximate form of a female head. Basing it on one of his sisters. Though the beeswax looked mostly like a featureless girl with long hair, hiding ears. But Adrian poured all his focus in forming the eye sockets, which he kept hollow for now. Once done, he packed the beeswax in wet clay and put the entire mold near his furnace so it could dry. In the meantime, Adrian took a glass he used to drink water from and smashed it into the ground. A hundred shards flew in every direction as Adrian cursed himself. He should have done that in a crate, he realized. Thus the hunt began for two suitable shard, in the shape of almonds. With sandpaper and file, he formed the two chosen pieces a little bit more.

Luckily for Adrian, the clay didn’t seem to have cracked anywhere once it was dry. Confident the clay was dry he put the mold inside the fire for a few minutes. The beeswax inside melted again, and as Adrian poured it out it left behind the exact form of his sculpt pommel. Losing no time he moved over towards the central forge. To Adrian, it had always been a beacon of might. The massive forge boasting several openings that were all sealed by metal doors was a mighty piece. The fires within roared and the charcoal burned. Normally Adrian would prefer to not lose much time. But the construction demanded so much respect for it that he could not help but stare at it for a moment. Even as it was evening, several other students were hard at work at their chosen opening. Trying to either melt metal for casting or creating alloys. Or black steel. Adrian didn’t know nor did he have the time to care. He moved swiftly towards a free opening into the forge and put his two crucibles, one filled with the bronze and another filled with two small nuggets of mithril, inside. It would take time and the power of bellows to let the flames melt the bronze. After an hour, Adrian was sure the metal has liquidized. He poured it into the mold and once again waited until the metal inside was cool enough to put into a bath of water. Obviously, the bath still steamed like it was working in a sauna. But Adrian kept it in there. Once cooled completely Adrian used a wooden mallet to beat away the clay. Revealing the small, eyeless pommel. An hour later and the nuggets were molten down too. Adrian cast the small bits of mithril inside the eye sockets, making mithril, lidless eyes. The extremely hot mithril started heating up the bronze eye-sockets. Once hot enough, Adrian pressed his almond shaped glass shards against the mithril. Sealing them. Some bubbles of air did form in the corners, but most of his plan worked. He had his pommel.

---

---

---

It had taken a good deal of time for the forge to spring to life and smolder to a temperature best suited for working metal, but it had left her time to listen to what occurred in the neighbors forge and shake her head in bemusement. She would have expected a trio of smiths in the same workshop to result in a melodic cacophony of hammer blows upon heated metal, not roasting of pork or flights of fancy. How it even cooked properly over an open forge was beyond the comprehension of Nika, who would assume the overwhelming heat would burn the meat's exterior to carbon before it could make the center anything near edible, but it was not her place to question such frivolity. As a cacophony of wild animals and an even wilder student barged in upon her neighbor, Nika found her own forge to be up to snuff and began to commence work proper.

First, the muscular smith would have to create the billet which would be formed into the sword that she would present to the god. This was achieved by layering the steel and iron in equal sized slabs atop each other, forming a rectangular block of metal that would be held together over the fire with a pair of tongs and Nika's firm grip. As flame's licked along the humble merging of steel and iron, the smith took in hand a rod laying among the workshop's standard assembly of tools, and pressed it directly into the deepest of flames. The rod's end which kissed the forge's bottom and was bathed into the most potent of heats this well spring of heat could offer, quickly softening as it reached a molten state. Satisfied it was ready for use, Nika withdrew the rod from the flame and pressed it into smallest side of the billet, welding to it a temporary handle so Nika could hold the billet over the fire while leaving the greatest surface area exposed in ways the tongs could not.

Next was the process of hammering out the billet into the shape of the sword she desired to craft. It was a strenuous effort built upon incessant repetition, but the work itself was satisfying and would lead to a quality product even if it would take up the rest of Nika's day and most of the night as well. She pulled the billet from the fire and watched as the slabs of metal had gelled together into a single mass which was brought to rest upon a waiting anvil. The sheer mass of it was unwieldy to work with, and were it not for the handle she'd have spent the entire endeavor struggling to hold it in place, but with her considerable might Nika held it steady and rained her hammer upon the glowing metal. Each strike was swift, calculated, and served to drive the mass outwards into the rough approximation of a sword. There was precious little time to work the metal before it had to be reintroduced to the forge and left to heat once again while Nika prepared herself to haul around the budding greatsword and pound it into shape once again.

