Complete Minecraft Book Series (9781311830654) Page 3
Suddenly, light.
Spud could see it straight ahead: a small pool of lava. It wasn't anything exciting itself (other than lava being super cool), but what it illuminated was. Iron! Lots of it! Spud's feet seemed to move him to the light just like a moth. He was inches from entering the cave when a green arm swung in front of him. Spud reacted by swinging his sword, which hit the arm. The creature flashed red for a split second and bounced backward. It was definitely a zombie! And it was coming back for Spud!
Spud backed into his makeshift staircase and jumped up a block and swung again.
Hit!
He jumped up another block and swung.
Hit!
Euuungh the zombie groaned and came at Spud again.
Spud swung again.
MISS!
Spud kept swinging his sword in desperation. The zombie got closer and closer and Spud kept missing. Up a few blocks, swing, miss. Up a few blocks, swing, miss. Up a few.. Oh no! Spud couldn't get up a block! It was getting too dark to see this far away from his torch. Spud pulled a torch out of his pocket and threw it on the wall next to him. Now he really panicked.
In his dark descent Spud must have accidentally mined down two blocks instead of making a staircase pattern. He couldn't climb up. Behind him was a wall and approaching him was a hungry zombie! Spud swung again and hit the zombie right in the face, causing it to tumble down a few steps. Spud would have been relieved except his sword broke on that hit! The zombie was coming back and Spud had no weapon. Spud closed his eyes and jumped at the zombie, spinning his arms around violently.
CRAAASH!
Spud opened his eyes. He was still alive! Did he defeat the zombie? He looked around quizzically - there was nothing there. After a long moment of confusion Spud checked his back pocket and found two pieces of rotten flesh (Eww!). As gross as this was, he was safe now and the zombie was dead (for good). Spud could now explore this great open area.
One foot in front of the other, Spud snuck into the cave. All was quiet except for the slow and steady ooze of lava in the distance. He placed a torch above the doorway to mark its entrance and continued ahead.
Shadows stretched over the cavern like dark blankets. The ceiling hung low, and the stalactites hanging from it hung even lower. Some hung so low that they formed incomplete columns that Spud needed to maneuver around. There weren’t many on the way toward the small pool of lava that oozed from the wall, but the ones off to the side formed a maze to a deeper part of his new dungeon. Thoughts ran through Spud’s mind on dealing with these columns. Would he leave them because they were cool? Would he dig them out because they were in the way? Maybe he could leave some? He wasn’t sure yet.
Spud approached the red-hot magma to get a better view of the deeper part of the cave. The light from the lava illuminated the path he came from, a corridor behind him, some of the room to his side, and a hallway straight ahead. The wall to the side brimmed with iron ore and specks of coal. He would definitely mine this, but Spud’s curiosity got the best of him and he wanted to explore. This pool would be his rendezvous point no matter which direction he went. Naturally, he wanted to explore the dark path straight away, and that he did.
Carefully, Spud inched around the thick liquid and casually strolled into the pathway. His recent victory gave him confidence, but perhaps he had too much.
The path looked to be carved by someone else. It was a perfectly shaped square with no end in sight. It was four squares across, four squares tall, and went on into complete darkness. The more Spud walked the more brazen he became, thinking that he could rely on hearing sounds of creatures before they approached.
Nothing could touch Spud now. He was a machine! He knew Minecraft like the back of his hand. He wasn’t afraid of the dark. He wasn’t afraid of zombies. He wasn’t afraid of spiders. He wasn’t afraid of anything. Spud continued down the passage with a stride in his step, ready to take on anything this cave threw his way.
After a few minutes of walking Spud turned around to see from where he had come, but he was so far in in this cave that he couldn’t even see the lava that marked his way home. This worried Spud a bit. He had to be very mindful of which way he was looking now, which was back at home. If he got confused, he might not ever find it! But Spud couldn’t let himself think that way. First things first, get some lighting where he was now. He checked his inventory and found four torches. He still had a handful of sticks and some charcoal, but he needed to save the sticks. His pickaxe was broken and there was plenty of iron to mine back at his lava pool, so he would need to make another pickaxe when he got back. Spud walked over to the wall and placed a torch on the top brick. He chose the one as high as he could reach so he wouldn’t accidentally hit it if he got into a fight.
Just as he suspected, the passage continued on forevermore and still led on into darkness. The only exciting thing about this new sight was that gravel now lined a few spots of the walls along the path. Unsure of whether to turn back or not, Spud figured he could explore just a little further before turning back. His feet carried him into the unknown. His excitement turned to boredom. His heroic courage turned into mindless wandering. The torchlight dwindled away as he walked until he found himself in complete darkness once again. A few more steps and he would turn around. This passage seemed awesome at first, but now it was as dull as his math homework. Actually, this corridor became a form of math homework. If he was walking through a four-by-four hallway, how many blocks were gone to make the entrance? Sixteen! Because four times four is sixteen! And if he knew how deep he was, he could calculate how many blocks were missing in the entire hallway. He thought back to how far he walked between the lava and his torch, and then from his torch to here.
