Hole

I have no time to be angry, the sooner we finish the sooner I can get out of here. So i chose to not rebuke them but to make them try harder.

In order to do so, I point at the pile of shovels with my axe and say. ''Grab the shovels, we are not stopping until we reach the dig site, also, make sure to not touch anything anymore, as you know, we are not alone in this forest''.

They do not seem to understand what I am implying, that too is fine, at least they do as I tell them and pick up their shovels. I can't check the rest of the huts, there is no time, maybe I will try again later.

After this incident things went smoothly, we reached the area where I decided to dig the hole, in between the clearing where the foresters were 'lost' and the camp. Now that we are here I turn around to check on the workers.

As expected they are not in good condition, most of them are heavily sweating due to the journey and in this freezing weather, sweat does not help. Some of them are barely clutching on the shovel while trembling.

''We have reached our destination, get to work, some of you clear out the snow while the rest gather any dry wood you can find''. The first step is to start a fire, it should not attract the Vulnogs as we are at the edge of the forest.

The problem with making a bonfire is that everything is wet, we brought some dry bark with us to use as kindling and my fire steel should easily start a fire, as long as we have enough wood it should work.

Everyone gets to work, some of the workers push the shovels into the snow to reach the ground, others run around gathering sticks. Vun grabs the axe and starts chopping down a sapling while Ubam watches over them.

Everyone looks extremely cold, except for me of course, while I can feel the cold air on my face the rest of my body is warm enough considering we are in the middle of a snowy clearing, almost like a cold autumn day. This cloak is great, I feel like I haven't praised it enough yet, no wonder everybody worth anything wants one.

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After a while and the area is finally cleared of snow, the workers placed the wood they found in the center and I move for the first time since we arrived.

''Move over. Ubam, bring over the bark''. Time to get some warmth in here.

Ubam does as I say and bring the iron kettle over to me, inside there is some dry bark. The workers just stare at me while I bend down and prepare to make a fire.

While using a fire steel does not require much concentration, having someone interrupt you is quite unpleasant, and the teenager from before seems to not have learned his lessons as he opens his mouth.

''What are you doing with that tiny piece of metal, you cant start a fire with that''. Well, aren't you a know it all.

I decline to comment and just keep at it, a couple strikes later the bark catches on fire, I do not place in on the wet ground but in the iron kettle, it is only temporary, I just need to make sure the fire starts properly.

So with a horde of gaping workers looking at me I slowly place some small branches onto the cauldron, they too catch fire shortly, it is but a matter of time now.

With this done I get back up and turn to the workers. ''Start digging the hole right here, it must be deep enough for my guards to fit in it and wide enough for at least half of you to work in it at the same time''.

The older workers just grab their shovels and get to digging, they are still cold so their movements are slow, it will get better with time. The soil is also fine, only the upper parts are frozen the rest is nice and soft.

While the older workers listened to me and started digging, the teenager and a couple of others are still standing around looking at me, the teen asks. ''How did you light that fire, is that metal a magic tool? Can you use fire magic?!''.

Just what is wrong with this kid, does he not understand I do not like him?

''No and no, get to work otherwise you won't see a single coin from me''. I do not blame him for being rash, but please, consider the time and place. With a few grunts they turn around and start digging, they do not seem pleased. I do not care, of course.

Going back to stoking the fire I slowly add bigger and bigger logs until the whole cauldron is on fire. This should do so I make a small hill of slightly wet wood next to the cauldron then slowly push it with my foot. The cauldron falls over and the insides, consisting mostly of burning pieces of wood, spills over the logs I placed on the ground.

As expected it all catches on fire, it does not matter how wet the logs are as long as there is enough heat. With this there is now a decently sized bonfire roaring right next to the hole, it should keep us warm.

Taking advantage of the hot iron cauldron I grab one of the shovels belonging to a worker that is still looking for more wood and start filling it with snow. When the snow touches the insides of the cauldron it instantly melts down into water, murky, slightly black water due to the charcoal. Not exactly healthy but these people have no idea what hygiene is.

With this my work is done, the people I hired are digging as hard as they can, my guards are doing their respective jobs, namely gathering wood and supervising so I am left with only one thing, practice magic while I wait.

After I spent all this coin on workers I refuse to lift a single finger, no sane person would work in this cold weather.

So I roll over a slightly bigger log next to the fire and sit down on it, it feels nice and cozy, somewhat like a trip to the woods in winter, which this is not as in a normal trip my life would not be in constant danger.

Anyhow let me pass the time by doing some experiments with magic, there were a lot of things I wanted to do since I discovered how versatile it is.

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Time passes quite quickly and it is now afternoon, there are several more hours of light left and the hole is about two thirds ready, so the workers should be done before the sun sets.

I spent this time playing around with magic, no major discoveries have been made. It was while reviewing what I learned today that something unexpected happened. I felt a slight tug on the magic 'connection' i had with the bird.

I never felt anything like this before so I was quite surprised and intrigued at first, then I remembered what I told it to do to, 'tell me if you see anything or anyone'.

Without wasting another second I connect to the bird in order to see what happened. The world turns black and purple and I find myself staring at nothing. The bird is perched on top of a tree in the middle fo the forest. Judging by how thin the connection is it must be several kilometers away.

Sadly the bird is just a mana construct so it is not sentient therefore I cannot ask it what it saw, my guess is that is acts as a motion detector, it sends me a message whenever it feels something pass by.

As far as I know, it could have been a squirrel. Let us hope it was one.

While I am here I decide to take a look around, might as well. So the bird unfurls its wings and prepares to take flight only for my 'connection' to be suddenly cut off. This surprises me so much that I fall backwards onto the snow.

My heart is beating wildly and my eyes can only see the bright blue sky. my guards rush at me and try to help me up, I do not even blink.

The good news is that I felt something similar before, the bad news is that it happened when the bird got eaten.