Attack of the Goblin Army

by Winter Morgan

  This book is not authorized or sponsored by Re-Logic, Inc., Teh Gamez, Inc., 505 Games, Engine Software, or any other person or entity owning or controlling rights in Terraria, or its characters, name, trademarks or copyrights

  Copyright © 2016 by Hollan Publishing, Inc.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Sky Pony Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

  Sky Pony Press books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Sky Pony Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or info@skyhorsepublishing.com.

  Sky Pony® is a registered trademark of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.®, a Delaware corporation.

  Visit our website at www.skyponypress.com.

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

  Cover design by Brian Peterson

  Cover illustration by Amanda Brack

  Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-1682-7

  Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-1684-1

  Printed in Canada

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter 1: Nice to Meet You

  Chapter 2: The Search for Coins

  Chapter 3: Blood Moon

  Chapter 4: The Eye of Cthulhu

  Chapter 5: Skeletron

  Chapter 6: In the Dungeon

  Chapter 7: The Goblin Invasion

  Chapter 8: A Visit from the Tinkerer

  Chapter 9: Crash

  Chapter 10: The Floating Island

  Chapter 11: Reality Bites

  Chapter 12: Zombie Attack

  Chapter 13: Eater of Souls

  Chapter 14: The Second Battle

  Chapter 15: Repeat

  Chapter 16: New Friend

  Chapter 17: The Underworld

  Chapter 18: Next Level

  Chapter 1:

  NICE TO MEET YOU

  Miles clutched the copper pickaxe and drove it into a grassy patch of land. It was odd to be alone in a new world. He had always dreamt of being an explorer and yearned to see the world, but as he stood by himself staring at a blue sky dotted with puffy white clouds, he longed for a friend.

  He paused for a moment, taking in his surroundings. Miles took a deep breath and eyed the landscape. As he stood in silence, he spotted blue waves in the distance and wondered if it was the ocean. There was so much to explore in this new land. He’d be the first to admit that he was conflicted about being alone. He loved the ability to decide whatever he wanted, but he also wanted to talk to someone.

  As he walked toward the blue on the horizon, the water came into focus. Miles was excited to see the shoreline. There were so many places Miles wanted to explore, so many items to craft and biomes to enter, but he wasn’t sure of the rules. He feared that somehow he’d break a rule and wouldn’t even know he had done it. This happened to him in the past, and it was one of the reasons he had to escape to the world of Terraria.

  The walk to the ocean was longer than he envisioned, and he lost sight of the water as he trekked down a narrow path dense with trees.

  “I must be in the forest,” he told himself.

  “Excuse me, are you talking to me?” a voice called out.

  “Who’s there?” Miles asked, but he couldn’t see through the leaves. He only heard the voice mumble, and he tried to find who it came from. “Where are you?”

  There was no reply.

  Miles clung to the pickaxe. He wasn’t ready to battle anymore and he knew the copper pickaxe wouldn’t do him much good anyway since it wasn’t a very useful weapon for battle. He could use his sword, but it was very basic. There were better weapons he needed to make before he could even attempt to ward off an attack. “Where did you go?” Miles questioned. He second-guessed himself and wondered if he imagined the voice he heard.

  “I’m over here.” The voice was louder and Miles knew he was getting closer.

  Miles raced toward the sound of the voice, until he saw a person with sand-colored hair, dressed in a shirt and jeans.

  “Hi.” The man introduced himself, “I’m Matthew.”

  “I’m Miles.”

  “This is your first day in Terraria.” Matthew nodded his head as he spoke.

  “How do you know?” Miles was shocked, but he was also aware that he must look like a noob.

  “I know everything about you. I’m your guide.” Matthew smiled.

  “My guide?” Miles questioned.

  “Yes, I’m here to teach you about the world of Terraria.” Matthew walked toward a tree. “I suggest you start chopping down wood for your house.”

  “But I don’t want to chop down wood or build a house—I want to explore this world,” Miles protested.

  “If you don’t build a house for me, I’ll have nowhere to live,” Matthew informed Miles.

  “Why should I build you a house?”

  “Because that is what people do for their guides.”

  Miles shrugged. “I don’t need a guide. I’m fine by myself. I’m going explore the world.”

  “Well, if you think you can survive in Terraria with a copper pickaxe and a sword that isn’t very powerful, you are quite mistaken. I can teach you how to craft powerful weapons.”

  “I’m fine with my weapons,” Miles fibbed.

  “Do you have any money?” asked Matthew.

  Miles searched his inventory. “No. Do I need any?”

  “If you want the merchant to come, you should have at least fifty coins,” explained Matthew.

