Their quest was done, and wow did Camp Hazington look nice. It seemed to almost shimmer in the sun, it was so grand.
“Woah,” Dean said, watching the sun rise behind it.
“Cool,” Dad added, not that he really had to.
They watched until the rosy red-orange of dawn changed into the pale plue of true morning, then they set off back where they’d come from. Dad threw one wistful glance over his shoulder as they went.
“Do you think maybe we should go visit? Check it out and see if there is maybe something new and important inside.”
Dean didn’t bother to look, continuing his walk ahead. “Nope. And here’s why. Do I want to see what new stuff is there? Yes, double yes, with some more yes on top.”
“But?” Dad asked.
“But I don’t want more quests until we see what Brian has for us. I feel like he is our most important quest guy, especially with everything that Fiona told us. Somebody wants to destroy the Kingdom of Kaneterberry Blockdom, “and it is our job to stop them!”
Dad stared at him a moment, a strange look to have while walking. Then his face broke into a gigantic smile. “Good thinking, Dean. I’m proud of you.”
Dean stopped and finally turned, smiling back. “Yeah, I guess I’m proud of myself too. Like, I know it is a game. But it feels so real. And saving them . . . that just feels like the right thing to do.”
“Let me amend good thinking to great thinking,” Dad said, laughing.
“Oh I’m not done yet,” Dean said, grinning. “This is going to blow your mind. I’ve been thinking — this being a game doesn’t matter. Because even though the people and monsters and everyone are computer programming doesn’t mean they aren’t real. And them being real means that we need to save them.”
Dad’s blocky Minecraft eyes went wide. “Woah. Yeah, I’m five-hundred percent convinced. Let’s go save the kingdom!”
Dean and Dad continued on their way, fighting and killing a single spider but otherwise totally uninterrupted in their journey. After an hour they came to Port City, the place just as busy as always, golem soldiers patrolling their midst.
“Ho there heroes!,” came a voice as they stepped into the main marketplace. It was Fiona and she was jumping with joy. “You did it! I can’t believe you did it!”
Dean and Dad shared a glance. It actually hadn’t been a very hard mission. But seeing Fiona so happy was a grand sight. They adopted her enthusiasm.
“Yeah, it took a couple of days and some hard work, but we got it finished,” Dean said. “And, wow, I don’t think anyone can break down that camp now!”
Fiona’s face fell a bit, some of her happiness gone. “We’ve learned some things in the past few days. You better go talk to Brian the Blacksmith. But before you do, I have something for you.”
She handed them their certificate of citizenship — a paper with those words written on it in all caps.
QUEST COMPLETE – UPGRADE CAMP HAZINGTON
Now they could buy a home in any Kingdom of Kanterberry city! They should ahve been elated, but this thing with Brian dampened their moods.
They’d need to go see him right away.
Fortunatley for them, his shop was just around the corner. Bidding their goodbyes, the two heroes opened the door and walked in. Brian was standing there with another villager. When he saw the two of them, he said some final words, and the villager left the shop.
“Boy am I glad to see you guys,” he said. His one uncovered eye bore into them, the orb shining with urgency. “We found something in the DeepDark. Something dangerous.”
He leaned in close, lowering his voice. “The Kingdom of Kanterberry Blockdom is built over top a whole other kingdom.”
Dean and Dad stared, their blocky eyes bugging out of their heads.
“An underground kingdom!” Dean blurted.
“Dangerous?!” Dad exclaimed with a question mark.
“Yes. A place that we have tried to talk to since finding their fortress near the Colony of the DeepDark. Our messengers have not returned. All we have gotten from them is a note, left outside the metal gates of our colony.”
“And what does it say?” Dad asked.
“Soon.”
Dean shivered, with Dad following after. This was some spooky stuff. And that note tied with the recent attempts to isolate the capital of Kanterberry Blockdom really couldn’t be a coincidence.
“I have a new quest for you, heroes,” Brian said. He backed away, pacing toward a window to stare out of it.
“Two of them actually. First, I need you to go to the mines of the Colony of the DeepDark. Recent reports say that they have become too dangerous for the workers, and that they need to be cleared. Destroy any spawner you can find. When all are gone, it shall be safe to walk through once again.”
“And what is the reward for that quest?” Dad asked.
Brian seemed to shrug. “It’s on your way, but honestly I think you will find lots of precious ores and gems there while you adventure through it. Keep it all for yourself, no questions asked.
“Accepted,” Dean said.
QUEST – CLEAR THE MINES OF THE DEEPDARK COLONY
“But we could just keep that stuff anyways,” Dad murmured, but he hushed up at a look from Dean.
“The second quest is one that I think might be obvious to you now. Go to the DeepDark Colony and talk to Fred the Fletcher. He’ll tell you everything you need to know about where this fortress is and what you must do there.”
“Accepted,” Dean said. Dad frowned deeply.
However, there was no quest prompt, no large capitalized words that popped over there vision.
Dad seemed quite relieved.
“That mission you can get from Fred the Fletcher. As for me, would you like to trade before you get going?”
“Yeah I’m up for some shopping!” Dean handed Dad 50 emeralds and he started to haggle with Brian.
First he bought two more enchanted swords for 28 emeralds. Then he noticed that Brians experience meter was almost full, and he had an idea.
“Hey, Dean, would you mind if I spent most of my emeralds on getting Brian to level up?”
Dean cocked his head. “How do you plan to do that?” he asked.
“Simple. axes are only 3 emeralds apiece. If I buy a bunch of them, he’ll level up, and then who knows what sort of stuff he’ll be able to buy!”
Dean put his blocky hand to his blocky chin, then nodded. “Yeah. That’s a great idea! Let’s see what happens.”
Dad bought one axe, watching the experience bar rise. Then he bought 2 more. Brian began to exude dark purple pixels and suddenly he was no longer a novice at his craft. His title proudly read Weaponmith – Apprentice.
Unfortunately his new options weren’t so good. Axes went to an amazingly new price of just one emerald apiece, but his new trade options were simply to buy 4 iron for a single emerald, or to sell a bell for 34 emeralds.
Dad was very disappointed. And after he told Dean, Dean was too.
Brian looked at them and sighed. “Sorry, guys, that’s all I have for you. But keep trading with me and who knows what I’ll have in stock for you!”
That felt a bit better. Especially since they’d no doubt be buying swords and axes from them ofter. Together they bid Brian good-bye, and stepped back out into the darkening sky.
It was time to go clear out some mines.
Kids' GameLit, Fantasy and SciFi 
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