Suddenly, it hit him!
A wall that is, not the answer (he couldn’t think back that far). But wait a minute. A wall?
A wall!
Spud had run into a wall! He grabbed another torch from his pocket and hung it up off to the side, shining light on his new discovery. There, right in front of him were two columns of gravel boxed in by two columns of stone. Finding this was too exciting for Spud to handle; he couldn’t turn around now! Spud drew his shovel and instantly began working at the gravel. Good thing he brought his shovel with him! Even though it was wooden, it was the fastest thing he had to scoop up the blocks of loose pebbles (even though in real life, a pickaxe still works better). He cleared out a bottom block and more fell down into that space. For a moment he had forgotten that gravity pulls gravel down, unlike most other bricks in this crazy world. Good thing he wasn’t digging above himself!
Spud shoveled away brick after brick of gravel – thirteen in all – until both columns were gone. Under this wall of gravel was boring old stone once again, except that they went down a block. Spud, now intrigued, dug at the next cubes of gravel. This followed the same pattern, which was down a step. Spud was on to something! The shovel was reaching its breaking point, but Spud needed to see where these stairs went! Coincidentally, it broke just as the last block of gravel was cleared away.
Only five or so steps worth were dug out, but they were an entrance to another room, but much smaller. There was no lava nor were there any sounds. All of the excitement and boredom had worked their way out of Spud and left nothing but unease. For the first time, he was reminded that in real life he was scared of the dark.
Spud shuddered and grew cold. If he could sweat in this world, he would be dripping with it right now. Spud wasn’t so much afraid of the dark, but afraid of the unknown (which go hand in hand). To make matters worse, he just realized that he had absolutely no tools with him now. Spud stood motionless in the entryway for what seemed like a lifetime. His eyes adjusted to the darkness – which he didn’t know they could do – and his fear grew to pure terror. There, in the corner of the room, were not one, but two skeleton archers.
Spud felt himself begin to cry. He couldn’t move. He was so stricken with fear that he couldn’t physically get himself to do any
thing, not even produce a tear in order to cry. He was done. There’s no way he could get away from them. If he ran away they could shoot him. One heart is all he had left. One shot and he would be gone forever. Where would he go? What would happen to him? Why did he have to create a Hardcore world? Why?
The world was not over, not yet. The skeletons hadn’t seen him yet. They were facing the corner, not doing anything. Had they not heard him? What were they guarding? Spud couldn’t question. He needed to do something. Should he run away? What if they follow him? He needed to make sure they couldn’t sneak up on him. He jumped up a step to get further out of their sights. That’s when he noticed that the doorway was full of gravel, but held up by two blocks of stone. He could dig those out!
Spud punched the first stone block. It hurt, but an arrow would hurt more. It took forever to crumble and break. Finally, it did and the gravel came crashing to the ground.
And the skeletons heard it. They turned around to see him, and that’s when he saw it. In the corner there! Gold!
Spud hid behind wall of blocks. If he didn’t clear out that next block, it the archers would surely get him. He had to be brave. He had to get the gravel down to block their path. He inched over just enough to punch at the next block. It seemed to crack even slower than the one before, and they were closing in on him! He continued to punch when an arrow flew right by him, narrowly missing his side. Spud jumped back, which caused the stone block to reset. Spud held his breath. If he didn’t do this now…
Spud focused on the brick, still hiding behind his little wall. He punched and clawed at the stone as fast as his arms could let him. Both skeletons were only a few blocks away, nocking their arrows and drawing the strings back. Spud looked back and forth between them and his stone.
The archers fired their arrows. They were coming right for him and there was no avoiding them now. Spud closed his eyes. This is how his game ended. But no! The block broke and gravel dropped to the floor, blocking the arrows in their path just before they hit him! He was saved!
Spud fell to the ground and sat against his new wall. The fidgeting of bones could be heard through the wall, and it still scared him, but he needed to rest. He couldn’t be this irresponsible. He at least needed to make some armor. That would be his next step. He could go back to his lava room, mine some iron and make armor and a sword. He could then come back and mine that gold.
Spud opened his bag to double check that he had those sticks he needed to make his pickaxe, and he did. However, he was also quite upset because of what else he found in there. His inventory was full of stone and gravel that he had collected up to this point. He was almost shot to death by mindless skeletons when all he needed to do was place a few blocks down! Anger swelled up – the kind of anger you have toward yourself when you know you made a mistake. He really did need to think things through more. But more importantly, he needed to forgive himself.
