[Author's note: Sept. 18, 2021]

Sorry this chapter (and a couple others) are so LONG!

My instinct is to write 3k word chapters but it's a bit harder to digest so I've split most of them up. This one lays down some hefty ol world building but I hope it's interesting enough for you guys!

Thank you everyone for reading so far, it's been cool to see people actually interested ❤️ Love you all! Let me know what you think!

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"There were very few consistencies between the branching realms, and even fewer among the overall worlds of the Universe. The game of life could be experienced in many ways, and luck played a significant part in how a player's life would ultimately be.

A player could be born in a treacherous hardcore world, where they only received one life before being recycled into the soul system - or retired into the afterlife.

A player could also be born into a limited world, where they were only given a set amount of lives, this was the most common occurrence, leaving death something to be feared.

A player could even be born into an Adventure world, where they could not interact with blocks and items in their realm, unlike the way things had originally been intended.

Sometimes, however, players were blessed to be born into a vanilla, survival world. Nearly infinite lives as long as they had set their spawn in that realm, as well as the gift of block interaction - leading to amazing builds and machines, as survival itself was often not on the forefront of these players' minds.

Survival worlds like this were uncommon, and nearly all players would leave their world behind to join one. Just for the chance to enjoy life for a long while, without constant threats overhanging their heads. These worlds were a gift from Notch for certain, and the players would never forget that.

Perhaps the most significant similarity that all these worlds share is the existence of three dimensions. The Overworld, The Nether, and The End. All realms have at least these dimensions - if not more, though not all players may be able to access them.

The overworld was where most players chose to reside, or were born into. It was rich with natural resources and plenty of terrain, making it ideal for building or experimenting with complex redstone machinery, or even magic or healing. It was also the biggest of the dimensions, stretching on for infinity in every way but down, and even then, down was a long ways away.

The Nether was the second dimension. It was a lot more dangerous, and varied from world to world. It's distinctive trait was that it was hot. The Nether always brimmed with fire and dangerous mobs, as well as greedy little mobs that could only be persuaded into peace by precious minerals. It was not as common a home to many players, though certain species found comfort in it's red walls and foggy skies.

The final dimension all realms shared was the End. The dimension that very few players knew much about. It was dangerous, more so than the Nether or the Overworld, and if a player were to fall into the inky void that surrounded the End's islands - there was a chance they'd never return.

It was a truly mysterious and terrifying dimension, with a Dragon at each gate, protecting the ruined cities beyond the End's veil; the riches found on the other side attracted players nonetheless.

There was once a fourth dimension known by even fewer. It is often referred to as "The Lost World," though it used to be one of the most popular among players.

The Aether.

No one was quite sure what exactly happened to The Aether, to make a dimension not only become inaccessible - but to have arguably disappeared from existence entirely. It was debated amongst the Universes' greatest historians, but many doubted they'd ever truly get the answer.

Many believed it was due to the arguments and wars started between the rulers, the gods, of these different dimensions - an uncountable amount of years ago.

But perhaps more important similarities lie with the players themselves. To keep the Universe organized, players divided themselves into different classes. These classes were never truly separated from one another - with players of different types coming together for a variety of occasions - even just in their day to day lives.

The most common player classes were those trained in building or redstone. Builders could use the worlds' natural resources to create everything and anything. Redstoners could take an infinite energy source and turn it into massive machines, or even little things, like the first toasters and fridges, with their designs cleaned up by the builders.

Those categories made up a significant number of players, but the third biggest group were perhaps the most dangerous. The fighters. Experts of PVP and quick on their feet. They could attack and defend their worlds and their people at all odds, never giving up in their relentless fight.

The larger of the final two categories were the healers. Healers were gentle and had a deep connection with the realms they found themselves native to. They were masters of potions and herbalism, capable of creating medicine that could alter and save the lives of countless other players - even where coding had failed. They were a small percentage of the players, but they served a very valuable role.

Finally, the smallest and most powerful of the classes. Those trained in magic. Sure, magic was dabbled throughout the other ranks - no two groups were truly ever separated - but magic mains could do so much more than ever thought possible.

They could alter code in a way to change the very foundation of their world, limited only by their energy and motivation to master the arts. As well as the spirits that consistently monitored magic use. Some masters of magic even moved beyond the mortal realm, into Creative worlds where they could build and experiment with no boundaries and no risks."

