Minecraft Universe, Blocky Planet
"Two groups," Sarah nocked an arrow. "They're attacking from both sides."
A massive explosion rocked the eastern wall. Cobblestone blocks disappeared in an instant as TNT detonated. Raiders covered with enchanted diamond armor poured through the breach.
"Get the animals!" A raider screamed, swinging his sword at the nearest sheep. "Burn everything!"
Adrian sprinted toward the breach. Three raiders spotted him and backed away, raising their bows. Arrows whistled past his head as he zigzagged between blocks. Opening his mouth, he sprayed thick webs in an arc, catching two of them.
"What the hell?" One raider struggled against the sticky strands. "Since when do mobs spray cobwebs?"
The third raider pulled out an ender pearl. Adrian lunged forward, teeth sinking into the raider's hand before he could throw it. The venom worked quickly, the player's movements became sluggish within a couple of seconds.
"I can't... my health bar..." The raider managed to throw the ender pearl just before Adrian's claws swiped through his head.
More explosions thundered from the western side. Players in diamond armor clashed with raiders near the farms. Someone dumped lava from a bucket, setting the wheat field ablaze.
"Look what we found!" A female raider stood on the wall. "A nice cozy town full of carebears!" She placed TNT blocks along the ramparts.
Sarah's arrow caught her in the chest. The raider stumbled backward, falling into her own TNT as it exploded. Her items scattered across the ground.
"They're breaking into the storage house!" Jason shouted, blocking a sword strike with his shield. "Someone stop them!"
Adrian ran across the courtyard. Two raiders were destroying chests with diamond pickaxes while others grabbed the spilling items. He sprayed webs to block the doorway, trapping them inside.
"Drink milk!" One raider tossed bottles to his companions. "This thing's got poison!"
A crossbow bolt struck Adrian's shoulder. He spun around to face a raider in full netherite armor, wielding an enchanted netherite sword that glowed with purple energy.
"So you're the new pet everyone's been talking about," The raider's nameplate read Bloodychibi. "Let's see how tough you really are."
Bloodychibi charged forward, his netherite boots carrying him at sprinting speed. The sword slashed across Adrian's scales, cutting deep despite his natural armor.
Adrian snapped at the raider's arm, but his teeth barely scratched the full netherite protection. He tried to circle around for a better angle, only to receive another slash that nearly severed his front leg.
"Having trouble?" Bloodychibi laughed, biting into a golden apple. His health bar instantly regenerated. "Maybe you should have stayed in whatever world you came from."
Adrian opened his jaw and an ender pearl shot out from the Crystalline Minecraft Pearl behind a nearby house. The teleport gave him precious seconds to assess the situation. Blood dripped from the deep gash in his leg.
"Running away?" Bloodychibi sprinted around the corner, shield raised. "What happened to all that confidence?"
Sarah's voice called out from above. "Adrian, catch!"
Two golden apples fell from the guard tower. Adrian snapped them up, the healing magic spreading through his body. The wound on his leg sealed shut.
"Hey!" Bloodychibi blocked another arrow from Sarah. "No fair giving the mob golden apples!"
More raiders breached the western wall. Some carried buckets of lava while others placed TNT. The iron golems rushed to intercept them but got knocked back by shields and crossbow bolts.
"The storage house is empty!" A raider shouted. "Check the other buildings!"
Adrian launched three spines at a group trying to burn down the library. Two raiders fell, but the third blocked with his shield and threw an ender pearl onto the roof.
Bloodychibi charged again, swinging his netherite sword in quick strikes. Adrian barely dodged the first slash but caught the second one across his face. The enchanted blade took out his right eye.
"Not so tough now, are you?" Bloodychibi raised his shield to block Adrian's retaliatory bite. "I've killed sheep tougher than you!"
Jason and three other players in diamond armor surrounded Bloodychibi. Their swords glowed with enchantments as they struck from different angles.
"About time you cowards showed up!" Bloodychibi drank a Potion of Strength. The purple particles swirled around him as he knocked two players back.
Adrian sprayed webs to limit Bloodychibi's movement. The raider leader cut through them with his sword, but the delay let Jason land a solid hit.
"You're outnumbered," Jason said. "Your raiders are dying. Give up."
"Giving up is for weaklings!" Bloodychibi ate another golden apple. "Death just means a month-long vacation anyway!"
Bloodychibi's health dropped to half as Jason landed another hit. The raider leader pulled out an ender pearl and threw it over the wall.
Adrian grabbed one of his own pearls. The crystalline orb shattered against a tree, teleporting him right behind Bloodychibi. His claws raked across the netherite leggings, leaving deep scratches.
"Get off me!" Bloodychibi threw another pearl toward the desert biome.
