Chapter 4: Treasures in the Ground
Oscar the slime was a great fighter. He didn't do much damage, but he was fast and sneaky, and his small size allowed him to get into places I couldn't even poke my boomerang. He hopped along next to me as I held up my torch to explore the caves and spoke to me in that warbling voice of his. Oscar was very learned in the places in Terraria.
"So you're saying there's a huge pink dungeon to the east?" I said as I hacked at some tungsten with my pickaxe.
"Yep," said Oscar. "My cousin, Ink, used to live there. All the slimes have keys in their bellies, and the place is swarming with skeletons."
"Preposterous. I don't believe you," I scoffed.
"You said the same thing when I told you about the Corruption."
"A place ruled by a giant worm, where the only creatures are evil beings who wallow in disease, the only plants are poisonous, and where there are orbs underground harboring treasure? Ridiculous."
"One day, I'll say 'I told you so,'" Oscar retorted.
"Yeah, that'll be the day," I muttered to myself.
"I heard that," said Oscar. Suddenly, up ahead, something glowed reddish pink. "What's that?"
"I don't know," I said, "but I'm totes breaking it open!"
The source of the light was a bright red crystal in the shape of a heart. I rapped on it with my knuckles and it sounded hollow, but when I shone my torch at it, I saw a smaller heart in the center, about the size of a mana crystal.
I slammed my pickaxe into a crack on the crystal, jammed my fingers into the crack, and pulled. The heart split neatly in two and I picked up the smaller crystal and held it above my head, like a mana crystal. It dissolved into my skin and ran down my arm and into my heart, but instead of magic and power, it brought with it a rush of warmth, strength, and energy. I felt like I could lick anything and everything without even trying.
"How do you feel?" Oscar asked anxiously.
"I feel great! I feel like I could wrestle a hippopotamus! Let's go find a hippopotamus to wrestle can we Oscar can we please please pleeeeeeeeeease?"
Oscar just looked at me awkwardly. "Um... we should probably go home now."
"O.K.," I said. "Let me just finish mining these gems... and... ooh, a chest!"
"Wow!" Oscar exclaimed, forgetting his concerns. "What's in it?"
"Let's see..." I said, reading the label on the item I had taken out. "Magic Mirror. Gaze into the mirror to return home."
"Don't go without me," Oscar said, and jumped onto my shoulder. I held up the mirror and felt a force like I was being pushed from behind, and there was a whirlwind of color and I was home.
"It's about time," Ryan said.