Farm Work

"Now no need for any violence." Mil spoke up. "If there not be any jobs how about trade then?" The old wagoneer reached back and flipped the tarp in the back of the wagon. It revealed a fair amount of processed lumber and even a small pallet of bricks.

For a moment the small group squared off with D who in turn was eying the Hunter's Guild entrance as if he didn't even see the armed group. "Where you all be from?" The woman that had previously addressed D spoke up as she touched the halberd to have them retract it.

"We have a little settlement up the ways." Mil pointed back the way they had come and noticed those gathered sharing glances.

"You all come from the Phantom Town? The one no one can enter?" One of the older men wielding a machete spoke up.

"Yes." D growled getting more and more annoyed at being kept from his goal.

Gretchen ignored the sudden burst of gossip and really looked over the group. Her eyes ignored the imposing figure of the man in front of her and instead looked at the sword hilt jutting over his shoulder. While no expert in weapons, once she looked closer she felt it was better quality than just some vagabonds weapon. Her eyes flicked to the wand gripped tightly by the girl half hidden in the folds of her long skirt.

'Quality weapons and a magic wand? Perhaps they are nobles that survived the fall of Gelian. That would explain how a walled town could just appear out of nowhere so suddenly. If they have magic it is best to not antagonize them. At least not until we know what we are dealing with. But if they try anything…" Gretchen hadn't survived the dog eat dog world of working in the royal palace nor her escape to Nimil on kindness and hope.

"Forgive us. We are all refugees from Gelian and winter has been harsh." Gretchen gave a curtsy even though she was wearing pants.

The gathered group parted when their leader switched her attitude. Gretchen was expecting an introduction but instead, the tall youth walked right past her and into the guildhall.

"Sorry, MY D isn't one much for words." Jane loudly declared, making sure everyone heard her. When all eyes turned to her she resisted the urge to tilt her head so her hair would hide her scars.

Inside D gave the same scarred man that had been at the counter the last time a slight nod before approaching the board for jobs. Sadly, it was empty as they had claimed.

"Surprised to see you alive. Ya has grown like a weed too." The older man came around the counter to approach D.

"There are no jobs?" D grunted.

"Nope. Swamps been quiet." He eyed the boy. "Real quiet. Ever since you left to take that job up at the Lender's place. Haven't heard from them." He eyed the blood steel falchion D carried and dropped the subject.

D let out a long drawn out sigh.

"What's the matter boy?" The older man asked.

"I don't want to farm." With that strange response, he turned to leave the guildhall.

Outside several of the locals were in heated negotiations with Mil for the building materials they had brought with them. D ignored them and climbed into the settee next to Jane since Mil was currently in the back of the wagon. Jane shifted over and leaned against him. She eyed a few of the women who had been looking at her D until they turned away.

D didn't react but just sat there brooding. The thought of a world without monsters to fight for money filled him with dread. "Next time. I won't kill them all." His words confused Jane but since he wasn't pushing her off she didn't say anything and enjoyed being close to him.

**********

Much to D's complaint, he had to help them when he returned back. The entire time he spent trying to work on a ward to simply plow fields or make plants grow. Sadly it was to no avail. His knowledge for wards was all for attack or defense. His knowledge of farming was nil. Trying to combine them wasn't working. At least not in time to be helpful.

Making the processing wards for wood and stone had simply applied the idea of attack wards. Shredding wood down to the finest sawdust used cutting blades of wind. Pulverizing stone to dust used kinetic force. Only after they were at that stage did he reassemble them back. The first part had been easy the second had been harder but not impossible. Both used a mold of hardened air. Then applied force to compress them back into a solid form. Water pulled from the moisture in the air was added and it was just a matter of finding the amount of pressure while controlling how quickly it was applied to make it all work.

He had gotten the idea from Mil actually. They mentioned pressed boards when he first started cutting the wood with magic into lumber. That all the scraps were going to waste and maybe they could make it. After explaining roughly the idea, D had done the rest.

The good part was he did come up with an idea to get him out of a second day of helping. Mil had managed to sell all the goods but there just wasn't that much coinage in Nimil. They had traded for mostly goods. With D's magic, they could process earth, stone, and wood but they didn't have any metal for tools. They had traded for metal tools and equipment. Several heavy iron pots and a few other tools. Even ones they didn't need. Dean had been the one behind that idea.

Though he hadn't broached the subject with D he was sure the boy could process metal just like anything else. Eventually.

When Dean had mentioned it at dinner D had barely finished his food, wolfing down everything before him. Before jumping up to carry one of the spare pots out to his room/workshop. He had built a small single room building for himself. It was filled with items he was experimenting on, including half finished projects. It was also where they housed the huge dragon rattle. More specifically the rattle was under the house, but it gave him quick and easy access to it when he wanted to tweak the wards. Or check on the status of the catalyst.

Smaller versions of the rattle were sitting on a shelf, different sizes ranging from only three or four rattles to one that had ten. After eating the dragon he had found that instead of the poisoned spike at the end of his tail he could grow a rattle. It was a slow process that took a lot of energy and effort. Slowly forming and adding another notch to the rattle.

They worked as catalysts as well which excited D. But they were far weaker than the dragon, the fewer bulbs on each one the weaker it was. On top of that, the process of growing one drained him greatly. He had collapsed and blacked out making the ten section rattle.

On one table made of hardened stone were several ruined wand prototypes. He had been trying to produce one based on the one Mil had. It hadn't gone well so far. They kept blowing up. It annoyed him because he was certain it should work. But just like when he enchanted his own body with the fire ward it overloaded rapidly and exploded. He couldn't figure out how they stabilized it. Nor how just anyone could activate them.

He picked up the smallest rattle off the shelf and took it to the grindstone. Grinding the rattles greatly reduced their power but he hadn't found a way to stick one in a wand yet. Once ground into a bag of fine dust he picked up the pot. How different could it be to mold metal than earth?