“Whoa, Kat! I thought you’d be happy! Do you not want to see me or something? ’Cause if that’s the case, then …”
“No, that’s not the case, G! I do like spending time with you, but you have to admit that we have been seeing each other a lot lately, and to cut work so that you can see me more …”
And the two of them went on and on. Charlie simply looked amused, occasionally giving a sigh or an eye roll of amusement. Stan, on the other hand, was slowly coming to a realization.
Ever since the incident with the Noctem Alliance had been put to rest, the biggest issues that faced Stan today were Kat’s overly clingy boyfriend and an argument starting about whose turn it was on the Tennis Machine. The Grand Republic of Elementia was now on the threshold of the greatest period of peace and prosperity that DZ, Blackraven and the other older players could remember. Just in the past week, Charlie had discovered an underground mine rich in diamonds, gold and iron. The day afterwards, the railway to Blackstone had been extended to reach the Southeastern Mountains, and a glut of coal from the region was inbound.
As all this recent success crashed into Stan like a wave, he allowed himself, for the first time that he could remember, to give himself credit. In truth, from the time he had joined Elementia, he had just done what seemed natural, and he had ended up as the leader of the whole server. However, it was just now that Stan realized he had done an exceedingly good job in creating a country that he himself would gladly be a citizen of, a country of justice. And it was all due to the efforts of him and his friends.
As Stan stepped forwards to break up the argument among the players in line for the Tennis Machine, and Charlie did the same with Kat and G, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride. He looked around the sunny courtyard with a pleasantly liberating feeling that all was well, and nothing could go wrong today.
Although Leonidas still wasn’t sure what the point of the upcoming offensive was, at least he was finally comfortable. The steamy, humid climate of the jungle was much more pleasing to him than the whipping frigid winds of Nocturia. Bushwhacking through the deep underbrush with an iron sword, followed by five men trooping behind him in unison, Leonidas felt more at home than he had in a long, long time.
Leonidas glanced at the redstone compass in his hand, and he rubbed the condensation off the glass face to see the red needle. The needle indicated that they were going the right way, and the sight he saw when he burst out of the bushes confirmed this.
Situated in a small valley, cleared of trees, was a little house made of wood, with a small farm at the back. Leonidas recognized this house. He had come here months before, back when his partners Geno and Becca were still alive. They had searched this very house for the player who had since become president of the Grand Republic of Elementia. Leonidas knew the house was full of booby traps, so looting it would be more trouble than it was worth.
Leonidas knew the house would be empty. Its owner had been killed in the same battle as Geno, Becca and King Kev. And so Leonidas led his men past this house. He knew the house was situated on the most direct path between Nocturia and the Elementia Jungle Base, and indeed, they only had to walk for another ten minutes before the outpost came into view.
The Elementia Jungle Base was located within a jungle temple, an ancient naturally generated structure of mossy cobblestone and stone brick, on the side of a hill. The trees and the cliff face created a natural defence. Leonidas signalled to his men to halt as he noticed the Elementia soldiers standing on patrol atop the base, bows raised. Leonidas had anticipated this. He had listened to an entire strategy session by Caesar indicating the most efficient way to attack this base, as described by the spy within Element City.
He gestured to his two frontmost soldiers, two privates, to circle the outpost through the trees, to the left and right. The two fighters pulled off their black tunics and pulled on their green ones, expertly dyed the exact same colour as the jungle leaves. They set off in opposite directions, preparing to sneak in close and fill the base with gas at Leonidas’s command. Meanwhile, Leonidas led his remaining three men straight towards the front of the temple.
As the players approached the jungle temple, with another two circling to the sides, Leonidas’s breath began to quicken, his blood began to pump faster and faster. All the moral and strategic objections that he had to this plan to take the Jungle Base seemed to diminish as he got closer and closer to the battle. From the time he was new on the server, this had been what he had lived for. Leonidas was a fighter – he always was, and he always would be.
He pulled out a shovel with sweaty hands and led his party tunnelling the last bit of the way to the outpost. Re-emerging in a blind spot pressed right up against the wall of the outpost, the guards could not see the soldiers pulling themselves out of the ground. The timing was precise. No sooner had the last of his men pulled themselves up out of the hole than a cloud of noxious grey gas burst from the open window above them.
Leonidas and his team acted almost robotically as they pulled the Potions of Swiftness from their inventories and downed them in a single gulp. Instantly, Leonidas’s senses were charged to the highest level of acuteness, his muscles primed for the ultimate battling stature. This effect of the potion would make him and his men invulnerable to the effects of the toxic Potion of Slowness that now hung in the air within the base. His pulse beating in anticipation, Leonidas scurried up the vines on the side of the base and drew his glimmering bow. Immediately, he downed three of the guards with flaming arrows as his men followed him into the base.
As his men swarmed the temple, Leonidas noticed that each one of the dead men’s spilled inventories contained a book, the same book. The covers showed that it was The Constitution of the Republic of Elementia by Bookbinder55. Leonidas sneered. How noble, he thought, that each of these men carried the constitution of their country with them on their scouting missions. What a pity that it did not help them in the least against the supreme power of the Noctem Alliance. Then, in disgust, Leonidas tossed one of the books into the air and shot it against the wall with another flaming arrow.
Leonidas had been conflicted about this attack before, but that was all gone now. He knew nothing but an all-consuming taste for war, as the potion erased all his inhibitions. And with that, Leonidas continued the slaughter, leaving his inner compassion as useless, pathetic and forgotten as the burning constitution of Elementia pinned on the temple wall.
The next morning, Stan looked up and gave a groggy glance out the window. When he saw the red and blue wool blocks decorating the tops of the courtyard wall, he immediately jumped out of bed – it was an important day. As he walked downstairs from his room to eat breakfast in the castle common room, Stan remembered that the previous night, the moon had been barely a sliver. It would be dark tonight.
The common room, with its paintings, a fire in the Netherrack fireplace, and chairs in a circle around the room, was also decorated with red and blue wool. This was probably Archie’s work. He always did love Elementia Day more than anybody else, despite the fact that it had been Blackraven’s idea to start the tradition almost immediately after the creation of the republic.
DZ and Charlie were already awake, and they were sitting by the refrigerator, eating today’s breakfast (prepared by the Imperial Butlers), which turned out to be pumpkin pie.
“Ah, Stam! Hubba Erumendaduh, ol behee!” said DZ through a mouthful of pastry. “Surry,” he added as he gave an enormous swallow. “I said, Ah, Stan! Happy Elementia Day, old buddy!”
“Thanks, DZ,” said Stan with a smile. “I can’t believe it’s really been four months.”
“Four