The Metal of the Sun (Training + Mining) 12 PM claim in further in post.

(Official harvest for + Taiyouinium Ore +)

Asura had finished his latest pieces of crafts for himself and to promote. The hammering of the metal had begun to tire him out. His muscles ached and even now the heat of the forge-- and lava well below of the caverns made him sweat. Someone who never could be burned, was starting to feel the heat from all his labor.

Vulcan and Asura had been working hard late into the night. The glow of the lava didn't help tell them how much time they spent in the caves-- assuming if Vulcan rarely left to enjoy the outside.

Exhausted, Asura took a break and rested on one of the nearby benches. "Short of breath, cub?" the tiger chuckled with a sneer, enoying what small moments he could to poke fun at the kid.

"Oh knock it off, Vulcan," Asura grumbled. Too hot for his comfort, Asura took off his shirt to rest. It wasn't the heat but the labor in itself. But it was good training as well. His muscles felt firmer and he knew things were going to change for the better soon. He had produced amazing pieces of gear, and now he had more experience as a craftsman. "MY gear is good , so don't knock me when I'm feeling good, man."

The tiger was tempted, but he just smirked and twitched his whiskers. Finally, he lowered his hammer and strode over to the young shinobi. He grabbed a bottle of water and sat down-- causing the bench to groan from the tiger's sheer weight. "Here. Re-hydrate. You work on this shit long enough, you need the water to keep going."

Asura took the sack of water and took a deep sip. The water tasted slightly stale, but refreshing all the same. "Thanks..." Asura sighed, handing the water back to him. "I tend to get occupied too much in my work to really stop. "

"That is something we have in common," the tiger said, his large arms rested upon his knees as he relaxed.

"So... we cool? No more calling me names?" Asura dared to ask.

"I really wish i could," the tiger replied with a teasing grin, "But my forge, my rules. Rule 1-- I have the right to bust your chops as I damn please."

"Great..." Asura grumbled, but couldn't help but smirk at the stupid joke. "So what now? You calling it a day? Even you need to rest."

The tiger took another swig of his water. "Naw... I'm good for a few more hours. Heh... you should see me with a woman. I can go all night. HAHA!" he boasted.

Asura turned away at the mental image. "Ugh... thanks for the mental image." he commented.

"Heh... well just wait till you grow up a bit more," he growled in reply and slowly stood up. "Hey, why don't you come with me. I got one more thing to do before I call it quits, and its coming up real soon."

Asura looked up at the large tiger. "Huh? What is coming up?"

Vulcan reached a large hand and helped Asura back to his feet. "Just shut up and follow me. Its a special metal only found in these caves I wanna show you."

With that, the tiger moved out of the forge, taking one of the spiraling paths downward towards the mines of the cave. With a sigh, Asura followed to where he was heading.

Training Dice rolls: + 2 from quick learner.

3 rolls = End, 4 rolls = Str.

The member 'Enjin' has done the following action : Dice

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'Exercise Dice' : 1, 1, 5, 8, 1, 8, 3

(Training results +13 to End , +28 to STR. )

(Post made solid on 12 PM exactly)

The heat of the lava became second nature to Asura as they walked along a single path that cut through a path of it. He saw plooms of lava shoot off in the distance of the cave and magma bubble every now and then. "Hey, Vulcan," Asura called out as he followed the muscular man-tiger, "This might be a stupid question, but is there any danger of any of this lava becoming active and blowing us all up?" he asked.

The tiger snorted as he walked ahead on the path. "Naw. This lava is like run off from the volcanic terrain in Phoenix country. If any volcano blows its over there," Vulcan explained with a grin. "There are times when the lava rises and wanes like a tide, but other than that, nothing serious. "

The two continued down the path-- till they reached an end to the path near a cavern's wall. There Asura observed something he had not seen before. Among the wall were large, yellow and orange strands of metal that ran through the walls. It almost appeared like gold but with a more orange color to it. It pulsed lightly against the walls.

"What the hell is this?" Asura asked, not seeing this kind of metal before. it almost seemed like crystal as well in how it was structured. He slowly stepped forward to lay a hand on the wall---

-- till Vulcan grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back hard. "Whoh! You got a death wish?!" the tiger snarled, his grip furiously tight. "Don't touch it!"

"What? Why?" Asura asked, curious.

