As Akira stood on the relatively flat ground that had been cleared the day before, he looked at the light dusting of snow that now covered the ground.


    The only people around him were his guards. The rest of the warriors that were in charge of building the log cabins were on top of the hill still practicing by creating the last few cabins that they would be staying in until the rest of the clans and allied tribes arrived.


    His current job was to map out the areas for each house, road, and outhouse.


    “Chief do you need us to do anything?” asked Dolph.


    “No, I was just checking everything and trying to figure out where to start from,” said Akira as he walked over to the edge of the cleared area where the hot spring covered with the pile of rocks was.


    Akira took a large swig of warmed wine from his horn flask, something that Burkin had sold to him and several other warriors. The horned flask had a way of keeping the warmed wine and other beverages from quickly becoming frozen in such a cold climate, something that their leather wineskins could not do.


    With the extra warmth and energy from the wine, Akira opened the ''Village blueprint #1''. immediately feeling a drain of energy as the phantom village popped up in front of his eyes.


    He reached for a small wooden pole that the guards were carrying for him and started his task. He worked quickly to mark the edges of each building using different markers for the cabins and the outhouses.


    To the guards, it looked like he was just randomly walking to a spot placing down a marker, and then moving to the next spot. But as they watched Akira work, they saw that the seeming randomness actually started to take a very precise and uniform shape.


    Akira began to really feel the strain when he was half-way finished with placing the markers. He took a quick swig of his warmed wine that was still not frozen and shrugged off the fatigue and continued.


    ''Just a few more,'' thought Akira as he struggled and succeeded to place the last few markers.


    “Chief?”


    Thump!


    Akira fell into a pile of snow face first, exhausted and unable to move he quickly exited the blueprint mode before losing consciousness.


    “Audun, the chief! He''s fallen!” shouted Vilkas. His shout also alerted those on top of the hill who were busy finishing up the last log cabin.


    “Move aside!” ordered Audun as he pushed through the guards who were surrounding Akira.


    Fluffball was sitting next to Akira whimpering and licking his face to try and wake him up.


    Audun looked at Akira''s face seeing that it was red and full of sweat possibly from a fever.


    Using two of his fingers he checked Akira''s pulse and found that it was beating fast but was slowing down. His labored breathing and sweaty face was also calming down.


    With a cloth, Audun wiped the sweat from his face.


    “No need to worry. It''s just a case of overworking. He most likely hasn''t been getting enough sleep lately and has been pushing himself too hard,” explained Audun.


    The guards let out a sigh of relief, glad that it was not something more serious that they would have to report to the Grand elders.


    “You and you, take him to one of the cabins so he can stay warm and rest,” ordered Audun as he picked two random guards that were standing next to Akira.


    Akira woke up two hours later feeling like he was back in the deserts of Caidia.


    He could not move his arms and legs due to something restricting them.


    As he opened his eyes he could see the reason why he was now inside of one of the cabins tightly wrapped in several thick heavy fur blankets.


    Fluffball was laying on the bed right next to Akira''s shoulders. His small ears twitched as they picked up the movement from Akira''s head.


    He gave a loud excited yap and started to lick Akira''s face happy to see him awake.


    “Fluffball stop! That''s unfair!” said Akira struggling to get his arms out of the covers so he could push away Fluffball and sit up.


    “Ah, you''re awake, good. You fainted due to overwork. You need to take the rest of the day off and rest. We can''t have you dying from such a simple thing,” said Audun as he pushed Akira''s shoulder back down onto the bed.


    “I need to help build the cabins!” said Akira trying to sit back up again.


    “There is no need for you to help right now since you''ve already marked where everything is to be built. The warriors in charge of building, have already started working on the cabins and outhouses. With such precise measurements from you they are having an easy time,” said Audun as he pushed Akira back down onto his pillow and tucked the blankets around him once again.


    “If you are hungry or need to use the restroom I''ll be outside taking care of those clumsy enough to wound themselves during the building,” said Audun as he left the cabin.


    “I guess it''s just you and me for the rest of the day,” said Akira as he looked at Fluffball.


    “Yap!” said Fluffball happily before squirming under the covers to join Akira.


    ***


    “Burkin, I''m sorry for causing a ruckus yesterday and delaying your departure. The small sail ship has been fixed up and is ready for you to use. Please allow me to send a few warriors with you so that you can have a safe journey back,” said Akira.


