"Y'know," an elderly man said while he angrily used gravity magic to level roughly fifty trees, "When I had just decided that I wanted to the leave Milindo's capital," he huffed before he created a blade out of compressed air using gravity magic and swung it to chop down another hundred or so trees. "I didn't think the first thing I'd do when I actually left, was be an errand boy for some damned Dwarf!"
"Oh, can it, ye big baby. Ye'r a Dragonkin, aye? Fookin' act like one. It's naw like I wan' ye to do this shite, whose fault is it that ma hoose is half destroyed? Eh? Eh? Fooking whose?!" the Dwarf that could have only been Grimsley shouted in retort to Gilbert.
Gilbert lowered his head and mumbled, "'Whose fault it is that my house is half destroyed' he says, 'whose fault'? Whose fucking fault is it that you're still alive you baffoon?!" He then sighed rather deeply. "Really, how could Lone have accepted both him and myself despite how... different our personalities are?"
"Mr.Guildmaster, that's because Mr.Immortus only accepts people he trusts. It doesn't matter what personalities they have," Shana said from Gilbert's side.
'Ah, Shana. I forgot she was here. Really, how did such a barbaric man raise such a talented girl? I'll have to arrange for her to go to The Academy when we finally get off of this stupid island,' Gilbert thought.
"Now, I know you're right, but I'm allowed to complain, aren't I?" Gilbert said with a flick of the wrist causing several more trees to fall. "That should be enough now, no? Do you need any more help, Grimsley? I was in the middle of teaching my apprentice when you rudely interrupted me," Gilbert had said after he had turned to face the Dwarf in question.
"Aye, that'll do it. I still dinny know why yer whinin' so much. It took you no more than five minutes to de that. I'm the one who's gonne build the fooking hoose," Grimsley said before he walked over to a felled tree and began removing the branches from it.
"Look, I'm sorry I accidentally destroyed the house when I showed Shana one of my more powerful spells. I tried to be polite and offered to rebuild it with magic, but no, you insisted on doing it by hand. Also, has your Milindonian gotten slightly more fluent?" Gilbert commented.
Grimsley stopped what was he was doing for a moment and looked up at the Dragonkin. "Aye, it has. Naw by much, but it has. Thanks for the book. I'm done with it now. No point gettin' rid of all of my accent, eh?" Grimsley replied with a smile, seemingly having forgotten his grumblings regarding the house.
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"I suppose not. Well, we'll leave you to it. There are magical things to be discussed here. Don't forget to train your new Hammer Mastery Skill at some point today. I've noticed that you've been ignoring your training these past few days," Gilbert said with a parental tone to Grimsley.
"Aye, and I wonder why? Oh, right, I got a hoose to build," Grimsley grumbled, but upon seeing Gilbert's expression, he corrected himself, "Aye, I'll find some time to do it."
"Thank you. Now," Gilbert said before he put his attention back onto the young Dwarf that stood next to him, "Let's continue, shall we?"
A few hours later, Gilbert had called for a break, so he and Shana returned to the construction site that was going to be their new home. It was a level piece of ground roughly one-hundred by one-hundred meters in size, and there was no building there yet, but it held several stacks of logs on one side and a pile of cleanly cut stones on the other.
'Mmm, it's a large project, isn't it? I wonder if Grimsley is putting his all into this since he's so bored on this damned island? We can't contact Lone for some reason. Presumably, he entered a dungeon of some sort; the island is completely devoid of life except the trees, there are no other landmasses for as far as we can see... really, we're in the middle of nowhere,' Gilbert thought.
Both Gilbert and Shana sat down on a pair of chairs that had been expertly crafted, presumably by Grimsley. Gilbert took out one of the last few slices of chicken meat that Lone had created for him and began eating it carefully while Shana started eating a fruit of some sort. None of the three knew what the fruits on this island were, but thankfully, they were more than edible enough.
"Mr.Guildmaster," Shana said softly, pulling Gilbert's attention away from his sliced chicken.
"What's the matter, Shana?" he replied with warmth in his voice. He quite clearly cared about whatever might be concerning his apprentice.
A pensive look crossed her face before she responded, "Do you think Mr.Immortus is doing okay?"
"Oho? Are you worried about Lone?" Gilbert asked. 'I wonder why she brought him up now of all times? It's been over a month since we lost contact with him.'
"Mmm, I am. You know he was my saviour, and he's really good friends with Uncle Grimey... so I just hope he's okay," Shana said in a quiet voice. It was quite clear to Gilbert that Shana cared about Lone, in some way or another.
"Lone is an interesting man," Gilbert said while he looked off into the forest that lay ahead of them. Shana looking up at him and her expression clearly stated that she was waiting for him to continue. "It's hard to put into words, but I get the feeling that no matter what happens to him, he'll always come out on top. It's very mysterious. In the few centuries that I've lived, I've never met someone quite like him," Gilbert added with a content smile.
"So," He said before he finished his sliced chicken and stood up, "there's no need for you to worry about him, okay? He's more than capable enough of protecting himself. What you should be worrying about right now, are your studies. Come, let me show you how the basics of nature magic work again. I feel like you're close to earning a skill," Gilbert finished with a caring smile.
Shana nodded her head, seemingly content with the Dragonkin's answer and followed after him as he strolled into the forest again.