Terraria SI
Rough Draft
The day was absolutely fantastic.
The sky was completely clear. The wind was cool and refreshing. There wasn't a single slime in sight.
And most importantly, this milkshake was really good!
"Ahh…" I let out a long exhale as I basked in the glory that was pure, uninterrupted relaxation.
It had taken a long time, but I had finally allowed myself a proper break since the beginning of my journey in Terraria.
My time in this world hadn't been easy, but the path that brought me to this very moment was certainly worthwhile.
Who would've thought me of all people would be the one to defeat the Moonlord. Multiple times, at that. But the grind was necessary. Especially if I wanted to get all of his drops.
Leaning back in my beach chair, I gazed at the verdant expanse. The forest was calm and satisfied. It was only natural that it would be, considering I cleansed it of the world's evils (for the most part, ignoring the Dryad's perfectionist nature).
Everything had been done. Everything had been explored, discovered, made and found. There was nothing left for me to do but enjoy what I have worked for.
"Listen to my prayers and-"
I flinched. Glancing over my sunglasses, I saw nothing but a squirrel dart from one tree to another. With a shrug, I returned to my sweet tangy dessert.
"-searching far and wide for the perfect-"
"Okay, who's whispering in my ear?" Sitting up in my chair, I narrowed my eyes. My minimap didn't show any NPCs in the area, nor did my phone indicate any nearby enemies.
Selecting my sword in my hotbar, I was moments away from materializing the god-killing weapon. Not that literally any other weapon on me couldn't do that, but it sounded cool in my head.
A light breeze tousled my short wavy hair. The silence was awkward, but I knew I had heard something. It was only a matter of time before my mysterious stalker spoke again.
"-and answer my call, summon!"
It was there!
Spinning 180 degrees, I was met with a blinding light. It was intense, nearly as strong as the flash brought after the Moonlord's death.
When my vision cleared. I could finally see the one who was incessantly bugging me. It was a girl with dark blue hair. Her eyes were a light gray and her skin was light, if a bit dirty from dirt and sweat. The girl wore fantasy esque clothing that consisted of a short white cape, simple gray blouse, and a black skirt that was shorter than it needed to be.
She gazed at me with wide perturbed eyes. "You're not a Calculator!"
A cool breeze passed by, but it was completely different. So was the position of the sun and the rolling hills around us. Not that I was paying any attention to that.
"What?"
X X X
The day was bad. Really, really bad.
Kell knew that putting off her thesis paper was only going to bring her trouble, but it wasn't her fault literally everything went against her that week!
First it was the extra group work in history because her partners were good for nothing brats who only took the class because it was 'easy' and that they'd 'get a 5 Major anyway'. It was a miracle that she could even turn it in on time in the first place.
Then there was the whole money debacle. Kell was accused of stealing a girl's lunch. After the whole debacle was taken to the supervisor, it turned out the lunch bag was in dimwits inventory.
And she couldn't forget about the actual research needed for her paper. Sure, all the theory and equations were already hashed out, but low and behold, she still had to test the spells!
It was already evening and the last day carriage had left an hour ago, so Kell had to walk a sufficient distance away from the university, else she'd get fined for unauthorized usage of advanced magic. Of course, she could have got the authority and simply used the campus grounds, but she needed to register a week ahead before that was even viable.
It had taken Kell about an hour to walk the distance, but if she could finally get the process over with, then it would be fine.
Pulling out her notebook, Kell had to squint to properly read her work. The sun was just dipping over the horizon, which didn't help making out her messy handwriting.
Confident that she was ready, Kell pulled out a large thick parchment. She set the material on the ground and began marking it with a stick of charcoal.
'It's a bit messy, but the measurements and the circle don't need to be perfect. I'm talking to you Professor Malcom."
With the circle and equations properly written, all that was left was to activate the magic. It was based on the basic explosion spell, so there weren't many ways it could go wrong.
The magic circle had most of the information put into it, so the incantation was relievingly short.
"Alright, just need to say the words. It's no big deal…" Kell gulped as she stared at the culmination of her two years working towards her degree. Sure, it didn't seem like much, but the hours of learning and studying the principles of short incantations was long and grueling.
Taking in a deep breath, she spoke. "Circle, activate!"
The mana in the air around Kell swirled and contorted. It was like the magic circle was a whirlpool dragging the energy needed to execute the spell.
The actual parchment was glowing as well; it was a dim red that slowly grew in luminosity. The more mana the circle absorbed, the brighter the circle got, until it was a brilliant white.
'This is it! We're at the launching stage!'
