We walked past the commun area into the rich area which was a vast difference from the moment I stepped in.
Everything was separated by a wall, and once I crossed it, I was taken by surprise.
There were statues handmade with the past Chiefman and Chiefwomen on the side, there were small lava pools with striders bathing lazily in them, and there were even
grass blocks placed like lawns.
If I didn't suspect that he had access to a ruins storage this was proof enough.
Not too long after we arrived at the house of the big man, or more exactly the mansion.
It was three stories high, over fifty blocks in diameter, and used blocks from the other world like stone bricks and dark wood, it also went well with the blocks from the Nether such as nether bricks and basalt.
I had to stop in my tracks to admire the building.
It wasn't as impressive as the castle or palace that I saw in the Overworld, but it still showed the same power since it showed the leader's resources spared for this kind of project.
The guard while annoyed at my sudden stop, didn't hurry me, probably feeling proud for serving such a master.
After I had my fair share of looking around the place we entered the mansion where four more servants were waiting on us.
"Welcome traveler."
All of them said in unison which creeped me out a little.
The guide suddenly turned around and left and one of the four servents walked towards me.
"Thank you for accepting our invitation sir. Trader, the chief is waiting for you."
I didn't know I had an option, but I still walked beside the server not saying anything.
We didn't walk for long as we arrived at a huge room that could easily take two stories, and in the back was a big chair similar to a throne all made with precious materials such as gold and iron blocks.
On the precious throne stood a man with a short nose, red hair, a big belly, and a cape made with the skin of a hoglin.
What was the biggest difference from the others was the fact that he didn't wear a hoglin helmet.
Everyone in the Nether wears something like this, even the servants that greeted me.
But he was different since I could see his face, and he was looking up and down at me, clearly analyzing me as I did with him.
"Trader, a man who travels the Nether in search of riches, not a job that many people are willing to take, but I have to respect the soul of a merchant that is willing to go to such length for results. I'm sorry about the sudden summon I hope I didn't inconvenience you."
Unfortunately, even though your guard was rude to me, I've had worse.
"I greet you as well great Chiefman, unfortunately, I didn't get your name yet."
"Oh how clumsy of me, I'm Soulstone the 3rd, the great Chiefman of the Forgotten Bastian."
Soulstone, is an interesting name, and why is the Bastion named Forgotten?
"It's a pleasure meeting you sir, what was the occasion for my calling?"
"Haha, you truly must be noble with how polite you speak, where are you from traveler?"
The man laughed loudly which made his belly wobble.
"Unfortunately I would prefer not to disclose that information as the tradition of my house is to travel the Nether incognito."
"I see, so you're doing this out of tradition?"
"Yes, my ancestor made his fortune through this method and made his predecessors go through the same journey before we are recognized as adults."
"Interesting, then I should respect your tradition and not pry any further on this. Tell me, Trader, what do you think about my Bastion?"
I don't know!
It's very different then what I know in the game, and I don't know how it stands in comparison with the others, it's the first time I've seen one after all.
It's probably for the best to say some generic things while using some of the Information I gathered.
"It's a unique design but I feel that it hasn't reached its full potential."
The man smiled a little before looking into the air murmuring.
'Full potential you say. Of course, it hasn't because of those pesky-'
But stopped himself before I could hear the rest of it.
"Oh! Where are my manners, I'm sure you must be tired and hungry from your long journey, so why don't you have a meal at my table and rest in my rooms."
I didn't expect the sudden hospitality, maybe even suspicious, but I wasn't going to refuse it.
"That would be pleasant."
POV: Souldstone the 3rd
The two of us slowly walked into the next room where a huge table was sitting in the room with the food already prepared.
The visit of the traveler was unexpected, and I still don't know if he's a Brute sent by the big boss.
Even though we haven't heard from them for three generations, the armies equipped with God-like armor, make us still fear them.
My ancestor found a hidden ruin in one of his hunts and it was a life-changing moment for him and his tribe.
The items he found in there were unheard of, iron, diamonds, dirt, cobblestone, oak wood, and many more.
It took him a while to sort through everything until he found a book, he didn't know how to read the language at that time, but it didn't matter since it had drawings that he understood.
That book was a guide on how to craft items.
There he learned how to make tools, and how to make blocks, later in other books he learned how to brew potions and even tried to learn enchanting but it proved much more difficult.
With time he realized that he couldn't hold everything for himself, it was too big of a discovery and he couldn't study everything in his lifetime.
