The next important thing was the floor layout. I needed to add the support walls and the chimney stacks. The main difference you find between old colonial homes and new ones is where the chimney is. New homes have them on the side of the house, while older homes place them in the center; This way, more of the heat stays in the whole of the house.

  I laid out my plan on the floor, drawing it with the keel. Walking in the front door would be the living room; to the far right would be a room 15-feet by 12.5-feet. Where the wall to that room met the outside wall, there would be a stone fireplace in the corner, with the chimney servicing the living room and bedroom, with its own fireplace. Directly in front of the front door would be the cookstove and main fireplace for my mass heater.

  Mass heaters were more popular in the colder north back on earth, while wood-burning stoves gained popularity in the Americas. Wood-burning stoves have extreme temperature ranges, putting out tons of heat while lit for a brief time. Mass heaters heat a large amount of mass, in most cases stone, and produce a more constant lower heat for much longer, heating a larger area. The only reason I knew about this was due to me having to build one in a home for a Russian oligarch in the high mountains of the Sierra Nevada’s back on earth. I would use the same idea for our home.

  Next to the stove to the right would be an oven and main chimney. To the right of the oven would be a counter that ran into the wall down the main hallway. That wall would be one foot thick and have a series of up and down hollowed-out sections running the full length of the house. The internal openings, after snaking their way up and down through the whole of the house, would exit out the top chimney at the center of the home. The fireplace in the living room I would connect to the mass heating wall with a steel pipe chimney, adding its excess heat to the mass heater.

  The north side of the house, to the left, when entering, would be my master bedroom, 15-feet wide and 30-feet long, taking up the entire side. The stairs to the second level would be to the right of the hallway, spilling out into the living room. This would let heat travel up to the second level freely. The second floor would be all bedrooms, sized to 15-feet by 12.5-feet, with a 3-foot-wide hallway. The central mass heating wall would go from the ground all the way to the roof joists. Each room upstairs would have a small stone fireplace that tied into the whole mass heating chimney wall.

  Before I built that, I had to finish putting in the plumbing. Thank the heavens I unlocked toilets when I had had the chance. The two downstairs rooms would get their own toilet, sink, and shower, but the rooms would be smaller because of this. Upstairs there would be six bedrooms, with the north side 15 by 30-feet over my master bedroom being a large communal bathroom. The kitchen would just need a sink drain tie-in. Three main vent pipes would be needed to equalize the air pressure in the sewer pipe, on the south end, the highest point, one by the kitchen sink, and one out of the main drain line for the second floor.

  The sky was just turning gray when I started to make the cuts I needed into the stone. The granite blocks had yet to collect mana and stabilize a mana field, so my cut spell worked easily. It only took a few cuts for my spell to rank up to apprentice.

  Spell:

  Cut: Apprentice, level 11. Spend ten points of mana per 2-feet of sharp mana blade created. Materialize the blade within the area of your aura.

  I cut the stone in the foundation, selling it to the shop once it was free. I then cut into the main drainpipe and fused the junction addons. Two going into the two bedrooms on the south side of the house, one for the kitchen sink and one for my master bathroom. For the vent pipes, I capped the ends of the pipe, then ran a 1-inch pipe up through the wall, carving a 4-inch-deep gouge into the stone wall. That way, when I was done, I could fit a three-inch piece of stone in the slot. The water lines I would hook up to the hot and cold-water maker and run from my room to the separate locations. The pipes cost 700 credits total.

  With the plumbing sorted, I could now work on the mass heater wall, chimney combo. The 1-foot wall had 4-inches of granite on each side, with 4-inches open in the middle. I would alternate closing the top or bottom to force the heat and smoke to snake its way through. At the ceiling, where the beams would run through, I capped the chimney wall, filling that section with solid stone. Then at the far end, it would reconnect to the second-floor mass heating chimney wall.

  I bought two granite blocks and cut them into 4-inch-thick pieces. By the time I had made the initial 2-foot-deep cuts, totaling what would be 30 4-inch-thick, 5-foot long, and 5-foot- high pieces, my spell had leveled enough to lengthen my blade to two feet six inches, letting me cut all the way through the blocks when cut from both sides.

