The morning apple was sat where he left it and the water tasted a little of rum but was drinkable. Even though he didn't need to set straight off on a morning run; Adam did so anyway. It was a bit out of the way but after collecting fruit, nuts and more water Adam had to check on Sharky. His knowledge of how to interact with his followers had improved overnight while he slept; something he could tell was down to his increased intellect. While he still didn't understand the system it no longer seemed hard to work out the purpose of new elements when he discovered them. He now knew he could only interact with Sharky while within a certain distance and wanted to try something out.

On reaching the shore Adam sent a pulse of acknowledgement down the link with Sharky. In response the fin cutting the water in the distance started moving towards him. Once Sharky was nearer the shore Adam opened his quest log which he had already updated this morning.

Quests Complete? Exp Explore Mine, entrance 1% 50 Explore Forest, outer 0% 50 Explore Mountain, slope 1% 100 Convert vermite 0% 30 Explore the seabed along Coast 5% 15 Clear Coast of threats 0% 25

As suspected Sharky seemed aware of the quests he could help achieve. There was no way Adam could talk to a shark but determination and an acceptance of the challenge were palpable through the link. Sharky swam off to complete his tasks.

Adam was full of enthusiasm. Not only was he finally understanding the system he was working in but also had someone to do it with him. Person stomped their feet and mock cried at this thought so Adam corrected himself. Now he had more than one someone to do it with. Person perked back up giving some encouraging gestures allowing Adam to continue motivating himself. He understood the system better; he had support and he was no longer just feeling overwhelmed all the time.

He knew that his overarching quest, even though it wasn't on the list, was to work out who had put him here and maybe even try to get back to Earth. With this in mind Adam would have to grow stronger and keep pushing the system for information to work out what he was doing here and why. It was clear that the approach of developing his powers and working towards goals that he set was leading him in the right direction. Now he was more powerful and his intellect and clarity higher he could detect gaps in the information given by the system. There were holes where something could be perceived that he couldn't yet understand. Increasing Inspect and his characteristics was letting him push at these gaps and fill them in. He needed to level up further to learn the system better and work out what else he could do.

Standing by the vermite burrow Adam was making a choice. He could only convert one vermite per day with his current gp and regen. Presumably getting to level 4 would increase this but that would take more time or risk that he was hoping to avoid. What he didn't know was what the other vermite would do if he converted one of their number. Scenario one, they wouldn't care and he could just convert one at a time. Scenario two, they would and his converted vermite might have to fight the rest of the group. He had already made the choice about trying to convert one of them today; now he was trying to decide which one.

It was between the largest vermite and the smallest. The largest was the older female. She was asleep in the middle of the group but best placed to fight off the others if needed like Sharky had with the other sharks. The smallest was one of the younger male vermite who was sleeping nearest the entrance. He was most likely to be able to sneak out and leave the rest of the group without disturbing them. In the end Person conjured and tossed a coin to help Adam decide. Heads made it the female. Concentrating on the vermite; Adam activated Transfer.

Followers Level Attributes Class Sharky 2 HP 170/170; Stamina 20/60; MP 0/0; SP 0/5 Scout vermite 1 HP 30/30; stamina 40/40; MP 1/1; SP 2/2 Please allocate* *can only allocate secondary classes

The disorientation was much better than before; probably because the vermite was asleep. Adam was acutely aware of his sense of smell becoming enhanced. Otherwise the process was much smoother. Probing the link with the vermite he also realised he could understand her thoughts better as well. He deduced that this was in part due to their being more similarities between himself and the vermite than there were with a shark. While he had only been able to get a vague idea of what Sharky was thinking there was more detail with the vermite.

As she woke, the vermite's attention snapped up towards Adam. She sent a simple but clear message. What. You? Adam wasn't expecting this. Sharky had not tried to use the link to communicate he had just done what Adam had asked. He paused; feeling really self-conscious of telling the vermite he was a god. It just seemed odd. Instead he found a different explanation that he found less pretentious.

I'm your boss. Thought Adam. The vermite considered this, turning the concept into something she could understand.

Boss? Leader. The thought leader was distilled from a mix of emotions suggesting protection, family and control. A feeling of affirmation came from the vermite followed by. Me Boss. A flurry of thoughts mixed with memories around the piles of food left out next to piles of rocks came along the link to Adam. You?

