[Contract | Lesser Gnome - Level 5 -> Lesser Gnome - Level 6]

  [Skill | Aether Sensitivity - Level 7 -> Aether Sensitivity - Level 8]

  Ashton smiled as he saw the notifications. Both the gnome and his aether sensitivity skill levelled up twice during this entire ordeal. It was amazing.

  Obviously, a summoner wasn't just made for fighting, and neither were elementals.

  Of course, as long as a summon wasn't against it, it was up to the summoner to use the new abilities they had access to. That's why Ashton was able to level the contracts up decently well. But this was a whole other deal. He was using the gnome's magic in a far, far more precise way than when he was just hurling rocks around.

  There was always a level of bonus experience that came with killing monsters, but in just four hours, Ashton was able to gather quite a lot of contract and skill experience even without that.

  Now, he was using up a lot of mana in the process, but a particular blend of herbs that he had found sped up mana recovery a decent amount, so he was smoking a lot of those cigarettes during his work. Fighting the mental exhaustion that came with using this much mana was also something that Ashton was used to.

  In Lumia, the Summoner would always just pump Ashton full of whatever mana necessary, but that obviously wasn't an option here. That was why Ashton had to be as precise and efficient as he possibly could be, which was in turn making his aether sensitivity skyrocket. At level 8, it gave him a solid boost.

  [Skill - Aether Sensitivity] [Level - 8]

  [Description - A Summoner's senses need to be as sharp as possible to catch all matters of magics, mystics, and aether. Gives a 12% bonus to Aether Perception]

  Aether sensitivity was a pretty powerful skill. The boost it gave him, starting at 5%, went up by 1% every level. And while 12% may not seem like a lot, considering that this was a passive boost that was constantly active, it was pretty incredible.

  Plus, that growth would probably speed up after level 10. Every 10 levels, skills and classes underwent some kind of 'choice', a change that would determine how things would proceed from then on. Ashton could barely wait until then. He was more than just curious about what kind of choices he would be presented with.

  Just as he was thinking so, a pair came by and picked up one of the bricks that Ashton made. They were pretty damn heavy, so most of them had to carry them with others. Especially when the wall got a bit higher, the Drunken Bear would have to take over.

  And the spirit in question came over and picked up as many of those bricks as they could hold onto, which basically entailed a whole stack of them. Ashton was barely able to make them fast enough before the bear came back for more.

  [Contract | Drunken Bear - Level 3 -> Drunken Bear -> Level 4]

  And this process was doing wonders for them as well. Frankly, they could work faster if they wanted to, but probably to be considerate of not just Ashton, but the other people in the camp. The bear was also the one working on the wall that needed space for a gate, so they were spending some time preparing a proper frame for said gate. Though, they did also just spend a lot of time drinking.

  But a ton of progress was made. Before long, almost the entire car park was dug up, revealing just a ton of gravel and sand underneath. There was dirt under there, which should be useful to set up some fields. Being self-sustaining would be an absolute necessity in the long term. Sure, it was possible to find some cans or preserved foods for a while, but those would run out sooner or later.

  This entire process would take years and years. It was necessary for people to provide for themselves to some degree.

  By the time Ashton fully removed everything usable from the car park, the wall that the Drunken Bear was working on was almost complete, standing two and a half metres tall, while the other two walls were each close to two metres tall. It all happened relatively fast because there was no need for them to apply mortar, so they could just stack up the bricks onto each other.

  For the rest, Ashton would take bricks from the nearby buildings. Pulling them out was relatively easy through the gnome, and the clay bricks were a bit easier to fuse together than the stone bricks from the car park, so the rest proceeded without issue.

  People pulled up some cars in front of the walls as well as desks and used them to reach up higher than before. The walls were supposed to be at least three metres tall, and four if at all possible.

  "What the hell is going on out here?" A group of obnoxious-looking guys from the investment firm upstairs came out through the barricade. They glanced into the car park, seeing that all the bricks were gone, and that everyone was building walls along the roads. "Who gave you permission to tear this place apart?!"

  Specifically, they were looking at Ashton, since he was the one actually putting the bricks together.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "Sam." He replied bluntly, pointing at his friend, who was one of the two main people taking charge in the wall-building process.

  The investors looked around, trying to find Sam, but before they left, Ashton asked a simple question that was on his mind.

  "What's the problem, exactly?"

  One of that group, a particularly obnoxious older man, turned and stared at Ashton. "The problem is that this is unsightly!"

  "Unsi- Excuse me? Are you a fucking idiot?"

  "Huh?"

  "Just shut up and go back inside, if you're not going to help. Just rot away in there until the time to clear the quest runs out."

  Taken aback, the investors looked at each other and then back at Ashton. "Are you just telling us to die?"

  The smile on Ashton's face disappeared. "You think I'm too squeamish to tell someone to die?"

  "Guys, guys, what's going on?" Sam quickly came jogging over, intervening. He must have seen the look on Ashton's face even from that far away. Putting on a smile on his own, Sam led the investors away from Ashton, explaining the situation to them. It seemed like they calmed down after a few moments. When they were gone, Ashton rolled his eyes and looked back at the wall.

  Poppy was sitting there on one of the ledges Ashton had created by pulling out bricks.

