If you know me, you probably know I like worldbuilding a lot (creating fictional languages, societies, geography, history, theology…). I’ve been building the world of Lingun for a while now, and am trying to keep myself enthusiastic about it for long enough to create something substantial instead of moving on to another project. Kesyr, the star of this chapter, is a follower of the way of the Siluan, meaning he belongs to an orderly group dedicated to the imbuing of information onto paper, consequently, trees are very significant to Siluan culture. The adolescent aims to use this to his advantage to rise up the social ladder upon his return to the village. Maybe sharing this will give me more social pressure to incentivize me to continue working on this.
He had gone deep enough into the tribe’s forest that he deemed the trees to be sufficiently thick. He selected a particularly short one, but nonetheless a heavy one. As the boy stood in front of it, his blade must have felt intimidated to be confronted with a creature so great, the boy however remained unfazed. The blade rose through the air before striking the trunk with the speed and force of a diving bird. It embedded itself into the tree. Kesyr had to push his foot against the tree to retrieve his tool.
The plant remained practically unharmed. The new aperture seemed a dent. But as Kesyr repeated his motion, it multiplied. And even as the boy’s breath quickened in pace, even as the ax rose through the air at a noticeably slower speed, and even as the boy’s mouth grew wet with hunger, the motion was repeated, and the hole was deepened.
This effort continued for the better part of 2 sections. But the tree did lean. He always forgot how loud a falling tree was. Kesyr took some moments to rest. He had accomplished a great task already in cutting down this great plant, but a harder task remained yet, as the boy would have to transport the log back out of the forest, alone.
Carrying the burden was not a possibility, the apprentice would have to roll the log. It was good he had chosen a shorter tree as weaving the log between the trees would be a far easier task than it would have been had the log been much longer.
Kesyr planted his feet on the ground, and his hands on the trunk, aiming to achieve a similar sturdiness to that of the roots that had once supported the trunk beneath his fingers. He kept his arms straight as his legs began pushing forwards, propelling himself and the trunk slowly out of the wood. Each step required precise and intense effort.
His arms had been aflame since the utilization of the ax. It only took a few steps for this feeling to extend to the legs. Kesyr was keenly aware that he had only completed a fraction of his journey outwards. Nevertheless, he continued placing his foot below him and extending his leg, now in anticipation of the inevitable burn.
Kesyr had not anticipated the duration of this task. The holes through the trees above him depicted a darkening sky. The laws of the Silūan rushed and repeated through the boy’s mind. He knew he could find a way to not only justify his extreme actions but illustrate them as noble and in line with the Way in the minds of his fellow Followers.
After all, he deserved not to be punished for this beneficial course of action. He was contributing! And he was contributing more than the other Followers who selected tiny, skinny trees to pull groundwards. He deserved not only to not be punished but to be praised. Isn’t that why he was doing this?
The apprentice grew tired yet, he decided it was unwise to focus on anything other than moving the log or attempting to catch his breath. But the pain, along with the anticipation of praise, were difficult not to feel.