Chapter 111: Tea of the Wall-Builder

Karra watched nervously as Arthur and the others examined her status sheet until she couldn’t take the silence anymore.

“I hid my skill levels. But you get the idea,” Karra said.

“He might not, actually,” Milo said. “Arthur, Heavy Laborers are strength classes that basically don’t have… hm. How do I say this politely?”

Karra waved her hand. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Their skills aren’t really skill-based, I guess. The skills help Heavy Laborers become stronger and faster when they do certain things. It’s all passive majicka consumption,” Milo said.

“That doesn’t seem fair,” Arthur observed.

“That’s because you haven’t ever seen her move a load of stone,” Karbo said. “Trust me, it’s fair. Heavy laborers get a lot done, in their way. They just can’t do detail work.”

“My dad wanted me to be a carpenter. It didn’t take. That’s why I’m behind on levels.” She gripped and twisted her hands nervously. “I only liked moving the wood from place to place.”

Karra accepted a plate of food from Arthur, who motioned for her to sit as he took a seat on another log. As she took a bite of the fish, Arthur saw her look around, taking in the town for the first time.

“It looks like you have an awful lot done already,” she said. “How long did this take?”

“Moving the stone? A bit under a week,” Arthur said with pride. “It’s Slapstone, so the actual building didn’t take much time at all.”

“A week?” Karra managed not to laugh, but Arthur caught the effort, and took it as a good sign. “I think I can help you, then. If you want the help, that is. I understand if you have everything you need already.”

“No, no. Karra, stop worrying,” Mizu said. “Arthur, just start a vote. Trust me.”

Arthur stood. “All in favor of Karra joining the settlement?”

A chorus of yeses rang out. Besides the fact that she was Karbo’s niece and seemed perfectly nice, the entire group had just spent an entire week moving loads of rock. It wasn’t what any of them were built for, and anyone who promised to make that part of life better was a welcome addition to the team. The lumberjack and stamper looked even more excited than the others, which Arthur hoped was a good sign.

Karra pumped her fist, excited and smiling in a non-nervous way for the first time since she had arrived.

“See, I told you it would be fine.” Karbo stretched lazily. “Now, I’m supposed to make a report on how you all are doing. Looks like you’re ahead of schedule on building and all that kind of stuff. Anything to report besides that? Problems? Injuries?”

“Arthur tamed a Prata somehow,” Lily said.

Karbo raised his reddish eyebrows, then smiled. “Good, I approve. Well, it’s been good seeing you kids. I’ll be by in a few weeks with the militia to clear out any monsters that might pop up. Be safe until then.”

The giant infernal flexed his heavy legs, then jumped. Luckily, he had the presence of mind to jump from the same crater he had made on his landing, preserving the rest of the town for now.

“That was quick.” Milo watched as Karbo turned to a red speck on the horizon, then disappeared over the trees. “I thought he’d stay longer.”

“Aunt Itela told him he couldn’t. He tried to argue about it, but you’ve seen Itela when something is important.” Karra shuddered a little. “I love her, but she’s a scary lady. Now, what is there to do around here? I could go get some stone, or dig out something, or…”

“Sit down.” Rhodia walked over, put her hand on Karra’s shoulder and guided her back to her seat. “Eat. We all like you. Everything’s okay. You can start working in the morning, when there’s more light.”

Karra smiled. “Thanks for that. I will. Where should I sleep? I managed to get my clothes before Karbo jumped me here, but the rest of my stuff is still back with Itela. Including my tent.”

“You can bunk with me,” Rhodia said. “Or in one of the huts we aren’t using once we get some of the houses finished. Only until we can build yours, of course, but I’m fine with however long that takes.”

“Oh, don’t worry.” Karra cracked her fingers, ominously. “I don’t think it will take that long at all.”

—

Heavy Laborer, it turned out, was a hell of a class. Arthur had thought Karbo might have been exaggerating in favor of his niece a little when he said that she would get a lot done. Seeing it himself, Arthur now knew that Karbo’s statement was a dry, cold appreciation for the wonders of a class doing the exact thing it was built for.

Arthur could carry a load of stone, and he had been pretty proud of his pace before Karra had come to the town. His first premonition that his pride was about to be shattered came when she reached into her pack and pulled out a coil of what looked like hemp rope reinforced with chain.

“It was a gift from my father when I took my new class. It’s useful stuff. Doesn’t break.” Karra uncoiled the rope and started winding it skillfully around a huge block of Slapstone she had Milo cut from the wall. “I’ll move the bricks later, or we can use them to build something here. This is quicker, for now. It’s harder to drop one big block.”

Rope in place and tied off, Karra looped it around both her hands, squatted, and loaded the rock on her back. Somehow, it did not squish her, despite equal in volume to an entire Ford Fiesta.

“Ah, that’s better,” Karra sighed when the weight was firmly on her.

“That’s… better?” Arthur asked. “Than what?”

“Than not carrying it. I’ve been getting stiff. Now all my class skills are working again.” Karra shrugged the block slightly higher, then loosed one of her hands from the rope and waved. “I’ll be going now. Milo, could you cut me a bunch of those blocks? I can do this all day.”