Yes, that was me. thought Adam, causing the vermite to consider things for a minute before replying.

Me Boss. You, Big Boss. She said, satisfied. Now sleep. Having worked this out in her head the vermite rolled over and went back to sleep.

Adam looked at Person who shrugged. Great, thought Adam. Insubordinate minons. Just what he needed. Adam tested the link and could tell he could use it to wake the vermite up again if he wanted. He pushed a little but all this did was cause the vermite to roll in her sleep and send a wave of fatigue back down the link at him. After contemplating pushing back harder to show he was the Big Boss he decided not to and instead returned to camp to think things through.

Eating a pear for his lunch while sat on the ground beside the tent Adam spent some time examining the system once more; trying to work out what he was going to do with the vermite. Working around the gaps in knowledge that the system just wouldn't explain or let him access there was still a lot of information to digest.

By making Sharky a scout without really thinking about it he had locked down so many other options. Now he could explore these he could distinguish between two different trees that his followers could take. There was a military side with a class based system with scout as the only unlocked option; while he could sense more classes available none were open to him at the moment. Next to this there was a gap; another section sat there but he could not access it. Adam could tell that it was for a different type of allocation but nothing more. His intuition told him it would be the opposite of military making it the civilian branch but he couldn't even prove this. Most importantly it meant he wasn't going to make a decision about the vermite just yet.

He needed to level Inspect to get more information. He was past the point of waiting for the system to just reveal things when it was ready. Current exp = 64 so less than twenty to go to get the required eighty. There were two ways he had found so far to get exp. One was completing the quests and he didn't think he would manage that soon. The other he had only experienced secondhand through Sharky and that was killing things. If only things allocated a level gave experience then there was no point going and trying to catch and kill a frog. The only creatures with levels that he had encountered so far were the vermite and the sharks. There was no way Adam was going to try and kill a shark and he was in the process of converting the only vermite he knew of so little help there.

Considering the options if he wanted to gain experience today, none were promising. Unless he fancied some exploration. Out of the choices the mine was the safest at only level 2. Person changed their outfit to a miner's overall and helmet; even including a small blinking lamp and pick over their shoulder. A brief desire to get up and go was quickly supressed. Sharky had been level 1 and this was a level 2 area; even with a light to help him explore there was no way he was going in the mine alone.

Having worked out that Inspect was his next target Adam spent the rest of the afternoon trying to use his hatchet to fashion a door from the leftover wood so he no longer had to make and dismantle the way into camp twice a day. Memories of lazy Sundays watching nature and survival documentaries with long forgotten hints and tips filtered back to him as he worked. Likely down to his increased intellect he didn't reminisce too long over his old life or reflect over how he had wasted all those hours at the time he simply put the knowledge to use.

By evening he had managed to create a reasonable panel that would fit the space. The major breakthrough had been when he started stripping the thinner hazel branches to make fibres that he could twist and tie to hold things together. Using these and the hatchet to notch the ends of some thicker branches he could then lace them together to form a shape. He realised that using a similar technique of twisting and tying the branches could make the entire fence stronger so had moved on to this to occupy time until dark.

With dusk came the vermite. Adam was no longer worried or scared when he sensed their presense as it had been forewarned through his link with the single vermite follower. Realising he couldn't keep referring to her as vermite in his head Adam pulled up the follower screen while waiting for their arrival.

Followers Level Attributes Class Sharky 2 HP 92/170; Stamina 5/60; MP 0/0; SP 1/5 Scout Ma 1 HP 30/30; stamina 40/40; MP 1/1; SP 2/2 Please allocate* *can only allocate secondary classes

Odd, the entry had already updated. He scrutinised the entry with Inspect and could now tell that the vermite had allocated the name. Interesting. Looking at the skill points Ma had available he confirmed his decision that making her a scout would be a waste, she couldn't use the skill until level 3 at the earliest. He also compared her stats to Sharky. While he couldn't tell the characteristics making up their stats he assumed the basics were the same. He also couldn't see their regen amounts. It did confirm Ma had higher intellect but was weaker in all other areas. If the way they were allocated and increased were the same as for him then Sharky was also well over-powered compared to Ma.