  I had to place the pieces into my inventory then move them into place for the heating wall, fusing them to the floor when they lined up. Then I had to cut 4 by 4 columns and slot them into the central opening. One would touch the floor leaving four inches open at the top, then the next would be held off the floor, even with the top of the wall and fused, creating an opening at the bottom. The door to the room was spaced so that the left side airflow would go up over the top of the door to the room and down the right side.

  Where the wall met the kitchen counter that would run to the oven and fireplace cooktop, I made the counters four feet tall. The counter itself was widened to 3-feet, expanding the internal chimney. This would allow more smoke and heat to build up and create a stronger chimney air pressure flow. The oven I made was square, with an internal square of stone and then an external square that went over it. The wall chimney attached at the base of the oven and on the opposite side was the opening for the main fireplace chimney. The oven opening was 5-feet high, and the top with the thick outer square would act as a support, reaching the ceiling.

  The main wood stove was 2-feet-wide, 3-feet-tall, and 4-feet-long. I left the top open and cut out the spots for the fire window and fire door. The top of the stove had a lip running around it that was 2-inches thick, that would get a metal plate fused to it. At the end of the stove, I fused a large half-circle of stone, this would keep the end from getting too hot, with only 4-inches of stone insulating the main fire before, in the center of that was a pillar that reached the ceiling, with a 1-foot diameter, acting as the support for the center main house beam. Five feet from that started the north heating wall, which led into my master bedroom.

  By now, the light was up, and everyone was shuffling around; Sanako came in, “Looks like you’ve been busy this morning.”

  “Yeah, got a good night’s sleep and wanted to start early. My weather forecast says snow in three days.”

  “Oh, that’s not good. Well, let us know what we can do. Most of the kids are still exhausted from yesterday, so they are going to be mostly inside. Plus, it’s too cold.” Sanako said from her deeply bundled-up form.

  “Hey, you, Tora, and Allynna have the highest strength, right?” I asked.

  “I believe so. Why?”

  “I’ll need your help in a bit. After you buy the wall stones. Just hop up there and place them like you did yesterday. I’ll fuse them in a bit.”

  “Sounds good. Do you want me to get the second-floor walls as well?”

  “Hold off on that. Maybe just get the four corners for the second floor and call it good.”

  “Alright, let me know when you need our help.” She said, walking back to camp and then coming back to get the walls purchased.

  For the third and fourth stone blocks I bought, I had to cut 2-feet 10-inches off the top. That way, when I placed the heating wall slices, they would be 8-feet 2-inches high. With Tora’s, Sanako’s, and Allynna’s help, we placed the back of the heating wall and filled in the smoke heat maze, then attached the face of the wall. 8-inches at the top of the heating wall was solid stone for the beams to sit on, and I would fill in the spaces around the beams later.

  The centerline of the house went right over the stovetop and was in line with the front door. Through some cutting and careful placing, I filled in the door leaving over a foot of stone to support the central beam. The wood beam I would use was a hard-wood beam, 8-inches-thick, 18-inches-high, and 36-feet long. to just buy a beam that size from the shop would cost 100,000 credits. I figured out pretty quickly that I could just do it in 10-foot increments.

  In the stone wall, I cut out an 8-inch by 18-inch by 3-foot slots that the beams could be materialized into. From there, seven feet would be left hanging out in midair. Then I got on my ladder, materialized another ten-foot beam of the same size, slid it over, checked that the two ends were level and even with each other, then fused them, presto a 20-foot beam. On the east end of the house where the backdoor wall was, I cut out the same slot, materialized the beam in place, leaving only a three-foot gap I had to cut a piece out for and wrestle into place.

  So, a 100,000-credit beam of hard-wood became a 300 credit one. I was certain this is how the larger buildings were built, or else they would be astronomically expensive. From there, I placed the main beam the same size every four feet, repeating the same process. In total, the main beams cost 4,500 credits to make, as there were fifteen of them.

