BXBX NOVEL Chapter 214 Spine
And so, Eisen soon began to give instructions to everyone, and they happily got to work. Using a large, rounded saw that could be placed around the log, they then began to strip the bark off of the wood similar to how you would peel a carrot. Once one sheet of the bark was ready to be taken off, some of the workers then swiftly climbed on top and handed the massive sheets down to some others that then stacked them up by the wall.
The log peeling continued for quite a while before the log was then rotated so that the other half could be stripped as well. And once that was done too, it was time to begin the carving. There were a few people with a relatively high-rank in Woodworking skills that Eisen chose as ’supervisors,’ and then showed them what he wanted them to do first. The log was more than long enough to carve one coherent spine out of, although it wasn’t sufficiently thick enough to make sure the ends could reach the height they were supposed to.
So, Eisen chose that they would simply carve out the area of the spine that would be submerged underwater in one part and then attach the areas of the spine, the center part of the ship that everything would be built onto, that would be above the water later. Carving that was the first part that took quite a while and had to be carefully handled so that it wouldn’t accidentally split, and cause the spine to warp or weaken it any way.
What they chose to do was to cut out a rectangular ’sheet’ of the wood that would then be as thick as the spine would be wide out of the center of the log, which they then began to carve into carefully.
Of course, Eisen was doing the brunt of this work, while the majority of the others, including Eisen’s apprentices who were at the same time taking care of lunch as instructed by Eisen, were working on cutting a large part of the wood into long planks. While Xenia and Evalia were testing out something else that Eisen asked them to, Sky was working on the Guild Contracts, Bree was helping her, and the rest of the crew were doing a lot of the brutish work that included carrying large chunks of wood around the place. In the meantime, Komer was off buying the other materials that would be needed for the construction, while also getting discounts for other supplies at the same time.
And while all that was happening, Caria and Melissa were being babysat by Aotori, the first beast that Jyuuk tamed, while also being the mother to a few healthy eagles. Since she was rank 4, despite not being able to speak, she was still able to properly care for the two girls that were busy practicing and improving their different magic spells.
Eventually, a good while later, the spine was finally finished. Satisfied, Eisen nodded his head as the spine was moved to the side with the help of dozens of high physical-stat based people as well as some of Jyuuk’s brut-ish monsters. "Alright everyone, finish up what you’re doing right now and then get some lunch!" Eisen yelled out toward his helpers that all happily did as instructed, one after another, slowly making their way to the table that Eisen’s apprentices set up to distribute the food.
While they were doing that, Eisen made his way over to the other people that were working on things not directly related to the shipbuilding process in itself. First of all, Evalia and Xenia.
"So? Does it work?" Eisen asked them, before the two women swiftly nodded their heads, although it seemed like an unsure nod. "It works with paint on top of it, yeah, but when the enchantments are activated, the paint is going to ’glow’ a bit, and you’re able to see it anyway. So hiding it maybe isn’t the best idea." Xenia explained, before Evalia continued that thought. "Uhu! But instead, we were thinkin’ about making enchantments that look like decorations! Like... when I make the front-piece, we can work stuff into it that makes it the center of the enchantments, and then the rest of the boards will just be covered by the extension or somethin’ like that. Then, we can paint the boards on the outside, and I can follow the lines with some more paint in a way that makes it more inconspicuous and not obvious that it’s an enchantment. Because I can make paint that glows when it comes in contact with mana anyway, I can paint stuff on that ain’t part of the enchantment." Evalia explained, and Eisen swiftly nodded his head with a smile, moving his fingers through his rock-like beard as he did so.
"Alright, do that. Then plan a good defensive enchantment, and something that boosts our speed in the water at the same time, okay? We’ll carve them into the outside of the ship once it’s completed. Oh, and Evalia, I reserved a nice, large piece of wood that you can carve the Figurehead-piece out of, could you two maybe see to it that the enchantment for that is somewhat finished, or at least have the base for it to be carved prepared, by the time we start the assembly in a few days?" He asked both of them, and they quickly nodded their heads with a smile.
"You got it," Xenia said with a smile before she and Evalia made their way over to the area where everyone was eating as well. Next, Eisen stepped over to Sky and Bree, as well as Kirisho who had swiftly joined them once the work was over for now. "Hey there you three." The old man smiled as he sat down on another chair next to them, specially made for large people like Eisen currently was, before Sky looked up at him surprised, wholly immersed in his work until just now.
