The transition from night to day in Epoch's Forge was less a gentle awakening and more a relentless reclaiming by the furnace. Rowan felt it even within the relative cool of the shallow cave he'd had now designated as 'Hollowreach'.
The biting chill of the desert night, which had seeped deep into his bones despite the faint, almost imaginary warmth pulsing from the Hearthstone Seed in the cave floor, began its grudging retreat as the unseen sun climbed, painting the distant dunes in the harsh morning light and promising another day of brutal heat.
He hadn't truly slept. Adrenaline, exhaustion, and the constant prickle of paranoia about unseen nocturnal threats had kept him cycling through states of shallow, fitful dozing and hyper-aware wakefulness. Every distant howl, every faint skittering sound from outside the crude rock barrier he'd partially built at the entrance, had snapped him fully alert, hand gripping the heavy petrified wood club.
Spark, his silent wisp companion, had spent the night hovering near the cave ceiling, its soft white glow a surprisingly steady, almost comforting presence in the profound darkness.
He pushed himself up now, muscles screaming in protest, joints stiff. A wave of dizziness threatened, but it was weaker than yesterday – the result, perhaps, of his Advancement and the points sunk into Fortitude. He summoned the runic System interface with a thought, checking his status as he forced himself to stretch, wincing.
----------[ STATUS ]----------
Level: 3 [-------] (0 / 75 Essence) -> Lvl 4
Rank: Initiate Condition: Fatigued (Minor Lacerations Healing)
Vitality: 100/115 (Recovering)
Stamina: 95/110 (Recovering)
Forge Mark: [Locked - Requires ???]
Attribute Points Available: 0
Skill Points Available: 2
--- Learned Skills ---
Basic Brawling [Rank F | Proficiency: Low]
Improvised Weapon [Rank F | Proficiency: Low]
--------------------
--- Attributes ---
Might: [11] + (1)
Agility: [13] + (2)
Fortitude: [13] + (3)
------------------------------
Okay. Level 3. Zero Essence towards Level 4 – the fifty gained from the Ripper kill and harvesting had been entirely consumed by the Advancement itself. Vitality and Stamina were slowly recovering towards slightly higher maximums thanks to his Fortitude investment. He noted the two Skill Points, still a meagre amount, useless to any of his known skills. The points he had allocated after hitting Level 3 – two into Agility, one into Might – felt like a small but necessary investment.
The fight with the Ripper proved that speed and power mattered just as much as sheer toughness. He felt marginally quicker, less clumsy, though 'graceful' was still galaxies away.
Spark detached from the ceiling, zipped down to circle him once – its standard morning greeting, maybe? – before hovering expectantly near his shoulder, humming softly.
Rowan grunted a "Morning," mostly to hear his own voice break the silence. Spark pulsed brighter.
Priorities hadn't changed drastically overnight. Water remained critical. The fire was essential for cooking the Ripper meat before it spoiled completely in the inevitable daytime heat. The shelter needed improving. And the Ripper carcass outside needed dealing with before it attracted bigger, nastier things than carrion beetles.
First, information. He focused on the [ TERRITORY ] tab.
----------[ TERRITORY ]----------
Name: Hollowreach
Rank: 0
Radius: 10 Meters (Centered on Core)
Core: Hollowreach Seed [Condition: Stable | Integrity: 100%]
Structures: Sanctuary Gate [Rank 0 | Status: Dormant]
Population: 0
Resources: [Scan Required]
Upkeep: None
Options: [View Boundary] [Upgrade Core (Locked)] [Manage Denizens (Locked)] ...
-----------------------------------
He triggered [View Boundary]. Again, the faint blue runes traced the 10-meter circle on the sand outside, encompassing the cave mouth and the dormant Sanctuary Gate. His minuscule domain. He tried [Scan Required] again.
Still 10 Essence. He had zero.
"No," he muttered. He needed kills, or maybe specific valuable materials he could convert, assuming that was repeatable. The Core upgrade and Denizen management remained locked. Rank 0 territory was, essentially, just a marker on the map with a dormant magic gate attached. Useful, maybe, but not solve his immediate problems.
Right. The carcass. With the sun climbing, he couldn't delay. He grabbed his obsidian flake knife – already feeling duller after yesterday's work – and the club. Spark zipped ahead as he stepped out into the rapidly warming morning. The air already held the promise of blistering heat to come.
The butchering felt slightly less nauseating this time, perhaps through familiarity or just grim necessity. He worked faster, hacking off the remaining usable meat chunks and salvaging the other large piece of hide. He noted Spark zipping down occasionally to chase off more oversized insects drawn by the scent, its light flashing irritably.
'Useful pest control,' Rowan thought with a flicker of amusement.
<(Additional)Skill [Butchery] Proficiency Increased.>
Ten Essence. Exactly enough for the scan. But first, disposal. He bundled the fresh meat and hide, carrying them back to the relative cool of the cave. Then came the disgusting, exhausting task of dragging the heavy, ravaged carcass even further away than yesterday, downwind, kicking sand over the spreading stain.
By the time he returned, sweating and breathing heavily despite the early hour, the sun was properly above the horizon, its heat starting to bite. His Stamina was down significantly again.
Back in the cave, he looked at the pile of raw meat. Useless without fire. His gaze fell on the area near the base of the rocks just outside the cave entrance. During butchering, he'd noticed some potential tinder there. He went out and gathered a handful of the dry, fibrous roots clinging stubbornly around the rocks – brittle and dusty, but the best fuel source he could find.
He retreated into the cave, sat down, and with grim determination, tried the fire-making process again. Petrified wood spun against sandstone, obsidian shard scraping sparks against the club 'just in case'.
