Walking on the familiar snow-covered trail that led to the lake, the weather was bitter cold with a chilling wind that cut through their clothes despite the hidden armor beneath.
Neil and his parents moved slowly through the deep snow while they talked, their breath forming small clouds in the frigid air.
As they trudged along the well-worn path, Neil heard his mother explain their daily water collection routine. "We have to go to the lake every day to collect water," Maya said, adjusting her woolen cloak against the wind.
"Sometimes it's my turn, sometimes it's your aunts'. We take turns so no one has to make this cold journey alone too often."
While listening to his mother's explanation about their water gathering system, Neil suddenly had an enlightening thought that made him pause mid-step. "Yeah, I can make an infinite water source!" The realization hit him like lightning.
Earlier, he didn't have enough iron to spare for such projects, but now everything was different. He had an abundant amount of iron sitting in his inventory, more than enough for any crafting project he could imagine.
With just two iron buckets, he could create an infinite water source near their house. It would be inside their defensive boundary, so they wouldn't have to worry about sudden attacks by wild animals or other threats while collecting water.
The convenience and safety benefits were enormous—no more dangerous daily trips to the frozen lake, no more exposure to harsh weather, and constant access to fresh water right at home.
Thinking this through more carefully, he decided to not only collect the gravel he originally came for but also to collect two buckets of water as well.
After walking for what felt like an hour through the snow-laden forest path, Neil and his parents finally reached the lake.
The entire surface was covered with a pristine white sheet of snow and ice, creating an almost magical winter landscape.
The lake stretched out before them, its edges marked by frost-covered reeds and snow-heavy branches that dipped toward the frozen surface.
After reaching their usual spot near the shore, his mother Maya pointed at a familiar area where the snow had been broken and cleared away, revealing the dark water beneath.
"Neil, can you take out the bucket?" she asked, her voice slightly muffled by the scarf wrapped around her face. "I'll go collect some water from our usual spot."
"Okay, Mother," Neil replied promptly. Without hesitation, he accessed his inventory interface and retrieved a wooden bucket, making it materialize in his hands with the ease .
Seeing the bucket appear seemingly from thin air, Maya took it effortlessly and moved toward the place they usually used to collect water.
Even after all this time, the family still found Neil's inventory ability convenient, though they'd long stopped marveling at the magic of it.
Seeing his mother head toward the water collection point, his father Anil followed to help her navigate the slippery, snow-covered rocks and provide assistance with the heavy bucket.
The shore could be treacherous with its combination of ice, snow, and wet stones.
Neil walked alongside them while discretely opening his inventory interface and moving six iron ingots from page 5 to his quick-access inventory slots.
With practiced efficiency, he then opened his crafting interface and used the six iron ingots to craft two iron buckets. The familiar crafting process took only moments, and soon he had two pristine iron buckets ready for use.
After reaching the hole they had previously dug to access the unfrozen water beneath the ice, his mother, with the assistance of his father, carefully filled the wooden bucket. The water was crystal clear but numbingly cold, and steam rose from it as it met the frigid air.
"Neil, can you put the wooden bucket back in your inventory?" Maya said, looking up at him as he approached their position. "It's getting heavy, and we don't want to spill it on the way back."
He immediately complied with her request, making the filled bucket disappear into his dimensional storage. But then, to their surprise, he also took out the two iron buckets he had just crafted, their metal surfaces gleaming even in the overcast winter light.
Seeing Neil put away the wooden bucket efficiently, both his parents got up from their crouched positions beside the water.
However, seeing Neil suddenly produce a bucket made entirely of iron, his mother's eyes widened with concern. "Hey, Neil, you can't use iron for a bucket like that!"
she said, somewhat distressed by what she perceived as wastefulness. "Iron is too valuable for such mundane purposes. If you wanted a bucket, we could have made a wooden one for you."
Hearing his mother's worried protest, Neil smiled mysteriously and said with confidence, "Mother, you don't know what this bucket can do. Just wait—you'll find out in the future what makes it special."
Hearing Neil's cryptic words and seeing his confident expression, Maya thought about all the miraculous things he had crafted and accomplished in the past.
His iron armor, his storage barrel, his incredible tools—everything he made seemed to have purposes beyond the obvious.
So she decided to trust his judgment and wait for him to reveal whatever new miracle these iron buckets would demonstrate.
Neil then carefully filled both of his iron buckets with the clear, cold lake water and stored them safely in his inventory, completing the first part of his mission.
Seeing that Neil had finished his water collection work as well, his mother asked with curiosity, "Neil, what exactly are you looking for here? You mentioned needing something specific."
"Mother, I'm looking for gravel," Neil replied honestly. "So, can we look around the lake to find some? I need it for crafting purposes."
Hearing Neil's straightforward request, both of his parents readily agreed and decided to walk around the lake's perimeter.
Later, they were all roaming around the lake's shore, carefully stepping through the snow while scanning for anything unusual. Neil kept his eyes peeled for the any signs of gravel deposits beneath the snow cover.
Suddenly, his attention was caught by something different—his eyes fixed on a distinctly gray surface that contrasted sharply with the surrounding pristine white snow.
Seeing Neil stop abruptly and stare intently at the ground, his father followed his gaze and pointed in the direction Neil was looking. "Let's go over there and investigate," Anil suggested.
When they reached that particular spot and brushed away some of the snow, they discovered that it was indeed a substantial gravel deposit hidden beneath the snow covering.
Seeing the gravel deposit confirmed, Neil told his parents, "Please wait nearby while I mine the gravel. I have the proper tools for this."
Hearing Neil's suggestion, they agreed and said, "Okay, Neil, you can do your work efficiently. We'll wait nearby while keeping watch for any wild animals that might be drawn to the activity."
