Limits

After a bit of running around, I collected almost a whole bottle of the golden glue. We then returned to the camp and I applied the glue onto the joints in the roof using a small stick. There was a bit left in the bottle and I decided to leave it for later in case I need it.

We now had a shelter with walls and roof over our heads. Although the shelter blocked most of the wind as well as rain, it wouldn't block low temperatures. I needed something in order to make this shelter warmer for the winter. The best thing would be to use something like cut grass or weeds that were bundled into large sheets and cover the walls with it but how much work would I need to do in order to get so much grass. I instead opted for leaves that were around everywhere. 'If I could use leaves to cover everything it would at least give some protection from cold' I thought. At least that was what I hoped for.

I went outside and tied couple of ropes together. I then took one plank and made it into a large rake. I tied one end of the ropes to the rake and gave the other end to Shelly while saying "Run around with this and collect leaves. You don't have to bring them here, just make a pile somewhere so that I can use them later on". Shelly wasn't very keen on the idea but did it nevertheless. While Shelly was busy with the leaves, I took care of the floor. I still needed more planks in order to make a floor, I started sawing again.

When I was done sawing the last log, I noticed that Shelly managed to collect quite a large pile of leaves. I called out to Shelly "You can rest now. I will use them after I'm done with the floor". I constructed the floor in similar way to the roof but this time I didn't have to use the golden glue in order to fill the holes. The floor was inside not outside, I therefore didn't have to worry about leaks.

It was getting dark now so I wouldn't be able to do anything else. I still needed to do beds for me and Shelly and perhaps a table. The leaves needed to be fixed onto the walls as well. We had our dinner soon after and went to sleep in our new shelter. Fortunately we hunted every day and due to that we had loads of animal fur to use as our bedding, due to that the night wasn't that uncomfortable.

The next morning, I started the day by training the pose from the 1st diagram that I modified. I then went out to get some more planks for beds. It took me couple of hours to make 2 beds and a table as it was more difficult that I thought, especially a bed for Shelly, it was not the same shape or size as mine and I had to get creative. I then thought about ways I could use those leaves in order to make the shelter warmer.

If I were to use leaves only, I wouldn't be able to bundle them together but if I were to use some branches as a core and stuff the leaves in between, the leaves would not fall out that easily. I collected some branches to try out this idea. I didn't use the ropes to bundle the leaves and branches together, instead I used vines that grew in the forest. I didn't have enough rope anyway to cover the whole shelter with the leaves and branches.

After I created couple of sheets of leaves and branches tied together, I tried to hang them on the walls with vines and even nails. I found that the wind would easily damage or even destroy the leaves. I decided to do it from the inside, the wind would not damage the leaves and branches and it would not freeze either when the snow came. It was a bit messy when I fixed them to the walls but in overall I was satisfied with that idea.

I repeated the same process for the other 3 walls and the shelter was done. There wasn't that much room inside after the leaves were fixed on all walls but it was enough for me and Shelly to rest. Due to the leaves it was a bit warmer inside. This was a good sign and when the proper winter came, it would at least be bearable inside. I thought about making some sort of fireplace but I had no materials to build it from. I also didn't know exactly how I should go about doing it.

After the shelter was completed I said to Shelly "Our new home is done. We will stay here for couple of months, maybe even throughout the winter season". Shelly nodded its head and looked around the shelter while walking onto its bed and getting comfortable. We hadn't had a proper bed for a long time now so Shelly was quite excited about the new shelter. I decided that we should relax for the rest of the day and then we could start our training the next day.

Because we had loads of food already cooked, we didn't go out of the shelter that day and rested properly like never before. I took out the Great Scriptures of Evil Medic and began reading it again. I already memorized about 90% of the recipes in the book. I still needed to memorize a few more but compared to the past I already knew a lot about medicines and poisons.

I've read the recipes I had yet to memorize about a dozen of times and hid the book in the bag. I then took out the training manual with diagrams and decided to try and modify the 2nd diagram. The complexity of the 2nd diagram was higher. This meant that if I wanted to modify it, I would have to spend a lot more time on it.

I first visualised the diagram in my mind and tried to slightly change the position of hands, legs, posture and so on. I sometimes would find positive effects and improve one aspect of the pose a bit but I also found the detrimental sides of changing the pose. 'If this was done in a wrong way, someone might even cripple themselves' I thought. Although I found some slight improvements, it was still not suitable for me. Something was not right for me in that diagram and I needed to search for that.

I knew I could do it because I already accomplished that with the 1st diagram. The question was, how long would it take for me to find the right pose? I dwelled on the diagram for good couple of hours and didn't figure it out. I wasn't discouraged. 'I will be able to modify the 2nd diagram sooner or later' I thought.

When I came back to myself from all my thoughts, I noticed that it was dark outside. I got up and closed the door. Shelly was already sleeping in its bed, I decided to go to sleep as well.