Kell clenched her fists as she stared into the circle with an intensity that rivaled the magic before her. This had gone perfectly, all that needed to happen was the second stage to activate. So it was only natural that things went downhill from there.
The pulling of mana suddenly stopped. That in it of itself was normal for this part of the circle at this point; what wasn't normal was the parchment expelling the mana.
'Wait- no… no!'
Horror struck Kell like a bolt of lightning as the magic circle released its contained energy. Something had gone wrong, so terribly wrong.
However, rather than exploding in a fiery display of destruction, the parchment slowly returned to its original state with the circle unharmed. This was due to the extra failsafe feature Kell had integrated into the circle. Should the calculations needed to complete the spell be outside of the predicted parameters, then the circle will return to its original state.
Which meant that Kell had made a mistake in the mathematical portion of the circle. That she was certain of.
'No… Finding the wrong inputs and correcting them by hand can take hours, days even! There's no way for me to find the necessary instruments without going back to the university. They don't even have their mathematics department open at this time of night either!'
It all seemed so hopeless. Sure, she could try to put the thesis off for another day, but there was no way she could turn the paper in on time. And lying about the results was an option as well…
'No, I can't stoop to that level. I just…'
She felt cornered, as though her efforts were for naught. There was simply no way for her to get the needed tools for recalculating. It wasn't like there was a way to magic up a computational device-
Her mind came screeching to a halt as that particular thought popped up. While it was impossible to use basic magic to create something as complex as a computer, it was possible to summon a weaker variant.
A Calculator, otherwise known as a Specialized Intelligent Golem, was a relatively easy monster to summon. Well, not entirely easy, since it was in the intermediate magic category and required a longer chant. But that was beside the point, seeing as Kell had an actual chance at completing her thesis.
'Okay, I may not remember the whole incantation, but as long as I get most of the circle right I should be fine.'
Unlike the magic circle for her thesis paper, a summoning circle could be inscribed into the ground. This was mostly because the magic circle for her thesis paper needed to be preserved so the scholars could examine it.
Quickly finishing the summon circle, Kell noticed that something was off about it. Maybe it was the simplicity, or the lack of commands written into it. The gaps within the circle made her uneasy, so she decided to flesh it out a little. Nothing too extreme, but if it shortened the incantation, what did it matter?
Kell was satisfied with her personal additions. All she had to do now was speak the incantation.
"I think it went like…
Oh great and powerful goddess of the earth.
Listen to my prayers and grant me a connection across the planes of reality.
Through the deepest ravines and the tallest of trees, searching far and wide for the perfect machine.
Please grant me a logical mind to aid me in my troubles and answer my call, summon!"
The ground shook and the circle sunk into itself. Light spewed out of the center as mana drained from the atmosphere.
'What is this?!'
Kell barely stood her ground as the light became like the sun, forcing her to cover her eyes.
The light was abruptly and anticlimactically snuffed out, along with the rumblings of the ground. The student was hesitant to gaze upon what she had wrought, but she mustered her courage and uncovered her eyes.
Only to find an average looking man in a black suit and pants. He had short wavy brown hair and had a pair of strange dark tinted glasses. What was even more odd was his pale white skin. She would have examined further, but she remembered what she was doing. And that this man…
"You're not a Calculator!" She exclaimed, distress barely hidden from her voice.
The pale man gave a short, confused response. "What?"
The setting sun glinted off his glasses, reflecting into Kell's face. Her fingers twitched as she stared at the lack of any Calculator. Sure, she may have botched the summoning, and this whole situation was a result of her procrastination. But that didn't alleviate any of her pent up anger. And this was the last straw.
Stomping up to the man, she tried her best to stare him in the eyes. It didn't help that he had at least half a foot on her.
"Didn't you hear me? I said that you aren't a Calculator. The one thing I need to get this damned paper finished! One thing and another. Setback after setback. And to top it all off, I summon some random schmuck who could be a dangerous vampire for all I know! This is it, this is how it all ends. All my hard work down the drain… because I couldn't get off my ass and actually get things done."
All the energy that Kell had collapsed beneath the weight of her self-inflicted problems. She fell onto her knees and buried her face into her hands. The student couldn't even care that the potentially deadly person was there to watch it all.
Silence reigned as Kell failed to hold back her tears.
"Uh… I have a calculator on me if you want to borrow it." The man's voice was quiet, but it wasn't comforting nor patronizing. Kell considered that to be a small positive.
It took a second, but the student began to realize what the man had actually said. Lowering her hands from her face, she roughly wiped her eyes. "Y-you would let m-me?"
A/N: Like the idea, but it needs some revision.