“All sides?” Civ clenched his fist.

  “That is all I’ll have to say Oh Chosen one. I’ll return to my hut. Please rest also.” The Shaman slightly bowed and left Civ. The words Shaman relayed to him still ring in his ears.

  He knew everything was already defended. But if the Shaman's saying is true, they need to be alert. Make sure all of the sides are well defended.

  “The Goddess talks to the Shaman. Hopefully, this is a hallucination only.” Stress might be a factor in why the Shamans were hearing voices. In Civ’s perspective, he still does not believe that there is a God helping them.

  Civ rested for the night, and he let the campfire in front of them die down since no one was sleeping there.

  The next day, he woke up at the same time. His arms and legs were stinging. However, the horde might attack them today, so they need to be ready. They need to place additional defenses as early as possible, so they can still have time to eat and rest.

  Everyone also woke up before the sun rose. Anticipating the attack. Kivrah, Civ, and the Shaman discuss what they need to do today. But before they start, the Shaman mentioned to Kivrah what the Sun Goddess told her.

  Kivrah claps his hands and looks up to the rising sun, praising the Sun Goddess.

  They sat in front of each other.

  “Hearing what the Shaman said, I want to increase the defence around the camp, Civ.” Kivrah started the meeting with a plan.

  “Do not worry Trible leader, these were already prepared. My team and I will just need to put it outside the camp.” Civ smiled.

  “Oh the barricade? Vel mentioned it to me when I asked him last night. Let's put it where we expect the boars the most.” Kivrah expected Civ would be ready on these, but he still needed to make sure this was discussed.

  After that, they discussed the division of the defence. They agreed to put most of the defence in the north. Place Horm in the south and Arsh to the east. They are the most experienced in the tribe besides Civ. The three of them do not fear the boars that much. It will also give a morale boost to their tribe. As for the west side, he placed Luk and Safi there as the leaders of the team.

  The meeting finished after they agreed on the designation of the people.

  Civ left the hut and immediately called Vel, Horm, and the other firewood team to help him set up the barricades. Some pick up the barricades and the pointed wood that Civ created. While he asks some of them to pick up the branches with leaves on them.

  The only entrance they have is on the west side of the camp. Civ intentionally did not make any gates yet. The reason for this is that he did not know how strong these boars would be if enraged. Any weakness in the walls might be fatal for them if one or two boars penetrated the wall.

  Civ instructs the group to place the barricades in two separate columns where the gap was in the middle. Then, using the leaves that they dragged here, they put them around the barricades. Then the rest of these leaves were spread 2 meters away from the barricades.

  Once every barricade was placed, Civ and the rest focused on putting the wood into the holes Horm and Civ had dug. They placed it diagonally, facing back at the wall.

  With this, they finished the first and second defences.

  “This should be good for now. But hopefully we are able to make it work.” Civ and the rest went back inside the camp.

  While Civ and his team are working outside. The people inside are focused on making more stone spears with the guidance of Arsh.

  “How were the stone spears?” Civ starts inspecting the spears.

  “It was good for now. We are able to make it faster.” Arsh promptly responded, even though she was busy knapping stones.

  “That is great. Please make as many as you can.” Civ left the stone tools tasks to Arsh as he moved to another agenda.

  The next thing he did was to discuss with his Father.

  “Father, let me and some of our tribemen check for the boars in the north,” Civ revealed to Kivrah.

  “No! This time I will not allow it!” Kivrah strongly declines Civ’s plan.

  “You cannot leave this place. If you were injured by this boar, it would be hard for us to defend this wall. I need you to help me command the defence!” Kivrah continued his justification. Which everyone from the hunting team agreed with as well.

  “I agree with the Trible leader, Civ! Please let Luk and me check for these boars. If we see them near our camp, we will return right away.” Ras offers the scouting task while Luk supports the suggestion while nodding.

  Being ganged up on by everyone, Civ let out a helpless sigh.

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  “Alright, but if you see any glimpse of them, even if it's far away, return immediately!” Civ holds the shoulders of both of his tribesmen.

  Luk and Ras nodded, and he let them leave the camp, going to the north.

  Since everything was already set. The thing that he can do is add some improvements.

  With the help of Vel, he asked him to gather the 3-inch-thick wood that was not used. Especially the 10 ft in length. He cut some 2-inch-thick wood into around 2 ft length.

  Using these materials, Civ teaches Vel how to make it. He placed the two 10-foot lengths of wood parallel to each other. Then place the 2 ft length of wood horizontally between the two long wood. Then, using cordage, he wraps it around the intersections like an X sign. After doing it to all the pieces of 2 ft length wood, he picked it up and leaned it against the wall. He stepped on it and climbed to the top of the wall. He tried to do a multiple slight jump on the step. He was satisfied with the result.

