The Battle For Minecraft     Book 1

Chapter 1: The Chestplate

Gameknight999 followed Hunter toward the approaching beast trader. These were Villagers who liked to trade monster drops in exchange for lots of redstone. Searching through his inventory, the User-that-is-not-a-user pulled out two large clumps of the material, and handed it to the lone trader. “Do you have any iron?” Gameknight asked the Villager. “Of course I do!” pronounced the beast trader harshly. “Do you, by any chance, have one more lot of redstone, Hunter?” quizzed Gameknight. “Yes, I have multiple.” Hunter replied as she handed the User-that-is-not-a-user her share of the redstone dust from her last adventure to the Stronghold below Crafter’s Village. The Villager handed Gameknight eight iron ingots, which was just enough for him to craft a chestplate out of the solid material. After saying goodbye to the ill-tempered trader, the User-that-is-not-a-user placed his diamond and obsidian enchanting table on the dusty surface of the Overworld, along with a ring of bookshelves surrounding it. Gameknight put his chest armour onto the table and selected the option to enchant it with 30 XP (Experience Points) levels, giving it the strongest possible enchantments.

Buckets full of energy started to flow from the User-that-is-not-a-user’s body and into the table, as if he was a solar system getting sucked into a space vortex. The tingling sensation suddenly halted, transforming the chestplate into a new, iridescent piece of armour. Taking off his old, worn gold chestplate, he picked up his new chest armour and placed it onto his body. “Protection IV, that will be good enough, I guess.” Gameknight thought to himself as he studied his new piece of clothing. “This, I hope, will be an alright chestplate.” With this thought in his head, he started to wander back home, knowing that he was one step closer to challenge the Monster Lord, Salaburn, and reclaiming Minecraft to the humble Villagers spread across the land.

Chapter 2: The Leggings

Approaching the Village with Hunter by his side, he asked his friend if she wanted his gold chestplate. Hunter turned down his offer, as she knew that her diamond armour would give herself a larger increase in defence. Along with an enchanted chestplate, the User-that-is-not-a-user still needed a helmet, leggings and boots. In order to get these pieces of clothing, Gameknight knew that he had to find them. Gameknight ran to his cobblestone building, which he had previously built in the Village, to help with the lack of an archer tower. Inside, he found where he had hidden his secret chest, from way back when he first arrived on the server. He pulled out his impressive diamond shovel and started to dig at the block of dirt beneath his feet. After digging down to the 20 block level, the stone below his feet gave way to a small cave that was strangely lit by a bunch of glowstone pillars and torches; following the trail that he had made so long ago. “I know this is the right cave.” Gameknight thought to himself. “But what if the armour is gone? I hope it’s still there.” Eventually, he came across a strange wall of jack o’lanterns, and right below the pumpkins was a chest. This chest was unique, as it had a tint of gold to the top of the wooden lid. Opening up the compartment, he found his dusty iron leg armour from back when he had fought one of his first monsters. Relieved, the User-that-is-not-a-user wiped off the gunk, and took out his enchanting table and bookshelves, placing the leggings on top of the magical obsidian box. Choosing the option to use up 30 XP levels, a large amount of energy started to flow out of his body and toward the table. After the energy stopped leaking out of his soul, Gameknight grabbed his leggings from atop of the box, placing the armour onto his body, and observed the enchantment. “Okay, I think Projectile Protection III will come in handy,” thought Gameknight as he backtracked towards the surface. Hope started to flow through his body as he marched up to the fortified barrier at the front of the Village, and waited for the endless struggle of night to come to an end.