"Darn, I should have stopped by the cafeteria." Nika said, casting a side long glance to the depleted jug of drinking water she'd be liberally imbibing from to replenish herself, and noting that even after much time had passed and the sun could not be seen outside her workshop, Nika could still smell the lingering aroma of burnt pork. "Nothing to do about it now."

Setting aside her regretfully lack of a meal delivery service, Nika returned to hammering the glowing steel, each inch another step closer towards a completed work.

---

Actions:
1) Created a billet using 6 Steel and 2 Iron.
2) Hammered billet into approximate shape of a great sword.

Caia had gotten there late. She got there just in time to hear the instructions, swearing silently. There was little material left, but she could work with it. She investigated the materials thoroughly, deciding to take 4 mithril, 3 gold, 2 bronze, and 1 steel for the sword itself. For the scabbard, she would take 4 gold and 1 iron. She carried the materials back to her station, all the while swearing under her breath. She dumped them onto the forge, making a design for the sword she would make in her head. It would have a core of 1 bronze, 2 gold and 2 mithril. Mithril and gold were the best materials she had in her stock for making a magic sword, but mithril was one of the hardest materials to work with, so she would need to be extra careful. The outer shell would be very pretty, 2 mithril, 1 bronze, and 1 gold. 1 steel would be used for the handle. Both the sword and scabbard would be purely ceremonial, she had no need to make it fight-worthy. The sword would have beautiful gold embellishments on its handle and the blade. The scabbard would have even more pretty gold embellishments, making it what she thought was the perfect sword for the god.

Actions in this post:
Material gathering
Designing

Tao paused from his current work to go check in on that pork. Seemed like it was garnering plenty of people and he briefly considered charging them all for taste. Popping up the lid he looked into meat cooking and was greeted by a fragrant smoke and slight sizzle of the fat, collagen, and juices dripping on the hot metal. The meat had achieved that beige color of cooked pork with a red ring around the perimeter indicating a good smoke ring. The skin had the withered remains of peaches all mushy form the heat and the skin itself was getting nice and crispy and getting to a dark red complexion with slight amount of char. It was almost done but it needed a bit more time to get really nice and crispy that skin. He reminded it by applying a liquid to the skin and shutting the lid. He then turned to his guests and said, "Give it like twenty minutes and it'll be done, also that'll be ugh like 7 smackeroonies and a quarter sponduli, but don't worry it'll include basic amenities like cold drinks, plates, and some rags to wipe your hands with. He then disappeared with the same cart used for the paint, but with wooden plates, rags, and a box.

Tao began to assemble a crude table with amounted to moving and stacking some bricks and rocks around and then applying some planks of wood for the actual table. In between that assembly he moved the pork out the fire and let it cool while he continued assemble the table. He then kicked out some crates to act as stools and began setting the plates and rags which would serve as napkins. He then stood up on the table and shouted, "Alright ladies and gentlemen, this is Tao of the S.S Good Times and we're about to dock to the welcoming port of Flavortown! Cuz this pork is doner than my sword!" He then got off and waited for the payments so he then serve the food to his guests.

As the blade was cooled down enough, the Templar Solomon Doveheart of the Stormbearer Isles proceeded to take it to a grinder and began to, appropriately enough, grind it. He needed to make sure the point of the two handed golden blade was properly dulled and rounded. It'd do well for practicing, and of course as a neat replica to hang on a wall or carry about. As he was finishing up with this, the delightful aroma of pork struck again.

The flavors were truly one with the pork at this point, and that spine-tingling sizzle of pork fat caused the boy to salivate. Drool went down his jowls and Nate pondered upon how tasty of a meal he was going to be a part of. His eyes widened like saucers as he peered towards his host. Nate responded in a trancelike moment of joy as he pulled out a wadful of smackeroonies from his pants pockets. He plodded towards the makeshift table with a glimmer of delight in his eyes.

Nate quickly, but carefully, placed the legal tender on the table. "Captain Tao! Payment for you dude! Uh, should cover it. Think it will. I'll dig through my pockets for more if that isn't enough." Nate blinked and adjusted his glasses before realizing something else. He focused his attention briefly to the copper he had brought and moved. The boy placed the metals so it could heat up while he ate delicious pork.

