The next morning, the air buzzed with a sense of adventure. After a quick breakfast, Anil and Rhys prepared their packs, their faces set with a mixture of anticipation and caution. Neil, his heart pounding with excitement, eagerly followed their movements.
They set off towards the mountains, the imposing peaks growing larger with each step. Upon reaching the cave entrance, a dark, gaping maw in the mountainside, Anil turned to Neil. "You'll stay here, just outside the entrance. We need someone to keep watch."
Though a pang of disappointment flickered within him, Neil nodded obediently. He understood the need for caution. As his father and uncle disappeared into the darkness, Neil settled near the cave mouth, his gaze scanning the surrounding area.
Restlessness soon took hold. He ventured a little further from the cave entrance, his eyes drawn to a rocky outcropping. He focused inward, his inventory appearing before him. He mentally equipped his wooden pickaxe from the hotbar. He then targeted a block of stone and swung the wooden pickaxe repeatedly. The impacts felt weak against the hard surface, but after a sustained effort, the cubic meter of stone visibly fractured and dissolved, adding itself to his inventory and leaving a sharp void. He repeated this process two more times.
With the three stone blocks now in his inventory, he quickly crafted a stone pickaxe, using two sticks and leaving him with ninety-two sticks and zero stone. He then returned to the rocky outcropping and, with the stone pickaxe now in his hand, began to methodically mine. The new tool bit into the rock with a satisfyingly quicker pace. After focusing his efforts for a considerable amount of time, the rhythmic sounds of stone breaking echoing in the quiet air, thirty cubic meter sections of stone had visibly disappeared from the rock face, leaving behind a strangely smooth, flat wall. The thirty stone blocks joined his inventory.
He returned to the cave entrance, a sense of accomplishment filling him. He then crafted a stone axe and a stone shovel, using three stone for the axe and one for the shovel, leaving twenty-six stone blocks. He used four sticks in the process, reducing his stick count to eighty-eight. He noted with satisfaction that the crafting recipes required the appropriate number of materials.
He took a moment to organize his inventory. On the first page, he placed the four remaining dark oak wood, the seven planks, and the eighty-eight sticks. The second page held the seven sweet berries and the two dark oak saplings. The newly acquired twenty-six stone blocks filled the third page. He then arranged his tools in the hotbar: the stone pickaxe, axe, and shovel in the first three slots, with the wooden versions of each feeling slow and inadequate in comparison, relegated to the back of his quick selection.
As the sun began its descent, painting the sky in hues of orange and purple, Anil and Rhys emerged from the cave. They looked weary but satisfied. Together, they began the trek back to Frostlake Village.
During the evening meal, the conversation centered on the cave.
"It's not large," Anil explained, "perhaps the size of a large house. But it's dry and sheltered. It could serve as a shelter if needed." He added, "The only way in or out is the mouth we saw."
Neil listened intently, his mind already imagining the possibilities the cave held. He drifted off to sleep that night, his dreams filled with the cool darkness of the cave and the promise of future exploration.