Chapter 3: The Helmet

Waves and waves of monsters started to flood toward the stone wall, oblivious to the pit traps in the surrounding area. Multiple monsters started to fall into the 2 block holes in the ground, preventing them from attacking the NPC’s (Non-player Characters) that live in the houses of Shontaka Village. Gameknight, drawing his shimmering gold sword, picked up pace and banged into a few undead zombies that had previously attempted to scale the high protective walls, knocking them off of their feet and causing them to disappear with a ‘pop’. Seeing the User-that-is-not-a-user slaughter those hateful zombies so mercilessly was too much for the other monsters. They made a hasty retreat back to the monster lands, where dreadful blue lava flowed down from atop cliffs of ash that were scattered about the barren landscape. Observing the monster drops that were left on the grassy floor, Gameknight found a scattering of rare drops, including carrots from the fallen zombies, to skeleton bows from the bony creatures. There, in the distance, was what he was looking for: an armoured mob. Pulling out his trusty bow, the User-that-is-not-a-user took aim and let the pointed shard of death sing through the air in a beautiful arch, hitting his target in an unprotected area on the back of his head. The monster’s HP (Health Points) depleted from the blow, leaving it to fall to the ground and disappear into the Void. Sprinting, Gameknight approached to where the monster had fallen. Luckily, it had dropped its shimmering iron helmet, which was somehow enchanted. Armoured monsters were a rare sight in the Overworld, but mobs with enchanted armour? The User-that-is-not-a-user couldn’t believe his luck. Picking up the powerful helmet, he placed it atop of his head, and started to run back to Shontaka Village, ready to search for a pair of boots.

Chapter 4: The Boots

The night passed quickly while Gameknight slept, as if it had only lasted for a second. The User-that-is-not-a-user awoke from a deep sleep with a bang. Rushing to the window, Gameknight looked to where the sound had come from. Two buildings were utterly destroyed, with only the framework of the houses still standing. “This must’ve been the work of Griefers.” the User-that-is-not-a-user concluded. “Like I once was.” The thought of when Digger had yelled and distrusted him resonated inside his mind, making him feel like an ant compared to a world of giants. Gameknight ran toward the buildings, holding his enchanted gold sword in between his palms. Looking around the structure, he saw the culprit: a strange looking Villager with pale grey skin and a flowing blue robe. Not knowing that this hulking beast was actually an Illusioner, who could cast Jaws at his opponents, the User-that-is-not-a-user charged toward it, screaming a battle cry at the top of his voice. As he ran toward the otherworldly being, the Illusioner just stepped to the side, avoiding the otherwise lethal attack. Chanting some magical words, the grey-skinned Villager summoned Fangs of Death from out of the ground, and they sliced into Gameknight’s body. He screamed in pain as the beyond evil Villager took deep swipes into his foe. This blow sent Gameknight flying backwards through the air and onto a plain of dehydrating sand that gave way beneath his feet. Squealing in fear, the User-that-is-not-a-user plummeted into the ground, somewhat 50 blocks below the surface.

Pain surfaced from his soul and to his senses as he realised how far he had just fallen. He wondered why he wasn’t dead by now. Getting back his normal complete vision, Gameknight noticed he had actually fallen into a naturally generated water supply that was leaking out from a tall ledge close to Shontaka Village. Looking around the damp underground cavern, the User-that-is-not-a-user noticed a dim light in the distance. Lifting his weak body out of the water, Gameknight trudged toward the torch, seeing that the light was part of an abandoned mine, where he knew there would be a hive of cave spiders waiting for him. The spiders that roam caves across the Minecraft World are often referred as the ‘Brothers’ by the females that prey around the surface, looking for something to satisfy their continual hunger demand. As he walked toward the single torch, Gameknight could hear a panicking voice, yelling out to whoever was on his side. The User-that-is-not-a-user realised that the person responsible for the voice was pleading for help, so he sprinted into the mine, trying to find the mysterious being.

Gameknight ran to the left and right, dodging cobwebs and disabling the occasional monster spawner here and there. He had been shown countless mineshafts by his friend Crafter, so the User-that-is-not-a-user was able to avoid encountering any of the native darkness mobs that roamed the wooden beams and overhangs of the mine. The voice was getting louder, as Gameknight turned to a sharp right, narrowly avoiding strange pistons that were extended out of the ground. It was as if the deadly mineshaft was deliberately made to be hard to navigate, and that the creator behind the traps had read countless books, concerning his issue of lack of experience playing the game.

