The Island of Wonder

Two days had passed since the celebration. Everything returned to normal so quickly that it seemed as if nothing had happened at all—except for the slightly smaller number of guards around the village. During that time, using her ability, Nicole made small upgrades around Soi’s house, fixing most of the little holes and cracks.

Aside from that, Tora finished analyzing the Bonewolves and the Beast of the Chasm. Bonewolves appeared to be similar to wolves from Earth, just bigger, stronger, and obviously covered with bone-like armor yet with nothing special. Meanwhile, the Beast was more interesting. The AI discovered that its body was completely immune to electric current, and its teeth could somehow produce a small amount of it. Additionally, to make it easier to distinguish from other possible "Beasts" in the future, and since it had no name, Tora proposed calling it Electrolycus Tetrabrachius, backing it with a Latin explanation that Nicole didn’t even try to remember.

Since the celebration night, Nicole hadn’t seen Tiralie—it seemed the catwoman and her spider had left the village that same night. She wanted to apologise for her drunk behavior, yet had no chance.

Originally, Nicole planned to return to the forest, to her small cabin by the river. Yet everything that had happened made her decide to slow down a little and spend some time in the village without looking for more danger.

She was sitting on the floor forming a set of stone cups, since Mignon had accidentally broken the clay ones while running around. At first, she wanted to use clay, but soon realized that her ability was useless in this case—the wet clay wasn’t different from the one used by the villagers and Nicole had no skills to work with it.

Suddenly, when Nicole was almost done, someone knocked at the door. It wasn’t a loud bang, but rather a shy, uncertain tap. As she got up and opened the door, she saw Iloe.

"Oh, hey Nicole. I–I hope I’m not distracting you from something important?" she asked, eyes cast down, cheeks blushing.

"No, no, don’t worry. Do you need something?" Nicole shook her head, holding a stone cup she’d just made, tossing it up and catching it casually.

"Right, um... I just wanted to ask if you’d like to hang out maybe...?"

The question made Nicole think for a second—and she forgot about the cup in the air. It fell right on her foot.

"Ah, fuck!" Nicole exclaimed. "Shit." She grabbed the fallen cup—luckily it was thick enough not to break. "But yeah, why not? You could tell me more about your alchemy stuff."

Iloe smiled. "Of course! I wasn’t sure you were really interested when we talked at the celebration, and I didn’t want to bore you. But if you are, I’ll gladly tell you! Even better, I can show you at my place!" Her tail swayed eagerly from side to side.

Minutes later, the two of them entered a hut slightly larger than most. Inside, it was divided by a wall into two rooms—the smaller one’s doorway was covered by an animal pelt instead of a door. The main room’s walls were lined with shelves full of boxes and pots, each containing different ingredients. In the center stood a big table, most of its surface taken up by cups and scattered plants.

"S-sorry for the mess, hehe." Iloe blushed.

The sight reminded Nicole of Annie’s apartment and lab back on Earth—everything in a similar chaotic state, the only difference being computers and electronics instead of plants.

I guess scientists are the same, no matter if it’s Earth or... wherever I am.

"It’s okay, don’t worry. You could say I’m used to it." Nicole said, glancing around and spotting some familiar flowers she’d seen in the forest.

"You had a friend alchemist?" Iloe asked eagerly.

"No, sorry, I meant she just had a lot of chaos around her workspace."

"Oh…" The catgirl’s ash-gray ears drooped.

"What’s wrong?" Nicole asked, worried by the sudden shift in mood.

"I-it’s nothing. I just thought you might know someone good at alchemy and got excited." Iloe sat on a simple wooden chair.

Nicole followed, sitting on the other. "Why would you look for one? Didn’t you say your mother teaches you?"

Iloe’s eyes darted to the other room for a split second. "Y-yeah... It’s true. Or at least, it was. Half an eclipse ago she got really ill…"

"I’m sorry to hear that. I lost my parents too, so I can relate to how you feel."

"No-no, she’s alive. For now, at least... She just sleeps most of the time. I’m trying to find a cure, but nothing I’ve tried works." Iloe looked down at the table. "W-we should change the topic, o-okay?" She picked up a yellow flower with a bright green center. "Did you know that after rain, the water that stays on these flowers turns sweet? And if mixed with Pietus dust—you know, that pink thing that heals wounds—it enhances the healing effect? It has more uses, but it's the most common one. Though it’s rare to find, and traveling merchants charge a high price."

Iloe continued for hours, talking about different materials and their uses. She kept jumping from one topic to another, her explanations chaotic yet passionate. Nicole sat quietly for the most part, trying to remember as much as she could.

I should’ve brought Tora and started a dictation mode. Maybe taking her mother’s blood sample and letting the AI test it could help.

By the time Nicole left Iloe’s place, it was already getting dark. The girls stood by the entrance, watching the sun set over the ocean.

"Again, thanks for telling me all those things. Someday it might be helpful."

Iloe, who after hours together had stopped blushing, turned red again. "I-it’s okay, really! I should be the one thanking you. Before she got sick, my mother always said I should find friends or a lover instead of staying inside all the time."

"Well, I think you should do whatever you want. If alchemy’s more interesting than hanging out, that’s fine. Everything else might come naturally." Nicole whispered the last sentence, turned toward Iloe, and left a quick kiss on the catgirl’s cheek. "Friends… or lovers." The unexpected gesture made Iloe freeze as Nicole winked and left.