He focused, trying different speeds, and different pressures, using the roots as tinder. Spark hovered nearby, pulsing hopefully, occasionally emitting a series of bright flashes as if trying to ignite the roots with sheer light power. Rowan appreciated the effort, but it was fruitless. Minutes turned into frustrating, sweaty, knuckle-scraping failure. No smoke. No ember. Nothing.
"Useless!" He finally threw the wood down, leaning back against the wall, frustrated and disheartened. He had food he couldn't cook, a shelter that offered minimal protection, no reliable water, and a companion that was essentially a floating flashlight with good intentions. The 'Wishes' prompt felt particularly hollow right now.
It was then that Spark suddenly zipped towards the entrance, emitting its high-pitched warning chime, more insistent than yesterday.
Rowan instantly tensed, grabbing his club. He scrambled to the low rock barrier, peering over. Had dragging the carcass attracted something big after all?
He scanned the bright sand outside. Then he saw it. Not a monster, but something small, hunched, moving with a pained limp from behind the same cluster of boulders where the Ripper had first appeared. The gecko-like female. Sandy scales, thin limbs, and large dark eyes filled with caution and fear. She clutched her side, leaving tiny drag marks in the sand with her injured leg.
She wasn't looking directly at the cave yet, seeming more focused on the lingering scent of the Ripper near the rocks, perhaps hoping for scraps. She looked even more wretched than his brief glimpse yesterday (or had that been his imagination, a System nudge he hadn't recognized?). She was clearly starving, injured, and alone.
Rowan watched her, hidden. His first instinct was suspicion. A scout? Bait? Why come here? The pragmatic voice urged him to stay hidden, assess further, perhaps drive her away to avoid complications. Hollowreach was his, hard-won. He couldn't afford charity cases.
But as he watched her flinch at a sudden gust of wind, watched her scan the horizon with those huge, terrified eyes, something else stirred.
Not pity, exactly. Maybe… recognition? The echo of utter, desolate aloneness. The 'merciless but kind' paradox wrestled within him. Helping her was illogical. Dangerous. Yet, the thought of simply watching her potentially get picked off by the next Ripper, or collapse from exhaustion just yards away… it left a surprisingly bitter taste.
...wishes come true. The prompt flickered. What if his wish, deep down, wasn't just for himself? What if it was simply… for things to be less awful? For himself, for Kai, for… others? Stupid thought. Sentimentality was suicide here.
The thought felt ludicrously out of place, yet it nudged him. What wish would helping her fulfil? None. But what wish would ignoring her fulfil? Also none. It was just… a choice.
The Gecko – finally seemed to notice the cave entrance, the disturbed sand, and the low rock wall. She froze instantly, eyes locking onto his shadowy position behind the barrier. He saw the terror flare, the tensing of her thin limbs, ready to bolt despite the obvious pain it would cause.
Rowan made his choice, pushing aside the cold logic. He slowly, deliberately, stood up, placing the club visibly on the sand inside the barrier, showing empty, non-threatening hands. He met her wide-eyed stare. He didn't speak, didn't move closer. He just held her gaze for a moment, then gave a single, small nod towards the safety of the cave behind him. Then, carefully, he stepped back from the entrance, deeper into the cave's shade, leaving the path clear. An offering. Shelter for the taking. Or ignoring. Her choice.
The gecko female remained frozen for a long count, body trembling slightly. He could almost see the conflict in her eyes – fear of him versus fear of the open desert and whatever else was out there. A distant screech echoed across the dunes – maybe a hunting bird, maybe something worse. That seemed to decide it.
With a last, darting look around, she began to limp towards the cave, moving with painful slowness, never taking her eyes off Rowan. He stayed still, letting her approach, letting her assess him. Spark hovered silently near the ceiling, observing the newcomer.
She reached the threshold, hesitated again, sniffing the air, gaze flicking between Rowan, the Hollowreach Seed, and the bundled raw meat. Then, with a final surge of desperate energy, she scrambled inside, collapsing just past the entrance in a huddled heap, making that same soft, distressed chittering sound he'd imagined hearing before. She curled tightly, trying to make herself as small as possible, trembling visibly.
Rowan watched her, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He slowly retrieved his club. He now had… a denizen. Yup, the population reached a total of 1. An injured, terrified, alien gecko who might try to bite him if he got too close.
He walked over to the bundled Ripper meat, unwrapped the smallest piece, and cautiously approached her side of the cave. He placed the raw meat on the sand a few feet away from her, then retreated to his spot near the Hearthstone Seed without a word. Her eyes followed the meat, but she didn't move towards it immediately.
The silence stretched again, but it felt different now. Less empty. More… complicated.
As the afternoon heat intensified outside, Rowan focused on improving the entrance barrier. He found more loose rocks, hefting them into place, making the wall slightly higher, slightly more solid. The gecko female watched him work, her initial terror seemingly subsided into wary observation. Spark zipped around occasionally, sometimes nudging a small pebble with its light as if trying to help, mostly just observing Rowan's efforts.
When darkness fell swiftly once more, bringing the sharp desert chill, Rowan found himself sharing the small cave. He sat with his back to the wall near the Core, the gecko female huddled near the entrance behind the improved barrier. Spark provided its soft glow. The sounds of the desert night seemed slightly less threatening with another presence nearby, even a silent, fearful one.
He still had no fire, no water source, and barely edible food. But he had survived Day Two. He had Hollowreach. He had Spark. And now, he had a companion. A responsibility? A potential ally? A future problem? He didn't know.
He looked at the System interface again, at his Level 3 status, at the dormant Sanctuary Gate icon. The 'wish' prompt felt a universe away. His current wish was for a flame, just a simple flame. One step at a time. He closed his eyes, listening to the wind and the soft chittering breaths from the other side of the cave. Tomorrow would bring its own struggles.