Sweat drenched the tiny gobliness as she struggled to heft the axe anymore. She had worked tirelessly for nearly 2 hours to no avail she had only managed to fell two trees in that time but had not managed to cut the limbs from their trunks. She couldn't fathom how Eheric had the energy to accomplish such a feat. Never would she consider herself the strongest even among her people, as they got sicker however she became the only one that was able to care for the village. This built a confidence in herself that has only diminished since she met the strange man named Eheric.
In one short week this man had changed her entire perspective on the world, and her place in it. From the first swing of the axe biting into the hard bark of the olba tree, to her last she was not only helping him but herself as well. Each bite of flesh the axe took her swings became more and more resolute as she gained a familiarity with the strange tool. Rebuilding her diminished confidence would take time, probably more than she had in her lifetime but she felt she owed it to those counting on her return with a cure.
The thoughts of her village brought about a somber atmosphere to her demeanor. If any were around her they would describe the air as a palpable force pushing down on them physically, and weighing on them emotionally. A calm breeze swam through the air cooling off the worn and battered newly fledged woodswomen as she bathed in the gentle wind. Her entire body ached from head to toe as each time the axe bit into the tree it would send shockwaves down her body. The build up of lactic acid made it almost impossible for the girl to move as she resigned herself to a brief rest on the loose dirt of freshly torn up tree roots.
Running down a hallway Eric was excited to talk with his dad, he had won the science fair at school and was proud to show is accomplishment to his father. As he got closer to the door the hallway seemed to extend and an overbearing darkness consumed the way behind him. Excitement turned to fear he didn't know why, but he knew the darkness was a bad thing that wanted to hurt him. Running with renewed vigor he reached the now decreptic wooden door yanking it open with all of his might only darkness greeted him where there was once a light filled room. Turning around as goosebumps lined his spine the overwhelming feeling of something watching him unnerved him to no end.
Yelling into the darkness he hoped to scare whatever it was away.
"GOOO AWAY OR MY DAD WILL HURT YOU!" Panting from the fear a young Eric didn't know what else to do.
An Evil laughter filled the world distorting in pitch, and oscillation. It was like when an old record was played in reverse. The demonic entity exhaled as a violent burst of hot air knocked him into the dark doorway to his rear. Falling head over heels into darkness the rushing wind forced it's way into his lungs stopping all of his attempts to breathe. Suddnely a large distored face of a semi familiar man filled the dark expanse below him, and began to laugh. It was the same cruel distorted laugh from before. The large blurry head opened it's jagged maw sucking him into the jaws of the unknown.
Jerking violently awake the oncoming water filled his lungs causing him to panic even more. Opening his tightly clenched eyes the entire world was pink, and he was able to gain his bearings enough to swim for the surface. The mana filled water in his lungs seemed to evaporate at a rapid pace completely gone as he breached the surface of its pink depths gulping large lungfuls of air. The disorientation faded replaced by a glowing purple notification.
Concentrated Mana drank, Regeneration increased by +2 per minute.
"Well that's a welcome surprise." He chuckled lightly to himself unwilling to breathe water yet again.
"I'll have to remember to bottle some of this stuff up for later use when I leave the hollow. It could prove very useful in the future." He was unsure if he could make a mana regeneration potion with it or not, but the effects of enough it seemed to increase regeneration regardless, but he couldn't help but think that maybe refining the process might increase the strength per dose.
The rest of his swim to shore proved to be uneventful, upon breaching the shoreline he looked towards his most recent project his log cabin. An interesting site met him has he crested the small hill to his work site. Hyowai was passed out near a recently cut batch of trees, though they still had their branches he had to give her credit for trying at least. This would speed up his work pretty fast.
'I'll have to find a way to thank her when she wakes up.' He mused to himself.
He began the tedious task of stripping the trees of their branches, and dragging them to the rest of the pile. Two hours of hard work he had stripped, and piled up the logs that hyowai had tried to gather for him. Taking a moment to count his stockpile of logs he grinned in anticipation for what was to come. Fifteen total logs lay bare before him, enough to at least begin work on his little shanty hut. Splitting 5 logs from the rest of the pile, he planned to make lumber out of those but it could wait until he had a foundation of logs built up. Another thought struck him as he finished his log segregation.
