Turnaround

"Err, what?" Chity Boru was confused. Would he like to be punched in the face? What kind of stupid question was that? Of course, he wouldn't.

[You heard me. Would you like to be punched in the face?] Gerald repeated his question with an expressionless face while looking up at Chity Boru.

"… Are you threatening me?"

[Goodness no.] Gerald immediately denied it. [I'm trying to teach you a very important lesson that might save your life in the future.]

The five goons behind him exchanged slightly confused glances, but Chity Boru quickly figured out Gerald was just messing with him. His eyes narrowed with hostility. "So that's how it is, huh?"

[Yup.]

"This guy thinks he's being funny." He turned back to his men. "Guys, hold him still for me. I think we need to establish who's the boss here."

He then turned back to Gerald, who immediately punched him in the face. There was no sound, no warning, just a fist interacting with his nose at high speed. It wasn't even a strong punch but simply a light jab. Just enough for it to sting.

"Ow!" Chity covered his face with his hands as the pain slowly spread. But the strike did little to deter him from his greedy and vengeful thoughts. "Guys! I said hold him down!" He shouted, this time with an angry undertone.

And, of course, his henchmen moved, jumping at Gerald with the intent of constraining him.

Five more punches flew out, accurately aimed, and much stronger than before. The five almost immediately fell to the ground, clutching their noses, groaning, and holding back tears from pain, while a few of them held back a bit of blood too.

[You said this house should belong to the boss, right?] Gerald took a step closer to the leader and made a fist. [Well, it belongs to me.]

He then punched out for one final time, and despite Chity Boru doing his best to block the strike, there was simply no comparison between someone who killed thousands and a young kid that probably never got in a real fight before.

His attempts at defense were quite pathetic, and he soon found himself on the floor, clutching his aching nose while blood dripped between his fingers. The pain was incredible, never before in his life had he felt anything like it. Tears already started streaming down his face, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop them.

[Why are you still here?] He heard Gerald's angry bark. [Shoo! Get off my lawn! Or would you like to get punched again?!]

"Waaah-waaaa!" Chity Boru scrambled to his feet and ran away crying, his goons right behind him. And that's the legend of Gerald trumping over a bully started to spread!

Well, not really. Most of the recruits had no idea what happened. They only knew that a few members of the Silver Boar village had bloody noses and a few of them cried.

Since Gerald's house was more than a hundred meters away from the main camp, nobody heard anything. His two friends also didn't go around bragging, and Gerald himself couldn't care less. Beating up a child was hardly something to be proud of, but it was bound to happen eventually anyway.

The way Chity Boru was acting, someone was bound to teach him some manners sooner or later, so really, Gerald did him a favor. At least he didn't suffer too much.

"Dude…" Che Erie still couldn't believe what had just happened. He was convinced they would be forced out of their homes and might even lose the chance to join the Sect because of it. Instead, he saw the bullies running away covered in snot and tears. He didn't know what to say.

"That was awesome!" Alyx exclaimed. "I didn't know you could fight like that."

[Ah, it's nothing.] Gerald humbly waved it off. [Let's forget all that. We still got a week until the ceremony, right? If we are going to live here, we might as well try to make his place look nice.]

The guys agreed and kicked the incident to the back of their minds as they debated what could be done to make the place better.

Eventually, Gerald and Alyx decided to make a cobblestone road connecting the three houses, and meanwhile, Che Erie designed and created a few benches and lawn chairs to put outside. They combined their forces and even made a permanent canopy with a wooden roof under which they could hang out on rainy days.

***

Two days later something interesting happened. The Silver Boar gang was back, this time with ten members, and that was right after Gerald left to mine some more stone in his quarry.

Those guys brought trouble wherever they went as they flaunted their strength. They were taller than the rest, militaristic, and disciplined, as much as young hormonally-unstable teenagers could be, and as they were part of the hunting group, they quickly began thinking themselves important and above others.

At least above the common workers and builders. And they were going to meet some of them right now.

Che cringed as he saw the group approaching and ran to warn Alyx. The man just finished making some mild poison dust from the mushrooms he had found the day prior and secretly hid it in a tiny leather pouch on his belt just in case. Then, with a heavy heart, the two went outside to confront the interlopers.

"Where's… the other guy?" Chity Boru asked as they came face to face. His expression wasn't as relaxed as it was the previous time, and his face still carried a bruise from when Gerald gently caressed his nose.

