Welcome to Elderfield Basic Axe: Tentacle Cleanup

Quick answer: Complete Adrian's Tentacle Cleanup task to get the Basic Axe. Take his Mall F1 Hallway Key to the food-court back door, finish the office worker's Stalktopus request, defeat the Mall Administrator, then return to Adrian for the reward. Buying a Whetstone is not the step that gives you this axe.

Find Adrian and start Tentacle Cleanup

Look for Adrian at the apartment in Town South. Speak to him about the tentacles and accept Tentacle Cleanup. Before leaving, confirm two things: the task appears in your journal and you received the Mall F1 Hallway Key. That key opens the route your task needs; it is different from the Gatekeeper's sewer keys.

Finish Adrian's task dialogue before leaving. If you accepted the request earlier, resume at the first unfinished checkpoint below.

Follow the Mall route in this order

1. 01

   Town South · Adrian

   Accept Tentacle Cleanup and take the Mall F1 Hallway Key.

   Back-door access from the Food Court

2. 02

   Mall F1 Hallway · Office worker

   Accept Fishing in the Mall...? and collect the three Bugs.

   Stalktopus objective active

3. 03

   F1 Hallway pool

   Equip Bug bait, catch Stalktopus, and return it to the worker.

   Mall Administrator encounter called

4. 04

   Mall · Administrator

   Win the encounter with recovery items ready.

   Return trip to the task giver

5. 05

   Town South · Adrian

   Finish the task-completion conversation.

   Basic Axe reward

The current task records separate the office worker's fish request from Adrian's reward. This gives you two hand-ins to check: fish to the worker, then completion to Adrian.

Catch the Stalktopus without wasting the wrong bait

The office worker's request supplies three Bugs when it starts. Use Bug bait for the Mall water and fish in the F1 Hallway pool named by the task. Keep one Stalktopus unprocessed and unsold until the worker accepts it. Lakefront bait and a Lakefront fish do not satisfy this request.

Before casting, confirm Bug is loaded. The fishing tutorial shows the controls: wait for the bite, then act when the arrow crosses the blue zone.

If the initial Bugs run out, the bait guide lists additional sources. Check any Bugs you already own before buying more packs. Pack contents are random, so buying one pack is not a guarantee of getting the replacement bait you need.

Beat the Administrator, then collect the axe

Recover HP and prepare healing items before handing the Stalktopus to the worker, because that hand-in calls the boss.

After the win, return to Adrian and finish the completion dialogue. The reward check belongs there. If you inspect the inventory immediately after the battle and see no Basic Axe, the next useful action is the trip back to the task giver.

On September 18, the developer released Hotfix #2 v1.0.1 specifically for Tentacle Cleanup not progressing. Install the latest Steam update before diagnosing a stuck completion on an old build. The current update guide distinguishes that earlier task fix from the newer v1.0.2 and September 23 changes.

Plan the Sturdy Axe upgrade before using resources

The Basic Axe item record lists this next Anvil recipe:

Keep both earlier axes available until you craft the upgrade. The recipe asks for two tools together; merely possessing the newer Basic Axe does not cover the Rusty Axe ingredient. Check the live Anvil panel before committing your bars, especially if you are following an older material list.

If crafting is disabled, check both axes and both bar totals. Smelt Copper Ore and Iron Ore before comparing them with the bar requirements.

If you finished the task but still cannot find Basic Axe

Check the completed-task entry and Adrian's remaining dialogue first. Then search the full inventory and Primary Storage. If you already crafted a Sturdy Axe, check that upgrade before concluding the Basic Axe disappeared: the earlier tool is an ingredient in its recipe.

For a genuinely missing unique tool, use the recovery checks in the Rusty Pickaxe guide. v1.0.1 introduced recovery through storage, inventory, or the original shop where applicable; v1.0.2 also repaired Bug Catching Net recovery. Those notes do not promise that every task reward becomes a normal shop purchase.

If the journal says complete, no upgrade explains the missing tool, and recovery checks fail, preserve the save. Report the game version, task status, Administrator result, and screenshots of Adrian's dialogue and inventory. Those distinguish a missing reward from an unfinished task without restarting a healthy character.

Sources and review scope

Task rewards, three-Bug starting bait, and the Sturdy Axe recipe were rechecked October 10, 2026 against the linked Community Wiki records. The official announcements document the September 18 task fix; an older developer reply supports the task-reward principle. For Molly's other Mall request, continue with the Elder Gem route.