To Build a Library

They wanted stone. He would give them stone and so much more. Aaron went to the rock creator, a deformed fellow reading from a list. "What's that?" asked Aaron.

"The amounts and type of stone we need." The man's nasally voice told Aaron he did not want to talk to this guy.

"May I see it?" asked Aaron.

"No," said the man. Aaron gave a little evil smirk as he turned away and commanded a bee to fly around the man.

Circling the man, the bee finally landed on the piece of paper causing him to drop it and shout, "Oi, a bee. Get it away. I have terrible allergies." The man turned and ran away. Aaron's mouth hung open in disbelief. Who did they have working here? Picking up the off white sheet of paper, Aaron saw an odd assortment of stone types and their purpose. Marble walls, basalt tiling, etc. Time to earn his pay. Aaron faced the first pile of earth, a dark red material. Forming a set of seals, Aaron pumped chakra into the ground and sensed its qualities and began turning it to stone. The clayish earth came together, burnt red in color, until it became a rock. Again and again Aaron worked on the massive piles, his chakra slowly draining. It took hours just to make the clay like earth into stone. Unstopping Aaron moved onto the limestone and other ingredients of the earth. A quasi-marble like rock could form from them given the right pressure and the all mighty power of chakra.

One by one the hours passed, the varied types of earth becoming solid chunks of stone. The man never returned though the supervisor did stop by to admire Aaron's handiwork. Night fell as he finished turning the last batch into a dark black obsidian. Exhausted and weary, Aaron climbed the hill once more and walked back down, arms swinging side to side as he entered their makeshift camp. He had not once thought about his last exam failure. Taking a small sample of the food, Aaron slept under the sky not willing to sleep indoors the trailers and tents set up. Why the workers did not go home for the night he did not know.

At dawn's early rise a horn sounded and Aaron awoke to triple the workers from the other day already hard at work. Removing the sleep from his eyes, Aaron approached the supervisor consulting with the architect. "Where'd they all come from?" he asked.

"They've been on leave. We finally have stone to shape and carve. They're digging it up now." Aaron couldn't believe it. This stupid library had had so little progress cause they couldn't make stone? What an inept rock creator thought Aaron. "Help out as you want today," said the supervisor. Your stone making was phenomenal. Aaron nodded, glad he made progress. Maybe they could call it the Aaron Kamizuru Library. Walking to his stone creations the other day, massive pits stood in the ground where masters of the Will of Kratos and other skills had been removing the stone. More pillars had gone up and the exterior of the wall had grown extraordinary. Examining the holes, Aaron saw that much of the rock was still there. As strong as the men were, they couldn't do everything. One man stood off to the side, breathing heavily, sweat pouring from his body. "Where's the rocks going?" asked Aaron.

A sideways glance to measure him, the man finally spoke. "To the carvers for shaping." He pointed in the distance. Piles of dust and smoke shot up into the air every so often.

"Need help?"

The man laughed. "You look too flimsy to lift a pebble." Aaron frowned.

Forming a set of seals, Aaron kept his hands along the ground as a massive rock creation several meters in height rose up into the air. "Why should I lift when I got him?" spoke the arrogant Aaron. The golem moved slowly, but it's rumble echoed. The man stopped laughing. Giving orders Aaron had the golem reach down into the earth and pull up a massive slab of rock. Loose earth and other objects fell away as the rock easily weighing hundreds of pounds was carried with ease. Aaron guided the golem along the path toward the carvers, making sure to stop and place his hands along the ground every few seconds as they went to keep the golem standing.

Aaron made it to the carving station where carefully measured slabs of stone had been shaped into all sorts of artistic decoration. Some were obviously for interior use but the huge slabs would be the thick walls. Having the golem place the stone with the others of similar make, Aaron watched the diligent hands of the mason at work. A skill Aaron could not match. It was something to appreciate, a true artist unlike the village's bombers. Why the Touji thought art was a bang he would never know. This was true art.

For the rest of the day Aaron had the golem help carry the stones in a procession, the number of workers increasing by the moment. It seemed with all the stone now here, they could work as quick as they were rumored. Many hours later, gaping holes filled the landscape as the wall rose up higher and higher. Aaron's final task for the day would be the earth spewing technique. Not really chakra intensive, the sheer volume of holes in the ground to fill with fresh earth was mind blowing. Little by little the ground was refilled for the next person to use. At least now no one was likely to trip and fall.

The workers hard at work for now, Aaron returned to the supervisor as the sun set. "You set for now?" asked Aaron.

"Aye laddy." It seemed the supervisor could create a new accent every day. "You did enough for now. We'll handle the rest of phase 1."

Aaron nodded, physically and mentally exhausted though his disposition had improved slightly. Off to the tower to report on the Kage's pet project. Aaron wondered if anyone would still be there at sunset.

[Exit]