Adam jolted awake stiff but refreshed having slept the night in a chair. Checking his status with the link Adam learnt the vermite was called Kai and that he currently had four HP. Was the terrible regen due to the severity of the injury or just one of Kai's traits? As the link was established Kai snapped awake too.

Looking around disorientated Adam could sense the confusion through the link. Kai didn't remember where he was or what had happened. The spacious room around him was not as snug and comfortable as his burrow. Sending calming thoughts down the link Adam was bombarded with the confusion from Kai. Where was he? Why wasn't he in the burrow with his mate? Where were the pups? Exhausted already Kai passed out on the cot.

Pups? Thought Adam. Kai and his mate had babies? Adam rushed to the door calling for Ma as he went. She would know what to do. He scanned the camp taking in all the changes from the night before. The new hut was completed next to his; another burrow had been dug next to the original one, but was lacking a surrounding fence that Pa was instructing one of the new vermite how to build. Fah waved from the firepit where he was constructing another chair, almost finished with his task. Rai and Ti were sparring in front of another of the new vermite, showing off their moves. Finally he saw Ma sat with Soh and the last new vermite across the camp. As they saw him they recognised his distress and headed over.

"Ma, I need your help." Said Adam. On hearing the urgnency in his voice all the other vermite stopped their current tasks and gathered around the hut too.

"Is he ok? What has happened?" Asked Ma, assuming Adam's stress was caused by the injured vermite in his hut.

"Kai is fine," said Adam, gesturing to show that he meant the vermite in his hut. "It is his pups that need us."

"Pups?" Said Ma. She grasped the situation immediately and pointed at Ti. "Go, guard the burrow, check no foxes have been. We will follow." Ti squeaked at Rai who dropped his normally relaxed stance to race after Ti who had obeyed Ma's instructions without question. She ignored the rest of the group and pulled Adam by the hand to follow Ti and Rai. Adam could sense her determination to help; strengthened by the memory of just watching powerless the night before as Adam helped the injured vermite.

It did not take long to return to the burrow. Instead of the scene they were expecting they were met with a furious confused vermite standing at the mouth of the burrow confronting Ti and Rai. Ti was backing off slowly with new scratch marks on her cheek where the unidentified vermite had attacked her. Ma squealed, similar to the day before, shocking the new vermite and stopping her attacking Ti any further. Realising how out numbered she was she remained in the mouth of her burrow hissing at the newcomers.

Ma tried fruitlessly to engage the vermite in conversation but she was so scared and confused that nothing worked. Subtly activating Discern Adam had confirmed that there were seven pups in the burrow all protected by this lone vermite. As he focused on the female guarding the burrow a flash of the night before came back to him. He saw the broken, dead vermite lying on the floor. Brown and russet markings on its face and a trinket necklace around its neck. The vermite in front of him had the same markings and necklace.

Stunned, several other thoughts flew through Adam's consciousness. The spiders that had returned in the same number every day. The lack of remains as he went back into the mine. Surely it wasn't possible that dead creatures would respawn the next day. This couldn't be the same vermite as the night before that had been attacked by the fox. Leaving the delicate situation with Ma trying to calm the vermite he retraced his steps to find the hillock where the fox attack had occurred.

He was convinced he was in the right place. The hillock had been near the first burrow and there were signs of a tussle in the grass. What was not there though was a dead fox or a dead vermite. He probed the system and quizzed Person, who had been very subdued of late. It felt like the theory was right. The system seemed to suggest it was possible and Person had never been able to tell him anything he didn't have to work out himself anyway. In fact, Person had become much less emotive and more functional since Adam had the vermite to talk to as companions. This was the main reason Adam didn't feel bad for ignoring Person for large chunks of time. Almost the development of his followers meant he didn't need Person as much now.

Focusing back on the task at hand rather than philosophising over the role Person played Adam walked back to find Ma had failed to calm the new vermite. She turned to him for help.

"Use your power." She said. "Make her understand." Adam was about to tell Ma he couldn't as he used Transfer twice recently until he remembered the GP reset with each day. He checked to make sure and had four GP available so used Transfer on the vermite to make her a follower. A golden light reached between them as Ti and Rai looked on in reverence. Within seconds the link was established and Wu became his tenth follower. He sent the images of Kai being attacked by a fox and now lying injured on the cot in his hut causing Wu to calm and become upset in a different way as she worried about her mate.

Adam sent calming thoughts along the link as Ma explained that Kai was too sick to move and that she should come to the camp with them where it was safe. Since all his followers could better understand each other due to Common Ideology it did not take long for Ma to persuade Wu that this was the case. Despite them only having met less than an hour before Wu allowed Ma to help her get the pups from the burrow. Still wary of Adam she let Ti and Ma hold two pups each while Wu carried three.

