Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior: Crafting Alliances: An Unofficial Minecraft Adventure
Page 11
"Don’t worry about repaying me," he said. "You already have. By being my best friend."
"Thanks," I said. "I want to say—"
I paused mid-sentence. Around me, everyone else had stopped talking. One by one, their heads were slowly turning to—
THE MAYOR.
He was standing on the raised platform again. He had that gloomy expression he was famous for, which meant it was time to listen.
"I have one more announcement today," he said. "I’ve discussed our mob situation with the rest of the leaders, and … "
There was a long silence.
"… we’ve decided that any student graduating this year may choose the Path of the Sword."
Path.
That’s what many of the older villagers call professions. There’s the Path of the Seed, Path of the Fishing Rod, Path of the Book and Quill, and so on. Every year, the village holds a ceremony in which those graduating must choose one item from a special chest. They then hold it proudly above their head, in front of everyone, to show what Path (and profession) they have chosen. It’s a permanent decision. No looking back. Like always, that chest will be filled with items like fishing rods, pickaxes, cobblestone, books, anvils, crafting tables, wool, leather …
But this year,
it’s also going to contain swords.
In other words, everyone can become a warrior, regardless of his or her rank. Although I was shocked by this big reveal, in a way, I’d always been expecting it.
With so many mobs running around now, how could five villagers keep things under control? At this point, we need a small army.
Maybe the humans will eventually shape up and all start fighting. Even if they did, it wouldn’t be enough, and we couldn’t expect them to stick around and protect us forever. No, this was something that had to happen. It was inevitable, really. The only real question is—what about the top five?
Was all of my hard work for nothing? All of my studying and constant risk-taking? A few students voiced the same concern. In response, the mayor nodded in a knowing way, perhaps expecting this reaction.
"Of course, those graduating with the highest rank will not go unrewarded. They’ll have the option of choosing a special path.
"The Path of the Diamond."
Now beside him, Brio spoke up.
"Diamonds are valued for their purity, rarity, brilliance, and durability … just like anyone who follows this Path. You will lead our warriors into battle. You will devise combat strategies. You will lead us to victory as captains. Our fighting elite."
"And someday," Drill added, "you will lead our warriors to the very gates of Herobrine’s castle itself!"
The mayor turned to him angrily. "Fool!" He glanced down at the bottle of melon juice Drill was holding. Then he leaned over to the combat teacher, took a sniff, and slapped the bottle out of his hand. "Fermented! I should have known!"
"Fermented?" Drill glanced at the bottle as it rolled away across the cobblestones. "What are you talking about?"
Fermented melon juice. Sure. That explained a lot. After the girls’ discovery of this recipe, they’d found that adding a fermented spider eye would change normal melon juice into a fermented variety.
Upon drinking it, a person is affected by a debuff. The debuff makes it hard to walk in addition to other weird side effects, like being extremely forgetful, having difficulty concentrating, slurred speech …
So strange. Since this is a newly discovered recipe, and since Drill doesn’t know much about brewing or crafting, he wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference.
He could have noticed the distinctive sour smell, sure, but maybe he hadn’t been paying attention. Of course, even Drill knew that this was no accident. Someone must have served him that juice on purpose.
"If I ever find out which one of you did this," he roared at the students, "after you’re done doing push-ups, you’re gonna resemble a creeper!!"
(I’m guessing he meant their arms were going to fall off?)
With how many students were giggling right then, there was no way to tell who the trickster was. But the mischievous grin Max was trying to conceal told me all I needed to know. I doubt he’d expected his prank to cause so much chaos, however. Anyway, it didn’t matter. The truth was already out. The mayor sighed and hung his head. Brio ushered the angry combat teacher away, and the students’ laughter soon faded.
Then there was only eerie silence. Perhaps all one hundred and fifty students were contemplating what Drill had blurted out.
The gates of Herobrine’s castle.
The end … For now!!
Read the dramatic conclusion in book 4:
Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior:
Path of the Diamond
Cube Kid is the pen name of Erik Gunnar Taylor, a writer who has lived in Alaska his whole life. A big fan of video games—especially Minecraft—he discovered early that he also had a passion for writing fan fiction.
Cube Kid’s unofficial Minecraft fan fiction series, Diary of a Wimpy Villager, came out as e-books in 2015 and immediately met with great success in the Minecraft community. They were published in France by 404 éditions in paperback with illustrations by Saboten and now return in this same format to Cube Kid’s native country under the title Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior.
When not writing, Cube Kid likes to travel, putter with his car, devour fan fiction, and play his favorite video game.
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