Durmaz was neither the kind, nurturing type, nor the kind to give properly structured history lessons, but he gave the man a little more context surrounding the God Slaying Tools.
"Invented and damn near took it with him to the grave is what he did. It's a lot of a mortal to be asked to process, but those weapons and tools of his were what allowed Humanity and the Gods to emerge victorious against the Primordial Divinity Tiamat ten thousand years ago. Got himself locked up in Irkalla because he posed a threat to the Gods themselves when they were having their own civil war. Only got saved two years ago when a bunch of idiots decided to raid hell itself. You'd be visiting his forge right now if not for the scarlet swamp in the east burying it."
Durmaz let Masaki continue, summing up the nature and essence of the tools while commenting on the smith's popularity
"More or less, but you're mistaken on one count. No one came to me for anything before this. As I said. Recent development. I wasn't even the one who made it, I just watched then the one who did fᴜcked off to who knows where. Even now I can't claim to have contributed anything to the achievement but pick up the slack. You and the last few outsiders are the first serious patrons I've had that weren't asking for hinges and nails..."
The last comment were the words of a man who had grown accustomed to his mundane works, forging the essential parts and pieces that kept the village around him standing, and while it was fulfilling to see his people thrive, it was void of ambition or enjoyment. This new path path to forging God Slaying Tools? Durmaz didn't care one iota about defying the Gods, or fate. Those tools existed, and were considered the pinnacle of smithing to him, so he simply wanted to forge them to show that he could. That he was as creative and competent a smith as the Legendary Marzan. That was it. Finally the young man stated what form he wanted his tool to take. A gauntlet.
"It's not complicated at all. You're just bending plates of metal and fastening them together with a rivet, or some other form of hinge for flexibility.
As for learning about the Human Principal, you are standing in the birthplace of it's discovery. Almost all of the humans within Sanctuary are versed in it to some degree, as we immortals, blessed by the Gods during the Great War with Tiamat, migrated here only a century or two after Humanity's victory against the Great Mother and her spawn. Save for a few souls who have awoken the power on their own, there is no better place to learn about Atavistic Flame than here."
Alternative, complete three B-Rank missions in the Badlands of Earth or Iron Peninsula to gather the raw materials for your gauntlet, then return.
Coming from [x]
For about a day's traveling with the heavy cargo, Lilith had finally reached the Sanctuary that was located in the midst of the islands center. Without much ado, she went directly to the smithy's workshop where she had left her Kryptonian creation. She noticed the other gentleman was still there too as she placed about 50 kilos worth of steel on the floor next to the forge. All being ingots of high-grade crafting materials that could be used for pretty much all purposes. With the burden unloaded, she wiped some sweat from her forehead but stared right into the smith's eyes and applied a broad smile.
I got a gift for you master! I hope you can make use of this while i try and forge a blade like you instructed me.
The steel was of high grade but it would serve absolutely no purpose in the forging of a potential GST, which, she could not use anyway while Alucard was. Her expression radically changed out of nowhere though going from tired but relieved to an almost shocked one. She then sensed her fathers emergence from the Rift back in the ruins of chungsuu through their mental link and she spoke to him instantly (a conversation that could not be heard by anyone else but herself and Alucard, thousands of miles away). Her gaze shifted focus as she spoke with him.
*Otosan, are you okay?! Seems like you're alive this time though. I will have a gift for you when we see eachother again.*
She then turned back to the smith awaiting some sort of reaction from both of them. Since the other man was also there still, she addressed him too, awkwardly.
Oh hi again, did the smithy help you yet?
She tended her previously created krypton wolf and scratched it beneath it's jaw.
Gyaa
This post marks the start of a mission using the following elements:
- Learn more of the Human Principle/Atavistic Flame (2)
Synopsis: After a discussion with the blacksmith Durmaz, Masaki learns of the Human Principle that is used to develop the God-slaying Tools. With an inquisitive mind, he seeks to ask the locals of Sanctuary about Atavistic Flame.
Masaki mentally noted down the instructions to the best of his ability as the smith mentioned the ores required for this gauntlet he requested. Badlands of Earth, that was north of his home in Fenchuch. Evidently, it was not a place he had known too much about, but the close proximity to home would serve to quell any fears of going back to the mainland.
Perhaps to Durmaz's behest, Masaki bowed in respect for wanting to complete his request, acting as a simple "thank you" in response and left the man to his work. He would attempt to leave, only to be stopped briefly by the girl from before.
"Yeah," he nodded in response,
"I'm about to head out. Thank you for your assistance." Following, he waved goodbye, before heading for the Badlands.
But first, the man would scour the village for anyone who would help him understand what it was the smith was talking about.
