The night was deep and quiet, and two pale moons hung in the dark sky, casting a faint and uneven light across the land.
A group of people moved slowly across the uneven ground. They were thin and tired, walking close to one another as if staying together was the only thing keeping them standing.
There were old men and women among them, and there were young ones too, some barely able to keep pace. A few were strong enough to carry bags or help others walk, but most of them were injured, hungry, or weak from days without proper food.
Their clothes were worn and torn, and their skin looked dull under the cold night air. Their faces showed pain and fear, and it was clear that hope was almost gone, yet they still moved forward as one group.
Among them walked a man who stood far taller than the rest. He was close to seven feet tall, with wide shoulders and strong arms that looked like they had been shaped by years of hard battle.
Two swords hung at his hips, their handles worn smooth from use. Even while walking, he kept his posture straight and alert, always watching the dark edges of the land around them. He looked like the strongest of the group, someone who had protected others many times before.
Beside him walked an elder with a full white beard that reached down to his chest. His back was hunched, and every step looked painful, but his eyes were sharp and full of thought. The tall man turned his head slightly toward the elder, lowering his voice so the others would not hear the worry in it.
"Elder, are we really going to that forest. Would we be able to survive there?"
The question hung in the air for a moment. The elder slowed his steps and looked ahead before answering. When he finally spoke, his voice was calm, but there was pain in his eyes that could not be hidden.
"Yes. It is the only way..." the elder said. He then looked back at the people following them, his gaze lingering on the wounded and the weak.
"If we do not go, we will be hunted one by one by the Ravanis Kingdom soldiers. The forest will only be a temporary shelter, and we will plan where to go next. But if it is that place, they will not dare follow us."
The tall man breathed out slowly and looked at the group behind him. He saw fear, hunger, and exhaustion, but he also saw trust. He tightened his grip on the sword at his side and nodded.
"Seems that it is really the only way."
They continued walking into the darkness, their figures slowly fading as the forest line grew closer.
******
Later, when the sun rose and the night gave way to a pale morning light, Aiden stood outside his ship and prepared himself for a long stretch of work. A new day had begun, and he knew that this one would not be easy.
Even though he now had better tools and some protection, he did not plan to explore too far yet. The land around him was still unknown, and rushing forward would only invite danger.
Instead, he chose to focus on the place that mattered most, the ship that had kept him alive since the crash.
Aiden looked around the clearing where the ship had landed. The trees were tall and strange, their wood harder than steel and their shapes unfamiliar. During his earlier exploration, he had learned how valuable this world could be.
The monster parts, the antlers, the monster core fruits, and the herbs had already proven useful. Because of that, he knew there were more things hidden out there, things that could help him survive or kill him if he was careless.
If he was going to live here for a long time, and he was sure that he would, then he needed a safe base.
The ship was strong, but it was not invincible. One deep scratch or serious breach could turn it from shelter into a death trap. It was his lifeline, his home, and his last link to survival.
Instead of risking it by leaving it exposed, he decided to defend it. A wall around the landing area would give him time to react to threats and keep wild creatures away while he worked or rested.
He checked his remaining resources carefully. He had five fragment cores left. Three of them were already fitted into his modified laser tool, the laser chainsaw. From his earlier tests, he knew that one fragment core could cut down around sixteen or seventeen trees.
With three cores, he could fell roughly about fifty trees before needing replacements. If he managed his energy well and used the extra fragments wisely, he could reach close to a hundred trees in total.
"It is time to work." Aiden said quietly to himself.
He did not rush into the work and instead planned every step carefully before he began. On the first day, he walked slowly around the ship to study the land and mark the area he wanted to protect, pacing the distance while counting his steps and checking where the ground was firm or weak.
After several passes, he chose fifteen evenly spaced points around the perimeter so the wall would form a stable and protective circle around the ship.
Once the markings were done, he began cutting trees. The laser chainsaw hummed softly as it bit into the strange wood. The beam cut cleanly, leaving smooth edges and a faint smell in the air.
Each tree was about ten meters tall, and bringing them down took time and focus. He made sure each fall was controlled so the tree would not damage nearby areas or the ship. By the end of the first two days, his muscles ached, and his hands were sore, but several trees lay on the ground, ready to be used.
After cutting, he worked on shaping the logs. He did not process them fully, as he lacked the tools and energy for fine work. Instead, he stripped away excess growth and trimmed them into rough timber, thick and heavy.