"I don't have any type of digging tool.....FRICK!!"
He knew he could make a crude shovel by forming rocks through force, and shaping a branch to be a handle/shaft for the shovel itself, but that would add on another thirty minutes of pointless work if he didn't need it. A lightbulb birst into existence over Eheric's head causing a chain reaction of him slapping his forehead, and charging up some Earth Mana. He forgot that he could alter the position of dirt through manipulation.
"I really thought I was over being forgetfull like this, I don't even have an excuse like trying to survive this time. After I cleared out the corruption this has been like a mini vacation. Forgetting that I could Manipulate Earth mana so quickly is really annoying it's not like I shawshanked my way into this beautiful cavern."
Refocusing on the task at hand he moved the dirt to create a 10 meter by 10 meter square 3 meters into the soft ground. The loose nature of the soil would prove to be a problem if he didn't fix it now, he didn't need his foundation slipping, and eventually destroying his new home. He remembered reading back on Earth that he could form barriers using hardned clay he searched through his newly formed 15 meter high pile of dirt. Using his racial ability to search for specific minerals he stumbled upon an interesting one named Quirite Clay. Analyzing the substance told him exactly what he wanted to know.
[Quirite Clay]
A mana infused mineral formed from thousands of years of pressure, containing traces of a powdered crystaline element, and soil has formed this viscous, and strong material. Used for the very basics of building requiring only a minor knowledge of the land to be able to spot it is used as a very cheap building material as well as the beginning branch to a few professions such as Pottery, building, Sculptor, and etc. Slightly pink in color this material is an excellent bonding agent.
Ideas flew to the front of his mind as he formulated the structure of his house including this new material. He smiled because this was going to be easier than he first thought. Using his Manipulation skill he separated the clay from the rest of the soil into its own pile to make it purer than its natural dirty mixture would allow. He once again lost himself to his work only brought back by a lovely level up notification.
Earth Mana Manipulation has level up +1.
Affinity with Earth has increased from beginner to level 1 Intermediate.
Mineral Mastermind has leveled up +2
Mineral Mastermind (Beginner: level 6)
+2,000 Exp Gained.
"So you can gain experience from leveling up other skills, and not just quests, and combat. Thats good to know."
His mood knew no bounds as he set to work on the framework of his new house. He started by lining the pit with clay then using his Volcanic Hands spell combined with Fire Manipulation to spread the heat throughout the hole to harden the clay base. Letting that settle for a little while he moved on to the logs themselves. Dragging one from the pile he began the boring job of splitting the log in two. Taking one of the new halves he notched a crevice to cradle the log above it for support. Doing this four times he now had logs to use as a structural framework for the rest of his house.
Laying down a thin layer of clay where he would sit his new foundation logs he placed each half log in succession as fast as he could manage before the clay would naturally harden. Using Volcanic hands he hardened the clay to the basic foundation locking it into place. Taking four more logs from the main pile he quartered half of them, and halved the other two, and carved a sharpened point on the circular sides to allow them to lock into place on the foundation logs. Using more clay he put the newly sharpened halves on the four base logs. The flate sides facing upwards gave him a flat surface to begin his basement floor.
He returned to his log pile and started to make planks out of four of the logs yielding in 20 2"x4" planks, and 40 4"x4" support beams. Without nails, and currently not wanting to attempt to be a blacksmith with no prior knowledge he placed the flooring using Quirite Clay as a sort of bondo for the whole thing. In an attempt to make it more structurally sound he tied vines he'd made into rope along the outer edges as he filled the gaps with clay, and continued his heating, and cooling of flay till he finished the basement. Using some of his younger Olba logs to build the basement walls he worked his way upwards to reach the edge of his pit. Climbing back down he once again fire up some clay he placed in the gaps to make his house stronger.
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"In the future I need to take up Blacksmithing to make this all way easier, wait has blacksmithing even been invented yet?" Resolving himself to worry about such things later he went back to work on his house.
He cut 4"x4" square chunks every couple of feet on his sidewalls to slot the support beams into place. Repeating almost every step he used to make his basement he built the first, and second floors in time for Hyowai to wake from her exhaustion. A surprised squeak alerted Eheric to her newly found consciousness.
