Bully

All that time spent on the internet is turning out to not be a complete waste of my life. As I have spent countless hours diving into various topics, most of them quite useless in the Before, I have gathered some knowledge that came in handy in this world.

One such thing was a video I once watched about making wood ash concrete. It should be easy enough to make if memory served me well.

There was only one ingredient needed, and that was hardwood ash. Ironbark would do great for that… I hope. I had no clue what was the chemical composition of the plants here is, but they seemed similar enough to those on Earth, so I just assumed they were about the same.

I have gathered most of what was left from the communal bonfire we had yesterday. Despite a few deaths, the falling of the giant tree just had to be celebrated to lift the morale.

I do not yet have enough ash for my needs, but that could wait. First I needed to confirm the information I had was correct.

So, the first step in making wood ash concrete was to mix the ashes with water until they became a gray paste. Then, I made the stuff into fist-sized balls and let them dry out in the sun. And finally, they had to be heated up in a fire until they begin to glow red-hot.

I did all of that with Telekinesis since I didn't have any containers and it would have been really messy otherwise.

While not everybody was quite as experienced with Telekinesis as I was, most of the kids here could use it to some extent, even if their control was horribly imprecise and weak. As such my actions don't attract much attention, though I could see some curious glances coming my way as they were probably wondering what the heck I was even doing.

It was difficult to keep superior skills hidden when it was so goddamn convenient. I could only blame my greatness should I get in trouble because of it.

I was kidding! I was not some complete narcissist. While they had much more time to explore magic their entire life while I only had less than a year, I bet they didn't have so many life-and-death situations where their ability decided whether they lived or died. And since I did, it was obvious I would learn much faster. Necessity and desperation made humans learn new things very quickly.

So when the ash balls were nicely baked, it was basically done. I just dissolved them in a bit of water to make a slurry and then added a bit of sand and gravel. I made a small bucket worth of concrete, and it was time to use it.

Since I decided to make my house under a cliff, I began reinforcing the rocky face by building a retaining wall. With the sad little amount of concrete I had, it was barely enough to finish laying down the first layer before I ran out.

I then went around the camp, gathering the branches and wood splinters that came off the trees, and made another bonfire. I gathered the ashes after it burned out, and then lit another one. I didn't want to make the fire too big in case it went out of control, and besides, I had stones to mine. I couldn't keep a watch over it the entire time even if I wanted to.

And so, a few days went by, perhaps even a week, I wasn't counting. I just knew that I made a pile of ash balls, ready to be fired, mixed, and turned into concrete.

The nice blocks of stone from the quarry were nearly enough to make the walls of my house as I was cutting and grinding the damn things day and night. I finished the retaining wall just to see the strength of my creation, and I had to say, I was satisfied with the results.

It might not have been perfect, but for the primitive tools at my disposal, it was great! Way better than those questionable wooden shacks that were starting to pop up all over the place.

During this time I chatted with a few guys and galls here, getting to know their whole situation a bit better. I couldn't reveal that I was completely clueless about their way of life, but a friendly chat was something I was more than capable of.

Well, one of the guys here noticed me building my house out of stone and tried to mimic me. It obviously didn't work, but then the guy came up with another idea. He started making bricks out of clay.

I almost wanted to facepalm at that. How that simple idea escaped my mind was concerning, but then a few more of them began doing the same. The plank-making business was going slowly as we didn't have a saw, so mostly we had to use axes to split wood or use magic in creative ways, both of which took a lot of time.

Meanwhile, this place was full of clay and dirt, as well as dried grass, perfect for making bricks.

The guy that first began the clay brick movement went by the name of Che Erie, with the name Che being his personal one, and Erie belonging to his family.

I didn't know why that was important, but that's how he introduced himself.

In any case, he began making his house quite close to mine under the cliff, with about ten meters of space between us, and Alyx Bell did the same, only on the opposite side, also under the cliff.

Those two were the ones I spent the most time with, so I guessed it was alright. Two new friends in two weeks. Works for me.

