Looking at Luk’s condition, it seems that they walked back to the camp without enough rest.

  “It will be a long story. If you are already finished collecting the stones, let's go back to the camp.” Civ interrupts Horm as his friend starts to check his condition.

  Horm nodded. “It's still a good thing that both of you returned without injuries.”

  They collected the stones they needed and returned back to the camp.

  When they arrived at the camp, it was already past afternoon. He was welcomed by his tribesmen, happily eating.

  “This meat that was touched by the cloud of fire tastes good!” someone from the crowd exclaimed.

  Kivrah was also smoking some meat and discovered that it tastes better when smoked.

  But he was surprised when he turned around.

  “What happened?! Why are you with them Civ? ” Kivrah felt confused and worried. He also noticed that Luk was piggybacked by one of their tribesmen.

  Civ bitterly smiled and was a bit embarrassed. “Let us go to the Shaman’s hut first, Father. We need to have Luk checked by the Shaman.”

  Kivrah replied with a nod, and they went to Shaman Mashu.

  At the Shaman’s Mashu's hut, she immediately assesses Luk’s condition since the boy is already asleep.

  “Tell me, son, what happened.”

  Civ told the detailed story of what happened. From the time they looked for signs of the boars around the grassland near their camp. Also, on how they went deeper into the north. Hearing that they encountered two adult boars sent shivers down Kivrah's spine.

  ‘This means there will be more coming.’ He wants to talk with Civ about it, but he continues to listen to his son.

  Civ is also about the chase of the boar and the tall cliff.

  “As we walk back to the camp, we see this one Father.” Civ shows the yellow grapes he harvested and gave them to his Father.

  “We already ate some of it. Looks like it's not dangerous.” Civ plucked one of the grapes and ate it.

  Kivrah and Shaman Mashu followed what Civ did. When he took a bite, the sweet and sour taste of the yellow grapes poured into his mouth. A refreshing and relaxing sensation calms their senses while chewing this newfound food.

  “It tastes better than the berries we ate every day!” Kivrah cannot help but pluck two more.

  “Civ, where did you find this?” Shaman Mashu asked.

  “This? We found it in the middle of the forest. That location is too deep and dangerous to explore.” Civ wanted to go back to where these fruits came from. But without proper scouting and pathing, going there would be a dangerous trip for them.

  They are just lucky they did not encounter more boars around that area. Going back there might be a different story.

  “Alright, it seems like we need to plan on exploring that area.” Kivrah is in deep thought, and Civ agrees with the sentiment of the two.

  “Father, since the meat we have is already consumed. I’ll bring the hunting team back to the place where the boars gathered.” Civ suggests to Kivrah.

  Even though he was exhausted from the trip today, he can just take some rest later. Tomorrow, he is surely in top condition.

  Since the meat was already consumed, he could command his tribesmen to gather berries. But after being able to eat meat for the past few days, their condition felt better. People are more energetic and happy. Also, since there are many things they need to do. If they need to finish this as soon as possible, they need to feed these people.

  Kivrah clutches his hand. “I understand Civ. Please bring them tomorrow for the hunt.”

  The conversation ended on that note. Civ and Kivrah left the hut. Luk rested for the whole afternoon there while being monitored by Shaman Mashu.

  Civ returned to the cave. Arsh and Horm were waiting at the entrance.

  “Can you tell us what happened earlier?” Arsh's face was serious.

  Civ did not joke around. They went to the back of the cave, and Civ continued his story.

  “Huuuuu Next time, if you look for a boar, bring me and Horm. I think it is also better to bring more spears.” Arsh coldly reminded Civ.

  Civ gulped a mouthful of saliva as Arsh stared at him.

  “Ye-Yeah, tomorrow we will go back there. I already talked to the Tribe leader about it, and he agrees.” Civ nodded as he tried to calm down Arsh.

  He also gave two pieces of grapes to Arsh and Horm, while he left the rest of them to the Shaman. That will be used for the offering, and the Shaman said she would see if there are other uses of this fruit.

  They had the same reaction as they took a bite. Tasting fruit gives them more motivation to explore the deeper north.

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  After that discussion, Horm mentioned something.

  “Civ, we have already collected dried wood on the ground around the area. But it is already a few and we might not have enough firewood in the following Sun days.” Horm explained to Civ that right now, they are starting to learn how to manage the fire and the firewood.

  “If we can only break some of the dead wood that is still standing.” Horm contemplate.

  “Break?” Civ asked.

  “Yes, like breaking a branch.” Horm does a folding motion like breaking a stick.

  “Ah right! I think I have a solution for that Horm.” Civ's eyes brightened again.

  Horm looked at Civ and excitedly wanted to know what his friend was thinking. “Please tell me Civ.”

  “I think not right now. I needed to gather some things to make it work.” Civ mysteriously replied.

  “Okay, if you need help, please tell me.” Horm was looking forward to Civ’s plan.

  Arsh and Horm leave and do their assigned task while Civ is also pondering.

  ‘I need to deal with the issue of the woods first.’

  Having a defined goal for the moment, he gathered his tools and set them up in front of the campfire.

  He closed his eyes, trying to remember how it was done.