Carefully he approached one of the crate chairs and slowly sat down. There was a bit of a creak as the boy's weight was placed upon it, but so far the chair seemed sturdy enough. Nate began licking at his chops in a rather methodical manner. He started from licking at his bottom right then moving leftwards and then back around to the starting point. He completed this cycle three times then clapped his hands.

With an ear to ear grin Nate rubbed his hands together and spoke in a ceremonial manner. "Awaiting the ship to dock to the wonderful port of Flavortown."

While the meat was cooking, and shutting off the other distractions, Aldous was dutifully working on crafting his blade. Lucky for him, in addition to the metals and paint we had received from Tao, Aldous also had a few scraps of peach wood left over. He whittled and sanded the wood down to thin pieces, comparing the hilt to his own hand for measuring. The wood, of course, was for comfort. The pleasant smell it gave off was a bonus. He feared splinters out of its next wielder, though had no lacquer on hand to properly finish it off. Aldous pouted at this, though finished off the sword.

The pommel was constructed entirely out of metal. It and the tang were threaded, using the tang first to create a mold. Aldous put on the cup-like, metal hand guard, the wooden handle, and finally screwed on the pommel. Standing away from the other three as well as the wolf, Aldous gave the sword a few swings to test that everything was put together well enough. Next, he tested the scabbard, making sure the blade fit in just right. He smiled, looking at his finished product, proud that he could do so much with so little time and resources.

"There" he sighed contently.

As he did, it seemed Tao had already begun setting the table. It was crude, though Aldous was in far too good a mood to complain. "Not exactly the friends I would have asked for, but I'm sure they will grow to be fine young men after their time here and with me." Aldous told himself. For the first time since he began the process, Aldous took off his thick, leather work gloves then wiped the sweat off his face. He was getting fairly hungry. The gloves were left to air out, as far from the wolf's reach as possible. A handkerchief wiped down Aldous's sweaty hands. Next, he reached for his wallet, taking out proper currency for Tao.

"I don't suppose you've a place for us to properly wash our hands, do you? And may I ask your selection of beverages first before asking for a cold glass of water?"

---

1. Finished the pommel
2. Tested the sword

"Bruhs I've got you covered, thanks to a little alchemical know-how I got a fat crate full of ice cold breskis!" Tao said as he took the money. He then popped off the cover and a fog flew from the crate as he took out brown bottles of beer who were covered in thin layers of frost that just melted into dew drops. He nonchalantly drew the sword he had finished and used it to pop off of the caps with the blade being no worse for wear. The sword and the scabbard were both rather incredibly plain with a brownish black paint and lacquer applied to it giving it a dark dull sheen. The blade itself was straight lacking a crossguard and had a nice contrasting black middle while the edges were of a metallic sheen. The color color scheme reminded Tao of a sunflower seed, otherwise it was pretty unremarkable save for the dull edges.

"All right eat up guys, also the best is the skin as I made sure to get it all nice and crispy" he said as started cutting pieces of the meat and plopping them on the plates while serving the beers. Bit by bit the table began to be covered in plates with steaming hot pieces of meat with a nice frothy ice cold beer. Tao finally took a seat and began eating with him taking several bites of the skin first enjoying the texture as it crunched in his teeth. "Oh yeah one more thing.. use this to make the meat go down" he added as he got got and to bring some bread to slice into rough slices. He then took a nice chunk of the pork as it disintegrated in his hands into little threads and juices and topped it off with a chug of beer letting a satisfied sigh out. "So how's the progress on the swords?" he asked.

There were so many things happening all at once, that Lidia was surprised the other students didn’t have much of a reaction. Or rather, they reacted all right, but not in the way that she had expected. For starters, they seemed awfully calm for the fact that a hungry wolf had just burst into the clearing…but then again, said wolf did just get itself burned.

“Uh, no, you got it all wrong. See, that wolf’s not my friend at all. He’s just a big jerk for trying to eat my real friend over here,” she replied to Tao, smiling as the squirrel scampered back to her. It had realized the folly of its ways, specifically being trapped among a giant grill and a wolf that was still pretty hungry.

At least one of group found reason to introduce the lot of them and Lidia nodded to acknowledge the names listed off. “Salutations new friends! My name is Lidia and….wait, are you guys doing the God Sword challenge? Don’t tell me I missed the deadline already!” she said with absolute horror. If it weren’t for the jovial nature in the air, she might have broken down to cry right then and there.

