Junior spotted him rounding the corner and waved from the scaffolding before hopping down with surprising agility for his size.
“You sure are a fast runner, young man. How’d it go at the association?”
“Everything went smoothly,” Jack replied, catching his breath. “I showed them your token, and they let me use the kiln without any trouble.”
“Good, good. That means we’ve got everything we need.” Junior beckoned him over. “C’mon, I’ll show you how to mix mortar.”
Nearby, he’d set up a work area. A heavy wooden tub, bound with iron bands, sat on the ground. Leaning against the wall next to it was a thick wooden pole, its middle wrapped in leather grips worn from use.
“You ever use a pestle and mortar?” Junior asked.
“Yeah, pretty often,” Jack said. “I use one to crush moss for bandages—or minerals when I’m mixing glazes for pottery.”
“Well, this is the same idea. Just scaled up a bit,” Junior said. “That pole is the pestle. The tub’s your mortar. You're going to crush those seashells into fine powder. They've already been burned down to lime. Now we crush ’em fine, then mix ’em.”
He grabbed the post. As he lifted it, the veins in his forearms stood out like ropes. With a sharp breath, he brought it down.
The impact was thunderous.
A cloud of dust puffed into the air. Birds scattered from the nearby rooftops, and flakes of plaster shook loose from the buildings. Jack stumbled back, wide-eyed.
I’ve only ever seen that kind of force once—when the mastodon in the breach rammed the cliff and made the whole mountain shake.
“Junior! Quit showing off!” Barney Senior barked from up on the roof.
Junior just chuckled. “So? Think you can handle it?”
Jack swallowed. “I’ll give it a shot.”
“Atta boy. But don’t swing it like a hammer—let the weight do the work,” Junior said, guiding Jack’s grip.
Jack winced. Yeah, right. As if the earthquake you just caused came from "letting the weight do the work" instead of your dinosaur muscles.
A pleasant chime echoed in Jack’s ears.
You’ve become a Mason-in-Training.
You’ve learned a new skill: [Powdering].
Powdering (Common)
Skill level: 1
Description: Before you can build, you must first learn to break down.
Effect: You can now reduce certain materials to powder for use in construction.
Finally! An official recognition of the apprenticeship.
Junior clapped him on the shoulder. “And don’t worry—we’ll get to the fun part soon enough. Once we’ve got that powder, we’ll start laying stone before you know it.”
“Sure,” Jack said, though truthfully, he was already having fun.
He stepped up to the setup and wrapped his hands around the leather-bound grip of the pestle. The weight felt good—solid, but not overwhelming—and the bucket’s shape naturally guided each swing to center.
He dumped the seashells. After their time in the kiln, they were charred black in spots and cracked from the heat. He raised the post and brought it down hard.
Boom! Crunch!
The shells shattered under the impact with far less resistance than he’d expected.
Must be because they’ve been burned to a crisp.
“Good job!” Junior called out. “That had a nice sound to it. Keep going, Jack.”
There was a note of encouragement in his voice—but Jack couldn’t help hearing it as slightly condescending after the seismic display Junior had put on. Still, he got into the rhythm.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
He pounded steadily, and the shells cracked, fractured, and finally broke apart into dust.
Congratulations! You’ve crafted 3× [Quicklime]!
+3 XP in Masonry
You’ve temporarily learned a new recipe: [Quicklime]
Recipe for [Quicklime]:
Ingredients:
-
Seashells
Instructions:
-
Burn seashells in a kiln until fully calcined.
-
Crush thoroughly with a pestle and mortar.
Requirements:
-
Masonry
Jack read through the recipe with a smile. But when he saw the reward, he clicked his tongue.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Tsk. Thirty shells, and I only get three items and 3 XP? No wonder the guide called Masonry a grind.
Junior had come over by then. He crouched beside the bucket, pinched a bit of the dust between his fingers, and rubbed it.