These would become the main pillars of his wall. For each of the fifteen logs, he dug a deep hole in the ground. The soil was hard and packed, and digging took hours. He dug each hole about two meters deep, stopping often to rest and drink water.
When a hole was ready, he lifted a log into place and slowly lowered it in. He packed the dirt back around it, pressing it down firmly to make the pillar stable. He repeated this process again and again, moving around the perimeter day by day.
By the end of the fourth day, all fifteen pillars stood upright around the ship, forming the skeleton of a defensive wall.
The next step was turning more trees into usable boards for the wall. Aiden cut each tree into four long sections first, then cut those sections again until they became wide, flat planks.
They were not smooth or polished, but they were even enough to fit tightly together. The wood was heavy and extremely tough, and moving each piece pushed his strength to its limit even with the help of his equipment.
After preparing the planks, he carried them to the pillars one by one and began setting them in place horizontally. Before fixing them, he went back to the Materials Workshop and used the laser cutting tool to shape nails from the same strange wood.
The heat hardened the wooden nails until they were almost metal like, strong enough to bite into the pillars without breaking. Using these, he secured each plank carefully, starting from the bottom and working his way upward, making sure there were no wide gaps that something could slip through.
Slowly, the structure rose higher, forming a solid palisade wall that wrapped around the ship instead of a simple fence.
By the sixth day, the palisade was nearly complete. Aiden stepped back and studied it from different angles, checking how it looked from the outside and the inside. The wall was not tall enough to stop every possible threat, but it was thick and strong.
The wood was as hard as steel, and even without metal reinforcement, it could take heavy impact. Anything trying to break through would be slowed down, giving him time to react, prepare, or retreat if needed.
On the seventh day, he focused on strengthening the weak points. He tightened every wooden nail, replaced planks that did not sit properly, and added extra support where the ground was uneven.
He also cleared stones, roots, and debris inside the perimeter so he could move quickly without tripping. When everything was finished, he stood in the center of the clearing and looked around in silence.
The ship was safer now. Not perfectly safe, but safe enough to let him breathe.
Aiden leaned against the cool metal hull and allowed himself a rare moment of rest. This wall was only the beginning, but it proved that he could shape this world instead of being crushed by it.
Beyond the palisade, the forest remained quiet and full of unknown dangers, but for now he had bought himself time, and in this world, time was everything.
******
It had already been a full month since Aiden woke up on this world, and the weight of time pressed on him more heavily than it had at the beginning.
The days no longer blurred together in a haze of shock and instinctive survival. Each sunrise and sunset now carried meaning, measured carefully in how much food, water, and energy he still had left in his reserves.
That morning, Aiden stood inside the Materials Workshop and worked on a small rabbit like creature he had caught nearby. Its body was light and compact, nothing like the massive alien deer from the earlier weeks, but it was still valuable to him.
On this world, no creature was useless, and every part could serve a purpose if he handled it with care.
"A month or so left of stocks now. It wont be long till I fully run out. I need to do some exploration again."
He spoke quietly to himself while he worked, his voice steady but serious. The exoskeleton followed his movements as if it were part of his own body, supporting his arms while he carefully separated hide from flesh.
He relied on the data displayed in his visor, using the exoskeleton AI to assist his movements. With projected cutting lines and real time feedback, he adjusted his hands with precision and applied even pressure, allowing the exoskeleton to guide each motion so the hide could be removed cleanly in a single usable.
This time, he worked slowly and with clear purpose, making sure every movement was controlled and careful. He did not want to repeat the same mistakes again, not when resources were already becoming scarce.
As he worked, his thoughts returned to the alien deer he had taken during his first weeks on this world. Back then, his mind had been focused only on getting food as quickly as possible.
He had rushed the work and handled the body roughly, thinking only about survival in the moment.
Because of that, the deer hide had been badly damaged. The cuts were deep and uneven, and the surface was torn in many places, leaving it unsuitable for clothing or any detailed work.
Aiden frowned slightly as he remembered it.
"I should have thought better back then..." he muttered.
Still, not everything had been lost. The alien deer hide did not rot like normal animal hide. The creature had carried residual energy from the monster core, and that energy slowed decay in a way that felt almost unnatural.
Even after weeks, the hide had not gone bad. It had dried stiff and rough, but it remained strong.
