Elma's POV
There's a story behind Terraria's chaotic nature.
It all started with the world itself as a living being, a lively place filled with life. The existence of the Dryads consolidated the vibrant life of Terraria.
And the world of Terraria was once all about prosper.
However, there are no such thing as peace in the livelihood. As all things should have a balance of power and influence, so is the boundaries of all sentient beings.
A side of virtue and evil resides in all lifeforms.
And with a presence of a greater evil entity, the world spiraled into a conflict.
The Dryads fended off this invasive evil and barely managed to protect the world by sacrificing almost all of the Dryads. They separated the Evil Entity into different parts, far apart from the being of its former glory and never to integrate with each other again.
But the source of evil has yet to cease from existing, so the Evil Entity migrates itself into the sacred grounds and out comes the 'Evil Biomes'; respectively known as the Corruption and Crimson.
With the existence of the evil biomes, the world shifted as a matter of prosperity into a matter of accumulation.
The world of Terraria has changed for the worst.
So when I delved in to the lore, the time before the hero's (or a player's) descent, I wasn't all that impressed with its backstory. Though it served its purpose when an unneeded gap was filled for the sake of it, all the while gaining an insight of how this world came to be.
And our descent to this world will turn the matter of accumulation into cultivation.
At least, that's how I see it in the surface.
***
Right at the home base before we regrouped together, Ando and I got to have a brief chat before going to meet up with the whole group.
"Hey, Elma."
"Hmm, what?"
"I know you're the most capable out of the rest of us, and if you're thinking of going ahead down to the depths on your own, don't ever think of hogging all the loot by yourself."
I looked at him full of doubt.
'Me? Of all the people to warn about getting to the loot first, I'm the one he has to warn me.'
"Dude, like there's ever a good weapon for me to get underground. How about you think of the stuff that you had first before warning me..."
He gave me a stern look with a hint of contempt.
Just because I'm more capable doesn't mean I get the most good loot in this world.
I just gave a scoff and said with a casual tone.
"Oh.. what's this, are you glaring at me 'cause you think I can beat you to it?"
He scoffed at me back before he spoke out.
"Like I'd let you be. We'll see who gets by between us."
He then proceeds on walking up to the group, leaving me on my own.
I looked at his back before thinking,
'So he's the type that can't take a break, huh.. and here I was thinking he was the same as that sensitive woman.'
It was not much of a trouble to have a guy like him in the group. His presence would add coordination in our already messy chemistry.
I then got up on my way towards the campfire outside where the other 'players' are idling by.
Seeing them being nonchalant about what they just experienced back then, they sure are settling in quite nicely.
When all of us took up on our own seat, we engaged a conversation. Ando starts it off.
"Well then, let's talk about how to engage in the underground."
All of us anticipated this inevitable circumstance. Sooner or later, we are going down from beneath the surface.
Ando continued.
"Since all of us have weapons to their likings, we can now fight back. Have all of you tried out your weapon?"
"Me first!" Jenny quickly blurts out. "I don't think I got the feel of my wand yet. Can someone please show me the how-to?"
We watched her pulling out her Wand of Sparking in fascination. It was captivating seeing someone present their magic-like display of pulling out their items. There was a resonance structure feeling to it too.
Ando then took her wand and pointed it at a nearby tree.
"Alright. Let's see how this works."
He then let the wand do the work and as expected, it shoots out a tinder of fire and popping sparks of fireworks, though it didn't even reached the tree as the fire range of the wand is short.
"Hmm, it works like a charm to me." Ando casually remarks.
"Wha- How did you even do that?!" Jenny was baffled that she bursts in disbelief.
"Huh? I don't know what you want me to say, just let it drain you."
Ando was so dumbfounded that he answered back with a half-hearted response.
This guy.. he just don't know how to explain even though he already got the gist of it.
"Okay man, should I try it next?" Loki then intervenes and grabs the wand.
He then proceeds on working out the Wand of Sparking.
After a while, he manages to shoot out fire sparks from the wand before muttering to himself, "Oh.. I see how it is."
