As we walked Michael had his shield out as he grumbled about how much damage the acid had done to it. As I took a glance at the thing I had to agree. The acid had managed to melt baseball-sized craters into the metal. The fact that there were no holes to the other side proved just how strong the shield was. Compared to that, the rest of their gear was practically untouched.
While I listened to their discussion of how the fight had gone, I ended up zoning out as my mind wandered over my character. Only as trees came into view did I start paying attention.
The hill we curved around was just taller than me. As soon as we got on the other side the hills abruptly vanished. Replaced by a thick forest that seemed out of place. The ground between the trees was clear of all but a dusting of snow. “Is such a change in terrain common here?” I asked, confused about how this could be considered realistic.
“Not really,” Victor answered. “The farmers and city keep the hills cleared as it provides a decent vantage point for any monster hordes that might come this way.” A sudden rumbling sound filled the silence as he finished talking. It reminded me of a bad motor that was on its last legs.
Everyone turned their heads toward the sound. The producer of the sound looked a bit sheepish as he said, “I am hungry alright?”
“Other than Jeremiah, anyone else hungry?” Linda asked as she rolled her eyes. I shrugged, not really expecting much given that we were out in the wilderness. “Ok, you guys get started on chopping down some trees and gathering mushrooms while I cook up some food.”
“You heard her,” Michael’s shield disappeared as he summoned an axe. The damn thing was taller than me. “Go gather mushrooms. Kyren and I will get the trees.” I hurried to catch up as he turned and started for the woods. His stride easily ate up the ground. We passed a good fifty trees before he finally settled in front of one that had to be a good yard or two wide at the base.
He scored the wood with the tip of his axe. Curious why he chose this tree, I asked, “I thought we needed smaller logs?”
“That was the minimum,” he answered as he stood up. “On top of that, the tree's width tapers off as you get higher up. This means the wider the base, the more wood we can get out of the tree. If you got a base that was just at the minimum requirement, the top would be too small to even count toward the total.”
“Now, I am guessing you have never cut a tree before.” I shook my head as he continued. “Alright, stand perpendicular to the tree and spread your feet shoulder-width apart,” he instructed as he demonstrated the stance. “Make sure you can swing with full extension; you need momentum to make a clean cut.”
It looked like he was getting ready to hit a baseball as he pulled the axe back and over his head. “Don’t be afraid to use the rest of your body to generate some of the force. When you are ready, swing.” The axe blurred as he did just that. A small explosion of chips was accompanied by the sound of the axe as it smacked into the wood.
With a flick of his wrist, Michael pulled the axe out and swung again. His swing caused the axe to hit above the previous spot. “Make sure to cut a notch in the direction that you want the tree to fall. While it won't always fall in the exact direction you want, it will help guide it.” With a few more large swings, he cut a fairly large chunk out of the tree before he stepped around the tree.
He waited for me before continuing. “Now, while you can cut through the tree to the notch, I wouldn’t. It is dangerous and simply a waste of energy. A simple wedge is cheap to buy. If need be, you could even make the things with random pieces of wood or stone. Now, cut most of the way through before you hammer a few of these into the tree. As soon as you hear the tree cracking, back away and watch for where it falls.”
With a few swift chops, Michael had a large cut that went nearly halfway into the trunk. Not wasting any time, the axe disappeared, replaced with a large piece of metal shaped like a doorstop and a mallet.
“Seat the first wedge into the center of the cut with a simple tap. Then give it a few good whacks.” The mallet in his hand blurred as three loud thumps reverberated through the woods. Each sent a shiver up the tree as he pulled out another two wedges. “On trees that are this large, you will want a few more wedges to help provide leverage. Put them about halfway between the first wedge and the end of the cut.”
It only took him a second to tap the wedges into place on either side before he swung at both with quite a bit of force. As he finished, the first wedge nearly fell to the ground as it jumped out of place. Michael settled it back in place before he gave it three good smacks. Just as he moved to swing again, the trunk shook as a loud cracking sound filled the forest.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Michael grabbed onto the back of my shirt as he moved back a couple dozen feet. We stood there, watching the tree shiver and crack a few more times before it finally gave out. Leaves rustled and branches snapped as it crashed to the ground. “Your turn.” He said as he held out a tiny axe for me.
The thing was half the size his had been and it still felt overly large in my hands. Its head alone was larger than my palm. As he let go, I stumbled under the unexpected weight. Michael led me to a nearby tree that was about half the size his had been.
I had to stop myself from asking him why he had a piece of white chalk in his inventory as he drew a line on the tree. “Cut your wedge on this side. Let me know when you are done before starting the other side.”
