The Mystery of the Griefer's Mark by Winter Morgan

1
    TNT, CRATERS, AND GRIEFERS
    I t was a quiet morning as Steve walked through the local village toward Eliot the Blacksmith’s shop to trade his wheat for emeralds. Steve had an abundance of wheat because his farm was thriving. Steve loved knowing his supply of wheat could provide him with all the necessities to survive in Minecraft.
    â€œAre you going to use these emeralds to decorate your house?” asked Eliot the Blacksmith.
    Steve smiled. “How did you know?” Steve really enjoyed using the emeralds to decorate the walls of his home. He loved the way the green blocks highlighted the grey stone walls. But he also knew that if he kept the emeralds, he could use them to trade with other villagers. “Thanks for the emeralds,” he said. “I’ll invite you over soon so you can see how they look.”
    Steve waved goodbye.
    On the village street, Steve ran into his neighbor Adam. “Look at all those emeralds,” Adam remarked.
    â€œYes, I just traded them for wheat.”
    â€œWell, if you’d like to trade the emeralds, I have a lot of new potions.” Adam opened up his chest to display bottles of potions.
    Adam was an alchemist who lived with his friend Thomas, an explorer. They were good neighbors to have when you were in trouble because Adam had so many useful potions and Thomas was skillful at fighting off creepers. Luckily Steve hadn’t needed their help yet.
    â€œNo, thank you. I don’t need any potions,” said Steve.
    Adam wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “Really? You don’t want a potion of water breathing? If you get stuck in water, you can still breathe.”
    â€œI’m never near water. It wouldn’t come in handy,” said Steve.
    â€œWhat about a splash potion of slowness? You can use that on your enemies. Do you have any in your inventory? You can really get hurt if somebody attacks you, and it comes in very handy for slowing them down.”
    Steve thought about his inventory. He didn’t have many potions, if any at all. He remembered battling a witch with his friends, Henry, Max, and Lucy, and they had used potions to help them win the battle. The potions had been essential in fighting off the witch.
    Steve took out the emeralds. “Okay, Adam,” he said. “I’ll take the potion of slowness. I hear there is one that lasts eight minutes.”
    â€œYes, it does last that long, and you’re in luck because I happen to have it on hand.”
    As Steve handed the minerals to Adam, he hoped he wouldn’t regret this trade.
    Adam looked through his chest filled with potions. “That’s odd. I thought I had a lot more potions in this chest. I know I had at least three bottles of the potion of weakness, but now I only have one.”
    â€œDo you think somebody is stealing your potions?”
    â€œI hope not, but it looks like that is happening.” Adam looked through his chest one more time. “Oh no! I don’t have any bottles of the potion of harming. I had six yesterday.”
    â€œMaybe you traded them and forgot,” suggested Steve.
    â€œNo, I keep a log of all the potions I’ve sold. Someone is stealing from me!”
    â€œWho would do something like that?” Steve asked as Adam handed him the potion of weakness.
    Adam was angry; he had worked hard to brew all these potions, and he didn’t want anybody stealing them. “I bet it’s a griefer,” he said.
    â€œA griefer?” Steve felt bad for Adam. And he was also worried about himself. If the griefer was attacking his neighbor, he could be next.
    â€œYes, how else would the potions go missing?” asked Adam.
    Steve pointed to a piece of wool on the ground next to Adam’s chest. “Look at that. Did you drop wool?”
    â€œNo,” said Adam as he picked up the wool and broke it in half. “That’s odd.”
    As Steve made his way through the grassy path, he