Chapter 17: Lesson learned
Will successfully found a source of water underneath him. It was like an underground river underneath his base. If Will has learned anything from youtube during quarantine, is that moving water is clean, whereas still water could be contaminated.
After not receiving a debuff from drinking water, he was sure that it was safe to drink.
But, he thought that there could be something more. After all this time Will had never dug a hole straight down for various reasons. Now that he is alone and has this space all to himself, he could now do what he has been wanting to do for a long time, mining.
As anyone who has ever played any sandbox games and that has common sense, mining is very important.
He left Adaline behind on the surface and gave her some food in case he was gone for a long time. Taking his tools and weapons with him, he was ready to mine.
But like that one song goes 'don't mine at night' so Will mined while there was still daylight.
Digging away from the water source he dug down deeper and deeper, while also taking some breaks every now and then. No ordinary person could have dug that much, but Will had the crafting system, which somehow made him dig better than most people. But his limited stamina could not carry him as far as he wished.
An example is when he broke through a steel wall using steel tools. It was not possible for an ordinary man, but Will could do it.
Obviously the deeper he went the darker it got. So he came prepared for once and carried torches, along with some matches and lit them up. To create these matches he needed some coal and sticks, exactly like minecraft, at this time it really shouldn't be surprising. These torches unfortunately are only temporary and his only light sources, which can only stay lit up for 20 minutes tops.
It wouldn't make much sense to dig in a straight line beneath him. He dug down so it made like a stairway path so he could travel back easily. And there's also an unwritten rule in Minecraft where you NEVER mine straight down. Maybe that logic applies to real life as well.
Having never mined this deep before made him scared. All he light as a light source was a torch that lasts 20 minutes. There could be numerous dangers in this cave that even he cannot imagine. It's like the first time one plays minecraft and they hear that creepy cave sound. The worst part is that he doesn't know how deep he could go.
But reassuring himself that everything was fine he kept mining and mining.
And to his surprise he found a cave, a very small cave. It was barely enough to fit 2 people in it. It shouldn't even be called a cave, more like a hole.
On the plus side it had food, but it was fungi, and it looked very poisonous. Will wasn't going to touch that fungi so he left them there.
During his mining spree he found iron, coal, copper, and that was it. Nothing worth mentioning was found.
Will thought that he might find some mystical treasure, or a dragon loli who has been imprisoned underground for thousands of years and would serve him as a maid. But reality is often disappointing as a wise man once said.
"I gotta go deeper."
Will wasn't going back without finding something valuable. So he kept mining deeper and deeper as he could. He needed to know what else was underground. Hopefully food but that didn't seem like it would happen.
Will is a very, very stubborn man. Once he puts his mind to something he will accomplish it even if it'll take him days.
Long ago, he once played a game and sought a rare item, this item could only drop from monster kills, it had a 1/200000 chance to drop. He spent literally 5 days straight grinding for that item. It might have been a long, boring process, but it was worth it. He got to flex on everybody he met. It wasn't his luck that got him his item, it was his sheer dedication.
Will was what some people might refer to him as 'weird' because he is willing to do the tasks that no one would touch even with a 10ft pole.
He noticed that the deeper he got the harder it got to mine. At first he thought it was because he was getting tired, but it was actually because he was now mining quartz, granite, flint, and other types of stone that most people wouldn't recognize.
The deeper he got, the more minerals he would find, and the more difficult it would get. Most of the ores he mined the deeper he went were harder than rock, which explained why he was having more trouble than before.
And then he found it, the best, the legendary, priceless item…
Silver…
After many hours of mining, he finds silver, which is worse than steel armor and tools and also worse than his dragon-bone armor.
Contemplating a bit, he mined all the silver he found and went back to the surface. By then he was ready to sleep. He was satisfied mining this much. And he needed a stronger pickaxe in order to keep mining deeper.
"How long was I mining for?" He asked himself.
Looking back, he gasped, he didn't see the light coming from the door, because it was so far away since he mined so far down. It looked like he was in the middle of space, and a tiny, little, white, dot could be seen from afar, like a lonely star in the darkest night..
