Bookworld Online: Marsh Man

After breakfast, the weight mage met up with me back at my designated area and we started carving the enchantments and I attached them to each of the available three foot logs that were four inches wide. They had already been sharpened and the tip dipped in metal to ensure they would last longer than just bare wood. I didn't have the ingredients to make fortifying waterproof potions, so they were just plain wood.

We had small carts set aside and as we finished a pile of 30 kracken tube ammunition, the cart would take the load to the farthest out kracken tube that was deployed, starting with the middle and working to the sides. Hopefully, that would be plenty of ammunition and they would be able to recover some after each battle, because we didn't have any more resources to make more.

Instead of giving them the full 37 like I had allocated, we kept the extra in case some of them used up more ammo than the others or they needed more replacements. It wasn't much of a reserve and the crews complained about not really having a lot of ammo. There was nothing we could do about that, because what we had we had, and that was it.

“Tell them to make their shots count.” I informed the next crew to take a cart of ammunition.

The day seemed to pass by in a flash as I worked. The weight mage had run out of mana after the first hour and needed two hours to rest and recover his magic. I kept infusing the enchantments on my own and he did them when he could. He also agreed to come back the next day to keep working, which was a surprise. I thought he would have given up after working almost ten hours straight.

I switched out and cut more of the small squares into circles over the next few hours and managed to finish them all. It was almost time to quit, so I cleaned up all of the wildwood scraps and stuffed them into canvas bags to get them out of the way. I stored them near my sleeping area and let out a sigh as I walked over to my bed. I took off my pack and dropped it to the floor, then I unstrapped my wooden leg.

“Uhhhhh.” I groaned exaggeratedly and rubbed the end of my stump. “I'm going to run out of healing potions if I have to keep healing my leg every day like this.”

I took out the partially used potion from yesterday and rubbed some on my leg and took another sip. I let out another sigh and laid down on my bed. It was then that I felt the watching eyes finally look away and I relaxed. I wasn't sure if they were going to keep watching me this late all the time, so I really had to be careful. I waited half an hour before finally digging out the potion ingredients and opening my hidden hatch to gain access to the small pot.

I lit the fire and started brewing the revised recipe. I took my time and did each step carefully, right up until I reached the point where I had to add part of the fortifying potion that was about a third of the way through the recipe. The thoughts of what it could do to me if I took it too early, which would be for a second time, made me remember the last time I had done it.

I also remembered the warnings that the Hag had told me about it. My body could lock up completely and I could become a living statue and unable to move... even after I starved to death. I shook my head and concentrated on the potion again, only to discover I was too late. My reverie had made me miss adding the fortifying potion at the right time and the liquid inside the pot immediately changed color and became rancid.

I took it off the fire and sighed at the waste. At least I didn't get too far into it. I thought and realized that if I started it again, I wouldn't be able to finish it before morning. I stopped my sigh this time at ruining my first chance over sentimentality and the fear of death. I extinguished the fire and packed everything away again, closed the hidden hatch, and went to bed.

Morning seemed to arrive quickly and I began another long and weary day. Gary looked at me with concern and I pointed to the finished stacks of cut coins. He didn't comment about me overworking and we went to breakfast. After we ate, he and the other construction crewmen started cutting up the larger logs into four inch wide pieces and did their best to round and smooth them out.

I saw him trying to do that and laughed. “Why are you wasting so much time doing that? You have access to tons of number ten potion, don't you?”

Gary gave me an incredulous look for about five seconds, then he realized what I meant. “David! You're a genius!” He exclaimed and ran over to me, gave me a manly hug with one arm, then had the closest crew dig out one of the larger logs. I split it down the middle for them and they quickly carved out a four inch wide and three foot long curved depression on each side, with the end visible.

Gary asked me to treat it with waterproofing potion and I did so, then when it was dried, he attached the two halves of the log together with a latch and hinges. He stood it up on the end and told the men to start cutting four inch wide square logs that were three feet long. One was handed to him barely a minute later and he slid it into the log.

He added a little number ten potion, since the rounded sides didn't require that much to finish them off. It was dry a few minutes later and he opened up the log to drop out a perfectly smooth projectile. The other crewmen were shocked that it had worked so easily.

Gary laughed. “Bring more big logs to carve out! We'll have all the projectiles done by the end of the week!”

They had nineteen more logs carved out and I treated them. They had twenty of the things now and every few minutes, had twenty projectiles made. Gary had even taken to dropping the slightly smaller logs that had already been chosen and put them into the molds to make them the right size. I had to brew more potions as they worked hard and I also carved movement enchantments onto the small wooden coins.

The weight mage had returned and he was still enthusiastic about helping and he actually managed a bit more than an hour before he couldn't infuse any more enchantments and had to rest. That was slightly better than yesterday and he was happy about it.