"'Oh-I-see-how' what?"
Loki then faces the anxious Jenny in his usual gesture.
"Okay, so you know about the imagining part when you show us your wand before, right Jenny?"
"Yeah. That much wasn't a problem at all. What about it?"
"Just do that but with the image of fire sparks coming out of the wand. It'll naturally manifest on it's own."
"Ugh.."
She then picks it up and goes to work out her magic wand.
*Phwoo*
After a while, she manages to manifest the fire sparks of her Wand of Sparking.
"Oh whoa..."
After a first shot of shooting fire in a wand, she shoots another. Fired another shot, and another with an amused look on her face.
"Is this how it feels to be a magician?"
Jenny, with her typical tone, continues on trying it out.
"Okay, I don't know how to make of this but this is awesome. I can't believe it was this easy than when I first tried it out back at the cedar tunnels. Guys, I'm starting to feel like magistery is my new calling now."
"Okay, good. Glad we work that out. Is there anyone else?" Ando tries to play it off with the nonchalant gesture
Luna then spoke out.
"I need to practice a bit of shooting with this bow. Can I have a shooting session?"
"Well, if we're going to try out working on those, we are going to need resources to build some stuff."
"We could also go scout around here in the surface,." Loki chimed in.
"Yeah, thanks for the input, Low-Key."
While looking at the burning campfire, I then followed up with a suggestion whilst poking the burning wood with the copper shortsword.
"Guys, I reckon we go for the scenic route, have a tryout on the mobs from the underground."
They looked at me in suspense before someone spoke up.
"I'm sorry, but are we going underground just to try our weapons out?" Jenny definitely sounded like objecting.
And of course, I blatantly responded.
"Guys, aren't we supposed to be talking about the underground anyways? Or is there something wrong with that?"
All of them just gave me a silent treatment until Aimee raises a comment.
"Uhm, everyone. Can I say, how are we going to play a role in this? From what I can hear, we need to set some kind of basis work or something like that?"
Oh yeah, I forgot this game is also an RPG. My melee class build would go as a 'tank' so I might become the vanguard.
Though I don't think having a role would ever help in this situation. Not on the first half of the game, at least.
"We can let Elma have the vanguard role." Said Luna and goes on. "We barely have any means of holding the mobs back so I think we can have the boys take the initiative."
"Oh great.. so I'm just your leading decoy now? Is this how we're going to play out?"
"Well said from the one who minds his own business." Said Ando with his curt remark.
"Dude, are you gonna make me your slave now?! Alright, whatever! I'll fucking bite!"
"Great. We'll follow your example and try to not burden you. So is there anymore topics that were gonna talk about. Maybe a drill or whatever's in your mind, everyone."
Seeing no one spoke up, Luna stood up, takes the initiative and looks up to Andrew, which is standing by in the grass nearby.
"Alright... Guide."
"Hmm. Yeah?"
"Since we're going to be traversing from here on out, could you offer us your words of wisdom about this world?"
"Oh. Ahem.."
When Andrew cleared his throat, the atmosphere around him shifted to seriousness.
"This world is full of many exciting and dangerous creatures to discover. There are some expert who might reward you for sharing that knowledge with them!"
"... It creeps me out on how quickly you change your tone of voice. Other than that, it sounds legit."
Andrew solemnly added, "You folks will have to make it out with what you have. Otherwise, you might not get far without pushing forth through the risk of the dangers."
Jenny sharply took a glance at me before quickly shifts back her gaze at the guide and spoke up.
"And do we have what it takes to pull through all the danger?"
He scoffed and said, "That would be too much for you lot."
No one uttered a word under Andrew's serious voice. One could really feel the pressure of everyone's contemplation about the predicament of our situation.
And I interpreted his words as, 'You don't.'
With the campfire's ember sprinkles in the air, I stood up.
"It sure looks like it. So we can only 'try to adapt'. That's all the option we have."
I looked at them all before adding, "And it's gonna go horribly."
I then prepped myself up for another expedition while the others looked at me in a daze.
