Mashyuu examined the bottle with a keen eye and snapped his fingers to call Jarrett to his side. "Jarrett, take this bottle to the captain's quarters while I take a look at the goods please. Make sure to keep it on ice." The Captain ordered and Jarrett carefully took the bottle. "You shouldn't have Sofia, working with some guns will be a nice change of pace compared to all the swords I've been making as of late." Mashyuu assured the young woman but gave her short friend a strange look from behind his red tinted glasses. "Interesting friend you picked up there. Can she fire off the rifles with wind too?" Mashyuu asked while making his way over to the crates to look into what it was that Sofia had brought to him exactly. "So, it looks like you just need the rifles calibrated from mid range weapons to long range ones. Still it might be a good idea to work on some scopes anyway just in case. Don't want to put all your eggs in one basket." Mashyuu mused while glancing down at the guns.
"Alright, lets get these down into the forge. You four, help get em down!" Mashyuu shouted while pointing to four men and then the crates. A few moments passed before the men got to work on moving the crates and Mashyuu stood at Sofia's side while he watched his men work. "So of all the places you could go after Jordsand, why Baltigo? Are you staying in Nill District because if so, you might want to find a different port. It won't be safe here much longer." Mashyuu stated proudly. "Big changes are coming, good changes but big ones." He assured her by patting Sofia on her back and taking a few steps forward then stopped. "You look good Sofia, feel free to hang out on deck, I'll be happy to have my crew keep you company." Mashyuu offered then made his way down to the forge to get to work.
The dark haired man pulled his suit jacket off and tossed it aside, then pulled his white button down off and threw a brown leather apron on over his torso. His wings spread wide so he could tie the apron around his back then folded in on the back of his body. Next he sat down at his work bench and pulled a rifle up to rest on the table and started to examine it. "Alright, let see.... Barrel needs to be extended. The frame though... it doesn't support a simple barrel extension. I'll have to replace the entire thing from the action up. It will need a new casing and grip on the barrel to hold it too. I might as well try and add as many scopes to these as I can. At least put some mounts on the rifles..." He started to mutter while grabbing a piece of paper and pencil to start jotting notes down about the rifle. After jotting down a few notes he sighed and lifted the weapon again, twisting it in his hands to give the craftsmenship a look over. His face twisted into a frown at the sight of the weapon and the feel of it. "Kinda shoddy work too. I'll have to tune each rifle up, make sure the insides are up to par. I'm no expert but I bet I can make these work a little better at the least."
Mashyuu pointed his finger at the rifle while he placed it on the table and held it firmly. The Skypiean blacksmith twisted his index finger once and the guns screws started to twist and pop out of the weapon until they were floating about six inches away from the rifle. While holding the screws mid air, Mashyuu used his free hand to take the rifle apart slowly, removing the barrel from the slide, stock and action of the weapon. Gently he set each piece of the weapon aside, Mashyuu examined the inner workings of the barrel and how it connected to the rest of the rifle, how long and wide the barrel was and tested its weight to compare to the rest of the weapon to make sure that when he finished working it would be properly balanced. Mashyuu tightened a small pin in the trigger to hold the device in place a little better, polished and oiled the action and stock then pushed himself away from the table and headed to the crate of ores that Sofia had brought along to help pay for the cost of the guns. "Lets see, those are common grade rifles you could find at any basic weapons shop. It's not gonna be hard to make these better. But the metal... it's iron at best. Steel would make a better base for a barrel. Issue is making sure that everything fits." Mashyuu muttered to himself while rummaging through the ores to pull a few items out and set them aside.
Slowly Mashyuu started to stoke the fires of his forge, the blue flames roared to life, the magic of the Skypiean forge keeping the metal around the flames cool to the touch. In his blue eyes, the fire danced while he tried to keep himself from grinning ear to ear at the sight of the fire. There was something about working with metal that spoke to the old soul in Mashyuu. In fact he contributed that to a sort of destiny when he coupled it with the fact that he had been blessed with the Jishaku No Mi. The young man took a few moments to let his body relax then set out measure the barrel of the gun carefully. To do that he created a mold out of clay, surrounding the barrel of the riffle in clay and leaving the back end of the barrel out about four inches. Then he repeated the process twice until he had a mold that was eight inches longer than the original barrel. Carefully Mashyuu withdrew the barrel from the mold and boxed the clay in with wood to support it and cut a hole in the center of the wood where the super heated steel would need to be poured into the mold. Mashyuu repeated the action until he had created a mold for every rifle in Sofia's stockpile.
