Nether Fortress Part 2

As Roman grew closer to the sounds, he finally approached a turn in the tunnel and was able to see the sound's source. Ten separate creatures that looked like a mix of a ghost and a vortex of flaming rods floated around the bend, bumping into each other. He immediately hid behind the wall's corner and snuffed out the fire on his [Rack Key] to not draw their attention.

He had not officially encountered these creatures before, but he could guess that these were the Blazes from Minecraft. They looked far more intimidating in real life than they did in the game they looked like a very troublesome enemy. There were also way too many for him to take on at once, despite his [Fire Resistance LV MAX] and 40+ M.DEF, he estimated cautiously that he could only handle 4 at most at the same time.

Though he was a bit confused about what these creatures might be doing here, grouped up in this dark area of the Nether Fortress. This wasn't Minecraft, they didn't just spawn due to a spawner, they were creatures that formed naturally through this hellish dimension. So why would they be grouped up here?

He changed his key back to [Sand of Souls Key] and sneaked into the opposite corner to see what they were doing there. A collapsed wall at the side of the tunnel was wide open and he could guess that something inside was attracting them, but from their actions, it seemed like they couldn't find whatever it was.

Suddenly, Roman got an idea and a crafty smile appeared on his face. He sneaked as close as he could to the nearest Blaze and performed the same ambush tactic as he had previously. He switched to [Obsidian Key], smacked one of its rotating rods, and activated the skill [Black Chains], causing all the Blazes in the area to get anchored to the area.

*Woosh* *Wrr* *Woosh* *Wrr* *Woosh* *Wrr*

All ten of them turned their attention to Roman, but Roman only smiled offputtingly. As he channeled mana into his [Create Water LV MAX] basic magic at full power. Water pooled out of thin air like someone turned on an invisible faucet, drenching all ten of the Blazes in a continuous 8-second pouring of gallons of water.

*Spash* *Spash* *Hiss* *Sissle* *Sissle*

*URR* *URR* *URR* *URR* *URR*

The painful groans from the Blazes rang out as they twisted under the artificial flooding of water. They tried to tug and get away from the pouring water but remained rooted within the area of [Black Chains]. As soon as the water touched the Netherrack below it, it then turned into steam, once again clouding the area and obscuring Roman from view.

*Foosh* *Foosh**Foosh**Foosh**Foosh**Foosh**Foosh**Foosh*

More than 50 shots of pure fire were aimed at Roman's last location, but he had already sneaked away with his [Sand of Soul Key], using the thick steam as cover. 

*Thud* *Thud* *Thud*

[Defeated Blaze and gained 10 experience.]

[Defeated Blaze and gained 10 experience.]

...

One by one, Roman snuck up as close as he could and smacked them with his [Obsidian Key] to finish them off. A big smile was on Roman's face as his gamble was proved right, but he didn't make a sound until the last Blaze was finished off flawlessly. The damage from the water was the same as it was in-game, causing the creatures of fire to take damage just from mere contact with water. It wasn't much damage, but it was enough to weaken their health by more than 80% because of the sheer amount his max level [Create Water] spell produced.

If anyone from Melromarc heard that someone had mastered a basic spell such as this to such a ridiculous degree, they might question their sanity. But Roman only felt more and more thankful for his [Water] affinity. The possibilities of [Create Water] were endless!

The steam slowly faded as quickly as it arrived, revealing Roman's pleased expression, ashes, and a few Blaze rods that were left behind. He picked up one of the Blaze rods and immediately fed it to his Key, mentally confirming Yes.

[Unknown material added... parsing properties.]

[Material identified as [Blaze Rod].]

[Notice: material conditions not met for [Key] function.]

[Should Material be used for [Lock] activation? ]

[Yes/No]

[New form discovered: [Blazing Key]]

{

Key Form: [Blazing Key]

Equip Bonus: Skill [Hover Blaze] - {Hover in the air for 10 seconds after activation. Can move horrizontally}

Special Equip Effect: none

}

Roman rubbed his chin with a smile on his face.

"This could be interesting." He commented.

He changed his key to [Blazing Key] to see if it was useable for fighting, but he was disappointed. A key no bigger than a house key appeared in his palm after the form change, with swirling flames spiking off of it like an arrow's tail.

"Well, the skill is good," He said with a shrug before he changed his Key back to the [Obsidian Key].

"Now, what were you all so interested in here," Roman mumbled as he stepped through collapsed debris and cleared the collapsed Netherrack with a [Move Earth] spell. After the blockage was cleared away, he could finally see what lay inside. A small room, seemingly meant for storage of a variety of different things. Wooden storage chests were laid out in this room, with a few of them having already been crushed by a cave-in. There were iron weapons, and gold ores piled in the corner.

"Could they have been interested in the wood?" He thought with a raised eyebrow.

Maybe Blazes enjoyed 'eating' wood since it was combustible?

He went to one of the wooden chests and opened it. Inside he surprisingly found a few things of value to him. The most interesting of which was a pile of human fist-sized diamonds along with an armor mold design, which seemed to be for a piece of chainmail. He picked up the armor design mold and inspected it. It looked complicated to handle, with a series of interlocking parallel iron molds for interlocking rings. 

"Wait, could this be.." Roman's voice trailed off.

This should be an armor mold needed to create the pinnacle tier of armor in Minecraft. A material called Netherite, created by combining gold and ancient materials, was needed along with diamond armor. It was a far-off goal to dream of him owning some of his own. But perhaps, with this armor mold, it would be possible in the future.