A little risky adventure is always a premise of every journey. And it takes more than just being accustomed, courageous and familiar of the ways.
***
And here I am travelling towards the unexplored cave. This time it's not just me, but with all the players involved.
Loki started up a conversation.
"Say, this might be the first time we're doing expedition with all players involved. Normally, we all would be like awkward with each other, but now it's all tense and heated up for some odd reason."
"Yeah, tell me about it." Jenny followed up with a nonchalant gesture. "But surely it can't get worse from here."
"Oh, the energetic ones definitely won't make any promises to that." Loki then looked at me.
I responded with an exasperated tone.
"What? You think I have such tendencies?"
"Well, I do think you're the more lively one out of all of us in the group. You went berserk out there last night."
"I did not! I got too worked up last night and died!"
"Sure.. whichever you prefer. This is like.. you know when you get your work done nice and tidy and you still have energy to spare, only to end up wasted in the next day Sunday morning."
"Heh, getting laid on your day off after a hard work.. sounds like a good time." Luna added.
Aimee mumbled. "We all have that kind of experience. I think..."
"Yeah. But in here, this isn't a fun outing." Ando said.
"It's all menacing.." Jenny sternly added. "And we're going to be roaming the dark and gloomy underground. I don't like this feeling in one bit."
We continued treading through the cave lit with torches until we encounter the hole I last jumped on.
I took out the rope and placed it on the side just beside the hole. With the rope ascender in hand, I let the rope drop until the tip seemingly faded in the dark shades of the hole.
And as the leading vanguard, I naturally took the lead and slide straight down. The others followed suit.
Now reaching at the bottom depth, I placed a torch down for a lighting.
"Phew.. now we're in business. Back in the same old place I first died on."
"Oh. So this is the spot where you died underground." Ando, descending down the ropes before setting foot of the stony ground, casually muttered.
"No. It's actually a bit farther down the unlit path. Until a bunch of red slimes cornered me and tackled me on the back."
"Oomph. Can someone make a run back on how to implement teamwork here?" Loki, settled down off of the rope, curiously asked.
""Uhhh..."" Ando and I looked at each other and blankly stayed still.
"We had all the time in the world to discuss about teamwork and we just carried on to the underground nonchalantly like there's no need to talk about it. How professional." Said Luna after setting foot on the ground.
"Hey, we're here to try out your weapon down here while we're searching for stranded loot around, if there is any."
"Don't bother digging if we're gonna get distracted. Let's get that straight, at the very least." Jenny commented when she stepped on the ground.
"Can we make any practice here in the darkness?" Asked Aimee after she hopped off the rope.
"Don't know. But apparently you can try." I swiftly answered her with a sneer.
Ando followed up. "Yeah. We can die trying, getting used to this mess. And we can beat the shit out of them too."
Loki said next. "We can also think up of what's next so how about we get a move on?"
We then started treading the dark cave cautiously, with me in the front while holding and placing torches, Ando right beside me, and the rest just behind us keeping up.
There wasn't much issue with the path because there is a path and we could just follow it consistently until a dead end is fully visible.
But that was the least of our concern when it comes to exploring, the real deal is when we encountered an obstacle.
*splatter *splatter
We hear splashes from deep in the dark until one red slime showed up.
"Alright guys, I'm gonna make a quick work out on this mob." I was about to lash out at the red slime until,
"Wait, Elma. Can you let me take this on by myself."
Jenny steps up with her Wand of Sparking on her hand.
I sensed her passionate gaze and reluctantly took a step back. "Sure. It's all yours."
She then focuses on her wand for a little tryout.
As she pointed her weapon at the red slime, it didn't wait for her attack and lunges itself at Jenny for a tackle.
Jenny saw it coming and just jumps to the side, avoiding the slime.
"Haa!" She manages to shoot it out and hit the red slime before it lashes back.
The slime then gets engulf in flames. But while on fire, it lunges at Jenny again, seemingly not stopping while its health is slowly coming down.
Jenny didn't stop there and kept on firing her wand while sidestepping the slime's attack trajectory until the red slime is dissolved and drops gels and coins.