"He's not here." Che, raised to be honorable and speak the truth no matter the circumstances, told them the truth despite feeling like speaking would be detrimental to them. He was a man of principle, after all.

What he didn't expect, however, was that Chity Boru would bow his head and apologize for his actions. The rest of his team also bowed with him, even going so far as to coup their fists.

Alyx and Che, the two guys were so stupefied they didn't know what to say. But then came the crazy part!

"Please help us build our houses!"

Yep, Chity Boru came to apologize and then request their help. When Gerald came back he got to hear the most ludicrous story ever.

The young leader of the Silver Boars, a name the members of Silver Boar village adopted, came to beg for help from those he previously harassed.

Actually, since his group was out hunting most of the time, they didn't have much time to build, not to mention they weren't good builders in the first place. And as their group had the second most members, they found themselves in a pickle.

Due to their arrogance and posturing, nobody wanted to lend them a hand. Everyone had found an excuse to avoid working with them, and so quickly they became isolated among the new recruits.

When they realized their mistake, only four full days were left until the inauguration ceremony, and they were still missing more than ten houses. With how clumsy and inefficient they were, a few of them were certain to be kicked out of the Sect, something many of the bullied victims secretly celebrated.

But Che and Alyx were good guys and decided to lend a hand despite having some doubts about the entire situation.

Good thing they did, too. The houses Silver Boars made couldn't even be called that. They were more like dilapidated huts that wouldn't live through one summer storm, much less a winter blizzard. They were so poorly made, they basically had to be torn down and built back up from scratch.

A few girls in the group, those that didn't go on the hunt and instead helped in construction, burst into tears after being bluntly told that their work was trash. If it wasn't for emotional support from the rest of their peers, it was quite possible a few of them would have quit there and then.

Some from other groups came to gloat, while most just watched from the distance, interested in how things would turn out.

***

After Gerald stopped laughing after hearing the story, he decided to also lend a hand.

"You would help us?" Chity Boru asked in surprise. If there was one person he never planned to ask for help it would be Gerald. It would be just too awkward to do so after antagonizing him and then getting beaten up by him. He was 100% sure he would be denied and possibly humiliated further, but the exact opposite happened.

[Sure. I carry no resentment towards you, I just hope you learned your lesson.]

"I did, I did!" Chity Boru nodded his head, putting even bobbleheads to shame.

Reality quickly smacked him in the face when he realized his group had no allies except themselves. And when they couldn't do everything on their own and asked for help, nobody came. It was a grim realization that his actions might doom some of his close kin. That's when he truly understood.

[Good! Then let's get to work!]

***

"Oh, so the test of comradery? I did not expect it to go so smoothly."

Hidden behind the clouds, the two eternal observers stood upon the solid platform, invisible to the naked eye, and watched. "It is a good batch this year, a good batch indeed."

A curious thing happened when Gerald joined to lend a hand. With his impressive displays of Telekinetic magic, more people were attracted, and at first, a few of those belonging to the Old Plum village came to help since three of theirs were already there.

That in turn motivated some that were on neutral standing with the Silver Boars, and they went to lend a hand as well.

By the end of the day, nearly 40 people were working on the same task, more than doubling the original workforce.

They were all 14-16 year old, teenagers that didn't have any deep grudges with each other except for some mild disagreements and harassment. Such things could be quickly painted over with a bit of goodwill and new friendships started forming as they got to know each other better.

"This fellow… It is worth keeping an eye on him. To change the fate of someone so quickly and so drastically…" The older one spoke, more to himself than anyone.

"Elder Li, are you talking about the kid with the stone house? He is quite promising indeed, but can fate really be changed?"

Elder Li entered deep contemplation as he thought of the best way to answer his apprentice.

"The world…" He began slowly. "The world is a chaotic place. It is difficult to distinguish the strings of fate and see where they go. However, at the end of each person's life, everything that has happened can be traced back to one crucial moment in time where it all began."

"What we have experienced here, is a drastic alteration of fate." Elder Li looked at his disciple. "You have seen and experienced people with similarly arrogant personalities, had you not? How did it go for them?"

"It… ended badly. Sooner or later they would push too hard and the backlash would break them in return. They were usually miserable, and spread misery to those around them."

Elder Li nodded and looked toward the setting sun on the horizon. "Our task here is nearly done. Tomorrow we go back, and prepare for the ceremony."

"Yes, Elder Li!"