Once the ores were heated to the point of being red hot, Mashyuu pulled the ores out of the furnace and placed a large funneled cup made of thick steel. Using his magnetic power, Mashyuu pulled at the ores of metal, thinning them out so they melted faster. The two ores melted into the large cup and Mashyuu pulled the cup out of the fires and started to mix the fluids with a thick shafted spoon and replaced the cup for a few more moments. Once he was done heating the ore he poured the liquid slowly into one of the molds he created. As the first mold started to set and cool, Mashyuu grabbed an armful of ores and began to mix more of them together slowly and carefully. Each time one of the cups of ore was melted and mixed correctly, Mashyuu poured the contents into the molds one at a time and waited for the liquid steel to cool and solidify properly. Once each of the molds were solidified Mashyuu took a soft mallet hammer and a chisel and begain to chip away at the clay until it fell apart leaving only a wooden box and a steel rod that would eventually make up the barrel of each rifle.
The process of creating the molds for the barrels and mixing the ore alone took the better part of a day and the night soon found Mashyuu sleeping hunched over his desk. The morning came and brought Mashyuu to a startling awoken state. He wandered out of the forge and made his way up towards the mess hall for an early breakfast. Two of the women who had joined up with the others led by Jarrett were cooking for the crew, while not expert cooks they could whip up meals that filled bellies and energized bodies. Swiftly, Mashyuu sat at a bench and started to pile up pancakes, eggs, bacon and biscuits on a plate then poured syrup on the stack and devoured the meal almost without chewing. He knew he had a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to get it done. With a hurry, Mashyuu raced to the top deck of the Skycleaver and drew deep breaths of fresh air while wearing a smile on his face. "Okay, a thirty by thirty should be good for the caliber and bore." Mashyuu whispered under his breath.
Returning to the forge, Mashyuu took a compass and piece of charcoal and measured out the diameter of the steel rods Mashyuu was going to use as the barrel of the rifles. Marking where to stop his drilling, Mashyuu held the first barrel in place with his magnetic power and raised a small drill and started to crank it into the metal to dig a hole out of the barrel. The bit of the drill longer than Mashyuu's arm, it took a very steady set of hands and some magnetic guiding to create a straight hole through the steel. Beads of sweat started to roll down Mashyuu's head and neck, dripping into his dirty clothes as he worked the drill through each rod of steel. He took deep, heavy breaths of air as the final rod was drilled through and the excess metal fell away to the floor. Mashyuu fell back and landed with a thud on his rear, drawing deep breaths of air while wiping the sweat from his face. The pirate waved his finger at a tin cup filled with water and brought it over to him. "Alright... I need to set a thread before I do the bore, that way I can screw the barrel into place on the rifles either way. This is gonna take all day and night."
Mashyuu stood and waved his hand across the empty space of air before him like a pianist warming up before playing a beautiful song. The man walked the barrels to the work bench and leaned each barrel against the wall and clamped one to the mounted clamp, with one end facing up towards the ceiling. He started to measure the threads of the rifle compared to the size of barrels and took a few notes. He followed up by going over a small shelf and pulled up a few hex screws and started to test them until he knew what the proper thread he needed was and picked up a matching die set. Mashyuu screwed a small screw into the die, spreading the metal a quarter of an inch so the die would fit on the barrel. Carefully Mashyuu placed the die atop the barrel and grabbed the handles. Using his magnetic power he kept the die straight and steady as he turned it a quarter of a rotation and heard a small crack, then twisted backwards until he heard a snap. The sound brought a smile to his face and he continued the twist down, watching as flecks of metal started to fall. Each time he heard a crack he reversed the spin of the die until the snap sound returned, then continued to draw down on the barrel. The work was long and tedious, there was no special trick to the skill, aside from using a compound to make the process easier, but he didn't have any for it since he hadn't had the need to work on rifles until recently. Sadly this meant harder work for the Captain of the Skycleaver.
As he finished the final barrel's threading, Mashyuu staggered back as if he had been punched in the face by someone holding a brick. He rubbed at his shoulders and biceps, the muscles in them feeling terribly sore and swollen. The Captain groaned with the pain and shuddered while leaving the work behind to break for dinner. Sitting in a chair in the mess hall, slowly eating so he could catch his breath and refocus his mind, Mashyuu didn't notice Jarrett slip into the seat next to him. "So... How is the rifle work going?" Jarrett asked while looking at the way Mashyuu was eating. "I need to add the boring to the barrels still... then secure everything and make sure the recoil is good and easy on the shoulder." Jarrett lifted a brow while tilting his head. "The what?" the sandy haired man asked Mashyuu. The Captain sighed and lifted a metal fork. Exerting his magnetic powers on it he twisted the thing to be a hollow corkscrew. Then he put his fingertip at the edge of the hollow metal. "So the barrel is what gives a gun its range... Normally it flies straight and will eventually drop off over a distance. The boring is like a corkscrew inside the barrel of long ranged weapons. It helps compensate for drop off by giving the bullet a spin, helping it penetrate better, and fly straight for a longer distance. It's going to take a lot of time to do. If I have to keep doing these sorts of jobs I'm gonna need an assistant. I can't believe I'm even considering it since it wasn't long ago I was an assistant."
