Kalter’s return seemed to galvanise the group back into action, with both Boko and Rittan moving to stand back up. Haiko, with the sliver of shade now within her grasp, seemed content to remain where she was, talking quietly with Melon—August couldn’t help but notice that she was staring at him again. Not that it had been a particularly abnormal reaction for the Voithos in general, as far as he could tell, every single one of them had spent their first day tracking his movements—it wasn’t curiosity exactly, but more like some kind of learned trait, to keep an eye who was nearby.

Still, even with her unbroken silence, she was a lot less concerned with hiding her interest, and he couldn’t help but find it just that little bit unnerving. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so quick to distance himself even with the discomfort of being the only human present—

“You’ve got a strange look on your face,” Kalter said, hefting the bench up onto one shoulder. “What’s the problem?”

“It’s nothing,” August said, shaking his head. “Listen, I think we’re pretty much done with making furniture for the day.”

“That’s fine,” Kalter said. “Rittan wanted some help with the ceiling anyway—where do you want this?”

“Put it in the shade, I guess,” August said, indicating the area where Haiko and Melon were still sitting. “Seems like it will get the most use there.”

“You should take a proper break,” Kalter said, already turning away. “Everyone else already did.”

“Thanks,” August said. “But I’m fine.”

Despite the words, he actually wasn’t averse to the idea of sitting down for a while; he just couldn’t quite bring himself to approach either of the two Voithos who were in what had clearly become the designated resting area. As a compromise, August sat down on the stump beside him instead and then brought up the HUD with the intention of spending the skill point he’d unlocked earlier. He still hadn’t quite decided on which he wanted—[Predator] or [Prey]—or if he should unlock the runecrafter job by putting the point into [Foundation].

The problem with the last option was that neither he, Rittan or Boko could switch jobs yet, and they were still at a maxed-out population size, so he couldn’t gift the role to anyone else because he couldn’t recruit anyone. For that, he’d need to put a point into [Ruler I] first and then unlock a second skill point to make use of it.

“Immediate gratification, or wait a while,” August murmured. “Fuck it.”

2/5 – Predator I

Analysis passively detects lifeforms within 6 meters; +2 meters per level.

Given that there were no lifeforms within those six meters—two of which must have come from the proficiency level—he couldn’t actually tell if it had made it easier to process the information or not. On the other hand, he’d been right about four skill points being enough to unlock the next tier of skills in the [Survival] tree because they were now listed right there in front of his eyes.

0/5 – Predator II

Analysis passively detects lifeforms within 6 meters; +2 meters per level.

0/5 – Prey II

Remaining still decreases the likelihood of being found; +5 bonus to stealth per level.

0/1 – Stronger Than This

You no longer take damage from attacking barehanded.

0/1 – Far From Tame

Physical contact is no longer required to tame; +5 meters to taming range.

0/1 – Mana Core

Increases your base Mana Capacity; +100 Mana.

The first two weren’t that interesting, considering they were just a continuation of something he already had access to—but the other three were far more useful. [Stronger Than This] left him wondering how it would actually work and what would happen if he tried to attack something unyielding. What if he struck something that was sharp? Would the skill prevent the damage outright, or would it still cut him? Could he punch the edge of a sword without fear of taking damage, so long as he was in the process of attacking? It might do nothing more than prevent damage at a level slightly higher than he could hit at, and anything above that would hurt him just like normal.

The idea of actually testing that one out had him a bit concerned about the outcome and his continued health. [Far From Tame] would make taming far safer than before, and depending on how the mechanics of taming actually worked, he might even be able to sneak up on something and tame it from a distance. [Mana Core I] was the answer to his low mana issues, at least in the short term, giving him access to twice as much to play with—and there was a distinct possibility that a [Mana Core II] would eventually unlock. If it did, then that meant that this could be confirmation of tier three skills existing—although how many points he would need to spend to unlock it was up in the air. It might be four more points, but it could also scale higher.

What else could be in the next tier besides the potential for another mana upgrade? It was beyond frustrating that he couldn’t see them in advance to try and start planning for something longer-term, and it was just as rough that he didn’t have any points left over to spend on any of the ones he’d just unlocked.

“Damn it,” August muttered. “I want that mana upgrade.”

A quick check of the sky put the time at somewhere in the afternoon, and at a guess, he had maybe three hours of light left before it went dark again. The back wall of the undercover area was pretty much done now, with Boko only a few bamboo lengths short of matching the other wall’s height. Kalter and Rittan were in the process of moving the stack of palm leaves he’d left for them up onto the ceiling. With each one they tied down, they slowly increased the amount of shade available, and with it, Haiko’s power seemed to grow until, finally, she dragged herself back to her feet.

It was starting to get to the point where they could sleep in the undercover area rather than either of the huts and have about as much protection as before. Even as it was, they were far enough away from the forest to avoid the [Efkini], and the main wall was between them and the lake. It wasn’t like the temperature in the [A-Frame-Hut] had been any different from the outside after all, so there wouldn’t really be much of a downside. He’d have to make a new, more permanent cooking fire in the undercover area, though—the tools could wait until he actually had his mana back.