Chapter 30: The Forest

Excerpt from an unnamed geographer's book of wonders of the world.

I still remember the first day I stepped into a desert; battered by the dry winds. Every step was a risk to my life. It became easier though, after finding a primitive tribe in the desert; they actually taught me how to survive; thrive in the desert. Creative sources of water, edible cacti, heatstroke prevention. I also walked out with a banging tan. It was good fun until I fell into a sandworm pit.

After that day I always brought rope on every adventure.

‘sigh’ “this has got to be one of the most boring biomes – ever!” ‘Sighing once more’ Like it’s a lovely biome, pretty landscape and a great place to build. But it lacks soul. The ocean got boring after a while but I could still lose myself in it. Here? Just sandy earth, dry air, and the same plants on repeat.

‘flying with my arms crossed’ “maybe I should try a different location?” Sadly, when taking the portal I cant bring companions like Sling and Chic. They would make it more tolerable. I could store them within my golden lasso, but it feels wrong somehow. It’s the teleportation conundrum, are you the same person who entered the teleporter? I don’t know, and neither does anyone else.

With that thought-provoking idea, I actually spot signs of animals. I don’t know how I spotted it but a tree has some scratch marks. Looking at the ground I see remains of footprints. Too faded to follow; very old too. At least this place is not as deserted as it appears.

I continue this search for a while. Unforutanelty I have to stop; for a couple of reasons: I am hungry, this sucks ass and night will be here soon. ‘grasping my necklace’ And with a ‘pop’ I’m home. Finally, I can breathe air that doesn’t remind me of sandpaper.

I am in no rush to collect them all, so to speak. It will take time but eventually, I will have the animals I need. What makes this even worse is I did not find any new food items. At least a desert would have cacti I can eat. The savanna? Nothing!

To relax I start improving my island as well. Take a chisel I start removing corners, making it more round. If botania gets up and running any large degree I can craft the ‘shard of Laputa’ Basically a flying island generator. Doesn’t look nearly as good as my islands but I am a little lazy. And expanding will be tedious.

‘face finally relaxing’ Yeah this is okay. Not every day has to be so productive: failure is common. My buildings [island included] are starting to look far better; spending a few hours every day cleaning them, improving them. It really shows. I have always been creative at heart but not in hand. I can't even draw a stick figure. A common problem; the image in the mind cant meet the paper.

After my ‘improving’ of my island, I head to my botania area. “stack of mana steel, lovely” With that done and a now larger pool of mana I pour a stack of Redstone inside. This quickly creates half a stack of magic powder, I will leave the other half to slowly convert. Far simpler now items don’t despawn, well I don’t think they do anyway ‘quietly crosses fingers’.

With a relaxed pace ‘I walk to my castle’. Finding everything in order; using my wand to fling a book I left on the side to me. “I never get bored with that.” I guess I should see if the forest I am neighbors to has any mana pools. I guess it's true; forests are hosts of magic.

‘flying on over’ watching as the intermittent greenery quickly becomes a large canopy. ‘floating down into the dense trees’ I start searching for signs of magic. The feeling of energy in the air, the slight smell, lights. Small things.

I continued like this for a while, all my senses focused. I started to get a headache but in a trancelike state, I wandered deeper and deeper. Losing my footing I fall into, what I can only describe as an oasis of the forest. Trance disturbed; I find myself in a clearing, a circle devoid of trees; a slight decline. Right in the center, a beautiful, crystal clear pond sits. A small island where a silver tree sits. A lonely yet majestic tree.

Every now and again a ‘thrum of life’ radiates from the tree. Seeing the tree part of me wants to collect it for materials, but I cannot. ‘Rising from the ground in a hover’ I fly over and gently touch the tree. Many things I would call beautiful but few I would truly believe; this… is the latter.

After a short while, I step away from the tree, finding a flat area I place down my telepad. I don’t want to lose this gem. I will sure as hell be protecting it.

Using the tree as my guide I continue on. ‘moving through the untouched earth’ Occasionally finding small amounts of liquid etherium; puddles of energy. Occasionally I find a crystal flower or two growing around the energy. ‘lightly gazing around’ I find many things odd within the depth of this forest. ‘Wandering slowly through’ Collecting crystal flowers occasionally, leaving one or two. It is not good to completely strip an area of a resource.

Finding myself in another clearing; a large quantity of liquid etherium. It pulses with energy in a lazy swirl. Searching around I find a massive amount of crystal flowers, easily 40. Not only that, a rainbow of mystical flowers congregate around the pool. Mandrake root and wolfsbane growing wild nearby; ’which was promptly harvested’ magic really is a wonderfully strange existence.

After collecting a portion of the flowers, I dig under. Finding many crystals for my wand. Digging out a large quantity of the pool resulted in unexpected gains; vinteum, blue topaz, and chimerite. I managed to gather roughly 40 vinteum dust and 10 of each of the others. Smiling light, appreciating the good fortune. “Magical supplies truly are rare now.”