“Bravo,” he said. “Good texture on this batch. Next step’s slaking the lime. Add water, right here in the bucket.”
Jack grabbed the glass water jugs he’d picked up at the market. As he poured, the powder hissed and fizzed, bubbling up like an angry pot.
“Keep going. Up to about halfway,” Junior said, watching the reaction carefully.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d think I was learning the Chemistry major, not the Masonry minor.
Jack poured steadily.
“Now give it a little mix. Here. Use this,” he said, handing over a flat wooden paddle.
Jack stirred the mix.
“This isn’t soup. Just give it a low stir to get the dust to react with the water. You don’t need to mix it like that.”
Jack adjusted his rhythm. He scraped the bottom, careful to bring up any dry clumps, until the lime quieted and the bar ticked toward full. When it looked properly slaked, he stepped back.
Junior stood beside him, arms crossed, nodding in approval.
“Is it me, or is the mix getting hot by itself?” Jack asked.
“Oh yeah. When you slake the quicklime, the chemical reaction generates heat.”
“That’s kind of strange.”
“Hmm?”
“Seashells come from the ocean. They’re formed underwater and stay there for who knows how long. Now they’re reacting this violently to water?”
Junior chuckled. “That’s a good point. But that’s just how it is.”
The water grew cloudy, a milky white hue spreading through it as tiny bubbles clung to the bucket’s edges. The reaction simmered visibly as the progress bar ticked upward. Jack leaned closer then flinched back as a wave of heat pulsed from the mix. It was almost like the bucket was cooking from the inside out.
You’ve slaked [Quicklime].
+1 XP in Masonry
Junior watched Jack’s reaction, amused. “Go ahead. Try to mix it. Feel the consistency.”
Jack did as he was told. He pushed the paddle through the mix and met resistance.
“Uh?” He leaned in. The liquid had thickened. It felt like wet clay.
“Good. We’re halfway there. Now add sand. Slowly.”
Jack pulled the sack from his inventory and began adding it one handful at a time.
Junior hovered nearby, eyes sharp, watching every move.
“Now stir. Turn it. Fold it over—like you’re kneading dough.”
Jack followed the instructions. The blend thickened quickly, turning from sludge into something heavier—dense, gritty, but still workable.
His thoughts drifted back to the ocean. Water, sand, seashells. He’d taken those same elements and turned them into something entirely new. Stone glue. It was unexpected and kind of wonderful.
There was something deeply satisfying about it. Mixing, folding, transforming raw materials into something useful.
How many walls had he walked past in his life, never realizing what held them together?
Well… if this was how modern mortar was made. Maybe it was just an old recipe the game decided to use.
“Perfect,” Junior said, nodding with quiet pride. “That’s good mortar. Could hold a wall through a flood.”
A soft chime sounded in Jack’s ears.
Congratulations! You’ve learned a new recipe: [Mortar].
Recipe for [Mortar]:
Ingredients:
-
Quicklime
-
Water
-
Sand
Instructions:
-
Add water to quicklime. Gently stir.
-
Give the mixture time to settle.
-
Slowly add sand until the mortar acquires the right texture.
Requirements:
-
Masonry
“Not bad!”
Jack looked up. Senior stood on the rooftop, arms crossed, a satisfied grin on his face.
“That looks like it’ll be enough, huh?”
“Yeah, Pops,” Junior called back. “Jack here did a great job.”
Senior nodded, clearly pleased. “You! Jack! Bring it up here. Why don’t I teach you a couple of things. Consider it thanks for your help.” Then his eyes shifted to his son. “And you! Enough loitering! Get back to work!”
Junior threw up his hands. “What are you talking about, you old man? I was teaching the boy just like you asked!”
“Hmph. And it took you this long? You sure took your sweet, sweet time.”
Junior groaned. “Argh. I should really start my own company.”
“Don’t you dare! Barney & Barney & Barney has been in our family for generations!”
