August moved to the first of the pillars, the ones surrounding the [Draft Furnace] and [Kiln]—the two structures most threatened by any kind of rainfall. Rittan followed along, but Boko paused for a moment in consideration.

“I’m taking a break too, bossman,” Boko offered, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t.”

“Sure,” August said, “Rittan, you should probably take a break as well—here.”

August removed a stack of Sad Apples from his inventory and handed them over—he hadn’t been around to refill the pile throughout the day, and they were two fruit away from an empty pile. Rittan took them from him, cradling them against his leafy shirt with his bottommost pair of arms.

“You should take a break as well; you’ve both been gone for most of the day,” Rittan said, “Are you not tired?”

“I am tired,” August admitted before turning back to the pillar. “But there are things I want to do while the sun is still up—I’ll be fine, man, don’t mind me.”

“Very well,” Rittan said, “If you need assistance, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Thanks,” August said.

August waited until he’d moved away before turning back to the pillar looming above him. As far as getting up on top of it went, he wasn’t going to be developing the ludicrous agility that Boko had shown—which meant he was going to need a ladder. He two long lengths of the thicker bamboo and lay them on the ground, parallel to one another. August made sure they were about as far apart as he thought would work best and then removed a third, thinner length.

He removed his [Bone Axe] from his inventory and then pinned the thin bamboo against the ground with his foot. Without the ability to bend away, vibrate, or dissipate some of the force of his swing, the axe bit pretty deep into it. He kept on going until he had a short length that would serve as the first rung of the ladder. Then he used it to measure the next piece and began all over again. He took something of a break from chopping after the fifth rung because his arms were starting to give up again, and he switched over to something that required less effort.

He spaced out the five rungs across two long poles, with about a foot of overlap on each side and then sat down, removing some of the twine he’d been making whenever he had free time. He looped the cord around the rung, then the standing pole, making sure it was as tight as he could manage, and then tied it off. He did the same to the other side, securing the first rung, and then moved straight onto the second.

By the time he’d tied off the fifth rung, his arms were no longer feeling like pool noodles, and he set about cutting the last four rungs. He found himself tiring out even faster than before, the short time not really enough for his body to recover, but he pushed through, arms aching. He dropped back down beside the half-built ladder with a sigh of relief, content with the fact that he wouldn’t have to chop anything else. Taking his time, he tied off each of the rungs, making sure they wouldn’t slip when he eventually had to step on them.

Ladder Blueprint Unlocked

August sighed—there was a method he could have used that would have saved the vast majority of the twine he’d just used up. If he’d cut a hole out of the standing poles, he could have threaded the rungs into and through each one. It would bear the weight far better as well and not strain the twine, which would only need to stop them from sliding out. Actually, he could use that same method for the ceiling itself—threading the poles through one another might be the better method overall.

Etch would work to make the holes, and although a chisel could manage just as well—bamboo was far easier to work with than wood. August pushed himself up to his feet and stood the [Bamboo Ladder] up against the pillar—it made it about a foot shy of the top, more than close enough. He left it standing there and moved between the pillars, taking out lengths of bamboo that would act as the basic framing, measuring them to make sure they were long enough, and then placing them in neat piles beside each one.

He added a stack of twine beside each one, ran out after two pillars, and then left the vine they’d collected in its place. Then he took hold of the first of the lengths, leaning it carefully beside the ladder, before starting his ascent. The rungs shifted under his weight, pulling taut against the twine, but he kept on going. He reached the top—almost knocked the precariously balanced length of bamboo over—before steadying it. He tied a loop of twine around the top of the pillar, leaving a loop dangling off one side to use as a temporary holder for the bamboo. Once he was done, he managed to climb up and take a seat on top of the pillar.

August leant over the edge before pulling the length of bamboo up with him, making sure not to overbalance, and then when he’d pulled enough of it under his arm, he hefted the other end up—the tip of it bounced against the opposite pillar, not quite at the top, before he managed to get it all the way up with a grunt.

“Fuck you, that’s why,” August breathed.

He let the other end of the long pole lay across his knee while he recovered, then reached down to take hold of the loop. He slipped it over the end of the bamboo, tightened it and then carefully slipped back down onto the ladder, leaving the bamboo sitting on top of the pillar. He was in the process of moving the ladder over to the other pillar when Rittan emerged from the hut. He carefully set the ladder against the pillar, made sure it wasn’t going to go anywhere, and then began his ascent again.

“A ladder?” Rittan said.

“Not a very good one,” August admitted, glancing down as he reached the top, “There’s a better way to make one; I’ll give you the blueprint when I come down.”

August carefully lowered the unsecured piece of bamboo and leant it on the top rung of the ladder, so it was pinned against the pillar. The other end hung from the loop, swinging slightly away from the pillar, about eight inches lower than where he intended to tie it off—but still holding the weight.

“I will look forward to it,” Rittan said, carefully placing a pair of hands on the base of the ladder. “I hadn’t given much thought to how we might climb up—Boko’s method requires a degree of finesse I’m not sure I can emulate.”

August looped the twine around the pillar at the correct height, lashing the length of bamboo to it.

“You and me both,” August said, “I considered etching a series of rungs into the pillars themselves, but I’d rather not damage them—and it would take me a week to manage all of them.”

“It may be useful to consider some kind of temporary scaffolding?” Rittan wondered. “Although a second ladder would suffice for such a task, I suppose.”

“If we ever decide to build something taller than this, we’ll probably have to use scaffolding,” August agreed. “The blueprint for something like that would be useful to learn either way.”

Once it was tightly secured, he tied it off and then let it go, beginning his descent down the ladder. Rittan stepped back, keeping one hand on the pole to keep it steady, and then he was back on the ground again. He reached out and touched Rittan on the arm, gifting him the [Ladder Blueprint].

“Thank you,” Rittan said, pleased. “Here—let me.”

Rittan lifted the ladder up and moved past him to place it back against the first pillar.

“Thanks,” August said.

August wiped his face clean with his arm and followed along after him. Rittan held the ladder steady as he started back up again. He took the still-hanging bamboo out of the loop and leaned it on the rung of the ladder. August eyed the other side for a moment, using it to judge the height, before pinning it to the pillar with his hip.

He lashed it to the pillar using the same winding technique he’d done for the first one before tieing it off completely. He removed the loop of twine from the pillar, dropped it down, and then leaned out to test the strength of the bamboo beam; it held pretty well, so he considered it a relative success. He climbed down the ladder and then glanced up at what he’d done—a length of bamboo tied across two pillars.

“It’s a start,” August offered. “I guess.”