Chapter 214

Chapter 214: Art of the Wind

  ”Which means this is the hush money that Brother Five mentioned,” said one of the girls.

After the few young ladies arrived at the third-floor activity room, they found it quite spacious, roughly equivalent to two basketball courts in size. Unfortunately, it lacked some facilities; currently, there was only a large table and a few chairs inside, making it seem somewhat empty. They would need to provide other items themselves. Night Spirit’s fifth brother had sponsored them with some wood to make furniture.

On the next morning, which happened to be a rest day, Nanke and several friends brought Lolan Hill and Night Spirit to a warehouse. They pushed open the heavy iron door of the warehouse, revealing a pile of brown wood inside. Most of these logs were still in their original cylindrical shapes, unprocessed, and placed on racks.

“These are the spoils we won last year from ‘Oakwood Spear’ club. Their main base is at Fortress Academy, and they are quite adept at woodworking, as well as using spears and shields. At the time, they were competing with me for the student council’s activity budget. We made a bet, and naturally, we won. So, they refurbished our bar and arena, and we ended up with extra wood.”

“These are all earned fairly. Since they take up space anyway, why not give them to you?” Nanke patted the wooden planks on the rack and generously offered them.

The dark brown bark was rough, with plenty of black sawdust. The annual rings on the logs were tightly packed, indicating that the trees were quite old. Most of the wood was pine, with diameters around half a meter, while the thickest one was over a meter wide.

“Fifth Brother is so lazy.” She was about to suggest that her cheap cousin turn the logs into furniture, but Lolan Hill behind her stopped her.

“Thank you, Senior Nanke, for your sponsorship.” Lolan first bowed in gratitude. Regardless of the circumstances, receiving something she needed should be met with thanks.

Looking at the gentle and courteous black-haired girl before him, Nanke scratched his head awkwardly, saying he didn’t mind. In his mind, however, he was quickly trying to recall which prominent family this excellent girl belonged to. He couldn’t remember having seen her before. Shouldn’t he have met every new student from the House of Plantagenet who came to Emanas? Why did he miss this one? Sighing inwardly, perhaps he had been too preoccupied with hanging out with male friends.

After handing the keys to the warehouse to Lolan and the others, Nanke left. Today was a rest day, and his club had planned to challenge the ‘Chainfist’ club at Bridge墩Academy in the Southern Region to assert their dominance and become the top boxing club, thus gaining fame among the new students and recruiting many new members.

The funding for student clubs at Emanas was mostly borne by the club members, with a small portion provided by the school.

The funding is allocated by the student council. Of course, the amount of activity funds allocated depends on the specific situation of the club. The number of core members, achievements in campus activities, year-end evaluations, special contributions, and so on are all important reference indicators.

‘Fist of Fire and Wine’ received a high score largely due to its nearly 150 core members. Additionally, they achieved notable results in some team events, such as last year’s ‘Unarmored Combat Tournament’ runner-up and the ‘Dragon Hunt Conference’ fifth place.

Each club has a different style and direction. For example, the ‘Golden-maned Griffin,’ where Jielanen is located, often places highly in team battles, achieving remarkable results.

Lanlier’s ‘Time Gear’ club focuses mainly on alchemical creations. They publish excellent technical papers every year. Not only does the student council fund them, but many outsiders also sponsor them.

There are also clubs dedicated to studying cuisine, such as ‘Spiral Shell and Fish.’ They primarily operate at Bridgehead Academy. Their daily activities involve fishing in the Blue Stream River and then returning to study various ways to prepare fish and seafood. Their club functions almost like a restaurant, where other students can buy grilled fish, grilled scallops, and more. This not only satisfies their interest in culinary research but also allows them to make a small profit.

—

After Nanke left, several girls gathered in the warehouse.

“Lolan, do we need to find someone skilled in carpentry to help us?” Bumansa looked at the wood and then turned her head, curiously asking.

“It will probably take quite some time,” Kafura said. When she was young, she had seen the carpenters in town work. First, they would cut the wood into boards, then saw them into various shapes, join them, and nail them together.

“As for this, it doesn’t have to be so complicated.”

Lolan Hill looked at the stacked wood. During her time in Callites, she had seen many mature craftsmen at work and was very familiar with the process. Although she was the daughter of a merchant, she had never done it herself. However, under her innate perception, she could clearly see the overall process and details, and in some subtle aspects, she understood even better than those skilled craftsmen.

“Everyone, let’s keep today’s matter a secret, okay~”

The young girl made a gesture. Before the others could react, her black hair and eyes gradually lightened, finally turning into a light greenish-blue color.

“What?” Bumansa and the others were surprised to look at Lolan, then they saw a gentle breeze begin to swirl around the girl and the tall warehouse.

The indoor wood was slowly lifted by the airflow, flying into the air, spinning in a silvery thread that spiraled around the logs, continuously cutting. The bark fragments scattered, revealing the yellowish wood inside.

“How amazing~” Ye Ling clapped in surprise, while Kafura was stunned, her mouth agape.

Although Bumansa knew that Lolan was extremely powerful in the demonic sequence, she wondered when she had switched to practicing the natural sequence. The emerald-affinity natural magic power she wielded was as precise and effortless as if controlled by her very limbs, clearly indicating years of immersion.

Is this Lolan’s true strength? Could it be that she held back that day? A seed of deep respect took root in Bumansa’s heart.

After removing the surface impurities, several sharp wind blades flashed by, slicing the cylindrical pieces of wood into neat planks or larger chunks. The wind blades then flew about, continuously cutting and shaping, gradually forming rough outlines.

Watching Lolan Hill multitasking, with one person operating like an entire workshop, processing these pieces of wood with industrial precision and beauty, the few young ladies nearby felt as though they were witnessing not just the creation of objects but a performance of art.

On one side, the wooden planks were being cut into perfectly uniform parts; on the other side, large chunks of wood were being shaped into rectangular desks.

Then, the floating parts began to connect, fitting together and locking into place, growing and reinforcing their stability. Soon, the large chunks of wood transformed into various finished furniture. Finally, tiny swift wind blades carved intricate patterns—vines, flowers, leaves, stars, etc.—on the surfaces.

Once all the furniture was formed, swirling gentle breezes continuously polished the surfaces until they were smooth. Only then did everything slowly descend, including coffee tables, bookshelves, armchairs, large desks, single desks, and long sofas, among other wooden products. The vast warehouse now filled with the fresh scent of pine.

In Lolan Hill’s eyes, the system also evaluated this creation:

[Pine Furniture] (Perfect Silver Grade): Made from Bronze-grade red pine, after meticulous and perfect processing, the resulting furniture can only reach Silver grade due to the ordinary nature of the raw materials.

Although Lolan Hill’s storage space contained Silver-grade and even Gold-grade red maple, it wasn’t convenient to use them at the moment. Moreover, using them here would be too ostentatious. She could only reluctantly use these pine woods, but designing the shapes and creating them was indeed quite interesting.

“Now, our club’s furniture is complete.”

After saying this, amidst the astonished gazes of the others, Lolan Hill’s pupils and hair reverted to black, and the warehouse was neatly arranged with various furniture.

The scene just now seemed like magic cast by a forest fairy, conjuring these furnishings out of thin air.

Thank you Qing Sha for not sanding, and to Yao Yue Zhan for your support~

(End of Chapter)