“It sounded like the voice was coming from this room.” thought Gameknight as he observed the surrounding area. Sprinting backwards to avoid a pool of lava, the User-that-is-not-a-user noticed a gang of venomous spiders up ahead. They saw him and started attacking, swiping their destructive claws into Gameknight’s flesh. Gameknight felt poison in his veins, and it was a matter of time before Gameknight drew his sword and slashed those dirty brutes to pieces. “Excuse me….., I’m up here.” muttered the same timid voice from before, motioning for Gameknight to look up. The User-that-is-not-a-user took his line of sight to the top of the archway above him and, dangling from the roof, he saw a mysterious User, who was in a silky cocoon. Using his shimmering golden sword, he cut through the sticky web, and released the man, who took a non-fatal fall to the ground. “Thank you, the help was much appreciated…” muttered the User as he regained his senses. “Here, take this, you’ll be feeling better soon.” Gameknight gave the man a rejuvenating gold apple, while eating one himself. Back to full strength, Kane, (who told Gameknight his name after he ate the life-saving apple), ran back to Shontaka Village with the User-that-is-not-a-user, ready to join him with his attack on the Monster Lord. As of when he climbed the last block and escaped the hole, Kane spoke up: “Errrrrr….. Gameknight, I forgot to give this to you.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me, is that actually a pair of boots enchanted with Feather Falling IV and Frost Walker?”. “Yes,” the User replied. “And it is now yours.” Taking the boots, the User-that-is-not-a-user placed them onto his empty foot slot, and incredibly, it caught the last sliver of sunlight before the darkness of night, making the armour shine like the blazing sun itself.

Chapter 5: The Secret Alleyway

While wearing his full set of glowing iron armour, Gameknight felt like he could defeat anything, even a boss like Salaburn. He started to break into a sprint as a tsunami of confidence cascaded through his pixelated body. Now he could visualise Shontaka Village on the horizon, and that meant that he would arrive by the early morning. Kane had to run in order to keep up with the energetic User-that-is-not-a-user, and he soon grew tired. “Hey, is it okay if we slow down?” questioned Kane, needing a break. “Sure, I think we need to too.” replied Gameknight, as his running fatigue sank in. Slowing to a measly walk, Gameknight, and his friend, the User called Kane, sprinted across the desert and toward the grassy plains before them. A few minutes later, the two friends arrived at the average-sized Village, where the User-that-is-not-a-user introduced his companion Kane to his friends Hunter, Stitcher, Herder, Digger and Crafter. They all seemed to like this new ally, and they agreed that they needed to come up with a battle strategy in order to overthrow the Monster Lord. Gameknight spoke to his friends about the shaft he had found underground. He knew that the mine was very hard to survive in, so he did not tell them about how he got poisoned, and nearly destroyed. If he told his beloved friends and allies this, they (except Kane of course) would probably lose their trust in his near-perfect combat skills. Gameknight skidded into a dark alley, tugging Kane behind him. “Owwww….. what was that for?” yelled an irritated Kane, not knowing why this sane User-that-is-not-a-user had led him to this exceptionally terrifying passage through the unlit buildings of the Village. “I don’t know…” muttered Gameknight mysteriously, as if he had no control over what he was saying or doing. Wandering through the pitch-black alleyway, the User-that-is-not-a-user had no idea why he had taken a right so suddenly. “It’s like someone wanted me to come here…” he thought to himself, as fear spread throughout his block-shaped body. Floating below his feet, he saw a darkened ingot, filled with malicious energy so great that any villainous spirits could use it to get infinite power for eternity. Gameknight reached down, grabbing the haunting lump of metal up from the cobblestone floor. He looked into his inventory to find the information Minecraft had stored about the material, but strangely it had nothing. “Gameknight…” whimpered Kane. “Yes?” replied the strong User-that-is-not-a-user, protector of his Village. “I….. I’m scared.” Suddenly, a jolt of lightning struck the block in front of them, spawning a formation of the most horrifying blocks either of the people, no more than that, companions, had ever seen. The friends took a quick observation of the black ‘thingies’. Kane and Gameknight could only take a glance at them, as a demonic entity emerged from the skull-imprinted Altar of Hell, the strongest of all hatred burning in its eyes. It was time…

To Be Continued…