Strolling down the village centers streets whilst clad in her white dress and shawl, translucent sleeves reaching all the way down to her hands, ending attached upon two small silver rings on each hand. Snow White skin radiated from beneath along with the pale colour of sporadic bandage wrapping, some even covering the right eye of her hooded head. Despite her light shade and pale beauty she managed to walk next to unnoticed, casually reducing her presence out of habit which left hard to notice despite not physically hiding. Due to the insignificance of the moment she preferred this moment, a few seconds with a stranger having little difference than many with a friend but something she tended to avoid in comparison, speaking with those blind to reality was a nuisance if they weren’t someone she got along with or a superior. That’s why when she slipped her way up to an herbalist at a counter, part of a trade caravan that had recently arrived and that she had reached out to.
The nomad as they shall be referred too was an older man, with a crooked back and wearing an external brown cloak that revealed little of his body, in general everything about him looked as if it had seen better days. Much like herself his right eye was covered, his noose hooked and crooked, teeth missing and face got days unshaven, his mouth twisted into a sneer. Mirai reached a hand out a touched the mans shoulder and spoke at the exact same time, her voice soft but commanding a degree of subtle authority ”Greeting sir Gher, I’m here as we agreed” The man flinched and turned, letting out a loud bark of surprised and displeasure, having spun around fast despite his decrepit appearance, eye open and wild. “What ya sneakin’ like a rat, you wanna get yourself hurt, ya keep doin’ that! Grahh!….. Brought the stuff then, didja?” He expressed with a scowl and hand gripping the hilt to a handle of some sort of hidden weapon, lower then hand and walking to the opposite side of his cart, signalling she go with him.
Nodding as she held up a bag of harvested plants and other odds and end, handing it over so he could take his time looking at what she got him and find satisfaction or not. While he did this she would look at the items al his stall, thinks that looked like trinkets and balms but with almost absurd seeming prices which had brought the man little business. If people actually knew what was supplied here they would realize that they weren’t just simple trinkets but looking at and learning what the mans attitude were like would make most distrust the truth to the products abilities. The man grumbled to himself like a quiet growl as her pawed carefully through the bag and despite scowling, he seemed to be nodding with approval, finally putting the bag on his counter and saying “Look like yer got a keen eye, for everything we needed and more, s’spose you wantin’ me to clude that into the learnings?” He told her with a. Hint of approval in his voice at first and by the end a bit of curiosity laced with the hope she would say no, however instead she nodded and confirmed that was indeed what she brought more.
(Crafting mission | good enchantment resource harvest.)
Setting up a short table that would require her sit on a small bench to properly access, the old mans hunched posture allowing him to access it without much problems. The older man and her cut a deal where he would teach her how to make things with resources she collected, paying her cheap for the resources as he would be allowed to sell anything she didn’t specifically do or want to keep. Mirai listened to him with intent focus, paying close attention the everything he did and said and only asking the occasional question, flinching a little every so often when the whispers started to pick up and distract her. This first was lesson was simply on extraction method and the like, ones to find small traces of this long lost to bring them together into a larger piece that could have a tangible affect.
(Crafting mission | basic enchantment material extraction basics.)
The explanations began to move into a different step of the process as he had managed to separated enough extracts for him to do something with. Withdrawing fragment of driftwood from within one of his own supplies the old man would start to carve an intricate, yet confusing symbol upon its surface, flinching sporadically as he did yet very focused. They both knew he did not need to explain this part to her, the only thing she needed to do was fully memorize it, talking about it allowed might slow their progression. The importance and significance of this symbol was both infinite and empty, a bleak, expansive and complex message all in one that the faithful would unknowingly be repulsive to those of faith, especially after the final touches were put in place.