  "Don't look at me that way, guys like them piss me off," Ashton explained with a sigh. "What, did you want me to butter them up or something?"

  Poppy tilted her head to the side, clearly confused.

  "Ah, sorry. 'Butter them up' basically means to be overly nice to someone. And no, I have no idea where that saying comes from."

  With a laugh, Ashton pulled out another brick from the wall and fused it onto the larger block sitting next to him. Right then, someone came over to pick it up. It was one of the people from the coworking space. He picked the brick up like it weighed nothing, nodding at Ashton with a smile on his face.

  "Hold on," Ashton said, looking at him curiously. He was pretty well-built, but not in the same way that Sam was. That strength didn't come from working out, but from working. "Have you done this sort of stuff before? You were also pulling your weight at the barricade earlier."

  "Ah... Yeah, I, uh... I worked in construction for a few years, and my dad was a bricklayer." He explained with a thick Spanish accent.

  "... Do you have your class yet?"

  "Uh... no, I do not."

  "Any idea what you would like?"

  The man hesitated, not sure what to say. He thought for a few moments, putting the brick back down. "I did not like... killing. Taking a life with my own hands was hard, but seeing and feeling the hatred of a goblin was... harder. I do not think I am made for this. But at the same time, it feels wrong to leave such a burden to others."

  Slowly, he placed his hand onto the cross hanging from his neck. Religion was a good way to get through these things. In Lumia, religion was also a thing, though one of the most prominent religions was polytheistic. Of course, the gods there actually interacted with the world below. Even so, seeing how powerless their deities were, most people lost their faith once the system came in. Ashton had no idea what gods, if any, were real on earth, but he knew that those with a strong belief and conviction made it through some of the harsher parts of the apocalypse a bit more easily than others.

  Ashton himself was never religious. Even after knowing that gods were real in Lumia, the most he did was pray to try and get one of the gods to free him from the Summoner. He never really had any true faith in any of them, and he doubted that was going to change now.

  "If you get the opportunity, choose a non-combat class. I think you could do well with a construction-focused class. At the pace you're going, you might be able to get a 'Mason' class offered to you."

  The man widened his eyes. "Are you sure? Is that not the wrong choice during these times?"

  "Of course not. We need sturdy walls now more than ever. That's why we're doing this whole thing," Ashton said, pointing toward everyone else currently taking a breather. "Though it's unlikely any of us will feel 'safe' anytime soon, knowing that there are walls to protect you certainly helps get some sleep. You're not placing a burden onto others, you're protecting their peace in your own way."

  Looking down at the ground, the man sighed. "Truthfully, the 'Mason' class was offered to me half an hour ago. Are you certain that this is the right choice?"

  Well, that certainly was a surprise. It seemed like this guy really was made for this. "Of course. Go take a short break, think it through one more time, and if you choose that class, look through your beginner gear properly."

  Slowly, a smile formed on the man's face. "Thank you." He wiped the dirt and dust off his hand on his trousers and then held it toward Ashton. "I'm Alexis."

  "Ashton." The two shook hands, and Alexis looked back down at the brick, smiling lightly.

  "I'll bring this over to the wall, and then take a break."

  "Alright, man, sounds good." Ashton smiled, watching Alexis leave. "I guess I might as well take a break, myself."

  He stretched and looked over at the gnome. "Want to take a nap?"

  The small asphalt mole yawned and nodded, so Ashton pulled the elemental back into his vessel to let it relax a little. Poppy fluttered onto his shoulder, and he turned around. There was another reward that he hadn't picked out yet, which he had a perfect use for this time.

  The 'Uncommon Botany Selection Box'. Ashton found the perfect use for it. He looked through all the possible plants when he came up with his plan for the wall, and there was one in here that was just perfect. It was a specific type of ivy, basically known for being able to hold together structures like this. Sometimes, the stalks would grow so strong that the rest of the structure could crumble away, while the ivy would hold up a building's second floor all on their own. It was called 'Castle Ivy' for this exact reason. But at the same time, the ivy wouldn't actually spread all that far from the central root system if you knew what you were doing while planting it.

  It was a magical plant, after all. By placing the roots onto the right size of magic stone while planting it, you could define just how far the roots grew. Ashton had the perfect sizes of stones to make the roots grow all over the newly constructed walls as well as onto part of the adjacent buildings to keep it all locked in place perfectly.

  Castle ivy was also ridiculously resistant to the elements, and could regrow even if burnt down completely if just the central root ball remained. Plus, castle ivy even had sharp spines on the surface of the stalks, which would stop monsters from climbing up onto them. It was basically the perfect plant when it came to defending a base in this context. The only issue was that if someone had powerful enough magic that could control plants, they could bring down a wall like this with ease. It was why in Lumia, castle ivy was actually more of a plague in recent times because this weakness became extremely apparent. So, bringing nature-based mages with you was a fairly normal thing at castle sieges for a while.

  But it should take a while for mages like that to show up here, and by then, there should be ways to create more permanently sturdy walls.

  Ashton grabbed the root balls and pushed a magic stone inside some of them, before burying them down in the dirt in just the right places. He had specifically left some grooves on the outside of the bricks and created small channels inside of them to let the ivy grow all throughout to keep the entire thing locked down perfectly.

  By tomorrow morning, the walls would be overgrown, giving everyone here enough time to actually finish up the three walls.