  He looked for a dried stick that was around 3 inches thick. Luckily, he found one, and it was also a hardwood based on the structure.

  Once he had all of the things needed, he started knapping the stone.

  He selected a stone that was a bit bigger compared to the flints they usually knapped for stone knives and spear points.

  Then slowly chipped the flint until he was able to shape it like an elongated ellipse.

  The initial head was created, so he started working on the handle. Using a stone flake, Civ patiently scrapes the 2 / 3 of the stick until the diameter is around 1.5 inches.

  Using an abrasive stone, he smoothed the scraped surface. Next is the head of the stick. Using his stone knife, he drills into the wood, creating a hole. He did the same with the back of the stick.

  After the drilled holes met in the middle, Civ picked up some small pieces of burning wood and put them in the hole. He blows into the burning wood until it makes a bigger hole in the stick. Civ also tried to scrape the hole to shape it the way he liked. Then tried to fit the stone he had knapped earlier.

  “Nice!” Civ shouted when the stone fit the hole. Then he wrapped it with rope using a cross-lashing pattern.

  “Hey Civ, what is that?” Horm and Arsh were already at the back of Civ.

  Civ was startled and almost threw the new item in the campfire.

  “You surprised me!” Civ stood up and tried to measure the swing.

  ‘Feels good!’ Civ was satisfied.

  “This, this is what I will call a stone axe!” Civ proudly showed it to his friends.

  “Oh! So what do you use it for?” Horm asked.

  “The one you are having issues with right now.” Civ picks up a long stick. Let it down on the ground and then -

  CRUNCH

  CRUNCH

  The long stick was easily cut into two, and its pieces flew in separate directions.

  “Wooahh let me try it Civ.” Horm wants to hold it, but Civ stops him.

  “Let’s try a bigger one for you Horm.” The trio walked around the camp. Civ was able to find a snag tree that was around 5 to 6 inches in thickness and 10 feet in height.

  Civ gave the stone axe to Horm.

  “Let me show you first how we can use it.” Civ demonstrates it by swinging the axe at the snag tree multiple times.

  Bang

  Bang

  Bang

  Civ was able to carve a notch into a snag tree. “Horm, try it into the other side.”

  Excited, Horm followed how Civ did it.

  Bang

  Bang

  Bang

  The cuts were deeper compared to Civ attempts. A few swings later.

  CRRRRRRAAAACCKK

  “Horm, run back to us!” Civ alerted Horm, as they are all entranced by the axe.

  Horm quickly runs to where his friends are. They looked at the falling tree where Horm was standing earlier.

  “The stone axe was an amazing tool Civ! Can you make more of this so my team can gather more firewood?” Horm giddily asked.

  “Yeah, I can make two or more on this one. But I’ll teach it to Arsh, then her team can create more of this.” Civ looked at Arsh, and both of them smiled.

  “Teach it to me Civ, we’ll create more of this next days since the team is familiar now with shaping the stones. Leave it to us!” Arsh asure Civ.

  Looking at the current tools they have, there are still many things to do.

  “Thank you Arsh, the Sun Goddess will go to sleep now. I think we should get rest. We need to hunt a boar tomorrow.”

  Everyone agrees. They sleep earlier in their own huts. But some of their tribesmen stay at the campfire to either sleep or talk to each other.

  Civ, on the other hand, even though he was tired, his thoughts were still wandering. He is evaluating the tools that were used in the past days. The tools were still not as durable as he wanted them to but it is doing their job. But that will not be enough if they encounter a bigger target or more sturdy animals compared to boars.

  I need to reinforce the spear and the axe, also to make them more durable so that both can be used for a longer time.

  “I really need to work with mud as soon as possible.” Civ is determined to unlock that technology so he can create more tools for the tribe.

  The night passes as Civ thinks about the hunt and the delegation of the task. He fell asleep thinking about it.

  The next day, Kivrah and Civ woke up early. Did their daily routine. After that, Civ gathered the hunting team.

  Today’s hunt, Civ plans to hunt the boar as fast as possible and leave the area as fast as possible. So he is bringing everyone in the hunting group.

  The group neatly stands in front of Civ while waiting for his command.

  “Everyone, I know most of you are first-time that will hunt.” The new recruits nodded.

  “But if you see a boar, do not be afraid! Remember, we can kill them with our spears!” Civ shouted

  “Yeah!” everyone exclaimed.

  “Great! Let's leave the camp and hunt the boars!” Everyone shouted their war cry.

  The morale of the group is high, and everyone is excited about the bigger hunt today.

  “Son, I really want to join the hunt, but as you said, we need someone here at the camp also.” Kivrah was looking forward to joining this hunt. But there were still many things to do and prepare, so he decided to wait at the camp.

  “Thank you for understanding Father.”

  The group left the camp and went to the north.

  When the group arrived at the two boulders, they felt nervous. Same as the feeling of Luk and Civ when they first went here.

  “Everyone, please be careful after we go past this.” Civ reminded everyone.

  They slowly walked to where the sounder grazed. But before they went near the location, Safi interrupted the team.

  “Oh Cho- Civ. I hear a heavy step! Not only one!” Safi tells the team.

  Civ's eyes widened!