  When Civ looked at his back, everyone was staring at him. Their gaze was filled with admiration. Civ wants to entertain the admiration he is receiving from the crowd, but time is life for the hunting group. He climbed down and discussed the need for additional ladders with Vel.

  Kivrah, on the other hand. Suppressed his curiosity. He saw that Civ was focusing on making sure everything was working well.

  Civ and Vel were having a misunderstanding about how to proceed with making more ladders.

  “What do you mean, eight more ladders?” Vel's eyebrows were almost touched as he was trying to understand Civ.

  Civ pinched his nose bridge. Due to the urgency of the situation. He forgot that there are things that his tribesmen cannot comprehend yet. It slipped from his tongue.

  ‘So many things I need to teach, so many things I need to learn also.’

  Civ is looking forward to making this boy his first apprentice.

  What Civ decided to do was to make an illustration again for Vel. He did it by putting the ladder in the locations where the defender will be standing.

  “What I need you to do is make another ladder and place it here, another here -” They walk around the walls. To make things easier, Civ marked the locations where the ladders will be. He placed it by indenting the area with the feet of the ladder.

  “I get it now Civ, I’ll finish this as fast as possible!” Vel walked cheerfully back to the middle of the camp.

  ‘After these issues are resolved, I‘ll make your mind more confused.’ Civ menacinly smiled at the back of Vel.

  Vel felt shivers in his spine and looked back at Civ, that is smiling at him like a proud mother.

  He ignored the feeling he got and went back to complete the task Civ had given to him.

  Seeing that Civ was alone, Kivrah went to Civ.

  “This is a great tool Son. How should we call it?” Kivrah was looking at this marvel.

  “We will call it a Ladder Father.” Civ revealed to his Father.

  “A ladder. This is great! A ladder.” Kivrah kept murmuring the name. Trying to remember the name.

  “You can try to climb Father, if you like. Also, I will show you something interesting.” Civ smiled as his Father was still looking at the ladder.

  “Sure.”

  “Come with me Father, to the north side of the camp.”

  Civ and Kivrah walk back to the north side, and Civ places the ladder against the wall.

  “You can climb now!” Civ holds the ladder to make sure it is stable.

  “Thanks!” Kivrah slowly stepped on the ladder. When he was at the top, a different perspective was shown to him.

  Seeing the area above him at a higher location makes him feel that he can see and control more. But when he looks down under where he stands -

  Shakes

  His knees trembled. But when he realized it, he tried to fight it by gripping the railing of the ladder a little bit tighter.

  “How was it Father?” Civ slightly raised his voice.

  “I-i-t was great!” Kivrah replied as he is still fighting his own fears.

  Kivrah tried his best to compose himself. After a few seconds, the trembling stops.

  “Civ, I created the second ladder.” Vel was running toward them as he was carrying the ladder he had created.

  “Great! Let me test it.” Civ grabs the ladder and starts inspecting it. He leaned it also against the wall next to his father.

  ‘As I expected. This boy is a genius.’ Civ can’t help but smile at the result.

  The ladder was firmly tied, and it was much better crafted compared to the one he created.

  “This ladder is great Vel!” Civ gives him a thumbs up, which Vel appreciates.

  “Vel, can you give me and the Trible leader an atlatl and spear?” Civ asks Vel. He immediately gets one from the pile created by the Arsh group.

  “This is the main purpose of this ladder for now Father.” Civ sets up his atlatl then -

  TSUUUNNN

  He let the spear fly from the top of the wall. Which reaches a longer range!

  Witnessing the flying spear across the field made Kivrah’s heart beat faster.

  “This is a great plan Son! With this, can we aim better against the boars!” Kivrah concluded.

  “Yes that is right. What I want to see is that we can make them slow down.” Civ is still not satisfied with the defenses right now. There are still many things to add and improve. But this is better than nothing.

  Civ and Kivrah did some practice throwing spears above the wall, and they got the hang of it. Next is as Vel is making the ladders. Civ instructs the hunting team to learn how to climb a ladder, including Horm and Civ.

  When everyone tried to climb the ladder for the first time, they got the same reaction as Kivrah. They were being teased by the tribe leader.

  While they are above, he lets the team test some throws to get the feeling. Civ also makes sure that the hunting team knows this is a serious task they need to fulfill.

  Even though there is a danger outside, the morale is still high as they are getting the idea of how to defend the camp.

  Vel finished all 8 ladders Civ requested. Civ was impressed by the consistency of the ladders. So he requested one more, in case the ladder he created broke down.

  After a few moments, Safi ran as fast as she could to Civ and whispered something. Safi’s face went dark. Filled with fear. Hearing this made Civ’s face serious.

  “Hunting team!” They heard a loud and commanding voice. Everyone from the hunting team involuntarily arranged their ranks and stood up straight.

  “The danger is near! Prepare to defend!”