Eliot was turning into a zombie, and Steve stood and stared in fear at his friend. Steve was heartbroken. He had spent so much time trading and talking with Eliot, but he was now an enemy. He could hear Avery the librarian calling for help in the distance. He’d already let one villager friend down; he couldn’t let it happen again. Steve had to get to Avery’s library.
Thud! Crack! He heard the door being ripped apart by the menacing zombie. He plotted an escape. Steve grabbed a pickaxe from his inventory and dug a hole in the ground. As he dug deeper, he could hear the door being ripped from its hinges. Once the zombie stepped foot in the shop, Steve crawled out through the bottom of the shop and into the center of town. Emerging from the hole, he was cornered by a gang of zombies. Somehow Steve was able to weave his way through the zombies and run out of the village, but the zombie mob followed closely behind. Avery’s cries grew louder, and Steve knew he had to return to the village, but it was impossible.
Looking back, he could see the zombies were close behind. He shot arrows while he ran, striking a few of his enemies. As he made his way through the dark night, he tried to find a place to hide, but then he was cornered. He could make out a cave in the distance. Although Steve was terrified of caves and had never been in one before, he was hoping he could hide there or find lava to attack the horde of zombies. They were getting closer, so Steve ran faster toward the cave.
One zombie was inches from Steve’s back. As it stepped closer, Steve trembled with fear, accidently letting his chest plate fall off. Steve tried to pick it up, but with a strong grasp, the zombie yanked the plate from Steve’s hands and put the armored plate on its own chest. The zombie called out to his gang. The chest plate transformed this ordinary zombie into an even more powerful zombie, since he was armored and couldn’t be attacked. He also had an armored helmet, which meant, unlike other zombies, he could live in daylight, although the others would burn in the sun.
The armored zombie leapt at Steve. He jumped back. Unarmored, Steve knew there was one only way to escape. He’d spent the morning mining, and he had run into an area with lava and water, so he had enough obsidian in his bag to make a frame. He quickly stacked the jet black blocks together. As he lit them on fire, a purple mist rose through the air. Steve’s portal to the Nether was complete. With a glance back at his village, Steve turned and made his escape from the zombie attack and into the Nether.
3
DOWN THE HOLE
STEVE DRIFTED WEIGHTLESSLY UNTIL HE LANDED in the red landscape of the Nether. Filled with lava pools, the Nether didn’t track time with day and night like the Overworld. Steve looked at his compass to find his direction, only to see the needle on the compass go in circles. Compasses and clocks were useless in the Nether.
As he adjusted to the crimson glow from the Nether, Steve cautiously explored his new landscape. This was unlike any place Steve had ever been, and his eyes had to adjust to the new lighting. The Nether was dangerous, but it was also filled with many useful resources. Mushrooms sprouted from the ground, and Steve saw a lava pool in the distance. Steve leaned over to pick a mushroom and knew that the fermented spider’s eye he had from the jockey spider mixed with sugar could create a potion.
Before he could grab his first mushroom, he heard the high-pitched sounds of a ghast. Its white boxy body with tentacles floated by with its eyes closed.
Steve quickly surveyed the area for a good hiding place. Stepping too close to the lava pool would kill him, and there were no trees to hide behind or scary caves to provide shelter as the ghast passed Steve. Ghasts had limited vision and couldn’t see him if he hid behind some leaves or glass, but there was nothing in sight. Another option was going back through the portal, but then he’d have to face the armored zombie. Also, he couldn’t go back to the village until he had a plan to save Avery the librarian, the other villagers, and himself. He tried to remain quiet, hoping the ghast would float by, but it was too late. The ghast saw Steve, opened its demonic red eyes, and readied itself for
an attack.
The ghast looked like a jellyfish with white tentacles sprouting from its underbelly. It made a chirping noise signaling it was attacking. Without armor or a sword, Steve was defenseless and had no way to shield the attack. The ghast’s cavernous mouth opened wide as a red-hot fireball emerged. The flames glistened as the fireball rushed through the breezy Nether sky. Steve didn’t have time to dodge the fiery mess. With a single throw of his fist, he hit the fireball and redirected it toward the ghast. The ghast let out a pained wail as it exploded.