  “How do I get coins?” asked Miles.

  “Why should I answer that question? I thought you didn’t need my help.” Matthew walked away as he spoke, his voice trailing off in the distance.

  Miles chased Matthew down a shady path lined with trees. “I do need your help. How do I get money? I want to meet the merchant. And I wasn’t telling the truth, I do need to craft better weapons. There’s no way I can explore without them.”

  “You’ll find coins in a chest. I will help you find a chest and craft weapons, but you have to build a house first.”

  “Building takes up so much time. I want to explore.”

  Matthew shook his head. “I understand your enthusiasm for wanting to explore the world but if you don’t build a home, you will be vulnerable to many creatures of the night.”

  “I’m not scared of them,” Miles replied.

  “They will destroy you.” As Matthew spoke, Miles shuddered.

  He quickly grabbed the pickaxe and chopped trees for wood. He wanted to build the house as fast as possible. Miles gathered the wood and Matthew directed him toward a patch of land, “You’ll also need dirt blocks for the walls and the ceiling.”

  Miles carefully laid each brick. After a wall was complete, he paused. “I like it. It’s beginning to look like a real home. I’ve never had a real home before.”

  “Really? Why?” Matthew asked.

  “I don’t want to get into it.” Miles finished the walls and worked on a wooden door. When he was done, he put the door on the house. “I’m done.”

  “In order for this house to be considered a home, you’ll need a chair, a table and a light source,” the guide informed Miles.

  “A light source? Like a lamp?”

  “A torch,” Matthew explained.

  Miles thought about how to craft a torch when a group of green slimes approached them. Matthew advised Miles to keep his distance,
saying, “Slimes won’t attack during the day unless provoked.”

  As Miles grabbed wood to craft a torch, he accidently upset the green slimes. They hopped up and down, Matthew warned him they were ready to attack. Miles’s heart raced. He only had a useless sword. Before the slimes had a chance to hop onto his body, he struck the slimes with his sword.

  “Help!” Miles cried as he plunged his sword into a green slime. “I’m surrounded.”

  Matthew shot wooden arrows at the green slimy beasts that surrounded the duo.

  Despite the sea of wooden arrows Matthew shot, they were outnumbered. Miles realized he wasn’t ready for a battle. He cried out for the second time. Matthew stopped shooting his barrage of wooden arrows and grabbed his sword. “And you thought you didn’t need a guide?”

  Miles replied with a gasp as more slimes appeared. He was paralyzed with fear, and silently worried his first day in the world of Terraria might be his last.

  Chapter 2:

  THE SEARCH FOR COINS

  Even though they seemed to be losing the battle, Matthew was a skilled warrior. Miles mimicked his moves as he attempted to battle the gelatinous green slimes.

  “Gotcha!” Miles yelped as he destroyed two more slimes. Despite gaining confidence during this brief battle, he sighed with relief as he watched Matthew obliterate the remaining slimes.

  “We make a good team,” Matthew remarked.

  Miles noticed coins in his inventory. “What’s this?”

  “When you defeat a hostile mob, like a slime, you get rewarded with coins,” explained Matthew. “And you also get gel, so you can craft a torch, which you should do very soon since it’s almost nighttime.”

  “Okay, I’ll make that torch. But I thought you said we find coins in a chest,” Miles said, annoyed.

  “There are many ways to do certain things,” Matthew smiled.

  “I still don’t have enough coins to see the merchant and I want more.” Miles counted his coins again; he needed a lot more coins to reach fifty.

  “I know a great cave where we could search for chests,” Matthew said, standing by the house. “But we have to finish the house first.”

  Miles put the finishing touches on the house and crafted the torch, but he didn’t have enough wood to complete the chair. He traveled back to the forest with Matthew to chop wood.

  Matthew looked up at the sky. “It’s getting dark. We don’t have that much time; we must work fast or else we will be attacked by zombies.”

  Miles raced toward a large tree, slamming his pickaxe into the bark; he wondered if he should have crafted more powerful weapons before they traveled to the forest. The Slime attack was still fresh on Miles’s mind and he feared zombies would attack him as evening set in. He panted, “Do I have enough wood?”

  “Almost,” Matthew remarked.

  Miles picked up the pickaxe, slamming it into a large tree, when Matthew informed him that they had enough wood and they must make their way back to the house.

  As they walked toward the house, Miles spotted something in the distance.

  “What is that?” Matthew questioned.

  “That’s an entrance to a dungeon. I’ll tell you about it later.”

