5.3

Violent she may be, Kalter didn’t seem like someone who acted without provocation—confused, disorientated and scared after being dragged out of Limbo besides. Knowing that her anger was pointed upwards, at those who abused their power over the disenfranchised helped alleviate some of his worries about her. There had been plenty of people like her back home, and there had certainly been more than enough targets for them to take aim at.

“I don’t think I’d get inside of it.” August admitted, “I don’t have enough trust in anyone to give them access to my fate like that—One day, the machines simulating a wet dream, and the next, it’s a waking nightmare without end.”

Having someone he could trust unconditionally like that—how anybody could do it so casually chilled him. As hard as he’d fallen into her orbit, even Alice hadn’t unlocked that part of him. It was far safer to hide everything away—to play the part of a person who was open and trusting while keeping all of his weaknesses hidden away in an upstairs cupboard that no one opened.

The monster at his feet nudged him again, and he dropped the line of thought.

“We need to name this guy something,” August realised, glancing between them. “Any suggestions?”

Kalter looked uncomfortable at the expectation, but Rittan hummed out loud.

“Mancrab?” Rittan suggested.

“What?” August said, genuinely taken aback. “That might just be the worst name I’ve ever heard.”

“You called the other one Ladybug,” Kalter said, frowning. “It seems pretty in line with your naming conventions.”

“That’s—I’m not even going to bother explaining it,” August said, shaking his head. “Forget it—we’re calling him Neptune.”

“Neptune?” Rittan wondered.

“It’s the name of a planet; it was blue and generally associated with water,” August offered, “You hear that, big guy? Your name is Neptune—don’t forget it.”

Neptune went for another headbutt on his shin, but August had wisened up to its tactics and managed to avoid it. The whole thing had gone much more smoothly than he had anticipated. It was also proof of concept for taming more of the monsters in their area—maybe there was a future where they tamed every single monster on the island, and they no longer had to worry about getting eaten alive by something.

“You’re on permanent guard duty, Neptune,” August said, patting the monster on the head. “Nothing comes out of the lake, or approaches our camp without your say so, got it?”

Neptune clacked its jaws together before it scuttled off towards the shoreline.

Neptune is now Patrolling the Lakeside Hovel.

“Well, that went better than expected,” August admitted, looking past them towards the camp. “We should make another building before we run out of room.”

There was basically no privacy for any of them, and it would only worsen if they kept summoning more Voithos. All they really had was the [A-Frame Hut]; the other, smaller structure had been pulled apart for materials already.

“You were pretty insistent about the palisade yesterday,” Kalter said pointedly. “Have you given up on that idea already?”

August scrunched his face up at the jab.

“No, but we did learn that [Mitikos] only come out onto the shore when they’re injured and tend to target each other first,” August said, annoyed. “That means we can be pretty sure that they won’t be laying siege to us any time soon.”

“More buildings is a fine goal,” Rittan said before they could get into another argument. “Are we remaking the same type of structure?”

“May as well,” August nodded, looking at the roof of the [A-Frame Hut]. “I’m going to start collecting some large leaves for the roof; better to address that before it rains on us.”

“Very well,” Rittan agreed, “Kalter, would you assist me?”

“Fine,” Kalter murmured.

August broke off from the two; Ladybug quickly moved to follow. He moved towards the tree line and headed into the forest. He had a pretty good idea of what he was looking for, and he’d seen some of them in his previous trips inside. There were plenty of them back home, but he’d never actually stopped to wonder what they were called.

He passed by the large rock where he’d first seen Ladybug, but she didn’t even give it a second glance. August could just hear the sounds of distant [Efkini], but they seemed to be coming from another part of the forest.

“Bingo,” August muttered. “Exactly where I left you.”

None of them was much taller than he was, but the leaves were large, spreading out like splashes of green paint against the brown of the larger tree trunks. The green stems striking out from the smaller trees were lined with sharp spines that reminded him of teeth.

August removed his [Flint Axe] from his inventory and carefully pulled one of the spiny stems back. It only took half a dozen hits to brunt through it before the large leaf fell to the ground. He cut off each of the stems from the base and stacked them in a pile. Once he’d stripped the tree clean, he moved onto the next one and started the process all over again.

Ladybug landed on a branch directly above him but remained strangely silent. A quiet thunk rang out from higher up, and August stopped what he was doing. He searched upwards in the forest for the source of the sound—Ladybug fired off a chain spike, reeling herself away as a matching spike slammed into the branch she was on.

The branch sheered off from the force and started to fall towards him—August threw himself forward past the trunk just as it hit the ground behind him. He scrambled up, planting his back against the tree and ripping his [Bamboo Spear] out of his inventory.

A red and black blur swung around the tree as another chain-spike whistled past, slamming into a tree behind it. Two more followed the angle of each hit coming from directly above him. August rotated around the tree again, placing it between him and the two monsters trying to murder each other.

They were moving far too fast for him to keep up with, and he couldn’t even tell which one of them was Ladybug. The tree exploded above his head, the chain-spike piercing straight through and out the other side before slamming into the ground in front of him—[Analysis].

An iron spike-tipped chain wielded by a wild Efkini.

August snatched hold of the chain, ripping it out of the ground and knotting it around his [Bamboo Spear]. He fought upwards, holding tightly to the spear and running away from the tree. The chain pulled hard against his chest, and he couldn’t manage to move it.

“[Burst],” August managed.

August surged forward with mana enhanced speed, and the tension vanished, unable to contend with the sudden forward momentum. He ducked low as another tree exploded above him, showering him with splinters. He dragged the monster by its chain until he felt it crash into the other side of the tree. He fell amongst the leaves as the chain went taut. He twisted over onto his knees and then scrambled around a tree, holding tightly to the [Bamboo Spear] as the chain shook.

He heard a series of rapid thuds, and then the chain stopped shaking.

Ladybug has reached Level 5.

You have levelled up.

“Fuck you,” August panted, adrenaline surging through his veins. “Fuck you, so much.”

Half a foot lower, and that spike would have gone straight through his head—August very much doubted he would have been able to regenerate from something like that.

“Ladybug?” August called. “Are you alright?”

Ladybug dropped down, directly in front of his face, hanging by one of her chains, and he just about had a heart attack. Ladybug unanchored its chain from the tree above and dropped to the ground in front of him.

“Thanks for taking care of that,” August managed, still clutching his tangled up spear against his chest. “Real nice of you.”

Ladybug let out an excited trill.