Adrian followed with his second pearl, materializing next to a cactus. He sprayed sticky webs in a wide arc, catching Bloodychibi mid-sprint. The raider struggled against the cobwebs as Adrian's claws struck twice more at the weakened leg armor.
"Fine, you want to play?" Bloodychibi broke free and pulled out another ender pearl. "Catch me if you can!"
Adrian spat cobblestone blocks from his storage, creating a wall that intercepted the pearl's trajectory. The orb bounced off harmlessly as Bloodychibi stumbled backward.
"No no no-"
Nine spines shot out in rapid succession. The first three were blocked by the shield, but the rest hit the netherite armor. Bloodychibi's health bar dropped to zero. His body disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving behind piles of items.
Adrian quickly stored everything - the netherite armor, enchanted weapons, golden apples, potions, and various valuable materials. He left the dirt and cobblestone blocks behind.
The sounds of fighting had died down back at New Haven. Adrian ran toward the settlement, passing griefed areas where raiders had built towers of cobblestone covered in lava. Several buildings were still burning, while others had been reduced to scattered blocks.
Sarah and Jason stood near the broken eastern wall, helping put out fires with water buckets.
"Adrian!" Sarah waved him over. "What happened to Bloodychibi?"
"He pearled away," Adrian moved his remaining eye between them. "Used up all my pearls trying to catch him."
"Damn," Jason kicked a burnt fence post. "He'll be back with more raiders in a month."
The damage to New Haven looked bad, but Adrian knew it would only take a day or two to rebuild. The real problem was all the stolen items from the storage house.
"We should help clean up," Adrian suggested, hoping to change the subject. He didn't want anyone asking too many questions about what happened during the chase.
Sarah gasped when she noticed the wound where Adrian's eye used to be. "Your eye! Wait, I have a golden apple left-"
"Don't waste it," Adrian shook his reptilian head. "I can regenerate it within a day. My kind heals quickly."
"Are you sure?" Sarah reached toward the injury. "That looks really bad."
"We have bigger problems," Jason pointed at the central tower. "Council's calling an emergency meeting."
Players gathered in the tower's main chamber. The air smelled like smoke from the fires outside. Council members sat around the dark oak table, faces grim.
"Twenty-three dead," Witcherqueen01 announced. "Plus everything stolen from the storage house. Diamonds, emeralds, enchanted gear - all gone."
"Those bastards even took our netherite reserves," Blazing420 slammed a fist on the table. "Two ingots we spent months gathering!"
Snapp stood up. "And where were our guards during all this? How did they breach both walls?"
"The TNT cannons were automated," StoneBreaker spoke from the crowd. "They fired simultaneously. We couldn't reach them in time."
"What about our spy network?" Honeystinger demanded. "Nobody saw this coming?"
Bluemage2000 shook her head. "The raiders must have found our observation posts. Three of our scouts never reported back this week."
"And what about him?" Snapp pointed at Adrian. "The creature that was supposed to be so helpful? Bloodychibi got away!"
"I saw Adrian fighting," Jason stepped forward. "He saved multiple lives today. Without him, we would have lost more than just items."
Witcherqueen01 raised a hand for silence. "The blame game won't help us rebuild. We need solutions. Ideas?"
"Imperial Diamond might help," Sarah suggested. "They've fought raiders before."
"They're too far," Honeystinger replied. "By the time they respond, the raiders will have hidden everything in their mountain base."
Adrian listened quietly. He wasn't going to tell them about the netherite supplies from Bloodychibi. He needed that netherite so he could attune himself to this world and teleport to a new one. Once that was done, he would always have an escape plan in case they turned against him, because he could teleport back and forth between attuned worlds. The only cost would be some energy gathered from Essence.
"We should focus on fortifying the walls," Bluemage2000 said. "Maybe even more obsidian this time."
"With what resources?" Snapp demanded. "The raiders took everything!"
The meeting devolved into arguments about resource allocation and defensive strategies. Adrian noticed Sarah watching him with concern. The wound where his eye had been must have looked worse to humans than it was.
The council meeting ended without any clear solutions. Adrian returned to his cave den near the eastern wall, glad to be away from all the arguing. He pulled out the netherite leggings from his storage and placed them under his body. The metal felt cold against his scales.
The dimensional node in his head began analyzing the material. Numbers flickered in his mind as the attunement percentage rose steadily. 96%. 97%. 98%. 99%...
100%.
Adrian felt a slight buzz as the connection stabilized. This world was now properly attuned - he could leave and come back whenever he wanted. The blue glow in his remaining eye dimmed.
He checked the contents stored within the Crystalline Minecraft Pearl. The inventory slots filled most of his awareness:
131 diamonds and 15 emeralds sat in the first slots. Various materials took up several more - 19 iron blocks, 28 coal blocks, 210 cobblestone, and 82 oak blocks.