While Ma approached the fence Adam could sense peripherally the other vermite holding back. She approached the fence warily and looked up at Adam seeming ready to run at any moment. Feeling wary himself Adam realised they were both enhancing this emotion through the link and actively tried thinking welcome and friendly thoughts instead. The change was noticeable immediately as Ma's posture became more relaxed.

When Adam looked down at Ma he realised he had not actually seen a vermite in the flesh before. He adjusted the mental image to what was before him. Rather than a giant rat, Ma was more human like in proportion but with a rat shaped head and features and covered in thin fur. Her hands, arms and legs were thin and elongated but she had fingers rather than a paw with claws. Adam noticed she was wearing a tattered shawl over her shoulders and could sense her pride in this item of clothing.

"Food?" She squeaked at Adam. His ears heard a squeak but his brain understood the meaning clearly. Alongside this came a jumbled message showing a lack of food at all the piles of rock on Ma's journey to the camp.

Adam realised the distraction of improving the fence meant he had not left anything out so he reached into the pack by his feet and pulled out an apple to pass to Ma. She took it appreciatively and pointed at the other vermite.

"More food?" she squeaked. Through the link Adam could tell that they would eat all the food he left out but only needed a couple of pieces of fruit each. He counted out a suitable amount and then added a handful of nuts extra.

"Here you go, this is for you." Said Adam. Then he pointed down at his pack and the remaining food. "This is mine though, so leave it alone." Ma took the fruit an armful at a time back to the group of vermite who all started eating and then returned and pointed at the pack.

"You food". She squeaked and pointed at the pack. He understood more than she said through the link; knowing she wouldn't try and take any more of the food. Then she pointed at the fence surrounding Adam's camp and squeaked "What this?"

"This is a fence. It makes my camp safer." Said Adam, he pointed inside the camp. "Safe," then pointed outside "Not safe." Ma nodded and then walked the perimeter of the camp pushing against the fence in several places. When she reached the area Adam had improved is was obvious that she could tell the difference.

"Better." She squeaked. Adam nodded and showed her the twists he had used to hold the woven branches together tighter. He then proudly showed her the panel that he could move to enter the camp. At this Ma's eye lit up. "You safe." She squeaked pointing at him. Then she walked into the camp coming closer than she had previously dared and stood inside the fence. "Me safe." He could tell she was making her mind up about something as she stood looking at the rest of her pack. "Them safe?" She squeaked.

Adam could feel Ma's emotions through the link. He could tell that her natural wary nature was being tempered by the good fortune of having somewhere safe with food to stay. Along with this there was a sensation of her beginning to trust him to protect her and the rest of the vermite. He had to balance this with the idea that the creature he had built the fence to keep out was now asking to be let inside and to bring their friends along too. It was a combination of the follower link reassuring him and Person who had transformed into a little rat-Person that helped him decide. He nodded to Ma.

"You can come inside the fence," he said, pointing at the outer fence "but this is my area. You can't come in here." He gestured to his tent and the second fence surrounding it. Ma nodded and scurried out to get the other vermite. Adam waited, watching as Ma squeaked and pointed then the other vermite squeaked back in reply. The squeaking became louder before developing into a fight between the two larger vermite. Ma quickly cowed her opponent causing them all to fall silent again. She pointed once more at the camp and now the whole group rushed inside the gap in the fence making their way as far from Adam as they could.

Adam secured the fence panel; Ma watching as he did so and then picked up his pack and moved inside the inner fence. He pointed once more at his pack "My food." and waited until Ma acknowledged him. Once she had; he reached in and pulled out another handful of nuts. "This is for you. From my food. A gift." Adam tried to make the concepts easy to grasp. Through the link he could tell that she didn't understand a gift but could sense appreciation and how this would make it easier for her to manage the rest of her pack.

He secured the inner fence and got into his tent which was pitch black. He only now realised that the sun had fully set while talking to Ma. It must have been the link and her night vision that had been allowing him to see fine while outside the tent which wouldn't have effect now. Trying to ignore the scratching noises he could hear outside the tent and telling himself it was nothing to worry about he looked at his watch. 23:00. He swore time didn't work the same here. How was it almost midnight. At least that meant it was late enough for stealth to last until morning. He activated the skill and lay still, willing himself to sleep.