Terraria Story: Ichor's War

(1)

      He saw the first tree quiver and fall, further into the distance. This scared him. He had never seen a tree fall before, and it frightened him. He knew that this was a common occurrence, but it still scared him, seeing something so tall come crashing to the ground. Although it scared him, he couldn't help but feel fascinated by it, so he went to investigate.
      The boy's name was Ichor. He was called this, not because his real name was Ichorus, but because his appearance was almost godly. He had medium-blond hair, dark yellow clothing, and his eyes were the color of ichor, the blood of gods. It was also convenient that his eyes were ichor-colored, because the world they lived in was tainted, not only with the Corruption (a dark purple wasteland biome full of disease, shadow, curses, and cursed flames), but also with the Crimson, a blood-red biome full of blood, guts, gore, and ichor. Ichor had never ventured far enough to see either, but he knew of their existence. Everyone in the world of Aurumentia knew about those tainted biomes.
      When Ichor reached the fallen tree, he was surprised by what he saw. He saw a man, wearing silver armor, carrying a golden axe. The man had his back to Ichor, apparently using a workbench. Ichor was curious about what the man in silver was doing, so he didn't notice that a slime was about to attack him from behind. Fortunately, at that moment, the man happened to turn around. He saw Ichor, saw the slime, and saw that Ichor didn't see the slime.
      "Kid, look out!" the man yelled, right as the slime jumped at Ichor! Ichor managed to get out of the way just in time, and the man in silver, wielding his golden axe, sliced the slime in half, killing it.
      "Are you okay, kid?" the man in silver asked.
      Ichor nodded, unable to see the man's face through the helmet.
      The man walked closer to Ichor, looked at him for a second, then took off his helmet, allowing Ichor to get a good look at his face. He had orange-blond hair, dark green eyes, and a tiny scar on his left cheek.
      "I'm Zach," the man said, holding his hand out to Ichor. "What's your name?"
      "Ichor," stuttered Ichor, shaking Zach's armored hand.
      "Ichor, huh? That's an interesting name. So, Ichor, what brings you to this part of Aurumentia?"
      "I-I saw the tree f-fall from a distance," said Ichor, stuttering from nervousness, "a-and I w-wanted to t-take a c-closer look."
      "So you walked over here, without anything to defend yourself?"
      "I-I don't have a-any tools or w-weapons."
      "Well," said Zach, rummaging through his inventory, "I think I can help with that."
      After this, Zach pulled some copper tools out of his inventory, along with a copper short-sword. He put them on the ground at Ichor's feet.
      "Th-thank you," said Ichor, picking up the gifts.
      "You're welcome," Zach replied. "Why don't you try them out, get a feel for them? Let's start with the axe."
      Ichor put all of the other tools away, keeping the copper axe in his hands.
      "Just walk up to a tree, and start chopping from the bottom."
      Ichor walked up to a tree, staring at it for a second. Then, holding the axe firmly in both hands, he took a swing at the tree. Then, he took another, and another. After five swings, something unexpected happened. The tree burst into pieces, each piece equal in size! Neither Ichor nor Zach expected this.
      "What the Crimson?" Zach exclaimed. "How did you-"
      He stopped mid-sentence as something dawned on him. He knew what this meant.
      "Holy harpies," Zach said, shocked. "The Prophecy was true. I never thought I would see this day. Ichor, you're a Terrarian!"
      Ichor was confused. He had no clue what Zach was talking about. This must have been evident in Ichor's expression, so Zach explained.
      "The Terrarians are an ancient race of warriors with unspeakable power. I thought that all of the Terrarians had vanished, but I guess I was wrong. You are the last Terrarian!"
      "I-I don't know what that means!" Ichor exclaimed, confused. "What prophecy were you talking about?"
      "The Prophecy of Gold," Zach replied. "It has been passed down in my family for generations, but I never thought that it would come to pass in my lifetime. I have it right here."
      Zach then pulled a scroll out of his inventory, handing it to Ichor. Ichor took the scroll, opened it, and read it aloud.
            The time will come for a hero to rise,
            A young Terrarian with golden eyes,
            Who, with the blood of gods in his veins,
            Will cleanse the world of its unholy stains,
            The hero will fight with every breath,
            Not to be stopped, even by death,
            And even after the battle is won,
            Ichor's war will have just begun.
      Ichor was startled by that last line. It stood out to him, continuously repeating in his mind. Ichor's war will have just begun. What could that mean?
      "Ichor," Zach said, "the Prophecy must be referring to you. It even says your name! You are destined to save Aurumentia, and I will train you."
      "O-okay," Ichor said, unsure of what else to say. He had so many questions, he didn't know what to ask first.
      Ichor was certain of one thing though. There was a war coming, and he needed to be ready. He knew that he would need all of his strength to survive it.


(To be continued...)