Food supplies looked good. 40 steaks and 44 golden apples would last a while. The combat gear impressed him most - a full set of netherite armor with Protection IV enchantments, plus an enchanted netherite sword with Sharpness V and Fire Aspect II. The bow had Power V and Infinity.
More useful items filled the remaining slots. 11 ender pearls, milk, water and lava buckets, 55 bone meal, 61 leather. Basic supplies like furnaces, torches, and arrows. The potions would come in handy too - health, strength, fire resistance, and speed.
Adrian curled up in his den. The eye wound throbbed, but he could feel it slowly regenerating. By tomorrow it would be fully healed. Then he could make his excuses about wanting to explore the world.
New Haven would make a good waypoint to return to. The players trusted him now, especially after helping defend against the raiders. As long as he maintained that trust, he would always have a safe place to rest between dimensional jumps.
He heard footsteps approaching the den entrance. Sarah's voice called out, "Adrian? Are you awake?"
"Come in," Adrian shifted to face the entrance. The netherite leggings disappeared into his storage just as Sarah ducked through the doorway.
"I brought you some steak," Sarah placed three cooked beef on the ground. "Jason wanted to come too, but he's helping rebuild the storage house."
"Thanks." Adrian ate one of the steaks, feeling his hunger dull slightly.
Sarah sat down on a wooden stair block. "That council meeting was a mess. Everyone's scared about what happens when Bloodychibi comes back next time with all of his raiders having respawned."
"A month is plenty of time to prepare," Adrian said between bites.
"Maybe." Sarah pulled out a torch and placed it on the wall. "But we lost most of our resources. The raiders even took our diamonds from the deep mining expedition."
Adrian kept his expression neutral. His own diamonds sat safely in his storage, along with everything else from Bloodychibi.
"I've been thinking," Adrian spoke carefully. "Once my eye heals, I want to explore more of this world. Maybe find other settlements, learn about what's out there."
"Really?" Sarah looked surprised. "It's dangerous to travel alone. The raiders control most of the territory between settlements."
"I can handle myself," Adrian ate another steak. "And I'll come back to New Haven to rest once in a while."
"Well..." Sarah stood up. "I'll inform the others, just be careful out there. We've lost enough friends already."
The sound of breaking blocks echoed from outside. Players were removing the grief towers of cobblestone and lava.
"I should go help with cleanup," Sarah walked toward the entrance. "Get some rest, okay? That eye needs to heal."
Adrian settled down to sleep, and eight hours later when the sun rose over New Haven, he blinked both eyes, testing his restored vision. The regenerated eye worked perfectly. He stepped out of his den to watch players rebuilding the damaged sections of wall with obsidian.
He needed to leave soon. While this world offered many opportunities, staying too long was dangerous.
What if Imperial Diamond learned about him and decided he needed to be killed for rare drops or something like that? Tens of players in enchanted armor could overwhelm him through sheer numbers, let alone more. Even with his combat adaptations, healing items and more, he couldn't fight an army. He needed a safe point in another world first.
He saw Sarah approaching with Jason.
"Your eye!" Sarah smiled. "It really did heal overnight."
"Told you," Adrian stretched his legs. "Listen, I'm heading out today. Going to explore the world like we discussed."
"Already?" Jason frowned. "We could use your help defending against the raiders."
"The walls will hold," Adrian said. "And I won't be gone forever. New Haven can be my... home base."
Sarah crossed her arms. "You sure about this? The raiders are still out there."
"I need to understand this world better," Adrian replied. The lie came easily. "Maybe find answers about why I ended up here."
"At least take some supplies," Jason pulled out a stack of torches.
"Thanks, but I have enough." Adrian moved toward the gate. "I'll return when I can."
He didn't need to deceive them, but survival came first. Once he established safe points in another world, he could always come back.
StoneBreaker opened the gate. "Good hunting out there."
Adrian walked past the iron golems and headed toward a distant hill. The morning sun cast long shadows across the plains biome as sheep meandered between oak trees. Once he moved behind the hill, blocking any view from New Haven's walls, he stopped.
The dimensional node activated. Blue light blazed from his eyes as energy coursed through his body.
Reality twisted after five seconds. The blocky world dissolved around him as he jumped between dimensions. When the world reformed, he found himself in a plume of smoke on a grassy field.
Adrian tried to move but his body fought against itself. The Minecraft Physics Integration adaptation clashed with this new non-blocky reality. He focused inward, slowly suppressing the semi-cubic nature of his body. The adaptation would remain in his essence, ready to be used again, but no longer forcing his body into rigid patterns.
The smoke cleared, and he saw dozens of teenagers in black cloaks standing in front of a large stone wall.
A young girl with bright pink hair stepped toward him with a smile on her face.