Three days.
For three days, I had been a member of the Builder Faction. For three days, I had lived within the quiet, imposing walls of their headquarters. And for three days, I had been doing the most mind-numbingly boring work I could possibly imagine.
"Hand me another stone," a gruff voice grunted from above.
I sighed, wiping a layer of gritty dust from my forehead with the back of my hand. I picked up another heavy, perfectly cut slab of granite and passed it up to the figure standing on the scaffolding above me.
Fen, the wolf-eared beastfolk summon, took the stone with one hand as if it weighed nothing. His golden eyes scanned it for a moment, then he slotted it perfectly into a gap in the city's outer wall. There was no mortar, no magic. The stone simply settled into place with a soft thump, its edges sealing seamlessly against its neighbors.
This was my "training." Not learning to fight, not practicing with my maguns, not even studying the nature of my lineage orb. Just manual labor. Every morning, the Builder's attendant, Lyra, would politely inform me of my daily assignment. And every day, that assignment was the same: accompany Fen to a section of the wall and assist with repairs.
I was a glorified construction assistant.
"This is ridiculous," I muttered to myself, leaning against the cold stone of the wall. I had expected grueling combat drills, tests of my mana control, something—anything—that would prepare me for the next time a monster came howling for my orb. Instead, I was learning the difference between granite and limestone.
Fen leaped down from the scaffolding, his landing impossibly soft for a man his size. He ignored my grumbling, his focus entirely on the section of wall we had just patched. His scarred jaw was set in concentration, his wolf-like ears twitching slightly as if listening to the stone itself.
"The seal is strong here," he said, his voice a low rumble. "But the foundation is weak further down. We'll start there tomorrow."
He spoke in short, direct sentences, and only when it was about the work. For the first two days, I'd tried to make small talk, asking him about the other summons, about the Builder, about this world. My questions were met with a silent, intimidating stare that made it clear my job was to lift, not to talk.
But I had noticed something. Despite his silence, he wasn't cold. He was patient. When I fumbled with a stone, he would wait. When I positioned one incorrectly, he would simply take it and show me the right way without a word of criticism. It was strange. We were getting closer, I think, but our bond was forged in shared silence and the weight of rocks.
A cheerful voice suddenly cut through the quiet monotony. "Working hard, or hardly working?"
I turned to see Erina leaning against a nearby stack of crates, a playful smirk on her face. She'd made it a habit to check on me once a day, usually bringing a piece of fruit or some other snack she'd "liberated" from the Merchant Faction.
"What do you think?" I grumbled, gesturing to my dust-caked clothes. "I passed the Builder's impossible test just to become a bricklayer."
Fen gave Erina a slight, almost imperceptible nod of acknowledgement before turning his attention back to the wall, granting us a sliver of privacy.
Erina tossed me an apple, which I caught gratefully. "I heard about your trial," she said, her tone more serious now. "You didn't just land a blow on Valerius. You used the lineage orb to break the ground he stood on. No one's ever done that before."
"Lucky guess," I said, taking a crunchy bite of the apple. "But what's the point if this is all he has me doing? Is he punishing me for damaging his precious floor?"
She laughed. "No, Kael. The Builder doesn't punish people. He's… efficient. If he has you doing something, there's a reason. He's not the Adventurer leader. He doesn't believe strength only comes from fighting."
"Could've fooled me," I muttered, looking at my calloused hands. "This just feels like a waste of time. Monsters are going to come for me again. I should be learning how to fight them, not how to build a wall they're just going to smash down."
"Maybe you're learning something more important," she said softly. "The Adventurers break things. The Builder… well, he builds. It's a different kind of strength. Just think about it." She gave me a little wave. "Anyway, I've got to run. Got a patrol mission near the west forest. Try not to get crushed by a rock!"
With that, she was gone, leaving me alone with my thoughts and the silent beastman.
A different kind of strength.
Her words echoed in my head. I looked at the wall, at the seamless patch Fen had just finished. It was perfect. Strong. Enduring. I thought back to my trial. I hadn't beaten Valerius with a powerful spell. I had beaten him by changing the battlefield itself. By influencing the stone.
I glanced at Fen, who was now marking sections of the wall with a piece of chalk. He was completely absorbed in his work, his focus absolute. He wasn't just stacking rocks. He was maintaining the city's very existence. He was protecting everyone inside, not with a sword, but with his hands and his knowledge of the foundation.
An idea began to form in my mind, a faint glimmer of understanding.
I walked over to a new section of the wall, a spot where a stone had been chipped, leaving a small, jagged hole. I knelt down, placing my palm flat against the cold surface next to the damage.
Closing my eyes, I reached for the lineage orb in my pocket. Not to draw on its power, but just to feel its presence. I focused, trying to replicate the feeling I'd had during the trial—that connection to the raw, wild energy within.
I didn't try to force it. I just… listened. I extended my senses, not with my eyes or ears, but through the point of contact between my hand and the wall. For a long moment, there was nothing but cold, dead stone.
Then, I felt it. A faint vibration. A resonance. It was like I could feel the stress in the rock, the invisible fracture lines running deep within the slab from the impact that had chipped it. It was like the wall was a living thing, and I could feel its pain.
The energy from the orb stirred, a warm pulse that traveled up my arm. I didn't push it into the wall like before. Instead, I guided it, gently coaxing it into the stone. I pictured the fracture lines, the microscopic cracks, and imagined them sealing. I imagined the stone becoming whole again.
A low humming sound filled the air. The wall beneath my palm vibrated, and the chipped edges of the hole began to soften and flow like thick liquid. Slowly, impossibly, the stone mended itself, the missing piece regenerating until the surface was perfectly smooth again.
I pulled my hand back as if the wall were hot, staring in disbelief. The damage was gone. Completely. The stone looked as if it had never been broken.
My mana bar hadn't moved. This hadn't used my game skills. It had used the orb's power. It had used… something else.
A shadow fell over me. I looked up to see Fen standing there, his golden eyes fixed on the repaired stone. He knelt down, running a calloused hand over the spot I had just fixed. His usual stoic expression was gone, replaced by one of intense curiosity.
He looked from the wall to my face, his gaze searching. I expected a question, maybe an accusation. Instead, he spoke two quiet words that sent a shiver down my spine.
"You are learning."
He stood up and gave the wall a final, satisfied look. "Good. The Master will be pleased."
I stayed kneeling for a long time after he walked away, staring at my own two hands. Erina was right. This wasn't a punishment. This wasn't a waste of time.
This was my real training. And it had just begun.