He could not believe how far he had mined. It felt like he didn't get very far at all.
Will easily made his way back to the surface. The sun was almost setting down.
Adaline was soundly asleep on top of the grass underneath the stone roof. She had ran around for so long it was no wonder why she was resting. Various roots from here body impaled the grass and were sucking the water out of the ground..
He placed down a furnace and lit it up with the silver ore still inside.
Will knew how to make bronze, copper, stone, wooden, steel, and iron tools and armor. But he had not yet unlocked the recipe to craft silver yet.
Just like back in his world, making silver weapons or tools is dumb. Silver is softer than most metals, even copper metal is stronger. But silver has its uses, like jewellery, coins, and more.
In his mind he didn't need to craft silver tools, but maybe his recipe book might surprise him with something. And he had nothing better to do at the moment. It was getting dark, Adaline was tired, it would be stupid to travel anywhere right now. As sad as this fact is, finding the silver is probably the best thing that has happened to him today.
The patch of grass kept expanding on and on. It now looked like a small park in a wasteland.
Looking at his accumulated loot, it felt as if he wasted his time but not entirely. He did find a source of water, but no food, not even decent ore except steel which he can craft.
Dead tired, with his hands covered in bruises and blisters, his knees and feet ache, as well as his shoulders, Will closed his eyes and lied on the ground near the furnace. He knew that when he wakes up the next morning his body would be completely sore. He has never used this much strength and energy before.
Just like how he dug a hole to get to the bunker, it didn't ache his body much as today, because he mined less and also Adaline was there to help him.
This is a painful experience that most people would relate to. Will was just like any other man, but just a bit more special than the others.
Will woke up many hours later. And as he expected, his body ached all over, especially his shoulders and arms. The sun was barely rising.
"God, I should have slept on the bed." He was too tired and fell asleep on the spot, he didn't even think about sleeping on a bed until now, maybe it could even wipe away the pain.
He took out his smelted ore from his furnace, and to his surprise, he had 38 bars of silver, which is a decent amount.
"That's decent at least."
He touched the ore, and as he expected he unlocked the silver crafting ingredients.
Will smiled as he expected this. But one crafting recipe caught his eye.
{Silver coins}
{Convert silver bars into silver coins}
{Requires: crafting table, silver ore}
"I can craft money?! This makes so much sense now that I think about it!"
Will now realized something, he could literally make money by mining ore. Most if not all video games don't have this function because it would be considered 'game breaking' which makes sense.
But this wasn't a video game anymore. The method to make great amounts of money was in his face all this time.
Of course, he immediately crafted all the silver in his hand into silver coins. And to his surprise, he got 110 silver coins, which is the most money he has ever received.
"Bruh!"
Will couldn't believe it. 38 silver bars and he got over 100 silver coins like that. Now he realizes that blacksmithing isn't the way to make easy money, it's by mining. He couldn't imagine how much money he could make by mining gold ore. Then again the reason he wanted to be a blacksmith is so he could craft enchanted and magical weapons granting him more power.
Converting silver bars into coins is random. Each silver bar can give between 2-4 silver coins.
This is a function that many terraria players wished came true, but that would be too easy for the players. The crafting system is able to craft anything with the right materials. Therefore crafting coins is rather easy.
Will leaped around like a maniac. Why wouldn't he be? He just found the greatest way to make money.
Forget smithing! He could just mine silver and gold and make infinite amounts of money like that.
For a minute he forgot his pain. Until the pain in his back and arms were killing him. He suddenly felt like an old man.
"Ow! Stupid! Worth it."
He continued dancing around like a complete maniac. Adaline just watched wondering if that's a normal human thing.
After 20 minutes, Will was now fine. All he needed was a quick nap on his bed, and he was back to normal.
It doesn't work if Will only lies down on the bed, he needs to sleep in the bed for his injuries to heal. He tested this out during the black sun. Due to his insomnia he was never able to sleep properly, but now he can.
But it does not cure his hunger or thirst, only injuries, poisons, and such. Otherwise all he would need is his bed and he would be technically invincible.
