Chapter 2: The World's Unfriendly Welcome

It took Blake nearly the whole day to cross the plains, thankfully without much incident. He moved at a brisk enough pace so as to enjoy the scenery while also putting more distance between him and the old village; the last thing he wanted was to be tempted to change his mind and give up on his adventure.

The whole time he walked, Blake considered the world of possibilities that would be open to him after he crossed the ocean. Would he settle down somewhere new? Keep wandering forever, untethered to any one place? Perhaps even go on a hunt for an Ender Stronghold, like the legendary heroes he and his friends had grown up hearing stories of?

"I've never fought an Enderman, though… ah, one thing at a time. I'll just have to cross the sea first, then I can figure out all that."

Overhead, the sky was a warm shade of orange. The sun had begun to set just as he reached the oak forest, and he could already see stars twinkling above. He smiled at the serene display, then frowned when it suddenly occurred to him he was getting tired after walking the whole day straight.

"I should set up a camp…"

As eager as Blake was to get on with his adventure, he wasn't so foolish as to enter the forest after dark. He could already make out the faint outlines of inhuman creatures shuffling around in the distance: the hostile mobs were emerging for the night. None of them seemed to be coming his way, but he knew better than to assume it would stay like that. It was time to make a temporary shelter.

"There are plenty of trees here, so this shouldn't be hard. Let's see…"

Blake paced along the edge of the woods, inspecting the trees closest to him. While most people (and even some of his old friends) might have called them all identical, he wasn't most people. He carefully examined their bark, the way their contours lined up, and how gnarled some of the trunks appeared. Were they thick enough for his purposes, or too thin to provide sufficient structure? Getting the wood wasn't a concern; even without an axe, bare hands were all anyone needed. But after he'd gotten it, there were so many factors to consider.

He chuckled. Somewhere in his head, he swore he could hear the exasperated voices of his friends, insisting that the trees were all the same. Blake wandered over to a moderately tall specimen that seemed good enough for just one night, and wound up his arm for a good punch-

Rrrrt… twang!

His reaction was instantaneous. He threw himself hard to the left, avoiding the arrow by a fraction of a second. Blake stumbled, trying to regain his balance and fumbling to draw his sword. A glance at the tree revealed the arrow had embedded itself around chest height. He shuddered to imagine what it would have done to his back had he not heard the string draw.

The attacker was a skeleton, standing far enough away that fighting back would be an issue. It cackled at him as it drew another arrow. Blake found his footing, keeping the sword up defensively as he tried to figure out a strategy. It was then that he noticed the sun had completely set- how long had he spent perusing the trees?

"Focus. I haven't fought any mobs in a while, but that's fine. It's just one; I've got this!"

He tightened his grip and took a step closer. The skeleton aimed at his face, drawing the string back again. With another step, Blake dropped to one knee just as it loosed a second arrow which flew over his head. He punched at the ground with his free hand until he'd dug out two small cubes of dirt. One quick hand motion later, he'd restacked them in front of him. The blocks expanded to their normal size upon being set back down.

A thud on the other side of his makeshift barrier suggested a third arrow had been fired, unable to make it through the dirt cubes. He could hear the skeleton grinding its teeth, frustrated.

"Come and get me!" he yelled.

Having bought himself a few precious moments, he dug up another cube and held it firmly. It wouldn't be much good as a weapon in its small state, and he couldn't pick up blocks in their large states, but maybe it could be the diversion he needed.

"I sure hope this works…"

The skeleton, further aggravated by his taunt, had taken a few steps around his small dirt pillar. It already had its bow drawn by the time he was in its sights again.

Blake ducked behind the pillar the moment it loosed another arrow, dodging it by such a narrow margin that he felt its feathered tail brush past his cheek. He responded by stepping out of cover and throwing the small dirt cube as hard as he could. It fell short of the skeleton by a few blocks, doing no better than to elicit another cackle. Cursing under his breath, he dug up a new block from around him.

