Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Every House Needs a Treasure Room. And a Magma Cube. And One Hundred Piglins. They're So Lava-Ble! Ash carved through the tight hallways and crumbling bridges of the bastion as fast as she could. The entrance she had made was toward the top of the remnant's large, cube-shaped structure— which meant she had a long way to go before the good stuff. At the very bottom, in the middle of a lake of lava, was the real treasure room—but there could be chests and enemies at every level, so she moved through each one methodically.

No reason to be sneaky. She opened chests when she found them, scooped up everything inside, then fought any nearby piglins. Weaving through the ancient blackstone halls wasn't too hard. She'd left the base with a near-empty inventory, but it was easy enough to carve blocks from walls to patch bridges and build stairs. She was confident this trip would be a breeze…until she found the first piglin brute. "SNORT-grrr!" Ash heard it before she saw it. Just below her, looking up through a crack in the floor, was a brute holding a big sword. "He does not look happy!" Eek yelled. He'd taken a few steps into the bastion and was calling to her from across the cube, two floors above. "Maybe you should come back out here, where it is safe!" "I'll be fine. Just watch!" Ash threw a few blocks down to make her descent easier, then dived in front of the brute and started swinging. Unfortunately, the brute was ready to swing back

—and it hit hard. Ash lost half her health before she was able to squeeze in a second hit. Since when did they hit so hard?! Thinking quickly, she jumped back up to the higher floor and took out the stairs behind her, slashing downward through the gap to take it down with two more swipes. "Ouch…that's not like I remember." Ash ate a quick snack so her health would regenerate, but she was frustrated with herself. They'd been so focused on speed, and moving safely as a group, that healing items weren't a high priority—she had more boats than food, thanks to Eek. But now, after just one fight, she was already dipping into her small food supply. She'd fought piglin brutes before. Why was it so difficult this time? Probably the rush, she realized. A nearly complete set of iron armor and a diamond sword were pretty good, but she usually avoided fighting until she was as prepared as possible—in this case, with high-level enchantments.

If she had had time to add Sharpness, brutes would go down in two hits. Or, with Knockback, she could send them flying down into the lava. Her armor would usually have protection by now, too. Or thorns to hit them back when they attacked her. That's why Ash had never made it to the End before. She always wanted to be one hundred percent prepared, and that wasn't really possible. By the time she got close, one of her friends was starting a new server and needed help, so she dropped everything to start over. Or the game had a big cool update, and she wanted to play fresh with the changes. Or a giant storm and a glitching AI reset everything she and her friends had ever built and crafted. She was always starting over, again and again and again. Not this time. I will press on, she told herself. She would get Eek to the End, and she'd get the treasure at the bottom of this bastion.

"Are you okay?" Eek called, now from even farther above her. "You look hurt!" "I'm fine!" Ash shook it off and continued down to the next floor. "I'll do better next time." She didn't do better next time. She did worse. Ash was so focused on pulling treasure out of a chest that she didn't notice the brute coming up behind her until it attacked! She ran to the next room and defeated it fast. But then two regular piglins got upset that she hurt the brute—and suddenly she was locked in a two-on-one fight.

Ash ran—back the way she'd come, up some stairs, and through a pinch point she could use to fight them one at a time. She was a good player, and a fast problem-solver, but the damage was done. By the time she defeated both angry piglins, she was back down to one heart. "Good news: Jodi says it would be better if we did not fight the piglins!" Eek said. "I agree! Now she is saying, 'Why are you asking about this?'" Ash paused. "Are you talking to us at the same time? How?"