[NR] Stomp The Ground - Chapter 637 (Patreon)

As much as it pained him, Jason needed to add some deeply sunk posts to build around. Which meant at the corners he was going to have to dig up the gravel and drill a hole in the compacted dirt. Also, if he just sticks a log or square post into the ground, it probably won’t survive all that well.

The problem is that he doesn’t really have anything to treat the wood with. Then again, they don’t plan to stay here for long enough for it to truly matter. Though there is one Jason thinks of that might help. Instead of just using whatever wood, make the posts purely out of heart wood.

Jason can’t remember all the types besides redwood, but there are certain types of trees that leave something behind when turning sap wood into heart wood, which prevents rot. Now, it was highly unlikely the random selection of trees they had around here would do that, but hope springs eternal. Either way, this was going to delay the construction of the house by a couple days so he can dry the posts.

Rosha was a little annoyed, but it wasn’t like they were going anywhere until the trade was completed. Either way, Courtney’s mending spell once did wonders for getting things dry. At this point, Jason was pretty certain that even if there was some System nonsense, a large part was the spell redistributing the moisture.

Whatever the case may be, Jason used the time to dig the holes. It was a little annoying to not have something like a post hole digger, but he figured out a way. The answer that got him holes as deep as about his waist was pumping out blooming war stomps.

Jason would stomp three or so times and then shovel out the dirt that was cut away. This would have been easier with an actual shovel of course, but he made do with a decent sized log that he had carved the end out like a spoon. It was a little awkward to maneuver, but it was only needed when the hole got deep enough. Though Jason did promise to himself that whenever he got the chance, he would get a bunch of tools.

It did mean that by the time he finished digging the holes; the posts were ready. Then it was a simple matter of putting a layer of gravel at the bottom, putting the posts into the holes, and filling in the side with the dirt he had just removed. On top of that, Jason did an extra thorough job of tamping the ground down with body blasts. He did not want the anchors for the entire building to start tilting at all.

Jason then enlisted his teammates to build the actual house. Not the actual construction as they didn’t have the Skill. However, they could help prep the planks. In particular, Jason didn’t exactly have nails or glue and so they learned a few joints that wouldn’t require them. Combining that with using wooden dowels and pre-cut holes for some connections allowed Jason to fake it till he made it.

In particular, Rosha was great at making the dowels. After all, they’re like arrow shafts, but even less demanding. On the other hand, Courtney might not have excelled at a particular task, but her claws made cutting grooves for the joints easier.

And, of course, Jason had to put it all together. With the four posts at the corners as a starting point, he builds up the building. In particular, this new building isn’t just a single room like the previous one.

Jason split the building up into two rooms, but not how people might expect. Instead of splitting the building in half, there is an outer and an inner room. In the center of the building, there was a more secure room that isn’t connected to the outer walls.

He even carved out a giant slab of rock about a hand span thick to use as the inner rooms floor. It was where they would be keeping the manuals when not being ready. Now, it isn’t like this setup was all that secure from other people. 

However, it worked on the same principles as a lock. What stops people from getting in isn’t the lock, but the hassle of getting through the lock. The same principle was at play here. By removing them from a place where they could easily be removed from, they remove most of the temptation.

Though of note, once they get some more security formations and enchantments, that will change. Unlike a lock, magic requires a lot more to bypass and those that can do it will have access to better stuff. Jason honestly found this quite amusing. Being able to break into a place protected by magic likely meant most of the stuff being kept there won’t be worth it.

Whatever the case, Jason even builds a separate roof for the inner room. Which actually made it easier to finish the building. After all, since the inner room wasn’t touching the outer room, the building can be built like there was only a single room.

Once the building was all finished up, Jason stepped back and was happy with the results. Did it look quite rough? You bet it did! But the place was functional and there was even a trio of bookshelves in the inner room, courtesy of Rosha who, after making the dowels, used some of the spare wood to throw them together.

Courtney walks up next to Jason and nods, “That should do. Though I will note that we should probably aim for a tile roof.”

Jason sighs, “I can’t deny that. Find me a nearby clay deposit and I’ll work on it. For now, we should be ready whenever the stuff gets to the settlement.”

Courtney nods, “We are a bit limited when it comes to non-tree resources. Even all that stone we harvested won’t last long.”

Jason, “We can only hope the Deep Wilds will place them nearby next shift. Without proper equipment, there is only so far I’m willing to go with bulk materials. Maybe if there weren’t good odds of finding what we need only a few minutes walk away, we would need to extract every resource. As it is though, we can wait.”