Chương 43: A [Woodworker]'s Skill

Ch. 43 - A [Woodworker]'s Skill Wyatt and Kit headed over to where the Elves were working in the woods. They weren't directly behind the farmhouse, but off to the side, out of sight from where Wyatt had been planting. Thrais and his team had set up a work area in the field just outside the woods proper. There were a number of large sawhorses in place, and they had cleared much of the grass in a large area. Wyatt could see a variety of saws and axes laid out, along with some tools he didn't immediately recognise.

They Elves were in the process of bringing down one of the trees on the outskirts of the woods, but to Wyatt's surprise, they weren't attempting to cut one of the larger trees. What they were working on was one with a mid-size trunk, although it was still quite large. Kit tilted her head to one side, watching as the Elves busily worked.

'Almost every tree is bigger than the one they are cutting. I wonder why.' Wyatt just watched them for a few moments before answering her. Then a thought struck him, and he turned to look back at the tools that the Elves had laid out. There were a number of saws, all different sizes, but Wyatt focused on the largest. It was a two-man saw, with a slightly curved half-moon blade, but he spotted the limitation immediately.

"I guess they have to work within their tools capabilities, Kit. Look—there's no point in bringing down a tree if they can't saw through it. Any tree that's larger in diameter than that one would be too big for their saw." Kit nodded her head in understanding.' Ah, you're right of course.' Thrais had noticed them approaching, and waved at them in greeting. But then he held up a hand, calling out.

"No closer, Wyatt—we are just about ready to bring it down! Get behind something sturdy in case you catch a stray branch your way!" Wyatt started backing up immediately, having been raised to respect the directives of those working a dangerous job. Kit hesitated though, glancing around them and then back to the Elves in the distance. She sounded dubious.' That seems like overkill. Really? Take cover?'

Seeing Thrais and his crew slow down in their chopping and sawing, Wyatt bent down and scooped Kit up into his arms. She yipped in surprise, but didn't struggle after the initial shock. Wyatt started heading back towards the ruin of the farmhouse, carrying Kit with him. He stopped at the corner of the building; from here they could still watch, but would be able to quickly duck behind the wall if need be.

"It's just being safe, Kit. Those upper branches of the tree? When it comes down, they can snap and be propelled in literally any direction. Fast too. Definitely not something you want to risk being hit by." Safely by the building, Wyatt and Kit watched the Elves work. They had cut a large wedge of wood out of the trunk in the way they wanted it to fall, but also at the back of the tree as well. They were down to axe work now, but they were going slow, taking their time.

Every few strikes they would pause; looking up at the top of the tree as well as listening for any sound that was coming from around the cut. They were well prepared for when it started to go. Thrais called out, but his team were already moving. They sprung back, not just gaining distance, but also darting behind other trees in the opposite direction that the tree was falling. The sound the tree made as it hit the ground was shocking.

It reverberated across the open land with a thundering crash, and Wyatt could feel the impact of it landing in his feet. The upper boughs of the tree rent and tore, breaking off and shattering. Just as Wyatt had predicted, some of the branches shot off in multiple directions, spearing through the air with life-threatening speed. When Thrais called the all clear, Wyatt and Kit ventured out from behind the walls of the farmhouse. As they walked closer, they paused at the sight of a branch embedded deep in the ground.

The silver fox eyed the seven foot bough that lay buried in the earth silently, sniffing at it as she investigated. She looked up at Wyatt seriously.' That would have been painful.' Wyatt kicked at the imbedded branch experimentally. It didn't budge. He gave Kit a crooked smile.

"Momentarily, at least. Come on." Up close, the fallen tree was massive. It had only seemed small in comparison to the trees around it, but the base of the trunk was at least eight feet in diameter. The Elves were already swarming all over it, attacking the upper branches with axes, cutting it into two to make it more manageable, and reducing it to two huge logs in short order. Thrais was looking on, nodding in satisfaction. He turned to Wyatt, smiling down at Kit.

"This will make for excellent timber. It's so straight! And look, see here?" Thrais brought them over to the stump of the tree. He put his hand on the smoother part of the cut they had made, running his fingers over the rings.

"The grain is so dense! It's going to be heavy to work with, but it's nothing we haven't handled before. But this is the kind of lumber that will last centuries. And there's a whole wood of them, most even bigger than this one! I honestly can't believe that no one has thought to log here before." Wyatt smiled to see Thrais shake his head in disbelief.

"I see you're thinking along the same lines that I did, Thrais. I don't think the Adventurer's Guild is really interested in anything other than loot and monster parts. I guess they don't want anyone muscling in on their monopoly." Thrais nodded thoughtfully, then gave Wyatt a shrewd look.

"How are you planning on making it work, then?" Wyatt smiled ruefully, rubbing at the back of his head.

