In front of the bleating sheep, Alex tossed a stone pickaxe in Steve’s direction and manifested one between her palms. Taken by complete surprise, Steve watched Alex toss items onto the crafting bench beside the sheep pen and create items seemingly from nothing.

The sun had risen and any sign of roaming monsters was clear. After affirming him that nothing could attack them in the sunlight, Steve felt a little at ease and relaxed. Though, his experience the night before had traumatized him. He had a hard time sleeping overnight. The cries of the Enderman as it towered over him and mangled without structure haunted the boy in his dreams. The thought of what it was and how he could understand it left him enough company to stay up the night.

Alex didn’t leave much for him to do while he waited, so Steve returned to his thoughts whenever Alex wouldn’t talk to him. Whatever she was doing, he didn’t feel obligated to interrupt her with a matter that had already passed. She silently hummed and bobbed her head to her calming melody with a smile on her face.

“Hey Steve,” Her suddenly calling his name took him out of his thoughts. As soon as he realized, Alex had her narrow green eyes on him and a face of concern. “Are you okay over there?”

Steve let out a little chuckle, “Yeah, what’s up?” If anything, he didn’t want Alex worrying about him after what she had been through. For him, his worries and struggles were an afterthought in the grand scheme of things. Alex stared at the bags under his eyes and sighed.

“You look like you’re out of it. Did you get any sleep?”

“I’m fine! Don’t worry about a thing.” Steve walked up to Alex and looked at the crafting bench she was laying over. Forcing his eyes open and feeling the heavy weight trying to force them shut, he used every fiber of his being not to close them. “What’s up with this thing, by the way?”

“Steve, you don’t look okay. I told you to get some rest, didn’t I?” Steve looked at her from the corner of his eyes. “If this is about the Enderman last night…”

“I had a hard time going to sleep, is all. As I said, it isn’t anything to worry about.” Alex couldn’t keep her eyes off of his forced smile. She knew something was up about him, despite him telling her otherwise. For someone as oblivious to the world as him, fighting off an Enderman could have been no less than a nightmare, and was haunting him. “You have one of these in the house, don’t you?”

“Yeah… but Steve,”

“How does it work?!” Steve wanted nothing but to escape the conversation, but Alex couldn’t gloss over it. “You used it to mend a sword last night. Is that all it can do?”

She hesitated to respond. “It’s called a crafting bench.” Steve opened his mouth in awe. “You can make anything with one.”

“So what are you making?” He pressed his back against the sheep pen and crossed his arms. He’d seen her make something with it the other day but was too preoccupied to pay any attention.

“Some stone tools to help us in the mines. I’m sure we’ll come across a cave or two, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“What is in the caves?”

Looking at his sleep-deprived face, Alex had a feeling that his amnesia would eventually get in the way. Bringing him with her could become more of a blunder than she would’ve hoped. In terms of raw power, he somehow knows how to handle a sword, but that was pretty much all he could do. She knew she couldn’t go into the caves alone, so rather than risking her life…

Alex released a sigh and grabbed Steve’s hand. Dragging him to the other side of the river, she stopped beside a tree and crossed her arms. Unsure of what she was doing, Steve glanced at the oak tree in front of him, then at the ginger that was waiting for his next move.

After a moment of silence from Steve, Alex furiously pointed to the tree. “Do you know what this is?” Her sudden question came as a surprise to Steve if her actions hadn’t already startled him. Unsure of how she wanted him to answer such an obvious question, he chuckled and gave her the first idea that came to mind.

“It’s a tree…”

“Okay, you have some sense of understanding. Now,” she knocked on the tree. “Punch it down.” Steve pulled his head back with his eyebrows raised. “What?”

“You want me to punch down a tree?” Alex nodded ignorantly. “I’ll break my hands doing that.”

“You’ll be fine, Steve. Just trust me and punch it down.” Steve turned back to the small oak tree. “In order to get anything done, you’ll need to know the basics of survival.”

“And it involves punching down a tree?”

“Precisely.”

“Are you sure I won’t break my hands?”

“I guarantee you won’t break your hands.”

Steve let out a breath and softly placed his hand on the tree’s bark. Something about having to punch down a tree felt strange to him, but Alex seemed to believe that it was normal. She patiently waited for Steve to begin chipping away at the bark with his bare fists. He slightly glanced towards her for some motivation.

Stepping back and holding his fists up, Steve threw the first punch at the tree and watched a slight crack form between the bark. He felt nothing from the clash and marveled at the fact.

“What did I tell you?” Alex said with a smile. “Keep going until it’s down.” With a nod, Steve resumed his punches. With every strike against the wood, he felt exhilarated, building up his excitement until the first log broke.

