As soon as they arrived at their new camp, that would be their home, the trio got to work. Midas tasked Julio and Aydin with knocking down and uprooting Trees in a radius of 100 meters. He explained to them that they would later use those trees to build wooden cabins to live in.
"Cabins? Why not Tree houses?" asked Aydin.
"Well, it's easier to build and maintain. A Tree house would require a solid foundation in the form of bearings that are lodged deep in the Tree. These bearings would then need to extend outwards horizontally and would be the base on which more horizontal planks and logs would be placed as a level surface. But here we can't afford to drill a hole through the tree, and even if we do so, it would still pose major security risks to the foundations stability."
"Why are we even building huts anyway? Is it in case it rains?" asked Julio, to which Midas merely smiled and said:
"Yes and No. Yes because it is for the rain, but not just the rain. It's also for any possible abnormal weather condition, like extreme wind, extreme drought etc. Also, having a stable shelter is something crucial for emotional wellbeing too. Think about it, doesn't the idea of having a place for yourself that you can go back to after a long day give you a feeling of satisfaction and happiness? 'Home is where the heart is' as they say."
"Well, you're right. But this field was made artificially. It might never rain at all."
"On the contrary, it's because the whole field is being controlled that we definitely need shelters. Who knows what these people might do to the weather? Make it rain today, Snow tomorrow, then give us a random dust storm the following day. I, for one, do not want to get caught out in the open."
"Well, Okay then… What will you be doing?"
"I will obviously be sectioning the place to ensure that there is space for the various structures that would end up populating this place. Call it City planning. After you guys knock some trees down and clear a sufficient plot, I would then join you guys in building the huts. Trust me, I will definitely not slack off," said Midas.
Julio and Aydin nodded with understanding at this. But they weren't ready for what Midas said next.
"Then afterwards I will be preparing our food!"
Julio and Aydin looked at him like they were looking at an idiot. Food? Where is the food?
Midas better not make them eat dirt.
Midas giggled seeing their blank expressions and chased them away to begin his work. It was currently 10:30am on their second day in these Trials and Midas wanted to make good use of his time.
He lay down his previously crafted woven bag and took out the fire holding container, which carried the burning embers from Midas and Julio's previous fire. Midas was happy to see that the fire holder actually kept the embers going for almost 6 hours. He felt grateful for having the Knowledge from our forefathers and ancestors, no matter how mundane it may seem.
This was the definition of standing on the shoulders of giants.
Midas imagined how incredible it could have been in the olden days when humans figured out a way to carry fire on their backs. It probably would have felt like they had learned how to tame the rage of the Gods.
Midas sectioned an area and set up a fireplace, and soon enough, a fire was going. He then stood up, and surveyed the area while making a mental map of the area. This mental map of his was played around with and augmented until he found a design of a settlement that would be quick and easy to set up, while being defensible and livable.
"Eh, you've already set up a fireplace? I could have helped out with my [Fireball] Skill though. I guess I'll do it next time then," said Aydin while approaching with Julio. They had just knocked down a Tree and placed it on the floor a few meters away from Midas.
Seeing that Julio and Aydin had already knocked down one tree, with Julio doing most of the work while Aydin helped out by invoking [Berserk] occasionally, Midas felt gratified. At this rate, they would be done with this hut build by the end of the day at the latest.
"Well, thanks. For now, you guys can totally leave this here and take down the rest of the trees. I will deal with this appropriately."
"Okay!"
Midas then fashioned a stone axe and a stone knife from one of the large stone pieces he found by the river and a thick branch. After doing so, he used the Axe to cut off more branches and appropriately shape them to his needs.
After getting an Axe, his rate of work increased by 4x, a testament to the power of Tool Making and its ability to shape the rate of Progress of Humanity.
Midas, after sectioning off the main log of the tree, then started shaving off the outer bark of the tree, making sure to not cut too deep into the fleshy parts. After removing the brown bark, he then used his knife to delicately shave away the fleshy light shaded Cambium layer of the tree.
Cambium is the layer of the Tree that is responsible for transporting nutrients up the tree from the roots to the leaves. Midas made sure to collect as much of this cambium as possible by shaving all the way around the tree until he reached the darker yellowish woody layer.
He then took all the collected Cambium and placed them inside a container for use later.