(Crafting mission: Importance of symbology in enchanting, Apprentice enchanting gained)
At this point the two of them were feeling a strain that suddenly ended with the final etching, the both of them breathing as if they had been exerting themselves…. and mentally they had. Her eyes(she can vaguely see through the bandages covering her other eye.) looked on intently as the man used a small needle to apply some of the extracts to the carved lines, it required specific doses which meant that they were tapping the fluid then managing to spread it only several millimetres before re-dosing the needle and repeating. This went on for quite some time and despite the random nature of the symbols appearance, the old man followed the exact opposite order than it was carved as that would explicitly grant it the greatest potency possible for the desired affects. Upon completion the strange symbol would almost seem to melt and shift, remaining the same but seeming to be impossible to comprehend for those who didn’t understand or believed in the other gods, despite not knowing why these people would find it something akin to repulsive and abominable despite not knowing why. (Crafting missions b-rank | Ugly enchanted effigy that non great one theists find sickening.)
Next it was up to her to use the remaining extract and a small knife to do the same as the Nomad had, the man turning to do his own work. The woman having unnaturally memorized what he had done, simply took another fragment of wood and then picked up the small, sharp carving knife and was ready to work. Raising the tool she would carefully and precisely start mimicking the prior movements the nomad had demonstrated, replicating them neatly as she went but needing to stop as carving this brought with it more invasive words from the elsewhere in her mental abyss. This got to the point that she began praying as she spoke, the words centring her sense of focus and allowing her to listen to their instructions and advices that twisted into complex, indecipherable mess to those unwilling. Finally she would have carved the symbol with total success, feeling no sense of accomplishment and just the strain it took, still offering a light smile as if pleased with herself, though for other reasons more akin to the step of progress this created.
(Crafting mission B-rank | Make another creepy effigy that theist find uncomfortable.)
Now the more tricky part was the application of the extract to the freshly carved lines, needing to accurately gauge the measurement by dipping it a specific depth for a precise amount of time and then immediately bring it to the wood. Then their was the pain of needing to do so in reverse, which might cause one to pause and consider thing, which would cause her to not be as efficient as the Nomad in her work. Fortunately for her this process was not something that would be ruined by flawed measurements, it would simply just not be as close to the perfectly imperfect disharmony it wrought. Spending nearly half an hour longer than the nomad as she worked the woman was back to muttering prayers and was rocking back and forward slightly, hand gripping the application needle delicately but firmly holding the needle, her motions fluid and precise as she went.
The two of them at this point started to take a break, though that is to say they started working on a progress that was a little less intensive, at least in their perspective. The first thing they did was pull out two wooden bowls and measured out some precise amounts of several different extracts and placed them in a bowl. Next she place a silver ring in each bowl, explicitly balancing them to stand up. She would next remove her worn rings to allow the fabric that covered the top of her hands to be moved aside, offering her hands palm down to the old Nomad. He would produce and slowly pick up an ornate knife that looked like it was made of skin from something alive, it’s beautiful nature become more ugly as one looked at it. This knife would be used to carve sigils atop each of her hands, the woman turning them over a bowl each and allowing her blood to coat the rings and fill the shallow bowls half way up the rings height, moving them away upon the nomads say so, the wounds blood flow stopping almost immediately after. (Crafting mission A-rank: Ring of power enchantment 1, Master rank achieved.)
The two of them at this point would take a form of break, realistically they were waiting for the rights to stew but they had also exerted themselves at this work and it was obvious by their activities why the Nomads caravan wasn’t super popular. The two of them sat and spoke about the whole process the rings were going through, while also eating some basic food in the form of breads, cheese and meat. She ate delicately despite feeling nauseous as the two of them were assailed from the whispers volume amplifying to a relatively strong degree that they couldn’t be called that anymore, the two of them were probably done for the day lest their works side effects start affecting the people nearby. The fact was that every tool they made or used was of some relation to what those who seemed the forbidden had found, the knowledge most wouldn’t comprehend and would damage themselves managing to do so…. while these two at least were deep enough to shake off prolong exposure like this.
(Crafting mission A-rank: Ring of power enchantment 2, Grandmaster title reached.)