Though as it turned out, the three individuals were apparently celebrating…something. Why else would they just decide have a picnic during the middle of a challenge? As Tao revealed the finalized pieces of pork, Lidia noticed the wolf perking up once more and getting back to its feet. Apparently hunger and instinct were very strong instigators because the wolf was growling for the meat once more.

Before anyone could stop it, it leapt upon the table set up and began to bark viciously. It grabbed at the biggest piece of pork it could find before running about and generally causing a mess of the place. Lidia merely stood and stared, not sure if she should help out since it was a scary wolf and-wait, did someone say beer?

“Um…I don’t think beer is allowed on campus guys,” she said, already backing away and not wanting to be caught with alcohol. She was pretty sure none of these people were old enough to drink anyway so that made it all the more concerning. With the wolf rampaging and ruining their feast, she held her squirrel close and slowly scooted out of the clearing.

---

Slobbering, perhaps nearly foaming at the mouth, Nate Mason began voraciously devouring into the pork that was provided to him on the plate. Marinade was dribbling down into the folds of his jowls while the tender pork was dissolving into his mouth. In between unaudible bites, there were distinctive crunching into the crackling of the pork. Though that wasn't the only bit of pesky noise.

Of course that dog wasn't properly trained, so it decided to hop about. The Templar clutched his plate and cold ones together, and swiveled his body towards the side just to make sure he didn't accidentally get any items broken. Though the boy came to a thought as he swallowed a bit of pork. Nate took the piece of bread that was becoming soggy from some of the juices still left on his plate and began to slurp it down his gullet.

After he licked some marinade that hanged under his lower chin, the boy mused, "Y'know I'm not sure that's a dog at all. Real dog woulda fled away by now cause you know burns suck." Nate got up and moved to one of the corner pieces of plank from the table with his brew in hand. He swung the cap down on the edge and caused it to pop open. The alcohol suds rose up from this violent reaction as Nate tilted his head in thought. "It's gotta be a guy in costume. Man, I need to find who does the costumes for this group. Really will help for in character stuff."

Nate took a quick chug from the beer bottle. Exhaling, "Ah. Cleaner than water." He returned back to his seat on the crate and rested his beer bottle. Nate returned to claw and tear away at the pork with both hands. Peering carefully at the plate, Nate proceeded to lick at any scraps that were remaining. He then sucked on all of his fingers before nodding and smiling at Tao. "Worth the Smackeroonies!" He delivered a thumbs up to his host.

"Oh yeah." Nate adjusted his glasses and left a smudge on the rim. He took his beer bottle as he returned towards the furnace. "Gotta finish up a couple more bits." He took another drink from his beer bottle and secured a pair of tongs to remove the molten copper and move it towards the anvil.

As he placed these pieces upon the anvil, with his beer bottle nearby, The Exile, Apostate of the Pact of the Blue Quill, the Templar Solomon Doveheart of the Stormbearer Isles clasped his hands together in prayer. "Lord, I hope I used the disposed hoard in a manner that you saw fit. Though I suppose you have seen it fit." And after that bit of in character prayer, Solomon began to use the hammer to shape two distinctive things from the copper. The scabbard to hold the ceremonial golden blade in, and the hilt.

All the while during his work he finished the rest of the liquor.

Caia Morningstriker definitely smelled the beer. And the pork. She wanted so badly to go over there and eat it, but she had to heat up the metals! She took the mithril in her hand and dumped it into the forge. She then dumped the gold into a separate section, the steel, and the bronze. The heat was unbearable, and she was sweating so much she thought she might burn alive. She wiped the sweat off with a handkerchief, and then looked toward the table of food. She had half a mind to resist the beer, but as her Papa said, 'the best sword is made when you're not sober!' And her Papa made some great swords. She lumbered over to the makeshift table, taking a seat. She hadn't introduced herself yet, so she said "I'm Caia. Caia Morningstriker to be exact." She grabbed a beer from the cooler, cut some bread and grabbed a bit of pork. "I'm 14. And I'm about to get wasted." she said. She guzzled down the pork and bread, and then glugged the beer. She drank a whole entire bottle in two seconds. She put it down, and smiled, her cheeks glowing red with drunkness. "I thinkk I'm gonna go make a sword now." she slurs, lumbering over to her forge.

Actions:
Getting drunk
Heating Metals