The sun hung high, beaming down heat. It’s light shimmering off the crystal-clear waters famous in the region. Kazimir strolled through the town, searching for his next assignment as always. His day off was filled with a race around the docks but he didn’t mind much as he began to understand his magic more.

The streets were typical, but the farther he pressed onward the more he could see them in disarray. Eventually, he came upon a few people working a little way from the docks. They were unloading cement and wood while others hammered away fixing street posts.

The people grunted as the slung heavy bags over their shoulders. Some pushed wheel barrels hastily down a half-constructed street. In the distance, closer to the docks, a building stood with scaffolding hugging its side. Workers scurried up and down it, fixing it bit by bit.

He approached one of them and asked, “Excuse me, what’s going on here?”

The man plopped a bag from his cart onto the shoulders of a burly man who took it away. “We’re helping the lord with the reconstruction project. You want to help, you can find him closer to the docks.”

“Thanks for the information,” he replied, walking away toward the docks. He followed the stream of workers that were staggered down the street. Many of them hard at work with labored breath. The work was taxing but they smiled knowing a good day’s work would make the town a better place.

At the end of the walkway was the building surrounded by scaffolding. Amongst the small crowd of workers was the lord in charge, who turned as if knowing someone new had arrived.
“I am Reign Valystasia. If you are here to help, we could use it,” he said with a proper tongue despite the rigors of his work, hammering in nails.

“Yes. I’ll help in whatever way I can,” Kazimir answered ready to roll up his sleeves and dig in.

A couple of men walked by exchanging nods with the lord and headed up the ladder. “We need help with construction and moving items from one location to the next. However, you may help with whatever needs to be done as there is a vast amount of work across the docks.”

Kazimir paused for a moment to look around the area. Taking in all the different ways people contributed before making his decision. One that should have been simple, but he took his time to contemplate it. The Lord waited patiently for his response.

“Alright, I think I’ll help move things around. Perhaps up and down the scaffolding.” It was a decision he made thinking it would give him the most exercise of all the choices and one where he may be able to use his magic as well. He had become keen on the mobility and supplemental uses of it recently.

“It’s settled then. Grab a sack and up you go,” The Lord added excitedly.

Kazimir threw the first bag over his shoulder from the wheel barrel and stared up at his destination.

word count 510/1000

Kazimir felt the weight of the bag on his shoulder and situated it as comfortably as he could. With an affirmative step, he moved forward and onto the stairs that zigzagged up the side off the building. He walked by workers hammering away and reinforcing the walls of the old building.

The bag was heavy, and it showed on his face. Even so, he pushed on with energy to spare. He climbed the flights of stairs, inching closer to the top. Reaching the top, he heaved the bag onto a pile with the others. It was another workers job now as he turned to make the descent and repeat.  
He continued the march up and down the stairs. Each trip slightly more daunting than the last. Bag after bag he dropped them on the piles with his breathing getting heavier. A few times he stopped atop the building to take in the view around him, hands on his knees to catch his breath while the hours in the day ticked by.

The Lord still worked below him. Only missing a beat when he had to redirect workers or address some new problem that arose. His tenacity motivated the others and showed a positive sign of leadership for the citizens to look at. They could give a clearer answer as to who their Lord was when people asked.

The sun was about an hour away from setting when Kazimir made a final trip before the meal break. The bag slid off his shoulder landed on the rest.

“Ahh!” A man screamed. His voice crying out from the left of the building. Men rushed forward to see. Kazimir darted between them. He needed to know if all was safe. He arrived in time to see a man hanging on to a single piece of drainage pipping jutting out from the fourth floor.

“Hold on I’m coming!” Kazimir yelled back at the man, who was too far for him to reach. The man’s hands started to slip, and fright enveloped his face. Kazimir knew he had to act fast and jumped from the roof. He conjured his wind magic to boost him faster downward pushing some of the closer observers backward.

The man’s let go of the pipe at the last moment. Kazimir’s hands only grazed him as the plummeted downward. Conjuring another surge of magic, a windscreen appeared beneath the man causing him to crash into it. The hit slowed him down and Kazimir repeated the process, throwing his hands forward until the man was only ten feet from the ground.

He conjured a final spiraling gust to wrap around both of them and set them on the ground. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” The man exclaimed as Kazimir awkwardly accepted.

“Not a problem. I’m just glad you're safe.” The wind mage replied and after the crowd watching had dispersed, Kazimir finished the day by using his magic to hurl the supplies upwards where they needed to go until his man was exhausted.

The sun was beginning to set as the Lord made his way over to Kazimir, “Thank you for the good work today and for saving one of my workers. I believe this to be an adequate reward.”
Kazimir took the reward, “Thank you. I hope we can work together again someday.”

Word count 1064/1000