"Okay, now I got the feel of it. All's left is to get used to it and make more improvements." Said Jenny in a dull demeanor.
"You sound so unimpressed. What's wrong?" I asked.
"It's just.. I thought it would be cool if I could have a flashy attack with this, but it's just tinder."
"Well yeah. That thing can only do little sparks, hence the name."
"Yeah. And it totally ruined the surprise when you guys just demonstrate it for me. Now it's no longer appealing and I feel disappointed."
"That's a spoiler for you. Too bad."
Loki chimes in, "Hey, there's more surprises for you along the way so don't be so down."
Luna asserted. "I wouldn't look forward for it if I were you, Jenny."
"Gee guys, can we move on. Elma, you can take the lead back."
We then kept moving down the pitch black of a path. As we're moving, Jenny calls out for another chat.
"Hey guys, can we take a moment to review how did I do back there? Ando?"
"Hmm?" Ando looks at her in a suspense. "Uhh.. how do you think you did back there?"
"How do I say this... I was expecting something more like how it went for us back when we're surrounded by lots of slimes on the surface. That's why I was all prepared mentally before going to explore this gloomy cave. Compared to that time, I think I did too good for my first solo battle."
"Yes." I said firmly. "But that was strictly on a single weak mob. So if you want to get a sense of a real fight, wait until you get to meet the bosses."
"That.. sounds like a hassle. I might have been picking on the slimes too much."
"Heh... It's ironic that this world is full of hostiles." Commented Ando as he scoffs. "Maybe we're fucked once we encounter those bosses."
"Hey, if there's someone who's gonna get fucked, it's this guy."
Luna then pointed at me as she makes a point.
"What?! No! I'm not gonna get fucked up! What's with the jinxing?!"
"Hey look, I just can't help it, okay. Compared to you, I'm barely restraining myself."
"Yeah. You might be the type who would say 'every man for himself'." Ando added to Luna's remark.
"Okay. Seems like I'm the only one who's had their shit together."
And then I feel something change in the atmosphere. Not just me, Ando, Loki and Luna are on alert. We're all feeling a bit tense that we planted our feet firmly. Only Jenny and Aimee are on a standstill but they also sense that something is going to happen.
We waited for that something to appear. And then a familiar noise resounds on our ears.
I shouted, "It's the giant worm! Aimee, get behind me!"
Aimee quickly runs up and stick closely to my back. We were on high alert until,
"BELOW!!" Ando calls out.
I picked up Aimee in my arms and we all jumped back in anticipation. Sure enough, the giant worm showed up under our feet.
The worm's size is big enough to swallow a log whole.
I quickly shouted.
"EVERYONE, SPREAD OUT!!"
We managed to jump out of its attack course. But it quickly digs back into the dirt before I could lunge an attack at it.
"Shit!" I put Aimee down and readied my copper shortsword. "You won't get away from me this time!"
Next thing happened, 3 red slimes shows up in the dark shades and jumps on us.
I only shoved one of the red slimes but the rest aimed at the others, but thankfully stepped out the way.
"Elma, can you deal with that giant worm on your own?!" Jenny asked as she confront one of the red slime.
"Yeah! Also heads up, there's no pain suppressor so be careful of getting hit."
"Okay, thanks for the fucking reminder!" Ando retorted sarcastically facing the other red slime.
I finished the red slime off and I'm in the lookout of where the worm might appear, I hear the worm's digging noise and prepared myself for a swift attack.
The reason I scattered the group a few meters away is so that the mob can't simultaneously strike everyone, and so that I can focus on taking out the mob alone without worrying about the others.
That faint noise started getting louder and I tighten the grip of my sword, prepared to strike it down in one attack.
The moment the digging noise is at its peak, the worm shows up targeting Loki. I quickly run up to it and slash.
The attack was a success.
But of course, unsurprisingly, one hit isn't enough to kill the giant worm. And the worm dove back to the ground.
"Damn it! Of course one shot isn't enough to kill it!"
