Chapter 57

The Quarry Quandary

Leo decided to accompany the kids to the quarry they found under the guise of tutelage, but, in reality, he was just very, very, very bored. Now that he'd gotten used to human contact, it was difficult to live without it. Well, not difficult per se, but since there was a choice, he chose company.

The quarry was located about an hour from the camp, and it was simply a rather large hole in the ground. He wasn't sure what to expect, but it was just... an ordinary-seeming quarry, if a bit on the smaller end of things. Most, if not all, quarries that Leo had seen in his life were those terraced, professionally-made holes that spanned so much area they were like football fields. This... wasn't quite like that, largely because they'd only touched the surface, discovering the quarry and stopping immediately.

The first stone appeared about twenty feet deep, and the kids simply cleared up a bit around it, confirming that it was there, before going back to inform him. Now that they were here, the two immediately jumped into the hole, insisting that he stay behind and simply observe. Leo sat by the edge, took out some fruits, and started snacking as he watched a pair of kids (well, they weren't kids, not really, even if he called them that--Yue told him she was twenty-two, and Liang was twenty-five) labor away.

Strangely, they seemed to enjoy chipping away with primitive-made pickaxes. It was all very odd, however; the stone didn't seem to be particularly wild or uncouth--if anything, it was a bit too smooth, too perfect. Furthermore, even if Leo knew squat about quarries, he knew that the stones shouldn't be this close to the surface. If they were, there wouldn't be need to create quarries as large as they were.

The smooth stone, its unnatural proximity to the surface, the relative ease with which it was discovered and was being excavated by some of the most primitive tools imaginable... Leo grew wary as a strange look appeared in his eyes. More and more, he began to suspect, that the 'quarry's' discovery had something to do with the system.

He never bothered questioning it too deeply as it felt irrelevant--it could be anything, really, a manifestation of this world's will guiding him to bettering it, some demonic prankster building him up to break him down, a genuine God giving him another chance at life... ultimately, he wasn't too concerned with 'what' the system was. However, he was always rather surprised at its seeming effects on the world.

Then again, that also might be wrong--it was also entirely possible that this wasn't a genuine, natural-occurring stone quarry. Rather, it could just as well be some sort of an 'ancient' or old storage of people who used to live here, perhaps even before this place was a forest. Every civilization needed stone, for this or that, and needed it in larger and larger quantities.

Whichever it was, it was a blessing--it was close enough to the camp that it was easy enough to excavate, and there was a chance there was a surplus of stone that he might be able to use for future projects.

Blackie and Milky silently snuggled up against him as he lied down on his back, looking up at the clear, blue sky above. Since that one instance of bad weather that scarred him for life, where the thunder ripped through his soul, there wasn't anything but clear, blue skies. It was strange, as he thought rain was a basic necessity for a forest this large, but, then again, he was seldom an expert on forestry.

The kids took a break about two hours in, leaping out of a rather massive hole that they managed to dig out. While they tore stone apart with pickaxes, they excavated the dirt itself around it purely using Qi, causing no small amount of envy in him as he was nowhere close to being able to control his Qi that well.

"Thanks," Yue said as she grabbed the waterskin Leo handed her. It was odd--she adamantly refused to carry anything in that spatial ring of hers, and always insisted on receiving food directly from him. And Liang... well, he just copied whatever his Senior Sister did. It was becoming a bit... odd, but Leo wasn't one to judge. "Two hundred pieces might take a few days, Master. I really thought we'd be able to do it faster, but the stone isn't as stacked as I was expecting."

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"It's fine," Leo shrugged. "Days, weeks, it's all the same. Just don't overexert yourself."

"Master, can you tell us another story?" Yue suddenly asked.

"Another story?"

"Hm," she nodded. "Like when you tell at night, in front of the fire."

"Oh, that. Hmm, what kind of story would you like?"

"--what is your favorite myth, Master?" Liang queried as Leo stiffened for a moment, gears of his mind spinning rapidly until he recalled something.

