After waking up—thankfully without any spider incidents—I decided it was time to find someone to be my little helper, maybe even a butler, to help me build a better fort. I figured I might also need to start a small farm at some point, but for now, this spot seems good enough. First, though, I needed breakfast.
I got up, moved aside my makeshift "door," and grabbed my jerky. One piece was missing, but at least the other was safe where I'd buried it in the dirt. I cut it up a bit for a final cook; it wasn't gourmet, but it would do. After a quick drink of water and my usual morning routine, I got to work on some wooden armor. I found some tree bark, poked holes with a sharp rock I'd picked up, and wove vines to tie it all together. It took me around three hours, but at least I looked well-prepared.
Next, I reinforced my fort, weaving a bunch of ropes and tying everything together so it wouldn't blow away in the wind. I drove some stakes into the ground, aiming for a basic, sturdy look. I even managed to find some oversized palm leaves—they were huge, like nature's umbrellas. I wove these leaves together to make a large tarp. By the time that was done, I'd patched up my bed a bit to make it more comfortable, then finally went to sleep.
The next day, I woke up feeling much better but realized I had nothing to eat, so I went out to forage. I ventured a bit beyond my oasis and found another, which seemed uninhabited. As I was walking down a large sand dune, I stumbled upon a crate. I have no idea why so many random things end up lying around in the desert, like the silverware and socks I'd come across before. Maybe this is where all the lost dryer socks end up?
The crate was empty except for sand, which I dumped out. I started filling it with anything interesting I found as I explored. Fortunately, it had wheels—pretty lucky find! I filled it with a bunch of random things: a metal sheet, plastic bags, a basket, some pottery, a rusty old combat knife, and then, finally, I came across another oasis. I couldn't put that in the crate, but I did destroy a bunch of Nigels hanging around it and put them inside. This crate had quickly become my new best friend.
I also gathered other materials, like vines, and continued weaving as I walked around. After a while, I decided to head back. Luckily, the crate left a clear trail in the sand, making it easy to retrace my steps. Once I got home, I cooked up the Nigels to eat (I was starving by then), then stored everything I'd collected back in the crate. I secured it by tying it to a sturdy tree with my woven ropes, camouflaging it to look like a bush I'd just uprooted.
I laid down a few of the oversized palm leaves in my bed area—they were way more comfortable than the moss, which likely had bugs in it anyway. With that done, I went to sleep, planning to look for a level one noob tomorrow.