The pair would continue their meal and slowly shift discussion into the more practical and orthodox methodologies that were of the more common enchanters brand of work. Mirai and the Nomad would start separating out more of the supplies she brought, the pair setting up different apparatus at this point and using rare crystals as the main base. Though much like with her rings another ingredient she would be using was her own blood, which could be used as a catalyst to achieved bringing the base into a usable state in next to an hour as opposed to weeks. So yes maybe these we’re still sort of unorthodox but at least it didn’t related to their prior works, this simply being as the could melt and apply an appropriate amount of life force to it. First however they would need to break up the crystals and put the fragments into small salves, Mirai cutting a fingertip and applying the blood into the mixing, slowly beginning to melt them into a paste.
(Crafting missions: resource Enhancement seal 1 - A-rank)
The order they would do this is crush enough crystal to fill a salve, following Mirai adding the remaining compounds and a mixture of her own caustic blood. She would seal the container and begin to shake it whilst applying chakra, the Nomad turning to do other work of his own until a salve became usable, she would repeat her process several times over. The salves use when created would be to be painted on a small seal around a chakra point reading “expand,” the nature of the resources used causing this seal to improve the bodies flow of its energies. There was of coarse a limit to the amount these could work on a person safely and most didn’t know the materials or the measurements to do the process correctly, let alone knew or had the capabilities to do this accelerated process. By the time she would finish preparations on the last of her salves it would be about time for the first to have come to its maturation point, Mirai patient enough to get up and assist the Nomad and not stare in wait for the exact moment.
(Crafting missions A-rank: resource Enhancement seal 2)
The liquid within the containers slowly went through several phases of colour transition, the crystals and its colours mingling before it finally turned a dark crimson colour that had an eerie air to it. The normal colour for these would be chakra blue, bluish green and sometimes close to purple…. this method would come with its own personal finish to fit its alternative means of preparation. The woman would remove her shawl and external sleeves, plucking up small and fine tipped paintbrush and dipping it into solution gently and stirring the tip lightly. Placing the tip to her bare skin around her upper forearm and performing several brief strokes, slowly drawing a thin trail slowly along her arm, specifically where she tended to wear her bandages. She could get about five thin strokes before she would need to clean the brush off and then dip it back into the solution, bringing it back to her arm and continuing from where she’d left off.
(Crafting mission A-rank: Resource Enchantment 3)
After completing the chakra augmenting symbolic pattern made from blood and other things, the fresh lines burning like a fresh tattoo but not causing her much bother. She would leave it be for now and begin working on a different arm, shifting the small brush from one hand to the other and applying it’s tip to a fresh salve and began to repeat the prior process. Interestingly she didn’t mirror the last symbol and instead targeted an area easier to navigate with the lesser of her hands, even if trained ambidextrously she could only get so far with highly intricate movements at an awkward angle. With a level of patience of concentration that bordered in the insane, likely because of her own unhinged nature and could focus in a hurricane considering the amount of she had to cope with, spending next to an hour patiently toiling away like some sort of worker bee. This took her longer than round one due to her off hands skill, thus the burning of the materials work began before she reached the end point, though a part of these patterns were all but for aesthetic purposes.
(Crafting mission A-rank: Resource Enchantment 4)
By the last salve she was able to confidently say that the voices had quieted down and also that the markings were beginning to do their job. The burning now stretched over a good area of either arm and was spreading out, her body temps fire rising as a result and making her flushed. The tingle of the brush and the mixture upon it felt cooling right beneath where she stroked, though this quickly faded away into more heated lines of molten stinging. She exhaled through her nose with a sigh and ignore her bodies distaste to this, continuing on without much care for and physical protests… at least until she was done. After thirty or so minutes the salve was reaching total depletion and the white clad woman was doing the final strokes of completion, placing the brush down and looking her arms over and giving a satisfied nod and began packing her things ”So I’ll be around in a couple of days to touch on the other lessons, do you have the papers so I can read on the techniques at least.” She stated to the only nomad, reaching out a hand until he yielded and handed it over, leaving with the same stealth technique as she arrives (Enchanting mission complete | A-rank 5th resource increasing seal.)