"What in the 5 hells is that! It looks like it is supposed to be a house, but it's not possible!"
She walked the outer perimiter of his almost finished cabin shell in admiration of the simple structure. The thought brought a chuckle from him. Whoever said this was a relatively easy process must've never had to build one by hand, or he had gone way overboard, either way he was proud of what he had made so far. He was going to cut some more lumber to put the second floor in and work on the roof, but maybe he could get her help, and instruct her how to make the slats for the roof. Jumping from the second floor support beams he was met with the realization that he hadn't cut a front door to his house nor had he made windows.
An extreme laughing fit overtook him as he had overlooked something so necessary to a house that he couldn't do anything but laugh at his own stupidity.
"AHAHAHAH I...I..I can't believe I didn't put a door into this thing, I'm so dumb. AAHAHAHAH."
I've known you were stupid since the beginning, but this is a whole new level.
He could hardly believe his eyes, it had seemed like forever since whoever was behind the boxes had spoken to him directly. His curiousity spiked he decided to ask where the purple asshole had been.
"Where have you been Purple People Eater?"
I don't appreciate the dumb monicker, and frankly it's none of your business, but we've had some issues here that's all I'm saying. Back on subject how exactly did you expect to get in and out of a house with no door?
'Hmm so whoever this is doesn't work alone that's good to know.'
Ignoring the purple box person for now he got to work figuring out how he would make a doorway. Flaring up his Volcanic Hands spell he tried to force the mana to one finger, and concentrate it to build pressure. It took him several minutes of trial and error before he achieved something akin to a blow torch. Using his manipulation he kept the fire from burning more than he thought neceassary to make a door way, he made a crude doorway to his home.
"A door can wait for now."
Walking outside he walked around the structure until he came upon a still awestruck Hyowai admiring his creation.
"What is this strange thing? It looks like a hut, but it can't be it's made entirely of Olba Trees."
He evident surprise delighted Eheric, because he thought his rough cabin was pretty shotty in nature, but her awe had instilled some confidence in her burgeoning skills.
"Where I come from this is known as a log cabin, it is a really basic form of housing used by people long passed." Blinking a few times she stared directly at him mouth agape.
"WHAT?!!? What do you mean basic? My people have never even thought of building something like this, how could you call it very basic shelter?"
He laughed at her antics, it was too late to tear it all down for the sake of someones disbelief in what he made.
"Well it is sorry to burst your bubble, but I need your help finishing it."
Stars formed in her eyes as she found herself at a loss for words. She looked from Eheric to the large building before her. She couldn't believe he would let her work on such a magnificent thing.
"I...I couldn't possibly be any help to you." Her face slacked as saddness for her lack of skill, and knowledge became evident.
"I would only ruin what you've made I don't wish to dirty your work with this dirty fingers."
Her self deprication only caused him annoyance, if he could do this with barely any accurate knowledge and skill she could at the very least help him lay shingles.
"Just shut up, and follow me, I know very little more about this than you do so you'll be able to help me."
Grabbing her by the arm he led her to a copse of trees.
"I need to cut two more of these down to work on the roof. I saw that you managed to cut some yourself...You did a good job." She seemed to brighten at his compliment, but didn't see the but coming.
"but... I will have to show you how to do what I need now including cutting the branches off of the trees."
Pouting she could do nothing but nod in recognition of what he said.
Determined to finish before he went to rest for the night both trees fell relatively fast with two of them at work. After stripping the trees of all of their branches he started cutting the logs into one foot by one foot wooden shingles. Finishing his log as Hyowai watched he wiped some sweat from his forehead using his arm. Looking at her determined face he nodded, and ask if she had any questions. She shook her head confident she could muster the necessary skill to do what he needed. Sitting down as she began to shape the log into shingles guiding her along the way they finished in only two hours of work. Appraising her work they weren't much worse off than what he had managed so he praised her hard work, and they gathered up the shingles carrying them back to his work site. When they made it back he instructed her to strack the shingles neatly as he cut the rest of the lumber he would need to make the roof. He made two large A-frames to support the arched roof he intended to build, and ten four by four support beams. Shooting Hyowai a glance he saw her standing patiently by the stacked shingles anxiously waiting for his next order.
