Ahead of them, there were multiple boars that were standing in front of the pile of leaves they had placed.

  “One, two, three ….” Civ's eyes widened as he tried to make sense of what he saw.

  “32 boars?!!!” These are not just ordinary boars. They are big and male boars!

  Civ estimates that if they attack the wall head-on, they can still defend. But they will expect casualties.

  Kivrah also noticed how big the horde is. He shouted. “There are so many! The people looking on the other side of the wall come her-”

  “Wait Father!” Civ interrupted. “We can still defend here, just add one more ladder.”

  Vel picked up the extra ladder and placed it against the wall.

  “Let me help!” Ras quickly climbed the ladder with his atlatl and extra spears.

  Ras' eyes bulged when he scanned the surroundings. “Civ, this is bigger than we saw yesterday!”

  This horde needs to defend it with their lives on the line.

  “We need to be ready. Spear!” Civ commanded. They hold their spears and are ready to throw them at any time.

  But the expected attack did not happen.

  Outside, the boars stood still.

  Grunt

  Grunt

  Grunt

  They are looking at the wall like they are talking. Observing. In the middle of the horde, there was a boar that was a bit bigger than the rest. It has tusks on its fangs and on the back of its teeth. A four-pairs of tusks. Its hair was thicker and longer. So long that it starts to tangled at the tip.

  Civ froze. He and the boar eyes meet. With the expression of the boar, Civ feels like it looked at him like prey. Its eyes were almost human-like. It stood still and fixed its attention on him.

  The eyes of the boar reminded Civ of something. But he cannot recall what it is.

  A couple of seconds later, the two boars that had left earlier went to the thick boar.

  Oink

  Oink

  Grunt

  Grunt

  “What are they doing?” Pil, who was sweating, was baffled.

  They are expecting these boars to start rampaging. But every boar seems reserved.

  Like a group of people waiting for a command.

  “This might not be good news. But it looks like they have a leader.” Civ concluded.

  The way alone boars react to their presence is always to chase. But right now, even seeing them, they have not done anything yet.

  Kivrah nodded. “Be alert and throw you - wait, they are leaving?”

  “What?!” All of them have the same collective reaction.

  This is too unusual. But also more dangerous. What Civ wanted to avoid was smart creatures attacking them right now. The group waited for a few minutes. When there are no boars in sight, Civ breaks the silence.

  “With that big of a horde, we need to improve our defenses. Pil keep on a lookout.” Civ, Kivrah, and Ras go down. Keeping Pil on guard.

  “We need to make more barricades. Not only on the north side but on the other sides as well.” Civ starts to discuss with Kivrah while Vel is following them.

  “I agree. I’ll have the firewood team gather some firewood in the west.” Knowing that the west near the riverside is safe, they decided to focus the wood collection there.

  They executed the plans that they discussed. For the rest of the afternoon, Civ, Vel, and some volunteers made pointed sticks. Arsh makes more spears, cordages, and some stone axes. Horm and his group gather wood. The camp was noisy but not lively. But even that, the eyes of everyone inside the camp were steady and unwavering.

  As the afternoon went by, Civ got thirsty. He brought the jar and drank some of the water.

  “Oh so that was it. Can I also have water Civ?” Vel was also thirsty from the non-stop work he had done since the morning.

  Civ nodded, and Vel lifted the jar and drank a mouthful.

  “Waaaahhh! This is the best! If we can have this at the camp, we don’t need to go back and forth in the river!” Vel exclaimed. While he was sharpening the wood, his eyes kept glancing at the jar.

  Being too curious, Vel could not help his curiosity.“Civ, can you teach me how to make it?”

  Civ looked at Vel.

  ‘This guy, he really is a type of person that wants to create.‘

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  Civ nodded. “I’ll teach you after we suppress this horde.”

  Now is not the time they need to work on other ideas. What their time and energy needed to be spent on was to defend the camp.

  ‘All sides. The Shaman’s warning might be true.’ Civ recollected what the Shaman said and what he saw today. He himself does not really rely on the prophecy or any divine-related information. Because for him, if he can do it without anyone helping him, that is the fastest way to learn and grow. But if unknown variables start showing in the future, he might need to talk to the Shaman more often.

  Civ’s head is on overclock right now. Since all of the sides might be simultaneously attacked. He needs to make further preparations.

  The afternoon ended with a pile of tools and barricades.

  Night came, and the camp was lively again. Some of them are already asleep, while others are still chatting at the campfire. Ras was the one telling the stories as Horm was not around.

  Civ, Vel, Horm, and Arsh were still busy. They decided to spend the rest of the night digging and placing the barricades. Civ was assisted by Horm on the east. Vel was assisted by Arsh on the south.

  When they returned to the camp, Civ was looking at the fence they created for the west side. His face looked troubled.

  “We need to add at least some barricades here.” Civ and Vell placed four barricades here. Whatever happens, they can still slow down the boars if they attack the south side.

  “Everyone, great work today. Let's get some rest and wake up early to prepare for tomorrow.” The group nodded and went to their own huts to rest.

  The next morning, they wake up before the sun rises.

