Unknown Known World

As we walked through the Barbarian village, I kept flipping through the book the old Barbarian had given us. I had expected to find a few more details about the Nether, maybe some hidden gems or tips about surviving here, but what I found instead were new mobs—ones that hadn't existed in the game. Wither Knights, Ghast Riders, and even Obsidian Golems. I showed the book to Peter and Megumi, who leaned in to read the entries with wide eyes.

"Wait, Wither Knights in Netherite armor?" Peter sounded almost disbelieving. "This wasn't in the original game at all."

"Nope." I nodded. "And Ghast Riders too. Wither Skeletons riding Ghasts and shooting arrows at you. As if Ghasts weren't annoying enough."

Megumi shook her head, looking troubled. "How are we supposed to deal with that? And Obsidian Golems? The description says they're like iron golems, but ten times stronger."

"I know." I flipped to the next page, which had a drawing of a massive Obsidian Golem. "The book says they drop Crying Obsidian if you kill one, but… ten times the health of an iron golem? That's ridiculous."

Bruce, who had been walking a little behind us, noticed the expressions on our faces and raised an eyebrow. "What's going on? You three look concerned."

"New mobs," I said, holding up the book so he could see the sketch of the Obsidian Golem. "Mobs that didn't exist before. Wither Knights with Netherite armor, Ghast Riders, and these guys, Obsidian Golems."

Bruce frowned. "Netherite armor? That's rare in this world isin't it. How strong are these things?"

"The drop rate is extremely low," I explained. "But they're much tougher than anything we've faced so far. We need to be more careful in the Nether than we thought."

Bruce let out a low whistle. "So, we're going to have to take it slow."

"Pretty much," I said, closing the book. "Let's just focus on trading for now. We'll cross the Wither Knight bridge when we get to it."

We finally reached the goldsmith's workshop. It was a modest building compared to some of the others in the village, made out of a mix of Crimson Stem wood and Nether bricks. Inside, various gold items were displayed—tools, armor, even some intricately designed jewelry. The goldsmith, a burly Barbarian with a short beard and calloused hands, was behind the counter, inspecting what looked like a golden chestplate.

He looked up when we approached and gave a grunt. "Overworlders, huh? What you got?"

I pulled out the gold we had found in the pyramid and placed it on the counter. "We want to trade."

He reached out, his thick fingers grabbing one of the ingots. He examined it closely, then nodded. "Good quality. Overworld gold, huh?"

"Isn't it all the same?" I asked. "Gold is gold, right?"

The goldsmith gave a low chuckle and shook his head. "Not all gold same. Nether gold, you find ore—break it down, only nuggets. Overworld gold... after smelting direct ingot. Better quality."

I raised an eyebrow. "You're saying the gold from the Nether isn't as good as Overworld gold?"

"Not same quality," he replied simply. "Overworld gold… no mix. Pure ingot."

That piqued my interest. I turned to Peter. "Hand me one of the gold ingots you got from the pyramid."

Peter fished into his bag and pulled out a single gold ingot, handing it over. I inspected it for a moment before an idea came to me.

Using my Herrscher abilities, I created an ingot out of thin air. I held it up for the goldsmith to inspect. "How's this one?"

The goldsmith's eyes widened in surprise as he took the ingot from me, turning it over in his hands. After a long pause, he nodded. "Same Overworld gold. Good quality."

I grinned and began to create more ingots, one after another, until we had enough to trade for what we needed. Others exchanged glances but kept quiet for the moment. The goldsmith, on the other hand, didn't seem too bothered by the fact that I was literally creating gold out of nothing. He simply continued the trade as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

We traded the gold for a variety of items—ender pearls, fireballs, and even a pair of Soul Speed iron boots that Peter seemed particularly excited about. Once the trade was finished, the goldsmith waved us off, and we were escorted out of the village by a group of Hunter Barbarians.

As we walked, Peter finally broke the silence. "Alright, how did you do that? The gold thing."

Megumi chimed in as well. "Yeah, you just created those ingots—you literally made them appear out of nowhere."

I had known this conversation was coming, but I wasn't too worried about it. There wasn't much point in keeping certain abilities hidden from them now. We were in a different world, and it wasn't like they were going to go back to my world and reveal my secrets. Besides, it was only a matter of time before my powers would be revealed on a mission anyway.

"It's part of my abilities," I said casually. "I have the power of a Shinigami and a Herrscher. Herrscher is a being who can bend physical laws and my power allows me to create anything as long as I understands it. That's how I made the gold."

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "So you can just... create stuff out of thin air? How does that even work?"

I shrugged. "It's kind of like alchemy, but on a much bigger scale. I can manipulate energy and matter to create objects, like gold or weapons. It's part of the power I got from someone."

Tatsumaki looked thoughtful. "That's the Herrscher part. But what about your other abilities? You mentioned something about being a Shinigami?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that's the other half of my powers. A Shinigami is basically a death god. I have enhanced spiritual abilities, and I can manipulate spiritual energy. It's more focused on combat, though."

Peter looked impressed. "So, you're not just a normal guy walking around with a sword, huh? You're packing some serious firepower."

I chuckled. "Something like that. But I don't use these abilities unless I really have to. It's easier to get by without relying on them all the time."

Bruce seemed deep in thought for a moment before he spoke again. "So, these powers... they're yours? You weren't born with them, but you got them somehow, right?"

I hesitated for a moment, choosing my words carefully. "I wasn't born with them, no. I acquired them over time, through... different experiences. But they're mine now."

I wasn't going to explain the Gacha system or the Templates. That part of my journey didn't need to be shared. Welt's and Aizen's powers were mine now, as far as they were concerned, and that was all that mattered.

We reached the portal and crossed back into the Overworld, where the air felt cooler and more refreshing compared to the oppressive heat of the Nether. The sun was setting, casting a warm orange glow over the pyramid as we made our way back inside.

Everyone seemed exhausted, and it wasn't long before they started settling down on the beds we had brought with us. I noticed Peter still looked like he had a million questions, but he was too tired to ask any of them.

As we lay down for the night, Rose turned to me with a thoughtful expression. "You know, it's kind of crazy. Even though we've been through so much already, it feels like we're still just scratching the surface of this world."

I nodded. "Yeah. There's always something new to discover, even in places we thought we knew everything about."

Hinata smiled softly. "I'm glad we're all in this together."

Megumi chuckled from his bed. "Well, as long as we don't run into any Wither Knights, I think we'll be fine."

I grinned. "No promises."

With that, the conversation died down, and everyone drifted off to sleep, I sat up, my thoughts drifting back to the day's events. We had learned a lot, but there was still so much more ahead of us.

I let out a small sigh and leaned back against the wall, staring up at the stars through the Glass block we had placed on top of the pyramid.