After leaving his stuff in his terribly made home, he grabbed what he needed and took off with Adaline in hopes to find a village to trade with. Now that he had money, he had an idea on how to use it.
And yes this money making method is broken and could inflate the economy, but Will doesn't care, he's rich. But in this world, although money is important, it is not the answer to all his problems.
Running around in circles proved to be a complete waste of time. There is not a single soul around except them. Not even a monster, only some dried scorpions were seen.
"Let's just run in a straight line. Over… there." Will pointed at a random direction and Adaline ran forth with haste.
When Adaline ran she kept leaving behind some trails so she could find her way back. And this is a smart method so she could mark the spot where they were at already, so she would know where they had already checked. This way they won't run to the same spot they had already checked.
With no map and no guide, all they could do is mark their location and move on.
This went on for 1 day straight. Adaline was tired of running around. Will was getting frustrated. He was questioning his own stupidity. Why didn't he leave this place to look for a better location in the first place? Because he thought that this was a good place to set up his own base, but it was anything but a good idea.
Had he known, he would have set up his base in another spot yesterday. He really thought it would be that easy.
"Okay, Adaline, last run. If we don't find something, we will leave this horrible place and never come back. But just in case."
Will placed all of his stuff inside his two iron chests. except his bed. He had 2 extra beds in his chest. He did craft another iron chest because he had too much stuff on his person. His iron chest was almost full already, and with the loot he collected from mining the past few days, his iron chest was at its full capacity.
He looked back at his stone base. It was somewhat better than last time. More sturdier and bigger, but not bad for a beginner like him who only spends less than 2 days building it. Will stole the design from one of the houses he saw in the kingdom of Reyes.
It was the first real base he constructed, but leaving this terrible place was the right thing to do. Staying in this abandoned wasteland any longer would be stupid.
They began running and running again…
"You know, most games I've played, the main character, which should be me, should have found some secret, powerful, ancient, treasure by now. And then I would smite my enemies."
At this point Will was spouting nonsense. The heat of the sun was started to get to him.
And as if life would troll them, they found a village 40 minutes away from their base using Adaline.
"What?" Will and Adaline stood there dumbfounded
There was a goddamn village close by all this time, and they never saw it until now.
If this was an anime, they would have fallen in a comedic style flat on their backs.
They had run all around the area and found nothing until right now. How did they miss this village? They had no idea. And it wasn't even a small village, it was at least as big as the village that Jack lives in.
"Howdy." A man wearing a black shirt and pants said in a southern accent and greeted Will. It was a man with a thick black mustache. His hair was dirty, short and black, but covered in dirt.
"Howdy?" Will recognized that accent, it was what many would refer to as a southern accent. He didn't think that he would hear that accent in this world.
"Y'all are a long way from home. Dis here lands bring death to those who dare trample here. Especially the stupid ones."
"Really?" Asked Will.
"Nah, I'm just kidding. I'm Jim. How do you do?" The man said in a normal accent and shook Will's hand firmly.
"I'm Will. And this is Adaline."
"What a beautiful beast. I haven't seen an organic creature since I moved here." Jim started patting Adaline but she started hissing at him
"When did you move here?"
"Eh, About 5-6 years ago give or take."
"How were you talking like that?" Will was more intrigued in his accent.
"This is my voice, punk." Jim started once again talking in a southern accent.
"..."
"I'm just kidding. You didn't know? This is a place that a hero once claimed these lands as his own, about 80-90-ish years ago I believe. He used to talk in this accent or so I heard. And now everybody in these parts of the world talks like him."
"That makes way too much sense." it seemed that the past heroes had many other influences that Will didn't think of.
Will took a good look at the villagers. Most of them were all dirty, and the place was dry, no patch of grass was seen. The very air was warm, animals were leaving their feces everywhere.
The animals were malnourished, and flies were swarming their bodies as if they were already decomposing, but it was their stench that attracted the flies.
Jim's clothes were also covered in dirt and mud, but he kept it as clean as he could which is why Will almost didn't notice it.
It isn't a nice place to stay at all. Even Will was disgusted by this village.
"What happened to this place? Why is it so… dry?"
