章節 16: Young Queen Skyla Betts

As Key Stroke and the others were getting ready to explore the Evolver area, Skyla Betts was having a small crisis inside. Although she had agreed to be the acting leader while Key Stroke was gone, she didn't have anywhere near as much confidence in her decisions as Key Stroke seemed too.

Just the stares she would get from the tribesmen were already putting her nerves on high alert. Then the tribeswomen gave even creeper looks her way as if they were seeing god walk among the people.

The only one who filled her with a sense of easiness and comfort was the old man who had quickly form a friendship with Key Stroke. During the first day, his actions were stiff and awkward, but now that the second day had already come, his attitude made her relax more.

"uh... grandpa wha... ah... I mean Tribe Leader what time is the tribesmen gonna.. uh... expected to be back?" She asked, fumbling over her words and trying to sound as formal as possible. She wasn't sure how Key Stroke made it look easy or if he had been formal, to begin with.

Still, she felt a small amount of pressure when trying to speak without showing signs of weakness. It was especially true when the men in the tribe seem to be looking for mistakes. "Well, since they left in the morning, they shall appear around sundown. But Young Queen Skyla, will it really be possible to build homes in this manner?" He question.

Instead of answering him, the words that left the old man's mouth made her groan in embarrassment. The thing was, it wasn't the queen part that made her react this way. In fact, being the person she was in high school as well as being popular, her nickname was Queen Skyla among a few students.

She had even expected him to call her along the lines of madam or lady and then her name. However, she quickly learned that the tribes here, have never had a woman in power except for the Queen who ruled Green Grass Field.

The old man had not even heard of a chieftainess or a chiefess before. This then led to the reason how she was addressed. Most tribe leaders wouldn't allow others to control their people unless it was the future leader or somebody close to the leader.

Because of this reasoning, the old man and the tribespeople were convinced that she was the new tribe leader's woman. Hence, why she was embarrassed. No matter how much she denied it, they assume it was a secret bonding between the two.

Having no way to dissolve the misunderstanding, she had made a promise to herself to beat Key Stroke black and blue for creating it in the first place.

Straighten her back while trying to look graceful like women leaders that would come to her mind, she finally replied to the old man.

"Like Key Stroke said, as long as we build them with the four corners acting as support with the Water of Stone, just wrapping some soft grass around them will leave the inside with space to live in. Also, we could probably make some window without glass just by putting holes in the grass walls. It would be just like a simplified version of the homes we used to live in." Skyla Betts stated.

The old man was alarmed listening to her talk as she reverted to speaking informally. Windows? Glass? He had never heard of such things. Maybe his way of thinking was too simple, and the Young Tribe Leader was actually more than a Divine Being.

"This is the first time I have heard about others living above the surface. Was your tribe perhaps a great tribe? I heard rumors such tribes are possible outside of the Queen's influence." The old man questioned.

Hearing the question, Skyla Betts felt cornered inwardly. Did she say something she wasn't supposed too? "Uh... Well, the tribe was destroyed when I was little, so I don't know?" She said as if asking a question instead of making a statement.

"I see. Regardless, this will be a miracle and blessing if it works. I look forward to seeing the progress the Young Tribe Leader makes in the future." The old man said with contentment. In just days, the tribe was close to becoming the number one tribe in Green Grass Field under the Young Tribe Leader's leadership.

No longer feeling comfortable with being by the old man alone, Skyla Betts decided to head to the learning area. The day before almost all of the students had managed to learn how to craft and weave grass garments.

The only one she recalled failing to do so was Zeke Harland who was a young man that looked over 18 years old and had a tall build that was 190 centimeters by past standards, making him the tallest student with Black Bourne coming in second.

He was also the student they deemed as a repeater of his last school year given his age. Skyla Betts at first didn't know what to do with him, having not expected anyone would actually fail to learn since it took herself only 3 to 4 hours.

But after wrecking her brain for a solution, she noticed that the men that were going to supply them grass stems to build with, were only ordinary people like they had been when they first arrived. Four or more people tearing down one grass stem was to slow for their plans.

Seeing this problem and with Zeke Harland's body build looking like he was all brawn and no brain, she felt it was a good thing he had fail. With this situation, she wouldn't need to make somebody who could do both labor and craft, choose to labor against their will.

As she and the old man came upon the students finishing their last-minute practice, she gave them a greeting. "Morning everybody, we're gonna start the building today. Let me know if you think there's a problem with the plan or the design." She encouraged.

To her surprise, Shaw Caine took her up on her offer. "Actually, I don't think this will work. The design you told us about yesterday, I did some thinking about it. Since the roof will also have the Water of Stone applied to it, I think without more assistance to keep the weight on top supported, it might collapse." He finished.

Everyone was stun by the news. Didn't Shaw Caine say he only did a little designing in his spare time? And even more, Key Stroke was actually wrong?