Once more, the mob circled his dirt tower and took aim. He threw the cube before it had a chance to attack, but as with the previous attempt he was just too far away to make the toss. The skeleton fired at him again, this and this time he felt the arrow scrape past his side. He wasn't hurt by some miracle, but a large gash had been torn in the maroon fabric of his light jacket. To make matters worse, the ground around his barrier was becoming uneven from all the digging. If he didn't find a way to end this now, it was only a matter of time before he wound up stuck in a trench for easy pickings. The skeleton was still too far away to reach with a throw.

"I might as well try one more thing…"

Willing himself to ignore the possibility that this single mob might end his adventure before it really began, Blake dug up one last cube and held it tight. His sword was still gripped in his left hand, ready for action.

"Here goes!"

He allowed the skeleton to target him one last time, ducking behind the pillar again as its arrow sailed past. Then, not wasting even a second, he charged right at it with his sword raised. The skeleton scrambled for another arrow, raising its bow by the time Blake reached the halfway point between them. Before it could draw back the string, he threw his third dirt cube. His eyes followed it, watching the block arc directly into the skeleton's face and force it to stagger. This was his opening!

With a yell, he closed the rest of the distance and brought his sword down on the mob's bow hand. One horrible crack of bones later, the skeleton's right arm had been severed at the elbow. It struggled to wipe the dirt out of its eye sockets, no longer cackling but rather snarling in fury. Blake brought up his sword in a diagonal slash, breaking through several of its ribs. For good measure, he stabbed the blade as hard as he could into the skeleton's face. The skull cracked and shattered, and the body collapsed into a shapeless jumble of bones.

Blake sat down and tried to catch his breath. The very first night of his adventure, and the very first mob, had given him an embarrassing amount of trouble already. This was a far cry from the safety of the village, or even the hunting excursions he would go on with the others. They were always together back then, and not even creepers had stood a chance against the group.

"It's just me now," he reminded himself. "I have to make it without them. I've beaten plenty of skeletons before by myself; I'm just rusty."

He inspected his sword. There were, to his dismay, a few chips in the stone blade already. Overuse would cause it to break in due time, and he really didn't need that to happen at the very beginning of the journey. With that cheering prospect in mind, Blake decided to take the skeleton's bow and whatever arrows he could find in the pile of bones. There were six in total, of remarkably poor quality: rusted tips, tattered feather tails, and one of them appeared to have moss growing on it. The bow wasn't much better; it felt like it would break with too much exertion.

"Better than nothing, I guess. Time to make that shelter."

Having learned his lesson for the night about dawdling, he opted to just go with the tree closest to him. A few solid strikes from his bare hands were all it took to bring it down, and soon enough he had a modest collection of logs. Breaking one of them apart yielded wooden planks, among the most basic of materials, and after a bit of tinkering he'd assembled a crafting table. Converting the other logs gave him enough planks to make a small, cramped shack to rest in for the night. Though it was by no means comfortable, it was good enough for the moment.

He got to work with the crafting table, breaking some of the leftover planks into sticks and using them as the basis for new tools. The fruits of his labor were nothing special: a wooden axe, shovel, and pickaxe which he stored in his inventory. But this was what it meant to start fresh, wasn't it? He would rebuild himself from the ground up, and make up for all the lost time.

A scraping sound on the outer wall of his shack caused Blake to jump. Shortly afterwards, a dull moan could be heard. No doubt a zombie had taken interest in the structure. It made sense; only a brainless husk would find his small, featureless wooden cube interesting. Doing his best to ignore the noise, he retrieved a pork chop that he'd spent the day nibbling at from his inventory. It had long since gotten cold and even a little hard, but food was food.

"Well… doesn't this suck?" he muttered to himself.

Alone, poorly equipped, and stuck in a cramped wooden shack while the assorted monstrosities of the night shuffled around him, one having already given Blake more trouble than it had any right to. Maybe, in hindsight, taking the "fresh start" so literally hadn't been the best idea after all.

"Why didn't I at least bring some leather armor? Did I even have any left?"

He faintly heard bones clattering. Either another skeleton had arrived and was prowling outside, or the zombie had found the remains of his first enemy. Whatever the case, it meant there were still monsters nearby- and they wouldn't likely go away anytime soon.