With that, he turned and walked back to his tree. His axe back out and resting on his shoulder as he measured out a length before proceeding to chop off a section that was longer than I was tall. Seeing that he was focused on that and not me, I took a breath to ease the tension in my shoulders.
“Hey, AI,” I said in a normal voice. “Play some music.” The system didn’t respond before a heavy rock song started to blast into my ears. As I sang along with the song, I moved my feet and lined up the axe. With as much effort as I could, I took a swing. The axe barely dug into the bark before stopping.
The sudden stop rebounded most of the energy back up the axe and into my arms. Hissing in pain, I continued. Pulling the axe back for another swing. This time it dug a bit more in. I ignored the pain and focused on the music as I continued to beat at the tree. Soon I had small pieces flying off with every hit. Finally, after what felt like an hour, I finished my first notch.
Sweat poured down my face and back. Some of it went into my buttcrack while the rest simply soaked into my clothing. For the first time, I felt happy that I was wearing a skirt. The winter breeze that flowed up my legs and around my neck did a great job of cooling me down as I worked out.
Taking a second to look around, I noticed five stumps where I could have sworn trees had previously been. A short distance away, I found Michael cutting through yet another tree. His progress made the job look easy as he went to work on hammering in his wedges. As soon as the tree fell, he looked my way.
“Done?” He called. A bit stunned at his show of speed and skill, I simply nodded. “Ok, let me take a look.” His eyes looked over the cut before he nodded. “Good enough, though you could go a bit deeper. Go ahead and cut the other side until you reach this mark.” With a piece of chalk, he added a pair of white lines just before the halfway point in the tree. With a sigh of resignation, I moved to the other side of the tree and started to cut into the wood yet again.
This time it looked like I was barely making any progress. Each cut no longer broke away large chunks as it had when I was cutting the wedge. Eventually, I managed to get the cut done. With a tired sigh, I turned to find Michael. I nearly jumped when I saw just how close the guy was. He sat on a stump not more than a dozen feet away as he watched me.
He didn’t bother to stand up as he spoke. Instead, he held a set of wedges and a mallet out to me. “Looks good. Go ahead and use these wedges and mallet.” As I took the proferred tools, I tried to pass back the axe. He held up a hand. “Keep it. I have no use for one that size anyway.” I struggled to breathe as I knelt next to the log. The combination of the workout and my chest being constricted by the position made breathing hard. As I was nearly done, I pushed through the pain. I worked as fast as I could so that I could stand back up.
The first wedge went into the center. After a simple tap to seat it, I hammered the thing in as hard as I could. Once. Twice. Three times. Without pause, I repeated the process with the wedge to either side. Rinse and repeat. Hit the center wedge three more times before moving to the outside and back. Ten cycles later the tree finally let out a loud cracking noise as the trunk vibrated.
I jumped back and waited. Nothing happened. The only sound in the immediate area was that of the leaves high above rustling. It sounded almost as if the trees themselves were making fun of me. Grumbling, I stomped forward and gave each wedge a few more whacks.
My hammer hit a wedge with a decent thud. Instead of moving a fraction of a centimeter forward, the wedge jumped forward. Loud, staccato cracks filled the clearing as the tree swayed. Before I had time to react, something grabbed the back of my shirt and tossed me. As I flew, my eyes tracked the tree’s fall.
Branches and leaves followed it as it crashed through the canopy. Branches snapped, cushioning it as the tree hit the ground. Michael started to move toward it before the tree even finished settling. Shooting me a wave as he called back, “Rest up. I will finish cutting up the tree.”
While I wanted to argue that I was fine, I didn’t. He knew what he was doing and was clearly faster at it than me so why stop him? His movements were swift and efficient as he sliced through branches. Finally, he cut off a segment and stored it away. As he started to cut the rest into small pieces, I asked, “Why are you cutting the rest of the tree up? Don’t we need more logs for the quest?”
“The diameter of the rest of the tree is too small to work.” Thwack. “The rest of it will make good firewood though.” Thwack. “Which is always nice to have on hand when on longer missions.” Thwack. “Seeing as how you will probably be doing solo missions soon,” Thwack. “You will be taking this tree with you.”
“But…” I started to protest as he was the one doing all the work.
“Nope. We already have enough wood from all the other trees anyway. Losing this much won't affect us.” Michael looked at me, making sure that I understood. I rolled my eyes but accepted his generosity. “Come pick up the wood and let us go see if lunch is ready yet or not.”
My stomach growled loudly at the mention of food. In a rush to get going, I rushed around the clearing and grabbed all of the chopped logs. Tossing them into my inventory before I raced after Michael. “Don’t forget the branches. You will need it for kindling.” I grumbled in annoyance as I turned and did another circuit of the area. Frantically stuffing every branch and chunk of wood I could reach into my inventory.