“But don’t worry, I’m sure that you’ll find really good stuff mining on your own, Charlie,” said G with a smile. “You have the best mining instincts of anyone I’ve ever taught.”
The three went home feeling content that they had done better at mining than they had at archery, with Charlie absolutely beaming at his newfound prowess.
They had a dinner of watermelon and some more bread, and they were going to bed when Sally spoke to Stan yet again.
“Tomorrow you guys are with me,” she said to him. “I’m teaching you sword fighting and crafting.”
“Is that so?” said Stan. “Well, I look forward to it.”
“Just know,” said Sally, “I have high expectations for you.”
Stan’s stomach flipped. “In what? Sword fighting or crafting?” he asked. Immediately afterwards, he felt like an idiot.
She looked him in the eyes and smiled. “Both,” she said, and she went off to bed.
The following day, after bowls of mushroom stew for breakfast, they headed into the dojo above the crafting building to train in sword fighting and crafting.
Stan was nervous. Before the archery and mining lessons he had felt excited, yes, but not nervous. He remembered the exchange with Sally last night. She had high expectations for him. He couldn’t let himself mess this up.
Stan, Kat, and Charlie sat down across from Sally. The other boy had been moved to the class with his other friends after a not-so-subtle request by G and Archie. Stan listened intently as Sally explained that the most important aspect of sword fighting in Minecraft was to not think too much and to basically just do what felt natural.
After she explained and demonstrated some different techniques, she pulled three training suits out of her inventory. “Stan, Charlie, Kat, please come up here.”
They did as she said, not knowing what would happen next. G and Archie had called them up two at a time to fight, not three.
“Put these on,” she commanded, holding out three sets of diamond body armour. They obliged. As Stan was pulling on the diamond trousers, he saw Sally pull two stone swords and one iron sword out of her inventory.
“Kat, Charlie, come stand over here,” she said. They walked to where she was standing. She threw Charlie and Kat the stone swords. “Stan, just stand there.” She threw him the iron sword.
“Kat, Charlie, when I say go, you are going to attack Stan with everything you’ve got. Stan, you have to defend against both of them. As usual, you are out after three hits.”
Stan was dismayed. He had never really fought another player with a sword in his life. He knew that Charlie wasn’t any better than he was, but Kat had supposedly done all that stuff on the other servers. She had killed a player and taken his sword and pickaxes! How was he going to beat her?
“Sally, can’t I get some advantage or something? Like I have four hits and they have two? Wouldn’t that be fair?”
Sally sniggered. “Stan, imagine if a group of about twenty players armed with loaded bows and diamond swords jumped out of the woods and ambushed you. Would that be fair? No, but you’d still have to fight, right? You would, ’cause you know what? Sometimes life isn’t fair. And I was nice. You have an advantage. You have an iron sword and they both have stone, so don’t be a wimp, noob! Now take your positions!”
Up until this point, Kat had been smirking and Charlie had been looking confused, but now they both dropped into fighting stances, swords raised. Kat wore an expression of aggression, while Charlie wore one of apprehension about attacking his friend. Stan was petrified, but he could see Sally’s mind wasn’t changing, so he readied himself to fight.
Sally sat down in a wooden chair with her legs crossed. “OK then … FIGHT!”
Stan was caught totally off guard, but both Charlie and Kat rushed him at the same time. Charlie gave an uppercut to Stan’s right arm, and Stan dodged him by sidestepping left. However, he forgot about Kat, who brought her stone sword down onto his helmet with an almighty clang that reverberated in his skull.
Sally yelled out, “Point to Kat and Charlie! Stan, you’ve got two hits left … Charlie, three … Kat, three. Back to positions.” They walked back to their original positions and dropped into fighting stances once again. “Ready? And … FIGHT!”
This time Stan was ready. Charlie rushed first and tried the same uppercut attack, and again Stan dodged, but when Kat swung her sword to his left side he spun his iron sword and blocked Kat’s attack. The two players pressed into each other’s weapons. Kat was stronger than Stan, but Stan had better leverage. Stan was about to overpower her when he felt a dull pain at his right rib cage. Charlie had spun back around and hit him hard on the right side of his body armour. It had hurt, too.
Again, Sally called out, “Point to Kat and Charlie! Stan, one hit left … Charlie, three … Kat, three.” But instead of calling out “ready,” she walked over to Stan. She stood behind him, put her hands on his shoulders, and whispered in his ear. “Stan, you aren’t going to win if you put all your energy into fighting one of them. When one of them strikes you, dodge it, and use the opening to come back in and deliver a strike. And better yet, use their own energy against them if you can. Also, remember, go for the weakest link first.” With that, she went back to her chair. Stan felt weak-kneed as she was so close to him, but immediately got back into his fighting stance, knowing what he would do next.
Sally announced, “Match point! Ready? And … FIGHT!”
Stan moved instantly. He cut hard to the right, towards Charlie’s side. Kat couldn’t attack him, because Charlie was in between them. Charlie took a slash with his sword at Stan, but Stan feinted backwards, and at the first opportunity he rushed forwards and thrust his sword with all his might at Charlie’s stomach. The direct blow glanced off his training suit, but Charlie still doubled over, the wind knocked out of him.
“Point to Stan! Stan, one hit left … Charlie, two … Kat, three.” As they reset, Stan caught Sally’s eye. She smiled, and instantly another plan, more brilliant than the last, popped into his head.
“Match point! Ready? And … FIGHT!”
Stan stood still, and Charlie rushed towards Stan. Knowing what they were trying to do, Stan feinted right and slammed his sword into Charlie’s back, forcing Charlie to the spot where Stan had just stood. Just as Stan had expected, Kat jumped up. Not aware of Charlie’s new position, Kat brought her sword down where Stan had just been standing, but instead of hitting him on the head, she clubbed her partner. His helmet flew off, and Charlie hit the floor like a ton of bricks.
Sally yelled, “Point to Stan! Stan, one hit left … Charlie, zero … Kat, three! Charlie is out!” But Kat and Stan didn’t notice as they were both checking to see if Charlie was OK, and even as she said it, Sally was standing up to join them.
“Charlie, are you all right?” cried Stan, his voice hoarse with worry.
“Oh God, Charlie, I am so sorry!” yelled Kat, tears in her eyes.
“Charlie? Charlie, can you hear me?” said Sally, bending over Charlie’s unconscious form. Stan noticed the slash on his head, and his stomach felt like it had dissolved. Charlie couldn’t be … no, he refused to let himself think it. Sally waved her blocky hand over his closed eyes. When there was no response, she reached into her inventory and pulled something out. It was a golden apple, like the one that Stan had seen Jayden give to his unconscious brother. The second Charlie swallowed the shiny fruit, the wound on his head disappeared, and he sat upright, holding his head.
“Well, that was unpleasant,” he said with a dark smile.
Kat