Inside the cave, imitating what Steh had done earlier, Akile and Noah began making two more spears. They grabbed long pieces of wood and spent some time searching through the sharpest stone shards among those Akile had brought back from the mountain.
When Noah finished his spear, he stood up and began swinging it from side to side, still trying to get used to the weapon's weight and reach. However, he was holding it too close to the stone tip.
Steh noticed immediately.
"You should hold it farther back… like this."
She approached him and took hold of his hands, moving one of them slightly past the middle of the spear.
"That way, you can keep your distance from the prey."
Noah quickly understood what she meant. The position really did feel better. He thrust the spear through the air several times, moving it back and forth while getting used to the weapon's range.
Akile silently watched the entire explanation. Then he tried doing the same thing. He lifted his own spear and swung it through the air a few times.
Crack.
The weapon immediately snapped in half.
Steh couldn't hold back her laughter.
Akile simply stared at the broken pieces on the ground for several seconds, clearly irritated with himself, while Steh picked up the remains of the weapon to help him make another one.
While the three of them were distracted, Rosy and Kayn finally returned through the cave entrance.
Rosy's eyes immediately moved toward the improvised wall near the entrance.
"I think it looks better like this," she commented while observing the branches and stones used to block part of the opening.
Kayn agreed with a small nod before the two approached the rest of the group.
Rosy carried two small dead rabbits by their legs, while Kayn brought back a large amount of fruit wrapped in rabbit hide.
"We found a river near here," Kayn said while placing the fruit in the corner of the cave Rosy had organized earlier. "It's a little deeper into the forest."
Soon after, however, his attention was completely captured by the spears.
Rosy also approached curiously.
Steh then began explaining the idea to the two of them, showing how the sharpened stone attached to the tip increased the weapon's reach and made hunting much safer.
Kayn, who was already used to hunting small animals, immediately realized how useful it was.
Until now, they had needed to chase rabbits down and corner them before getting close enough to grab or kill them using stones.
But now…
Things were beginning to change.
Ding!
[Primitive Knowledge Shared]
[Human learning efficiency slightly increased.]
Even inside the cave, the cold remained constant.
Because of that, they lit a small campfire near the entrance. It wasn't anything grand, just enough to illuminate part of the interior as night approached and keep their bodies warm.
Smoke slowly escaped through the opening Noah and Steh had left in the improvised wall while warmth gradually spread throughout the stone cave.
The difference was noticeable.
Now the place was truly beginning to feel livable.
The group gathered near the fire and, little by little, began sharing what they had seen and thought about during the day. Conversations now flowed far more naturally than before. Words no longer felt like something strange they had only recently discovered—they were beginning to become part of everyday life.
Kayn was the first to show frustration.
"Every time we go out, we have to carry the fruit wrapped in that hide," he complained while looking at the small stockpile near the wall. "It's annoying to carry."
Rosy became thoughtful for a few seconds.
Her gaze slowly shifted toward the cave entrance, observing the woven branches and the pieces of dry grass Noah and Steh had used to support the improvised wall.
Then an idea appeared.
"Maybe…" she began slowly, trying to organize her thoughts, "maybe we could make something to carry things."
The others immediately looked at her.
Rosy grabbed several pieces of dry grass near the wall and slowly began weaving them together between her fingers.
"If we pass one through another… and tie them together…"
She still didn't know exactly how to explain it.
But Steh understood almost immediately.
Her eyes lit up slightly.
"A bag…" she murmured.
Rosy quickly nodded.
"It would be lighter."
The others might not have fully understood the idea yet, but all of them realized it made sense.
Especially Kayn.
Carrying fruit and resources using only wrapped hides really did make traveling more difficult.
Steh then moved closer to Rosy and immediately began testing different ways to braid the dry grass.
The two started talking while trying to figure out how they could turn the idea into something truly useful.
High above the skies, Ariana silently watched everything.
And once again, the sense of expectation inside her grew stronger.
The humans were no longer simply surviving.
Now they were beginning to create solutions for their own problems.
As dawn arrived the next day, the group rose once again and continued following the routine that was naturally beginning to form within the cave.
Now their days already had purpose.
Noah, Akile, and Kayn left early in the morning to test the spears near the forest, wanting to discover just how much those new weapons could help them while hunting.
Meanwhile, Steh and Rosy remained in the cave, trying to put the idea of a woven grass bag into practice.
The two still didn't know exactly how to make it work.
Some attempts easily fell apart.
Others became too crooked to carry anything.
Even so, little by little, they were beginning to understand how to weave the dry fibers together without them immediately coming loose.
High above the skies, Ariana watched everything in silence.
Humans were beginning to adapt faster and faster.
And while they evolved on the surface, Ariana also continued working on Arcadia.
She did not remain idle.
Little by little, she continued filling the world with new forms of life, slowly expanding the planet's ecosystems.
In some forest regions, small agile creatures began appearing among the tree branches.
Squirrels.
Fast, light, and curious.
In other areas, near rivers and humid regions, small rats began appearing among rocks and dense vegetation.
And in the seas, Ariana decided to create something completely different.
Octopuses.
Intelligent, silent creatures highly adapted to the depths of the ocean.
She had not created any of those species out of immediate necessity.
She simply wanted Arcadia to feel more alive.