The morning dawned crisp and clear, sunlight glinting off the snow that still clung stubbornly to the shaded areas of Frostlake Village. A hearty breakfast of smoked fish and root bread filled Neil's stomach, fueling his anticipation for his first real outing since his near-drowning.
His mother, Maya, fussed over him, wrapping him in extra layers of woolen cloth until he felt like a small, bundled bear. Lyra, ever the teasing older cousin, chuckled at his appearance. "Look at you, Neil! Ready for hibernation?"
Neil just grinned, his excitement outweighing any embarrassment. He was going into the forest, a privilege usually reserved for older children and adults.
He and his father, Anil, set off after breakfast, their boots crunching on the packed snow. They headed towards a section of the forest close to the village, not venturing towards the treacherous lake. Anil carried his large, well-worn iron axe, while Neil, for his practice, carried a smaller stone axe.
In the quiet of the woods, Anil felled a few smaller, dead trees with efficient swings of his iron axe, Neil diligently gathering the fallen branches. Seeing Neil's eagerness and the responsible way he was behaving, Anil softened. "Alright, little one," he said, a small smile playing on his lips. "You've been a good helper. You can explore a little further ahead, just stay within sight, and take this." He gestured to the young dark oak tree just beyond a small rise. "Try your stone axe on that. Take your time."
Neil's heart leaped with excitement.
He clutched his stone axe and, his eyes shining, ventured a little further. He soon spotted the young dark oak tree, its trunk perhaps a little less than a meter in diameter.
Taking a deep breath, Neil approached the tree and began to swing his stone axe at its base. With each of his first six successful strikes, a visible, cubic meter-sized section of the dark oak at the base seemed to splinter, crack, and then dissolve into blocky fragments before vanishing completely. At the exact same instant, he felt the familiar hum of energy, and in his mental vision, dark oak wood stacked into his inventory. By the sixth strike, a significant chunk of the base was visibly gone.
The young dark oak tree, now lacking crucial support, creaked loudly, began to lean precariously, and then toppled to the snowy ground with a light thud.
Anil, who had been working nearby, heard the unexpected sound and looked over, surprised to see the small dark oak on the ground and Neil standing beside it with his stone axe. "Neil! What happened there? That fell quicker than I expected." He walked over to inspect the noticeably hollowed section at the base.
Neil, a little breathless but unharmed, just nodded, his eyes wide with a mixture of awe and understanding. "I… I just chopped it, Papa."
Anil, after a quick check of Neil, just shook his head, a hint of bewilderment on his face. "Well, you certainly have a knack for it." He then turned back towards the tree he had been working on. "Alright, stay here. I need to finish with that one."
Once his father was back at his previous task, Neil turned his attention to the fallen young dark oak. He swung his stone axe at the trunk. Each of the next six strikes caused another visible cubic meter section to vanish, adding more dark oak wood to his mental inventory. Then, he focused on the leafy branches. He swung his stone axe at the leaves, and with each strike, a blocky section of the foliage visibly dissolved into pixelated particles and vanished. At the exact same instant, dark oak saplings appeared in his mental inventory. The leaves on the real branch also broke apart and fell to the snow-covered ground, leaving the branch bare where he had struck.
A wide grin spread across Neil's face. Even with a stone tool, his interaction with the tree was strangely efficient.
When Anil finished with his tree, they gathered the tangible logs and headed back towards Frostlake Village, Neil's mind buzzing with his growing understanding of his abilities.
As they shared the evening meal with the rest of the family, Neil listened to their conversations, his secret a thrilling and powerful knowledge.
"Later, tucked into his bed, the image of the eight dark oak wood and the two dark oak saplings filled his thoughts." He wasn't thinking of planting the saplings yet. His mind was focused on the potential of the dark oak wood he now possessed. He wondered what he could craft, what he could build. With that thought, he drifted off to sleep.