Because of that, he had found another use for it.
He had cut the damaged hide into thick sections and layered them behind his shield plates. The hide absorbed shock and spread force, making the shield harder to crack. It was not perfect, but it worked. That decision alone had increased his chances of survival more than any single weapon upgrade.
With the rabbit hide, he would not repeat the same mistake.
Once the hide was fully removed, he rinsed it carefully and stretched it across a simple wooden frame inside the workshop. He secured it with wooden pegs and made sure the tension was even so it would dry flat instead of curling. This hide was thinner, softer, and far more flexible than the deer hide. It would be useful later for padding, insulation, or joint protection.
After setting the hide aside to dry, Aiden turned his attention to the meat.
He cut the rabbit meat into clean sections and inspected it closely. The smell was sharp and wild, stronger than he liked, but not dangerous. He had dealt with worse. He moved outside and gathered herbs he had marked earlier during exploration.
One of them had broad dark leaves and a faint earthy scent. He had tested it in small amounts before and confirmed it was safe. It had a strong masking effect that reduced the wild taste of alien meat.
He brought the herbs back and began preparing a simple stew.
First, he heated water slowly using controlled heat, careful not to waste energy. He added the chopped meat once the water was hot, letting it cook gently instead of boiling hard. The herbs went in next, crushed slightly by hand to release their scent. He added a small amount of rendered fat saved from earlier hunts, which helped carry flavor and improve calories.
The stew simmered for a long time.
As the stew cooked, the sharp and wild smell slowly faded and changed into something warm and rich. Steam rose gently into the air, filling the space with a scent that reminded him of proper meals, not emergency rations or raw survival food.
When it was finally ready, he tasted it with care. The herbs had done exactly what he hoped. The meat was soft, mild, and easy to eat, and the warmth of it brought a quiet comfort he had not felt in a long time.
Afterward, he carried the bowl outside and sat at the simple table he had made from spare wood. The surface was rough and uneven, with marks from quick cuts and shaping, but it was solid and did not shake.
He lowered himself onto a short log nearby, one he had trimmed and smoothed just enough to sit on, and ate slowly while the heat of the stew spread through his body.
While eating, his thoughts turned serious again.
Food was running low, and water was in even worse condition. The small animals he hunted helped keep him alive, but they carried no cores and provided no energy source for his tools.
That problem worried him more than hunger ever could, because without fragment cores his equipment would slowly stop working. He believed that only larger monsters carried those cores, and the thought of facing such creatures without enough reserves made his chest feel tight with concern.
Water was the bigger problem.
He needed a steady and reliable water source, not just moisture he collected by chance or the small amount he carefully rationed each day. Without water, even food and shelter would mean very little.
As he thought about this, he clearly remembered the data gathered by his air drone during the days he spent building the wall.
While he worked on the palisade, the drone had remained active, moving quietly above the land and scanning the nearby terrain. Its sensors had picked up changes in the soil to the west, where the ground appeared darker and more compact, as well as small temperature differences that did not match the surrounding area.
These signs suggested underground moisture or a nearby water source. The drone had not captured any clear image of open water, but the patterns were consistent enough that they could not be ignored. If there was water out there, finding it could change everything.
He checked the time.
10 am.
The light was still strong, and the sky showed no sign of sudden change. The weather was calm, and the air felt steady, which meant he had enough time to move out and return before nightfall if he did not waste a single hour.
That mattered more than anything else to him. Once the sun went down, the land became dangerous, and he had no desire to cross paths with that massive night creature in the open, no matter how well equipped he had become.
Aiden stood up and began preparing with care. He checked his gear piece by piece, adjusting straps, confirming power levels, and making sure every tool was secured where he could reach it quickly. Nothing was rushed. Every movement was practiced, shaped by weeks of survival.
Before leaving, he stopped and turned back toward the ship. The palisade wall stood firm around it, rough and uneven, but strong. It marked a clear boundary between safety and the unknown. He studied it for a long moment, letting the sight settle in his chest.
"Home..." he said quietly.
The word felt strange on his tongue, yet it also felt right. This was not the home he had known before, but it was a place he had built with his own hands on an unfamiliar world.
A faint smile touched his face. Then he turned away, faced west, and stepped beyond the wall. With the sun still high and time on his side, Aiden set out once more, determined to return before the light faded and the dangers of night returned.