Chapter 259: From The Ground Up

{PervyGoddess is getting impatient with System}

[=????(???????)]

[This system will grant—]

’At this point, I just might be smarter than you are.’

’Don’t be silly, of course I’ll go with my mates, and a handful of my beasts that want to tag along. I am teaching them so they can impart knowledge to others, and they would supervise too.’

’That makes things a whole lot easier for me.’

’Why do you like making things more difficult than they seem?’

[( ?•ω•? )]

[Sorry, Host]

{PervyGoddess tells system to hang its head in shame}

[( ’’?°ヮ°? )]

[Yes, Sponsor]

[Yes, Host]

[(シ_ _ )シ]

[This system may go again if Host and Sponsors so wish]

Tera bursts out laughing.

[Host...]

[????]

{PervyGoddess finds this system to be very pitiful and lacking in self-respect}

{PervyGoddess approves}

[(っ╥﹏╥?)]

Tera forced herself to face the task at hand.

There was no time to waste.

She explained the next step to the group.

The one-foot-deep rectangle had exposed the soil composition and marked the footprint, but now they needed individual holes for the bound foundation poles. The holes would be dug in all four corners and other midpoints along the long sides.

Each hole would be three to four feet deep, just wide enough to fit the bundled foundation post with room to pack around it. She sketched it out with a stick in the dirt, and the Tool Instinct did the rest. The understanding moved through the group faster than she could have explained it with words alone.

The wolves got to work and dug like machines. In the first two feet, the ground was made of sand. By the time they hit three feet, water started seeping in. It was murky, clay-brown water that pooled at the bottom of every hole. The wolf in the first hole that flooded looked personally offended by it.

Tera, on the other hand, nearly lost her mind.

She grabbed a fistful of the wet clay from the excavation pile, squeezed it, and watched it hold its shape. There was high-plasticity clay, sitting right underneath them this whole time. She had found clay when the wolves had previously dug during other projects, but this quality was far better.

And the fact that they would cover more surface area while digging foundations for other shelters made Tera excited.

This meant more clay.

She ordered every bit of it saved, piled up and covered with leaves to keep it damp before eventually storing it in her system for preservation.

By the end of the day, all eight post holes for the foundation were at the proper depth. Eight neat cylinders of exposed clay and stone with an inch of water sitting at the bottom.

The following day had them preparing the bases of each hole. A layer of fist-sized rocks from the rocky areas, including the blockage Tera had cleared months ago to provide water to the pack.

Apparently, soil softener only lasted for a week, thankfully, so the broken rocks had hardened again over time.

These rocks were packed tight at the bottom, then clay stamped flat on top, creating a hard pad for the post to stand on. Simple, repetitive work that the wolves handled without supervision while Tera moved on to the thing she’d been dreading.

Charring.

Fire and wolves and patience. Historically, those three had never occupied the same space without something going wrong, and they did not break that streak on the first attempt.

The concept was straightforward. Burn the outer surface of every foundation pole, the whole thing from top to bottom. While the bamboo itself was water resistant, this would still create a carbonised shell that resisted water, rot, and especially insects.

She had demonstrated on a small offcut she’d charred over the cooking fire the night before, dripping water onto it to show how the liquid beaded and rolled off like the bamboo was coated in wax.

The wolves understood the why. The how was where things got loud.

Charring stations went up with some difficulty due to the wet soil and humidity of the air. Long fire pits with logs on either side were set to rest the poles across.

Then two males were at each station rotating slowly. The key word being slowly, which she must have yelled ten times over the course of the second day. Wolves spun poles like rotisserie spits, sending sparks everywhere. Others let the heat sit too long and scorched through to the inner wall before she caught it.

The smell of smoke hung over the clearing like a permanent weather system.

Her mates had quickly stepped in to correct the situation, but new poles had to be cut to measurement to replace the damaged ones.

It seemed tool instinct didn’t extend to processes not requiring tools much to Tera’s frustration. Though she was grateful for the added support of that useful boost.

And Tera had underestimated just how helpful her mates were, especially Xavi and Ermin. It had gotten to a point where they had sat her down to sit still and do nothing while they handled the rest of the task.

She would be called for if they needed help with the next step, and Tera had gratefully taken the moment of rest.

To her surprise, she slept off, and by the time she woke up later that night, all the poles had been charred flawlessly.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Tera had them bundle up the poles.

Four charred poles per bundle, lashed at six points along their length with the woven cords pulled tight enough to compress them into a single thick column. The bundles were immensely heavy, even by beast standards.

The bundles were staged beside their assigned holes. Eight of them, each one a long column of blackened pink bamboo, thick as a torso.

Setting the first post took the entire third day.

Not because the physical work was slow—the males had the strength for it—but because this was the most technical step, and every part of it was new.

Tera had them hammer short bamboo stakes into the ground all around the major rectangular pit. These were ground anchors that would hold the placed foundation piles.

Then the beasts pre-tied ropes from the top of the first bundled post to each anchor stake, fanning out like the spokes of a wheel. When the post went up, those ropes would hold it from all sides to keep it upright so it doesn’t lean against the edge of its pit.

Then she had them prepare diagonal bamboo braces as well. The rigid poles would wedge against the braces, making it easier to fall into the exact spot they wanted.

The diagonal brace within the pole pit was enough to hold the pole upright, but Tera didn’t want to just rely on one system. She prepared for the poles to also be supported by ropes just in case of anything.

Like the braces shifting because of the soft soil, for example.

After this planning, the first post went up. It took five males to tilt the bundle from its horizontal position, walk it upright, and lower it into the hole. The base thudded onto the prepared rock-and-clay pad, and the tall column stood, held in place by beast muscle while the rope teams pulled the cords and tied it against the nearby bamboo stakes.

When Tera pulled out the plumb line, things became even more frustrating.

It took them multiple tries of pulling different ropes and pushing the pole itself before it was finally levelled.

Once that was confirmed, the hole was quickly filled back in with rocks, clay and the rest of the dug up soil. Then it was compacted over and over again until that patch of earth around the bamboo post was denser than the surrounding soft soil.

The ropes around the top were untied, and the post now stood alone. To everyone’s joy, it didn’t budge either when the males gave it experimental shoves.

The second post went up that same day, and it took half the time it had taken the first. Though, making sure it was level consumed a lot of time too. Then filling it took some more time.

The third to the final post went up over the remaining days, each one smoother than the last, as the rhythm of the work settled into something almost mechanical.

By the end of the week, all eight posts for the first shelter stood in a perfect rectangle, each one plumb-straight, locked into the ground with compacted rock and clay. The charred surface gleamed black in the light, and the faintest ghost of pink shimmer visible underneath created a beautiful illusion of colour.

While the beasts had been mesmerised by the beautiful sheen, Tera was captivated the most.

It wasn’t a shelter yet, but the skeleton of those poles looked like the promise of something every single beast was looking forward to.