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Quest for Justice
Sean Fay Wolfe
The first title in an exciting, unofficial MINECRAFT-fan adventure series inspired by the bestselling game.Dark forces are at work on the Elementia server, and when new players Stan, Kat, and Charlie arrive on the scene, they quickly find themselves in peril. Targeted by more experienced players, the noobs must band together against the king, battle the natural forces of the game, and unravel the mysteries of Elementia in the name of justice.Disclaimer: This book is not authorized, sponsored, endorsed or licensed by Mojang AB, Microsoft Corp. or any other person or entity owning or controlling any rights to the Minecraft name, trademarks or copyrights. Minecraft is a registered trademark of Mojang Synergies AB.
Copyright (#ulink_0b1099be-1641-5099-9779-8408bc1adc67)
First published in the USA by HarperCollins Publishers Inc in 2015
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books 2015
HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd,
HarperCollins Publishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
The HarperCollins Children’s Books website address is
www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
Copyright © 2015 by Sean Fay Wolfe
Cover art © 2015 by Max Gonzalez
Design by Victor Joseph Ochoa
Sean Fay Wolfe asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780008152864
Ebook Edition © 2015 ISBN: 9780008152871
Version: 2017-05-18
Contents
Cover (#u83f11cd8-f6f3-51ae-b803-605b6ac0eb2f)
Title Page (#ub392ffa0-63dc-545b-af39-8a0002c23a03)
Copyright (#u91241a6b-c250-525e-bac1-1a6de16b96a4)
Epigraph (#uc734deea-f2a0-52e4-adff-b05dd28eb1c4)
PROLOGUE (#ucc01061c-93c7-5559-8810-a8357fa13323)
PART I: WELCOME TO MINECRAFT (#ua01e67e5-04b5-5abb-9190-5b7bd518d663)
CHAPTER 1: Welcome to Minecraft (#ue9cafa84-c671-5ae9-bf3b-7fae95ad81cf)
CHAPTER 2: The First Night (#u9f642b83-fcf5-51bd-8cf4-0d4527531880)
CHAPTER 3: Mines and Creepers (#u73215091-b32e-570c-ba68-89ae71f2b735)
CHAPTER 4: The Adorian Village (#u621be552-e073-57e3-86f9-6d4e8b6156f1)
CHAPTER 5: The Programme (#u04cd36d1-1045-5ba6-8f54-75cf1cfde7f0)
CHAPTER 6: Stan and Steve (#u06b6a58d-94ce-5de7-a632-80b10eff8de4)
CHAPTER 7: The Thunderstorm (#u0d1b2fcf-e684-5505-82cc-c790100a73a1)
CHAPTER 8: Proclamation Day (#u793c45ac-77d7-57ad-9ce4-5e71f6ea4689)
PART II: BIRTH OF THE REBELLION (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER 9: The Shot Heard Round the World (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER 10: Flight to the Jungle (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER 11: The Apothecary (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER 12: The Desert (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER 13: The Abandoned Mine Shaft (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER 14: Avery’s Story (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER 15: The Portal (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER 16: The Nether (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER 17: The Fortress and the Blaze (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER 18: A Daring Escape (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER 19: The Town of Blackstone (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER 20: The Monster Slayer (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER 21: Oob’s Helping Hand (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER 22: The Siege (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER 23: The Twelve Eyes of Ender (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER 24: Within the Stronghold (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER 25: The End (#litres_trial_promo)
ENLIGHTENMENT (#litres_trial_promo)
PART III: THE BATTLE FOR ELEMENTIA (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER 26: The Speech (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER 27: The Battle for Elementia (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER 28: The Ultimate Sacrifice (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER 29: The Last Casualty (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER 30: The New Order (#litres_trial_promo)
Preview to The Elementia Chronicles Book 2: The New Order (#litres_trial_promo)
The Quest Continues … (#litres_trial_promo)
From the Author (#litres_trial_promo)
Acknowledgments (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
PROLOGUE (#ulink_aa1c1cdb-4eb7-5b45-a302-0ca67f4dd060)
The hallway of the brick castle echoed ominously with footsteps as a figure ran down the corridor. His outfit was comparable to that of a medieval English king: red shirt, trousers of elegant design and a flowing cloak with white fur around the edges. This man was a player on the Minecraft server Elementia. His tag was Charlemagne77, known informally as Charlemagne.
