4.6

August finished the last of the new arrows, setting it aside with the others. They were thicker than before, but that was all he had changed about the construction. Making the arrows was a pretty easy task now, and there was a real incentive as well. He’d been keeping track of his [EXP] this time, and [Analysis] was telling him that crafting a single [Shoddy Arrow] netted him a total of [5 EXP].

A quick check of the menu showed his current progress.

Skill Points: 0

560/700 EXP.

He was swiftly approaching another level, and to get there, he now had the option of making twenty-eight [Shoddy Arrows]. If this had been a game, August would have sat down and made about a thousand of them just to get a jump start on levels. But real life didn’t work like that; you had hunger and thirst to consider, the monsters couldn’t be slaughtered in droves like an RPG, and daylight was far too precious of a resource to use up like that.

It was, however, a task he could set aside for himself during the evening while sitting at the campfire.

“August?” Rittan said, watching the lake.

The tone of voice immediately drew his attention, a mixture of hesitancy and decisiveness that was hard to put a word to—He’d heard it before from Alice when she had gotten sick of waiting for him to make up his mind.

“There are about fifteen minutes left on the timer,” August said, glancing up.

“Sorry about haranguing you,” Rittan said, sounding genuine. “I find myself quite on edge, it would seem.”

“It’s fine,” August said before hesitating himself.

Unlike the [Mitikos] that slept away their time in the lake, the [Otrogon] that stayed in the fields, or the [Efkini] that stuck to the treetops, Rittan was an indomitable challenge should he turn violent or aggressive—he was stronger, more durable and as smart, if not more intelligent then August himself.

Adding a third person to this balancing act was not an easy choice to make, but it was also one that he couldn’t say no to. He couldn’t even blame Rittan for pushing for it, not when he represented a potential revival for his species.

“Hey,” August said, scratching his neck. “When you get a new friend, you better not vote me off the island, okay?”

Rittan turned, looking puzzled and August pressed forward before his embarrassment could grow.

“I was thinking about the summoning process earlier,” August continued, “If you give me a specific name, it might be possible to try and target a specific Voithos?”

“Truly?” Rittan said, lifting a hand to his chin.

“No promises,” August hedged, “But there’s an instinctual feeling there like it might work, kind of like the blueprint knowledge.”

“I—Hm.” Rittan trailed off.

August pushed himself up and stretched to rid himself of the discomfort of sitting on the rough ground for the better part of an hour—His back let out a dull crack, and he immediately felt a bit better.

“This is a more difficult decision than I would have expected,” Rittan said, wringing his bottom two hands together. “I knew many in life, but to weigh which should be freed and whom should not….”

August remained quiet, not wanting to poison the well or colour Rittan’s decision with his own thoughts.

“I wonder if I should choose any of them at all,” Rittan murmured, “None of those I was close with would excel here, and that might lower the chance that we may reach the next summon.”

August winced; he was already thinking about a fourth—he was definitely getting voted off the island.

“I should be making the decision based on meritocracy, or at least my perceived view of their ability to survive here,” Rittan said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I should put aside any qualms I have about fairness or my own feelings towards them.”

Rittan was a better person for the job than he would have been—If it had been humans, August would have brought each and every one of his friends to the island, but he was far more selfish, apparently.

“Yeah?” August said.

“I have a name for you,” Rittan said slowly.

“Then let’s go sentence someone to Devil’s Nest,” August said, moving away from the camp.

“You aren’t going to use the pit?” Rittan said.

“I had no idea what I was summoning the first time,” August admitted, “I actually thought it was going to be a monster like Ladybug.”

The monster jumped up to follow them upon hearing the name, and August stopped.

“Nope,” August said, patting the creature on the head. “Stay here and guard the camp, okay? I don’t want you getting stabby with our new friend.”

Ladybug is now guarding Lakeside Hovel.

August scrunched his face up at the name, but his annoyance was assuaged when the monster waddled over and sat down in front of the [A-Frame Hut]. Once they were far enough away from the camp, August knelt down and placed his hand against the dirt.

“Alright, let’s get this over with,” August said, pushing away his doubts. “Tell me about them?”

Rittan crossed his arms and closed his eyes for a moment.

“Her name was Kalter,” Rittan said, “I was never able to meet her in life, but every Voithos knew of her at the end—Kalter became the leader of the Voithos who pushed back against our decommissioning.”

“Kalter, Kalter, Kalter,” August said, trying to build up an image in his mind. “What did she look like?”

“Ah,” Rittan said, “Black hair passed her shoulders, her skin was a darker shade than my own, and she stood perhaps a head shorter? Whenever I saw footage of her, she was wearing a yellow-furred jacket.”

“Black hair, darker skin, yellow-furred jacket.” August repeated, “Leader. Kalter. [Summon].”

Blue light washed outwards from where his hand was placed, the same countless symbols carving themselves into the soil in a thousand tiny channels. He could feel how thick the mana in the air had become, and when he breathed, it coursed through his body like an upswing of energy. He must have closed his eyes at some point because when he opened them again, there was a woman before him.

Her eyes were open, locked on his own, and there was no yellow-furred jacket to be seen.