Day 2.0

August rolled over in an attempt to find that ever-elusive position that might infuse the dirt with some form of comfort, but yet again, like the other hundred times he’d done so, there was none to be found.

The sun was coming up now, the light first touching the top of the west side of the crater, across the lake, and slowly crawling downwards towards the water. The trees behind him acted as a shade from the early morning sun, but he knew that it would be overhead once more come midday.

Ladybug chirped excitedly as he finally managed to drag himself into a sitting position, its radiant cheer completely at odds with August’s sullen demeanour. His mouth felt like it was full of grit, his thoughts were scattered, and he wanted nothing more than to sit under the hot water of his shower for half an hour—only there was no hot water here, and there were no showers.

“Morning, Ladybug.” August managed, rubbing at his eyes. “No rival monstrosities come to kill us while I was asleep?”

Ladybug chirped, and for all he knew, it could have meant that they’d been assaulted by hundreds of monsters, and she’d fought them all off, or alternatively that it had been something of a quiet night.

“An army of them, huh?” August winced, back protesting.

Ladybug made a sound he’d yet to hear before, something like a trill or perhaps a burst of air that caught enough grip to hint at a whistle.

“Thanks for fending them off,” August said, as if in answer. “You’re an upstanding sort, aren’t you? A real gentlelady.”

August pushed himself to his feet with some effort, noticing that just about every part of his body hurt, in some shape or form—his ankles, calves, and the soles of his feet most of all, but his fingers weren’t far behind.

He made his way down to the lakeside and tested it with his toes, it was a bit cooler than comfortable, and he decided to put off washing himself, at least until the sun had time to warm it up a bit. August turned as Ladybug copied his actions, stomping one thick foot into the shallows and sending the cold water splashing about.

August watched the monster wage its war against the lake before stooping to drink until he was sated. Once he was done, he trudged back to his camp, his guardian trailing along beside him. He sat down next to the remnants of last night’s fire and set his mind to the task.

“Tools, tools, tools,” August said, closing his eyes. “Axe, Shovel, Chisel, Hammer.”

He tried to picture each of them and what that might look like with what materials he actually had access to. When reduced to its core components, an Axe was an edge attached to a handle; the force of the swing carried the edge into the target to split it.

An edge would need to be a large shard of Flint, set into a branch handle. He actually had some blueprint knowledge to call on here, as the [Basic Spear Blueprint] held variations—the most relevant one was the external tip made of Flint set into the handle itself.

With the spear, there were several methods to attach the tip, each with varying degrees of durability. Most of them required a hole to be carved out of the handle in order for it to be socketed within. He could probably wear away enough wood to bore out a hole like that, but it would take a lot of effort with just his [Flint Knife]. The alternative was to use a small lump of coal from his fire to slowly burn away the wood until the socket was large enough to fit his Axe head.

August searched his firewood pile for any branches with a thick enough end to facilitate a large hole. He picked one out that had a knot of wood near where it had been broken off and set it in front of himself. Next, he started dumping all of the Flint he’d collected in the dirt in front of him, looking for large pieces that he could use. He selected four of them and then placed the rest back into his inventory.

Ladybug spun around at the sound of his first attempt to crack the Flint into shards, looking alarmed at the sudden noise. August couldn’t really do anything to mitigate it, so he continued his work, using the [Flint Knapping] knowledge he’d gained to work the stone over.

The results of the first two pieces weren’t good, the randomness of the internal structure of the material leading to cracks that varied greatly. Most of the pieces were far too small, and the one that was around the right size split in two when he attempted to tidy up the end.

The third piece of Flint proved much better, leaving him with a four-inch-long shard of flinch about two inches thick. It narrowed down to a rounded point at one end, and he could almost envision how it would sit within the handle. He placed it aside and then continued working on the last piece, netting himself a single replacement head if the first one broke during use.

Now that he’d stopped making loud cracking noises, Ladybug had sat down beside him again, watching him work. August pulled the branch he’d chosen for the handle within reach and set the edge of his [Flint Knife] against it. Debarking the branch took more effort than he’d thought, the knife not exactly great for the task, and by the time he’d managed to remove the bark around the top of it, his hands were aching again.

“I’m going to have to get used to this now,” August murmured, shaking out his hands.

The red spots on his hands would likely turn to blisters soon, and that wasn’t something he was looking forward to. He was supposed to have some kind of health regen, wasn’t he? Maybe that would help mitigate stuff like this.

Leaving the rest of the bark alone, for now, he instead turned his attention towards screwing the [Flint Knife] into the knot at the top of the branch, making a small hole there. Once it was large enough for his purpose, he dug around the bottom of the fire with another stick, flicking out a few still hot coals. He used a pair of sticks like chopsticks to lift the coal up and place it into the hole he’d set in the handle.

Then he lowered his head down and blew onto the coal—it glowed brilliantly, scorching the rugged remains of the hole he’d made black. He kept at it until the edges of the hole were glowing as hot as the ember had been.

The goal here was to burn enough of the wood that he could scratch it away easily while maintaining control over the shape. That meant he had to stop every minute or so to carve out the hole, enlarging it and then beginning anew. He also had to be careful that the hole didn’t move too far towards the edges, which would result in the handle breaking apart during use.

August wasn’t sure exactly how long he sat there, with the half debarked handle pinched between his feet, blowing into the hole, but eventually, the hole had made it all the way through to the other side.

August took hold of the handle by the bark, then picked up the large piece of Flint and pushed the thinner end into the hole. It got lodged about an inch in, and he had to flip the handle around to bang the edge of the Axe against the ground to help push it further into the hole. It remained stuck inside; the force of each swing should serve to push it further into the socket, squeezing it in tighter.

Basic Axe Blueprint Unlocked

August held the [Flint Axe] up in the air, inspecting it in a new light—and sighed; everything about it was wrong. He would need to use something to further ensure the head remained firmly lodged inside—either tree sap as a weak but natural adhesive or more vine.

“What do you think, Ladybug?” August wondered.

The monster trilled, and he smiled.