Excavation Assistance: Mission Topic

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Saya had been fretting of late, endlessly worrying over the state of her training. While it can be said that Saya is a very strong girl, and quite powerful in her way as a ninja, Saya has never been satisfied with her own progress. All around her is a world full of ninja, and too many of them are stronger than her. Long since priding herself on her martial prowess over the use of elemental jutsu, the thought of being weaker than others is just inexcusable.

When the mission listing for help at the quarry came up, Saya quickly associated the toil and labor involved in such a task, with some of the best strength training she could think up. For that reason Saya instantly signed herself up for the job. The description mostly involved the task of moving spoil and debris from one side of the work site to another. Everything they cut would need to be moved to get to the copper and iron the mountainside held.

It was about two days after accepting the mission that Saya was given the orders to mobilize, which she quickly did. Dressed in her full cloak and mask she jogged her way quickly to the mine on the outskirts of the land of water. The workers had already made good progress into the rocky outcroppings, and several days of crushed rocks, dirt, and the occasional shrub were heaped into a large pile. With work never stopping, it still continued to grow, threatening to soon over flow and flood the work sight with stones.

The few workers that had been assigned the task of taming the massive pile of rocks were simply out matched. The few buckets they filled did little to dent the incoming supply of blasted mountain. For the moment, Saya ignored the workers and made her self known to the foreman. She finds just where the stones are needed for further processing, and then sets to work. Her own plan was very simple for this job. Just move all the rocks.

In reality it was just as simple in execution as it was in planning. Saya set her spear aside, though retains her heavy cloak and her mask, and most of her weapons. This was an assigned mission, after all, and Saya’s armor is like her uniform. Her heavy cloak would make the job more difficult, but far from impossible. She passes by the other workers without much of a greeting, and sets to work. She seizes a large rock with each hand, and pulls them both free of the growing pile. The boulders had iron in them somewhere..

The boulders are a bit heavy, so she smiles. This was going to be just great. She drops both of the rocks in the same bucket before reaching for more stones, and quickly piling them in until two buckets are full. They’d easily weigh in over 100 pounds, but that was alright. With no complaints Saya lifts a bucket with each hand, and sets off jogging to their new destination across the lot. Even on the first trip back and forth, this was far from easy. The great weight of the rocks bit into her arms and fingers, making it difficult to haul so far. Once she gets there, she empties the rocks into a new pile.

Once the stones were all pulled through the grinder, the powdered rocks could be heated and soaked. The ore inside would be somehow unlocked, and more metal could be produced. With more iron, Kiri could have more steel. It doesn’t take very long for Saya to complete a circuit with 2 buckets of stone, perhaps only thirty seconds once she has her rhythm down. She doesn’t pause or take any breaks; she simply throws herself fully into the work. Over and over she filled up her buckets, each time running almost 100 meters to empty them. After the first few hours had passed, Saya had lost count of her trips back and forth, but hadn’t stopped. She managed to move a good ten foot wall of earth in that time, but still had a long way to go.

Now, some others could easily break in the face of such labor. The heavy rocks had a way or wearing down even the most stalwart of workers. They had a crushing weight, even the smaller ones easily weighing in at 30 pounds. Larger rocks even she had to carry with both hands, but saya herself could lift amazing loads. If she tried hard enough, she could lift upwards of 400 pounds herself, but it took all of her effort to do so. Combined with Saya’s already considerable physical power, her family’s unique knack for unceasing labor made this job a perfect chance to give her body a good work out too. At the time of Saya’s first break, even she is slightly exhausted, but she’s worked 3 hours straight, and now only paused for ten seconds.

After only ten seconds Saya is ready to set back to work. She easily shrugs off her cloak and mask, tossing them both aside to land on the ground near her spear. The bulky metal was something she had grown very used to wearing over the time she’d had the cloak and she preferred to have it around when she was traveling. It weighed her down and let her work her muscles more all the time. With it removed, her new found freedom of movement let her set back to work with great vigor, and renewed vitality. After the first three hours she had only taken a ten second break. Most of the other workers have taken to watching her, and placing bets on her progress. For the first time she really speaks to them, insisting on a simple request.