"I don't know if you've heard this one," he said. "But, some people believe that this entire world exists on the back of an enormous, Immortal Tortoise. Roots of the trees dig into its shell and connect with the blood vessels. Oceans ebb and flow per its movements--sometimes smooth and calm, sometimes erratic and dangerous. The moon and the sun follow it around, obedient. Every once in a while," that was about as much has he 'knew' about this particular myth, but seeing kids' rather engrossed faces, he added a few things of his own. "It peeks from beyond the horizon, curving its elongated head, and gazes upon all of us. It is said that, if you are blessed enough to meet its gaze, you will be blessed by an Immortal Soul, and share-in with the tortoise's longevity. On the other hand, if you are caught doing something the tortoise doesn't like, you are cursed with a painful and short life."

"..."

"It's just a myth," he added with a faint chuckle. "Like any other."

"I've never heard of it before," Yue exclaimed softly. "Is... is that Tortoise a... a Spirit?" she asked, shuffling in her seat. Leo didn't know why--it wasn't as though the question was strange or something, but he ignored it. Perhaps she had to go to the bathroom and was doing her best to hold on (forgetting for a moment he needn't have gone himself ever since reaching Foundation Establishment).

"No," Leo replied. "What do you think Spirits are, Yue?" Leo asked, in part because he wanted to see how this world viewed them--he fully believed they were real, and even lived in this forest, like Chilly (the crow that sent chills down his spine, thus he named it Chilly).

"Spirits... are manifestations of nature's intentions," Yue replied after a brief's thought. "But I'm not really sure. A lot of books disagree on what they are. Some say that they're that, some say that they're nature's reaction to the man's greed, some say that they're neither and have always been around... why, Master? What do you think Spirits are?"

"Who knows?" Leo replied vaguely. "Not everything needs an answer, even if has one." Yue pouted for a moment, thinking he didn't want to tell her, but the truth was... he didn't know. To him, Spirits were still just 'concepts' from back on Earth. Ghosts, apparitions, maybe fae and other woodland spooks, poltergeist... ultimately, things imagined. As for what they were in this world, he could only guess, and he wasn't confident just yet to do so. "Ha ha, no need to pout. Were you really that interested in what I thought?"

"Of course!" she exclaimed. "Aren't you too, Liang?"

"..."

"Liang!"

"Hm? Yes, what is it, Senior Sister?"

"Were you listening to us at all?!"

"I... I tried, I really did. But I imagined what it would be like fighting the Immortal Tortoise, and I got too engrossed--"

"--engrossed in what?!" she exploded. "In how you would immediately explode?! What do you mean you got engrossed, idiot? Ugh, that battle-crazed mind of yours will be the end of you!"

"What's wrong with imagining?" Liang retorted. "You can't grow stronger if you don't believe you can defeat everyone!"

"Huh? Then do you think you can defeat our Master?!" Leo nearly spat out the mouthful of juice, wanting to curse Yue out for even giving the crazed boy the idea. If they fought, that muscle head would pound Leo into the dirt, shattering whatever illusion he managed to create.

"Master is different," Liang shook his head. "Even if I ever can defeat him, I won't be able to. It's as simple as that."

"..." Yue appeared just as confounded as Leo, with the difference that he didn't let it hang freely on his face.

He enjoyed the squabbles between his Disciples now that they weren't a constant in his life but just an occasional thing. He feared, initially, that the two might gravitate towards each other romantically, but if they ever do, it will likely be years if not decades before it happened. For now, he wouldn't have to bear listening to someone else 'having fun'.

"Haah, whatever," Yue said, standing up. "Let's go back to work."

"Yes!" Liang nodded excitedly. "Time to work on my muscles!"

"Master--"

"--no."

"Just once--"

"--no."

"But--"

"--be nice, Yue." the girl grumbled for a moment before relenting and jumping into the hole alongside her Senior Brother. He wondered... how long would he be able to control the two? He'd hoped, that their relationship would improve over time and, well, though it has in some ways, they were still like a perfectly dry kindle--quick to burn.