Rilah takes a close look at the completed rock, a squareish slab maybe four or five inches thick and several feet long and wide, and runs her hand over it.

"Well. That was impressive to see, actually. You can see a little bit of the work pattern if you look carefully, look here, faint impressions of a circle... But I think that'll be fine. We're going to cut and polish these anyway. This is perfectly acceptable work, excellent job!"

The end product is white, speckled with spots of silvery grey and gold. She could totally see it in a fancy waiting room.

She smiles and nods happily, ears flopping as she does. "Gonna do another. Should I just keep going until I've used all the gravel? And how long was that?"

"That was about five minutes. And yep. And you don't need to do it all in one session either, though we'd like to get through this much in a week or two." She slaps the big metal bins full of rock. "It'll go faster than you think, I think. Just stack them up on the ground next to the hoppers and Sending me when you're done, I'll come out and count 'em and pay you."

She looks doubtfully at the large bins, then shrugs. "I do want both money and practice, I'll give it a good try at least."

"It'll be lovely to have another good Earthmover on call if you don't get sick of it by then."

"Work doesn't have to be fun to be worth doing. As long as you're getting paid, I mean."

"True. Right, I'll leave you to it now. Have a great day. I'll fetch out a drink too if you want, just Sending me if anything comes up."

And Rilah turns and heads back into the office with a wave.

Fill, fill, spread, compress, compress, compress, compress, compress, compress, lift, smooth, next.

She gets a bit faster as she goes, getting used to the mental motions, though she continues the habit of physical motions corresponding to the magical ones. As she gets a better grasp on the invisible force of will actually doing the work, her shaky attempts get more solid and faster. It's still effortful, of course, not to mention kind of - tedious? Repetition, repetition. It's almost like washing dishes, the motions so learned as to be automatic, innate.

There's three phases to this kind of work, to repetitive tasks, at least for her. First phase, still learning the routine, focusing on each individual step and feeling out the process, actively paying attention. Third phase, when you've gotten so used to it your hands move without conscious input and your mind can wander freely. Or at least listen to music or gossip without losing the thread. Second phase is the awkward one. When it's starting to feel learned and natural, when you're starting to get in a steady swing, but not enough to go totally on autopilot with it. Your mind wanders, and suddenly there's a moment of confusion - what was I doing again? Which step am I on? Did I make a mistake just now?

When she starts noticing signs of the second phase, she pauses and stretches again.

...She should learn some basic stances for the four Avatar martial arts. Better than half-remembered versions anyway. She checks her phone- What?? She's been at it for an hour and a half?? Geez, talk about a flow state, and no wonder she's tired now. Not to mention she feels empty. She must be low on mana.

I'm done out here Rilah. OOM*

*Out Of Mana

OK I'm coming out. Want anything from the bar?

Water

She's out with a water bottle a few seconds later, lazily riding her broomstick across the yard.

"Hey there," she tosses a plastic water bottle underhand lazily, "Wow, you got a lot done. Just a sec, let's get a count."

It's a fairly impressive pile of shiny rock slabs by this point. Stacked three high and two wide, going a fair way back. The level of the stone in the hopper is visibly lower, though not by that much.

"...Thirty seven. That's seven hundred and ninety Kisses to you."

"-Oh, wow. Yeah, for that pay I'm coming right back here later. Can I drop by any time?"

"Sure, but I can only pay you during the day. Just let yourself in and work, the wards will recognize you."

She pulls a coin case from her purse and starts counting out coins. "These are hundreds, four, five, six, seven. This is a fifty, and these are tens. ...Three, four. There you go. Don't spend it all in one place! Or do, it's your money."

"Thanks for the work! Convenient for both of us, even though you're selling these for a profit somewhere else. Pleasure doin' business."

"Likewise!"