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)