231 231. Conversation

Seeing Hitetsu's enthusiasm Leo smiled. He handed his sword to him.

Hitestsu drew out the sword. He traced it's blade slowly with his index and middle finger. He then pulled the sword very close to his eyes and looked at it for a while.

"Excellent craftsmanship. Only a select few individuals within Wano could create something like this. May I ask the name of it's creator?"

Hitestsu spoke respectfully.

"Awataguchi Sakon."

Hitestsu thought for a while before speaking, "I have never heard of him before. And from what I see your sword is barely a decade old."

Leo smiled and didn't reply.

Hitestsu didn't ask further. He sheathed the sword and handed it back to Leo.

"But it's such a shame that such craftsmanship is wasted."

"Oh, why?"

Leo asked curiously. He wasn't as excellent as Sakon since he did smithing as a hobby however with his knowledge and experience he knew for a fact that his sword was an excellent weapon.

Hitestsu explained, "Your sword is excellent, top among the Great Grade famed weapons, that's without a doubt. However, it could have reached Supreme Grade."

Leo raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Supreme Grade?"

Hitestsu nodded, "Any swordsmith who had achieved mastery in forging and has a lifetime of experience can create Great Grade weapons with ease."

"However then why is it that only 21 weapons are famed through the world?"

Hitestsu paused for a second and said, "Skilled Grade, Great Grade and Supreme Grade. Every qualified weapon falls into one of these grades. And each weapon within every grade is further ranked into low, high and perfect."

"Only perfect ranked weapons are known as famed weapons. Which means these weapons are perfect in their grade, there is no more room for it to grow."

Hitestsu pointed at Leo's sword, "Your sword isn't perfect rank, it's a high ranked sword. However your sword was forcefully raised to perfect rank."

Leo was surprised. Hitestsu was able to understand all that in such a short time.

He is an excellent swordsmith, maybe even on a higher level than Sakon.

"You are right. My spirit resonated with it and thus raised it's level. But why did you say my sword could have reached Supreme Grade?"

Hearing Leo Hitestsu sighed, "With the ability of your sword's creator he only needed better materials and time to create a Supreme Grade weapon."

Leo said, "But the main element used in my sword is extreme rare, it tough, flexible and able to absorb recoil."

Hitestsu was slightly surprised by Leo's words, he asked, "Are you a swordsmith as well?"

Leo thought for a second and replied, "I wouldn't say I am a veteran swordsmith, but I do forge."

Hitestsu nodded, "Then you should know, the core materials and the supplementary materials play a vital role in a weapon's potential."

"No matter how great someone is at smithing, a great weapon can't be made from inferior materials."

"The core element of your sword is rare, and it is very strong in many aspects but it is still lacking if one wants to create a Supreme Grade weapon."

"Do you know the biggest difference between a Great Grade weapon and a Supreme Grade one?"

Leo said without a moment of thought, "Spirit."

Hitestsu nodded, "Yes, a spirit. You can't expect inferior objects to give birth to a spirit, especially in a weapon. A spirit will qualitatively change a weapon."

"Only certain elements under strict conditions are capable of creating a spirit. A Supreme Grade weapon must have such an element as it's core. As for the supplementary elements, those must have nurturing abilities."

"The moment a Supreme Grade weapon is made a spirit embryo will be born along with it. Once it's wielder transfers his or her spirit to it a spirit will be born."

"That will be the moment when a true Supreme Grade weapon is born."

Hitestsu explanation gave Leo enlightenment. He now understood why his sword wasn't growing.

"You guys have an interesting method in categorising weapons."

Leo spoke.

Hitestsu was very interested in Leo's experience.

"From where we come from we use the number of strikes as a method to understand the quality of a weapon."

Leo explained the different levels in weapons and how they forged.

After Hitestsu heard him he said, "Interesting. It is a peculiar method, but in my opinion it's still lacking."

"Please don't get me wrong. I respect your abilities, especially after seeing your sword. But I believe your methods can be further improved."

Leo rubbed his chin and nodded. He wasn't a staunch believer in traditional methods, he is always willing to learn new knowledge and further improve himself.

Both of them spoke for a long time. Hitestsu explained forging techniques used by Wano swordsmiths and his own personal experience in smithing.

They shared their knowledge and from time to time came up with some inspiring thoughts.

Luffy, Flare and Tama were sidelined. They had no clue as to what they were talking about.

Tama said excitedly, "Big brother is great! Master rarely speaks so long about forging with others."

Flare grinned, "Of course. Sir is an excellent swordsman, the greatest. His forging skills maybe lacking, but it's because he doesn't spend much time on it."

Leo and Hitetsu forgot about the time. They spoke till the sun was setting over the horizon.

"Thank you."

Leo bowed to express his gratitude. He genuinely gained a lot of knowledge by speaking to Hitestsu.

Hitestsu waved his hand, "It's alright. You saved Otama. Take it as my thank you for that."

Leo didn't stand on ceremony. He looked outside and saw the sun setting.

Hitestsu saw the light fading away and said, "Spend the night here. It's Otama's birthday today, I brought some sweets for her, let's eat it together."

Otama cheered. She hugged Hitetsu, "Thank you, master!"

Leo smiled, "Happy birthday, Tama."

"Happy birthday!"

All of them gave their wishes to Otama. This made her very happy.

Leo stood up. He walked to the door and said, "I'll be right back."

Before anyone could speak he disappeared.

"Otama, have some sweets."

Otama was looking at where Leo disappeared when Hitestsu gave her a small cloth bag filled with sweets.

She grabbed one. Her mouth was already watering, she gulped and ate it. A blissful smile came onto her face.

Hitestsu, Luffy and Flare smiled. However they also felt sad. A kid should always have that smile, not only on their birthdays.

Not long after Leo came back. In his hands was a large piece of meat.

"Let's have a barbecue for the birthday girl!"