章節 18: Base Camp

Retrieving the shovel axe hybrid tool in the pack the Quartermaster supplied me, I joined a Bisonkin man in digging up the fire pit, which would need to be large enough for multiple squads of soldiers to utilize.

We silently settled into work, scoring out the earth and determining a good size before beginning to dig on opposite sides of one another, stabbing the shovel into the ground before scooping out the dirt.

Around us, the rest of the two squads began to do their own work, with two soldiers smoothing out the ground with their Earth Magic before they began to unfold the tents that they had been carrying, preparing to set them up and stake them into the earth for the week to come.

Everyone else had retrieved their tools and were beginning to chop down the undergrowth and smaller trees around us, gathering what we needed for kindling whilst also making more space for the outpost, though the sheer amount of roots and vegetation made it look like a grueling job.

With the sun slowly rising overhead and an entire day of labor in front of us, I was rather thankful for what would be a relatively thought free few hours, since manual labor would always make it difficult to think.

Stabbing the shovel into the earth again, pressed down on its rim with my boot and pushed it further into the soil, before pushing down on the handle and scooping out a large amount of dirt, which I placed onto a pile beside me.

That process continued to repeat, with Wils and I slowly rotating around the edge and digging out a ring, before we began to inch in closer towards the center, a three or four inch pit slowly making its appearance.

During the digging process, we struck the roots of the forest, which had apparently snaked their way out all the way towards the edge of the plains, wriggling around to suck out as many nutrients they could for their respective trees.

Frowning at the roots, I pulled the shovel free and crouched beside the pit, raising my hand and closing my eyes before casting the spell [Root Spiral] to take control of the roots, sending them away from the pit and loosening up the soil, which made Wils look up at me and nod, the swarthy, musclebound man still as quiet as ever as he resumed digging, deepening the pit even more.

The digging was easy but time consuming, and before I knew it we had an eight inch deep pit as well as a large pile of dirt.

My arms were stained with dirt from the shoveling, while my brow and hair had a thin sheen of sweat from the steadily rising heat that cascading down on us in waves, and none of the soldiers were much better than I was.

Wiping away the sweat, Wils and I looked at the pit before looking around at the progress everyone had made, which surprised me for just a singular moment.

Already quite a few trees had been brought down, with a few of the soldiers working on cutting them down further into logs to be used for either construction or fuel, while the remaining soldiers continued to deforest the area around us, cutting away the encroaching forest and clearing out the area for this base.

Behind us, a dozen tents had already been raised and staked into the earth, ready to house us tonight and for the next few nights as well.

In mere hours we had already constructed a shell of the base, and upon seeing that Wils and I had finished up, Alessia shouted "Wils, start cutting the logs into kindling for us! Kira, c'mere! We're going to need that Nature Magic of yours to make this easier. I want a half wall built by dusk!"

The soldiers all gave Alessia a shout of affirmation as they continued their work, wanting to complete what their Talonmaster ordered.

Moving away from the pit, I joined Alessia near the edge of the forest and stared into Yngrave, the blonde Dogkin pursing her lips as she said "Goblins don't usually come out of Yngrave, but we've been making quite the racket. Wouldn't want to be left in the open, so... I saw you make roots earlier at the Den; can you either make pliable roots or utilize vines? Save us some time if you could..."

"Yes, I can. I just don't know how much I could make in the span of a few hours, and if it would be enough; wouldn't want to be completely empty on mana."

"I understand. Well, come on then; let's get started."

Alessia pulled me back into the camp, and we began to work on assembling bunches of logs, which we would stick into the ground and shore up with some dirt and stones made from Earth Magic.

Additionally, we began to pile some of the smaller branches and loose bark together into a pile for kindling, adding to the already large amount that had been gathered so quickly.

Everything went by quickly as we labored away, getting the preparations done swiftly for the base camp so that we could begin building before dusk.

During the labor, Alessia continued to chat with me, telling her stories and going so far as to flirt with me as well, unable to help herself as we knelt beside one another, easing my mind as she tactfully left what happened earlier this morning alone, trusting me to deal with it myself and giving me the space to do so.

I had to admit that Alessia was an incredible people person, keeping the mood light and fun even as we labored tirelessly beneath the sun.

It was even better when the woman would consistently flirt with me, which definitely kept my mind off of everything as she praised me for last night and teasingly asked if my vines had other uses... so I was quite enjoying myself, the happenings of the morning out of mind and slowly weighing on me less and less.