31 – Nether testing, foul air amiss, bad feelings overall

“Onto the important things now.”

He was in one of the many underground rooms of his tower. Above him, two more underground levels separated him from the ground floor. One of those levels was a long corridor connecting the tower with the underground entry room to the floating island, while the other level was a large storage room.

He placed down two buckets of water, creating an infinite source. Then, one by one, he emptied the many lava buckets in carefully selected location. After he was done, a large square ring of obsidian, massive and eerie, towered above him.

It was time. Slowly, he took out the flint and steel from his inventory, and right clicked.

A loud booming noise, then the rushing of air, as violet motes of light coalesced into the liquid and morphing matter of the portal. It stood there, suspended in the air inside the obsidian ring, like a stargate.

An eerie noise filled the room, the pulsing rhythm coming from hell itself. A nether portal. The nether portal. It worked.

He stepped in.

Loading personal dimension: The Nether.

He landed just next to the twin portal inside the nether. All around, what he saw was exactly the same as it would have been if he saw it through a computer screen.

The landscape was made of blocks. Lava flowed in angular rivers. Pixelated mobs populated the netherrack plains and swan in the pools of lava. The air was flavorless and flat.

He was in the game now. No real physics here, only Minecraft.

He stepped into the portal again, to return to the real world.

Unloading personal dimension: Nether.

Dimensional travel detected; target point is World#8472

Integration status: 50%

Conditions met. Upgrading integration.

Integration 100%

He appeared in the real world again, and was so happy to see that things were back to normal. Just a few minutes staring at pixels as large as his hand made him appreciate the real quality of the world that much more.

He breathed in the real air. It was stale, it smelled of stone and dampness, but it was real. And it felt good.

But after he adjusted, he had to come to terms with that he read in those last messages. Whatever was the source of his ability had made use of his dimensional jump to complete its integration into the world ahead of time. Then, if his theories were correct, he should not expect to see many more differences in the way things worked.

He was no longer in his little world, removed from the far larger universe. He was now a part of it, and he would have to deal with it.

Still, the nether was proven to exist. Not only that, but it existed solely as a Minecraft world, just like he remembered it. While this meant that it would be unpleasant, it also meant that he could make use of it much more easily. From the fact that he would not combust due to the temperature, to the fact that he would not die immediately after breathing in the toxic fumes, there was also the fact that he could rush for a fortress and fight the mobs there without fear of pain. He only had to pay attention to his health and not die.

He smirked. “Easy peasy.”

Lumia was pacing around, enjoying the slight breeze under the shade of one of the large trees. It was by far the biggest one, and there was a branch that felt so much like the branch where Jacob sat back on her old treehouse. So much happened since then, so much changed. She changed too, she thought with a smile. She was happy now.

Well, she was also a little bit mad.

“That blockhead. He said he wasn’t going to hole up in his tower anymore, and then he went and did exactly that!” She muttered, legs swinging back and forth.

Her pale skin was milky and smooth, an ever-present reminder of the effect having him in her life brought to her. She, among all the other elves, was the one who was changed the most by her new race. Perhaps it was the closeness to Jacob, and she liked to think that his apparent lack of interest she at least held a special place in his heart.

She didn’t need him to love her, no. She just wanted him to acknowledge her. To tell her she was useful. For the first time in forever, in fact, she felt like she was. Ever since coming up here, and founding Avalon, not once did her mind wander back to training with bows and swords. It was not her path, and she cursed herself for not seeing it sooner.

She glanced back at the grey tower. The projects for the town, made by Gyhlot, were grand. And they included that tower, grey and dark, as the centerpiece around which the White city would be built. The tallest of towers, impressive at its 250 meters, and imposing like the fortification of a forgotten ruin.

The home of their savior.