  His body was aching and tired. But Civ tried his best to open his eyes and leave the cave.

  “Still many things to do.” Civ scoops water using his hand from the jar and washes his face.

  “Whew! That woke me up!” The groggy face becomes alert. But he felt a chilly sensation.

  “Grrrr, the morning was colder than usual. If I can only have a tea or coffee to warm my stomach.” Morning hot drinks are the best to fight this cold morning.

  “We’ll that is a wish for the future.” Civ gathered his weapons and tools. Then he went straight to the middle of the camp, where Kivrah was already waiting for the whole camp to gather.

  “How was your sleep Father?” Civ called his father, who was staring into nowhere.

  “I did not get enough sleep. But at least I rested.” Kivrah’s face was wrinkled. It seems like the look of his Father’s was not only about the tribe.

  Civ wants to ask his Father about it, but now is not the right time.

  “It's still great that we are able to rest. Better than nothing.” Civ smiled. Around him, the people start to gather. The Shaman was also here.

  Kivrah smiled at Civ, but since the crowd was here, he needed to start the day.

  “Thank you everyone, for waking up early again today. Now that we are in danger of the horde, I’ll have Shaman Mashu start this day with a prayer to the Sun Goddess.” Hearing this, everyone's face brightened.

  The Shaman usually prayed alone, inside the hut. She usually prayed for guidance and blessings from the Sun Goddess. But with a group prayer. This is only meant to mean one thing.

  Shaman Mashu’s prayer will be a blessing for everyone and provide protection. Having a chance to hear and accept the prayer here will be the best blessing that they can have from the Goddess.

  “Oh Sun Goddess.

  The beginning of everything.

  The light of life.

  Please grant us your power and mercy.

  Give us protection and strength to surpass this disaster.

  For we only give our devotion.

  Oh Sun Goddess.”

  The prayer was short and direct. The crowd kneeled, clasped their hands, and silently repeated the prayer. Shaman Mashu repeated the prayer a few times until the sun rose and the sunlight caressed her face. After the morning prayer, she left and went back to her hut.

  “Now, we need to discuss our roles for today.” Hearing the Tribe leader start the day, the crowd sat straight.

  The agenda of the meeting was to make sure everyone had a task assigned. Even though they have enough supply and tools right now, they do not have enough manpower to sustain it.

  What they need to do is to make sure there are more than enough extra tools to avoid wasted time. The crowd happily agreed. Some from the crowd volunteered to guard the wall. But Kivrah declined the idea. Since he needs someone to guard the wall with experience in spear throwing. Instead, he commanded the volunteers to master spear throwing. Then they will be the ones who will hunt next time. The group agreed and will look forward to hunting the boars soon.

  After the meeting, Kivrah, Civ, and Vel went outside to check the barricades. They made some adjustments and put more pointed sticks next to the wall. Every section wall they went to, there was an available ladder outside.

  Kivrah was pleased with the current defenses. They concluded the inspection and went back inside the camp via the ladder.

  Since there was some time to kill, Civ went to the front of the cave where he lit the two jars overnight.

  CLINGK

  CLINGK

  Both of the jars have the same result. The jar is not that smooth, but it is still useful.

  “I want to make more of these to learn more. But this will be a project for the next time.” Civ reluctantly put the jars inside the cave for now. With the help of Vel, they can try to brainstorm how to improve this. He can also ask his tribesmen for this, but for now, he needs to make sure that he knows the correct ratio. It might be dangerous if the jars start exploding.

  Setting aside the pottery for now, he goes back to the north side of the camp to see the situation. But before he can take a step.

  “Boars!” Pil shouted, alerting the camp.

  All of the people tasked to defend the wall start climbing. Kivrah also decided to partake in this defence with the north group.

  The horde was again staring at them. Looking at the thick boar. Kivrah and Civ suspected that the leader of this horde, started grunting loudly.

  GRUNT

  GRUNT

  GRUNT

  OINK

  OINK

  OINK

  The boars that replied to the thick boar started walking away. Civ does not have a good feeling about this.

  “Everyone from all sides! Be alert and prepare your spears!” Civ reminded everyone. With this, they started preparing their spears. On guard for what is going to happen.

  The other two boars that replied to the leader started slowly walking towards the north wall. But these two boars, noticing the humans above the wall. Their instinct dominated their desire to hunt. It starts running to the leaves.

  “HOLD!” Civ commanded the team. Pil and Ras's hands were shaking already, but they grit their teeth.

  The boar continued to run until they encountered the first barricade.

  REEEEeee-

  With the momentum from their running, it immediately impaled them. The boars tried to wiggle, but a couple of seconds later, they stopped moving.

  The leader of the boars witnessed the death of his underlings. Then it screamed an ear-piercing cry.

  REEEEEEEEEEE!

  Everyone from the camp tried to cover their ears. For the wall guards, they unfortunately need to endure this scream as they need to be alert at any time.

  Civ and the leader of the boar eyes meet again. Seeing the human-like eyes of the boar again, it clicked to Civ.

  “I remember it now! That boar! That boar has already tasted human!”