Marron woke to the sound of hammering.

It was a good sound—steady, purposeful, the rhythm of building rather than breaking. Through the tent fabric, early morning light filtered in soft and golden, and she could hear voices calling to each other, the scrape of lumber being moved, the industrious noise of a community at work.

She lay there for a moment, letting herself wake slowly. Lucy was already awake in her jar, forming lazy spirals. Mokko was snoring softly from his bedroll, one arm thrown over his face. Millie's spot was empty—the rabbitkin was an early riser, probably already up and observing the settlement.

No urgent quest notifications. No pressing dangers. Just... a morning.

Marron sat up, running her hands through her hair. Her body was pleasantly tired—the good kind of exhaustion that came from working hard and doing something meaningful. The three Legendary Tools were arranged carefully near her bedroll: the copper pot nested inside a protective cloth, the Generous Ladle laid beside it, and through the tent opening she could see her food cart parked just outside.

Three tools, with three lessons learned so far.

She still couldn't quite believe it.

A notification chimed softly—not urgent, just informative.

[Daily Quest Available: Feed New Brookvale - Breakfast Service]

[Reward: Cooking EXP, Community Bond +1]

[Optional: Use this day to observe and learn. Sometimes growth comes from watching, not doing.]

Marron blinked at that last line. The System usually gave her concrete tasks—cook this, travel here, achieve that. Sometimes growth comes from watching, not doing was almost... philosophical.

"You're being weird," she muttered to it, but there was no response. The System never argued.

She dressed quietly, trying not to wake Mokko, and slipped out of the tent with Lucy's jar tucked under her arm.

New Brookvale looked different in the morning light.

The construction site that had seemed rough and unfinished in yesterday's dusk now looked purposeful, organized. Foundations were clearly marked, lumber was stacked in neat piles, tools were arranged in communal work stations. Half-built structures cast long shadows, but they looked less like ruins and more like promises.

Mimics were already at work—some mixing mortar, others measuring and cutting wood, a few on the roof frames carefully placing supports. Their forms were more stable in the daylight, Marron noticed. Less flickering, more solid. Like the sun itself helped them hold their shapes.

"Morning, soup lady!" someone called, and Marron turned to see Cara—the young mimic who'd helped her with ingredients yesterday—waving from near the chicken coop. She was scattering feed for the cream-colored hens, who were making soft, contented noises.

"Morning," Marron called back. "How are the chickens?"

"Happy. We got three more eggs this morning." Cara grinned. "I think they like having a proper coop being built. Makes them feel safe."

The birds who lay eggs need to feel safe. Marron remembered that conversation, the strange magic of Savoria that made chickens secretive about laying. "That's good. Keep them comfortable."

"Will do!"

Marron found Millie near the communal fire pit, where a simple breakfast setup was already in progress. Someone had made porridge—not fancy, but it smelled of oats and honey and was being served in generous portions to the mimics taking morning breaks.

"You're up early," Millie observed, handing Marron a bowl without asking. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Slept fine. Just..." Marron accepted the bowl gratefully. The porridge was simple but good—someone had added cinnamon and a pat of butter. "Woke up to hammering and realized I wanted to see the settlement in daylight."

"It's impressive, isn't it?" Millie's red eyes swept across the construction site. "Six weeks ago this was just forest. Now it's becoming a home."

A mimic walked past carrying a bucket of nails, nodding respectfully to both of them. Another was consulting what looked like building plans, his form remarkably stable as he concentrated. A third was teaching two younger mimics how to properly measure for roof beams.

"They're really doing it," Marron said quietly. "Building something permanent."

"They have reason to now." Millie took a sip of her own porridge. "You gave them that. Showed them they deserved more than survival."

"Alexander did that. I just made soup."

"You made good soup. With care." Millie's tone was gentle but firm. "Don't diminish it."

Lucy burbled agreement from her jar, forming an emphatic exclamation point.

Marron ate her porridge slowly, watching the settlement wake up fully. More mimics emerged from tents, heading to work stations or the food area. There was an easy camaraderie to it—people working together toward a common goal, no one shouting orders, everyone just... knowing what needed to be done.

"I think I want to just observe today," Marron said suddenly. "Not cook, not teach. Just... watch. Learn how they're doing things."

Millie raised an eyebrow. "That's unusually restful of you."

"The System suggested it, actually. Said something about growth coming from watching, not just doing."

"Huh." Millie considered that. "Well, I'm not going to argue with mysterious golden finger wisdom. Want company, or do you need to process alone?"

"Company would be good."

So they spent the morning watching New Brookvale work.

Marron learned things she wouldn't have learned any other way.

She learned that the mimic named Finn—the one who'd gotten the largest portion of soup last night—was an excellent carpenter. His hands were steady, his measurements precise, and he worked with the focused intensity of someone who'd found purpose. When she commented on his skill, he'd flushed and said, "I was a carpenter's apprentice. Before."

Before. Before whatever had turned him into a mimic, before the dungeon, before the cataclysm. The word carried weight.

She learned that the older woman, Iris, was organizing the construction schedule with the efficiency of someone who'd done project management before. She had charts, timelines, resource allocation plans. "Someone has to keep track," Iris said when Marron asked. "Otherwise we'd have ten people working on one house and nobody on the well."

The mimics had a rotation system for food prep—everyone took turns, learning from each other. The dumplings from yesterday had been made by a group of three who'd pooled their collective knowledge. "None of us knew the whole recipe," one explained. "But together we figured it out."

She learned that they were building a school.

That one surprised her. Marron had been watching a foundation being laid, assuming it was another house, when Alexander appeared at her elbow.

"That's going to be our learning center," he said, following her gaze. "For the younger ones, mostly. But also for anyone who wants to learn reading, writing, mathematics. History."

"You're building a school before you finish all the houses?"

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