The hall he ran down was lined with paintings of pixel art. Torches protruded from the walls and gave light to ward off the mobs, terrifying creatures that lurked in the dark. There were arched windows that revealed an expansive metropolis, sprawling as far as the eye could see, beyond the outer protective walls of the castle. All of this was made entirely of cubes, one metre long on each side, with textures that resembled brick, wood, glass and all sorts of other materials.
In this game, Minecraft, the entire world was made of these cubic “blocks,” which stood in formations with textures that were made to resemble the trees of the forests, the water of the oceans, the green grassy hills and the stone and minerals of the underground mines. These blocks also made up the castle and the city, textured as stone and glass. Living things were composed of blocks as well, including Charlemagne and all other people, animals and monsters that inhabited the spacious world.
Charlemagne ran because he was late to the meeting of the Council of Operators (though there were no operators on the council, despite the name). This council was made up of the highest-level players on the server, and was led by King Kev, most often referred to simply as “the King”. The meeting had been called to discuss a most important matter, a matter that, unbeknown to the council, would be the downfall of the King, Charlemagne and so many others. This one decision would be the downfall of the luxurious life that the high-level citizens of Element City enjoyed.
The man finally reached the iron doors and pressed a button on the wall. Five note blocks above his head activated and played a chime that functioned as the doorbell. Moments later the doors opened, and Charlemagne stepped into the council chamber.
There was a round table in the middle of the chamber, the King’s allusion to the mighty King Arthur. Around it sat six of the eight council members. The other two seats were situated at the right and left hand of King Kev, who sat upon a throne, elevated eight blocks above the floor, presiding over the council. The right seat held Charlemagne’s fellow adviser to the King, Caesar894, while the left was reserved for Charlemagne himself. The King looked down at Charlemagne. He changed his skin, Charlemagne noted. The King had, indeed, changed his appearance. King Kev now had on a baby-blue shirt with navy trousers and black boots, and he had even added a blood-red cape. The only thing that remained unchanged was his head: a golden crown perched upon his neat blond hair. But enough of this, thought Charlemagne, I have other things to attend to.
“Forgive my tardy arrival, Your Highness,” said Charlemagne, bowing by looking at the floor and crouching simultaneously with his golden sword drawn. This sword was ceremonial only; all council members and the King had one, though it was an impractical weapon.
“Forgiven,” boomed the King, pointing his own golden sword at Charlemagne in a sign either of welcome or intent to kill. “I trust your lateness has a good reason?”
“Oh, yes, my liege.” Charlemagne grinned. “My lingering among the low-level peasants under a disguise of leather armour took longer than I had anticipated, as I took part in a conversation regarding the local attitude towards certain aspects of the last major law you enacted.” At this, several council members cringed. Like most upper-class players, they were averse to mingling with the commoners.
“The Law of One Death?” asked the King.
“That’s the one, my lord,” Charlemagne replied. “The attitude of the common folk is mixed. Some, mainly those under level ten, say that it is a good law as it gives the game a higher risk factor, while most say that it undermines the superiority of the high-level folk. To be totally frank, I agree with both arguments.”
“You dare to question the reasoning of my law?” bellowed the King. “Have you no respect for my authority? I ought to have you executed at once.”
“Oh, no, Your Highness, that is not what I am trying to say at all!” exclaimed Charlemagne, although he knew the King would do no such thing to him. Charlemagne had enough skill to escape any attempt by the King on his life. Moreover, Charlemagne knew things about the King, dark things, and the King would be a fool to provoke Charlemagne into revealing them to the public.