Steve made his way through the Nether and walked past a lava waterfall until he came to a patch of Soul Sand. While collecting the blocks of sand, he could see a Nether fortress in the distance past a large field of lava. Suddenly Steve had an idea! Diamonds could be found in a Nether fortress. If Steve obtained diamonds, he could craft a powerful diamond sword to attack the armored zombie.
“I will use forty diamonds,” Steve said, although he was all alone and had nobody to talk to. He missed his conversations with Eliot the Blacksmith, and it comforted him to simply hear words out loud, even if nobody was listening.
He paused, and with great hope he exclaimed, “And with those diamonds, I will create the most powerful sword in the world. I will use it to slay that armored zombie and help the villagers!”
“Diamonds?” A voice called out, and Steve realized he wasn’t alone.
“Who are you?” asked Steve.
“I’m Jack,” the voice replied, and he came out from behind blocks. He wore blue diamond armor.
“Wow, you have diamond armor.” Steve was impressed. He was also wary of this stranger. He could be a griefer. But Steve was lonely and wanted company.
“If you give me an iron ingot, I can teach you how to travel in the void,” said Jack.
The void was an area in the Nether that had no hostile mobs. Steve had heard that it was a safe way to travel through this scary land.
“For just one iron ingot?” Steve was shocked—that was a small request for such an enormous task.
“Yes,” Jack said as Steve gave him the ingot.
Suddenly Jack took out a diamond sword and leapt toward Steve. Steve jumped back.
“I want everything in your inventory,” demanded Jack. “Now!”
The blue sword glistened in the dark red Nether. Steve sprinted toward a lava pool, but he couldn’t escape. It was either drown in hot lava or be destroyed by Jack’s sword.
Suddenly Jack and Steve heard a chirping sound. It was a ghast. It fired at them, Jack ran to avoid the flame, accidently pushing Steve away, and Jack tripped into a pool of lava. Steve wanted to grab the diamond sword from Jack the griefer but was too late, as it was already covered in lava. To even reach for the tip of the handle could result in Steve being burned or destroyed. He also didn’t have time to get it since he had a ghast attacking him.
Steve quickly exchanged his sword for a bow and arrow, and with one hit, he knocked out the ghast.
“Gotcha!” Steve shouted as the ghast was destroyed. Then he looked around nervously, remembering the last time he had shouted out loud. He was scared another griefer would come, and he needed to be prepared.
Steve had encountered his first griefer and had walked away alive. With the victories over the ghasts, he was beginning to feel confident as he walked across a Nether bridge over a sea of lava. He passed enormous columns made of Nether brick that seemed to stretch as far as the sky. Small fires burned on the ground, and he jumped to avoid them. He paid close attention to the ground beneath his feet, because he never knew what he might encounter in the Nether. He made his way toward the Nether fortress and was hopeful that he could find diamonds and save his friends.
As he jumped over a small pool of lava, a zombie pigman leapt out, ready to attack Steve. The pink pig with a box-shaped head and rotting flesh was armed with a sword and in attack mode.
I can’t seem to shake zombies! Steve thought as he deftly built a three brick w
all to shield him from the zombie pigman. Then he jumped up high and knocked the zombie pigman to the ground. This attack spawned a group of zombie pigmen, all ready to attack Steve. Using cobblestone blocks, he constructed a booth with four walls and mined a hole in the bottom of the booth. He used the blocks to strike the zombie pigmen. As each zombie was defeated, it dropped iron ingots. Steve quickly collected the ingots and crafted them into a sword.
Touting his new sword, Steve made his escape toward the Nether fortress to find his diamonds. Flying above the Fortress and aiming for Steve was a blaze. Its yellow body and black eyes flew above the Fortress and shot at Steve as it guarded this majestic fortress made of Nether block. Steve grabbed a Nether block to shield himself from the fiery blows the blaze was unleashing on him.
