Chapter 8
Jasper eyed the messy, damp and dark workshop with a mix of incredulity, misery and resignation a week after he had first visited the place. For what was supposed to be a workshop, barely anything could be seen because a heap of junk covered the windows and mysterious items of every sort had been dumped into every nook and cranny available. Is that a mountain of sawdust in the furthest most corner over there? Jasper didn’t even want to think of that possibility. How was anyone able to work in this trash heap?
“It’s a bit messy, but don’t mind it.”
Messy would be an understatement, Jasper winced. He swept his gaze across the place once again before letting out an audible sigh. Hell if I would voluntarily work in this dumpster, he cursed. He could almost already feel an itch on his skin.
“Uh, uncle Kail… ” the pause hanging about the air awkwardly, “please let me clean the place up.”
The impassive voice Jasper had unintentionally said those words with caused Kail to awkwardly scratch his chin in discomfort. Jasper then promptly went to the closest heaping box of stuff and started to sort the items out. Crockery and some kitchen utensils… in a carpentry workshop. Jasper was at a loss of words for the absolute chaos that would give any inventory take migraines for weeks. It seems that everything had been dumped inside.
“Urgh, all stiff and proper just like the father.” Kail groaned but started clearing away the things anyway. Jasper had a mouthful of retorts he wanted to say to that but kept it within. A slight frown did form on his brows when he heard Kail’s comment though.
“Is it really that messy…” Kail’s continuous incredulous mutterings did not escape Jasper’s ears and he sighed while neatly stacking up items to make space. He was only on the second box and there are seemingly an endless number of them in the place. This will take a long time…
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In the end, they used up the whole day and only managed to get half of the place tidied up. There was still a lot to do but at least light was now coming through the windows and there was space to walk and sit on.
Jasper was standing near the entrance looking at the unfinished job with a slight frown. The sun was already glowing orange so it was about time he went back anyway. Kail heaved another box to a corner in the workshop with a tired sigh. The day was filled with many of those.
“Well, no point trying to get anything else done today. Here.” Kail handed Jasper an old pen knife. “It’s my spare. Try using it. The more you practice the better.”
Jasper took it without much ceremony, replying with a thank you and pocketing the small pen knife. It’s great for detailed carving and something that is very versatile in it’s uses.
“I’ll come again tomorrow then, Uncle Kail.”
“Sure, sure. Now go home and let me rest.” Kail grumbled, mourning his aching back. He was sure that Jasper would probably insist on cleaning up some more tomorrow, on Sunday, so he was already devising ways to postpone it at least till the next weekend.
Kail watched the disappearing kid’s silhouette before collapsing onto his bed. He wasn’t someone that was used to much arduous physical labour, being a craftsman and all. All that work left him feeling like a withered weed.
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As Jasper walked home, he was reminded of Kail’s sorry tired figure when his own arms ached a bit. He was a bit better off since Quintus, in true country boy style, had spent his days running and climbing trees which resulted in near infinite stamina. Feeling rather sorry for his miserable state, he decided to lay off on the cleaning tomorrow, lest Kail collapses from exhaustion.
As he pondered, his fingers fiddled his newly obtained cutting tool. A small smile crept onto his face. With this pen knife, he’ll be able to start making the stuff that counts.
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The night in Mordridge Valley is foggy and damp as usual, however a small figure sneakily slipped out of bed to go towards the windows. It was of course Jasper, who had forced himself to stay awake till the rest slept.
The pale moonlight was even paler still with the fog that had descended in the valley, but it was enough for his purposes. Taking out the delicate pen knife and a smooth water-worn pebble the size of his fist he had picked up beside the creek that evening, he held one in each hand.
The actual reason he had gone to the window was not to search for light with which to see, but rather to hide another light. The pen glowed a hazy silver as he gathered the surrounding mana energy, beckoning them with his spirit. Carefully guiding it along a set of complicated strokes, Jasper carved the Magi’s runes. He didn’t need to see, his fingers danced with practiced moves and at times, he even closed his eyes.
The silver glow faded and the rune was complete. A beautiful set of strokes now adorned the pebble. It looked like it was also glowing silver like how the pen had glowed, but upon closer inspection, it was the runes that were engraved exhibited a silver colour. Jasper inspected his work with a tinge of relief.
He had made the most basic scrying runes first. He wanted to spread them around the town as a warning system in case anything remotely dangerous intruded. The mana inside them would last five years so he needn’t worry about replacing them anytime soon. However, he still needed to make many more scrying runes as well as a plethora of other runes with differing functions.
Rubbing his tired eyes, he was now regretting staying up so late. So he pocketed the two items and snuggled back to sleep. He’ll have to do the rest another time.
Rebirth Online World 