Master Craftsman: Gus Dharv

"Caroline, I will be taking possession of this painting due to its poisonous nature, okay?" Ana stated, "I'll make sure to compensate you at a later time." 

"Take it, I don't want it," Caroline stated, "This painting was the reason that little brother died, and I don't want to see it again." 

"I see...." Ana answered, wrapping the painting in a protective cloth.

Ana, Haruno & Emila said their goodbyes to Caroline, with Emila apologizing for her brazen comment and Caroline hugging her back. Caroline knew Emila meant no harm and was happy they were able to reconcile before leaving

"Hey, Haruno, I've been meaning to ask, but what with the hat?" Emila asked, seeing Haruno wearing a dark brown deerstalker hat. "I don't remember you having that before?"

"Same here, I didn't see you wearing that hat when we entered the home, but noticed it when we returned to the study room. " Ana commented, "I've never seen a hat with that kind of design before either".

"What hat?" Haruno questioned, reaching up towards her head to feel a soft hat. She proceeded to take it off, "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS??!!?" she yelled.

Appraisal  

"Detective Hat" / Rarity: Divine 

A divine equipment bestowed by the Goddess Merrisa to Haruno to assist with her detective work. 

"THAT SHITTY GODDESS!!!" Haruno yelled, opening up the carriage window and throwing the hat out as it disappeared into the wind, followed by being struck by Ana on the head. 

"LANGUAGE, YOUNG LADY!!" Ana yelled. 


After travelling for a while, the carriage came to a sudden halt, with Ana, Haruno & Emila stepping out and standing in front of a blacksmith's workshop.

"Come on, you too," Ana stated, opening the wooden door and gesturing for them to follow.

Haruno & Emila enter the building to see a large array of weapons and armor sitting on the stands and shelves. 

"Mother, why are we here?" Haruno questioned, taking a look at the expensive weapons. 

"Didn't I mention that you both need better equipment if you plan on adventuring outside the gates?" Ana answered, walking towards the unattended wooden counter. "GUS, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!?!" she yelled, startling Haruno & Emila. 

"SHUT UP YOU OLD HAG!!" a deep male voice yelled, with a knife striking the wooden counter before a dwarf appeared out from behind. The dwarf had long grey hair tied up into a bun with his beard braided into three sections. He was wearing a black overalls outfit with black leather boots. "What the hell do you want? You know I don't make weapons for elves, so why the hell are you in my shop?" he asked, before seeing two other ladies behind her.

"I see.....congratulations," the dwarf congratulated Anna, "It finally happened, huh? You finally had kids after being single for such a long time, who is the lucky father of these two?" he inquired. 

"THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!" Ana yelled, smacking the dwarf on the head, sending him into the wooden counter. 

After a few minutes of recovering, the group moved to the back of the shop and sat around the wooden workbench. 

"So these two ladies are not from our world, huh? Gus reconfirmed after hearing Ana's explanation, "Here I thought you finally had kids," he smirked.

"You know my deposition towards guys, Gus," Ana stated, while looking at the open fire in the forge. "I'm here for two reasons: I need you to make equipment for these two, and I need your advice on this painting," she added, taking out the painting from her item box, and began to explain the poisonous nature.

"Damn, Arthur finally died, huh?" Gus took in the news, "The reason for his death was this poisonous painting.....should we burn it?" he added, picking up the painting and ready to toss it into the forge.

"HEY!!!" Ana yelled, "IF THAT WAS THE CASE, WE WOULDN'T HAVE COME HERE!" She held down the painting. 

"I was joking," Gus answered, "I'm not stupid enough to dispose of another craftsman masterpiece, especially if it's their last one," he commented. "Hm......I'm not a painter, so I can't answer how to keep it from releasing poison vapors. If the varnish was never added by its creator, my pride, along with any other skilled craftsman, would never dare to add it on as it would be considered a desecration of his legacy," he warned.

"What if it was encased in a sealed glass frame?" Haruno suggested, "If the painting was encased in a glass frame, the painting would not leak any poison and we can keep the painting as it is," she suggested. 

"Explain yourself," Gus demanded, "If we keep it in a glass frame, how would you hang the painting? You cannot hang the painting if it's fully encased in glass?" 

"It doesn't have to be entirely made of glass," Harno explained, taking out a piece of paper and starting to draw, "If we premount the frame onto a sturdy pre treated piece of wood panel, and then added a secure glass panel around it, the painting will remain safe, wouldn't it?" she explained, similar to placing a collectible item into a display case. 

"Wouldn't this ruin the aesthetic of the artwork?" Gus inquired, "Isn't the whole point to see the painting directly and not cover it?" 

"Unfortunately, if we cannot apply the varnish to the painting, it will eventually deteriorate if it's kept exposed to the elements," Haruno stated, "It's something we would have to take a risk especially if we want to preserve Alonso Varti final incomplete masterpiece" she smirked, knowing regardless of what they do, this painting's value has already tripled once the world finds out the truth regarding it. 

"Hmmmm...Let's give it a try," Gus answered. "I never properly introduced myself. My name is Gus Dharv, a Master Craftsman from the Kingdom of Toria." 

"My name is Haruno Sayaka." Haruno introduced herself, and Emila introduced herself next, "My name is Emila Watson". 

"Now that we are done with this task, let's move to the next one. What kind of weapon do you want?" Gus inquired, "I'm pretty sure there is a reason why that old hag requested a custom weapon instead of one that was sitting on the shelf." 