Masaki motioned his way through to the center of Sanctuary, meeting the gaze of many different monks circling the area, whether it be for rebuilding property, dealing with trade or cooking up a meal for their family. Some met with disinterest, others with a complete sneer for his composure. Perhaps it was because Masaki was an outsider to their village that he was met with such looks of disdain, or maybe they could smell the scent of tobacco on his clothes as he made his way through their village. Disrespect? Or something else.
One monk in particular, a younger looking man, beckoned to him.
"Hey mister, over here!" He called out. Masaki looked in the direction, making sure this guy meant they wanted to talk to him before making his way over to his general direction. This area wasn't too secluded from the rest of Sanctuary, but well enough so that he wouldn't continue to draw attention based on his attire.
"You met with Master Durmaz just now, didn't you?" The monk inquired.
"Master... Durmaz?" Masaki questioned.
"The guy running the blacksmith." He replied.
"I saw you walking out of his place!" So Durmaz was his name, and given the honorific, he seemed to garner a bit of respect amongst the locals.
"And what of it?" Masaki retorted as if to resist an interrogation.
"It's nothing mister, just seems like a lotta foreigners have been coming to see him lately. Some are even weird, like that cat lady that flew away moments ago." The monk must have been talking about Lilith.
"His Atavistic forge is sure in demand lately." He quipped.
Atavistic forge... Durmaz did mention something along those lines. If Masaki could recall correctly, Durmaz fuels what he called an Atavistic forge, that uses something called the Human Principle to forge weapons that could bond to the soul of an individual. Supposedly, these weapons had anti-divine properties that could quell the forces of gods and those alike, not that the man knew much about what this all meant. He scratched his head in response to what the monk mentioned.
"Hey, what can you tell me about this Human Principle that Durmaz-san spoke of?" Masaki inquired to the monk.
"Human Principle..." The monk pondered on the thought for a moment.
"Well, I guess it's something we've always had!" He jested.
"You've always had it?"
"We do have to learn how to use it, but it is something we've always known to have. My teacher mentioned something about everyone having the Human Principle naturally."
"Everyone can have it..." Masaki scratched his head.
"More or less. Like, the animals in the forest can't use it. Because--"
"Because it's Human Principle." Masaki cut the monk off his trail of thought.
"Ah, sorry, please continue."
"Anyway, our technique is called the Atavistic Flame. It's a special flame that uses the spirit as fuel, so to speak."
Something clicked within Masaki's inquisitive mind when the monk spoke of fuel.
"So that's why Durmaz-san mentioned the weapons he creates bind to the soul." It made sense; this Atavistic Flame utilised the spirit as opposed to chakra to create flames which is why the weapons, also made with Atavistic Flame, would bind to the souls of those desired so easily.
He continued to question to monk.
"That must be pretty draining, why not use chakra like the rest of us?"
"The monks of Sanctuary don't have chakra."
Needless to say, Masaki was stunned at the notion, reverberating in his head. Sure, he had heard of people in the past who perhaps weren't quite so adept at using chakra and made up for it using taijutsu, but for people to just not have chakra pathways was something strange. Masaki was always lead to believe that chakra was simply another pathway that provided life in everyone, very similar to the blood vessels that provided the body with everything it needed. But for a civilisation to be deprived of it was unheard of to him.
"Surprised?" The monk asked.
"Honestly, I was as well after hearing no one on the eastern continent had the flames like us."
"It's interesting at least."
"I can show you." The monk replied as he held his right hand in front of him. He focused for a moment, until the time his hand lit ablaze with a flame of yellowish hue. For the most part, he could sustain the flame for no more than a few seconds before it burned out. Masaki was in awe at the technique producing the flame, and to say, without the use of chakra. He noted that it looked different from the fire he was used to, that of chakra, where the flames were darker and had a reddish hue to them. Maybe this meant something about the levels of heat that were produced by Atavistic Flames.
Suddenly, a voice called out to the monk.
"Oi bastard! Didn't we tell you not to use the sacred flame technique for fun!?" Another monk, seemingly pissed at his actions.
"Ah, s-sorry, senpai, won't happen again!" He stuttered, quick to apologize.
"Sorry mister, I gotta run!" Like a devious thief, the monk quickly left the scene to somewhere safe, leaving Masaki alone. He was met with a sinister glare from the older monk, wherein Masaki broke into a bit of a nervous sweat. Needless to say, he shook off his nerves and bowed to this monk in apology, before leaving to the east, back where he came from.
Masaki had a mission: collect ore for Durmaz to forge a gauntlet. Hopefully the ship he came by was still docked in the same place.
Ending mission.
Leaving landmark.
Commencing auto-travel.
Itinerary: #286 Sanctuary -> #285 -> #282 -> #281 -> #280 Outer Cedar Forest.
Arriving at #280 Outer Cedar Forest @ 1.15pm EST.