"It's been like this for nearly 40 years."
"Then why do you all live here? Wouldn't it be wiser to move?" Will couldn't even stand it in here for two days, he couldn't imagine living here for years.
"Because some of us have no choice but to live here. We can't afford the taxes or rent from the other villages. If we could we would move out of this place, but to where? This is our home now."
"Oh." Will felt awkward now. Not everyone is blessed.
Jack and his mother had the same problem. They moved to a brand new village because it was cheaper to live in it. Maybe in other people's eyes they were lucky not to move to somewhere far worse.
"You came to live here, right?" Asked Jim.
"No, to trade."
"What do you have?"
"I have money and I need food."
"You want food? You're a hilarious kid." Jim began laughing and walked away.
"What?" Will was confused. Did he say something wrong?
He got off of Adaline and scoured the nearby shops looking for food.
Most of the shops were outside, only a thin layer of sheets covered the products from the sun.
And his mouth dropped to the ground. The prices were too unfair.
A single piece of chicken leg, that almost had no meat, costs 60 silver coins.
With 60 silver coins Will could buy great weapons and probably barrels of food. But in this village 60 silver coins was the equivalent of a dried out chicken leg.
The worst part is that this is the cheapest thing he has seen in the shop.
"If you don't like my prices, leave."
Will tried many other shops, and they all had huge prices for terrible products.
Will wondered why this village is in this state. It was rather big, and had many villagers here, but they also carried many diseases as he continued to observe them.
Some of them tried to touch Adaline for reasons that Will did not understand. Adaline avoided them as much as she could.
That's when he realized something, they had no water sources to live with.
These parts of the world are extremely dry like a sand dessert. With the scorching heat of the sun it didn't help their situation at all. The villagers had to rely on some gross and extreme methods to survive without water.
Without water they cannot keep their animals hydrated, they could not wash off the filth off their bodies and the diseases could invade their immune system.
They tried looking underground, but for some reason there was no water underground. They were all rather unlucky to not find a river of groundwater.
These lands were unclaimed as no one in their right minds would want to settle here. The village was self-sufficient relying only on trading what little they had with villages that were far away. It was a village where the poor lived.
The villages that they traded were days away by horse. Since they did not have such methods of transportations they had to go on foot, which took weeks or longer.
The way back was worse. By the time someone returned with the goods they traded for the food would have already started growing mold, and the horses that they would use to travel back with would often run or die after living in these lands.
Why wouldn't they just go somewhere else? Because they have nowhere else better to go.
"This is sad." Said Will.
Right now he had a choice, tell them about the groundwater that he found, or keep it to himself.
He could tell them but most likely they would want to take it all and leave him with nothing. After all, humans are terrible. Will knows this after his friend was killed in a store robbery, and the robber only stole less than 50$ from the cash register.
Was 50$ really worth his friend's life? To him no amount existed that could buy his friend's life.
But if he keeps it to himself then the people would keep suffering. Will feels no desire to help them, but looking at their sorry state, especially the kids, it was a hard choice for Will to make.
"I should bring them some buckets of water." Will thought of sharing some of his water.
Even one of the villagers was trying to sell her newborn infant to feed her family.
After strolling through the village he came to a decision. The sun kept blinding his eyes so he thought that he should go anyway.
"I'll share some water with them." As he was about to go back to his base, Adaline began acting strange.
"Hiss." Adaline kept nudging his side as if she was trying to tell him something.
"Something wrong?"
But Adaline grabbed Will tightly using her roots from her body and hurriedly placed him on top of her.
Then Will noticed that most of the villagers were gone. They were in the middle of a dirt road. On both sides of the road were men formed in a neat line. All of them carried handguns.
Will was sure that they weren't there a second ago. And now they appeared before him in a second.
"Kid, if ye don't give up that creature I will let you know what it feels like to suffer." It was Jim, he led the men to surround Will.
"What's going on?" Will asked but slowly reached for his handgun.
"An organic creature like that could make a damn difference in this town. Their bodies sell for quite a lot. And from what I can tell is that she's not only a beauty, but quite an uncommon one. With her we could trade it and have enough water to supply this village for months."
