Heretical Fishing

Book 3: Chapter 20: Nexus

“Okay, everyone,” I said, looking down at the bench before me. “Follow along.”

Maria and Deklan were on either side of me, the former grinning and the latter serious. The rest of the apprentice woodworkers were arrayed around the room, awaiting instruction behind their benches. We all had a square block of soft wood with a hole drilled in the center, and as I set mine in a vice, I cut into it with a jigsaw. When the circular shape was finished, I looked around the room. Everyone other than Maria, Brad, and Greg were following along much slower, their movements filled with care.

One of them cursed under her breath. Her blade had gotten caught and gone within the lines, removing a small chunk.

“No stress!” I replied, striding over. “Keep going and just do the best you can. We can sort out any imperfections when we shave it down.”

Grimacing, she nodded and resumed cutting, even slower this time.

It took them all a few minutes, and when the last of them were finished, I smiled at their collective work. “Well done, everyone. Now, we’ll plane them down. Any advice first, Brad? Greg?”

Greg shook his head, and Brad replied, “Nope! This is your show.”

“In that case, follow my movements with this plane.” I went slower than usual, showing them all how I used sweeping arcs to remove slivers of wood. My body wanted to speed away, to get caught up in the workmanship, but I held the urge at bay.

Their eyes tracked my every movement, paying extra attention when I spun my block of wood in the vice.

“Okay,” I said. “That’s pretty much it. We can still sand and shape later on, so don’t be too worried if it isn’t perfectly round at the end of this step.”

When I finished planing my reel, I cast my gaze around the room. There was, evidently, a difference in aptitude amongst the apprentices. To my surprise, Deklan seemed to be the most proficient. Between all of them, he seemed the most relaxed, his hands easily gliding along as he whistled to himself. Whether it was natural talent or a calm nature fueling his advance, his block of wood had the least number of flaws.

He sensed me watching. His eyes darted up to meet mine, and rather than look bothered by my attention, he gave me a quick thumbs up before returning to his work.

“He’s a natural,” Maria said, giving my arm a featherlight touch.

I bathed in her company as I waited for the rest of them to finish. Brad and Greg sat back, content to leave me in control as they assessed their apprentices’ work.

“Great job, everyone.” I turned to Brad and Greg. “I have a bit of feedback, if you don’t mind me doing so?”

They both nodded, so I faced the apprentices. “I’m seeing a fair bit of... stiffness, for lack of a better word. I know you’re probably feeling some pressure to do everything perfectly, especially after your masters treated me like some sort of respected elder, but being too tense will only hurt the outcome. There’s no need to be so rigid. Have fun with it! There’s no punishment for failing to do everything perfectly. Even if you accidentally set your wood on fire somehow, I’d be more impressed than upset.”

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I got a few smiles from them, so I continued.

“Next, we’re carving out a groove for the line to sit in.” I grabbed a crescent-shaped file and ran it along the outside of the reel. “This part is super easy. Keep the file straight and drag it all the way around the edge.”

I demonstrated briefly, then gestured for them to go ahead.

As I rotated my reel and filed the different sections, a small smile crossed my face. I hadn’t been doing much crafting of late, and I forgot how calming an experience it was. My body flowed of its own accord, the file arcing down across the reel with unerring ease. Before I knew it, the groove was complete. I opened my eyes and took in my surroundings, the magical light of the wall sconces bathing the room in their orange light.

“Are you back with us?” Maria asked, smirking at me. “I was worried you were going to do something silly.”

“Something silly?”

“Yeah.” She opened her vice and spun the reel within. “Like make your block of wood transform into a house or something out of sheer will. I’ve learned to expect chaos when you look peaceful.”

I snorted. “No magical houses, I’m afraid. Just a supreme sense of calm.”

“Maybe next time,” she replied, the skin beside her eyes crinkling in amusement. She finished her reel soon after, and we watched the apprentices’ progress together.

As we gazed out over the room, satisfaction and pride washed over me.

It hadn’t even been a half hour, yet they’d already improved. Before, many of their movements were stiff. Jarring. It appeared as though my impromptu speech had resonated—they even seemed to be enjoying themselves more. When they were finished and awaiting my next instructions, I beamed at them.

“Exceptional job, gang. Much more relaxed than before. Did it feel better?” I asked the lady that had accidentally cut a portion of her reel off in the first step.

She gave me a shy smile and a nod so slight that I almost thought I imagined it.

“I’m glad. We’re at the last step for the reel now, guys. Does anyone have any sections they think need more filing?”

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A man in the back raised his hand, so I strode over and peered down. It appeared as though his file had slipped, gouging lines in the outside face.

“I think that should be fine, to be honest.” I faced Brad and Greg. “It’s on the outside, so it shouldn’t be an issue, right?”

“Aye,” Greg agreed. “Gives it personality.”

“There you have it!” I clapped the cultivator on the shoulder. “Sand it so there’s no jagged bits, and it should be all good!”

I walked back to my workstation and held up one of the bits of sandpaper Greg and Brad were passing around. “Have you guys used this before?”

They all nodded.

“We showed them sandpaper earlier as part of the introduction to woodworking,” Brad said.

“Awesome.” I replied, then faced the apprentices again. “All we’re doing is running this paper along the reel. Try to make it as uniform as possible. If you have any gouged bits, spend a little extra time there. As long as it’s not on the groove where the line goes, it doesn’t matter if some sides are a little… unique.”

