14 – The  jungle holds a temple, as predicted

“Here.” Tyla said, spreading a rolled parchment onto the short table next to the sofa.

Jacob examined the map. It featured the village at the center, and all around the forest was dotted with notes about anomalies and strange natural features. Ancient ruins and strange abandoned buildings also seemed to dot the area all around. All unexplored, so far as the elves knew.

“I was right, then.”

“You used to explore ruins back when you played?”

He looked at her for a moment. “Yeah, kind of. I think I might find what I’m looking for there.”

“Which is?”

“A recipe book.”

She chuckled. “For cooking?”

He snorted. “Yeah, sure.”

“I think I understand, though. To see how to use your strange grid to make more tools, right?”

After a few more pleasantries, he set off towards the edge of the village and into the forest. He was donning a full set of diamond armor now, and also had a diamond sword, a crossbow and a shield. He could not be more prepared with what he had at the moment, having basically late game vanilla gear.

His movements were, as usual, unhindered by the presence of the armor. He walked through the dense forest with a brisk pace, occasionally cutting the branches that were in the way with his sword or axe and storing them in his inventory. He had emptied it beforehand, so that he would not have storage issues.

“That Tyla, she knows too much for who she claims to be.” He mused, talking to himself while he walked. “I wonder who she is, and what is she doing here… also, she said that there were other people coming from far away places. Maybe there are some that come from Earth as well. How should I act, I wonder, if I were to meet one?”

After just a couple of hours of walking, Jacob arrived at the first spot that was highlighted as interesting on the map he had. He beat down an annoying branch, and took a deep breath while his eyes took in the view from his vantage point.

“A jungle temple.”

Gripping his sword and shield tightly, he made way towards the entrance of the temple. Its design was very reminiscent of the temples he found in Minecraft, although there were no blocks or strange geometries dictated by the lack of shapes of the game. Still, the feel was the same as the game, making him quite wary of what he could find inside.

There was no door, just a large passageway made of chiseled stone. Vines were growing from the cracks, dangling down the ceiling and into the dark hallway. Moss covered everything from the floor to the ceiling. The air was stuffy, and reeked of mold.

“Let’s go.” Jacob told himself, taking out torches and lighting up the area as he walked deeper inside.

At the end of the corridor, there was a large open space with a well at the center. The well was damaged, the wood having rotted away a long time ago and the water was of a sickly green. The bucket was rusty and damaged, half covered in soot at the bottom of the pond that had formed.

“This isn’t supposed to be here. But then again, neither should this temple be se similar to the one I know from the game, so I suppose it’s only fair.”

He went down the stairs. Some steps were chipped and slippery, the moss and molds covering everything here as well. If his hunch was correct, then his ability should have made it so he could find loot in here, like he did when he explored the ravines in Minecraft. And among the loot, maybe he could find the recipe book he was looking for.

A sound, coming from behind. He turned around, spinning on himself while preparing the shield and the crossbow. A large bolt, reinforced on a 4x4 table with an iron tip, was waiting to be fired.

The clang of bones. A skeleton appeared from behind a corner, shooting an arrow straight at him and taking him by surprise. The arrow hit the armor and bounced away harmlessly, but not without claiming half a heart of his health bar.

He let loose the bolt from his crossbow. It sped through the air, impacting against the bones of the skeleton and making them explode in splinters. It fell on its back, losing the bow and the few arrows it had in its skeletal hand. It rolled once, but then managed to find its bow again and nock another projectile.

Jacob was no longer in sight, though, and all the skeleton saw before its skull cracked was the blue streak of a sword coming from above.

Jacob felt like he could choose between game loot or leaving the corpse there. He chose the loot, curious about what he could get.

“Huh.” This was different than in Minecraft, and definitely handy for when he lost a few more hearts.

Thinking about it, his shoulder where he got it stung a little now. In the silence, he could hear more monsters below as well. He turned around.

“Not going there.”

He returned to the main room of the temple, and took out his pickaxe.

“Time to use my favorite treasure hunting method.” He said, and began to dismantle the very walls of the temple in search for treasure.