Blacksmith

The next week passed slowly, nothing ever happened the only time they had spotted a ship was a small vessel ship that turned tail the sailed way. Hiko had to admit he had never gone this long without a fight, and sure he could fight against his wives but he always had to hold back so he didn't hurt them. Hiko looked over Tashigi's training as she fended off Nami, Nen was flowing around the both of them charging the air with energy.

Nami had been feeling like she needed some practice so she took it upon herself to see how strong Tashigi was. Her staff swung around her body making Tashigi try and find an opening to strike back, the swordswoman had mastered Ten, Ren, and Hatsu.

She was having trouble with Zetsu however Hiko assumed it had to do with her personality she was startled easily and was extremely clumsy. Closing his eyes Hiko pushed out his En so he could see the fight in full detail, Nami was using about 30 percent of her full power and still keeping Tashigi on the ropes. From what he could tell Tashigi would mostly likely be an Enhancer, feeling the boredom taking over him Hiko didn't know what he should do, ' I need a hobby, maybe I should take up crafting how about blacksmithing.

That would be fun let's see how long it takes me to make a Meito sword. Liking the idea more and more Hiko opened the shop and bought every blacksmith manual he could find the total cost was a few thousand but with his supply from the Calm Belt he could pay that price almost seven times over. Opening the first book titled Blacksmithing for dummies Hiko absorbed the information like a sponge halfway through the book Hiko had gotten the skill.

[Skill Gained Blacksmithing: Leveling up this skill increases the proficiency and quality of items made.]

Dismissing the notification Hiko continued to read in a world of his own, from what he could understand swordmaking was a high-class art form that could take days to create a single item. Everything from the coal used to start the fire, to the pattern of hammering could affect the outcome of the blade. After reading several books Hiko thought he was ready to make a basic knife, opening the shop again Hiko depleted another thousand to buy some basic supplies, a furnace, coal, iron ore, and tools.

When it was all said and done he was ready to start when he realized he was on a wooden ship, ' I didn't think this through. ' Sighing Hiko tried to think of a solution, ' I don't want to change the ship just yet, I guess I'll put down some mats in one of the empty rooms downstairs it should have enough space. ' Opening the shop yet again Hiko bought a large fire-resistant mat apparently made from dragonhide, the thing was almost expensive as the ghost core but fell short by two or three thousand.

Setting out all his materials and tools Hiko removed his shirt as he went to work, the furnace he had bought was a miniature blast furnace that had several compartments. Feeding the coal through the top Hiko tossed in some kindling before breathing fire into the furnace, once the initial fire had started he started to pump air into the furnace via a tube and bellows attached to the base.

After thirty minutes of preheating, Hiko took out several pieces of ore and fed them into the furnace before he sprinkled in some limestone this would combine with the rocky material and form a layer of slag on top of the iron.

Pumping the bellows Hiko made sure to maintain a constant heat to the flames, the air started to shimmer from the heat but Hiko didn't feel it as his partial dragon bloodline gave him a high fire resistance. After an hour of constantly managing the flames, Hiko felt it was time to pour, placing a bucket near the tap at the top of the furnace Hiko let the slag and leftover coal drain away. Once it ran dry Hiko opened the second tap that was almost near the bottom of the furnace and a bright red liquid drained into the container he had set out.

Grinning Hiko picked up the container with his bare hands not minding the heat at all, walking over to a shallow basin filled with water Hiko poured the metal into the bucket enjoying the steam the shot up blasting his face. When the steam cleared Hiko picked up a strainer scooping out the grey flakes in the bowl. Shaking them to get rid of the water Hiko moved to another section of the room that was filled with chemistry equipment, the main attraction was a large glass tube that had several tubes filled with different liquids leading into and out of the main container. It was the only piece of modern technology that Hiko had bought, with this he could get 99.9% iron concentration.

Without going into too much detail the apparatus was basically filled with chemical solvents that would dissolve any remaining impurities before converting the iron into a liquid which would then dry into iron sand the purest form of iron ever discovered on earth. While the process took several hours Hiko could wait if it meant the finished product would turn out better, sighing as he slumped into the chair Hiko pulled out another book about blacksmithing to save him from boredom.

Several hours later the last of the iron had dried to form the sand he was looking for, opening one of the tubes Hiko watched as the sand drained out into an awaiting casting bucket. It was only a few more steps until he had a small knife in his hands, looking at it from an angle Hiko could see the fine grains of iron that sparkled. ' What should I name you, how about Origin as my first creation. '