I walked around the room with a leather sack I’d brought with me. Inside, I had a collection of bearings procured from the merchant, Marcus. “When you’re finished sanding, place these into the holes Brad drilled.”

I finished passing out the bearings.

“There’s one more thing, too. The entire time you’re completing this step, I want you to imagine in your head what you want the reel to do. Don’t be surprised if the System takes over and makes your reel transform. Whatever is motivating you to create this reel, hone in on that. For example, I’ll be imagining something that you, my new friends, can use to catch fish and have a good time. It’s a vessel for friendship and fun. I realize I’m a bit of a weirdo in that regard, so if you’re motivated by gaining levels in woodworking or something like that, use that desire.”

I grinned at the room. “Any questions?”

“Yeah,” Brad said. “Why are you so weird?”

“Any useful and not insulting questions?” I corrected, shaking my head and trying not to smile at Brad.

“Nope!” Greg replied. “If you want any more insulting ones, though, I can think of a few—”

“Okay!” I interrupted, projecting my voice. “Let’s get started!”

After flicking a tiny chunk of wood at Greg’s head, I started sanding my reel. It was already close to what I wanted to create, so I did soft passes with the sandpaper, smoothing each of the surfaces down. As with the filing, I lost myself to the process. Motes of wood wafted through the air, tickling my nose when some of them drifted in with my breath. I focused my attention on my will, lasering in on what I’d told the cultivators earlier.

This reel, though not intended for me, had to be perfect.

I wanted it to be functional and reliable, because that was what my new pals needed. I poured whispers of chi down into the wood. Its grains soaked them up hungrily, wanting me to send more out. Hesitantly, I obliged, ensuring I didn’t send enough to turn my reel into an accidental pipe-bomb.

When the fibers seemed full to bursting, I sent more out into the surrounding room, feeling what everyone else was doing. Surprisingly, some of them were also exuding chi. I expected to find it from Maria, Brad, and Greg, but a few of the apprentices were pouring essence out too, as was Deklan. The streams were a little... wrong. Like they weren’t the correct shape to be properly absorbed.

Instead of adding mine to theirs, I use my will to help shape their chi.

I closed my eyes, uncountable strands weaving all around me to poke and prod different flows into the correct form. After a few moments, it came easy, so I once again focused on what I wanted to create. I pictured every single member of Tropica and New Tropica, all standing on the beach. They had rods in their hands and smiles on their faces, bathing in the sensations of their bodies as they waited for a bite.

I was swimming in the ocean with Maria at my side, her sunkissed shoulders visible above the water’s surface. The scene made my soul thrum as I watched it play out in my mind’s eye, and an imaginary breeze kicked up, tickling my skin.

Before I could get lost further in the vista, the essence back in the real world responded. It vibrated, quivering as our joined wills pressed outward. I pictured the dozens of rods again, demanding that the universe create what I yearned for. A smattering of confused awarenesses made themselves known, each belonging to one of the surrounding cultivators.

Maria was first, and though she was shocked for a moment, she almost-immediately recognized me and joined her desire with mine. Next came Brad and Greg. They were similarly disoriented, but upon a mental urging from Maria, they joined in. Deklan’s consciousness peeked through next, and this time, it was me who felt shocked; the man couldn’t have been less unfazed. He gave us the metaphysical equivalent of a respectful nod, as if this was the most normal thing in the world. I could tell he pictured something different in mind, but it was the same flavor as the scene I pictured.

I’d felt Barry’s will join with mine previously, but having so many present at once was an entirely new experience.

The rest of the cultivators I’d rescued from Gormona appeared at the same time. A different emotion was in the forefront of their minds: fear. It made sense considering how alien it must be for them, and one apprentice noped out immediately, fleeing from the call to action. But the rest remained. Upon a barrage of soothing reassurance from Maria and me, they slowly joined their wills with mine.

With my enhanced awareness of chi, I felt every single event that occurred in the next moment.

The surrounding essence exploded forward, rushing into the room. Some of the chi contained within the smithy’s stones came too, the very building and village lending their strength to our creation. Different components around the room were swept up in the thick ropes of power, drawn toward our workstations on invisible torrents. Every single reel blurred, their forms evaporating as the System reshaped them.

A whirlwind of potential sprang to life, spinning around the room in a vortex that grew faster and more insistent with every passing fraction of a second. The barrage of chi, materials, and wills combined, manifesting in a single nexus between us. A blinding orb of creation came into being. It drew on my core, and when I opened the floodgate to my power, the rest of the contributing cultivators followed suit. None of their reserves held a candle to mine, yet they joined in, growing less hesitant by the second—more sure of themselves.

As our purpose became one, the swirling storm took shape.

To a regular human, it would have been as if the rods appeared from nowhere. But I was far from a regular human; I saw everything. Wood grew from thin air, extending in thick lengths that tapered towards the end. The reels we’d been working on split apart, replicating themselves and attaching to poles. Iron coagulated in hundreds, perhaps thousands of individual nodes that flew toward the newly formed rods.

Luminescence shone from them, and though I could feel their shape, I had to close my eyes against the light. When the glow disappeared, I blinked, trying to focus on my now-dim surroundings. Instead of seeing our creations, however, I was met with a System notification that filled my field of view.

Despite understanding what the words meant, I struggled to comprehend their meaning.

“Frack me...” was all I could say as I dismissed the message and stared down at the dozens of rods sitting neatly piled in the center of the room.