Midas then proceeded to use his expert wood working ability to split the wooden log into almost perfect planks by making targeted strikes at key areas. When Aydin and Julio returned carrying another tree that was ready for disassembly, Midas asked Julio to split apart the Log at the seams and it came apart easily.
Aydin and Julio were impressed by Midas' ability. He was not physically strong, but the way he did things was always the most efficient way to do things. They managed to turn Logs into planks in record time due to the Supernatural abilities of everyone involved.
Time passed by, with Midas shaving, sectioning and sorting trees while Julio and Aydin were busy taking down trees and turning them into planks. After a while, they had finally completed their objective of taking out the trees in a radius of 30 meters, and soon they would be able to deal with the whole 100 meters.
The center was now full of wooden logs and planks, stacked into piles and ready for use in hut building. But before that, Midas felt it was about time for them to eat something.
"Okay, it's time to eat guys."
"Midas , about that… You're not going to cut off a piece of your flesh right? Because that would be…"
"What the fuck are you thinking you pervert?!?!" said Midas in shock. Julio was a great guy, but sometimes he would just say the weirdest things.
"I told you he wouldn't be cutting off his own flesh" said Aydin in a gloating manner.
"Oh, so you're the one who's putting these ideas in his head?"
"Hey, don't slander me! It was all Julio's imagination."
"Whatever, anyway… We are going to be eating something in a few minutes. And I'm going to need you guys to keep an open mind before we start,"
"Please don't be human flesh. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name—"
"Why are you praying now?" asked Midas, confused and exasperated. Aydin on the other hand started laughing. Midas figured he might as well stop with the delays and just took out the containers he had created.
When the duo saw the containers they were confused. Julio looked at Midas and tentatively said "Tree bark?"
"That's right! Tree bark!"
"…"
"You know what, we might as well go and buy those apples. It's only 10 AC," said Aydin while turning to walk towards the Shrine.
Midas held him back and said, "Hey, it's not normal tree bark. It's Cambium."
"What's Cambium?"
"Cambium is the organ with which the tree transports its nutrients from the roots to the leaves, so it's a storage of nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Cambium is edible!"
"Really?"
"Yes. Cambium is awesome. If trees were humans, the bark would be the skin, while the woody log is the bone and the Cambium is the flesh. Normally Cambium is not supposed to be harvested from Trees unless they are dying, but since these trees are dying anyway, then it's all good."
"So, do we just eat it?"
"Yeah. There are many ways to eat it actually. You can just chew on it as is as Cambium Strips, and that would give it a mild flavour. You can roast it over fire and turn it into crunchy Cambium Chips, you can fry it into Cambium Fries or Stew it and turn it into Cambium Noodles."
"I don't know… I'm not really buying it…" said Aydin skeptically while checking out the Cambium. Midas smiled and grabbed some before putting it into his mouth and chewing on it. It tasted like herbs, a bit earthy and mild. It wasn't that bad, certainly enjoyable.
Midas continued, saying, "Look it's not poisonous. Actually the only two ways we can eat it are Chips and Strips in this place. I was going to prepare the Chips right now. You guys will like them, I swear. And look around, we have a lot of Cambium that we can eat."
When the duo looked around they could see large bucket like containers that were filled with this white fleshy Cambium. They knew that Midas was serious about this.
Midas, after explaining this much, sat down on a log seat fashioned by him and grabbed a flat stone piece, placing it over the fire. He then grabbed some Cambium and placed it on top of the flat stone "roasting pan" and the Cambium Shavings immediately started shriveling up and turning brown as if they were being cooked. The duo noticed that the smell coming off these Cambium Chips was actually not bad.
Julio was the first to take the plunge. He sat down and stuffed some Cambium Strips into his mouth and started chewing an savouring it slowly while his face changed after every passing moment.
"How does it taste, Julio?" asked Aydin.
"It tastes like herbs. Like normal herbs? I don't know how to explain it. Try it Aydin."
"Yeah, you should try it. The Strips have the most nutritional value as they are still fresh and have all the nutrition in the tree. Oh yeah, Julio remember to spit out the Strips after you've chewed all the flavour out. Your body can't digest the cellulose so it's a waste to eat it. Rather, you can eat the Cambium Chips since the cellulose has been denatured to the point where its digestible and edible"
After saying this much, Midas spat out his own collection of remains from what he was chewing into the fire. He then removed the browned Chips and placed them on a separate wooden tray.