"I haven't fully worked that out yet. I have a few ideas, but nothing set in stone. I will make it work though. You can trust me on that." Thrais looked at him for a long moment, then smiled.

"Somehow I don't doubt that in the slightest." While Wyatt and Thrais watched on, Alvar and Aslak had placed down a series of wooden sleepers, evenly spaced next to the trunk. Ronja and Krista were walking along the top of the fallen tree, cutting notches in line with the sleepers. All four Elves then picked up crowbars and, with a series of rocking pushes, rolled the first section of log over, then the other. The notches lined up with the wooden beams that had been placed down, holding them in place.

Thrais apologised to Wyatt, saying he had to help his team. Kit glanced up at Wyatt as the Elf left them.

'Not going to offer to help again?' Wyatt shook his head emphatically.

"No way. Saying that I would slow them down would be an understatement. Look at them go!" The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The Elves were working on both sides of the fallen tree with axes, removing excess wood to give the sides a roughly uniform flat edge. They were all muttering Skills under the breath as the wood flew off with every strike.

'It is impressive, I will admit. But I meant what are you going to do today?' Wyatt shrugged, giving her a sheepish grin.

"Actually, I want to see about clearing some of the fields at the front of the farmhouse—but I just want to watch them work for a bit. You don't mind?" Kit settled down, getting comfortable.

'Not at all.' The left and right sides of the huge logs had been roughly smoothed flat, and they were now starting to resemble massive beams. The Elves were going slower now; Krista and Thrais were starting from opposite ends, each to one side of the log, and were striking at the roughened edges with strangely designed axes. They were short, a little longer than hatchets, and the handle was curved with the blade off-set to one side.

Wyatt walked a little closer to get a better look, and noticed that the blade of the small axes was quite broad, with the edge very thin. This allowed them to almost shave at the wood, taking off slivers without their hands touching the log. Thrais and Krista were working fast, and behind them the side of the log looked as smooth as though it had been machined.

"That's incredible." Kit nodded, although she didn't look quite so impressed.' They are professionals, Wyatt.'

"But they are going so fast—faster than even someone with a chainsaw."

'Chainsaw?' Wyatt hesitated, looking at the Elves. They were busy, but he was unsure if they could overhear. Wyatt lowered his voice anyway.

"Oh. Uh, it's a machine from … back home." Having finished prepping the sides, the Elves started to move one of the logs onto the sawhorses they had set up. Wyatt guessed they must have some kind of Skill advantage, because it really didn't look like they would be able to shift it, even with all of them working together. They manoeuvred the log, rolling it so that it was resting on one of the flat sides, and positioned it so that perhaps one third of it was hanging free at an angle—high enough to walk under.

They then stretched out a long cord along the entire length of the trunk. It looked to have been blackened with something, perhaps charcoal, and they used it to mark a line right down the centre. Wyatt had seen this method used back on Earth to mark a line on timber, although it hadn't been anything near to this scale. He and Kit watched as Thrais and his team checked that the log was stable on the sawhorse, and then went and collected the larger two-man saw. Kit looked up at Wyatt sidelong.

Her tone was studiously conversational.

'You need to talk to Lera when you see her next. Properly, I mean.' Wyatt started slightly, looking down at her in surprise. She'd barely mentioned a thing about what had passed between himself and Lera the day before, and Wyatt had begun to think that she wouldn't bring it up at all. It felt a little odd to be discussing something like this with a fox, even if it was Kit. He sighed, running his hand through his hair ruefully.

"Yeah, I know I should. I wasn't planning to just ignore it—it's just that everything happened so fast. And from how she acted … I didn't think it was a big deal to her, but maybe I was wrong. You're right though. I should talk to her." Wyatt was steeling himself already. He had no idea what he would say, but he hadn't been raised to be casual about that sort of thing. Not that he'd had much chance to socialise with girls his own age back on his Grandparents farm.

His thoughts were cut short as he became aware that Kit was giving him a hard, incredulous stare.

'No, you ass, not that. Why would you—Proteans don't view things the same way humans do. So in this case, trust your intuition, and don't try to discuss relationships with her.' Kit shuddered theatrically. Then she cocked her head to the side, thinking.

'Actually, feel free to do that. But only when I'm there so I can listen. And laugh.' It was Wyatt's turn to give the fox a long, hard look.

"That was a bit catty, Kit."

'Are you trying to be funny?' Wyatt sighed again, giving up.

"No. Look, what exactly should I talk to her about?" Kit fluffed up her fur, looking annoyed, but not at Wyatt.

'Something that she should have brought up already.'

"… which is?" Kit shook her head.

