Whistling a merry tune as he traveled through the forest, which had been steam-cleaned by the searstorm the day before, Nick passed by the great tree and kept heading north, returning to the cave he intended to use as a base for the remainder of his survival vacation on the Searing Isle. Or at least until the final phase began, two days before the tutorial’s end.
He felt a surge of satisfaction upon sighting his new home. Through his efforts, Nick had created a window for himself. He freed up days that he could devote to tempering his mind and body, as well as anything else he could think of. He intended to use this opportunity to acquire every advantage that he could in order to maximize his odds of living to see the Earth once more.
He had gradually become aware that his memories of integration were starting to return, and with them, a sense of exquisite loss and pain, like barbed wire wrapped around his heart. Just thinking about not thinking about them hurt, and he didn’t have time to wallow in misery. So instead of trying to dredge the memories up to the surface, Nick avoided contemplating them for now, intending to take advantage of whatever was shielding him from the emotions they carried until the tutorial was over. Or at least until he had fortified his new home.
With that goal firmly in mind, Nick was ready to start constructing the cavern’s defenses in earnest. He began by walking over to where the shipwreck had been tossed back onto the shore by the merciless tide. As he had no skills or tools appropriate for logging, the wreck was his only supply of lumber. He needed to claim some of the sturdy wooden planks if he wanted to build some sort of barricade and hopefully pry free a piece large enough to create a low wall as well. At the very least, he needed to build something solid that he could stand behind while thrusting with a spear.
Before long, the ship came into view. It was propped upright against a pair of sprawling trees, returned to its original orientation after countless of years resting upside down. He took a quick survey around and within before deciding that the region was free of hostile beasts. Then, humming a merry tune, Nick rolled up his sleeves and went to work.
While he was picking through the wreckage, he found a long pole that had once been the banister for a stairwell. He cut it in half and whittled the ends into points, crafting a pair of spears that were sturdier than the ones he had carved from fallen branches. Not long after, he was pleased to uncover some big chunks of the ship’s deck that had broken free during the storm. They would be perfect to reinforce his makeshift barrier.
With a bit of effort, Nick was able to pull his prize free from the wreckage, and after another two hours, he had enough timber to build a barricade to shield the cavern’s entrance. It took several trips to carry all the lumber back to the cave, but he didn’t mind the labor. It was time well spent and would help condition his strength as a bonus.
Before he began building his bulwark, he decided to gather up a large pile of baseball-sized stones. He figured that being able to unleash a primitive ranged attack would help discourage any curious predators from drawing too close to his shelter, ending the encounter without having to engage in hand-to-hand combat.
Once he was done, he used the two largest pieces of deck to form the front of his barricade, giving him a solid structure to duck behind that would also guard his legs. Once the planks were wedged tightly together, Nick piled debris to plug the gaps on both sides, then went to work carving a series of short stakes from various bits of wood.
He inserted these crude spikes into the gaps in his construction. While some of them would likely fall out if something heavy slammed into them, the stakes shoved between the planks were a better fit. They could do a bit of damage if a creature charged but were mostly there to keep enemies from being able to scale the barrier and overwhelm Nick before he was able to man the wall.
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Once the fence of debris was in place, forming a bottleneck inside the cavern’s entrance, he spent a few minutes refining his primitive alarm trap. When he was satisfied with his handiwork, he gave the barrier a thorough inspection from both in front and behind, kicking at it until he was sure that it would be able to take a beating. Then Nick walked into the forest, looking for lunch while pondering how to best use the days ahead. After some foraging and some training, he decided to call it an early night, tweaking his plans for a few hours until he passed out.
Nick was fast asleep atop his newly crafted bed of dried needles when something tripped the alarm trap he had set up along the entrance to his shelter. Although he was awake in an instant, for an adrenaline-soaked moment, his dream-addled mind was back in that terrible moment in the dungeon. He woke up to find a gigantic leech perched on his chest, feeding from his arteries.
After running his hands over his body and finding nothing there, he heard the shell-studded strands of twine clacking again, followed by the sound of claws scrabbling across the floor of the cavern. I’m under attack by beasts, he scrambled to arm himself as he prepared to defend his shelter. Instead of reaching for his sword, which was poorly suited to swinging in such a confined space, Nick picked up one of the spears he had crafted from the pile that was propped up against the wall beside him.
He could tell from the sound what creatures were headed his way. The tap of short claws coming down against hard-packed earth. One… no, two komos. They either heard me breathing or were watching the cave and waiting for me to lower my guard.
Nick wasn’t surprised by the beasts’ intrusion, as he had been expecting it sooner or later, although this was the first time that he had witnessed the predatory reptiles hunting at night. He had been seeing signs all day that one of the smaller komo prides was encroaching on the land once claimed by the cruncher pack. He had known that he would have to fight the lizards sooner or later if he wanted to defend his claim.
Nick’s heart raced, and his adrenaline began to flow as he prepared himself for battle. He knew from experience that the komos wouldn’t stop unless he drove them off with force. Even then, the lizards would likely return if he didn’t kill them now. He ran his eyes across the earthen floor, trying to anticipate when his opponents would make their move.
He could barely make out anything with the wan starlight pouring through the mouth of the enclosure, but he could see the dim outlines of the chamber’s interior.
Two blobs of darkness stood frozen by the entrance, holding themselves so still that Nick could scarcely make out their outlines against the murky gloom. I’m lucky that the komos aren’t very bright. When the second one entered and rattled the alarm, the first must have thought that something was attacking from behind and spun to face the noise, startling the second as well.
This welcome development gave him a few seconds to wake the rest of the way up and, more importantly, time to think. If they come at me together, they will probably take down the barrier before I can inflict too much damage with my spear. But I doubt they can see the low wall or the spikes any better than I can in the dark. If I can convince them to come charging in fast before they notice the obstruction…
This was all the time for contemplation Nick had, because that was when the komos began gliding forward once more. The beasts advanced with surprising agility, like blobs of ink spreading across the floor.
They didn’t seem to realize that Nick had noticed them yet—a lucky break that he intended to take full advantage of. Before the reptiles could close the distance, he reached back, took aim, and then threw his spear into the creatures’ path. Although he had no practice with this technique and the spear was a poor missile at best, the lizards were big enough and close enough that he was able to get the job done.
The spear completed its short flight and struck the closest lizard on the flank. Unfortunately, the crude spearpoint was barely able to scratch the komo’s scaley hide. But the wound was deep enough to hurt, and more importantly, his attack caught the creature totally by surprise. By now, he understood the komos well enough to anticipate how they would react.
As he expected, the instant that the creatures pieced together what had happened, both lizards hissed and came charging straight for Nick, showing no sign they were aware of the barrier’s existence.