"Ah, Eisen! Wait, when did you get that much done..?" He asked surprised as he looked around the room, noticing that so much more work was finished than when he started writing up the contracts by hand. And as the old man slowly laughed, he took one of the contracts that were already finished and held it under Sky’s pen. "In the past few hours, while you’ve worked without end. Come on, you wrote all of these up, and I think you deserve being the first one outside the semi-deities that the five of us are that joins the guild." The old man laughed before Sky’s face flushed deep red before he slowly nodded. "O-Of course... Thanks..." He muttered out as he quickly signed the contract where he was supposed to before looking at Eisen, who was extending his hand to the young boy. Confused at what Eisen was doing, Sky looked at his sister in a slight panic, before reaching his hand out as well, thinking Eisen was going for a handshake.
Well, he wasn’t. With a loud laugh, Eisen made that more than evident. "Sky, I was asking you to give me the pen." He laughed, of course, all in good humor and without an ounce of ill will, before Sky felt his whole body freeze up instantly. Quietly, the Fey-Kin boy nodded his head, which was now deeply hidden in his left hand, while he gave the pen to Eisen with his right hand.
Quickly, Eisen signed the contract in the field he was supposed to and finalized everything with the Guild Window, before the contract caught fire and disappeared into nothingness, similar to what happened with the Guild Founding Contract earlier. And once more, Eisen extended his hand to Sky, just this time with a different intention.
"Welcome to the Guild, Sky. And yes, this time I want you to shake my hand." The old man chuckled, before Sky nodded his head and shook Eisen’s hand, and then handed the next contract to Bree. "Here, you sign as well." Eisen smiled while the girl happily nodded her head and wrote her name into the respective field. In the meantime, Eisen looked at Sky and Kirisho.
"I’m just wondering... Kirisho, you’re technically a Monster, right?" Eisen asked, and she swiftly nodded her head. "Oh, yes, I am. But why are you asking, Eisen?" She answered, before the old man scratched the back of his head.
"Well, I was wondering whether or not monsters can also join Guilds." He explained before Sky slowly shook his head. "I... don’t think so. It’s probably going to be different for Kiron, though. He may be a monster, but he’s technically half-human. His status treats him as a Monster, but he’s treated like a person by the world. That’s why he could be your Knight instead of your tamed monster. But Kirisho is an Undead, so a full monster, no matter who or what she was before then." Sky explained before he then remembered something he read about, "Although... Erm... If you get special permission by the God that governs Guilds, then maybe?" Sky suggested, before Eisen looked at him in surprise.
"Huh? Special Permission from a god?" He asked before Sky shrugged, not being all that serious about that suggestion. "I mean, either that or you learn necromancy and connect her to your soul, I guess. Like, Caria and Melissa are technically already part of the guild, because they’re part of you." Sky explained before Eisen slowly nodded his head.
"I see... Well, I’m sure it should be possible at some point?" Eisen muttered before Sky looked at him in surprise, slightly mixed with shock.
"Wait, what? You mean you could actually talk to him?" He asked, and Eisen slowly nodded his head. "I mean, probably. For one, part of becoming a true full demon is going to heaven anyway, so that would be a chance. And other than that, I did meet the gods a few nights ago. I found out about the situation on the islands were going to. If it’s not that dangerous on that god’s island, then we should maybe make that one of our first stops. Maybe we can somehow contact them like that." Eisen explained, before Sky sighed loudly.
"So Kiron was telling the truth about that?" He asked, looking at the Half-Dragon who was sitting down with a bowl of soup in the background at the moment. "What’s up with him anyway? He’s acting kind of weird whenever we mention you." Sky pointed out, while Eisen slowly began to sign the contract for Bree to join the Guild, after which he slowly activated it in the Guild Window and happily congratulated the girl on joining, before looking at Sky with a complicated expression, taking a look around to make sure nobody that wasn’t supposed to could hear them.
"You see, I told you what Bolremgar mentioned to me a little while ago, right? About me hatching Trygan’s egg? Well, I met him the other night and talked to him about it. And yes, I did that. Because I actually did raise him in the past before losing my memories, as such, Trygan still sees me as a father. Meaning, I’m technically Kiron’s grandfather. So he’s just a bit confused about things right now. He’s going to figure it out for himself, and I’m going to respect his choices, although I’ll be happy if he loosens up a little bit more." Eisen explained, looking behind himself as well to take a look at the Half-Dragon, before sighing lightly and turning back to the three in front of him with a light smile. "Anyway, let’s get something to eat for now."