5.5

August wiped at his thigh, but all he really accomplished was getting blood on his palm.

“I got attacked by an [Efkini],” August said, moving towards the group. “Ladybug managed to kill it, but the damn thing almost got me—those chain spikes can go straight through trees and out the other side.”

Kalter rose from her position, turning bodily to face him as he reached the [A-Frame Hut].

“Managed to kill it,” Kalter said, watching him. “Was it a one-sided battle? Is it something she can do a second time if another one attacks?”

August started removing the palm leaves from his inventory, dumping them onto the group in a pile.

“It seemed like both of them were struggling to hit each other,” August admitted, “I tangled the attacking monsters chain up long enough for Ladybug to hit it.”

“If you weren’t there, would Ladybug have won?” Kalter asked.

August wasn’t sure at all. The attacker might have been weak or strong compared to the rest of its kind or simply average. He had no way of knowing where Ladybug sat in the hierarchy other than her level, and he hadn’t seen what level the attacker was.

“I don’t know—the fight only lasted about twenty seconds,” August said, “I’m going to assume that the attacker was roughly the same level as Ladybug, and she is pretty young.”

“Not enough information,” Kalter muttered. “A young member of the species can punch through a tree and is fast enough to avoid any obvious attacks—how many do you suspect are inside of the forest?”

August bent down and began cutting the stem of the leaf off with his [Flint Knife].

“It’s a big forest,” August hedged. “I have no idea, a hundred?”

“This lake is a death sentence,” Kalter reiterated. “We are pinched between two armies of monsters. I know; there are other monsters all over the island and nowhere is safe—I didn’t forget.”

August closed his mouth, annoyed that she’d predicted his comment in advance.

“Let’s not argue,” Rittan said, driving a wedge between the building tension. “As August said, if we need to enter the forest, we will take Ladybug with us for protection.”

Kalter frowned at the interruption, and August directed his own focus at preparing the leaves for the roof while trying to put as much mental distance between himself and the attack as he could manage. Rittan kneeled down, scooping the dirt out of the newest support hole.

The three of them worked in silence for a few minutes, either unsure or unwilling to talk. August finished preparing the leaves, but when he stood to attach the first one, he realised that he wasn’t anywhere near tall enough to manage it on his own. Kalter, standing behind Rittan, watched him as she waited for the newest hole to be finished.

“I’ll do it,” Kalter said quietly, stepping around and stopping next to him. “Show me what I’m supposed to do.”

August hesitated for a moment before turning towards her. He lifted the leave up, taking hold of a handful of the mess and sectioning it off from the other parts.

“You use this part to tie it off, wrap it around the top of the hut,” August said, miming the action. “You can weave it into the next leaf and continue the pattern along the top.”

Kalter took it from him, reaching up and threading the handful through the gaps in the top of the roof. She turned and looked back over her shoulder for further instruction. August talked her through the process that he’d gleaned from the blueprints.

Once she had successfully tied it off, he handed her the next leaf in turn. They placed them in a layered pattern, angled slightly to one side. The layers would work to cover the gaps and prevent rain from slipping through.

“It feels loose,” Kalter said once they’d finished the topmost row.

“I’ve still got vines if you want to tighten it up,” August said, already moving to take it out. “How long do you want?”

Kalter used two of her left hands to measure the distance, and he cut the vine a bit longer before handing it over. August watched as she better secured it to the top, handing her more vine when she asked for it. After she’d finished, they moved down and completed the next two rows until the entire side was finished. Once they were done, they moved onto the opposite side, and Rittan looked up from where he was burying the last support.

“Look at you two,” Rittan said, smiling. “I knew you could work together.”

“Fool,” Kalter muttered.

August scrunched his nose up at the knowing look on Rittan’s face before turning and facing the opposite direction. Now somewhat practised with the method, Kalter finished the second side much faster. August was glad he’d over-collected the leaves because they’d just about burned through half of the stack finishing the first hut.

“Finished,” Kalter said, jerking the last vine tight.

“We’ve got somewhere to hide if it starts raining now,” August said. “Good job, Kalter.”

Kalter just glanced away, brushing her many hands against her thighs to rid them of the accumulated dirt. August accepted the silence for what it was and turned to check on the other Voithos. Rittan, copying the design of the first structure, was making good progress in building the second one, but it was becoming apparent that they were going to run out of branches for the walls before they were finished.

The idea of going back inside the trees repulsed him, but he could see quite a bit of usable material by the edge of the forest. He took his [Flint Axe] out of his inventory and headed for the tree line. The tool was starting to look pretty worn out as the shard of flint began to wear away at the socket. Soon it would become too loose to safely use, and he’d have to remake it.

With the harvested [Efkini] corpse, he had access to some actual metal now, though maybe he could use that to make a better tool. Back in the old world, he could remember seeing small metal hatchets in amongst the building tools. Something like that would be ideal, a single piece of metal that wouldn’t wear away easily or where the head wouldn’t loosen and fall off.

The [Basic Axe] blueprint had something similar within its purview, a small, single piece and thin handled hatchet. The problem was that those tools were made by machines; molten metal was poured into casts and then cleaned up afterwards with more advanced tools.

The spikes and chains could be melted down, but he had no real idea how to accomplish that. A campfire wouldn’t be enough to melt what he had access to. If video game crafting had taught him anything about reality, he’d need a more specialised system—a furnace and an anvil at least.

Could he make something like that? What was a furnace, when broken down to its component pieces? A structure that could withstand the heat of a focused fire? Some method to make the fire burn hotter?

Half a dozen times, August struck down before severing the thin branch away from the newly growing tree. Blowing on fire fed more oxygen into it, which in turn helped the fire grow hotter—He’d seen those ridiculous looking bellows in movies before, the ones that sent the coals burning white-hot.

What were furnaces made out of? They couldn’t use wood because it would burn, and metal would be impossible to shape without having something capable of withstanding the heat to begin with. Stone? Clay maybe?

If he could unlock a blueprint that was closer in concept to a furnace than a campfire, then he’d be able to leverage that knowledge to hone in on the correct method.