Nick looked at the axes and saw Sosora dropped off with his hands on his hips. A felling axe with a broader and thinner blade and a splitting maul with a wedge-shaped head. It was a two-handed saw with a handle on each side that was long enough to reach through even the thickest trees nearby.
Nick scratched the back of his head.
The thinner axe to chop down threes, the saw to cut the log into stumps, and the splitting maul to turn the stumps into firewood. He could also probably use the thinner axe to trim one side of a log when he made a bench so that it wouldn't roll around.
He grabbed the axe and felt its weight. He made a few slow practice swings in the air. He inspected the handle and the head. It looked like very fine craftsmanship. But then again, he didn't know a lot about axes.
Nick was a little excited about it. Chopping down a tree by hand. The idea of it made him feel manly.
But it was getting late.
It wasn't like he had anything scheduled or a reason to go to bed early. He also hadn't done anything during the day that had tired him out. He wasn't any less ready than he would be tomorrow morning.
But he was scared.
The tentacle didn't reach to the tree line. It also wasn't awake.
If another monster king was alarmed by him going to town on one of the trees, he could end up dead before he knew it.
He could get started tomorrow, and hopefully, the tentacle would have woken up by then so it could watch his back.
To his surprise, Nick fell asleep soon after going to bed. He had thought he would have to twist and spin in his bed for an hour or two since he wasn't as tired as the past couple of days.
He did wake up a little every now and then in the middle of the night, however. He thought he heard something, but he wasn't awake enough to think more about it, much less investigate.
Besides, he lived in the middle of a forest. It wouldn't be strange if he heard noises during the night.
He was a little worried, though. The noises had been ominous. What if it was another monster king on the prowl? He was pretty sure it wasn't the Midnight Panther.
But with the light of day around, thoughts like those were easy to put aside, especially when he had something to celebrate. The tentacle was awake and greeted him good morning by stroking his hair and brushing it out of his face when he woke up.
"Good morning." He returned the greeting with a smile and gently pushed the tentacle away from his face. He was used to it by now, but the soft flesh brushing against his skin early in the morning was just a little unsettling.
"Are you all right?" He asked. Eating an entire boar like that would put anyone in a food coma, but the tentacle was an incomprehensible monster living in his basement. Did it even have a belly that could overflow with organic matter or food?
The tentacle bobbed up and down happily. It seemed to somehow move with more energy than before its little power nap.
"Good. You missed a couple of things while you were asleep. Well, I assume you missed them since you didn't have your eye and ear-less tentacle to see or hear what happened," He joked. The tentacle retaliated with a light tap to his shoulder. It couldn't help its constitution.
He was just jealous that he needed eyes and ears to experience the world.
Nick chuckled before summing up a little what had happened. It was mostly the visit from Squawks and Lily. Other than that, he had mostly talked with Sosora.
The tentacle slowed down when he mentioned that part. But it quickly shook its tip like discarding bad thoughts before catching up to Nick as he made a quick breakfast. He had bread that he should probably eat before it went bad. He could freeze it, but that would be a waste.
Two sausage and egg double sandwiches would keep him going until lunch. He was doing manual labor the entire day, after all. He needed a lot of fuel in the tank. Naturally, he also made one for the tentacle.
Eating an entire boar hadn't done anything to stop its appetite for longer than the time it was asleep.
After eating and basking in the sun a little, Nick grabbed the axe and looked at the trees around him.
He had another problem.
Which tree should he chop down?
"What do you think?" He looked at the tentacle. It made the shape of a question mark.
"Which tree do you think I should chop down?" He clarified.
It held its form. How was it supposed to know?
But it could help. It guided Nick's hand straight up and out before covering his eyes like a blindfold.
Nick understood what it wanted and waved his hand around and to the sides until he felt satisfied.
He finally settled on the perfect tree.
It was right on the edge, and it was neither too big nor too small.
"Thanks." He started walking toward the tree again but stopped after a few steps and turned to the tentacle who lingered on the porch.
"You have my back, right?"
It nodded after a moment like it was surprised that he even had to ask.
"Thanks. The encounter with the boar was pretty scary," He admitted before walking over to the tree, taking his position, and swinging.
He thought it would be a little similar to baseball. But then he remembered that he didn't have any batting experience, so he couldn't compare it.
However, it was a little louder than he had expected. To be exact, it wasn't a high volume. The sound just echoed through the forest and seemed to reach every corner of the woods.
It was the perfect way to tell all the monster kings that he was doing something they wouldn't like.