  I noticed as I used my cut spell, I did not get a stone working skill, and my carpentry skill did not increase, only my cut spell. I would have to keep that in mind in the future when I was not in a rush to build something; using the tools of the skill was the only way to advance those skills.

  Between the main beams, I placed 2-inch-thick by 18-inch-wide by 30-foot-lengths, fusing them directly to the wall. They were only to add rigidity to the second level’s floor. The wall that faced the living room for the bedroom downstairs got a 1-foot-thick solid granite wall. The stairs to the second level cut through that room, and the room above it had to be smaller to make room for the landing. I figured some of the kids could use it as the upstairs room would only be 9.5-feet-wide and 15-feet long, as the stairs were three feet wide.

  For the fireplace in the living room and front-facing room, I connected a 4-inch steel pipe to the heating wall and ran it to the front of the house. The stone fireplaces I would build would connect to it through a steel pipe chimney.

  By noon the beams were in, the bottom floor heating wall, the stairs to the second level sectioned off, the cookstove made, except for the steel top plates, the oven, the plumbing lain in, and the walls to the bottom rooms done. My master room got a 1-foot stone wall as well for soundproofing.

  After lunch, I filled in all the stones around the beams that crossed over the heating wall. Then came my first bulk lumber buy. I bought 5-foot by 5-foot by a 10-foot pallet of hard-wood cut to 1-foot-wide, 1-inch-thick proportions. This gave me 300 of the 10-foot-long boards. Each board covered ten square feet. Starting in the back southeast corner, I started laying down some of the second levels, floorboards. The boards I bought and materialized on the second level would cover 3,000 square feet. The house was only 3,600 square feet.

  I only did enough to buy one block of stone and start cutting it for the upper mass chimney heating wall. I did the first five feet like below, matching the up and down flow for the hot chimney air after eight inches was made solid on top of the beams to protect them. The doors were the same as below, with the airflow flowing over the tops of them. The center two bedrooms would be where the two sides of the chimney updraft would meet and go out of the roof chimney. The wall would be 8-feet 2-inches high, just like the bottom.

  I had Sanako buy the first portion of the second-floor wall, then I bought the second, adjusting the height of the blocks to 3-foot 2-inches. This put the second-floor wall at 8-feet. There were 44 blocks I had to buy in total for 4,400 credits. By now, I had my ladders out, and it was 3pm. I had to get the roof started.

  If the roof did not have enough of a roof pitch, the snow would not fall off from it; too much, and we would have a huge attic. For the peak of the roof, I went with 10-feet. That gave the roof an angle of 26.5-degrees, steep but not a huge attic space. The rafters would need to be 22-feet long for their ends to meet with the edge of the wall. I would use 2-inch by 12-inch boards for the rafters and cut into the upper wall and fuse them directly to it. I wanted a bit of an overhang for the snow, so I made the boards 25-feet long.

  For 10,000 credits, I got 150 of the 2-inch by 12-inch by 25-foot-long boards, with a 63.5-degree angle cut at one end. It took two to make a full rafter. It was easy with the full 12-inch-deep by a 2-inch-wide cut made in the wall stone.

  Tora would hand me up the boards, and I would position it and fuse it, then over to the other side, match the angles at the peak of the roof and fuse it to the wall. Once that was done, I went over to the central heating wall, where I got on my A-frame ladder and fused the peaks to the 2-inch by 12-inch by 10-foot ridge board, joining the peaks. We did that a few times till we were sure we had it correct. Then we did one complete side, fusing 10-foot sections of the ridge board all the way down, then moving on to the opposite side.

  After fusing the peak of the roof together, Tora would pass me up a 10-foot-long 2-inch by the 1-foot board, and I would fuse it to the rafters; it then became the collar beam. Everyone 1-foot got a rafter and collar beam. Once we had started, neither of us wanted to stop. Tora had high strength, constitution, and dexterity, in the upper twenties. This let her help me the most, and she was unafraid of heights, unlike Sanako. We ended the night by building up the chimney, having it stick a good two feet above the rafters, and I even gave it a stone square chimney cap.

