Morning came with the sound of axes.
Tak.
Tak.
Tak.
The forest answered with sharp cracks as trees fell one by one. The air smelled of sap and wet bark. The sea wind reached even this far, pushing leaves and hair into their faces.
Thirty students moved like a rough machine. Not perfect. Not smooth. But moving.
Kael swung his axe again and again. Sweat ran down his neck. His grin was wide.
"This is better than class," he said. "At least trees do not complain."
"Trees do not talk," one student muttered.
"They scream when you cut them," Kael laughed.
Near the cleared ground by the shore, Lira stood with a piece of charcoal and wood board. She drew lines again, checking the layout.
"Pillars first," she said. "Mark the ground. Three long rows. Ten rooms each side. Main hall in the center."
Some nodded. Some looked confused.
She walked to a pile of logs.
"These thicker ones are for vertical pillars. Do not waste them on beams. The thinner but long ones will be horizontal beams."
"What about the smaller wood?" a girl asked.
"For walls later. Focus on frame first."
Nixxin carried a beam over his shoulder and dropped it near the marked ground. He looked at the structure that was starting to show. Just wooden pillars stuck into soil so far, spaced evenly.
It looked like a skeleton.
Strong wind brushed past, making the pillars tremble slightly.
"It will hold," Lira said, noticing his stare. "Once beams connect."
He nodded once.
Students began carving.
Mortise holes into the pillars. Square holes, careful and deep.
Tenon ends on beams. Small square tongues carved to slide into those holes.
"Do not rush," Lira said. "If it is loose, it will shake. If too tight, it will split."
One boy forced his chisel too hard. The wood cracked along the grain.
He cursed.
Lira walked over, crouched, touched the split.
"You cut against the grain."
He looked embarrassed. "I did not see."
"You must look," she said calmly. "Feel the lines in the wood."
She stood and moved again.
Nixxin stared at the beam in front of him. He carved the end carefully, trying to shape the tenon.
It looked straight.
He tested it against a pillar mortise.
It stopped halfway.
He pushed.
It would not go.
He pulled it out and checked.
One side was thicker.
He clicked his tongue.
Lira appeared beside him.
"Let me see."
He handed it to her.
She looked, then shook her head.
"This will not fit."
"It is close."
"Close is not enough."
He frowned slightly.
She knelt and placed the beam on the ground between them.
"Watch," she said.
She shaved a thin layer off one side. Slow. Even.
"Do not cut big pieces. Small. Control it."
He watched her hands. Steady. No wasted movement.
She handed the tool back.
"Now you."
He carved again.
This time he tried to feel the grain like she said.
The blade moved smoother.
He tested it again.
The tenon slid in deeper than before, but still stopped.
He sighed.
Lira reached over and placed her hand over his.
"Not force," she said quietly. "Guide."
Her fingers adjusted his grip. She pushed lightly as he shaved another thin line.
"Feel the resistance. If it is heavy, stop."
He felt it. The slight change in pressure.
He carved slower.
They tested it again.
The tenon slid in almost fully.
He tapped the end gently with a block of wood.
It locked.
He looked at it.
She nodded once.
"Good."
One word.
But it stayed in his chest longer than he expected.
Around them, students were lifting beams.
"Ready," someone shouted.
Two students carried a long beam and lined up the tenon with a pillar mortise.
"Turn it a bit."
"No the other side."
They adjusted.
"Push."
It stuck halfway.
"Wait," Lira said, walking over. She checked the angle. "Lift the right side slightly."
They did.
"Now push."
The beam slid in with a heavy wooden sound.
They tapped it gently.
The pillar stopped shaking.
A small cheer broke out.
"It works!"
Another beam connected across from it.
Slowly, the wooden frame began to take shape. Vertical pillars tied together by horizontal beams. A grid rising toward the sky.
Wind pushed again.
The structure swayed, but did not fall.
Nixxin stepped back and looked up.
He was good at fighting. At moving fast. At striking.
This was different.
Here, strength alone did nothing.
Precision mattered more.
He did not like that he needed guidance.
But he did not hate it either.
Kael dragged another log toward the carving area.
He wiped sweat from his face and glanced toward Nixxin and Lira.
They were close again, checking a joint together.
Lira was explaining something, pointing at a corner joint.
Nixxin listened without arguing.
Kael's grin slowly faded.
Since when does he listen like that.
He slammed the log down harder than needed.
"Oi!" someone complained. "Careful!"
"Sorry," Kael muttered.
Two girls near the back whispered.
"She acts like she built houses before."
"Well she knows more than you."
"She likes control."
But when their own joint would not fit, they hesitated, then called out.
"Lira, can you check this?"
She went without hesitation.
By late afternoon, the main hall frame stood complete. Pillars connected. Beams crossing above.
The outline of thirty rooms stretched in three lines from the center.
It was still open. No walls yet. No roof.
But it felt real.
Students leaned on tools, breathing hard.
Lira walked slowly around the frame, checking each joint.
She pushed a pillar lightly.
It held.
She looked up at the beams.
"It will hold," she said.
Nixxin stood beside her.
"It will."
Their shoulders almost touched. Neither moved.
From a distance, Kael watched them.
The sun began to lower. Orange light covered the half built house. It cast long shadows through the empty frames.
Night came with a small fire near the shore.
Students sat in groups, eating fruit and whatever they had left.
The wooden skeleton stood behind them, dark against the sea.
Kael dropped down beside Nixxin.
He was quiet for once.
Nixxin stared into the fire.
After a while, Kael spoke.
"You like her."
Nixxin did not react.
"What."
"You like Lira."
Nixxin finally turned slightly. "Do not say stupid things."
Kael poked the fire with a stick.
"You never let anyone hold your hand like that."
"It was about building."
"Sure."
Silence.
Across the fire, Lira was talking with two students about tomorrow's roof beams.
The firelight touched her white hair.
Kael's voice softened.
"You look at her different."
Nixxin's eyes stayed on the flames.
"It is not like that."
Kael leaned back on his hands.
"Then what is it like."
Nixxin did not answer.
The wind blew from the sea, passing through the empty frame of their future house. It made a low hollow sound.
Like breath through ribs.
Kael closed his eyes.
"If you do," he said quietly, "just do not pretend that you don't."