So he showed his trusted friends his secret and slowly gathered strength.
With time they got better, got smarter, and took over everything else becoming the leader of the region.
When enough brutes were gathered, they built a bastion right beside the treasure, where they had control over everything.
With time they realized that they couldn't enjoy the labour of their people if they were too stupid.
They had all the resources, why would they bother taking care of something that made them lose gold instead of gaining more, so they thought the community how to mine for gold, how to hunt for hoglings with fewer numbers, and how to get water from the blue vines.
Generations passed like that, the rich families got richer and more powerful while the common Brutes had a better life than before.
It wasn't the best system but it was what they got.
But everything stopped when my grandfather came to rule.
Underneath the treasure, there was a tunnel system undiscovered by any of us, and one day a group of 15 brutes equipped with enchanted diamond armor and swords got in and seized everything.
We tried to fight back but they had access to the same resources as us and knew how to use them.
They killed most of the other families but left the descendants of the original founder alive.
And the reason was pretty stupid as well.
From what my grandpa told me, the reason they found this place is because they are a special team made by the Big Bastion, their job is to explore the forgotten tunnels of the old people and kill any survivors.
The reason they killed everyone was because they were bored since they couldn't find any more people from the otherworld for a good few years, so they just killed them because they could.
My grandfather was furious, but couldn't do anything about it.
But surprisingly they didn't take too many resources, mostly the gold, everything else they left here.
But that happened if my grandpa respected two conditions.
One, stop supporting the masses directly.
Two, in case the otherworldly people attack, they had a special part of the treasure reserved for them just in case they lose their main base.
They were the guardians of their treasure in case anything went wrong.
My grandfather reluctantly accepted the deal, and as a way to make sure he wouldn't just run away, they enchanted a lapiz block with the course of binding and other cursed enchantments, that would give the constant location of the wearer and the next ruler has to have it, otherwise the overpowered team would come back and kill everyone.
They made sure to let us know that we couldn't run or hide since they would find us, and to make sure that every generation that comes after this would fear them as well, they left an enchanted iron armor for them and was labeled 'the armor of the weakest soldier'.
It was in the treasury and hard to ignore it.
I looked over their enchantments and I was ashamed to admit, but I stood no chance if a group armored with this would attack.
But I didn't give up, Soulstone the 3rd will not bow down to tyrants like them!
They came here, destroyed my family, and my legacy, and expect total servitude?
I will not be a servant to them, I'm a warrior, I'm an explorer and I'm going to win this!
Of course, I was smart enough to realize that I was fighting an uphill battle.
And since I couldn't fight them with tools, I would defeat them with experienced warriors.
That's why I organize most of the tournaments.
This is the best method that I found in training my people indirectly, and over the years it was very successful, but there's still one problem.
Everyone is a champion in their own right but that means they don't know how to work together, that's why I need to find a strong leader, someone that can earn their respect or be feared.
I found someone like this a few years back, he was a fine young man with a promising future, and when the tournament started he won it like no one has ever done.
Excitedly, I invited him to my mansion and told him about my plans, but the dumb brute refused it under the pretax that it wasn't his business.
How dare he refuse my generosity.
Unfortunately, I already informed him about my plans and knew he was a liability, I don't know where the spies are in the Bastian, but I don't want to risk it by letting the man just go on his merry way.
That's why I had to poison him and burn his corpse, his father tried to do something but I just put him with the other old warriors in the underground tunnels.
He's gotten too old now to do anything of danger.
We sat at the table, and soon the food arrived, as per tradition we had roasted pigling and soup with strider milk.
I have a few chests with exotic food from the Overworld, but those are limited resources and I can't just lavish in them no matter how much I like their taste.
I even tried to start a farm here but the water evaporates too fast to even grow something, it was a sad thing to see.
Trader sat on the other side of the table and I analyzed him once more.
He was a tall man fully covered in golden armor which made it hard for me to get any more characteristics of him.
But I could still deduce something from this.
He didn't look like any Pigling or Brute in here, but he didn't look like any outsider since he didn't have their big nose.
I've checked all the albums that I had in storage to learn about them, I even heard they opened up a portal in the South but probably they're destroyed by now.
So where did he come from?
My only fear is that he's someone sent by the Big Bastion to check on me, but I have to gather more information for that.
I took a sip from the soup and let out a sigh of satisfaction.
"So Trader, tell me about your journey."