"Ok we need to get these (He points at the a frames) up onto the top so I can put the roof together, but first we'll use some of these leftover vines from the axes to help alleviate some of the weight."
She nods saying nothing she is only greatful to help, and didn't question what he had said. He had already proven to her that he knew what more than she ever thought possible. Getting the frames into place took longer than Eheric would have liked, but there was nothing he could do about it now. They could only improve from here, and he was sure after seeing his masterpiece the Gnomes would love to have something similar so they would have plenty of chances to raise their skills. Cutting the notches into the frames for the support beams to rest went quickly as did the fastening of them to the frames. Using some more of his primitive rope he tied the support beams to the frame while using his magic to lift clay up to the roof slathering it genrously onto the areas where the beams connected to the frames. After that was done he climbed down from the roof he had to make some more 2"x4" plankes to act as the main part of the roof. 60 planks later he finally could finish this thing. He was quite satisfied with his work. It made him feel productive, more productive than he had felt in a while, even back on Earth he never had this kind of satisfaction in his daily grind.
Planks in place it was time to put the shingles on the roof. This took a little longer as he had to show Hyowai how to lay the shingles in a way that they could allow water to run off. She got the basics pretty fast so he had her lay the first row as he applied the clay to combine it all together. It took two hours to lay all of the shingles, laying the final one he built a staircase out of dirt to let them get down from the two story house easier. He hadn't gotten a notification for completing his house, so he guessed he had more to do before he could rest for the night. If it even was night, it was really hard to determine the time of day here. Determined to finish this today he got to work building a crude door, as well as four stringers to build the staircase to the second floor, and the basement. He brought the stringers, and treade boards into the building before rigging the door in place. He cut a hole in the floor using his modified Volcanic hands, and one into the ceiling to put both stairways together. Using clay as glue he made up for his lack of nails by encasing the wood in hardened clay. Going to the second floor he torched a window on both ends underneath the A-frames, and went downstairs to put three more in place. He didn't know how to make glass panes yet, but he was sure he could manage.
He wracked his brain in an attempt to remember how glass formed, which was relatively simple when remembered it, but purifying the glass to not be cloudy seemed like it would be harder, because he had no idea how to achieve that affect. For now he would make simple window panes, and worry about how clear they were later on. Using thin sheets of rock he formed through Earth Manipulation took alot out of him. Half of his mana pool was depleted compressing rock into a slate form. He was grateful for the added regeneration from the water he had gained earlier. He hadn't checked his stats in a while, and only had a vague feeling how empty his mana pool was, and resolved himself to check them after finishing his house. He made a simple Square box encasing a sheet of slate on the bottom. He made four more similar boxes, and filled them with the weird mana infused sands of the lake's beach. All of the prep work done he applied his Volcanic Hand's spell to burn a piece of Olba wood per box to make ash, once the ash was mixed with the sand he activated his spell once again only this time he planned on melting the mixture together to form glass.
[Simple Glass] Recipe obtained.
Doing a little happy dance he carefully detached the windows from their casing, and placed them in his house. If he was less lazy he would have made more complicated windows than simple single pane glass, but he could worry about that later he thought to himself. As the last window was sealed into place he received his long awaited notification, and a few he was surprised about.
Congratulations, as the first being to build a structure more modern than the Era you have been granted the title "Can we build it?"
Can we build it? Grants the user a 15% increased chance to succeed when building something for the first time, and a 25% chance to succeed on improving on previous designs, and recipes.
Congratulations, Alpha Tester Eheric you have gained the "Construction" Skill, and due to a previously unknown building technique you introduced to the world your skill will start at Intermediate level 1 instead of beginner.
"Wait...Alpha tester? WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN?"
He vaguely remembered Merelia saying something about this planet being in it's infancy, but he didn't expect to be recognized by the system as any sort of tester. This revelation worried him greatly if the Administration decided to check on all players in the test his named could appear, and he was still unsure that they would beas welcoming as Merelia. His mood now soured he walked into his cabin and found a spot for him to lie down. Unsure of what soured his mood Hyowai sat on the outside of his home leaning against a wall she would keep watch, since he hadn't given her permission to come inside, and she was sure the locals would be very jealous of Eherics home.