Rai led the way rushing back and forth to ensure the way was clear. Adam wanted to tell him how unnecessary this was now that the sun was up but could tell how seriously he was taking the role of protecting the rest of the vermite that he stayed quiet. All the vermite seemed exhausted as they arrived back in camp. Odd thought Adam before remembering they were nocturnal and perhaps the stamina draining effect at night for him was reversed for them.

Ma showed Wu to the hut where Kai was recovering. A check from across camp told Adam that his HP was still five. Once she had done this Ma left Wu and the pups in the hut and joined the other vermite who had gone straight to the burrow.

Now he was alone Adam relaxed into the new chair. He cut himself a portion of pork using the dagger that Ti had returned and used Creation to form an apple to go with it. Finally able to think he first pulled up the new follower list.

Followers: Followers Level Attributes Class Profession Sharky 8 HP 310/310; Stamina 120/120; MP 0/0; SP 7/7 Scout n/a Ti 3 HP 35/35; stamina 8/48; MP 1/1; SP 3/3 Scout n/a Pa 1 HP 35/35; stamina 40/40; MP 0/0; SP 2/2 n/a Builder Ma 1 HP 30/30; stamina 5/40; MP 6/6; SP 2/2 Please allocate* Rai 3 HP 60/60; stamina 15/40; MP 0/0; SP 2/2 Staff Wielder n/a Fa 1 HP 30/30; stamina 42/42; MP 0/0; SP 2/2 n/a Carpenter Soh 1 HP 30/30; stamina 30/45; MP 0/0; SP 0/2 n/a Woodcutter Bea 1 HP 50/50; stamina 20/20; MP 0/0; SP 2/2 n/a n/a Kai 1 HP 5/30; stamina 2/46; MP 0/0; SP 2/2 n/a n/a Wu 1 HP 25/25; stamina 5/50; MP 1/1; SP 1/1 n/a n/a *can only allocate secondary classes/professions

The list was starting to get quite long. He was pleased to see that Ti was now level 3 and shocked that Sharky had reached level eight. A quick bit of maths on the experience meant that Sharky had gained over a thousand exp somehow. Adam had already worked out that Sharky's rise in levels meant that he only needed to increase one skill to level up, unlike Adam who wouldn't level untill all the skills were raised. Adam checked report with Sharky to see where the experience had come from.

A rush of notifications astonished Adam. Sharky had actually earned 900 exp. The main bulk coming from finally defeated the level 10 Octopus. This gave Sharky 166exp from killing the creature and then another 120exp for completing the quest associated. Another two level seven, four level six and six level five creatures had been defeated in the process giving the grand total exp. 900exp for Sharky meant 180exp for Adam. Remembering that this quest had been on his list Adam double checked.

Quests Complete? Exp Explore ship, eliminate threat, don't die 100% 120 collect Y/N

Another 120exp. Plus if he was right about the respawning then Sharky could return to the ship to clear it again today. Given the hatchet he had found in the shipwreck he wondered if there were more rewards he might find in the sunken ship. Not being able to check himself Adam set this as Sharky's task for the day. Next he linked with all the vermite; realising he had been too distracted first thing to collect rewards for their tasks.

Ti had completed her exploration gaining 15exp and killed a fox gaining another 5exp. Wtih this and the left over exp from the day before she had leveled up as he had already seen. Rai also defeated a fox but the level difference of 2 meant that he didn't gain any exp. He was rewarded for escorting Soh to the wood though, another 10exp the same as the day before. Adam received a fifth of this personally which equalled 6exp. Fah and Pa both gained him 5exp each for their respective building and woodwork skills. Soh's wood collection had not only saved him mana but gained him 5exp as well.

He was a bit disappointed by the exp that Ti and Rai had given him; it had been much higher the day before. There was obviously a balance between risk and reward; to get more exp he would need to push them harder same as he had to push himself. Though this area didn't seem that threatening; something told him this would not always be the case. He couldn't be everywhere and needed help to protect the vermite; especially if a single fox could injure Kai so badly. Rai and Ti were only the beginning of his plans.

With 390exp Adam raised Transfer and Inspect to level 5 leaving 70exp. Before settling down to practice Elemental manipulation Adam checked the skill menu for Transfer. He smiled as he closed his eyes to concentrate; finally he had a role for Ma.

Skill menu: Transfer Transfer Allows conversion of one [intelligent] being into a [follower]. Level Additional features 1 Can allocate Classes to followers 2 Can allocate Professions to followers 3 Can allocate a Divine Blessing for every five followers. 4 Common Ideology unlocked 5 Allocate a leader every ten followers of the same race 6 Unlock to discover new feature