"It'll be back in an instant so pay attention, damn it!" Luna refuted.
Before I could pick myself up in the uneven ground, the worm immediately surfaces behind Aimee and lunges itself at her. I quickly picked the pace to running towards Aimee.
"Shit! AIMEE!!"
Between me and the worm, Aimee was at the middle and I had to push her out of the way. And before I could swing my sword, the giant worm was right at my face.
Before I knew it, all I could see was pitch black. Not even sounds or sense of feeling picking up.
***
Ando's POV
It was not much of a ruckus but we are on high alert because a threat was upon us.
It was all so sudden and I couldn't quite grasp the tiny bit of situation but it was for a short while.
After Jenny and I finished up taking out the red slimes, I saw Elma get bitten in the face by the Giant Worm and now his head is missing, his lifeless body faltered down to the ground.
"AaaaaAAA~!!" Aimee shouted in horror when she saw his headless body. "ELMA!!"
Next thing that happened is the worm emerges again from the ground and targets Aimee.
An arrow came flying by, impaled its dirty skin and diverts it off course. It was Loki's.
"GET OUT OF THERE!!"
"AIMEE! OVER HERE!" Luna calls out to her close to the wall.
Still shuddering, Aimee forcefully moved herself out of harm's way while reeling the shock from earlier. Shortly after, she rejoins Luna's company.
"What the hell!! Just when we started this adventure! Here I am, dead on the spot! Great, area discovered! I've found the place that I shall die...!"
We then hear Elma's blabbering in the distance, but I just straight up ignored it.
Aimee quickly picks herself up, send the finch flying and instructs us in a shaky voice.
"Get ready to attack as soon as the worm shows up!"
"Ando! It's all on you!" Jenny added.
I mumbled. "Oh, great."
I went back to listening for the digging worm noises. This time, my sword is ready to kill the mob.
The worm eventually making moves and shows up out of the ground.
This time, it was aiming for me and I got a clear shot for the kill.
Its health was on a low point and I could snuff it out completely.
While the worm was midair, I quickly stepped to the side out of its attack range and,
*Stab*
The giant worm's movement quickly became stiff and lifeless the moment the shortsword punctured its skin.
It laid to the ground dead and unmoving. And out flies its drops; 3 silver coins and 50 copper coins.
For the time being, we all got a moment to breathe.
"Phew. Finally that monster is dead. Is this thing going to glitch or pop out of existence?" Jenny commented.
"No. It'll fade into nothingness soon enough. Just let it be." Loki replied.
"Ugh.. we also lost Elma over here." I added.
"Looks like that guy's role is short-lived." Luna said so nonchalantly.
I then saw Aimee walk up to Elma's corpse.
"Elma.. went out of his way to save me." Aimee sounded somber.
"Yeah." Jenny stuck close to Aimee. "He was a fine man."
"He did his role almost perfectly too." Loki added with serious tone.
Elma's hollow voice followed up. "Hey. You guys do know I'm still here, right."
"Oh yeah. You're still with us, Elma." Loki went back to his usual demeanor upon hearing Elma's open comment.
Aimee looked quite bewildered when she heard him too. And thus dismisses him, looking away from the corpse. I think she was flustered.
"Guys, back to Earth now!" Luna calls out. "We're still on the underground area!"
Oh right. We're now without a vanguard now.
"Are we still proceeding going under? No actually, we need a change of plans." Jenny bluntly remarks.
As they were chattering, I recalled all of the times I last played Terraria on my computer.
I was always eager to dive down to the underground without a care in the world. Continuously getting swept up by traps, foes and the mundane chore of acquiring loot on chests.
And without our capable swordsman leading the group, I can take the initiative.
Not letting the gloomy mood overcome all the people involved, I spoke out with a firm voice.
"No."
All of them turns to my direction in suspense. I continued.
"We're not changing our antics. Proceed going deeper into the caves."
Jenny, with her serious gaze, looked at my expression for a while. She then spoke up with just two short words.
"I see."
Behind her response, there was a tinge of motive expressing her actions. But I let slide.
