The morning air was crisp and filled with the cheerful sounds of the family preparing breakfast. A shared joy bubbled amongst them, a direct result of the good sleep they had in their new rooms.
After breakfast, as they moved towards the main doorway to head outside, a familiar inconvenience arose. The stone block floor meant a significant one-meter drop to the ground, making it awkward to get down, and equally difficult to climb back up. Earlier, Uncle Kael had placed a sturdy wood log to serve as a makeshift stool, but Neil decided a better way was needed. He resolved to mine stone and make proper stairs to solve the problem.
With that in mind Neil set off towards the cave with Uncle Rhys. Uncle Rhys planned to explore deeper into the mountain while Neil went into the cave to mine stone. At the cave mouth, they parted ways to begin their work.
As Neil began to hit the cave walls with his iron pickaxe. Soon enough he get thirty stone blocks, he thought about how to make stairs.
He knew that using six stone blocks would give him four stairs. So, with all thirty stone blocks, he made a total of twenty stone stairs.Later he started digging downwards, placing the stone stairs as he went, creating a stepped descent.
(If one block is like one meter, Neil went about twenty meters down while placing the stairs.)
when he reach the bottom, It became very dark making it difficult to see anymore, Neil decided to head back towards the cave entrance.
Once closer to the surface, Neil decided to try strip mining to look for coal. Every two meters along the side of his initial stairwell, he started digging straight tunnels.
In one of these tunnels, he found coal, getting fifteen pieces. He mentally transferred the 15 coal to the third page, third slot of his inventory. Then, he thought about how to make torches: one piece of coal and one stick make four torches. He used one coal (leaving fourteen on the third page, third slot) and one stick (leaving eighty-five). He instinctively held one torch in his other hand, making the darkness go away, and put the remaining three torches into his shortcut bar.
After getting a permanent light source ,He kept strip mining, extending each tunnel about eight blocks long and keeping a space of two blocks above. He also strip-mined at the sides of the bottom of his initial stairwell.
Just as he was busy, Uncle Rhys called from the cave entrance. That it was afternoon, time to go home.
Neil came out of the cave, having gathered a total of one hundred and fifty stone blocks. He also found sixteen more pieces of coal during his strip mining, making thirty in total (now on the third page, third slot).
With that ,He decided to check his inventory and saw one hundred stone on the third page, first slot; fifty stone on the third page, second slot; and thirty coal on the third page, third slot. He put the torch back where he could easily grab it.
Then he met Uncle Rhys, and they walked back home.
When they got back, Neil thought about the fifty stone blocks he had on the third page, second slot. He knew that using six stone blocks would make four stairs. So, he used six stone blocks at a time and made a total of four stairs (leaving forty-four stone blocks on the third page, second slot). He carried the new stairs to the main door. Carefully, he placed two stairs directly in front of the door and two more on their side to make it a curve making it easier to move in and out. His grandmother looking at stairs looked relieved and thanked him. "Oh, Neil, this is so much better! It was hard for me to step down before."
Afterwards, the family ate a small meal, feeling tired from the day's efforts. After resting for a while, Neil went to the forest with Lyra. While Lyra looked for her usual herbs and fruits, Neil used his stone axe to cut down some oak trees. By evening, they returned home with twenty oak wood blocks.
As it got dark, everyone came back. Neil thought about making more light. He used four pieces of coal and four sticks to make sixteen more torches, adding to the four he had previously made, making twenty torches in total.
He started putting the torches around the house. Four in the corners of the kitchen, two in each corner of the rooms (total sixteen torches), and four in the corners of the open area.With this the house was filled with a steady light.
Everyone was amazed by the sudden brightness. While some of the adults were concerned, wondering if Neil would have to replace the torches every day. Neil reassured them, explaining that the torches would last indefinitely and did not burn hand at touch, though they would feel warm to the touch.
With darkness gone from their house.
Making dinner was now much easier. Before, they all had to gather near the single lamp or light a fire in the kitchen to see. Now, the steady light helped a lot. Her mother and all the women were very happy.
Later they ate dinner in the bright central area, able to walk around easily even when it was dark outside. After sometime , when they went to their shared room, Lyra, feeling braver with the light, started telling another ghost story. Soon, the soft glow of the torches helped them fall asleep.