They drew closer, but just as they did, Lucan emerged from his intense thoughts and turned, heading directly towards his tools.
Lucan couldn't store all his tools in the inventory; they were too diverse and would consume too many slots. So, he kept them nearby.
As Lucan strode towards the tool area near the cabin's intended spot, Kenny and Nors finally caught up, huffing from their sprint.
Lucan looked at them, and they looked back, a moment of silence hanging between them. They were assessing each other: 'Why was Lucan like this? Why had Nors and Kenny been running towards him?'
But Lucan was suddenly about to speak, and Nors was also about to speak, their mouths open.
Kenny, however, bested them both and blurted out, "Lord, what happened? Why were you sweating? Did something happen?"
Lucan raised his hand, pointing a finger toward the tree cluster zone. "I am getting a bad feeling from there," he declared. "It looks like there are some beasts in the tree cluster zone. I think they got alerted when we were cutting wood.
Nors followed Lucan's gaze. "Lord, the beasts weren't there yesterday, right?" he observed. "Then that means exactly what you said. But what do we do now?"
At that moment, Kenny spoke up. "Grandpa, we're building the fence," he reasoned. "So we just need to build fast until night comes. Then there will be no problem if a beast comes, or they'll get cautious thinking there are people here."
Lucan considered what Kenny said. Looks like Kenny knows about beasts. Lucan had been about to say the same thing, but Kenny had beaten him to it. It's also a good thing that someone doesn't lose their calm.
Nors placed a hand on Kenny's shoulder and whispered. "But we don't know when they will come," he cautioned, "and the fence can't be built fast enough to cover the whole area we've marked. It can only cover one part, I think."
To this, Lucan countered, "We just need to build this area." He pointed in the opposite direction from the tree cluster zone. "If we just build this area, then there will be no problem. The beasts or monsters, whatever you call them, will probably come from this way."
Kenny, calming his mind, understood. "I also thought about it like this, Grandpa," he added. "If we just secure this area and watch the other area, then we can sleep peacefully."
As the three of them discussed their plan, they started to secure the area where the beasts might come from.
***
"Now this area has been secured," Lucan announced, wiping sweat from his forehead. "We just need to hold out for the night."
"Yes, Lord, we just need to hold out for the night," Kenny agreed, also wiping sweat from his face.
"But Lord, I don't think you've seen the sun. It has already set, and night will come in a few minutes. So why don't we go to the firepit?" His whole body was drenched in sweat; it looked like he had done more work than the other two.
"Lord, you can go to the firepit with Kenny," Nors offered. "I will hammer this fence and will come after you." Lucan nodded in agreement, and they walked toward the firepit, with Nors joining them a few minutes later.
Now, all three were sitting and getting some warmth from the fire. Dalia and Alian arrived, with Evan holding Dalia's hand for support as he came.
Lucan addressed everyone, "I think there are some monsters that might come from the tree cluster zone, so Dalia, Alian, you need to be alert. Don't go outside at night, or you'll be dead before you know it. But there won't be a problem if we just stay in our shelter. Nors and Kenny have helped me build the fence in that area."
Lucan pointed toward the fence. "So don't go outside. And Evan, there's nothing for you to do. You just need to go and sleep. Because of your injury, I don't think you can come outside by yourself, but don't be sad. It's also a good thing; who knows what might be going through our minds at any given time."
Kenny and Nors spoke at the same time. "Don't go outside, Mom and Alian!" Kenny shouted. "Don't go outside, Dalia and Alian," Nors echoed.
"Now that our work has been done, we just need to hold out, right?" Kenny urged, trying to reassure them. "I think we can at least do that."
"What Lord is saying is good for us, so we need to listen to Lord, okay?" Nors added with a serious tone.
Lucan continued, "If we have enough materials, we can build the cabin, but I don't think we do."
They all listened in silence. Who would get materials to build something here? There would only be demolished buildings and nothing much else.
As they talked about the day's events and ate the boiled herbs and fruits that Dalia and Alian had picked, the moon rose. They all departed for their shelter and went to sleep. Nors, however, sat outside the shelter, watching the area. After some time, his eyes closed on their own.
But a moment later, his eyes snapped open. He saw someone holding a sword, with about five to seven beasts standing in front of him. The person was covered in dark clothes and killed all the beasts swiftly. As Nors started to stand and walk toward them, his eyes closed once more.
***
Next morning
I can definitely help with that. I will fix the grammar, spelling, and sentence structure, vary the dialogue tags, and format the internal thoughts with italics to improve the flow and overall quality of the writing.
The air was crisp today, a light breeze rustling through the leaves and carrying the scent of a man who hadn't bathed in over a week.
Lucan woke to this smell, realizing with a jolt that it was coming from him. This was not a good feeling; he had lived a clean and modest life in his home, but here, he hadn't washed himself for a week.
'What do I do to wash myself?' he thought. 'There isn't enough water, nor a place to wash.' He felt helpless. There was no way to clean the water coming from the Cursed Lands.