Spud trekked back much more slowly than how he arrived. He was angry, upset, and most of all, tired. For the first time in this adventure Spud had felt exhausted. But exhaustion isn’t in the game! Then again, neither was sweat. Or a pounding heart. The game was evolving into him. Or was he evolving into the game?
Spud was extremely worried now. This game was becoming more and more real the longer he spent in it, and he had no clue how to get out. Did he even want out? Of course he did, but he still wanted to enjoy the game. Living in a world and playing it from time to time are two totally different things, and one is definitely more fun than the other.
The passageway opened up to his pool of lava flowing just as he left it. As far as he could tell, he was safe now. Even if there was something down at the other end it was too far away to hear him, much less come bother him. Spud didn’t seem to worry too much anymore. Not because he didn’t care. Not because he was confident in his ability. No, quite the opposite. Spud was shaken so far into his blocky little soul that he couldn’t think of anything in particular. He couldn’t bear to stand anymore. His knees were weak and his back hurt from the stress. Spud kicked a pebble aside and sat down in front of the lava.
He gazed into the mystical substance for what seemed like an eternity. Red magma oozed into the pool. Specks of yellow and orange swam through it and flashed in the air. Shadows flickered to and fro from light it emitted. Waves of heat came in a constant pattern, soothing Spud, helping him relax. The sweat on his forehead mixed with the dirt and dust and dried, making him feel quite filthy. He thought to himself, I could really use a shower.
There were no showers in Minecraft. If he wanted to wash away this filth he’d need to get to the top of his mountain and take a swim in his pond. Mining the iron down here was next on his to-do list, but he would accomplish neither mining nor a shower right now. Spud was drained of all energy and his eyelids grew heavier than a block of obsidian. A shower would be nice. A suit of iron armor would be nice. One thing, however, would be nicer than both of those combined - sleep.
Spud lied down on his stone step and watched the lava ripple back and forth two blocks away. The heat enveloped him like a warm blanket tucked in by his mother. The lava’s slow murmur slowly turned to a lullaby sung by his mother. He missed her dearly. Just as he began to choke up with tears, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Part 5: The Creeper Awaits
Spud awoke to the lava just as he left it, still churning in its pool. He lay motionless and watched it swirl and wave slowly back and forth. In a sense, this pool was more than some thick liquid in another cave. It was very helpful. It kept him warm, lulled him to sleep, lit his way and marked the direction home. In a sense, it was his friend. Spud realized he was quite lonely and hadn’t talked to anyone in a long time. And really, he didn’t need to talk because he felt that the lava was always listening to his thoughts, always trying to calm him.
Still on his side, Spud examined the immediate area. It was mostly smooth stone with a step here and there that acted like a buffer between his deadly friend and a safe haven. Something was different though. It took a minute, but Spud caught on. Was this a good sign or a bad one? His thoughts from last night came back like a haunting nightmare. Was the game becoming more real? His eyes fixated on it; so small, yet meaning so much.
He saw the pebble.
Sure, pebbles are all over the place, but that’s only in the real world. Spud was in some Minecraft universe. There are no pebbles here! Everything is smooth and made of cubes. Stones don’t break, they just crack until they pop out of place. This was a pebble. A tiny, round, simple pebble. There are really no other details to explain it because it was a plain, run-of-the-mill pebble. But this pebble shouldn’t exist here. Why was it here? Was this world becoming more real than Spud thought? Would he be trapped her forever? Or at least until…
What if he didn’t make it?
Somehow something so small drove Spud absolutely mad – the crazy kind of mad. Instantly, his head hurt. It hurt in a way when you’re learning so much or thinking so hard that you feel like you can’t hold it all in. That’s how Spud felt; like he knew the impossible and that his head would explode, or at the least, he’d throw up.
He was dizzy now from staring at the pebble and sat up, holding his face in his hands. Everything was spinning, especially his stomach. Two thoughts crept up on Spud at this moment: One, that he hadn’t eaten more than a couple apples in three or four days – or maybe longer! How long had he been in this cave anyway? And two, that he had fingers! They weren’t perfect fingers, but he had them. His arms were still cuboids, but now at the end of each arm was a small square hand with little rectangular fingers emerging from it. He had feet too! Though, he wasn’t sure if he had toes because each foot was just one block. He tried moving his toes, but didn’t feel them moving, so he guessed that perhaps he didn’t have them after all.
This world was becoming very real and Spud didn’t like it. In fact, he was becoming very afraid of what might happen to him. First things first: he needed to mine the wall of iron
. After that he would find some food and fill himself up, which he hoped would restore his hearts. Being full in the game causes the character to slowly regain health, but was that true anymore? Spud had to try. Once those two objectives were completed he’d come back down and clear this cavern of enemies. He’d get to building his castle eventually, but he was preoccupied with the important things first.