Over the next week, Nicole spent a lot of time at Iloe’s hut, learning and recording information.

"Hey, Iloe, look." Nicole held her AI pen in her hand. "This thing is named Tora, and she can talk! Tora, say something."

"Something." The robotic female voice responded immediately.

Meanwhile, Iloe stared at the device with wide eyes. "W-what?!" She took a step back. "I-is this a cursed soul of the dead, forced into this thing?!" Fear and shock urged her to run away screaming, but scientific interest made her stay.

Nicole smiled at the catgirl's reaction. "Don't worry. I can’t really explain how it works, but believe me, there’s nothing cursed about it. Tora is my useful assistant. She knows a lot of things and can always learn new information." She pressed the pen to the table. "Tora, briefly analyze this."

After a few seconds, the voice appeared again. "The analyzed material seems to be the same kind of wood we analyzed earlier, found only on this island."

"W-wow." Iloe stepped closer, never taking her eyes off the pen.

"Cool, right? But I showed it to you for one main reason—would you agree to let it take some of your mother’s blood to analyze? It will take some time, but it may help you find a cure."

"What? I, uhh... I don’t know, I am not sure..." Iloe glanced toward the other room and slowly took a breath. "Alright. I believe you when you say it may help. Come." With a determined step, the catgirl headed toward the entrance to her mother’s room, and Nicole followed after.

Inside, Nicole saw not the usual pile of leaves used in place of beds, but an actual bedframe with a thin, green mattress. Oh, they actually have normal beds here? On the bed lay an elderly woman, her hair gray with age and her face full of wrinkles. She was sleeping, her breathing shallow. It didn’t take them much time to collect a blood sample, and afterward, they quickly returned to the main room.

"Alright, now let’s just wait. I’ll tell you when I get any results from Tora," Nicole said, and Iloe silently nodded.

Despite spending much time with Iloe, Nicole didn’t forget to test her powers—absorbing different things to see how her ability worked, especially the bone armor she’d created during the last fight.

At least I know it’s possible. I just have to find a way to control it.

She sat in her hut, trying to mentally summon the bone around her arm, yet nothing happened.

Damn it! Why isn’t it working? Maybe... I need some adrenaline and danger again? I can’t just throw myself into danger all the time, though. But I’ve wanted to go into the forest anyway. I just have to be careful. I’m better prepared now.

Nicole warned Soi and Iloe about her plan and packed a backpack, mostly with food and Retite dust to help light a bonfire. The next morning, accompanied by Mignon, she left the village. She followed roughly the same route as before, hoping to find her old shack. Along the way, her companion jumped around, chasing colorful butterflies. Nicole worried his behavior might attract wild animals, but so far, it hadn’t. After half a day walk, she finally reached the big river. The rock formations along the shore looked familiar—she knew her old hut had to be somewhere upriver.

Following the path, she arrived hours later at what was once her base. After so much neglect, the cabin’s walls and roof now lay in disarray.

"It looks more like a pile for a bonfire than a shelter. We’ve got a lot of work to do, Mignon." Nicole sighed.

It was already evening, too late for a full rebuild. Just to have somewhere safe for the night, she used her ability to form a large, hollow stone dome with an opening big enough to crawl into. She made a smaller one for Mignon, but no matter what she did, he refused to go inside.

"It’s not perfect or comfortable, but should be safe enough and I’ll make something better tomorrow."

After lighting a bonfire and eating a late dinner, Nicole had Mignon gather stones and wood and separate them into piles. Meanwhile, she refilled the stone supply in her storage and sat down.

Using my ability to build will probably work better than doing it by hand. But how should I make it?

After a while, her gaze fell on her spear stuck in the ground. Remembering how she had attached the blade to the pole, she got an idea.

This might work.

Through her ability, Nicole formed stones into bricks but with holes and screws at sides. This way, she now had something like a puzzle. This took a lot of time, so she went to sleep right after.

The next day, after eating a few fruits Mignon had found, Nicole got to work. First, she cleared the ground where she wanted her new base, creating a square hole just deep enough for the floor bricks. This part was monotonous, since her ability was slow and she had to sit on the ground and touch the damp earth of a tropical forest. When she was done, she filled the space with a solid stone floor, complete with screws around the perimeter, and then began forming the puzzle-like walls, leaving space for a door and a window.

In the end, it looked far more solid than her previous building, and Nicole wasn’t afraid it would collapse. Still, she noticed the stone bricks weren’t perfectly aligned, leaving small gaps between them. After consulting Tora, she found a way to make a sort of cement—a mix of clay and sand that would work almost as well.

Luckily, she had enough clay stored from earlier experiments, so after some time, the larger gaps were filled. To protect it from rain, she added thin slabs of stone to cover the walls inside and out. Now she just needed a roof, and after a few more hours, she had a stone cellar topped with a wooden and leaf roof. Finally, she made a wooden door—and her new home was complete.

She stepped back to admire the cabin in the light of the setting sun.

Well, maybe not perfect, but good enough to last a while. Holy hell, I didn’t expect it to take all day. Now I just have to hunt and skin enough animals to make a proper bed.

Exhausted, Nicole went to sleep. When she woke up the next morning, she felt barely rested.

Damn, two nights in a row on hard surfaces aren’t doing me any favors...

Looking out the window toward the river, she stopped in her tracks. The water was dark green—same as the sandy shore.

Great. What now?