Free Web NovelChapter 58: Chapter 52: Zeke the Builder
A/N:
I’m gonna speedrun the shelter part and finish it in this Chapter so that I can progress the plot. I’m sure that it is getting boring for you guys, and honestly speaking, its boring to write as well. But it added a certain depth to the story which wouldn’t have been there without it.
Also, I won’t be giving the disclaimer anymore because it is no longer child abuse but child abandonment instead.
Anyway, lessgoo!
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He had done so because he could instinctively feel that this bamboo was special. He tried sensing it, and found that this bamboo was extraordinary. Unlike normal bamboo, its roots ran deep into the earth and consumed the earth’s energy to grow.
If Pooki had been feasting on these, it would explain his evolution. Although it wasn’t complete yet, he could tell that if Pooki ate this bamboo for a few more years, he would evolve into a full fledged Spirit Beast. Of course, the fact that he was talented also played a huge part in his evolution.
Anyways, Pooki led them to a patch of flat land close to the center of the bamboo forest. Zeke did some tests and concluded that it was perfect for them.
He said, "We will build our shelter here. We can rest without a shelter today. The bamboo will act as a natural wall against enemies. Let’s hunt our dinner."
They caught some hares and roasted them. Woong and Bum had to go get firewood for them. After they were done eating, Zeke harvested some bamboo shoots. Then he took Bum’s ax and chopped a bamboo cane. It was hard. freewёbnoνel.com
He didn’t expect it to be so sturdy that he would have trouble cutting it. He took a section and went to the creek to fill it up with water. Then he put it in the fire to boil. While the water was boiling, he peeled the bamboo shoots that he had harvested earlier.
He then chopped them up in thin slices and put them in the boiling water. Then they took turns sleeping. Even if they were somewhat safe, it was always better to be cautious.
The next morning, they woke up and ate fish and the soaked bamboo shoots for breakfast. The bamboo sheets were crispy and had a refreshing flavor. Then they got to work.
Zeke said, "Everything we need to build the shelter is right here, in this forest..."
First he roughly measured the circumference of the bamboo and the potential size of their shelter. He did some quick math to calculate the amount and length of bamboo that they needed. Then he began instructing everybody on what they had to do. If he had a builder’s helmet, he would look like a foreman at a construction site.
[Hmph! If Bob can do it, then so can I.]
Bum was in charge of cutting the bamboo. It would also help him in getting familiar with his ax and serve as training for him. Zeke was responsible for getting rid of the leaves and the top part of the bamboo. Of the bamboo they were chopping, 25% were given to Woo.
Her job was to separate the woody fibers from the outside and collect them in sections of the bamboo. Once she had done that, Woong would take them to the river and fill them with water and put them into multiple fires that they had made to boil.
He was also responsible for hunting. He simply hunted a deer and brought it back. By the time the day ended, they had collected all of the bamboo that they needed for a simple house.
The fibers were still boiling. They had to switch the water twice because all of the water in the bamboo sections had evaporated. They switched it one final time before sleeping. Zeke kept watch first that night. At some point, he took off all the sections from the fire and just let them cool down throughout the night.
When they woke up in the morning, they had breakfast and got back to work. They drained the sections and they were left with flexible fiber. but they weren’t quite there yet. With the help of Pooki, Woong took the fibers to the stone cave.
He bundled them up and started hammering the shit out of them with his war hammer. Thankfully, it was just a plain hammer, nothing fancy with spikes or something like that.
This was to separate them into even finer fibers. He hammered the fibers all day. While he was doing that, Zeke, Woo, and Bum were cutting the last sections of some of the bamboo into a ’V’ shape.
They were doing this so that they could hammer the bamboo into the ground like nails. Woong returned that evening with the hammered fibers. They once again boiled the fibers.
The next morning, they drained the water and started braiding the fibers into thread. In the beginning the trio messed up a lot and had to hear harsh critique from Zeke. he even reminded them of the head instructor, just without all the threat...never mind. He was exactly like the head instructor. Eventually, they got a hang of it.
(Don’t try to make too much sense of the following paragraphs. I don’t know anything about architecture, so I’m just trying to do my best.)
They spent the whole day making rope that satisfied Zeke’s standards. Finally, they could begin with the actual construction the next day. They woke up, had breakfast, and got to work. They spent the day making the walls and the roof according to the plans Zeke had drawn and shown them.
The first made a grid with the bamboo. They then tightly tied them up. This gave them a frame for the walls. Then they filled the gaps with more bamboo and tightly tied everything up. By the time they were done, it was already evening.
The next day, They propped the walls up and made a rectangle with the walls. They the walls together. The next part though was very difficult. Zeke had to stand on Woong’s shoulders and hammer the walls into the ground.
They couldn’t do that for long as it could lead to fatal injury, so it took them over a week to firmly hammer the bamboo walls firmly into the ground. Now, the only thing that was left was the roof. Unlike the walls, they hadn’t filled the gaps in the grid with bamboo.
They had used the bamboo leaves instead. To put it on the walls, Zeke stood on Woong’s shoulders, while Woo stood on Bum’s. They picked the roof together and propped it on the roof. Zeke gave it one final push and the roof snapped in place.
They got down from the boys’ shoulders and looked at their new house for the next four years in wonder. They had created it themselves. They had a small celebration, and then they rested outside.
All of them were very tired. The next morning, while they were having breakfast, Zeke said, "Now that we have our shelter, I will give you the Asuran Neo-Nephilim Primogenitor Visualization today. There is only one book, so you’ll have to memorize it together. After that, we will go into a retreat until we break through to Third Rate Warriors.
This forest has an abundance of natural energy so it will be the perfect place. We will start looking for opportunities after we’ve all broken through."
The trio looked excited. They could finally begin practicing. But Bum said, "If we’ll be in retreat, then what about food?"
Woong said, "Pooki can take care of that. I’m pretty sure that he will hunt for us if I ask him to. He seems to have become smarter. Like he has been able to understand me better. Maybe it’s because he has been spending time with humans?"
Zeke nodded. Even normal animals could be trained to certain actions. Spirit Beasts, or even half Spirit Beasts could also do the same. Not to mention, Pooki could genuinely understand what Woong was saying. He said, "Now that that’s settled, here."
He gave them the ’Soul and Will/Shen’ book. They were curious because they couldn’t understand what was written in it. They looked at Zeke with shining eyes that screamed, ’I gots to knowww!’
Unfortunately for them, he had no intentions of doing so. He said, "Just turn the page until you see the visualization. Do not cultivate the Hell Lotus Manual until you’re able to visualize at least four pairs of the wings. Also, don’t disturb me from now on until it’s an emergency."
Now, they were going to enter their shelter for the first time. They were excited. But the excitement suddenly died down because they realized that they had forgotten to make a door. The trio looked at Zeke doubtfully.
Zeke also scratched his head. Why had he forgotten such an important detail? What was going on with him? First he had forgotten about the Arhat Vajra Body Technique, and now this? He thought that the problem had been fixed with Asuran Neo-Nephilim Primogenitor Visualization but maybe it had only dealt with the symptoms and not the root cause. He needed to seriously think about this.
But right now, he had to create a damn door. He took Bum’s ax and cut a rectangular shape from one of the walls. He was careful as he didn’t want to ruin everything. Then he used some leftover bamboo and rope to create a door. Finally, he tied one side of the door to the hole. It was incredibly crude but it worked. Finally, they entered the shelter.
[You win this time Bob. But I’ll beat you next time.]