Milo nodded, then stood dumbstruck as Karra took off with a dozen trips worth of rock strapped to her back, not walking but instead running lightly over the terrain as if she was carrying a bag of feathers.

“Should I…” Arthur gulped. “Should I take back some bricks myself?”

Milo shook his head. “I don’t think there’s any point. Go make tea, Arthur. I’ll cut her some blocks and then get back to trying to find iron.”

“I feel like I should help. Do my part and all that,” Arthur said.

“Don’t. Did you see her face? How she was smiling? You’d just make a fool of yourself and make her feel unwelcome. I think the carrying-heavy-things part of our life has come to a close.”

Four hours later, the truth of that was even more evident. The town now had a huge stack of giant blocks of stone in the center of it, and Milo was working on converting them to bricks as fast as possible to keep up with Karra’s pace. Worse, she was getting even quicker.

“Having these bricks go right into building is insane.” Karra grinned like a maniac as she tossed another rock-cube to the top of the pile. “I’ve gained two levels, Arthur. Two. I finally have my dexterity at ten. I’m even faster now.”

And she was fast, hardly slowed down by the blocks at all. That speed went up even faster when Lily realized that Karra could dump the cubes at the entrance to the town, building up the wall as she went. They were too thick for what the settlement actually needed right now, but the supreme adaptability of Slapstone meant that Milo could just trim the wall when they needed more stone for other projects.

Arthur considered not making Karra tea yet. On some secret level of his soul, a tiny ember of pride was screaming for him to run away from Karra’s sheer, Karbo-like performance. He struggled with it for a moment before coming down on the side of good, breaking out his kettles, and getting to work. It was worth it.

Tea of the Wall-Builder (Inferior)

This no-frills tea enhances strength, vitality, and dexterity by a very slight to slight amount when consumed by an average person. When consumed by a generalist laborer, it does more.

How much more is a function of the skills and motivation of the laborer in question, but you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the results in any case. It is recommended that you stand back once you give it to a sufficiently excited mover-of-heavy-things. They tend to be excitable people.

Effects: Variable boost to physical stats

Arthur didn’t pep it at all. Karra didn’t seem to need it, and he was a little bit afraid of her, even in an unstimulated state. She drank the tea as Arthur explained what it would do, then raised her eyebrows as it kicked in.

“You know what? Let me go find that lumberjack. I think we have enough stone for now,” Karra said before taking off.

“She’s incredible.” Mizu appeared by Arthur, covered in mud and soaked to the bone. “Do you think she ever gets tired?”

“I hope so. My bigger worry is feeding her. All that energy has to come from somewhere, right?”

All around them, buildings took shape. The houses were finished first, thanks to Karra’s strength in hauling the stone and getting the beams in place for roofing. The lumberjack and Milo worked double time keeping up with her as she carried bricks to worksites and loads of long, plank shingles to the tops of buildings. By early evening, all the houses already under construction were structurally finished. They still needed all sorts of detail work to be comfortable but they were completed to the point of being livable.

Karra’s own house was only about half-finished, despite her hopes she would get it done that day. And off at the edge of the village, both the church and the surprisingly large, mystery building were taking shape.

“Karra. Take a break. Mayor’s orders.” Arthur motioned towards a section of tree trunk set up by his tea table and set out another cup of tea. “This one doesn’t have majicka. It’s just cold. Drink up.”

“Oh.” Karra snapped out of work mode suddenly, almost looking confused by the transition back to the non-lifting world. “Thanks. What are these little food-balls in the drink, anyway? I’ve never seen them before.”

“They’re called boba. Something from my old world. It turns a drink into a snack, basically.”

“Well, I like them.” She took a long draw off the drink, swallowing a full quarter of it in one mighty gulp. “Oh, yeah, I needed that. Thanks. So you’re a cook class, then? When I first got here, I thought you were a leadership class.”

“Oh, no, not me. I just make tea. That’s my thing. The leadership part is more a joke the others are telling, I think. I’m not good at that kind of thing at all.”

“Really?” She looked around at the village, where almost everybody was visibly involved in some task or another. “Could have fooled me.”

“Oh, they’d do that anyway.” Arthur awkwardly tried to dismiss the implied praise, and moved right on. “And wait until I get some actual source of cream for the tea. You’ll love it. It makes it much more food per glass.”

“Sounds great.”

They sat for a few moments in a rare lull in the day’s activity before the large, unknown-use building in the distance caught Arthur’s attention again.

“So that building. How’s it coming? Is it shaping up well for the special purpose?” Arthur asked, keeping his tone light.

Karra almost spat out her drink as she laughed. “Special purpose? Arthur, I’m strong, not dumb. I know it’s supposed to be a surprise. I’m not telling. Just wait until tomorrow. I’ll probably have it done then.”

“Damn. That would have worked on Karbo,” Arthur said.

“Anything that’s not an attack works on Uncle Karbo.” She set down her drink and looked around the village. “He’s strong, but really he’s a pushover in every other way.”