Midas had fashioned a lot of tools in his time while waiting for Julio and Aydin to bring the Trees. From extra Water bottles for the girls at the Shrine and Aydin to plates, boards and other things. Even stone hammers, and stone chippers were created for dealing with wood.
Seeing that Midas was still breathing after eating literal tree bark, Aydin decided to stop hesitating and also sat down and grabbed some Cambium Strips to chew on. Midas then grabbed some Cambium Chips and put them in his mouth and chewed on them. Hearing A mouthwatering crunch come out, the two stopped hesitating and dug into the Chips as well.
"Mmmm, it's good. It's too bad we don't have salt."
"And vinegar."
"Oh my god, yes Julio. Vinegar. If we had vinegar these would be so much better."
"But they're still tasty right?"
"Absolutely!"
They sat there and ate for thirty minutes, making sure to take a fulfilling break in the meantime. It turned out, Julio and Aydin preferred the Cambium Chips. Aydin said he liked the smoky flavour, while Julio said the crunch was amazing.
After filling themselves up with Cambium food and water from the Water bottles, Midas Julio and Aydin stood up to continue their settlement setup. Their next job would be to set up the cabins.
Midas then instructed Julio and Aydin to level the land while making sure to create small hills where cabins would lay. He, on he other hand, would be busy with working the wood into shape.
As they had already turned most the wood into planks, his job from now on would merely be creating the precise joints with which each piece of wood would be joined together to form the structure of the cabin.
Midas used a chipper and a hammer to carefully and precisely remove sections of wood from the corners of the base pieces to let them connect to each other like jigsaw pieces in such a way that they would find it hard to become detached.
He also did the same for the side frames and by the end, he had a enough wood to create a frame of a house with a rectangular base and four upright sides, with two of the sides having a triangular outgrowth structure which is meant to be the roof.
When Julio and Aydin came back to see Midas' work, they were impressed. After hearing Midas' explanation, they were even more impressed. Midas then instructed them to take the base pieces and assemble them and place them carefully at a preallocated position according to Midas' "city planning".
What they had to do was then place the finished rectangular base on the hills and then level the soil in such a way that it did not stick out too much.
Midas then Instructed Julio and Aydin on how to join the other frames upright, and after a few minutes of brute force strength work from both of them, the frames were now together and the wooden planks now looked like a real cabin. Except it was see through and would never be able to help anyone weather any storms.
The time was now 15:00.
"It looks good," said Aydin, impressed with the work.
"We need a ladder. And some scaffolding to place the roofing," said Midas. He was very happy with how the Cabin was coming along. Midas then instructed them to keep putting together the rest of the frames while he makes more tools and shaves off more wood from planks so they can be fit together.
After another hour, Julio and Aydin had put together the frames of 2 more cabin huts and Midas had completed his build of the ladders and the scaffolding platform elements. After hooking them to the first cabin frame and climbing up top, Midas the instructed the boys, who had by now turned into fully fledged Construction Workers and Engineers, on how to connect the roofing elements together so they stick together.
Midas on the other hand, would deal with the walls. He created a wooden wall frame using the same wood fixing method of jointing and managed to attach planks together side by side creating a wall.
He then attached this wall to the frames in the predetermined joint and everything fit together perfectly. He did the same for every other wall just like that and after a few minutes, the cabin now had walls and a roof.
By this time, the wooden flooring was easy to take care of. Julio and Aydin helped out to join all the planks and connect them to the frames at the corners and ends. They now had a cabin with a wooden floor and roof, and some nice windows.
After 3 more hours, the other cabins were also taken care of fully, leaving a bunch of unused planks and materials that Midas would find a way to use soon enough. There were still some amenities that he could build. A Toilet for example. Or a bathhouse. Maybe even a lounge and living area or common room.
Just because they were going to be stuck here for months, doesn't mean that they had to be bored.
After enjoying a nice calm late dinner, everyone chatted by the fireplace until it came time to go to bed and then they set up schedules for sleeping and watching out. The trio were feeling good, satisfied and tired in their own cabins.
Midas and Julio were the first to sleep with Aydin staying on duty for three hours. Although they slept on the hard wood floor, it was still better than sleeping on the cold hard ground. They knew that they would wake up tomorrow happy and rejuvenated and ready for a new day.