Day 55

It's been a week now since my last entry. Made about 50 pages out of canes – not the best quality, there is real contrast between the original ones and made by my hand, but for right now it feels acceptable to write on them, so write I will. Sewed all those pages in – to be honest, the Book and Quill doesn't look like it's that much wider, even if it is definitely heavier. Maybe I'll be able to add even more pages as I go, but I hope that need doesn't come any time soon, cause even just these 50 pages were a real trial.

The first few days I spent just helping out Eastside and Northside, namely clearing out the forest around Eastside (and man do the spruces grow high in that place), then using that wood for The Great Wall of Northside. That's what I call it, anyways.

SO after about three days of non-stop labor, the results were very visible: Northside is now pretty protected against anything not coming from the mountain, while Eastside, for the first time in a long while has its' own Golem. I would've gone ahead and started making some walls for Eastsiders too, but that'd mean cutting down even more trees to make space for them, and I have had my share already. The Golem can help them for the time being.

After all that, I took a day off. Just checked on my stock in the morning, and tried to enjoy the rest of the day worry-free. It was super sunny and warm, so I was compelled to improvise and build a quick and pretty ugly sun lounge out by the walls. Lying there, melting under warm sun, with some cookies and a bowl of still-pristine rabbit stew…

It felt great. Super great. I'd been running myself somewhat ragged every day for weeks now, so this self-imposed holiday was a real blessing. I needed it.

Even if I lied a little bit about it being truly worry-free.

All that time – running around, worrying about others, worrying about myself – I guess it's kept me busy, kept my mind busy on the everyday tasks. And back then, on my day off, there was intentionally nothing to distract myself with.

So I ended up thinking about home – my real home -, about my family, about my friends.

Didn't cry, though.

Okay, maybe just a little. But that's ok! I think. I think it shows that I still care, that I still remember them, and I would like it to stay that way for as long as possible. Besides, it's not like that first time I did this, where I felt like my soul was being stabbed over and over. It was more…mild this time. Like drinking a bittersweet drink instead of a

uh, my comparison fell apart at this point. So, instead of a very not-good-tasting drink, I guess?

In any case, it was a super good day. Got to finally relax, recharge, take a nap out in the sun without the fear of being eaten/shot/exploded/some other kind of death I am pretty sure I am still going to face. And to top it all off, in the evening I went to try and enchant my bow – got Power II. Let me tell you (myself actually) – the bow has recoil from the drawstring now. Not the usual bump on my arm but, like, actual recoil. Not to mention that I sent a charged arrow so deep into the ground it was actually a real challenge to pull it out. Overall, really awesome.

Like I said, it was a really swell day.

The next day, I went down to the mines. Haven't been in that ravine in a long time now. I still have plans of filling to brim with water (I hope the nearby river has enough to not go dry), or sand, or just cover the darn thing up with anything. It's not that I am afraid of heights – no more than a very squishy human would be, anyway – but its existence right next to my base just irks me.

It took a bit of searching to at the bottom to find that little hole that led deeper into the caves – my memory definitely let me down on this. Just as it did on a very random tall grass hedge growing inside. I mean, I must have passed this very hedge dozens of times beforehand, but this time…

I just saw green, and instantly thought "Danger!". In my excuse, Actual Green Dangers are about the same color and height, and how often do you see huge vegetation growing in a cave?

Ended up just shooting the thing, without thinking. I didn't even hit it, but the blastwave? Airwave? From the arrow passing by the hedge almost put it down. I guess that puts the Power of Power-II into perspective.

Anyway, after that, I ventured deeper into the cave; ended up right next to that entrace to the mineshaft system I'd dug up, and it was already greeting me with an ear-busting sound of hissing spiders, so I turned around and left.

That put me at crossroads of sorts: I could go with being a tough guy, charge back into the mineshaft, or I could give up on this place, climb back up and try my luck elsewhere.

SO, in a stroke of brilliance, I had a thought: I had a very sturdy and powerful pickaxe on my belt. Pickaxes were made for mining.

Why not go mining then?

Not the type of mining I'd been doing, but "start digging into that stone wall and hope for something" kind of mining.

Picking a spot to start digging was only the first step of this grueling process. I ended up with a wall opposite and just below of entrance to the sshaf, next to a lava pool. I was on a hunt for diamonds too, and I could remember plenty of them from the mineshaft, and the mineshaft itself was at about lava pool level, so it was worth a shot, right?

(It was on Y number 12 – writing it down in case I forget.)

Then I started digging, working away at the rock. At this point, I would just like to say two things:

One: I am much, much much much more supportive of miners' case afainst the SDC, even if I don't actually know much about it, besides bad working conditions. I already thought it was hard, even back when I was just beating coal out of cave walls (the fiest week or so), but this was just downright grueling – working in a really cramped, stuffy area that is either very dark or is extra-suffocating because of all the torches.

(Sure, I am a newbie who's definitely doing every single thing wrong, but even if the miners – professionals with much more experience and better equipment than me – find things to complain about, then there's definitely a problem.)

Two: I am very grateful to myself to have taken the previous day off; don't think I could have handled much mining if I was doing it as ragged as so many days before. I should take those off-days more often.

Since I am, effectively, a big noob at this entire "mining" thing, I don't know how to dig shafts properly. I thought to copy the mineshaft's example and make wider tunnels, but that was way, way too much work for just me alone, so I ended up blindly digging a 2x2 tunnel forward. I'm taking a big guess in saying it's probably not the greatest way to go, but then again there is nobody around to tell me any better?

Besides, it's not like my efforts have been completely useless. I did end up uncovering a fair share of coal and redstone deposits, with some iron inbetween as well, so, technically, it wasn't a bust; moreso because I eventually ended up stumbling into another cave system – was about to turn back and leave the caves altogether, when I heard some popping lava from beyond the stone mass.