Lucan stepped out of his shelter, but as soon as he did, he bumped into someone with a loud thud.
"Who is this?" Lucan questioned, looking down to see Nors lying in front of his shelter. It seemed Nors was the one he had bumped into, but Nors was the one who got hurt.
"Ah, my head, my nose," Nors groaned, but he soon saw Lucan. "Lord, Lord, you need to come and see this!" Nors clutched Lucan's hand and began pulling him toward the fence area.
"What happened, Nors? Is there some problem? Did beasts damage the fence or something?" Lucan inquired, but Nors didn't reply.
A few seconds later, Kenny, who had just woken up and had no idea what was going on, joined them.
As they got closer to the fence, they saw beasts lying dead, some cut in half, others missing their heads.
Blood was everywhere. Some footprints led back to the zone, but the ground was littered with dead beasts.
Lucan saw this and found it completely foreign. How can there be dead beasts here? Just yesterday there were none.
"Lord, did you do that?" Nors asked Lucan, pointing at the beasts.
"No, I didn't do it. I don't use a sword that much, so I couldn't have killed all of them by myself," Lucan clarified, clearing up Nors's misunderstanding. "But these sword patterns are somewhat familiar to me."
Kenny chimed in, "Lord, if you didn't do this, then who could be this powerful to kill them? Lord, if you say they're sword marks, that I've heard rumors that a 1-star swordsman can kill three beasts by himself, and a 2-star swordsman can kill five or more. But here, Lord, it looks like there's a more powerful swordsman, but who could that person be?"
Lucan pondered this. 'My father is a 5-star swordsman, but he won't come. If he were to come, there's no chance these beasts would even feel that they're killed. So who could that be? Father also wouldn't send any guards to protect me. Or did he send someone? No, I don't think he would, considering how he sent me to this place. Ahh, I'm getting confused, but who cares now that we got some food and there…'
"Lord!" Nors exclaimed, pulling Lucan from his thoughts.
"Nors, how many times do I need to say this? Don't shout so much; my ears will bleed," Lucan grumbled. "And Kenny, help your grandpa store these beasts in the storage crate we made, or else other beasts will come to this place, smelling the blood."
"Yes, Lord, and Lord, I don't know how to say this, but…" Kenny began, hesitant to finish his sentence.
"You can say it. It's not like I'll eat you," Lucan assured him.
"Lord, you're smelling really bad. The smell coming from you is too much for us," Kenny blurted out. As soon as he said it, he ran to the beast and began picking them up.
Nors was looking at Lucan, but it seemed like he was holding back his laughter.
"You know, you can laugh. It's not like I don't know I'm smelling bad, but if you don't lau—" Before Lucan could finish, Nors burst into laughter.
"Hahaha, Lord, you smell bad! Really bad, ha ha," Nors chortled. "I don't think I've laughed this much in the last six months."
Lucan wanted to tell him to stop laughing, but seeing the old man so happy, a smile came to his face.
Nors, now controlling his laughter, said to Lucan, "Lord, I couldn't say it before, but last night, I saw someone in front of the fence holding a sword. He was covered in dark clothes, so I thought he was you. But if you say you weren't, then who can it be?"
Lucan listened intently. "If you knew there was someone else, then why did you think it was me?" he questioned. "Let's leave that for a moment. Tell me, how did he look? Did his sword have a fire lion emblem on it?"
"Lord, I don't know if it had a lion emblem with fire," Nors admitted. "My eyesight isn't what it used to be. I can't see well anymore, and my eyes closed as soon as I stood and walked toward him. So I only know that he was wearing dark clothes and had white gloves on. That's all I could see."
"Oh, okay," Lucan replied thoughtfully. "If that person killed these beasts, then that means he's not an enemy, which means there will come a time when he shows himself to us." Lucan then gestured toward the bucket. "Why don't you go and help Kenny? I'm also coming after you after I wash my face, okay?" Nors headed toward Kenny, leaving Lucan to walk toward the bucket.
After a few minutes, he had washed his face and was heading toward Nors and Kenny when the screen popped up, announcing:
[Milestone Achieved: 7 Structures Complete]
[New Blueprint Unlocks]
[Expanded Crate – 80 CP + 10 LP]
[Reinforced Wall – 150 CP + 25 LP (LOCKED)]
"And here I thought you were gone and wouldn't come," Lucan muttered, looking at the screen. 'Now there's an expanded crate and a reinforced wall blueprint. And they need both CP and LP. LP is low compared to CP, so that must mean LP is more important. And it says I have seven structures, but there are more than seven, so there must be more structure conditions that, when completed, will be counted.'
'Now, if I can just see where I got the LP from,' he thought, and a new log appeared.
[LP: 50]
[Fence Build (1/4): +5 LP, +50 CP]
[Zone Tagged: +5 LP]
"Fifty LP, that's a good number," Lucan observed. 'But I don't think I can build a reinforced fence yet, and I haven't even built the normal fence.'
Lucan now walked toward Kenny and Nors.