The small portion of the tree he broke down flew into his torso, while the top of the tree crashed down and merged with the trunk as if nothing had ever happened. Alex clapped while Steve stared at his hands. His breaths were slowing and the thrill of the moment quickly faded. He turned to Alex with his eyes wide open and a smile across his face.

“That was awesome!” Alex couldn’t get over his excitement and giggled to herself. “Why we didn’t do this yesterday?!” Like a disease, his happiness spread.

“We’re not done yet. Take down the rest of the tree.”

“With pleasure!” Steve went back to punching the tree. Once the tree that once stood had become nothing but a stump, Alex continued her lesson.

“Now that you have enough logs for the basics, I’ll teach you how to craft.” Steve ecstatically nodded. “Gently place your hand against your chest, then push lightly.” Following her command without question, a sudden screen appeared in Steve’s eyes. Alex couldn’t see what he was seeing but did see his excitement. He cheered and shouted as some of the adrenaline from the punching was still in him.

“What is all of this?!” He turned his head around to see if the inventory would leave, but it followed his eyes wherever they went. It blocked up a good portion of his vision, but Alex stood where he could see her with a smile. “Can you see this?!” Alex softly shook her head.

“That is what separates us from the other creatures in the world,” Alex answered. “Not even the villagers have something like it.” Steve continued to awe. “With it, we’re able to make things on the fly, as well as carry more than our pockets can hold.”

“How do we make things?!” He turned to Alex, but the inventory blocked her from sight, so he returned to looking at the stump.

“Do you see the two-by-two box in the top right?” Steve nodded. “That’s where you want to put the logs you just got.” Alex assumed that Steve would take a few minutes to figure out how his interface worked. She could recall a moment with her late father of the first time she used her inventory.

Not a day passed her fifth birthday, the librarian she saw as her father decided he would teach her about the mystical power she had. It took her several hours to figure it out, and years to master. Though it seemed fairly simple at first, getting used to it could take some time.

“Now what?” She heard Steve call out. Turning to him, she noticed the floating plank of wood slowly rotating above his palm.

“Already..?” Marveling at his speed, Alex opened her mouth. Steve grinned and absorbed the awe coming from Alex. He wasn’t sure why she was surprised but liked the attention nonetheless. “Okay then,” Alex continued, “we’ll get into the more difficult part of this.”

“Give me everything you got!” His cocky smirk was slowly beginning to irritate Alex. She opened her inventory and quickly crafted a set of sticks. Grabbing a hold of one and stepping towards Steve, Alex began to line out a two-by-two square in the dirt.

“With your stack of planks, you want to split them up into four individual planks that you can easily put into the square.” She poked the four small squares with her stick. “Do you understand?”

With his brows furrowed, Steve fell into heavy contemplation. The loss of his smirk put a smile on Alex’s face. “Can’t I just put all 64 of the planks in the place like the logs?”

“If you do that, you’ll get 64 buttons, which isn’t very practical.”

“Okay then…” Steve turned back to the interface in front of him and began scratching the stubble around his chin. “I’d appreciate a hint, y’know?” Alex let out a chuckle and hid her face. “You’re supposed to be teaching me, aren’t you?”

“You were boasting about being an expert earlier! I figured you knew how this worked.” As Steve let out a silent growl at her, Alex walked behind him and looked over his shoulder, peeking at the inventory she couldn’t see.

“So, what am I supposed to do with them?”

“To split them, you really only have one option. Use your hands. I may not be able to see your inventory,” Alex reached in front of Steve and then slowly pulled her arm back with her hand closed. “But anything you pull out will be visible to me.” As she opened her hand, a small pair of planks sprouted from her palm and hovered over her.

Steve did the same as her and chuckled in glee as the planks appeared over his palm.

“Now,” Alex continued and clasped her hands together, “if you put your hands together, covering the item you selected, then pull them apart while thinking of a feasible number,” As Alex’s hands separated, individual planks trailed them. “You’ll get the individual items as you thought.”

Once again copying her actions, Steve managed to pull it off in his first attempt and marveled at his own skill. Four singular planks hovered in front of him.

“This option will take some time, won’t it?” Steve clasped his hands again and combined the planks. Without even thinking, Steve pressed his chest and turned to the ginger that was helping him out. “I feel like there’s a faster way of pulling it off.”

Alex watched him put everything away and grew more curious. She hadn’t taught him how to put his items away nor how to close his inventory, so as he did without practice Alex couldn’t help but wonder who Steve really was. His sword fighting the night before, and then this.

“That’s the only way I know how,” Alex answered. “The villagers themselves can’t do it, so they taught me what they know… for the most part.”