The blaze spawned! Two more blazes appeared. Both fired at him. The flames landed incredibly close to his body, almost burning his new gold sword. A blaze dropped a blaze rod by his feet. Steve picked it up, knowing it was helpful when brewing potions. Steve barely missed another blast. He knew the only way to survive this clash with the blazes was to craft an Enchanted Golden Apple. He had been planning on crafting an Enchanted Golden Apple when he returned to the village to cure Eliot the blacksmith, but he had to use it now. Enchanted Golden Apples also had the power to shield people from fire for five minutes, and at that moment Steve was being blasted with heat. Enchanted Golden Apples were expensive to craft, but as flames flew at Steve’s body, it was his only option. Steve crafted an Enchanted Golden Apple with gold blocks and an apple from his inventory, then he ate it all in one bite, saved from the fire for five minutes.
It was a race against the clock as he battled the three blazes that were now standing in front of the fortress. Their power was diminished due to the Enchanted Golden Apple, but they were still skilled as they tried to smash Steve to the ground. Steve unleashed his mighty iron sword and destroyed the blazes, collecting the points the blazes dropped after he defeated them. With the glow of a victory, Steve entered the grand fortress.
The Fortress walls were decorated with glowstone blocks. The yellow light emanating from the slabs seemed to reflect off the Nether blocks and light the room. The ambiance gave the Fortress a feeling of being both grand and cozy. Steve had never seen anything so beautiful. He quickly eyed for any blazes that might be spawning in the fortress, but he didn’t see any around. He knew ghasts couldn’t survive in a Nether fortress, because ghasts couldn’t survive in enclosed places and the buildings were made of materials that could withstand a ghast blast. This enabled Steve to relax and soak in the awesomeness of this grand fortress. In the center of an interior room, Steve saw an enormous staircase made of Nether bricks with Soul Sand, and Nether wart was growing on the ground on both sides of the staircase.
Steve walked down the staircase and reached over to pick up the Nether wart, which was an essential ingredient to have when making potions. As he reached to pick up his first batch, a blaze emerged from behind a wall. Steve mined a Nether block, covering himself with the flame-resistant block as he plunged his sword into the blaze and watched it fall to the floor in agony.
The minute the blaze died, a dark red and brown cube jumped from a lava pool to the center of the staircase. Its eyes looked like flames, and for a second Steve was mesmerized. He had never seen a magma cube before, and the intensity of its eyes held Steve’s attention. Of course, he knew the magma cube was hostile, and he had to defeat it. With a swift blow from his sword, the magma cube fell back and split in two. Steve jumped toward the multiple cubes and struck each one until they were killed. Magma cream oozed from the cube and Steve ran to pick it up due to its value in the Nether.
With his eyes peeled for hostile mobs, Steve walked through the fortress in search of the rare diamonds. The rooms were empty. Another explorer must have been in the fortress before him and emptied it of its treasures. He could see blazes spawning in a room as Steve rushed from the fortress back into the wide-open Nether. He hoped to find another fortress to get diamonds.
Steve could only see lava ponds and fires. It could take him days to find another fortress, and his food bar was getting very low. He couldn’t continue searching in the Nether. He had to make his way back to the Overworld, where he could hunt for cows to fill his food bar. He also couldn’t return to the portal he used to get to the Nether, because it would bring him back into the zombie attack. Steve had to make another portal, which meant he’d land in a foreign land. This frightened Steve, but it was his only option.
Steve constructed the frame using more of the obsidian from his bag. He set it on fire and leapt into the portal. He had no idea where he’d wind up when he stepped out. Steve missed his wheat farm and Snuggles’s meows. He hoped that his home and his ocelot would still be there when he returned to the Overworld. He secretly feared he’d never make his way back. As he transported between the two worlds, he closed his eyes and pretended he was in his old comfy wool bed.
4
TREASURE HUNTERS IN THE TEMPLE
STEVE OPENED HIS EYES AND SAW DUST. WELL, IT wasn’t exactly dust. It was sand, and it seemed to go on forever. He was in a desert far from the familiarity of his wheat farm and the village. Steve was worried about finding food. It seemed like a barren wasteland. There was nothing. He had heard about people ending up in the desert, finding mirages, and getting lost in the expanse. He could build a house with sandstone blocks or mine. Worried that he was low on food bars, he walked through the desert in search of anything.