    “Things happen. I''m just glad that you are all right. It would be a shame if something happened to such a bright fellow like yourself. Just a warning between you and me if you get caught by that female cat of yours you better watch out. Marriage is even more exhausting than working all day out in the snow,” said Burkin as he jabbed Akira in the thigh with his elbow.


    “Whoa who said anything about marriage? It is way too early for me to be thinking about that,” said Akira.


    “Smart man, give it 100 more years and you might be ready. As for the escort, there is no need. I am skilled enough with ships to be able to use them by myself. There''s no need for extra bodies on the ship which will just slow it down and require me to carry more supplies,” said Burkin as he hopped onto the ship.


    “You don''t get seasick?” asked Akira.


    “Ha! I used to get horribly sick, but now I can sail for weeks on end without any problems. I trained myself to withstand the feeling of sickness in order to be able to move products more swiftly by boat,” said Burkin proudly.


    Delgar and the other Dwarves who had come to see Burkin off were not envious of Burkin and looked at him with expressions of pity.


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    For a second time in a week, Akira watched and waved as another friendly acquaintance disappeared down the river.


    Akira returned to where the cabins were being built by the warriors.


    There were already nearly 50 cabins built. They all looked fairly similar with only minor differences.


    Several more cabins were being built right now each with six warriors working on one cabin.


    There were two warriors to gather the logs from the large stockpile and carry them over to the cabin that was being built. Two who used their axes to quickly cut v notches on the logs and inverted v notches on the other sides. The last two warriors were in charge of lifting the logs up into position and trimming the notches to make sure the logs linked together snugly.


    With the growing stockpile of logs, more people had come to help build the cabins. With this system, the log cabins were popping up quickly.


    “Akira, where do you want me to put these?” shouted Klyn as he walked over with several different types of animals walking behind him.


    “What are they?” asked Akira.


    Fluffball was pacing back and forth repeatedly looking at the animals and then back at Akira.


    “This one according to Burkin, is a Moomer, it creates nutritious milk,” said Klyn pointing at a large mammal with four large horns that curved forward. It looked like a normal black cow but it was the size of a large adult moose with thick fur.


    “This bird is known as a Chuckling cackler. They lay large brown eggs,” said Klyn as he pointed to a cage full of medium-sized red birds. Whenever the birds opened their beaks they let out a shrill sound as if they were laughing.


    “Are they both safe to be around?''” asked Akira.


    “No need to worry, they are very docile and only eat plants,” said Klyn as he reached up and rubbed one of the Moomer''s heads while feeding it a salt-covered plant cube.


    “Mooooomeeeeeer,” said the Moomer in satisfaction as he ate the food given to him.


    Several of the other Moomers moved towards Klyn wanting to receive some of the cubes as well.


    “I see why they are called Moomers. Whoever named them really has a great naming sense. You can make a temporary overhang pen for them next to our camp on the hill until we find a better place for them,” said Akira.


    ***


    Another long workday came to an end as the sun was replaced by the moon and stars that were far different than those they had all grown up with.


    Akira was turning back and forth in his new bed, one of the few that had been made. He was trying to get comfortable so he could sleep, but his brain would not let him rest as it was thinking of all the things the fledgling settlement still needed.


    “AWOOOOO!” the howl of one of the werewolves on guard duty stopped his fitful tossing and turning.


    “Monster attack!”


    Akira threw off his covers and hopped out of bed causing Fluffball who had been sleeping on top of the blankets to tumble to the edge of his bed.


    “Yap!” said Fluffball unhappily after he let out a long yawn.


    “Fluffball, you stay here,” ordered Akira as he quickly put his armor on and buckled his sword belt before running out of the cabin.


    His guards and Audun who he shared the cabin with followed behind him all trying to shake the sleep from their eyes.


    “Where are the monsters?” asked Akira as he ran up to the werewolves who had sounded the alarm.


    “They''re down there,” said the warrior as he pointed to the area where the recently built log cabins were.


    “What are they doing?” asked Akira as he watched a large group of several different types of monsters roaming through the new streets of the village as if they were looking for something.


    Bam! The sound of something crashing into wood was heard.


    Everyone turned to see where the sound had come from and found several Hammerhead bull monsters were ramming their heads against the newly built cabins.


