Day one…

"Rise and shine!" It was I doing the waking this time, and I can see why David enjoyed doing it.

"Uuuuuuggggghhhh" he groaned,"what time is it?"

"Well if the clock in your living room is anything to go by, it is four in the morning, or four in the afternoon." I wasn't really phased by the early time, the factory work made me get up at least an hour earlier than this. the only reason I was so negative about getting up yesterday morning was the fact that I couldn't sleep that night…for obvious reasons, but last night I slept like a baby.

"And might I ask why you're waking me at this ungodly hour?"

"Because, we got work to do. If we ever want help with the corruption, we need new housing, and rooms won't build themselves. We'll worry about furniture and stuff later, for now we need to get walls and flooring."

He seemed to contemplate whether the damnation of his home was worth getting out of bed this early or not. In the end he decided he should save his home.

"Great! I'll go start making some bacon, you can start the porridge, we'll need to eat a lot to keep our strength up for today."

Obviously not used to being given commands he seemed confused for a moment before he begrudgingly got out of his bed.

"I'll see you in the kitchen." I said in a singsong voice just to annoy him a little.

I left for him to get dressed and readied the stove, it used wood as fuel and was next to a window to keep the house from filling with smoke. This place was certainly not as modern as Forik. After laying the bacon onto the frying pan David walked out dressed and a little more awake. He got out a pot and started to make some porridge. It was silent as we cooked. But it wasn't bad or awkward, it felt peaceful actually.

Once we were done eating we set out to find some tree to cut down. David brandishing an iron axe, and I of course, got a tin axe. I guess these were old tools he used before he got better ones from merchants. Speaking of merchants, how did they get here? David said the mountains were extremely hard to get over. I guess I'll ask him about it later.

"Hey," he said snapping me out of my thoughts,"that look like a good tree to you?" He pointed to a rather thick tree in the distance. It was perfect.

"Mhm, guess the gods are sending us a sign," I joked.

"This'll be a piece of cake!" David said….unfortunately it wasn't a piece of cake.

It took half the day before we actually fell the tree, and the sun was setting as we finished chopping it into logs. This is gonna take a long time….

Day two…

Once we hauled the logs back to the house we split up to search for some good tree, we wouldn't do any chopping though. We were supposed to mark the tree with a few axe swings and find another. I had decided not to venture too far off from the house without David, unless I wanted to get lost. Once we met back up I had marked off four trees and David marked seven. Tomorrow we start chopping. I wonder, how long would it take for us to make all the wood into planks…

Day three..

We had sharpened the axes the night before so it'd be easier to get through the trees faster. As we set out I noticed something tall in the distance, north of the house, I can't believe I missed it these last few days. I decided I would get a closer look next time we go scouting for trees, but for now, we chop our hearts out.

It was around mid day and we were through with half the tree we marked, sharpening out the tools really helped, but so did the fact that we didn't choose extremely thick trees like the first one. I thought it was a good time to ask about the way merchants got through the mountains. And all he did was look dumbfounded.

"I…I never thought to ask. I mean, I've always wanted to know how to get to the other side, but it never occurred to me to use whatever the merchants used."

David may be sweet, but he's obviously not very smart.

"Well, let's ask the next ones to come through," I suggested.

All he could do was nod his head in slight embarrassment and we went back to work. It was sunset when we were half way through chopping up the trees into logs. We called it a day and dragged whatever we could carry over back to the house.

Day four…

Once we chopped and retrieved the rest of the logs we went scouting once more for suitable trees. But before I started looking, I found myself heading towards the tall pillar in the distance. I could have always ask David but where's the fun in that? About an hour of walking and small details became more clear, small out cropping a were sprouting from the pillar, another hour of walking and marking my way I finally realized what it was. It was a tree….a ridiculously large tree.

I started sprinting towards it, curiosity fueling my legs. Once I reached the base, it was incredible just to look at. It's diameter must have been at least twice as large as the house, and it must have stretched for miles up. A walk around the tree revealed an opening, large enough for four people to walk in shoulder to shoulder. It opened up into a huge circular room with a spiral stair case I'm the center, leading down the tree and into its roots, and the doors I assumed led to more rooms. It looked normal enough, at least from what I've seen of this world. But something was…off. Not off like the corruption, no, but off like, this place was alive. The tree seemed to be shaking and shuddering ever so slightly. Just enough to where if I didn't focus on it, I wouldn't be able to notice. I press my palm against the wall and felt nothing but warmth, and what felt like an extremely faint heart beat. After I got used to it, the tree almost seemed beautiful, serene almost.