“Bring me a cart.” She says pretty flatly, as she dusts off the thick gloves covering her hands. While waiting for them to submit to her request, she fills up two buckets with rocks and walks them over to the pile. By the time she’s finished there’s a sturdy wooden cart waiting for her. It could hold much more than a single bucket, but would also weigh considerably more. The addition of the wheel helps it move great loads, but it is still no simple task. Full to capacity with dense and solid stone the cart could easily be carrying more than a thousand pounds.

Pushing the heavy cart is far from easier and likely much worse than the buckets had been, but Saya still manages to push through it with stoic valor. Slowly and carefully she pushes the cart to the other pile of rocks, and dumps it out with the rest of the debris she’d moved. Even after just the first cartful she’d be breathing hard, and sweating, but it wouldn’t make her stop. Just as though it was a pair of buckets, she turns the cart around, and returns to the large pile of spoil. She seizes a shovel and refills the small cart, so she can move more and more.

Quarters had been prepared for Saya, as most of the miners remained close to the worksite. Returning to town each day made no sense, as it was a considerable journey. She was could have been there for a few days, if Saya was not so talented as what she did. Everyone in Saya’s family had been trained from a young age to march long distances with heavy loads. The soldiers of her family’s mercenary militia were sent to all the corners of the world, and they certainly didn’t just fly there. The sort of hard labor required for being her brand of warrior lent itself perfectly to these other shows of physical strength.

Saya took a few more ten second breaks through the course of the day, using just enough time to wipe sweat off of her forehead before setting back to work. By the time the sun is setting, she’s already moved have of the spoil. The refining pit was hastily opened and the fires of it’s furnace lit. She had set her pace well beyond what the mine thought was possible, and now had them very much ahead of schedule. The stones ready for refining were getting backed up now. The whole system catches up pretty quickly, the massive belt pulling the pile Saya had built into the fiery kettle for melting, or whatever it was they did in there. Saya had little idea how stones were transformed into swords, she was just glad someone did so.

It became obvious very quickly that Saya did not intend on stopping. When the sun had fully set, she only had one third of the pile left, and could finish it in only a handful of hours. The cart helped her make amazing progress in hauling all the stones to the refinery, and she’d be damned if she had to stay another day for just a few more cart loads. As the rest of the crew were supposed to begin eating, Saya ignored such orders. She could go as long as it took, but she was finishing tonight!

Some of the workers went to eat, though others remain to appreciate the power the girl had. She didn’t make it look easy, but she certainly made it look possible. She dumps each load without complain, sighing even happily at getting so much work done. She could feel deep in her muscles the ache associated with a good work out. No doubt, anyone else would have collapsed a very long time ago.

Well past sunset, at almost midnight, Saya finished emptying the last the load of rocks into the refinery. Six days of blasting had been moved in a day, and could be refined in two. The iron and copper veins in the mountain would be to market far faster than the mining company had planned for. Of course, that’s what happened when you hired an Ashigaru. They get the job done. When it’s finaly over, the who place celebrates. Profits to be made had certainly increased, and the adults were in good spirits.

There was rootbeer and food all around, and Saya are her fill. She replenished the great amount of calories she burned that day, and in time slept like a rock. The other workers didn’t exactly sing songs about her, but for many a legend was born that day. She’d impressed many by finishing five days of work in just a single long shift, but still tried to wave off the compliments with modesty.

“Any shinobi could have done the same”, Saya reasoned as she ate her fifth helping of steamed rice and vegetables. Of course, most shinobi would have had a hard time keeping up. By the time the sun finally comes up, Saya is just about ready for bed. Other workers had passed out around here as the celebrations wore on into the night, but Saya had remained away to finish eating. By the time she was done she’d eaten almost five pounds of rice, and a small gardens worth of carrots. She was one of the last ones to fall asleep.

She’d also be one of the first ones to wake up. With the roosters, so to speak, Saya was awake as the sun was beginning to reach the sky. After only perhaps two hours of sleep, Saya was back on her feet, and packing up the few belongings she had needed to bring with her. She stops by the foreman for his stamp of approval on her mission, and then departs to return to town. It was a long trip back home, and would take up most of her day if she didn’t get moving quickly.

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