“Maybe I’ll start one called Just Barney. Or The Best Barney.”
“Ungrateful brat!”
Jack hid a smile as he gathered the mortar bucket. This family might argue like madmen, but they clearly cared about their business and about each other.
The climb was steady, the boards solid underfoot. When he reached the top, the view opened around him. The rooftops of the city stretched in every direction like a grid of stone and slate. And beyond them, rising above it all like the edge of the world, stood the white horizon: the Wall.
The roof itself was flat, built from wide slabs of black stone laid into a sturdy framework. Along the far edge, a low wall was halfway rebuilt. Some of the original stones had crumbled or shifted over time, and a few had already been reset with fresh mortar. Others still lay stacked nearby in a neat pile.
Senior was crouched near a gap in the parapet, motioning Jack over.
“Here’s where we’ll start,” he said. “Simple patch job. I want you to take that trowel and butter the base of this stone. Just enough to hold, not so much it oozes out the sides. Think you can handle it?”
“Yes sir!” Jack said, grinning.
You’ve learned a new skill: [Trowel Mastery].
Trowel Mastery (Common)
Skill level: 1
Description: It’s not as simple as cleaning your cat’s litter! Waving a trowel is a form of art in itself. In the right hands, it can build empires.
Skill effects: You can now use the trowel to spread binder and fixate construction materials together.
Jack dipped the trowel into the trough and scooped out a portion of the mortar. The mortar was surprisingly heavy on the blade. He followed Senior’s instructions and spread it along the base of the next stone.
“Good. Keep your wrist loose. Don’t fight the trowel.”
He adjusted, letting his grip relax, and found a smoother motion as he coated the base and one end.
“Now lift the stone and set it in place. Tight against the one before it. Wiggle it just a bit, then leave it be.”
Jack did as he was told, placing the stone with both hands. He gave it a slight twist, then let it settle. The stone made a satisfying thump as it locked into place.
“Looks good,” Senior said, standing with a satisfied nod. “You’ll want a line eventually, for level work. But in here, we’re just fitting the old to the new. Next stone.”
Senior kept handing him stones, talking him through each step. It was so different from pottery. With pottery, he shaped nothing into something. Here, he was slotting stone to stone, like working with heavy, gritty Lego.
Once they’d finished patching the parapet, Senior dusted his hands on his pants and gestured toward the chimney base in the corner.
“Alright. See that chimney?”
The chimney leaned awkwardly to one side, its base partially caved in. A jagged seam ran up one face where the stones had split, and dark soot stains marked where smoke had once escaped.
“Yikes.”
Senior laughed. “Yikes indeed. Whole thing’s been patch-fixed so many times it finally gave up. Well, you and I are going to rebuild it from the base up. You up for it?”
“I am, sir!”
“Good. Get us 100× [Small Basalt Stones]. I’ll demolish what’s left of this old thing, and we’ll build it together.”
Jack turned back toward the scaffolding. Climbing down, he made a beeline for the nearest market. He opened the system’s trade window, browsed the materials tab, and found what he needed: [Small Basalt Stones], listed at 1 copper a piece. He bought them on the spot.
Sure, he could’ve gathered the stones himself. On his way to the Bushcraft XP store, he’d seen Snowy kick more than a few. They were everywhere out there. But time was more valuable than coins right now.
With the purchase complete, Jack turned around and jogged back at a steady pace. A few minutes later, he climbed the scaffolding again and found the rooftop cleared. What remained of the old chimney had been torn down, and the rubble swept into a neat pile in the corner.
“I got the stones!” Jack called out.
“Good timing,” Senior said, brushing dust from his hands. He cracked his knuckles. “Let’s build it right this time. You ready?”
“Absolutely.”
“Alright. But before we start building it, I need to teach you about stone and about its voice.”
Jack frowned. “I beg your pardon? Voice?”
“Yes,” the man said with an enigmatic smile. “The stone can speak to you, young man. All you have to do is listen.”