  I had cast the sticky light ball spell, letting us work in the dark. The last thing I did was connect all the fireplace steel pipe chimneys, from the rooms to the chimney heating wall. Then I blocked them all off with a bit of wood shoved in the open end.

  “We about done for the night?” Tora asked. It was 9pm.

  “Yeah, you can head back in if you want. I’ll be inside in a minute.” I said as Tora pushed herself up against me.

  “Normally, I’d say let’s have a quick tumble, but it’s way too cold for that,” she said, shivering with a smirk.

  “Could not agree more. I’ll see you in a sec.” She walked off back to the trailer, hopping down from the house.

  “Humm…I’ll have to build stairs.” My breath clung in the freezing air, and it was cold, definitely below freezing. I watched Tora walk back inside the trailer and checked the area over, heading back over to the fire after a few minutes.

  “I honestly didn’t think you could pull it off, but fuck me, you did,” Trisha said as I walked up to the fire.

  “Yeah, if not for the magic of this world, there’s no way I could have pulled this off.”

  “I’ve seen the building guilds get less done in a day. You worked so hard for us.” Sakura said, a wide smile on her face.

  “Well, not much of a choice. It’s either that or die come winter.”

  “True, but I’m not the only one who noticed. You’re making a home for all of us and the kids too. Thank you.” Sakura added, the pink of her eyes darker in the firelight as she stared at me with open hunger.

  “Well, it’s not done yet, but we should be mostly there by tomorrow. I’m going to bed.” Sakura came over to me, tilting her head up and placing her lips on mine, her soft, wet, hot tongue pressing my lips in a kiss.

  Disengaging, she had a wide happy smile on her face, and Trisha was staring to the side at the ground. She didn’t look angry so much as she looked jealous. “Good night, Trisha,” I said, heading for the door.

  “Night.” I could hear the hesitating skip in her voice as I shut the door behind me.

  Inside everyone was getting ready for bed, but on the kitchen island was a plate of food for me. I ate quickly, showered, and got into bed. Tossing my clothes in the magic hamper. Eiko and Allynna were in my bed for the night. Each would have done whatever I wanted by the firm squirming presses of their asses they gave me, but out of respect for the earth mothers, I just kissed them both and went to sleep.

  My thoughts floated on why the fuck had I taken them with me again as I drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter 16

  October 15 th , 04:55:00 am.

  Weather:

  15 th , high of 40 degrees, low of 29 degrees. Clear.

  16 th , high of 36 degrees, low of 30 degrees. Snow.

  17 th , high of 30 degrees, low of 19 degrees. Clear.

  Allynna got up with me this morning, the tussle of her disheveled black hair framing her slender face. Blue eyes fogged over by sleep, she whispered, “Good morning, Tristan.”

  We got ready, me in my winter work gear and Allynna bundled in her thick wool clothing. “Good morning, Miyuki, Stacy,” I said around a wide yawn. The fire was stacked high, and the flickering flames waged war with the cold, providing brief moments of heat.

  “Good morning, Sir Tristan, Allynna,” Miyuki said brightly, the white of her hair cast in an orange glow from the fire.

  Wrapped in a blanket with a scarf and a beanie over her head, Stacy added, “Morning, I can come over and help once the sun is up, but I’m freezing solid.”

  “All good. Should be getting close to being done today. I’ll let you know when I need help getting the roof boards up.” I pulled coffee out and began drinking my morning brew.

  “Sounds good,” Stacy said as Allynna and I headed over to the house. After climbing up onto the first floor through the front door opening, I headed up to the second level with a light spell in my hand. I placed one downstairs and two along the south wall where the landing for the stairs would be.

  Allynna started laying out floorboards along with me. I would fuse them to the beams where they crossed. They ran from south to north and were fused to each other. By the time the light was starting to brighten the morning sky, we had finished the floor of the second level. We moved on to placing the ceiling joist. I fused the joists to the rafters and connected the 12-inch-wide 2-inch-thick 10-foot-long pieces all the way across the top of the second floor.

 

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