The others are stiffly processing the shift of the mood until Aimee asked me in a rigid gesture.
"Then, what about Elma? Should we not wait for him to come back?"
"Ah... Well, Aimee, you probably know this by now but, we can't respawn back until our bodies are completely dissolved."
I just remembered the time when the zombies are straight up eating our dead bodies and we have to see them ripping our bodies to shreds. It was so not pleasant to watch that I lash out at Elma for not doing his job properly.
It was not a way for me to vent my frustration at someone just because I lack the nerve to face it. But I was really getting to feel the thrill when my rhythm was suddenly interrupted.
Nevertheless, I'll have to take the role of leadership.
"So we can just leave him be until some other mob accompany him."
Loki calls out. "Hey! We have a red slime over here!"
"Great! We can have that join with Elma then." Jenny then led the red slime towards Elma's corpse.
"OI! You're not gonna left my body to rot with the slime in here, are you!?" Elma's hollow voice blatantly rings to our ears.
"Hey, we're not gonna stay here and wait for you forever, you know? Besides, you'll have a company to bring you back to life." Jenny unapologetically remarks.
"I feel sorry for you, Elma." Luna gave a short gesture of pity.
"..." And Elma stayed silent.
"You guys..." Aimee stays silent as well.
The majority of us gets ready to depart and move on from the cave. I took the frontline position with a torch on hand.
"Aimee! Are you coming?!" Jenny called out on Aimee.
Aimee was reluctant to move until she looked at Elma's corpse. "Sorry, Elma." Aimee empathetically stated and runs off to us.
While on the moveout, Loki walks up to me and subtly asked.
"That was harsh, man. What happened back there?"
"What d'you mean? Everyone was on edge so I only did what was necessary."
"And that is?"
"I took his position and instructed the rest of us to move on. Moping there all day won't get us anywhere after all."
"And you think Elma is not gonna think differently after that? He was dissed and dismissed right when he can't even do anything."
"And what do you want me to do? Wait for him until he spawns back?! We're supposed to pull through our issue and gain resources, even if it's just by ourselves! We need to gain our footing on this world or risk getting swept up by all of the monsters lurking on our doorstep!"
The agitation caused my voice to raise slowly during my monologue and the girls heard me clearly. Luna first spoke.
"We don't want that either but you really need to calm yourself down. No one wants here to be all panicked and tense."
How ironic hearing that from her. Though I'm not in a position to say that to her.
She continued. "We all could've handled that better. Now we have someone missing here. I feel like exposed and vulnerable."
Aimee spoke next. "And here I thought we are all in this together. We are all stranded in a deep pitch of a blackout. So I also don't feel safe right now."
Jenny tried to play it off with a carefree gesture. "But hey look, we pulled it off. Be the last people standing currently. I may have overstepped back there but we also overcome a little crisis."
"That also meant a sacrifice was made but whatever." Elma subtly retorted.
I almost forgot Elma is currently a ghost and can follow us in his ghost form. He can phase through walls and roam freely but can't physically touch or handle work.
But beyond that, I wonder what he thinks about this situation right now.
***
Elma's POV
Their insinuations from earlier really struck a nerve within me. It was frustrating enough listening them berate about all the complications of exploring the underground.
Their meaningless taunts didn't really affect me all that much, it's just that...
Ando's brazen attitude led me to believe, he's keen on taking my position not because he can lead the group, but because he can capitalize the loot and resources buried beneath the depths.
He casually mentions it when we were alone before the campfire meeting.
I also think Jenny was in on this but I'm not completely sure yet.
Oh, you poor naive bastards.
If these people are so eager on delving deeper underground without me, I'll just watch them and let them be, since they asked for it.
Although I feel bad leaving Aimee unguarded, I can only stay quiet due to the circumstances. I died abruptly after all.
There is nothing that I can do for them.
No. Actually, I was looking forward to how this will play out.
Without their safeguard, could they even be able to handle themselves?
Maybe their next encounter with a different mob will take it into a chaotic trouble.
I'll enjoy my time watching them in the sidelines this time.