"So that's it. You want to kill Adaline?" Will felt angry. He was about to give them all water a second ago without asking anything in return. And before he knew it, their true colors showed.
" 'fraid so. You see no one cares what happens in these parts of the world. I could kill everyone here and no one would give a damn. But I do give a damn. We all have families here and they are all suffering."
Adaline hissed at them as she walked backwards until her back was up against a building.
"So you're willing to kill so everyone else can live?"
"No. An organic creature like that is worth more to use alive rather than dead. But even if it dies its body is still worth something."
Will was cornered and outnumbered here with Adaline. He tried to think of something, but had nothing. He had his magical gun that could shoot explosive rounds. After shooting those explosive rounds at the goblins from the first village, he had an idea how powerful they were, but not enough to kill everyone here quick enough.
Not only that but he did not wear his dragon-bone armor right now. Because wearing that armor plus the heat made it unbearable for him to continue wearing it, which is why he is currently wearing light clothes. Today he did not expect to find a town and be cornered as well.
The ones surrounding him all look coordinated and very experienced with guns. Most likely before he has a chance to point his gun at them, him and Adaline will be filled with more bullet holes than Bonnie and Clyde.
After all, Will has only been practicing shooting his gun for a few weeks now. His experience cannot be compared to the others who have probably been practicing for years.
'What the hell should I do? I can't let Adaline die because of me. I won't let another friend die because of me.' Will thought of everything, but there was nothing he could think of. Not because he couldn't, but because he was under intense pressure. He could die and revive an infinite number of times, but the same could not be said about Adaline. Will was one of those people who could not think well under pressure.
Then he felt Adaline's roots tightening around his waist, Adaline's action erased Will's nervousness. He looked down and noticed that Adaline was sending roots on the ground from her feet. It was barely invisible that the others failed to see.
That's when Will knew what she was plotting. Somehow he knew what Adaline was thinking.
"So what is it going to be, Will?" Asked Jim.
"No, I won't let anyone touch her." Will took a deep breath to compose himself. "But, do you recognize this?" Will took out his iron chest from his pocket.
Everyone looked at the chest in Will's hand.
"Is that a… iron chest? But very, very small." Jim was confused.
"Yes, but like all chests, this carries expensive stuff. Inside of this chest are diamonds, jewels, gold coins, you know my most expensive and priceless items that I have come to collect in all my travels. You can have this if you let us go."
Hearing this they all got a greedy look in their eyes. It would help their situation very much. They began looking at each other deciding on what to do once they grabbed a hold of that small chest.
Once Will saw that, he knew that his plan worked. He might not work well under pressure, but thanks to his horrifying experience with that dragon, this didn't seem to be as scary, but still the thought of losing Adaline still made him feel pressured.
But there was one thought that was going on in Will's head.
'What would Sun Tsu say in this situation?'
And that's when he thought of a famous line from Sun Tsu's book the 'Art of War.'.
'In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.' - Sun Tsu
'Thank you, Technoblade, for showing me this book.' he thanked in his heart one of his favourite Minecraft Youtubers.
"Is one not enough? How about two?" Will took out his second iron chest that he crafted.
"Tempting offer, kid. But I have a better idea. You give up your belongings along with your pet, and we will let you go. I don't like killing, but I am willing to go the extra mile for your sake."
"Fine, here." Will threw one of his chest as high as he could.
They all had their eyes locked on that chest. But they forgot one thing, the sun. Because they were staring at the chest the sun came in their point of view and blinded them all temporarily, but some of them had shades on that protected them, this included Jim.
The sun was getting unbearable so he thought he could use it to his advantage.
But, then they felt roots coiling around their legs and impaled them like tiny spears.
Jim and the others did not expect that. They had never heard of an organic creature being able to do something like that. Some organic creatures have special abilities, but they thought it would be weakened by being so far away from water and the forest.
Jim took out his gun while he was still falling and aimed it at Adaline and shot her. The bullet travelled through her right shoulder and left a huge hole in it.
"AUGH!" Adaline let out a screech of pain.