Neil nodded appreciatively while walking toward the spot where he had identified the gravel deposit. His parents found a relatively dry spot to sit on the snow, positioning themselves to maintain a clear view of the surrounding area.
Neil reached the gravel location and retrieved his iron shovel from his inventory. He began mining systematically, each block he mined representing roughly a cubic meter of material.
The iron shovel made quick work of the gravel, and it didn't take long before he had mined all the accessible gravel in the surrounding area.
Seeing no more gravel deposits around him, he stopped his mining operation and accessed his inventory to see the collection results.
Opening his inventory interface, he was pleased to see that he had successfully collected 16 units of gravel—more than enough for his immediate crafting needs and some extra for future projects.
Satisfied with his haul, he used dirt from his inventory to carefully fill the excavation site, leaving the area looking natural and undisturbed.
Seeing Neil emerge from his work area and approach them, his mother asked, "Neil, have you collected enough gravel for your purposes? If so, then we should start heading back. It's getting close to lunch time, and I need to help prepare the meal."
"Yes, Mother, I have collected more than enough for now," Neil replied, genuinely satisfied with his successful resource gathering.
Then he added, with just a hint of caution in his voice, "But can we look around the lake area a little more to see if we might find something else useful?"
Hearing his request, Maya looked at him with sharp, knowing eyes. "Oh, so you did intend to explore the surroundings beyond just collecting gravel."
"No, Mother," Neil hurriedly explained, his words tumbling out in his eagerness to avoid trouble. "I just want to spend some quality time together with you both. After all, we never have many chances to go out together as a family like this."
Hearing Neil's explanation, even though Maya suspected he was trying to save himself from her suspicion, she found herself wondering who had taught him to be such a smooth talker.
His earnest expression and reasonable explanation melted her resistance. So she said with an indulgent smile, "Okay, okay, you win this round. Let's walk around the lake a little longer, but we're not going too far from this area."
Hearing her agreement, Neil nodded with barely contained excitement, grateful for the opportunity to explore further.
Then they began walking around the lake's perimeter, their footsteps in the snow creating a clear trail behind them.
With his parents flanking him on either side and him walking in the middle, Neil felt like they were on a family vacation rather than a resource-gathering mission.
The peaceful atmosphere and quality time with his parents made even the cold weather seem less harsh.
But to his disappointment, despite their thorough exploration of the accessible shoreline, he didn't find any other useful resources or interesting materials.
The lake had yielded its gravel treasure, but nothing else revealed itself during their search.
Seeing the sun climbing higher in the sky and noting the advancing time, his mother finally called an end to their exploration. "Okay, Neil, now we really do have to return home. It's time for me to start preparing lunch, and the others will be expecting us back."
Hearing his mother's reminder, Neil, though feeling slightly disappointed that he hadn't discovered any additional resources, agreed to return home with them.
The gravel and water he had collected would serve his purposes well, and the family time had been valuable in its own right.
Soon they were retracing their steps along the familiar snowy path back to their home.
It didn't take long before they reached their house, but by then it was already noon. The sun had reached its peak, which made the area noticeably less frigid than it had been during their early morning departure.
Seeing them return safely, his aunt opened the iron door from inside, welcoming them back to the warmth and security of home.
Going inside, Neil immediately noticed that everyone remaining at home was busy with various tasks.
His grandmother was methodically cutting vegetables and preparing meat for the afternoon meal, while his grandfather sat alongside her, offering assistance and keeping her company during the food preparation.
Seeing all three of them return safely, especially Neil, the family members at home felt a wave of relief wash over them.
His mother then asked him to retrieve the water bucket from his inventory, which he promptly did.
Maya took the wooden bucket to the kitchen area to contribute the fresh water to their daily supplies, leaving Neil and his father behind in the main living area.
Having nothing urgent to do, both Neil and his father joined his grandparents around the stone table where the food preparation was taking place.
While sitting at the familiar stone table and watching his grandparents work, Neil found his mind wandering to thoughts about where he should construct an infinite water source.
The problem was immediately apparent—he couldn't identify any available empty space anywhere inside their current house layout.
After considering various possibilities and thinking through the spatial constraints, he decided to accelerate his stone mining operations and collect substantial quantities of stone.
This would allow him to build an underground hall directly beneath their existing house, a project he had been contemplating for some time.
In this new underground space, he would install the infinite water source, ensuring that his family would never again need to make dangerous trips outside for water collection. The convenience and safety benefits would be enormous.
While thinking about the underground hall project, Neil remembered that he had also planned to create an underground farm and connect it to the hall, along with dedicated storage space and his own workshop.
The workshop would house his working benches, including furnaces, different tables, and the stonecutter as well .
As his planning continued, he decided that he would also construct a new room underground . In this room, he would try to create at least a proper bath, if not a complete toilet facility.
Currently, everyone in the family had to venture outside to the crude wooden shelter near their house boundary whenever nature called—hardly an ideal situation, especially during harsh weather.
After extensive mental planning and consideration of all these improvement projects, he decided that he would begin his intensive mining operations immediately after dinner. The stone he collected would form the foundation for all these quality-of-life improvements.
Soon the midday meal was ready, though not everyone was present to share it together.
His uncles and cousins were still out on their respective expeditions, carrying packed lunches with them to avoid wasting time returning home and then departing again for their activities.
To avoid any delays in the afternoon's planned activities, everyone quickly finished their meal.
Neil then announced to his family members that he intended to go to the mountain range for stone mining .
Everyone expressed minimal concern about his solo expedition, as he had made this journey many times before and now possessed iron armor for protection. His proven track record and improved equipment gave them confidence in his safety.
With family approval secured, Neil left the warm security of their home and began walking along the snowy road that led toward the mountain range, his footsteps leaving a clear trail in the snow as he embarked on his ambitious mining mission.