Chapter 9: Chapter 9: Preparations

“Regina,” Max called from the edge of the forest, “do we need more wood?”

Regina turned to watch him stagger under a big pile of sticks and broken off branches. Having four arms came in handy, even if two of his lacked proper grasping implements like hands.

“I think that’s enough,” she replied as she approached him, glancing over what they’d gathered so far.

Max had settled in pretty well and the two of them had even started to develop something of a routine in the day or so since he’d woken up. She’d finally gotten some proper sleep while he was staying on watch, then switched with him to watch for monsters or other dangers while he slept. They’d even caught another rabbit, which provided them a good breakfast.

“I’m not quite sure what we’re supposed to do with all this,” Max admitted, stretching his upper arms and cracking his neck after he’d set down his batch.

“Neither am I,” she replied. “But we need some sort of shelter. It hasn’t rained yet, but that’s only a matter of time.”

Regina looked up at the sky with a frown. Clouds were gathering in the north. It might even rain later today.

“We should build it in the forest, so we have the shelter of the trees,” he suggested. “Maybe up against one of them?”

“That’s what I was thinking, yes. A shame we didn’t find any other caves, that would have spared us a lot of work.” She sighed. “Well, let’s get started.”

As it turned out, building a crude shelter wasn’t all that difficult. They used the bigger and more robust logs of wood to form the basic structure, then added smaller sticks and a few large leaves they’d found. Regina used copious amounts of vines to tie it all together. She had some vague impressions of a building technique that used mud, maybe straw, and interwoven sticks to make walls, though that wasn’t very useful yet. She knew her limits, and started with a shelter that looked like a small half cylinder built against a thick tree trunk. It should be just enough to fit the two of them. It didn’t need to have a lot of space, just offer them some shelter from the elements.

It wasn’t like they had any delicate possessions to protect.

“Once this is done, we should get started with building a proper building,” she grumbled. “Or at least something close to it. Even just a hut. I guess that might go better if we wait until we have some Workers, though.”

Max glanced up. “That means you intend to continue leveling, my queen?”

“Of course. There are hopefully enough small monsters around to push both of us up a few levels.” Regina shook her head. “We should probably focus on that once we’re done here.”

The other egg was still in development, and Regina couldn’t help but be a little resentful of her System limits in making drones. She might not have the ability to take care of many of them, but it was still her body and her hive!

They built their shelter near the treeline, so they still kept as close to the fireplace and the egg as possible. Later, Regina could ask Max to cut down some more tree branches for some more protection against wind and rain.

Once they were finished, she stepped back to take in their work. It wouldn’t win any beauty contests, but it should be functional enough.

Max cleared his throat. “I’d like to go to the river, and maybe gather some more food on the way back. Can I go?”

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“Of course.” She gave him a distracted smile, then returned to her fire to make a new torch they could use.

After she was done with that, she gathered new firewood, then checked on the egg again. It was growing quickly, at about the rate Max had, as far as she could tell. Already, it looked bigger than any bird egg she’d expect to see. Although in a world that might very well have giant monster birds, maybe that didn’t mean much.

Max was still out, so Regina made a slow circuit of the immediate environment around their camp, setting up a few new traps on the other side of the hill. She paused when she came to the cave system where she’d entered the world, checking the entrance. It was still sealed, and the door still didn’t react to her efforts to get in at all. She shook out her hands and moved on.

When Max still didn’t return, Regina grew a bit worried. She considered going after him, but she didn’t know exactly which path he’d taken. Besides, he might have just wanted some time alone. They’d been together almost non-stop since he was born, and with the apparent urge to be loyal that he felt, he might need some space.

Still, after she waited for maybe fifteen minutes without a peep, Regina sighed and closed her eyes. She just wanted to check on him quickly. So she focused on that sense of him that she’d gotten before, and tried to see if she could feel anything.

Almost immediately, she realized that she needn’t have worried. Their minds were obviously still linked, and this little distance between them wouldn’t even begin to hurt the connection. She could pinpoint Max’s location pretty well, or at least his bearing and distance from her. Dropping quickly into his mind to get more info, she realized that he was heading back to the camp, carrying a small animal.

Regina withdrew and instead turned her attention to one of her projects. She’d started trying to carve something from a log of wood, though it was slow-going. Stones really weren’t good enough for that kind of work, and her claws weren’t well suited to it, either.

A few minutes later, she sensed Max approaching and put it away. He walked closer with a grin on his face, holding up his catch to show it to her. “Mother, I leveled up!”

Regina cocked her head. “You did? Is that a monster?” She tried focusing on it, but the System didn’t give her anything.

“The System told me it was a ‘Spiky Squirrel’.” Max lowered it to the ground. “I guess it stops after a monster is dead. Maybe because it’s not really a monster anymore?”

Regina shook her head. “There may be an ‘Identify’ or ‘Analyze’ skill we could get. Anyway, what happened?”

Max scratched his nose. “Ah, I stumbled on it on my way back from the river. It was a pretty aggressive little thing. It hit me with a few spikes, but my armor turned away most of them, and I got it with my blade-arm.”

She could see that. It was a bit of a bloody mess. “I’m not sure I like you going off and fighting a monster on your own,” she stated.

He bowed his head, but she could still see his crestfallen expression. “I’m sorry, my queen. It won’t happen again.”

Regina pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. “Never mind. At least you’re Level 2 now, that’s a good thing. We can eat that for dinner later. What did leveling up do for you?”

Max brightened up again. “My Con increased! I guess the System automatically allocated a stat point. It also lets me choose an Ability. Give me a second.”

Regina looked over his new status sheet.

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