—[.. Noel Karlsson ..]
It was dark, my body was heavy, and I felt sore. In the distance, I heard chirps, perhaps from birds; then buzzing, perhaps from insects.
When my eyes groggily opened, everything was fuzzy. It was still somewhat cold, but I had Alum's coat covering me. Everyone was still asleep, and the fire still crackled. It appeared to be morning.
Ugh… I must've fallen asleep…
If someone's to be blamed, surely he would be the one—just kidding. Honestly, I didn't think that'd soothe me to sleep.
Speaking of Alum. Where is he?
I looked around, but I couldn't find him anywhere. Was he perhaps on the roof? I went to check. And there he was—sitting there with his knees up, arm resting there, and the other for support with morning light behind him, acting like a halo.
He glanced my way, nodding. "Morning," he said casually and softly.
"Ugh… morning," I replied, mildly annoyed by his nonchalant but typical demeanor. "Why'd you let me fall asleep?" I asked.
He shrugged. "You seemed tired," he simply said.
"Yeah, but… y'know what? Scrap that, you can go rest. I'll keep watch until the others wake up."
"It's fine," he said, taking a bite of a fruit.
"It is not. We still have stuff to accomplish, and we need you for that to happen; don't exhaust yourself for no reason."
"…"
He stayed quiet as I voiced my opinions—no, the facts he needed.
"Or do we seem that unreliable to you?" I asked.
"…"
Sure, the others weren't as good with elemental manipulation as him, but I reckon they'd gotten pretty good at it by this point and would quickly improve. But during that time, we need you.
He glanced at his watch. "I'll rest," he yawned. "Wake me up at 10," he added, lying down with his hands behind his head.
"You're… sleeping here? Isn't it cold?"
I already knew the answer to that question, he would likely say—
"No. I quite enjoy it."
And I was right. The dude's numb to the cold, let alone heat. Still, the roof was a little warm from the fire's rising heat. It should be fine.
—[.. Alum Miller ..]
It was 10:03:44. Noel woke me up as promised. When I headed down, the others were already back to work. They still had to finish the tiles and expand.
Now that a base was established, they could focus on other stuff and allocate resources elsewhere. Some had gone out looking for food, having Miu determine what was edible or not.
Emely was planning the construction with the others. Before building an elevator, they considered digging into the ground and making an ice cellar to store food, but the problem was that they didn't know how flooded it could get, considering that they were pretty close to the river.
And what did I do?
I returned to being the sole industrial machine.
They were all modern adults, and hygiene was of utmost importance—yesterday, they made do. But everyone was uncomfortable, and it had to be addressed.
It was close to a river, and digging down and burying waste didn't seem safe to them. Encapsulating it and throwing it further away seemed like a reasonable solution. They were scratching their heads over it until Emely mentioned pyrolysis.
Now, that's interesting…
Building a kiln wouldn't be difficult for them, and the energy required to fuel it wouldn't be too bad, considering that we have efficient energy-converting mammals that can use elemental powers.
It would produce biochar and be less likely to spread disease or contaminate the living environment—
That's only if they get it to work properly.
In the end, they settled on that idea and began constructing a kiln and a privy that had a removable stone box, which they didn't have to carry if they used their abilities.
Though there's no toilet paper—I'm sure they'd figure something out.
—[.. Kevin Blomberg ..]
Somehow, this wasn't the fantasy world I expected. I tried calling out 'system' or 'info'; nothing really happened. I know I could manipulate fire and lightning, though I lacked the control Alum had.
I could shoot bolts of lightning out of my palm without serious side effects other than mild bodily exhaustion or a headache; it was the same with fire, neither I nor my clothes burned from it.
I sort of felt something draining each time, so I decided to call it mana like in the games. Still, I wonder if I will one day be able to shoot lasers. Maybe. But so far, we haven't seen any monsters; there are strange-looking animals, but they seem neutral for the most part. When we encounter them, we end up locking eyes and avoiding each other.
I got pretty bored at the base doing manual labor, so I decided to join Miu and the others to look for food.
But man, Oliver's reliable—no wonder he was popular. Though I get the feeling he doesn't like Alum. I mean, I kinda get it, but at the same time, I've hung out with him since we're in the same friend group; he wasn't as bad as I thought, honestly.
Like, how do I say it? He makes people feel stupid or insecure?
Well, it doesn't really matter since he probably didn't care if you were or not. He might be blunt, but that's nice in a way. I'm not really good at reading the situation, so having someone say it straight as it is works; even Noel does that now.
"Kevin, why are you so deep in thought?" Oliver asked out of the blue. "Keep your guard up," he reprimanded me.
"Oh, sorry, it was so calm I started daydreaming."
"Dude, don't jinx it," Daniel joined in the scolding.
"Huh? Why meeee?" I retorted.
"Pff…"
Miu covered her mouth, giggling. She was so cute, even giggling—I wonder if she found me funny? Does that mean I stand a chance? Haha, right, as if. She's just friendly.
Lena was giggling also, but I know Kurt likes her. Even if she did like me, I was a bros first type of guy, y'know?