The tan blocks were almost blinding. Stairs were built out of bricks of sand. He stood high atop a stack of blocks to see if there was a village in the distance, but there wasn’t. Steve thought this was the end. He was going to die and be respawned back in the wheat farm. If that happened, zombies would probably just attack him in his home. He trudged along the sandy streets of the desert hoping he’d see some life.
When he had given up hope, Steve started to mine. If he could get a bunch of sandstone blocks, he would be able to build a house and start a new life in this desolate world. He used his pickaxe and got deep beneath the surface. After mining for a while, he came upon an enormous square. It was a temple! He knew that was where treasure could be found. Maybe he could find his diamonds. Steve dug a hole into the center of this desert temple. The temple looked like an Egyptian pyramid. As he entered the temple, he heard some voices. He wasn’t alone.
“Who’s here?” Steve screamed with a quiver in his tone. But there was no response. He could hear people whispering, and he was worried that he would be attacked.
“Who are you?” Steve called out again. Utter silence.
Suddenly, three people emerged from behind a sandstone wall—two boys and a girl.
“Don’t tell him, Henry,” a boy with dyed blue leather armor and a blue helmet yelled at his friend, who stood holding a pickaxe and wearing gold armor and a gold helmet.
“Max, everyone knows the only reason people go into temples is to find the four treasure chests,” Henry told his friend with the blue helmet.
“You have to trust him,” chimed in their third friend with pink leather armor and a pink helmet.
“Lucy, why should we?” Henry sounded annoyed.
“Are you treasure hunters?” Steve questioned the group. After encountering the griefer in the Nether, he was suspicious of everyone.
“Maybe,” Henry said with an attitude.
“Are you alone?” Max asked Steve.
“Yes,” he replied, hoping they weren’t griefers planning to ruin his day or even kill him. But he didn’t have anything too valuable on him, because he had spent all his gold on the Enchanted Golden Apple, and Steve was close to starving.
He looked over at this gang of three, and realized that he was going to have to trust and join them. He had no other choice.
“How are you planning on getting the treasure? You know it’s trapped,” said Steve.
“Of course we know that! We’re experts,” said Henry.
“Do you want in? We can split the loot,” Lucy offered.
“If you’re experts, why do you need my help?” Steve was suspicious.
“Because we feel sorry for you,” Lucy smiled.
“Our motto is the more the merrier. We love making new friends,” said Max.
Henry looked at his friends. “Maybe we should just leave him alone. He may be a griefer. How can we trust him?”
“He seems nice,” said Lucy.
“How do you know he seems nice?” Henry was shocked. “We just met him.”
“You’re right, he could be a griefer, but he seems scared of us,” Lucy said to defend herself.
“True, but that could be an act. He could be a cunning griefer.” Henry never trusted anybody, but there weren’t a lot of people who trusted Henry.
“Well, there’s only one way we can find out if he is a griefer. We have to let him work with us,” said Max.
“Where are you from?” Henry asked Steve.
“I live on a wheat farm by a village. I left when it was being attacked by zombies,” Steve told the group.
“A wheat farm?” Lucy questioned.
“It’s not just a wheat farm. I also grow carrots, potatoes, and pumpkins, and I breed pigs.”
“Carrots?” Henry’s eyes beamed. Carrots were extremely valuable, and Henry knew Steve must have lots of resources on the farm. That meant Steve was valuable.
“Yes, I have a large house.” Steve didn’t want to sound like he was bragging, but he was proud of his property. He had more than six bedrooms and multiple beds. He had food that could serve several users. He had worked hard to get all of this, but he stopped himself from saying too much. He had seen the glint in Henry’s eye, and he didn’t like it.
“Do you have extra rooms in your house?” Lucy asked Steve.
“Yes, I have six,” Steve replied and added for no reason in particular, “I also have an ocelot named Snuggles.”
The Quest for the Diamond Sword Page 2