A fact that basically nobody knew was the fact that the woman known as Mirai was actually a monster hunter. Whereas a lot of shinobi could do sealing or were tamers in Tani, she was a more odd combat type as she had no interest in aligning or taking violent creatures, seeing it as a waste of time. Recently she had realized that the supplied weapons in the village didn’t really suit her needs, not savage enough for her liking and as such she was now learning to supply her own. So now she was in the public forge, smashing an iron Ingot with a hammer repeatedly, her appearance rather unfitting compared to the rest working at the forges, though one of few seemingly unfazed by the heat. In the end it’s crude nature made her question if this was the right direction, though not arrogant enough to assume she should get it first try.
(Crafting mission: Basic weapon, A-rank)
In killing monsters that were much bigger than oneself on melee you either required a big strong weapon, unreasonable strength or a suitably savage weapon that was good at bloodletting. A two handed weapon was fine and all, though if it wasn’t suitably polearm like , then it wasn’t really for her at that size category. Now a slight more weighted sword, not built unlike a gladius but slightly bigger and more weighted was a good direction. The first attempt had gone poorly, so using a large ingot that she could spend more time hammering away at, adding in advice from those of greater experience made things much more straightforward. Proper strikes and with a rhythmic routine was essential to properly shaping the metal, not just bludgeoning it repeatedly until it sort of took the form wanted… that just created a hunk of useless metal
By this point she had been working on weapons for quite a while and had the basics understood. Making a custom weapon was still out of reach but now she could practice making the more complex kinds and using that knowledge to expand. She hadn’t made one that had multiple component to its design, needing to use one of the rooms with an advanced workbench as well to work with the smaller parts. A mace was one of the least shinobi like weapons in the planet, though for clubbing a beast or a creatures with a generally tough exteriors to blades were often susceptible to the gouging and pulverizing force of this kind of weapon. Mirai was not opposed to using such a weapon, enjoying the way the end carries additional centrifuge that almost guides her strikes.
(Weapon crafting | A-rank Basic crafting)
Serrations are a nasty application to a weapon that most consider inefficient or apply in low quantity beneath the main cutting portion. Mirai being unconventional has no issues trying to make a saw like sword and so she did try. A tool smith stood over here explaining the different nuances that a saw blade had in comparison to a swords, explaining that the blade of saws are normally much more fragile. This was also very helpful in teaching her how to make hinges for folding tool as she wanted to known those types of convenient additions, contemplating how they could serve an actual weapon purpose. In the end she didn’t end out with what she wanted but left with a lot of unsettling knowledge that would expand her abilities with creativity after practicing and drilling into the more intricate aspects.
(Crafting mission | A-rank Basic crafting)
Finally she had purchased her own equipment, material, forge and everything else, got help front he old Nomad and finally reached a level where she could make what she wanted for the most part. Today she was working on her brutal saw saw, the concept being a thick heavy blade with serrated teeth to shred into and maximize savagery upon its victims. They only part that was the big problem was making strong enough hinge and lock to allow the weapon to take punishment and not come loose, as if it’s lock broke it would become floppy and inefficient. She found the small pieces a total pain in the a**, even though she was beyond such thinking normally… it had been a month and she still had difficulties with them, though would buckle on. The weapon would be great for tearing into monsters and a bit savage for the likes of humans, though using it folded more than made up for its heavy weight and lack of finesse.
(Crafting mission: A-rank the Ripper)
Next in line of her brutal weapons was one that would come off as totally absurd, the idea being a weapon that covered both power and speed when need be. The concept ended out almost absurd as a long sword was to be the speed half of things, that was to be slotted into a gigantic “hammer” that weighed close to her own body mass. The trickiest part was making a hilt, handle and locking mechanism that didn’t shatter of snap under the weapons own weight, nor allow the blade to receive and of the stress. Finally it needed to be able to be locked and unlocked rapidly on top of have the needed amount of stress resistance and because of this she opted to make the weapon out of stone.
(Crafting mission: A-rank | Hammer and chisel )
Oocsmile
Stamina 920/920 | Chakra 785/920 | Blood Pool 330/330
Lie in Wait | Rank X | Spiritual The user masks their scent, the noise they make becomes minimal if any is made at all, their tracks are hidden and their presence generally becomes miniscule. Sensory Techniques up to the rank this technique was used can not detect the user. This technique lasts 3 posts per rank the technique was used at.
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