Haul in hand, I continue on. Wandering through the dense trees, often finding odd plants I cannot identify. I also found a variety of new trees; left untouched for now. No rush; I can gather them another day.

As I walk, I lightly ponder how I can collect saplings from the Silverwood tree without hurting it. That train of thought ended up being useless. I will hope I find a second… less grandiose tree. After having gathered materials and exploring. I have found this forest is very vast. It's not a magic forest, but it is magical for sure. Finding an area with fewer trees, to rest. ‘sitting down and leaning against a tree’ something about the air here is just more enjoyable. It feels clean, my energy levels are through the roof. And it honestly feels wonderful just to spend time here.

I will likely be building something here one day. I am glad I chose to explore it, it produced fruitful results and improved my mood massively. Mentally noting to find those giant trees. I think it would keep with the theme to plant it here and then make a treehouse “chuckles”.

‘smoothly rising out of the canopy’ “wow I made some good distance”. Without further ado, I fly home. Finding a slight sadness filling me for leaving the forest; how odd.

Finding myself landing upon my island, I look over my shoulder; seeing the forest I smile happily. A good adventure, heading into my home I start preparing some food.

‘static sounds’ “Hello? Is the radio working?”

‘jumping out my skin and nearly slicing my finger off “what!”

‘chuckling in the background’ “Felix! You asshole!”

“Guilty as charged,” he said in a sarcastic tone

In a curt tone “What do you want?” Still mad at him for scaring the crap out of me

“Hurry up,” he said like it was obvious

“Sorry what?” completely bewildered

“You have been putting off finding the local populations,” he said matter of factly

“No, I haven’t” mood now slightly spoiled

“yes you have, you act like your searching, but you are not actively searching; so you're putting it off,” he said in an oddly critical tone

‘Speechless and slightly offended’

“Silence spells a thousand words; so get your ass in gear” “It's your first quest, find civilization!”

‘promptly the line goes dead’

That dick! I guess I have been putting It off. Thinking about it carefully. It’s the unknown; I know it is. Minecraft and this world are so close that I know how it functions fundamentally. Yet people, I didn't understand before or now. I am allowed to be annoyed but now I have little choice. ‘sigh’ let us get back to dinner I will start searching properly tomorrow.

The vegetable salad I was preparing tasted rather tasteless after that conversation. Dinner spoiled I angry head to my pier, I need to clear my mind. Casting my rod, like I had done many times before.

‘Sitting back, face relaxing’ Felix does my head in sometimes. Mind easing with every calm wave that passes under me. Watching the peaceful horizon… wait is that “shit!”. ‘Flying as fast as I can I try and escape the biggest wave I have ever seen. I was too slow; hit with the wave at full force ‘soaking wet and wind knocked out of my chest’. I am blaming Felix ‘said sourly’.

Finding my way back to the island I have a shower and clean my armor at the same time. Salt corrodes; I don’t know if my armor is at risk but let's not risk it. After the shower washes the salt and sadness away I find myself sitting on the edge of my island, feet swaying under me. How can a day possibly go from disappointment to awe to anger to frustration so easily?

What a day I suppose, night falling. Looking over the horizon I already spot the monsters coming out. ‘Slowly scanning the area’ “enderman” you finally showed your self hu. Unintentionally meeting eye contact from hundreds of meters away. It eerily snaps its head in my direction. “Alright, let us have some fun.”

Dropping off my island dramatically I fall to the ground. Striking the ground in a hero pose, I prepare for combat. Quickly seeing the enderman running towards me. Looking at it then it's suddenly gone. Turning around ‘bang’ a punch straight at my chest pushing me back.

Taking the punch in stride I swing my sword at the enderman, it backs away and teleports again. ‘moving my head around looking for it’ I prepare for its next attack. Hearing a loud “growl” I turn to see the long-legged creature sprinting at me. Around 3 meters away it teleports to my side. Prepared I block its arm with my sword, slicing a thin cut on its durable arms. Taking initiative as it recoils in pain I strike its leg. Drawing a smooth line of purple blood.

Stepping back to avoid its retaliatory strike, I find it gone again; behind me! It grapples my chest and throws me to the side. Trying to get off the ground I get a punch to the face, dizzying me. With slight fear, I grasp my ax and swing wildly. Bucking the creature off my body. Enough time spared I manage to collect my wits and stand up. Finding the scary creature glaring at me. And then it teleports away. “What the hell, I was winning; coward!”. Annoyed greatly I fly up to my island stomping towards my castle.

Not my day today. Heading to my room to start filling out a lengthy page in my diary. My displeasure was put in many words. Slowly I start to feel much better. Nothing to be done really. After spending a short while reading the fundamentals of magic I slowly drift off to sleep.