WilburWoods
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Chapter 17 - Community Service
🕑 Added 2023-09-09 11:40:53 +0000 UTCLogan still had more Numa than he’d ever held before. Three full [E-grade Numa Crystals] from the scythe-fiends and the one he’d gotten from the snake-fiend had 32% charge. Two of the F-grade crystals he had given to Freya, one he had used for the firestone, which left him with two full [F-grade Numa Crystals].
I’ll need some to make everything I need for the next adventure. And I have to keep some Numa as a spare for emergencies.
But the rest he’d use to make things easier for the group. It was only fair, since he was going to need food. As long as it wasn’t mushrooms, that is.
Logan looked at the curved rib of the giant snake he had killed. He’d love to use it for something, but he wasn’t sure what. It was two fingers in width and two feet long, albeit curved. It could hold a moderate weight.
Logan looked around at the people bustling here and there. Simmons had the barmaid girl help attach the stone axe head to a piece of hastily carved stick. He’d chop them wood soon enough. One of the doctors was already working with wet clay, looking much akin to a sloppy kindergartener with an arts project.
We need shelter.
“Hey Tumor,” Logan whispered. “We need a plan of action. Materials available: wood, clay, stones. Consider I have awesome magic, but I have to conserve as much Numa as possible. What’s the most efficient way to build shelter?”
[Reconfiguring Neural Matrix… 24% Completion]
[Use rocks or stone to elevate the base. Most optimally a [Transmuted] sheet of stone. This will create stability and counteract moisture. Build against a sturdy tree for structural stability of the walls and roof. Use young straight wood to create a frame and [Transmute] wood into plywood for walls, roof and floor. Tie frame together with fabric from remaining clothes of the group and mix ash, clay and water together to create mortar to strengthen the structure. Cover the structure with foliage for waterproofing and camouflage, unless you want to use [Enchanting] for better results.]
Logan glanced in the direction of his father. He was discussing something with the agents who had been assigned a warrior or hunter class. It was vitally important that he’d not hear the following.
“Good job, Tumor.”
*
After Logan had prompted Tumor for measurements and amounts of material needed, and estimations of Numa cost, he went and gathered his crew. Thinking agent Simmons, or [Forester] Simmons, would be the hardest nut to crack, Logan went to him first. He was almost shocked by the amiability of the giant man. The former agent was so engrossed with using his stone axe and Numa-craft saw, that he only curtly affirmed that Logan will get what he needed after the particular tree he was cutting would be down.
Janice and the doctor turned into a potter hardly required more persuasion. The doctor working with clay had been producing awful, unusable work, and was glad to receive a project that he could confidently handle.
Afterwards Logan saw the small teenage boy collecting lumps of clay for the doctor. Logan tried to make friendly by asking what class he had chosen. The boy refused to answer, which was odd. He however complied when Logan asked him to gather him rocks of any size and quality.
Janice was busy making crude fishing rods for the guy who’d become a [Fisherman]. Logan could appreciate the group securing a food source, but he urged Janice to help him produce string, or even rope if possible. While Logan negotiated with the former barmaid, he noticed Malcolm Specter watching him with his cool hawk’s stare.
In the end Logan got what he wanted. To kill time he went for a wash and drink by the river and plucked a few handfuls of berries from a bush they had near the camp. By then Simmons had some logs ready for him. He had gotten levels in [Strength] and [Endurance] attributes and two levels in his [Lumberjack] sub-class. His stern and blocky face and an uncharacteristically content and goofy smile.
Looks like I’m not the only one who enjoys leveling.
Logan double-checked with Tumor that the pieces of wood had the appropriate mass for a specific size of plywood. Some sawing was needed, so Logan wouldn’t waste Numa. Simmons was surprisingly obliging. Logan suspected he just enjoyed using his tools.
With a red hallucination of a rectangular piece of plywood hovering in front of him, Logan placed a crystal on the sawed piece of dark brown wood and performed an incantation.
[Sub-class Level Up!]
[Transmutation level 9]
[Attribute Level Up!]
[Efficiency: 7]
The bark morphed into the trunk and soon the whole piece of lumber morphed into a large piece of dark plywood, half an inch thick.
Simmons took a step back. “This is the power of Numa?”
Logan gave a glance at his father’s foremost goon. Despite his stupid anvil-jaw and the short-cropped blonde hair, he was surprisingly alright. “Yep. Want some?”
Simmons nodded eagerly. Logan flicked an [F-grade Numa Crystal] at the man, who seized it with a deft move. “Don’t tell my father I gave that to you.”
Simmons said nothing to that. Logan smiled at him.
Probably not the most efficient use. But it never hurts to have a friend. Besides, we’re going to need a shitload of lumber.
Logan ran to and forth around the camp, keeping the moving parts of his projects, well, moving. Janice helped him tie up a frame with the help of one of the doctors who was still waffling on a class. Simmons kept felling trees and sawing them to appropriate size. The small and quiet teenager eventually procured a pile of rocks for him.
Logan consulted Tumor on the pros and cons of just smashing the rocks with the stone hammers he had created and mixing them with clay to create a base for the shelter. Eventually after some confusing math and projections about the longevity of the shelter Logan decided it was better to just use some Numa to fuse the rocks into a base.
Creating a base thick enough by Tumor’s standards sucked half an [E-grade Numa Crystal] dry. It was no small wonder, as the amount of stone used for the structure was over three thousand pounds. The dark gray mass was half a foot in height and twelve feet in length on both sides.
The people around the camp looked at it with no small awe, and it finally prompted Malcolm Specter to grace Logan’s little project with his presence.
“What are you doing?” he asked Logan.
“Building a circus,” Logan said distractedly, as he was fastening and wiggling a wooden beam into the mortar. Logan wondered if the bark was okay to leave or if it should be scooped away.
“Your jokes are even less entertaining than usual,” Malcolm said dryly.
Logan turned to him and grinned. “They seem to be working better, as usually you’re not upset by them.”
“This is not exactly an easy situation,” Malcolm Specter said. “How much of that Numa energy have you used?”
“Feel free to sleep on the ground, if you’re not happy with what I’m doing.”
Logan really didn’t need his father on his case right now. He was doing a good thing. The right thing. From the look of it his father had just been walking around and talking to his agents. Sure, he’d call it ‘thinking work’ or some other pretentious thing.
Malcolm Specter stood there for a while, watching Logan work. It made him feel self-conscious, but that wasn’t something he’d ever let show.
After a while his father turned on his heels and said half-aloud. “Good initiative, Logan.”
Logan’s world stopped. He almost fumbled up the frame he was tying up. He looked at the back of his father, who walked stiffly away. Logan could feel his face was flushing, and he didn’t like that. But there were stronger emotions than dislike at play here. Some that Logan couldn’t name. “Thanks, d—. Thank you, father.”