    As if taking this as a signal every other monster in the group started to attack the cabins by slamming their bodies, headbutting, or slash at the cabins with their claws.


    “They''re attacking the cabins!”


    “All archers and crossbows stay on the walls and support us. Everyone else, follow me! We need to kill those damn monsters who are attacking our cabins!” shouted Akira using his skill [Shout].


    He also summoned Nox to fight alongside him as he transformed into his tall and muscular werewolf form.


    Some of the monsters upon hearing Akira''s shout stopped their attacks on the cabins and looked towards the top of the hill and saw the fully transformed werewolves emerging from behind the wall charging down the hill.


    “Rawr!” a Griffin who was perched on top of one of the cabins let out a challenge and jumped into the air flying towards its new prey.


    “You #$%^! We spent a lot of time working on those cabins. I''m going to %^&* you for messing with them you -#&^%!” shouted Akira as he ran down the hill using the [Potty mouth] skill.


    He was the first person in the charge down the hill followed by his guards who flanked him on his right and left as well as Nox running on top of the soft snow not disturbing it.


    The monsters nearby as well as the flying Griffin, paused their actions as he tried to understand what Akira had said.


    Although they could not understand human language, somehow they had a feeling that what the human had said was highly rude and insulting.


    Angered, they turned from their previous targets and locked their sights onto Akira.


    Before the monsters reached him he came to a complete stop and used the skill [Harden].


    Bam! Bang! Scrape!


    Several monsters slammed into Akira''s shield and swiped at him with their claws battering his body that was standing firm like a mountain.


    Ding!


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Toughness +1... +1... +1...


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The toughness stat continued to slowly rise as he received numerous attacks that did little more than give him a few bruises and cuts.


    The Griffin seeing this tried to dive from above and grab onto Akira but only received several arrows and cross-bolts for his efforts forcing him to flap his wings to stop his dive and try to fly away.


    Before he could Nox had used Akira as a launch board and bit onto the Griffins leg before it could fly away.


    Akira watched as Nox struggled with the Griffin in midair receiving several blows from the back legs of the Griffin sending Nox tumbling back to the ground.


    During all this, the guards on Akira''s sides were able to attack the monsters from the side as they were focused on Akira allowing them to easily defeat them one at a time.


    Nox just shrugged off the fall and continued to show off his prowess by wrestling a hammerhead to the ground, tearing its neck apart.


    Akira repeatedly used both the [Potty mouth] and [Harden skill] to attract the attention of the monsters allowing those around him to have an easier time clearing the monsters.


    The Griffin tried several times to attack but each time received several wounds.


    Varbu showed off his prowess by smashing anything that got close to him as he plowed through the numerous monsters roaming the streets.


    In less than twenty minutes over 150 monsters were laying on the ground dead.


    The griffin had already run away after seeing the fight was not winnable.


    “Ha.... what was that all about?” asked Dolph as he cleaned the blood from his sword and sheathed it.


    Ding!


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Since a large settlement is being built, monsters may come and attack the settlement in order to try and take resources from you and may try to drive you away.


    You need to be ready to fight off these attacks.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    “Most likely they don''t want neighbors,” said Akira as he walked to each of the cabins checking the damage each had received.


    There were only a few that would have to be rebuilt the others had only a few minor scratches that could be fixed.


    ''What''s this?'' said Nox in a surprised voice making Akira turn his attention to the shadow wolf.


    A black-light not too dissimilar to his own misty light that covered him when he transformed was now washing over Nox.


    Akira watched silently for over 5 minutes before the light split into two, a black misty light, and a dark gray charcoal color.


    As the misty light faded there were two shadow wolves standing in front of Akira.


    Ding!


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Requirements met!


    Shadow wolf skill has ranked up!


    Nox has reached tier two and has unlocked the Gray shadow wolf form.


    The Gray shadow wolf has the special ability to use long-range attacks.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    “Who are you?” asked Akira to the new dark gray shadow wolf.


    “I am Nox,” said the gray wolf.


    “Two of you?”


    “It is nothing special, I have several other forms that I can use if I grow even stronger,” said the original Nox.


    Akira did not know what to say and was just as speechless as the others who were standing near him.


    ''If you are done with us we are tired so we''ll return for now,'' said the black shadow wolf before the two jumped back into Akira''s shadow.