Lucian worked diligently for the subsequent hours.

During that time, he'd managed to gather hundreds of the rubbery leaves, tens of excellent, thick branches, and had neatly stacked the square plates of bark in the center of the clearing.

He'd attempted to cut further into one of the trees. The knife tore through almost unhindered until it hit something in the center that was as hard as steel.

The layer just behind the bark was soft and could be compared to clay. He'd cut a chunk of the material out for further experimentation when he found the time.

Though the Tile he was stuck on only held a handful of trees, he felt that he'd hit the jackpot! These trees were an extraordinary resource!

"Materials are gathered," Lucian frowned. "Now for the nasty work..."

He approached the three giant rat corpses and dragged them far from the center clearing. There were still spots of skin that were in decent shape, and he needed to separate the hide before the rot became worse.

Hunting had never been his forte, but he'd always skinned the catches for his employees while they were out camping.

Lucian rolled the rats onto their backs and began the process. It was disgusting, and the meat had been contaminated by the creatures' insides bursting, but he wasn't after the meat anyway.

What he wanted were the bones and the skin. If the brains were intact, he planned to make use of them to tan as much of the hide as he could.

As he ripped out the innards and cut away the rotten meat, he threw the useless parts into the void at the edge of his Tile.

"I wonder where it will end up?"

[Error]

"Nobody asked you!" Lucian scolded.

He'd managed to salvage two brains and all of the bones. The results weren't terrible, but he wasn't satisfied.

The skins were in terrible shape. Lucian would need to flesh it quickly if he wanted to salvage anything.

The meat had long begun to rot, and fur was falling out in patches in certain areas. As it turned out, the rain had sped up the deterioration more than he'd expected.

"This one isn't in too bad of shape," Lucian muttered, looking at the three hides.

One was still in great shape. He assumed that would have been the rat stacked on top, as the solidity of the other two was questionable.

"I can make a pair of gloves and moccasins from these two," He thought aloud, looking at the two degraded hides. "This one..."

There was a chance he could make a pair of shorts, but he decided against it. Instead, he felt that a bag would be of better use.

A belt and sheath for his knife would have also been agreeable, but his knowledge only extended so far. There was a chance that he could make a rope belt in the future, but there wasn't enough good fur left on these to do so.

Lucian stole a few limbs from his old shelter and arranged them into a small tanning rack. It was flimsy, but it would hold up as long as he was mindful.

Though the dagger was closer to a hatchet than a knife, he managed to use the sharpened edge of the blade to scrape off the meat that clung to the skin. Fleshing the hide took a few hours, and it was dark by the time he'd finished.

"That went better than I thought, but..." Lucian grimaced, "I don't really have a way to wash it."

Very gently, he rubbed the skin against the grass, doing his best to wipe away the excess blood and grime. Once he was done, Lucian hung the three hides over the rack to dry.

He had no way to stretch the skin and would just have to do his best with what he had.

Once they were arranged neatly and spread as much as possible, he lay down and looked up at the canopy. A melody played within the woodland as a light breeze played a symphony across the leaves.

Lucian closed his eyes, listening to the sound while thinking of his family. He hoped that they would be fine without him.

His wife was a nurse, off on maternity leave, so he wasn't concerned with their financial situation. The woman who owned the clinic she worked for was kind and would make sure that she could take care of the children.

Even if his wife were forced to quit, he'd been investing profits from the business for years. She could retire if need be.

"What will they think of me?" Lucian sighed. Would they think that he'd run away?

[Error]

Lucian glanced at the familiar prompt. He hadn't closed the [Educatus] tab in a while.

Even though the responses were mechanical, and he had to read them, at least he had something to focus on. He skimmed through the other tabs, but nothing had changed.

"How do I earn Microlinks?" Lucian asked.

[Microlinks can be acquired by completing Waves, trading, or reaching specific milestones]

"What are those milestones?"

[Error]

"Pssshhh," Lucian huffed dramatically. "What are Waves?"

[Wave: Rabid Non-Humanoid creatures are released into Host's Domain. Host must survive the onslaught by any means necessary. Each Wave is more challenging than the previous, and more prep time is allowed. Every tenth Wave, a more powerful beast emerges]

"Geez, who came up with this shit?" Lucian asked rhetorically.

[The Ancients]

"Who are the Ancients?"

[Error]

"Can you explain the Grades that I received for surviving the first wave?" He asked.

[Style: The more entertaining or exciting Host's victory, the higher the Grade.

Preservation: The less damage that Host or Host's Domain takes during the Wave, the higher the Grade.

Efficiency: The speed of Host's wave completion, how much material is salvageable from Wave creatures, and how much munition or material Host is able to save during the Wave each play a factor in this Grade]

"Style, huh?" Lucian grumbled. "I guess there are people watching."

He flipped a bird toward the sky above and smiled.

"I'll win this game and find out what's really going on," He muttered.