Mark pulled three axes from storage and handed one to each family member. They looked at Mark and then at each other.
Finn asked, “What are these for?”
Mark answered, “It seems that there is a need for a pen for the murder pigs, and this will be a great introduction to the system for you and get you the first couple levels.”
Mara handed the axe back to him and said, “Well, you boys can go chop wood if you want, but I am going to stay here and talk to the Chef, I mean Dale, while you boys go out and work.”
Finn chuckled, then walked over to Mark and said, “Lead the way. I have been cutting wood for years; this should be quick.”
Mark led Elias and Finn west into the forest. Along the way, he showed them one of his traps and explained that collecting from traps was an easy way to gain XP at lower levels. Then he found a dead tree and started cutting.
Finn said, “Wait, you’re doing it all wrong, Mark. If you cut it like that, you will ruin part of the wood, and we will have more waste and have to haul more back to camp.”
Finn then went over and started on the tree. He quickly cut a length the size needed for the pen. He then handed it to his dad and started cutting the next one. Mark was fascinated by watching Finn work. He had cut many trees in the last month, but he had to admit Finn made the work look easy.
Elias started taking the lengths Finn made, splitting them and stripping the bark off. He shaped slats about three inches wide by one and a half inches thick. Between the two of them, they finished the tree in about a third of the time it would have taken Mark just to cut it into lengths, and they had a decent-sized pile of slats for the fence.
They split the slats evenly among their inventories so no one carried too much weight. Mark explained how he had once loaded up on boulders and then could not move under their weight. Inventory let them add all they wanted, but it only reduced the weight instead of removing it. From another tree, they made longer support posts and crossbars for attaching the slats.
When completed, they went back to camp and unloaded all of their materials onto the workbenches. Elias and Finn were surprised that the work they had done had counted towards settlement production and got them enough XP that they both leveled.
Finn received the skill Efficient Woodcutting, and Elias got the skill Fence Construction. They were really excited about getting a skill and even more excited about being able to assign their five stat points. They could use them to improve things they were naturally weak on.
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Mara walked over while her husband and son were talking about their level and skills. She let them know while they were gone that she had been talking to Dale about food spoilage here and storage. She had talked to him about how to preserve fresh milk so it would last longer and how to store fresh vegetables and fruits to keep them fresher, along with other preservation methods. She then also shared that she had received the skill Food Preservation on level up.
After they finished discussing their level-ups, Finn and Elias asked for a shovel and then where to put the pen. This started a huge discussion. Ava wanted it near her A-frame. The farmers loudly disagreed. Pigs and boars were messy and stinky and should not be inside the camp itself. They finally came to a decision that they would put it on the east side of camp, about 20 feet east of the gate and north about 10 feet, to keep it clear of the trail. Mark and Elias measured a pen large enough for the piglets to grow into. Mark staked the borders, and they dug the first post holes, set the posts, and packed the earth around them.
They then went back into camp and got the crossbeams and the first set of fence rails. Elias asked, “Where do you keep the nails?”
Mark answered, “Well, we don’t have any. As of yet, no metal, no nails.”
Finn then asked, “How do you expect us to build a fence?”
Mark then went over to the storage and pulled out different sizes and qualities of the ropes and cords they had made and showed them to the others too. “For now, we use a lot of fiber cords to lash things together. Will that work?”
Elias said, “We will make it work.”
Mark watched them make it work. This was clearly not their first pen or fence; they worked together like a practiced team. When they finished, the sturdy pen even had a working door.
Dale examined it. “Good job. It looks sturdy. Does that mean we can get the murder pigs out of my kitchen?”
Mark laughed while Ava scolded Dale, but she carried the piglets into the pen two at a time. Tom had made a small feeding trough and water container, which Ava placed inside.
When she closed the gate after placing the water and food, Elias and Finn both exclaimed. They had leveled again. Elias let the group know that he had received the skill Livestock Handling, and Finn got the skill Animal Care.
It was now dinnertime, and Dale and Mara put out food for the group. Just as Mara set the last plate on the table, she exclaimed, “I leveled up again. My new skill is Resource Efficiency.”
They spent the next hour talking over their day, the kinds of skills the new family hoped to develop, and what they could focus on to encourage those choices. Tomorrow they all wanted to see if they could get to another level. Mark and Tom both pointed out to them that the first few levels were easy, but as they repeated the same actions, they gave diminishing XP.
Dale started cleaning up the dishes, and the group heard a snort from one of the murder pigs. But it was not from the cage; it was next to Ava’s foot.
Ava reached down and petted it. “Hey, little guy, what are you doing over here?”
Dale turned around, asking, “What did you say?” Seeing the murder pig at his feet startled him, and he dropped a couple of plates on the ground, breaking them.