Groaning, Blake curled up on the floor and attempted to rest.

Soreness was the first sensation that hit Blake upon waking. His back and legs were violently protesting the conditions he'd slept in; the cramped wooden cube offered nothing in the way of comfort. Some of his muscle aches could have been due to his encounter with the skeleton as well, but he decided he didn't want to acknowledge that anymore.

"Is it morning yet? Please let it be morning…"

He broke through one of the wooden planks of his roof, squinting as sunlight streamed in. The vast blue sky greeted him, without a cloud in sight. Perfect weather for him to continue his adventure.

However, it was at that very moment that the world chose to shock him more than he would ever be able to describe.

The ground underfoot began to violently shake, causing him to stumble and painfully land on his crafting table. He could hear the trees outside snapping, their leaves causing an uproar as they bustled against one another. Within seconds, the tremors stopped and the sunlight had disappeared completely. Rubbing his stomach after the fall, Blake pulled himself out through the roof to investigate and found himself staring up at a tree which seemed to have instantaneously appeared in the middle of the forest. He'd seen some large oaks in the past, but none of them had ever compared to the utterly monstrous specimen before him.

This tree towered so high above the landscape that Blake felt like a silverfish in its presence. Its branches were thick enough to obscure the sky overhead, and its trunk looked like it could have been hollowed out to fit a small village at the base. The behemoth's roots protruded into the ground like very thick legs, propping it up off the ground by around twice his height. Beneath, he could see the remains of smaller trees and shrubs in a tangled mass of flora. It would have reminded him a little of a hedge maze had he not been so thoroughly dumbfounded.

"…I wasn't sure what I should do on this journey, was I? I wanted to find a purpose in something… this seems like a good place to start."

He hadn't the slightest idea what was in store, but that didn't stop him from running off toward the gargantuan oak anyway.

"Felix! Did you SEE that?!"

As if he wasn't jumpy enough after witnessing a tree the size of a small mountain spring from the earth, the shouting of his companion caused him to flinch again.

"Y-yes, I did!" he exhaled, his heart pounding. "Please, not too loud- someone could hear us."

Celia didn't appear to pay his warning any mind, bouncing on her heels as they stared at the inexplicable giant. They were at the edge of the oak forest, bordering a sandy beach. Their presence was unknown, and Felix very much wanted it to stay that way for as long as possible. The tree would draw enough attention without the added shouting.

"Do you think that was caused by our wayward artifact?" Celia asked.

"Most likely," he replied. "I can't imagine anything else that would do this, unless the trees naturally spring up without warning in this region."

"And here I thought it would be a difficult search!" she huffed, dramatically brushing a long lock of red hair behind her shoulder. "Oh, glorious day, this is our breakthrough! Come! The Genesis Core awaits!"

Before Felix could even suggest a plan to approach the tree, she had already taken off through the undergrowth. Her marble-white skirt managed not to get caught on any of the plants; she'd charged ahead enough to have learned how to avoid that.

"Lady Celia, please wait…!"

Exasperated yet just as anxious to investigate, he ran in pursuit. Felix only hoped that they would make it there first.

"Sir Ray. Can we assume that-"

Ray held up a hand to silence his masked and hooded peon. Members of their team, the recovery squad designated Lime, stared at the enormous tree which had just blocked out the sun on the beach. He found himself unable to hold back a smile.

"Can we assume that this is the work of the Genesis Core?" Ray asked, finishing his underling's question. "I don't see why not. Agent Lime-6 hasn't come back yet, has he?"

Lime-3 shook his head, looking at a black notebook. "No, Sir Ray. Despite his reports of finding a Core, he has yet to return. There haven't been any new messages from him, either"

"Well, at least we know where it is. If he's still out there, he can wait for us to arrive. Lime Squad, move out! I foresee a promotion for us!"

He took his first steps into the trees, flanked by his troops. He'd expected recovering a Genesis Core to be easy, but he didn't think it would have fallen into his lap like this.