“Alright class dismissed” said Professor Alistair Montrose.

  A heavy breath left my chest.

  “Finally, he stopped…” I told Magnar. “I don’t know how much more I could take without jumping out of line again…”

  “You really have something for causing trouble, don’t you?”

  “No, but I can’t stand empty words and idiocy… And this guy displayed both a lot… At least the others seemed to know what they were talking about… This guy only knows to sing praise and ignores the important parts… At least one can still learn by focusing on what he omits…”

  Magnar shook his head. A wry smile was on his face, yet his eyes betrayed his actual amusement. As he stopped, we locked eyes, and my snickering mixed with his hearty laughter.

  “What are you doing after this?” He asked me. “Wanna walk back to the dorms together?”

  “No, I don’t stay in the dorms, and I got some more stuff to do to my place. It is still kind of rundown…”

  “Rundown? What do you mean by rundown? You’re supposed to get noble level treatment due to your talent… How could you be given anything rundown?”

  “Ah, don’t worry, I like the place…”

  “I want to see where it is. Sounds interesting…”

  “Why’d it be interesting to you?”

  “Ever since this morning you only did one weird thing after another. If you like something, then it must be something else.”

  “I don’t know about that… Well, I got no problem with it. You can come along… Actually, I could use your help. I want to make an expansion, and you could be just the help I need…”

  “An expansion?”

  “You’ll see… I’d deal with it fully, but I wouldn’t stress my body that much yet…”

  We passed through the door and left the alcohol smelling area. Soon we were out of the current castle. I led Magnar through the gardens. Green intertwined with the brown of soil and bark, raising upwards from the grey of the pavement. The golden rays of the of the sun mixed and danced with the emerald leaves.

  In a bit the overgrown fences came into view, together with the broken roof and the nest in it. My excitement grew anew. How could it not when I had this sort of place all to myself… I went ahead and unlocked the door.

  Magnar followed behind me. His shoulders wider than the gate. He turned on his side and followed inside the yard. Countless plants still filled the place blocking out the view. His steps sent small shivers through the earth as light fell on his face once again. He looked around my small, cleared area.

  “You did these?”

  “Yeah… Well, the tower was here to begin with, but yesterday I pretty much just focused on renovating. If you think this is impressive, come to the back and see all the rotten wood, I had to take out from inside…”

  “How could they give you this sort of trash hall?”

  “Well, I don’t know… But I don’t care either way… I like this. I have the freedom to turn it in my own personal quarters instead of being stifled in some smaller ‘high-end’ room… It’s also out of the way and it’s quiet.”

  “I guess… So, what do you want me to do?”

  “I want to build myself a nice little forge…” My tone carefree like the wind, as if I’d have said a

  “A forge? What for?”

  “Well… Unlike you rich noble asses… I have to earn money for a living. If I want materials for projects or a weapon for combat… Or perhaps an armor or maybe just going out… It all costs money. Money, I have no other more efficient way of procuring… Besides, I did not spend four years learning forging and smithing…”

  He scratched the back of his head…

  “How are you going to forge anything? I know blacksmiths… They are all big…”

  “Have you never seen a dwarf in your life?”

  “Now that you mention it… What do you need me to do then?”

  “Well, for now, nothing… I first have to finish my war against the unruly vegetation… But I’ll need you to hold the tower while I remodel its base.”

  “You want me to what?”

  “Hold the tower…”

  “What gave you that idea?”

  “Well look at how bulky you are… Don’t tell me those lumps are just for show…”

  “That’s not the issue here… Can’t you see how big this tower is? How do you expect me to support its weight?”

  “By putting your back into it? Look, man, it’s not that hard. You won’t have to do it for long and it won’t be the whole weight. It will be less than a third by my calculations. And these are all light stones. Volcanic tuff, nothing you shouldn’t be able to handle while reinforced with aether.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “I’m not as confident as you, but… I can give it a try…”

  “All I was asking for.”

  I started clearing out the area for expansion. The tower was centered in this courtyard, so I decided to go with the left side. The back would be used for storage, while the sides would meet their rightful usefulness. The right side would become the place for baths and perhaps some chemistry and alchemy, while the left would be reserved for the forge.

  This arrangement also ensured that the smoke of the furnaces would not reach the bathing area and would leave it clean and open. Only downside is that I can’t use the fire from there to also heat the water…

  I continued with all my speed to purge down all the weeds in the region. Slowly the color of the ground became obvious, I started by digging what would become the base into a large hole. I had Magnar help with the digging. After we were done, we went to the market.

  There I used another two large coppers to buy sand and variously sized gravel. With another large copper coin, I bought a proper bed and all else needed for it. Once again, I followed the road back again. In two more hours, the pit was filled with occasional, stone block pillars and layers of sand and gravel. The largest pebbles were sandwiched between layers of smaller pebbles and sand.

  Now came the difficult part… I had to shave some of my blocks. I needed them in trapezoidal shapes in order to build an arch. Considering the total width as a bit over my own while I spread my hands open, I quickly came up with a smart way to measure the angles on the bricks.

  By using the knotted rope, tying it to a stick and marking the needed distance on the ground, I proceeded to mark the stones. Metal against metal and metal against stone, quick shallow hits with the hammer on the chisel quickly got all the needed blocks marked.

  Here Magnar helped again. By using aether he cleanly snapped the weakened edges right off, leaving me with the only duty of straightening the remains. Now only the big issue remained. By working quickly with my body reinforced and armed with the chisel and the hammer, I cleared the plaster on the side of the wall I was going to take out.

