POV: Undying Flame

We finally arrived at the portal location, it was covered in a block that I haven't seen in my entire life, it had a similar texture to the netherrack but with a grey color.

Once we got inside I could finally see the portal that connected the two worlds. It was made with the hardest materials you can find in both worlds.

Obsidian

We looked to the other side and saw only a gray wall. Bobby explained that it was a stone wall, since the portal was built underground for safety reasons, it was interesting to see what another world looked like, even if what I saw was limited.

Once they left to do their business, we also started to work on ours.

While I could see that cobblestone is more resistant than netherrock, it wasn't blending with the environment. We would like to hide this portal as best as possible.

So for the next few hours, we made the cobblestone base into a normal netherrock hill with a hidden entrance.

We then rested and ate something while looking at the portal. Now it was testing time.

The Trader or how I liked to call him the Explorer, told me that we would turn into monsters if we tried to cross over their world. This makes me think that he's lying, since they still could cross into our world without problems.

Or he's scared that will attack his base. And I wouldn't do that, especially from someone that we requested help.

But even with all of that, I would like to go and see if what he told me was the truth.

"Vine! go to the other side of the portal. But if you feel any sudden change in your body come back quickly. "

The man nodded at my command and went over to the other side without fear or objection.

For the first few seconds nothing happened, Vine just looked around the portal room with curiosity, but not too long after he suddenly stopped and grabbed his chest in pain.

He tried to get back, but he was in too much pain and just lay down in the fetal position. I started to panic and went to the other side to grab him and get him back through the portal.

After a few minutes of trembling, he started to get back to normal.

"So he wasn't trying to scare us when he said that we can't cross the portal."

I gave some food to Vine to recover faster and decided to not speak about this to our helpers.

For the next few days, the Explorer came from time to time, to give us some strange food like bread, and apples. They were very different from the mushroom stew or strider milk we made at home, but they were still very good in their own way.

He also gave us the first set of iron armor with shields and weapons. And I could feel their defense was way above the golden armor, but It didn't give a cooling effect like gold, unfortunately, so we have to equip the new armor when well drink some striders milk to get the fire resistance buff, or just tank the heat, which was not desirable.

He also gave us some iron pickaxes to mine around the base and design to our liking. The pickaxe was fast as gold and more resistant than wood. It was a godly tool to have in any situation, no wonder the outsiders had so many resources when they attacked us.

And as the days passed we kept progressing with the iron gathering, soon well start the crafting session.

Then finally prepare for the battle.

POV: Bobby

I went down to the mine to get the gold and iron from the chests, Toby would be very surprised when he'll see those riches.

Just thinking about his reaction puts a smile on my face.

"Maybe this is how Trader feels when he's scheming something."

After I took everything that I needed, I decided to go straight towards the neighboring village.

And to finish this mission faster I decided to use some speed options on myself.

With the additional boost, I arrived at the village in just two hours, which was a new record for me.

I then went straight to my friend's house and knocked on his door. And I didn't have to wait for too long before it was opened.

"I'm sorry if I'm mistaken, but I think it's too early to collect the taxes, sir."

He looked at me with suspicion, but still exerted the aura of the head of the village.

"What are you talking about Toby, it's me, Bobby."

A look of surprise appeared on his face, he looked at me from top to bottom just to be sure that he was seeing right.

"Bobby! I didn't recognize you in that armor, how did you even manage to get one?"

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"It was a gift from my new friend."

"Ha, I also want friends like that. Come inside and tell me everything, looks like you've done a lot since your last visit."

I then entered the house and sat down at the usual table. We talked about the progress in the village, about how a wandering trader managed to change everything that I know in just a few weeks.

He also gave me this armor as a gift and brought a guardian for the village in case I was gone.

"Bobby... are you hearing yourself? You sound like you're describing a dream. Did you sleep well those days? Did you have too much pie from the pumpkins I gave you last time?"

"I know it sounds crazy, even I only half believe myself, and I went through all of those experiences. But you can't deny the proof in front of you, how else can you explain the iron armor."

He looked suspicious at my armor but nodded his head in understanding.

"I guess that's true... just be careful then, if something is too good to be true, then probably is too good to be true. So why did you decide to visit me today, I don't think you wanted to only show off your new armor."

I then told him the reason that I came. I told him that I needed his horse to impersonate an arrogant noble, to get into the city without being checked out, and finally to buy a fortune book.

He listened until the end, and even though he said it was a crazy idea it was not an impossible one. He decided to let me borrow the horse to get there faster and to help me impersonate better.

I thanked him and said that I'll leave right away to get things done as quickly as possible.

Toby was surprised by my rush, but he still lead me to his stable, to his horse, and even gave me some wheat to feed the horse on the road.

I thanked him again and got on the horse. But before I left, I dropped him 30 iron ingots and ran as quickly as the horse could so I wouldn't hear his protest.

