Sean Wolfe - Quest for Justice

Jayden pushed a button at the end of the hall, and an iron door swung open. Inside, Stan could see a player, a girl judging by the plait of her black hair, sitting at a desk, writing in a book. She looked up at the sound of the opening door.

“Hello, Jayden. These are the new players, I assume?” Her voice was kind – it reminded Stan of his mother.

“Yes, Adoria, ma’am,” Jayden replied respectfully.

Adoria stood up. Stan saw that she was wearing a pink blouse and a red skirt.

“Well, then, welcome to the Adorian Village, new players. I am Adoria1, founder and mayor of this community. But please, call me Adoria. What are your names?”

Stan spoke up. “My name is Stan2012, but you can just call me Stan. This is KingCharles_XIV, or Charlie.” At this Charlie gave a polite nod, and Stan continued, “And this is KitKat783, or Kat.”

Kat said, “Pleased to meet you, ma’am.”

“Pleased to meet you too, players. Tell me, have you ever played Minecraft before?” inquired Adoria.

Stan and Charlie shook their heads, while Kat said, “I have, but on a different server, and I wasn’t there for long. I’m not much more experienced at this game than these two.” Stan and Charlie shot her incredulous looks but they backed down as they caught her eye.

Adoria nodded her head. “I understand. In that case, we in this village will be more than glad to help you learn how to play this game. We have a programme here that teaches you everything that you need to know about Minecraft in five days. Do you think you would be interested in that? The deal includes food and a temporary place to stay.”

Stan said, “It sounds good to me.”

“I’m game,” said Kat excitedly.

“Count the three of us in, then,” said Charlie. “But what kinds of things are you going to be showing us?”

“We have a group of people in this village dedicated to training new players. Each has different strengths that they will pass on to you. They will show you how to fight, craft, create and other such things.”

“So, it’s your job to train new players to prepare them for the server?” asked Kat.

“That’s right,” replied Jayden. “Almost every new player on this server came through our programme first, including most of the population of Element City.”

“What’s Element City?” asked Stan.

“The server’s capital,” said Adoria. “Element City is where most people go after they go through our programme. It’s situated on a huge open plain, surrounded by forest on all sides, and it has the greatest population of any settlement on this server. That’s where people build their houses and a bunch of crazy contraptions and structures and all that. At the centre of the city is Element Castle, where the King of this server presides over a council that makes the laws of the land.”

“Sounds like an interesting place. Do you think we should go there after we finish your programme?” asked Charlie.

“Um … yes, I don’t see why not,” replied Adoria. But her hesitation was not lost on Stan, and she didn’t meet Charlie’s eyes when she said this. Stan wondered what was wrong with Element City.

“So, is there a place for us to sleep?” asked Charlie, yawning. “I’m bushed; we haven’t slept yet, and we’ve been on the server for almost two days now!”

“Oh, by all means, go ahead!” said Adoria with a warm smile. “You’ll find some things for you in your rooms at the motel. Jayden, show these players to their rooms, please.”

“Yes, ma’am,” replied Jayden. “Follow me,” and he left the room. Stan, Charlie and Kat followed him out of the hall, picking Rex up where he’d waited by the door.

“So,” said Jayden as they left the building, “what kind of materials do you guys have so far?”

“Not much,” replied Charlie, looking in his inventory as he walked. “Just … a stack of dirt, five arrows, some string and some wood. You guys got anything else?” he asked as he looked to Kat and Stan.

“I’ve got a stone sword and pickaxe, some cobblestone and a few torches,” replied Kat. “Stan?”

“Oh, I’ve just got some coal, the pickaxe you gave me, and the book.”

“Come on, you guys! To survive in this game you’re gonna need better stuff than that!” Stan could tell that Jayden wasn’t being condescending – he was just ribbing them. Stan laughed with Jayden.

“I guess Stan and I owe you a thank you,” said Charlie. “Without those swords and the bread and the book, we definitely wouldn’t have even come close to making it here. We wouldn’t even have survived the first night with those Spiders!”

“Yeah … thanks a million,” agreed Stan, shuddering as he remembered fighting off the Spiders.

“Ah, don’t mention it,” replied Jayden with a shrug. “Besides, it wasn’t me who put those out there – it was my friend Sally. She’s the one who goes out there and replenishes the stock at the spawn point every week. Speaking of which, why did it take you guys two days to get here, anyway? It’s only a day’s journey.”

So Stan and Charlie told Jayden about the time that they had had getting to the village, about getting lost, and the Spiders, and running into Kat (who added to the story from that point on), and the mine, and the Creeper, and Mr A. Jayden seemed taken aback by the story of Mr A.

“You guys ran into a Griefer?” he asked sceptically. “But none of you are even level four yet! The best weapon you have is a moderately used stone sword! Why would anyone want to attack you?”

“Well, he was about to tell us in a melodramatic monologue, but I believe that that was the point when Kat told him, and I quote, ‘we couldn’t care less about your “oh, woe is me” story,’” replied Charlie, grinning at her.

“I regret nothing,” smirked Kat. “So, Jayden, what do you do around here? It must get pretty boring.”

Jayden shook his head. “No, not really. It’s fun to teach the new guys, like you. At the school, I teach axe fighting, and I help my brother on his farm. Plus, Adoria sends me on missions. I actually just got back from one a little while before you guys got here,” he added as the four finally arrived at the motel, a sprawling four-storey complex made of mainly wood planks. Stan saw a hole in the side of the building that was closest to him, next to several chests and a sign that said Construction in Progress.

“Well, here we are, home sweet home,” announced Jayden, gesturing to the building. “You guys are lucky. You’ll be bunking with me and my friends tonight. You’d ordinarily get your own rooms, but we’ve been so swamped with new players lately that there isn’t any room left for you in the main wing, and the expansion isn’t done yet. So, come with me.” He started to climb a ladder up to the roof.

“Wait!” cried Kat. “What about Rex?”

Jayden paused. “What? Oh, your dog. Just leave him there, but don’t tell him to sit. I think he’ll find his way up on his own.” He continued to climb.

Shrugging, Kat gave Rex a quick scratch between the ears and went up after Jayden, followed by Charlie and then Stan.

Jayden’s room was situated on top of the fourth-floor roof. It was a large room, big enough to comfortably hold eight players. Jayden flipped open the wooden door and was greeted by two distinct voices. The other three followed him in.

There were four beds sitting on the floor, two of them occupied with people. Like the rest of the town, the room was lit by torches, and there was a table with tools hanging from it that was identical to the one Stan had seen in the building in the village. Next to the table stood a stone oven with a fire lit in it. The walls were lined with paintings, and there was a large chest next to each bed. Next to the door was a box with a slot on top.