Bricks and more bricks

[Goku]

Ymiden 7 721




Goku crouched on top of a pile of bricks with a brick in hand. He peered out across the street through a pair of windows just waiting for orders. His coworkers squatted right beside him absent mindedly in the shade to avoid the summer heat. Up and down the streets workers walked and hugged the shadows of the walls. They were clothed appropriately for the heat which was unfortunate for their skin because rubbing their skin directly against bricks was uncomfortable to say the least. At the center of the street knelt the foreman. His hands flipped quickly through designs as he murmured orders to his assistants. Most of the foot traffic on the street had been diverted around the construction project which made it simple for orders to be given and carried out.

The heat was getting on everyone’s nerves. “Can’t wait for winter,” someone to Goku’s left said but Goku wasn’t listening to him. He was too fixated on a family who was kneeling against a wall in deep prayer. It made him think about all the times in life that he thought he ought to pray. Prayer was a good thing, or so they say. The laborer looked over to the foreman’s assistant who was beckoning them over with one hand and pointing with the other.

“Time to work boys,” Goku said with a grunt. He put bricks neatly into a bag and then slung the bag over his back. It was not easy carrying so much weight. It weight a few bricks more than it ought to. Goku immediately felt the weight of the bag cause the bag to dig into his shoulder and his knees complained. There wasn’t anything that he could do about it, he had to work with what he was given. Goku got in line with the other brick carriers who walked with a steady pace down the street. Goku thought of it like a training exercise and treated it as such. He tried taking more bricks than he ought to in order to push himself harder than his previous job. He focused on making his steps steady as well as keeping his back straight. That was the only way he could manage the extra weight anyhow.

The assistant shouted at some people in the line. “Enough talking, or else we will be here all day!” He walked around with a bucket of water. He scooped some in a small cup and offered it to the workers who looked thirsty or those who gave him eye contact. He was hard on the workers but he knew that they needed to be hydrated at least. Regardless of whether they wanted to drink any he was sure to dump some on their backs for good measure despite how sweaty they were.

“Doesn’t get any easier does it?” Goku asked the assistant when he dumped out his third bag of bricks. Three trips and he was already feeling his legs burn like crazy. Burn though they might Goku wasn’t going to quit anytime soon.

“No, I suppose it doesn’t,” the assistant said, passing Goku a cup of water as he did so.
“You don’t have that any trips to make though. We’d never work you more than you can handle.” The assistant took pride in his work. He may never be a foreman in his own right but he could rock at being the next best thing

“I trust you,” Goku said after gulping down the water and passing the cup back. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, I wouldn’t work so hard that I injured myself.”

“Back in my day my foreman always told me to take plenty of rest before hauling my next load. Breaks are good for your muscles so take them when you can. That being said, get back to work!”

Goku smiled and walked at a calm pace back to his starting point. In his younger days he would have run back but experience taught him to take it easy. He thought about the advice the assistant gave him. He figured it made sense that if he wanted to build muscle with his work he needed to give his muscles appropriate rest. It was a natural thing to get distracted with work and rush so he would have to fight his urge to get it done quickly.

Goku hung around for a few minutes when he got to the pile of bricks. He put the bricks in the bag quickly enough but instead of taking off immediately he took the time to stretch a little and take deep breaths. Despite how much he hated the heat he did like sweating a lot more than freezing.

“You know what? This could be a good opportunity to try out some runes!” The thought went off like a light bulb in Goku’s head. He took a seat and drew a strength rune along his right calf and then one along his left thigh. It was a simple rune, pretty much the only rune he knew how to use with any competence or regularity. He had not used magic in quite some time but today felt like a good opportunity.

Drawing the runes took a few minutes each. He could’ve rushed but there was no reason to given that he was going to make up the time by carrying more bricks this time. The few laborers that knew Goku knew that he was a magician and often wondered why he wasted his talents at a laborious job such as this. They watched him out of the corner of their eyes as he inscribed glowing symbols on his legs. The workers that didn’t know Goku were a little more obvious about how they looked at him. Goku wouldn’t notice the eyes of anyone because he was focused on his runes; so long as nobody talked to him he wouldn’t be distracted.

By the time he was done he was practically brimming with excitement to test out his enhanced strength. The feeling made him completely forget about the ever awkward feeling of having ether leave his body. He added several more brings into the bag and then tried to lift it. His back strained and so did his core to take on the extra weight at first. Goku had to adjust his stance to be wider and to drive most of the lifting force into his legs instead of his arms. Once he hit the sweet spot for his stance he stood up with surprising ease. The bag still dug into his shoulder and his arms still complained but his legs didn’t feel the least bit troubled by supporting all the weight. “This is pretty great!”

One trip was all Goku needed in order to realize that he was onto something. After packing his next bag of bricks he took the time to place more runes on his body. Each arm got one and even his stomach. This made his bag much easier to carry. “I’ve just got to do this more often,” Goku said triumphantly though he realized that he couldn’t do this all the time or else he would suffer long term consequences.

Goku made several more trips noting that the runes were lasting a lot longer than he was used to. He supposed his growth as a magician meant that his runes were bound to last longer than usual. He then came to the realization that if he was carrying too much weight and his runes faded away mid trip he was going to be in a whole lot of hurt. A shiver shot down his spine when he thought about how much embarrassment he would face if he dropped the bag and broke some of the bricks inside. Even worse he had the potential to injure himself. The thought of collapsing on the floor with a bag of bricks weighing him down filled his mind. He couldn’t believe the thought didn’t occur to him before he started experimenting, it just showed that he wasn’t used to thinking things through diligently. He picked up the pace to finish up the trip and then returned to using the normal amount of bricks afterwards.

When the work was done the workers celebrated inside a nearby tavern where liquor and food were provided. It was part of the compensation package and one of the ways that this particular construction company kept its workers happy. Goku settled for a big ol’ slice of ham and a beer that he wretched at when he smelled but tasted alright in the end. “I bet Roshi will be happy to hear that I used runes practically today,” he thought while he ate. “And probably disappointed when he hears I’m still laboring instead of fighting in some army.” A grim look came across his face while he wondered when he would ever get around to learning other magical disciplines. The only thing stopping him was his fear which he may never overcome.

[Pig Boy]

Player Name: Goku

Points awarded: 10
Magic xp: for Hone (using a novice rune, yes, but several times throughout his body. He learned something and kind of pushed his experience beyond what he knows)

Knowledge:

Strength: 2
Hone: Growing as a mage increases the duration of runes
Meditation: Taking your time to avoid making mistakes
Meditation: ignoring the stares of others
Discipline: Don’t rush, take breaks and do it right

Renown: 5
Loot: none
Injuries/Overstepping: Some light exhaustion and soreness.
Wealth Points: n/a

Skill Review: All Skills used appropriately to PC's level

Notes: Well this was a pretty well-written scene. I had a clear vision of what was going on at any time, and you used your magic properly. I like that Goku put a rune on his stomach, to 'strengthen' his core. That's a good hone technique to learn, as the core supports the rest of the body, so good on him for learning that on his own. I will admit I was curious what sort of building they were constructing in Scalvoristown, that sort of detail might've been good to learn about, but probably not the foremost thing on Goku's mind as he's breaking his back in a laborious job.

You described the time lapse between the drawing of the runes very well here, illustrating that it takes a good few moments even for a competent mage to draw those runes properly.

All in all, a productive day in the life of a magical bricklayer. Good writing!

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this review, feel free to PM. Enjoy your rewards!