Deciding to take a longer break to clear his mind, knowing he would have to work long hours again the next day, Mashyuu took a shower and headed to the Captains Quarters. Locking the door behind him, Mashyuu laid in his hammock and turned on a small device for listening to music. From the head phones in his ears, music blared, his arms swung as if he were hitting drums to the beat of the song and a strange peace filled his mind and heart. Eventually sleep took him and the man awoke on the third day feeling rested, ready for the last of the work and cracked his neck as he rose up. Quickly Mashyuu got dressed and headed back down into the forge, a power bar in his mouth, quickly being chewed and swallowed while he stoked the flames of the forge simply because he was used to the heat.
Mashyuu picked up a large drill bit that was roughly the size of the rifle barrel's inside. He took a chisel and hammer and flattened one end of the drill into a curved scoop. he didn't have a proper tool to create a boring considering Mashyuu rarely worked on guns let alone any sort of rifle. (Upon realizing this he decided to pick the proper tools up before someone else could ask him to work on a gun like this. Carefully he placed the drill bit into one of the barrels and started to twist slowly, wincing as he felt the bit start to scoop quarter centimeters of metal out of the barrel. Once he completed the drilling, Mashyuu cleaned the barrel out with a thin sponge that was wet then dried it with absorbent cloth. He followed this up by coating the drill bit in an oil and screwed the barrel onto one of the rifles. To finish, he took a small brand and heated it up then pressed it to the wooden butt of the gun, branding it with his trademark angel wings. Carefully he made sure the gun was assembled correctly and took three rounds with him up to the main deck of the ship. "HARLEY! HARLEY I NEED YOUR HELP!" Mashyuu called out while loading the rifle with a single round.
Slowly Harley walked up to Mashyuu, already not liking seeing the gun in hand. Mashyuu simply smiled at Harley and handed her the rifle. "You have the best aim in the crew next to me and Elias. I need you to shoot this in my general direction, in fact I need you to shoot it over my shoulder and past my head. Or at least around my arm." Mashyuu stated as if he had nothing but trust in Harley. The young woman simply blinked with confusion for a long moment. "I'm sorry... it sounds like you want me to shoot you with a gun." Mashyuu started to chuckle and shook his head. "AHHHAHAHAHAHA! No no! I want you to shoot near me. I need to test the range and drop off of the weapon." Mashyuu explained then flew out ninety meters, not giving Harley much of a choice. Harley drew a deep breath and took aim as Mashyuu put himself into a bobbing hover far away from any ships and activated his magnetic powers to push metal away from his body in a very small area just in case Harley missed and hit him or the drop off was more than he expected. The first shot rang out, whipped past Mashyuu's fingertips as he had his arms stretched out and continued to sail beyond him. A grin spread over his face and he flew back to one hundred meters and started to hover again. Another shot rang out and fell under his hand, a frown formed on his lips but he shrugged. A completely accurate shot at ninety meters and drop off near one hundred but it still had the range needed. It wasn't what he wanted but better than expected.
Mashyuu returned to Harley and took the rifle, flicking the safety on. "How was the kick back? Put a lot of strain on you or your aim?" The Blacksmith asked. "I almost didn't notice it. The butt of the gun absorbs well and the trigger is tight enough that I had to squeeze for a bit before it fired, giving me plenty of time to really aim." Harley praised honestly. Mashyuu winked at Harley and started to make his way back into the lower deck of the ship. "Thanks Harley, I think this will be a good basis
for my first supply of rifles." Mashyuu returned to the forge and finished boring the barrels and assembled the guns, finishing near sun set. He called Sophia on the den den. "Sophia, it's Mashyuu. The rifles are ready so whenever you want to pick them up we are good to go."
When Sophia arrived, Mashyuu handed her a rifle and one round then picked one up himself. "Okay so I did some minor tune ups to each gun. your units are going to need to apply a bit more pressure to the trigger when firing, however it should allow them to recover from the recoil a bit better and give the guns less of a chance to jam. On that note I've extended the barrels to shoot a little further, added boring to them so that the rounds spin and penetrate. You have perfect accuracy with the rifle, not the marksman, out to ninety meters, after that there is a drop off so you will need to compensate for that. I want to make scopes but honestly I need more practice and I didn't have the tools for proper boring and that is likely why you have drop off with these. However considering I've never crafted this sort of gun before I think this is a success. Seeing as you're a friend I won't charge for this. However the next time I'll have to charge. This took a long time to do. You give me half the left over ores you brought and we will call this a solid trade."