Trials Make the Man

Time passed in the Nether without daylight to separate the days, but Roman used his body's sleep schedule to track the days. By this method, he knew a few years had passed since he arrived here. He stood on top of a jutting Netherrack rock, with his hair blowing from the lava's heat below him. He looked completely different than when he first arrived.

His body had muscles and definition that would make Minecraft Steve jealous. His eyes no longer held the nervous and uncertain eyes of a young man. Instead, he now had a stronger look in his eyes. He wore a simply made wood armor made from the trees of the [Warped Forest] along with a single bracelet made of gold on his arm. Behind him was a two-story house he built on his own with sweat and earth magic. Surrounding him was the [Warped Forest] biome he had settled in, filled with twisted dark green vines and dark wooded trees.

Roman recalled all the challenges he had faced so far.

He had descended the cliff face, crossed the lava-filled lower floors, and fought against the 'zombified piglin' whenever he encountered them. He ran from gasts and creatures he had never seen in Minecraft before. He found a place to survive, he found the piglin, and made his current home on his own. He 'negotiated' with the piglin for supplies and food, as they were semi-sentient and could say a few words of conversation. 

He rubbed the gold bracelet on his wrist unconsciously as he recalled his first meeting with them. They were ruthless in attacking him, once they didn't find him wearing any gold. From what he could understand from their sparsely legible words, they thought he was there to either steal their gold or kill them like the zombified piglin. Therefore, he was attacked on sight.

The gold in itself seemed to act as an identifier of sorts for the piglin. Their thought processes were very VERY simple.

You don't have gold? Then you must be dead!

You're not dead? You must want my gold!

It was an interesting discovery for him how simple these guys were.

This misunderstanding was rectified by him only when he managed to melt down some natural gold here into a bracelet for himself to wear. He kept it visibly on him so the piglin could see it, and they treated him completely differently. He was treated as if he was one of them and unless he outright violently started attacking them, they would even trade 'useless items' with him for any gold just like how they did in Minecraft. He spent the majority of his time killing any nearby zombified piglin that got too close to his home or looking for gold and trading.

He even managed to trade for a unique material from them [Eye of Ender], which surprised him a lot. 

Today was the day Roman had planned to set off to explore the [Nether Fortress] in the east. He had known about it for a long time, but he didn't think he was ready to face what might lie inside. Considering that he had already encountered some creatures that were not a part of Minecraft before, he developed a necessary cautious attitude. 

Now, after around 2 years of hunting the weak 'zombified piglin' surrounding his home, he felt he was finally ready to challenge the [Nether Fortress].

{

Name: Roman

Class: Key Hero LV21 (120/1200) 

Equipment: Key (Legendary), Warped Wood Armor (Common), Gold Bracelet (Rare)

Skills: [Fire Resistance LV MAX ], [Disease Resistance LV MAX], [Thermal Sustanace LV MAX], [Mana Flow LV MAX], [Architecture LV 2], [Negotiation LV 3], [Cooking LV 2], [Mental Fortress LV MAX], [Mining LV MAX], [Jewelrycraft LV MAX]

Magic: [Create Water LV MAX], [Move Earth LV MAX], [Light Fire LV 2]

HP: 400

MP: 450

Attack Power: (12) => 32

STR: (10) => 30

DEF: (11) => 21

M.DEF: 40

AGI: (12) => 47

STA: (10) => 40

INT: (10) => 45

}

{

Mental Fortress LV MAX

Resist mental decay, loneliness, boredom, and general side effects of isolation to a high degree.

}

"Change Key, [Obsidian Key]" Roman spoke.

The key in his hand changed into a small cane-like pike made of black obsidian. It had thick metal chains attached to the loop at the top of the cane, which dangled downwards. Of all the gains since he had been here, this was by far, the most important factor in his decision to challenge the [Nether Fortress]. This key form was unlocked when he reached level 20 and fed the key obsidian he had gotten from a piglin trade.

{

Key Form: [Obsidian Key]

Equip Bonus: Skill [Black Chains]

Special Equip Effect: attack power 3

}

This key form came with a special skill, [Black Chains], which would root an enemy for a few seconds to the ground. It was a perfect crowd control and escape tool that would let him flee quickly if he encountered something far beyond him in the fortress. This along with his somewhat unfair magic defense stat, he was certain he could survive any magical surprises or ambushes that might occur.

It was also longer than his beloved [Rack Key] he had used throughout the years as it extended down far enough that he could use it as a walking cane. It didn't have the jagged spikes that [Rack Key] did and it was more of a smooth pike than anything else, but due to the System's peculiarity in 'attack power', his damage changed from piercing and shredding to bludgeoning and would remain mostly unaffected.

He could take down a zombified piglin in only 2 strikes now and the [Obsidian Key] extends his reach to be no different than a shortsword. 

(AN: A diamond sword takes 4-5 hits in Minecraft.)

Roman gazed at the Nether Fortress in the distance and started walking in its direction. He planned to investigate it, map out the interior, and slowly clear out the monsters as he made his way inside. He took a bit of bacon jerky from his 'snack pack' on his belt and began humming the notes to "You're the best", by Joe Esposito.

"You're the best, around! Nobody's gonna keep ya down!~"