“I agree with both arguments, but only to a degree. The game is much more … er … exciting now that you can die at any minute and be forever banished from the server, as opposed to simply returning to the last place you slept in a bed as is usual in Minecraft. However,” he continued, “this does mean that the game is harder for those who have worked their way to the top, such as the members of this council. We upper-level players have the best plots of land in the known server, and a bounty of well-earned supplies. If, say, I were to die, I would leave a plot of fertile land and a house full of diamonds, emeralds, gold … well, you get the point, and I would never be able to return and retrieve them. Meanwhile a player who has just spawned could waltz into my home and steal everything I owned, thus becoming rich by doing almost nothing! Well, you can imagine how the people in the city who have worked their way to the top feel about that.”
There was a murmur of agreement around the table.
“Hmmm,” said the King. “You may be right. This new law does undermine the level system that rightfully benefits our upper class – which is ironic, given the circumstances in which the law was imposed – but what do you propose we do to fix this problem?”
It was at this point that Caesar894, dressed as his Roman namesake, stood up. “I have an idea,” suggested the King’s right-hand man.
“Speak it,” replied the King.
“Well, it occurs to me that, within the walls of our city, we have almost no remaining fertile land. The forest beyond the city limits on all sides will not make good farmland. If we are to keep this city up to the standard we are used to, we must take multiple actions. First, we must not give away any more of this fertile land. Second, we must force the lower-level citizens of this city to leave. As Sir Charlemagne pointed out, they are likely to steal from us if we die or, even more likely, rise against us and murder us in our sleep just to take our supplies!
“The lower-level citizens of this city outnumber us two to one,” Caesar continued, “and if they should ever realize this, we would have a serious problem on our hands. We must force them to move from the city. If they do that, this city will have more land to be taken by those who deserve it.
“The Adorian Village can take on most of the outcasts, and there must be a fertile tract of land out there somewhere beyond the Ender Desert, even if our cartographers haven’t mapped it yet. Some of the refugees can settle there. One thing remains certain, however: the lower-levels must go.”
As Caesar894 finished his speech, the council members clapped their blocky hands in approval. The King stood up.
“Very well,” the King said. “The law proposed shall state the following: ‘All citizens of Element City with a level under that of fifteen are required to leave the city within one week of today’s date. After that date, all players under level fifteen found in the city shall be killed and their houses destroyed.’ Those in favour of this law?”
Ten geometrically shaped hands rose into the air.
These ten players on the Minecraft server Elementia had no idea what they had just done. They had no idea just how the people would react to this law. And they had no idea at all what this simple action would do to their way of life, to their citizens’ lives, and to the game of Minecraft itself. Still the King continued.
“Motion carried,” the King announced. “The law shall be put into place at the next Proclamation Day. It is time for the elite of this city to take back the kingdom!”
At that very moment, as the council cheered the King, a new player called Stan2012 appeared on Spawnpoint Hill.
(#ulink_9afd5c23-b9e6-521b-8509-f73eb16cbcbc)
CHAPTER 1 (#ulink_af153f18-ccb8-5731-87b4-357fcf16b241)
WELCOME TO MINECRAFT (#ulink_af153f18-ccb8-5731-87b4-357fcf16b241)
It was dark in the Great Wood. Visibility between the tall trees surrounding the flowery hill was limited; who knew what was lurking in the shadows? The stars were still out, but the white square that was the sun had begun to peek over the horizon, giving the starry sky a faint pink-and-orange glow. The haunting howl of an Enderman pierced the peaceful dawn. It was this striking scene of the Minecraft server Elementia that met a new player who had appeared on Spawnpoint Hill.
This player was clearly new; he held nothing in his rectangular hand and was gazing in wonder at the infinite cubes of dirt, grass and oak wood that composed the meadow hill and forest that surrounded him now. He had dark brown hair, a turquoise shirt and blue trousers, the standard look for a Minecraft player who had not yet changed his skin or appearance. This player had never played Minecraft before. Unbeknown to him, he couldn’t have picked a worse time to join this server. His name was Stan2012.
Wow, Stan thought as he gazed around at the dimly lit morning. This is awesome! Everything’s made out of cubes! The dirt on the ground, the trees, even the leaves! And look at that stream over there. Even the water is perfect cubes! You can pick up these … blocks, and build stuff out of them? But there are blocks everywhere! Awesome! Oh, wow!