“You figured it out finally.” I said to him.

He nodded. “Training like this is the best.”

“How's your brother?” I asked.

“He's being treated like a king.” He said, a huge smile on his face. “The one armed king! Ha ha!”

We worked on until lunchtime and when we stood up to go to the mess tent, he pulled me aside for a second and offered to help me walk to the mess hall. I accepted and as we walked, he spoke.

“My family was really happy to get that enchantment modification, as well as you teaching both my brother and myself how to do it.” He whispered. “We told our parents where we got it and they've already sent envoys to the palace and to Mage Henrietta's Family Residence, since we're not allowed to send envoys into the army or conduct business with army personnel.”

“You're preparing for when I'm discharged.” I said and he nodded.

“We are going to offer you a very generous gift for helping our family so much and there might be a mage or two, namely my father and my uncle, that might seek your help in the future.”

I raised my eyebrows at him and he chuckled.

“I know that they aren't supposed to deal with non-official mages; but, your knowledge is just too valuable to ignore.” He whispered and let my arm go when we reached the table with Gary and the others. “See you after lunch.” He said normally and walked over to sit with the other mages.

“What were you whispering about?” Gary asked.

“Potential work.” I said and he gave me an inquisitive look. I leaned close and whispered. “Once I'm out.”

“Ah, I see.” Gary said. “Dig in. It's delicious again today.”

“This looks like goat.” I said and speared a piece of meat with my fork and bit into it.

“It is. One of the scout patrols found a huge gathering of them out past the last battlefield.”

“Found?” I asked after swallowing the great tasting meat. They had cooked it exactly like I had shown them.

“The shepherds were dead, as were about fifty goats. They were killed by an enemy's badly aimed arrow launch.”

“That seems convenient.” One of the construction crewmen said. “What are the odds that a whole section of enemy archers would miss by such a huge margin?”

Gary stopped eating and stared at him. “You're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting.”

“I am. They killed their own countrymen to stop them from helping us.” The man said and the others stared at him, too. “What? It makes sense. They don't ask us about the locals when they attack, because they don't care if they are caught in the crossfire.”

“I don't think that...” Someone else started to say.

“They started a large scale battle on a food producing farm that was just outside the territory we've claimed for the Gulf Kingdom, which completely destroyed it.” The man said. “The worst part is that when they checked the farmhouse, it was burned out and no bodies were found.”

“By the Son's Light.” One of the others said. “We have to warn them.”

“Who?” Someone asked.

“The locals, of course.”

“Ha! They already know their rulers are despicable. Why else do you think they love us so much?” The man laughed. “One of the locals at the well I helped fix yesterday offered me his wife for an hour for getting them drinking water that they didn't have to pay for.”

That made a lot of them fall silent for several minutes, then one brave soul asked what everyone else wanted to know.

“Did you accept?”

The man looked like he wasn't going to respond, then he started to smile. The guy next to him barked a laugh, the man on his other slide slapped his back, and then they all chuckled and smiled at him.

“I hope you bathed her first.” Gary said.

“Damn right. I even visited a healer with her and fixed her right up beforehand.” The man replied.

“What happened?” Someone asked.

“She gave me another hour of her time, then her husband gave me two chickens for being so considerate in taking care of her.” The man said and everyone laughed.

We all went back to work after that and continued carving enchantments, making projectiles, and finishing the ammunition for delivery. The rest of the day passed by in mere moments and we had a lot of them done. The others left like usual and this time I had to do all the work for myself. I sat there and waited for nearly thirty seconds without doing anything, because I could feel that whoever was watching me, was doing it a lot more intensely than normal.

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You have a choice to make. It will change your standing in the army, for good or ill.

A) Do nothing. B) Attack. C) Yell. D) Run. E) Shock them. F) Go to bed. G) Work. H) Choose two.

This close to getting out? There's no way I'd attack or run. I thought. No, I think I'll teach them a lesson. I'll choose two. E and then G.

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I moved my hands below my waist as I hunched over slightly. After ten more seconds, I quickly stood as I pulled my pants down to expose myself.

“AHH!” A woman's voice gasped and then I heard running feet.

I didn't bother trying to chase down whoever it was, because catching her wasn't the point. I wanted her to realize that if she kept watching me, she was going to see a lot more than what she expected. I didn't recognize the voice, either. I would remember it, though. My vigilance technique was great for that.

I went back to work, even though my watcher was gone, and I kept working until midnight. I took another shot at brewing the regeneration potion and at four in the morning, just over halfway done, I put in too many drops of Strength potion. It immediately congealed and became a gelatin mass. I sighed and tossed it aside in the hole in the floor with the other failed one and called it a night.

Tomorrow was another day and I would try again. I was determined to complete it as soon as possible.