The journey lasted around a day before I arrived at one of the big cities. There was already a line of people waiting to get in, but I decided to completely ignore them and speed up toward the guards.

One of them wanted to stop me, but another guard held him before he got too close. I then quickly passed by them and dropped a few emeralds without looking back.

"I can't believe that actually worked."

My chest was still pounding from the adrenaline rush of doing something wrong.

I went to an inn and decided to sleep there since it was starting to get late already.

The room was a bit expensive for me, but I decided to do it anyway since it had a stable, and I still had to keep up my facade of a rich person, plus it was only for one night.

The night went without a hitch, but as soon as I finished my breakfast I went to the auction house.

While an auction house usually does auctions with rare items, they only do that once a month, and the rest of the days they sell semi-rare items like a normal shop.

I went into the big building, it was beautifully made with quartz block and birch wood, there were some small pillars with item frames as expositions, and in them was an enchanted iron sword, a golden apple, and even a name tag.

"Hello there sir, how can I help you?"

A nice lady came to me with smiling.

"A yes, I'm looking for a gift for my father's birthday, I want something special, so I thought he'll love an enchanted book. Preferably one with fortune."

"That's a great idea, sir! We have a level 1, 2, and 3, which one would you like?"

"Hmm, I want the best for my father, so a level 3 of course!"

"That's wonderful, it would be 160 emeralds, good sir."

" I don't have that much change on me right now, can I use other items for this transaction?"

"Uhhh... I'll have to get my boss for this."

She then went to the back, and after a few minutes came back accompanied by an old man with a beard, strong arms and healthy looking.

"Good sir, from what I understood, you want to purchase an item with a different currency than emeralds."

I just rolled my eyes like I was annoyed.

"Yes, you understood right."

"What would you like to use good sir?"

"Gold."

And then I took an ingot from my inventory to show it to them.

Both of their eyes went wide in shock at the golden color in my hand.

"G-good sir, may I ask where are you from?"

"You may not, now can I use them or do I have to go to a different shop?"

"No no, you can use them, it would be around 36 gold ingots, but I'll give it to you at 34 ingots for showing such an embarrassing moment."

I nodded at that insane price like it was nothing, but internally I was bleeding just from hearing that number. Fortunately, I had enough to buy it, so I didn't get to embarrass myself.

Once I gave them the gold, they quickly got me the book, and then I run straight to my horse to get out of this city.

I took a different route on my way home, in case someone was following me, so I arrived at my friend's place two days later at night.

I knocked at his door, and he let me in to sleep for the night.

The next day after he told me a grumbled thanks from the iron, I left for my village at a slow pace, there was no reason to be in a hurry anymore.

After half a day I finally arrived and went straight into the mine where I was sure to find the Trader. And after a quick shout, he immediately proved my point.

He was very happy and impressed that I managed to get such a high leveled one. Which made me a bit embarrassed, until I remembered the price that I had to pay. But as usual, he didn't seem bothered by it.

He then put the enchantment on the pickaxe and went to test the new tool on some iron, only to be stopped by a high-pitched scream.

It was the scream of a child. In this village, there wasn't even a woman, let alone a child.

We both started to look at each other, then ran to the surface.

POV: A little girl

It was a normal day, dad was busy helping the villagers, while mom was talking with the other moms in the village.

But everything changed when uncle Bobby came again to visit us. Last time he wanted some pumpkins for his own garden, I hope he knows how to make a good pie as Mom does.

I was bored in my room, so I listened to the adults talk from the staircase. And I heard amazing tales from uncle Bobby.

His village had tall walls like the ones from the big city, he also had a secret guardian to protect his village while he was away.

It was amazing to listen to his stories, but unfortunately, he had to leave soon.

I tried to ask dad if I could visit the village and see the big walls with the legendary guardian. But he was too busy playing with the gift he got from uncle Bobby to pay attention to my request.

So I went back to my room, mad, and hid under the covers.

But two days later, almost at night, uncle Bobby came back with the horse, happier than ever.

It was too late to get back to his village so he decided to spend the night here.

Then I decided to be a sneaky fox. The next day when he left, I took some bread and pie with me and followed uncle Bobby to his village.

The sun was up, so there were no monsters on the way, and uncle seemed too happy to notice me following him.

But after a tiring journey, we finally arrived, it was good, because I was starting to get scared and almost went to him.

Once we arrived, I was shocked by what I saw. There was a tall wall made with wood and planks, it looked even prettier than the city walls, the gate was big and had fenced gates, which looked nice.

Uncle run somewhere else, but I was big enough to explore the village alone.

"I can't wait to see the guardian. I wonder if it's a dog or a cat."

I then happily jumped towards the center of the village. But suddenly something came out from the corner of the house that made me stop.

It was a tall white shiny creature, it was the biggest thing that I had ever seen. I started to get scared, my legs froze in fear, and the monster looked its eyes into mine and started to come towards me.

I got more scared, and when he reached his arm to me I started to scream and cry while calling for my parents.