August woke, clutching a mess of twine loops to his chest like some kind of rough, itchy pillow. The aches of the previous day were already gone; the two or three times in which he’d woken up throughout the night having restarted the rejuvenation process. Ladybug sat with her back again, the piece of bamboo he’d left at the edge of the lean-to swaying ever so slightly from side to side. August reached out and placed his hand on the creature’s fur, giving it a few quick scratches in greeting.

He pulled himself into a sitting position, hair just brushing the ceiling of his shelter, and spent a moment digging the grit out of his eyes, not quite able to shake off the lethargy of sleep. August crawled over the bamboo barrier, rising up on the other side, and then stood, for a moment, looking around at the camp. The early morning light left everything barely present, the edges of things made soft by the low light, but his mind worked to fill in the gaps.

August crossed the gap to the huts and, like he did every morning, left a pile of Sad Apples beside the door for them. He looped back to the pillars and spent a few minutes quietly removing bamboo from his inventory to be used for the walls of the undercover area, and once there was a substantial amount, he moved on. He made it to the pile of trees that the Voithos had spent the last day cutting down. Once he was far enough from the huts to avoid waking anyone up, he let out a loud and audible yawn—the volume somehow making it far more satisfying than he’d expected.

August made an effort to find the chopping stump in the low light before bringing up his inventory and removing both the [Bone Saw] and the [Bone Axe]. He placed them on the stump and then went to find a log he could use to make the legs of the bench—he found one that was long enough that he could cut into four legs and thick enough that the weight of each would be enough to keep it from moving around. It was too big to pick up, so he was forced to fetch his tools and return again.

August crouched down beside it, studying length to try and figure out how long to make the legs. Once he thought he had a good enough idea, he set the edge of the saw against it. The teeth bit into the wood well enough, and when he dragged it back towards him, it carved a line into the wood.

“Success,” August muttered.

He moved on, marking out the three other lines for the cut-off points, one after another—then he stood back for a moment, enough light now that he could actually make it out pretty well. August nodded at the lines, deciding they were close enough, and he could see even them out once they were in pieces he could actually lift. He eyed the axe for a moment and then the huts, not quite sure about making a lot of noise while the others were still asleep.

Instead, he moved back and placed the saw into the first of the lines—it was still a bit loud, but he thought it was a bit safer than smashing an axe into the wood. He got about halfway through the log before he realised that it was actually a hell of a lot easier than he’d been expecting. Nowhere near as easy as using [Etch], but he doubted anything would be—at least not until one of them managed to invent power tools.

The saw managed to eat its way through the bottom of the log, and the section came free, wobbling for a moment before settling back into place. August removed the saw, dug his fingers into the end of the piece, and pulled it up—before placing it into his inventory.

“One of four,” August murmured, removing a Sad Apple from his inventory and taking a bite of it. “How am I going the attach them?”

The blueprint had a bunch of different methods, from using wood joinery to twine to nails and more beyond. The joinery was the kind of thing that would take careful work over a long period of time to make, and he didn’t really have that kind of time right now. The twine probably wouldn’t be sturdy enough to keep everything steady.

The nails were probably something he could make now, through the use of [Etch], either with the Otrogon bone or the metal chain he’d collected from Morningstar. If he took some of the smaller bones and whittled them down into little spikes, he could secure everything together pretty well. He’d need to make some kind of hammer or a mallet of some kind that wouldn’t break against either material—one of the thicker bones would probably work. If the Otrogon’s bones could withstand impact from an Efkini’s chain spikes, then it could handle hitting a few nails.

He’d need to make a wooden frame to link the legs together and to give the planks something to actually sit on. Four boards nailed into the top of the legs would work well enough. August finished his meal, rolled his shoulder to work out some of the strain from using the saw, and then moved on to sawing off the second leg. He caught sight of the Voithos emerging from the hut when he was about halfway through the cut, half of the pile of Sad Apples vanishing in a few minutes as they spoke with one another by the doors.

August returned Rittan’s wave, watching as Haiko followed him over towards the pillars, their goal clear—the princess wanted her shade. Boko trailed along after them, still eating, before coming to a stop next to the pile of bamboo August had left out for him. Kalter snagged a final Sad Apple and then turned towards where he was sawing through the last of the log, moving to meet him. August felt a faint sense of panic rise up as she grew closer to his position, like a wave of pressure washing up his neck—and then she burst into existence within his mind.

“Morning,” Kalter murmured, sounding tired. “You started already.”

“Sorry,” August said, “Guess I’m a bit restless—you sound exhausted.”

“I didn’t sleep much,” Kalter said without further explanation.

August was pretty sure it had something to do with the Voithos Rittan had mentioned during their meeting the night before and the subsequent discussion that had followed, but it didn’t really have anything to do with him. He dug his fingers in beneath the second leg and angled it up into the air—before he could vanish it into his inventory, Kalter reached past him and took hold of it. He let go as she lifted it up off the ground with a pair of hands, looking unbothered by the weight of it.