While Alyx Bell learned medicine from his mother, Che Erie was a knowledgeable builder since he worked with his father for the last five years, learning the craft. His house, or the beginnings of it, was among the best in quality among the recruits, almost close to mine.

He was a great guy this Che. Even when he was tired from hard work, if anyone asked his advice, he would always go with them to see what could be done about things pertaining to the building. He even helped Alyx put together his hut as the guy was hopelessly unqualified. If it was herbs or making medicine you were after, he could tell you everything. But when it came to building a house, he was as clumsy as it gets.

I had to help by holding various planks in place with telekinesis as Che put them together. To think he would be good at carpentry too, a really versatile man this guy.

***

I believe there was about a week left when I finished my lodging. The roof was made out of wooden tiles, while everything else was gray stone. Or, well, it used to be gray stone. Soon it became all white as I made some nice paint from limestone and painted the entire thing over.

There was no limestone close to our camp, and I had to go down the mountain to find some, but it was totally worth it! I dared to say my house was the nicest in the entire newby village!

But I didn't mean to brag, of course. I was the live representation of humility.

My new friend Che helped me to make some furniture and I gave him a hand at making a roof in return.

We both had to help Alyx though, and as a thank you, he made us some really nice tea as well as some clay pottery. Even though I don't exactly drink tea, I had to say, after living in the wilderness for so long, a change in beverage was quite nice! The cups too.

These guys were full of surprises!

But then something happened that brought dark clouds over our cheerful existence. And no, it wasn't the Howler. The damn beast learned its lesson and avoided our village, hopefully forever.

No, what came was a group of six young guys from the Silver Boar village. How did I know that? The fools told us! Well, not that it mattered. Our community was quite small after all.

Anyway, we at first thought that they maybe needed help with something, as that's what people usually came to us for, but no. They were different, and I could tell. They were tense and nervous, and their facial expressions were grim, despite their best attempts at hiding it.

All of them, except their boss.

"Nice house!" Their leader, Chity Boru, began as if it was just friendly banter. "You three really know how to build!"

"Oh, thank you!" Both Chen and Alyx blushed at his words, the first one proud someone complimented his work, the latter embarrassed since he didn't do much. I didn't say a thing.

"But I think they are not suitable for you. It's best if me and my boys take over so we can protect such nice places, alright? We already prepared places where you can move to."

Did I mention both Che Erie and Alyx Bell were from the Old Plum village? I was pretty sure the Silver Boar and Old Plum village chiefs had some old beef between them. And apparently, that competitiveness transferred to the younger generation.

It was worth mentioning that those guys were all taller than us, and looking at the difference in body mass they looked quite scary.

Che Erie was a builder, so he had some muscle, but he looked quite frightened. When he realized the compliment was spoken in sarcasm and that they were here to take his new home, his cheerful expression disappeared and was replaced by a worried one.

Alyx was a healer and an alchemist. This basically meant he was lean, not scrawny, but also not capable of taking on these guys.

That left me. Oh boy.

"You made this nice house, right?" Chity Boru spoke to me. I didn't react.

"Such a nice dwelling should belong to the leader. I think I'll take it!" I believe he took my non-response as an admission of surrender. Boy, was he wrong!

I knew he was just a kid, three or four years younger than me, but that didn't mean I was just going to roll over and let him take my stuff! Or my friends' stuff! Hell to the no!

As he tried to take a look inside my house, I quickly moved to block his path. The action surprised him as well as his goons who stiffened a bit more. Their leader didn't react though. He appeared as casual as ever. He probably thought I was beneath him, seeing that he was looking down on me. Literally.

That's when I couldn't hold it in anymore and had to speak my mind.

[Were you ever punched in the nose?] It was a good question, in my opinion. A wise man could immediately figure out the implication.

But Chity Boru looked at me funny. "No, why?" He was confused. I knew it. That would explain a lot.

Well, I did say I would like to be laying low, but he just had such a punchable mug! I… I didn't know if I could resist the temptation! Gods, if you are real, grant me the power to hold back!

I waited a few seconds but felt nothing. In fact, the urge to troll him just increased and I couldn't stop myself.

[Well, would you like to?]