But it also felt old, a layer of dust covered the entire floor. I tried a couple doors but their hinges were rusted stuck. A couple other doors opened up to beds made of leaves, and tables and chairs that seemed to have sprouted out of the tree itself, another room seemed to be a store room, but all that was left, was a couple oil lanterns and candles. Satisfied with my search on the first floor, I light one of the lanterns from the storage room and make my way down the stair case. I wasn't afraid of zombies, I trusted David when he said they only showed up at night. Another flight down, there were less doors that would open, and the ones that did, held nothing interesting.

Finally, On the fifth floor down, I opened up the only door that I could open, and found a room with a simple desk, a chair, a chest, and a loom that I recognized from the workshops back in Forik, however, the loom looked like it was made from wood and vine. In the chest, I found an odd stick, and a leaf, but they felt more alive than the actual tree. Along with those two items, I found some other personal artifacts such as a watch, and some silver. On the desk however, was something far more interesting. A book, something I hadn't seen in a while, even before I came here, it was rather thick too. I wiped dust off its cover. No title…I look to its spine.

"Corruption, Crimson, and other Ancient Phenomena"

My heart stopped. Maybe this could help us push back the corruption. I open it up to find the table of contents. The first section was the terrarian landscape and all about its inhabitants. Next was a list of monsters and creatures, both harmless and and extremely dangerous. The following chapters after went into great detail about different tools, armor, magical and non magical weapons, including the two items I found in the chest. The second half of the book went into great detail about three different environments and it's inhabitants. The Corruption, the Crimson, and the Hallow. And the last few pages were dedicated to legendary and powerful monsters, such as king slime and several eyes of Cthulhu...those sent chills down my back. I closed the book slowly, a little more than shocked. I had to bring this back to David. I picked up the book and all of a sudden I felt eyes on the back of my head. I quickly pivot and ready myself to run to the door…but no one was there, and then a thought hit me. This stuff belonged to someone, at one point or another, I couldn't just take it. But I did have to tell David about this. I put the book down back at its resting place and bolted up the stairs and out into the daylight. oil lamp still in hand I sprint to the house, and it was sunset by the time I got there and David was waiting worriedly.

"There you are! I was about to go out myself and-" he was cut off by me nearly tackling him,"whoah there, you okay?"

"Yes! Way more than okay!" I could hardly contain my excitement,"I found some great news. You ready? IMFORMATION ON THE CORRUPTION"

His jaw dropped,"How? Where?!"

"In a book, in a giant tree, just a few miles north of this house." It sounded absurd but it was true at least.

"You went into the living wood tree?" He asked, an expression of panic forming.

"Well, yeah, is that what it's called? Well, it certainly felt alive. But around five stories down I found a room with a book on the corruption, and something called the Crimson and Hallow."

He grabbed my shoulders, shook me, and repeated,"you WENT INTO the living wood tree?!"

"Y-yeah, why? Is it dangerous?"

"I don't know! That's why I never went into that thing!"

"Well, it's not dangerous, a little unnerving sure, but completely safe," I said matter of factly.

"That's not the point Amethyst! If it WAS dangerous, you'd have gotten hurt or worse. And you're new to this world! I'm the one that's supposed to guide and protect you!"

"You're really upset over this…" I said feebly...he's usually so calm.

"Yes! I am! You're the first actual friend I've had in a while! And I'm responsible for your safety! Of course I'm upset, because I care about you! Yes, you've only been here for a short time, but it's longer than anyone else has stayed…and I don't think I could go back to living alone either…" I could see tears starting to pool in his eyes.

"I..I'm sorry, it was stupid of me." I give him a tight hug,"please don't cry…I'm sorry." I wasn't sure what else to say. I've never had anyone who cared about me this much…not even my parents.

He let out a deep sigh and hugged me back,"just please don't go off exploring like that again, at least until you know enough about this world, okay?"

I nod my head,"I promise, but…you let me explore for the trees…"

"That's different, the worst that could hurt you out here are slimes and squirrels," he studied my face carefully,"Now, let's head inside and talk about that book."

It was a long night explaining what I saw and felt, but I slept easy knowing I had such a caring friend there with me.