Note to self: always have a bucket ready when you're digging towards lava. ALWAYS HAVE A BUCKET READY WHEN YOU'RE DEALING WITH LAVA. I'm pretty sure my face got cooked a little after I mined the last bit stone out and came right upon the damn thing. Not fun.

There was a whole another cave system beyond there. Really expansive, plenty of ores to dig up, plenty of stuff to fight/run from. There was this one moment, when a Creeper had almost caught me off guard, but I managed to duck behind my shield. The explosion made a fairly large hole in the dirt right in front of me, and a couple of zombies that'd been going right my way fell straight into that hole trying to claw at me; what's more, the explosion exposed lava out of a nearby wall, and I watched as it slowly filled the hole, burning the zombies in mere moments. Not the most sightly thing, but at least the lava made quick work of any remains.

Later on in the same cave, I was put into a situation where I was on a small stone overhang, and there was an absolute swarm of undead below me that I had no way of getting to or through (they were either dumb enough to pile under the overhang trying to get me, or smart enough to make sure I had no easy way of attacking.

Oh who am I kidding, it's the first one obviously.)

I didn't have many options, besides maybe digging through the overpass and trying to kill the horde below that way, but even that was risky. Then, as I was just about to turn around and leave, I saw that very same lava spillage, and an idea occured to me: I can carry lava in buckets, can't I? I could do the same thing right here? Already had a lava bucket with me all this time – just never saw concrete need for it until now, so I just spilled it over thd edge and BAM! Problem solved.

(Okay, maybe it took me a few tries to remember how to use a lava bucket exactly and maybe I nearly burned my pants in the process; in my defense, the first dash last time I'd used it was back when I almost died in a mineshaft, which was, like, 2 local months ago, give or take!)

While I was waiting for the lava below to cool down after it wiped out everything, I got attacked from behind by a spider, and, since I already had a bucket in my hands, well…I just shield bashed the damn creature back and, while it was recovering, willed the lava to go to its' spot.

The spider didn't stand a chance. Burned and disappeared in a matter of seconds. Ugly sight…but lava-as-a-weapon concept works pretty well: super deadly, doesn't seem to run out (I checked to be sure), has some range (about two blocks away, but I didn't have much time to test), and the bucket itself is heavy enough if I whack something with it, it's bound to hurt. I just need to make sure that I get lava back in the bucket before it spills all over and becomes impossible to recover. Maybe using it in bursts? I'll have to think.

Anyway, after all of that, the rest of the cave was open for exploration. In the process, I found some diamonds near a massive lava pool, and got to digging.

Except not really, because as soon as I broke the stone around the ore, all of it – the diamond included – fell into the lava pocket I didn't know was there, right below it.

Poof.

No more stone, no more diamond.

I would say "sucks to be me", but at least there were 5 more diamonds to get, and I've learned my lesson - next time, I'll be covering them in water first.

So, all in all. Since it'd been like 3 days since them I don't remember the exact numbers, but I think my haul was something like:

1 and 1/2 full stacks of coal

1 stack of iron

10 gold ores

About 30 pieces of lapis

Over 2 stacks of redstone

5 diamonds

And more cobblestone than I'll ever know what to do with. Nice.

And that isn't the only nice thing to have happened. As I was climbing out of the ravine, ran headfirst into a donkey! A donkey who'd been pasturing right near the edge. For the entire time I have lived here, the only animals coming and going round were cows and sheeps. The dude came out of nowhere in under a day.

I scared it off, accidentally, since it's a wild animal. I would have let the thing be, but, I mean - an actual donkey! I've only ever seen them in person once, a long-long time ago. Dust, I ever got to ride one! I remembered the tamed ones being super nice and affectionate.

Is it wrong for me to want experience like that again?

For the last several days, I've been trying to gain his trust. How? Food, of course. I know nothing about donkeys, besides how hard they can kick, so I've been kind of winging it: brought it a whole lot of every kind of food I had the next day after our first meet (the donkey hadn't run away, thankfully, it was just chilling further from my base), set it down slowly, then walked away and tried to see what it would care to chomp on.

With that, I found out that wheat, carrots and apples were the best choice, so that's what I've been doing: just bringing the food out, setting it down some distance away from the animal and letting everything run its course. I think it's gradually starting to get closer to my base again, so I guess I'm actually doing something right. Might have to ask Eastside's butcher if he can help. Not with butchering it, of course, but

yeah

I just could go with a pet donkey. Maybe, if this does work out, I'll name him something too. I faintly remember there being some kid fairytale about a rag-tag knight on a donkey instead if a horse. Just can't remember the name.

Added 10th bookcase to the Enchanting Room, then tried enchanting my rag leather pants.

Protection III, Unbreaking II. That is actually a really solid magic dice roll, even if it's just leather. Not bad.

P.S: found the "Fortune III" book again while rummaging through my chest. I've been thinking - maybe it's time to use it? I remember it is supposed to go on pickaxes, but my pickaxe is already enchanted, and I don't quite remember the proper steps to not screwing it all up in that specific case. I'll have to look through my notes on enchanting again.

And to be honest, what if it does go wrong? The librarian can get me a new book, and I have extra diamonds now for a new pickaxe in the worst case scenario.

Worth a try? Worth a try.

Sometimes, it feels like I'm losing the thread of this story, in a sense that I am no longer sure if the chapters read like actual diary entries would, or if it's slowly becoming a sort-of non-standard 1st person narrative, like letters adressed to somebody.

But then again, isn't writing a diary just basically writing letters to yourself? Idk.