  Soon the old blocks were out, replaced by a trembling Magnar supporting the weight in their place. I hurried and arranged the shaved blocks into place. At the very end we placed the last segment together. With the arch and main challenge completed, I moved on to chiseling the blocks of volcanic tuff into filler pieces.

  As evening came, the wall was back in place, with a new entrance. We would have continued with paving the floor for the forging area, but an unexpected guest arrived…

  Golden strands of hair dancing with the wind, bathed luxuriously in the sun’s golden rays, golden eyes, flowing into the darkest depths, pale skin, painted by red hues and a face adorned with ruby-like lips. Carrying a small bag with its opening bound, Cassia was here…

  With a sharp, rusty, worn click the gate was unlocked again.

  “Hi… What brings you to my humble abode?”

  “Someone forgot he was supposed to meet with me.” She answered as I led her along the stone path flanked by overgrown plant life.

  “Oh… OOooh… Yeah… Sorry… I got caught up in work…”

  We were greeted by the large figure of Magnar seated. Taking a thinker’s pose as he waited for me to return. His bare chest and shoulders in full display as he seemed to contemplate on what we did today.

  “Cato… I have to say, but you are very skilled in building… I’ve never even thought that this was possible until today…”

  “Ahem” I brought my fist up as I coughed to bring Magnar out of his reverie. “Magnar, this is lady Cassia Aurelian. She… Can be considered a friend…”

  “I am pleased to make your acquaintance.” Cassia curtsied lifting her dress and bending her knees while bowing slightly. Her movements soft, slow, delicate, surprised me. ‘Where’s the brute that jumped out and delivered a punch straight to my face’.

  “Ah, the daughter of the dying sun… Oh… uh… House Aurelian… Sorry for my misspoken words… Likewise I am pleased to make your acquaintance my lady.” He rose to his feet, bringing a leg forward he bowed slightly, with right hand on his chest and the left behind his back. “Please excuse my unsightly appearance, I did not expect your arrival.”

  ‘Hm? What happened with his casual straight forward attitude… Why did I suddenly become left out?’ I looked at them exchanging greetings. Neither of them was in their element…

  “Ok guys… Stop pretending… You’ll actually get along, neither of you cares for your fa?ade… This golden-haired brute punched my face the first time we met…” Through my back a chill suddenly crawled upward… Danger… And its source… Cassia seemed at a boiling point…

  “Now that I think about it… Forget about it, you can keep going… I’ll just…”

  “Oh no, you don’t, don’t even think of slipping away!” She caught my hand. Sure, I could shake her off and run regardless, but… A sense of foreboding welled within me at the thought. I quietly stood there, unmoved. Suddenly, Magnar’s guffaw resounded. Both me and Cassia turned to look at him.

  “What’s so funny?” Asked Cassia venomously.

  “I never thought I’d see this guy act so little and meek… Just look at the two of you, I can’t…” Another guffaw ensued. “Cato, really? Are you letting yourself be controlled by a woman?”

  Magnar was bent over from laughter, his face at a very low level. Now he was bent, the next second his head was snapped back, his body up straight and he stumbled a few steps back. Cassia stood there, with a fist raised above her head, where Magnar’s head had been moments ago.

  “You see Magnar… Strong women… Are scarier than men. If they are angry, you can’t count on anything to protect you from them…” I said in a quiet voice.

  Another guffaw came out. This time Magnar’s laugh seemed… A bit louder, his laugh carried more strength. He stepped forward and placed his hands on Cassia’s shoulders.

  “That was a mighty good fist!”

  Cassia’s expression was unreadable. After Magnar’s comment we spent some time in silence then Cassia opened her mouth.

  “I told you, Cato, you’d face trouble if you did not get yourself a protector, look at this place…”

  “Yeah, I see it… What’s the problem?”

  “What do you mean what’s the problem? It’s trashed and abandoned…”

  “I like it. I have a lot of space. We are going to spend a long time here, I’d rather have the space to do whatever I want, than to stay cooped in a room.”

  “But...” Her voice died… She looked around again and said nothing.

  “She does have a point you know?” Magnar intervened.

  “You just helped me build on this thing! Don’t tell me you think this place won’t become awesome…”

  Magnar’s shoulders moved up.

  “Besides, both of you are welcome to come whenever you want. I doubt that you two are feeling alright in the dorms, where servants pester you, and the presence of other nobles and students forces you to act like that…”

  Cassia looked down, while Magnar scratched the back of his head.

  “Anyway, I came over to hand you this…” Cassia threw me the bag she was holding. “It’s two sets of uniform. The ones the academy issued for you…”

  “Oh thanks…”

  “With this done, I’ll take my leave… I will drop by again tomorrow, since you’ve offered, oh so graciously. It would be a pity not to accept…” She said all this in a slightly haughty, restrained thicker voice, her standard for when she followed etiquette.

  All of us snickered at her exaggeration.

  “I’m going too. I must take a bath too.” Said Magnar as he grabbed his shirt and vest from a stone block I had especially placed for him to leave the two on.

  “Goodnight you two…” I told them as another twist of the key locked the gate.

  I continued working and finished placing a quarter of the floor, took a shower and went to the second floor, where my newly bought bed was placed. I descended into sleep, as the warm and soft embrace of the bed and covers released the tension in my body. Tomorrow would be the day the forge is done.

  !