'I can't say. It's not my place. But talk to her.' Wyatt couldn't quite keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

"… I'll get right on that, Kit. Very helpful." Aslak was now standing on top of the log as it lay suspended in the air, although it was so large that it was actually very stable. His older brother Alvar was underneath, and they were both holding the two-man saw. Aslak was calling out to Alvar, minutely adjusting the position of the cutting teeth, before making a careful first cut right down the middle of the log. Thrais came over to stand next to Wyatt, nodding at his team.

"What do you think?" Wyatt watched as the two brothers started to saw into the wood. They moved fast, the saw sliding through the dense timber with an ease that was almost shocking. Wyatt noticed that most of the power seemed to be from Alvar below, pulling the saw down to him, with Aslak mostly guiding the blade.

"It's incredible. I didn't really picture what would go into cutting up trees for materials, and when you brought it down … I thought it would take days to cut it up." Thrais smiled.

"Not for us. None of my team are below Level 28." Wyatt pointed at the Elves sawing through the log.

"Why are they starting in the middle?"

"It's to relieve any tension in the wood. If you cut from the outside in, there's a chance that it will split. It's not too likely with the kind of grain the tree has, but it's better to be safe." As the three of them watched, the log was sawed through to almost the halfway point. Then a new line was marked, and they began cutting it into heavy slabs.

Once done, the Elves bound the cut ends of the log with chains to keep it together, then expertly rotated the entire log—pivoting it on its axis on the sawhorse—manoeuvring it so that the uncut end was now suspended in the air. Then they started the same process all over again. Wyatt noted that they were leaving perhaps a foot of uncut timber in the centre of the log, stopping the cuts from both ends meeting.

"Why aren't they going all the way through?" Thrais was watching his team closely, and answered without looking directly at Wyatt.

"It's another precaution to stop it from prematurely splitting. Once all the cuts are done, the other end will be bound as well. Then the cuts will be completed." Just as Thrais described, the Elves finished off the job of sawing the first log, leaving them with wide, perfectly regular slabs of wood. They started stacking them, carrying them carefully over to a designated area closer to the farmhouse. There the slabs were stacked, alternating them with wedges to keep them raised.

Then they returned to start the whole process over again with the second log, Thrais joining them. Wyatt shook his head admiringly.

"I just watched them do that, and I can still scarcely believe it."

'They are certainly skilled. I think your discount is worth far more than you realised. The favour they owe Lera must be quite large.' Wyatt nodded in agreement.

"One more thing I should talk to her about apparently." Kit looked at him curiously.

'How long would that take without Skills? It's hard to imagine, a world without them.' Wyatt looked at the industrious Elves, trying to work it out.

"I can't even … months! At least. That tree was massive, bigger than any tree I ever came across back home."

'You don't have big trees like that?' Wyatt shook his head.

"There used to be, but most of them were cut down. I saw a few pictures once, of loggers standing next to trees they had felled that were wider than they were tall … but that was hundreds of years before I was born." Kit flicked her ears, surprised. She turned to look at the large woods filled with trees that were as large or larger than the one that had been brought down.

'Your people must have had a pressing need for timber.' Wyatt gave her a crooked smile.

"Or profit. But back to your question, I couldn't imagine doing what Thrais is doing by hand. With machines, a mechanised sawmill, maybe … but the precision! All those huge planks look perfect." Thrais and his team were almost finished with the second section of trunk. The Elf with short black hair, Ronja, was working on the pile where they had stacked the timber. Wyatt could feel heat emanating from the stack of wood, even from where he was standing, and there was what looked like steam rising up off of it.

Ronja had her hands on the planks, quietly saying skills as she moved between the planks.

"[Prevent Warping]. [Quick Dry]. [Perfectly Seasoned] …" On top of the suspended log, Aslak paused in sawing. He put a hand up to his mouth, calling out to Ronja with a smile on his face.

"Good! What are you making, Ronja? I'm starving!" The red-haired Elf, Krista, groaned audibly as she worked, and Aslak's brother, Alvar, just shook his head.

"That wasn't funny the first hundred times you made that joke, Aslak, and it's not funny now." Thrais gave his team an indulgent look, then called out to Wyatt.

"Would you mind clearing your belongings out of the farmhouse, Wyatt? Once we are done here, we are going to start dismantling the upper floor."

"Of course! Sorry, Thrais, I had no idea you would be so quick." Thrais gave his team a proud smile.

"I meant what I said about it taking a week, Wyatt. After today, we will be splitting up the labour a bit, but I want to start the rebuild by tomorrow afternoon at the latest." Wyatt shook his head wonderingly.

"I'll get out of your hair then. I'll just be in the front field if you need me for anything! Come on, Kit." Wyatt waved goodbye to the Elves, and went with Kit back to the farmhouse. The silver fox looked up at him curiously.

'Are you really going to start clearing the fields? Your skills are on cooldown, what are you planning on doing?' Wyatt smiled at her.

"Let's have a quick bit of lunch first, then I'll show you."