"It's faster for you to understand if you can see their skill in action," Ana suggested, standing up. "Let's move to the backyard," with the group heading outside. 

"You, demonstrate your skill on this log with the sword you normally use," Gus orders Emila, placing a large black log on top of a tree stump. 

"What do you mean by demonstrate?" Emila asked, hesitating to walk forward before getting shoved forward by Haruno. "What should I show exactly?" 

"Anything," Gus answered, stepping away. 

"That doesn't answer the question, though!" Emila cried, confused by the request.

"Emila, why don't you split the log into twelve even pieces for now?" Ana suggested, smirking. 

"TWELVE?!?!?!" Gus yelled, "That's impossible!?!? Especially with this type of material," he added. 

"SHUT IT AND WATCH!" Ana yelled back, ordering Gus to watch carefully. 

Emila took out the Willow Wisp Branch from her inventory and moved into an En Garde position before disappearing and reappearing past the log, with it splitting into twelve perfectly even pieces. 

"H-HEY, isn't that a Willow Wisp Branch? Why are you using it as a sword? More importantly, how did you manage to split the log with it in the beginning?" Gus shakily walked over and picked up the pieces of the logs. The logs were perfectly split and smooth, as it was perfectly polished without a single piece of wooden fiber sticking outwards. "This doesn't make any sense?" he stuttered, dropping it to the ground. 

"OKAY, YOUR TURN!" Gus ordered, placing another log on the tree stump, and pointed at Haruno. 

"Gus, come over here!" Ana yelled, with Gus standing a foot away from her & Emila. "I SAID COME OVER HERE!" she proceeded to yank Gus closer. 

Hexagon Barriers x5, Ana quickly erected multiple barriers protecting the workshop and themselves. 

"The hell are you doing?" Gus yelled, wondering why there were so many barriers placed around them.

"Shut up and watch!" Ana yelled, carefully watching Haruno's right fist, accumulating mana. 

"HERE WE GO!" Haruno yelled, sending a single forward right jab towards the log.

Hexagon Barriers x15, Ana quickly placed multiple barriers around the log & Haruno, separating the two.

The log remained still for a few seconds before it started to crack, followed by multiple small wooden shards bursting outwards as it broke through the barriers. 

"W-What just happened?" Gus questioned, looking around his workshop to see wooden shards lodged inside the barrier around the log, with a few piercing through the multiple layers and striking the barriers that protected his workshop. He realized that if Ana hadn't put a barrier up, they would all have been skewered by the wooden shards, and his workshop would have also been destroyed. 

Inside the workshop, Gus was sitting in a chair with a blank face, realizing that the task at hand was bigger than he thought. He finally understood why custom weapons needed to be made because regular weapons would not withstand Haruno's explosive force and Emila's swift swing. 

"Welcome to my world, old friend," Ana stated. "My world has been turned upside down for the past three weeks," she added. 

"These girls are insane!" Gus stated, "When I heard they were lost, I didn't realize they were this strong." 

"Lost?" Emila inquired, "What do you mean?" 

"Lost is a common term used for people not from this world," Ana explained, "When we meet lost individuals, they do not possess the same insane strength that you hold. In fact, they didn't even show a fraction of your strength." 

"They were pretty lackluster in terms of their capabilities, to be honest." Gus stated, "For a long-living race like me and that old hag, we have a fair share of experiences with lost individuals, and each one struggled extensively in adapting to this world. Eventually, they either died trying to fulfill their dreams or disappeared and returned home.......or so I hope," as he remembered taking a lost apprentice a few decades ago and watching him disappear into thin air. 

"Wait, can we go back home?" Emila questioned telepathically, "That doesn't make any sense, though."

"Let's wring the answers out of that shitty Goddess," Haruno suggested, feeling her anger boil over regarding her chest modification and the tacky hat. 

"So how long will it take for their equipment to be made?" Ana questioned. 

"At most, two or three weeks?" Gus answered, "I have to make the glass frame for this painting first, otherwise I might end up dead first", pointing at the wrapped up painting. "In the meantime, let me provide you with a temporary sword and gauntlet."

The group began to walk to the front of the shop, and Gus handed over a thin-bladed sword and a single right-hand gauntlet to Haruno & Emila.

"The blade should hold up without any issue for the meantime, but the gauntlet is what I'm concerned about," Gus stated. "Haruno, you need to learn about mana control if you don't want to risk blowing up your hands," he warned. 

"What do you mean?" Haruno questioned. 

"During that test, I noticed that the log exploded from the inside, not from the outside," Gus explained, "When you were getting ready to attack, you subconsciously accumulate large amounts of mana into your fist, and once you make contact, you are forcefully injecting the mana into the log. Once you pull your hand back, the mana connection is cut off, and the mana inside the log becomes unstable, bursts outward." 

"It sounds dangerous," Emila commented.

"Correct," Ana confirmed, "Honestly, that kind of fighting style is dangerous if left uncontrolled, which can result in your body exploding if you lose control one day. "

"Hw do I control it?" Haruno asked for a suggestion.  

"Practice, you need to learn how to mold mana with intent, not subconsciously. " Ana answered, "You can try to fight some Goblins to learn how," she suggested.

"Okay dokie, let's go take a few goblin subjugation quests now!"Haruno exclaimed before the party left the workshop. 

"Are they going to be okay?" Gus worried.