"Adaline!" Will cried out in anger and he aimed his gun at Jim.
Jim was about to shoot Will, but something unexpected happened. Above him, the iron chest that was smaller than a woman's hand, grew in size and weight to a real life size chest! Obviously when the chest left Will's hand, it grew in size. Jim noticed it too late because the sun impeded his vision.
The iron chest that Will threw carried all of his stuff inside, therefore it was rather heavy. Jim had surprising reflexes and was able to move away before it crushed his chest, but not fast enough. With the weight of the chest and the height it was falling. It crushed his right arm entirely.
Will quickly took out his gun and shot explosive rounds at the other gunsman.
Some of the other gunsmen also began shooting, Adaline used her own roots to block the incoming bullets, injuring herself in the process, but protecting both of them at the same time.
Adaline had to use her own roots to attack and defend. Naturally with the roots being a part of her if it got damaged she would also feel the pain.
This would've been different if she were in the middle of a forest as she could use the roots there, but this place has no such things, which is why she has to use her own body as a weapon and a shield.
Will quickly ran to the side and began shooting at the gunsmen.
He shot multiple rounds of explosives creating a giant cloud of dirt around the village. He might have gone too overboard but he didn't care, he wanted to be sure that they wouldn't be able to shoot at Adaline.
Will covered his face with his shirt so the dirt wouldn't get in his eyes.
"You okay, Adaline?" He felt that was a stupid question as she had used herself as a shield.
Adaline coiled her roots around Will's hand. He could feel her shivering from fear like a little kid. The hole in her shoulder began healing and so did her other wounds. It was thanks to her that Will did not receive the slightest bit of damage.
In the end she was still a kid. This is her first time encountering a near life and death experience. It happened in a blink of an eye, but it was the worst time of her life. But even after that her first instinct was to protect Will.
This is the first time she encounters the dark side of humans. She was this close to being separated from Will, and possibly almost died.
Will felt a surge of emotions piling up inside him.
The dust settled and there was nothing left but red and meat stains around them. And there was also Will's iron chest sitting there with an obvious red stain beneath it. But Jim wasn't there.
Will took his chest and said to Adaline, "Let's get the hell out of here." not caring about Jim but only about Adaline, they greatly rode off back to their base.
They ran away from the village as fast as Adaline could.
Adaline ran back to their base which is the safest and closest place she knew.
They got on the pile of grass and lied there under the stone roof that Will built. Will took out his iron chest and saw the blood stain on it. He threw it away out of disgust.
Before he realized it, his hands started trembling. Was it due to fear? Due to almost losing another friend? Or because it's the first time he's killed a man. It was different from killing goblins.
It was all self defense, but they were acting like that because they had no choice. Any person in their shoes would have done the same.
Will did not think that it could happen to him or Adaline. He thought that maybe these villagers would treat him fairly just like Jack did.
But he did not think they would act like that in this world.
It wasn't because he experienced a near death experience, after all he has experience with death. But the one death he could never get over with is the death of his friends. Adaline almost died because he wanted to go look for a food source, when it was something that he should have done before arriving in this horrible place.
Because of his careless mistake, because of his actions, it almost caused the death of another friend. He didn't want to see that happen ever again.
Maybe it was because he was transported to this world, or because he met Jack, but he almost forgot how human nature can be so unkind.
Adaline sensed how he too was trembling from fear. But she could tell that he was afraid of losing her that really made him shiver. She coiled her roots around him like a tight hug.
Will let her do as she pleased.
"I'm sorry." He gently whispered to her.
Now he learned the greatest lesson since he was transported here. Nothing ever turns out the way he expects it. He wanted to find a village to trade, he almost lost someone important to him. He wanted to find a base and build a cool castle, which turned out to be possibly the worst place to live in the world.
Next time he will be more prepared.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
DemonGodHiatus
DemonGodHiatus I am so sorry for the late chapter. This year has been the busiest year for me due to schoolwork. As much as I hate doing it I REALLY want to graduate this year. I don't think I would be able to write another chapter until mid-december.
Please be patient. I hope that you are all doing well during these times of crisis.
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