“And who taught them?” Alex shrugged. “Maybe the person that taught them could help us.” Steve also thought that the existence of someone like them could lead to more information on who he is. The Enderman brought about more questions that made him question his identity, so if there was anyone that knew something…

“I doubt they’re alive,” Alex replied, immediately shutting down Steve’s hopes. “All my life, I was the only person that remotely looked like us. I got to a point where I just sort of assumed that I was a mutant until you showed up.”

The thought couldn’t escape Steve’s mind, regardless of what Alex believed. If Alex and Steve were the only ones capable of using an inventory, how the villagers got their hands on enough of the information that they could teach Alex, had to have meant there were once others that roamed the land; others that were close enough to the villagers to teach them their ways.

“Steve,” Alex called while Steve was lost in thought. He seemed to have lost the look of fear and exhaustion, but the bags under his eyes remained. “If you know how to do things, I’d like to get back to preparing.”

“I don’t know how to make swords or anything but planks.”

“Okay, so let’s get some basic information out first. Wood is the single most important resource. Without it, we can’t get anything done, so it’s important to always have some on you wherever you go. You use it to make crafting benches and sticks, which are vital to our survival.”

“More so than food?”

“Only if you’re not on a crop-only diet.” Alex walked back to the two-by-two she drew on the floor and equipped her stick again. “To make a crafting bench,” she continued, “you put four individual planks in the slots.”

With a nod, Steve opened his inventory again. Clasping and opening his hands to reveal the bunch of planks between them, he then closed them together again and opened his hands to a crafting bench hovering between his palms.

“Now you can throw it down to place your first item.” Alex finished.

Once Steve placed the crafting bench, the two of them began venturing into the world of what was possible. Now with a three-by-three grid, Alex taught him how to make basic wooden tools and how to use them. After many laughs and giggles, Steve was slowly getting used to using his inventory and the basics of crafting were coming to him.

The sun had reached its highest point and the sheep were growing tired. Alex noticed the waning cries of the sheep and decided it was time they returned. They left the crafting bench where they had placed it and walked over the bridge to the home surrounded by water. Steve had noticed the amount of labor that must’ve gone into building that home, that he hadn’t noticed before. From the walls and design to the fences and pens holding the animals, Steve came to an idea of just how much effort Alex had put into making the place, and it wasn’t finished either.

Several of the pens were empty. There looked to have been one for each animal, but only a herd of sheep and a single stable for Beverly had any life in them.

“You made this place all by yourself?” Steve asked as he approached Alex. She was softly petting Beverly with a smile on her face.

“Yeah,” she answered. “I’ve been on and off with it for the last month. It isn’t much, but it was supposed to be our getaway once we cleared off our debt. It’s a simple build, but doing it alone takes quite a bit of time.”

“I imagine!”

“If you want, I can teach you how to build, yourself. It’s really fun once you get the hang of it.”

“Yeah? That would be awesome!”

“After we kill the village raiders, I’ll teach you more cool things. For now, you should get used to crafting things. Efficiency and skill are required when cave diving.”

“What is in the caves?” Coming to his second time asking, he felt like Alex was going to ignore him again. She blankly stared at him, just like before, but surprisingly answered without a long, drawn-out explanation.

“A bunch of stuff we can use to make better armor and tools.” She replied as she turned to the chest not far from the stable. Steve followed curiously.

“Have you been cave diving before?”

As Steve watched Alex dig her head into the chest of wheat, his fatigue slowly caught up to him. More than ever, his eyelids felt insanely heavy, and his head would bob from the hazy feeling in his head. He pressed a hand against his forehead to try and hold himself up.

“No… not exactly.”

If the lack of efficient tools in her home wasn’t proof enough, Alex’s vague descriptions of what was in the caves put the nail in the coffin. She was afraid of going underground, despite her desire to get stronger. All day she had been trying to delay leaving the house and took Steve’s lack of knowledge as an opportunity to stay above ground.

Once she stood up and noticed Steve struggling to stand, she rushed by his side and wrapped his arm around her opposite shoulder.

“You definitely need to get some sleep, Steve!” Steve turned to her with his eyes half open.

“You can sleep on the bed while I get things prepared.”

“If I sleep...” Steve could hardly think, let alone speak. His entire body wanted to shut off, and if it weren’t for Alex’s support holding him up, he would’ve been face-flat on the ground. “Thank you.”

“C’mon, slowly.” Step by step, Alex led Steve to the cramped home and rested him on the small red bed. The moment his body laid down, he immediately shut his eyes, and his body powered off.

Alex stood back and looked at his sleeping body.

“We’ll go tomorrow.” She whispered and turned to a painting by her window. “Everything starts tomorrow.”