Deciding that I needed to put the night to good use, I reorganized my chests a bit. Doing this tedious task, I observed that a lot of space was actually taken by objects given by the quest book. In that category were put the coins, as well as curiously looking bags.
These bags seemed to contain some mysterious objects I couldn't see nor hear from the outside. As I suspected, these mysterious wrappings are similar to the loot boxes we had in the earth's video games. I decided to open one to probe its content, in which I found a couple of fruit pies that I instantly used to satiate me for a while.
Digging up the dirt that I still use as a door, I suddenly thought that this day wouldn't be as peaceful as the previous one. Overhung by the rising sun, a monster was peacefully swimming in the middle of the pond that irrigated my cultivations.
Approaching to take a good look, the situation was actually worse than I first thought, as the zombie swimming in the middle of the water lake wasn't the only enemy I could sight, as a greyish monster, entirely made of bones, was holding a bow and was wearing a quiver containing a lot of arrows, visibly ready to fire at will.
It seemed like the skeleton archer hadn't spotted me at first, which allowed me to rush toward the swimming zombie, promptly slashing it with my sharp flint blade. It seemed like this was really effective compared to my fists that I first used to defeat an enemy, as the monster vanished promptly, leaving nothing but a pile of rotten flesh.
Still undetected by the bone made bowman, I decided to take him from behind by crossing the pond and running around him in the first situated on the other bank.
However, things weren't as easy as I soon faced the most formidable opponent I've ever seen.
It had quite the modest appearance, being only some small spider, peacefully walking in the fields, but was radiating a terrible aura that could make the most careless of us falter in front of this overwhelming power. Fortunately, this formidable foe wasn't more interested in me than in its purposeless walking and was slowly getting further despite all its might.
Feeling grateful that I've been left off the hook, I hastily rallied my initial objective. Once close enough, the archer started paying attention to me and hurriedly aimed at me, using its bow. However, as I used the bushes and leaves of the forest's tree to swiftly escape each of its arrows, it was no use.
Finally, in front of him, I swang my sword forward, assuming a swift defeat from this feeble skeleton, but my expectations were betrayed by a sneaky arrow, aimed and shot at my chest, piercing through the flesh and inflicting some pain.
While I stayed baffled by how what would have been a fatal wound in my old world was inflicting so little damage, the enemy crumbled apart, leaving a pile of bones and some arrows behind, which I had no way of firing yet, however.
Relieved that I've defeated the invaders with nothing to no damage, I decided to hurry up to gather my materials need to make a bed as I decided the night before.
Going further in the forest, searching for pigs and sheep to butcher, I stumbled across what seems to be the second entrance of the cavern I've discovered the day before in the quarry I dug up. I could spot the same minerals found on the wall of the occurrence I explored. However, the hole's steepness in the ground made it look unwelcoming and eerie.
I evenly found my first target, a pig full of innocence, with no awareness of its impending doom, looking at me with gleamy eyes. Unfortunately for this animal, if this world taught me anything since I've come here, it was that it would do anything to get rid of me and that if I wanted to survive, I'd have to do anything. Making it the quickest I could, I slashed the poor creature, ending its previously peaceful life.
But these grieving thoughts were soon replaced by a reminder of the questing system that I'd have to slaughter four more pigs to properly accomplish my task.
While carrying out my duty, I couldn't shake the impression that I was losing my humanity to this world, slowly accepting fighting and slaughter to achieve my goals.
Despite how resolute I was and that I previously slew pigs for my goals, nothing could have prepared me for butchering what could have been said to be a symbol of innocence in my old world. However, it wasn't an option to take their wool without incurring fatal damage yet. Hardening my heart and my resolve, I butchered them, justifying the means by the end.
As if I wanted to distract myself from the horror I was committing, my eyes were attracted to a familiar yet uncommon bush. A bit of sap was coming out of the bark, as sticky as the one I previously harvested on the tree that I cut to extend the forest's clearing I settled in.
Taking it as a rare occurrence, I decided to chop down this tree to gather more of its sapling, to start a resin orchard, should the need arise in the future.
Finally, facing the items I gathered for which I sacrificed a bit more of my innocence, my mind was blown with new ideas coming together on what to do with this wool and what meals to make with these fresh meats I butchered.
Going back to my home, I decided that I'd instead focus on expanding my house a bit while the sun was still up in the sky before making a bed. I took a few stones gathered in the quarry I dug up and extended one of the walls in one way, creating a genuine patchwork of both planks and cobblestones, without any considerations for beauty as opposed to functionality.
I wasn't proud of the result by any metric, but it was one of the earliest proper buildings I've made using materials meant for that usage, and as such, I was happy to be able to pull it off.
I figured I could efficiently replace almost all of the feeble planks with the leftover materials that held my cabin together with the sturdier stone. The result proved to be a better fit than the earlier disparate mix of materials that I put together. What was missing was a door that could close the hole I made as an entrance, instead of the dirt I was piling up each night.
However, I was in no position to make one, as the hinges would definitely need some kind of metal, at least.
Bringing the last touches on my new stone shelter, I witnessed the sun vanish behind the tall trees of the coniferous part of the forest, indicating the soon appearance of the night. I retreated hastily to my shack, which I reorganized earlier, resulting in more space than before despite half of it being used as a walking corridor.
The only pieces of furniture I possessed at the time were a crafting table, two chests, and a furnace conveniently buried in the ground to take less space. The rest of the hut was just extra space to move around.
Fortunately, this was soon going to change, as I finally accomplished all tasks leading to the bed's quest, only waiting for me to craft the before-mentioned bed.
Using my previous experience in crafting complex items, I started making bed's foot using wood carefully assembled with sticks and planks. Albeit easy, this task was not cheap, and it diminished my wood reserve drastically, which I would have to replenish later chopping down trees.
The last part was to make blankets using the wool I've cruelly gathered from the sheep. Even without a spinning wheel, this was relatively easier than I thought, and I soon got 3 layers of fabric that I could assemble with the rest of the material to produce the long-awaited mattress.
Finally, after much tribulations, I got my own bed to sleep on, which made my deeply locked slumber broke free of its chains, and as the enticing and comfortable mattress called me, I dived in it, not even worrying about how will tomorrow turn out.
I closed my eyes for the first time, not even hearing the helpless cries originating from the village near me.