"That metal is very volitile in its pure form," the tiger said, pulling Asura way from the wall and got closer with his hammer. "THis is called Taiyouinium-- one of the rarest metals in the world. It only grows in isolated pockets in the earth-- but is also dangerously hot." he explained and pointed to the wall. "You see how it pulses? It can only be harvested at a certain moment exactly. It has to be at a point where its hot enough to be removed, but even in a dormant state it can cause extreme harm."

Asura looked at the wall, seeing as how the glowing pulses of the metal seemed to pulse more as the time passed. "Is it... alive?" he asked.

"No... but it pulses faster as the time it can be harvested reaches its zenith," Vulcan explained and gripped his hammer. He took a firm grip and held it. "The timing needs to be exact for when the metal itself can be harvested. Just watch and learn, brat," he said.

The focus on Vulcan seemed strong as he glared at the veins of wall, watching as it pulsed brighter each passing minute. Asura just stood there in wait as Vulcan held his hammer. The tiger's eyes never left the wall and soon the pulsing grew into a faster pace.

It grew faster, and faster. Asura had no clue why it was happening, but Vulcan's grip tighten. It was then the metal became a brilliant bright light that illuminated the cave-- even more than the lava did. "GRRRROWWWL!!" With a mighty roar, Vulcan raised his hammer back and brought it down hard upon the wall.

The impact echoed through the chamber as the hammer struck, the brilliant light of the vein flashed-- and faded in that very moment. A single clink of metal could be heard from the impact as Asura flinched and turned away from the flash.

Soon, the light faded and Asura saw something...

... a tiny piece of the brightly glowing metal fall to the ground. The chunk was no bigger than a thick coin as it tumbled to the ground. Vulcan panted from the impact and looked as he saw the tiny chunk of rock roll nearby. "There... " he sighed.

With it, the stones in the wall soon stopped shining-- and returned to their pulsing glow.

"THat's it?" Asura asked, his tone disappointed. All the time and energy to get that tiny little stone was a drag to Asura as he knelt down closer to it. "This little piece?"

The tiger lowered his hammer and reached for his belt. He took out a pair of tongs. "Hey, that little piece is worth more than your teeth, smartass. Now get back so I can safely---"

Before the tiger could reach for it, Asura scoped the stone into his hand. It sizzled against Asura's skin-- but he didn't feel a thing. "Its a cool glow but I don't see why---"

"WHAT THE FUCK YOU DOING?!" Vulcan screamed, his fur and whiskers up on end as he saw Asura hold the glowing rock. Asura jumped at his reaction, almost dropping the stone.

"What? What?!" Asura grunted, looking around to wonder what he did wrong.

"YOU DON'T PICK UP THAT DAMN THING! IT'S ALMOST 1500 KELVIN! " the tiger roared.

Surprised, Asura dropped the stone to the ground where it landed flat between them. As it touched the light material of Asura's sandals-- the material caught fire and incinerated instantly. "Whoh..." Asura said.

The tiger quickly reached and grabbed Asura's hand. "What the fuck were you thinking?! I--" he went to check his hands, but found no burn or scorch on his hand. "What the hell... that stone was hot enough it would of burned right through your hand."

Asura smiled. "My Kekkei Genkai. I'm impervious to fire, and so... I can't be burned by anything, really." Asura said and drew his hands behind his head modestly. "I could actually take a bath in the lava if I wanted and still come out without a single burn."

The tiger frowned. The actual concern for the kid was clear on his face-- but he soon got angry that he worried like he did. "You.. stupid, fire-proof fuck... I otta..." he grumbled and went to pick up the stone with the tongs. "Just don't be reckless. This stuff is rumored to be hotter than the sun. You fuck around with this metal, it may be the last thing you do. They are only really safe to use after it has been treated, smelted and then tempered in the forge. "

He picked up the metal, it sizzled in the tongs he held it with. "Anyway, this metal can only be harvested around Midday when the sun is highest. So next time if you wanna get one of these stones-- do it smart. " the tiger said and led the way back to the forge and across the bridge. "If you fuck around with these stones-- if they don't kill you, I will. Got it?" he growled.

Asura shook his head and dusted his hands off. Even though he had never been burnt by the stone, a small bit of smoke seemed to waft from the palm of his hand. "Alright, alright-- sorry..." he sighed and followed the cat out.

Thread End.