Mumbo snapped his book shut, letting it fall onto his chest with a soft huff. He already knew how the class system worked - he was in Hermitcraft of all places, the diversity of players here could teach him all he ever needed to know. He leaned back in his chair, flicking on his communicator for a moment, checking to see if his friends had responded yet.

Right as he opened up the little holographic screen, the loud blast of a rocket caused him to flinch, and his head snapped skyward, eyes squinting as he waited. His friend, Iskall, came into view soon enough, causing Mumbo to smile and close his communicator as he watched his friend glide down.

"Hallooooo, Mumbo!!" Iskall yelled, his boots thudding with the ground. "I hope you haven't been waiting long," he cracked a slight smile, raising one brow to the man.

"Ahaha," Mumbo laughed flatly, "No, certainly not. I mean, I haven't even been waiting for an hour yet so, clearly it's not that long!" The sarcasm was thick enough to walk on.

Iskall only smiled wider, closing his eyes confidently, "Well, that's good to hear!" He walked past the moustached man, popping the tensity that had built, "Let's go on to see this redstone laboratory then!"

The fashionably suited (if I may dare to say), taller man scoffed, rolling his eyes. He had been waiting for over half an hour for his business partner to finally show up, and of course Iskall wouldn't own up to being late.

Of course, that was probably because Iskall could tell he wasn't truly upset. It was a minor inconvenience but Iskall had been busy, he knew, so he only let out a sigh and smiled lightly, grabbing his book before standing up.

The slight movement caught Iskall's attention and he glanced back, looking at the chair, side-table, and the bookshelves Mumbo had with him. He stopped walking and let out a laugh, "You've made a chair!" he pointed out, "Did I really make you wait for that long?! You've even made bookshelves!"

"Yes!" Mumbo yelled, cracking a small laugh. "My feet were getting sore, man! I was exhausted."

"Okay, okay," Iskall offered sympathetically, "Sorry I made you wait so long, I was working with Beef on his cloning machine."

He knew his friend had been busy, but Mumbo couldn't stop himself from looking surprised at that. He had no idea Iskall had been working with Beef on this interesting concept for a redstone machine. Iskall gave him a sympathetic smile, helping the poor man break down his temporary amenities while talking,

"I know it's weird. I didn't expect him to reach out to me for help, but he's just getting help from all the redstoners on the server, even some of his other friends. He asked Wels for help a little while back, no one got the machine to work though."

Mumbo picked his furniture off the ground, the confused look not falling from his face. "Why's he all upset about it not working? I know it's redstone so it's frustrating, but a cloning machine sounds more like something Doc would do."

The swedish man shrugged, "I'm not really sure, guess he just really wants to be able to clone himself," he glanced at the book Mumbo was still holding and casually changed the subject, "What were you reading?"

The golden covered book in his hand drew Mumbo's attention and he blinked. He brought the cover closer to his face "It's, uh, The Galactic Chronicle of Code and Magic...'" His voice fell as he read the title out loud. He hadn't actually looked at the cover of the book before reading it, simply grabbing it off his book shelf before he headed out to the deeper jungle.

Iskall laughed at the title, and at Mumbo's disdained voice, "Wow, Mumbo Jumbo, I had no idea you were trying to get into magic of all things!"

Mumbo's face heated just slightly and he shoved the book into his inventory. "Goodness, no. I am NOT a magic user. I just... grabbed what I had and it happened to be this!"

Iskall laughed again, "Why do you even have that book? Seems more like something an admin or someone would use."

The taller man huffed and tightened his elytra, pulling out his rockets, "You know how books are, always getting mixed up in shelves with the other hermits. I probably accidentally picked it up from Scar or Stress or someone."

Iskall pulled out his own rockets, "If you want I can ask Stress for you?"

"We both live right next to her, Iskall, I don't mind asking her myself."

The shorter man's grin fell just enough for Mumbo to notice, "I guess, yeah. I just haven't actually talked with her in forever, it feels."

Mumbo rolled his eyes for what felt like the eighth time already, pulling the book back out of his inventory and tossing it to the man, "I mean, I'll take free labor if you need an excuse to see her."

Iskall gave him a grateful smile and a cheesy salute before launching his rockets, taking off into the air while the well-suited man gasped and fiddled with his rockets, pausing as a crack came from the woods behind him.

He turned and blinked, narrowing his eyes at the foliage - attempting to make out the cause of the sound within the debris.

Silence. Mumbo hummed and readjusted his elytra, dismissing the sound as an ocelot or some chicken or parrot. He looked back up to realize Iskall had already vanished, and he mumbled before pulling the string on his rocket and soaring into the sky.