  “Later?” Miles urged Matthew to tell him about the dungeon. A dungeon was exactly the type of place he hoped to find on his explorations. With Matthew by his side, he was sure that he’d be able to unearth whatever hidden treasure lay in the spooky dungeon.

  Night was setting in, and Miles couldn’t see very well, but he spotted someone standing in front of the dungeon.

  “I see someone by the dungeon. I’m not sure who it is.” Miles stopped to get a better look at the person who appeared to be guarding the entrance. The man had a large grey beard.

  “That’s the old man. Don’t bother with him.” Matthew reminded Miles, “It’s dark. We can go to the dungeon tomorrow.”

  Miles didn’t listen and sprinted toward the dungeon, when the old man called out, “I’ve been cursed by Skeletron.”

  Matthew chased after. “Don’t bother with this old man. It’s a waste of time. Come back to the house and I’ll teach you how to craft weapons, and tomorrow I’ll help you find coins.”

  Miles walked up to the old man. “You’re cursed? Do you need help?”

  “Free me of the curse, and I’ll let you enter the dungeon,” explained the old man.

  “Maybe I’m strong enough to save you. I just battled multiple green slimes,” Miles gloated.

  “Can you help me? My master can’t be summoned until night, though,” the old man told them.

  Miles looked over at Matthew. “Do you think we can wait? It’s almost night.”

  Matthew didn’t look at Miles. Instead he fixated on the dark sky. “No, it’s far too dangerous. It’s almost the blood moon. That is serious.”

  “Blood moon?” Miles questioned. Just the words sent shivers down his spine. “But I want to help this old man.”

  “Please, no,” the old man begged. “You’ll just get yourself killed.”

  Matthew grabbed Miles and screamed, “Run!”

  A horde of zombies lurked behind some trees. Miles ran as fast as he could toward the house, barely escaping the zombie attack.

  “You have to build the chair to make the house complete,” Matthew instructed, but Miles was too nervous to construct a chair. His hands fumbled and no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t finish the chair.

  “You’re doing a good job,” Matthew soothed Miles. “Take a deep breath. It’s almost complete.”

  “Oh no!” Miles gasped, as a zombie kicked the front door from its hinges.

  Matthew grabbed his bow and arrow and sprinted toward the door. Miles rushed outside to join his guide in battle. Three zombies lunged toward them, and they faced the undead beasts under a blood-red sky.

  Miles plunged his copper sword into a zombie, and while another crept up behind him, he quickly struck it. As he pierced the beast with his sword he spotted a cluster of zombies in the distance.

  “The blood moon makes Terraria a very dangerous place,” Matthew said as he shot wooden arrows at the zombies that crept toward them.

  A bunny hopped past them and Matthew called out to Miles, “Watch out! The blood moon makes bunnies vicious.”

  The docile bunny quickly turned aggressive and pounced on Miles, as a zombie lunged toward him. He was powerless. One copper sword wasn’t enough. Miles jumped back, trying to shake the bunny from his leg, as he struck a zombie. Miles was ready to surrender when a wooden arrow pierced the bunny’s side, and it was destroyed. He didn’t have time to thank Matthew, because he was too busy trying to survive the zombie attack.

  There was only one zombie left, but it seemed incredibly strong. It stared at Miles with vacant eyes. The blood-red moon provided Miles with some light, as he used all of his strength to destroy the zombie.

  “You weren’t kidding. The blood moon is serious.”

  “Look, it’s the bride and groom!” Matthew called out.

  Two zombies outfitted in wedding attire lurked in the shadows.

  “Who are they?”

  “They only come out in the blood moon,” Matthew said as he used arrows to stop the eternally wedded creatures from approaching.

  “And they brought guests!” Miles cried as a group of blood zombies approached them.

  Miles’s energy was low and as he struck the groom, he worried if one of the blood zombies might destroy him.

  Chapter 3:

  BLOOD MOON

  Sweat formed on Miles’s brow. He took a deep breath as the gruesome blood zombies picked up speed, advancing toward him. Miles swung his sword at the groom, as he kept a close eye on the fiery red blood zombies.

  Matthew’s arrows flew through the air as he shot at the bride. The groom stood behind his zombie partner. “When you destroy the groom, don’t forget to get the top hat.”

  Miles chuckled. He found it funny that Matthew was able to simultaneously teach and ba
ttle. He also realized that Matthew was truly selfless and focused on advancing Miles’s game rather than his own survival. However, Miles couldn’t let these thoughts distract him—he had to concentrate on the battle.

  Miles ripped through the groom’s tuxedo jacket and repeatedly struck the zombie groom. The bride came to her beloved’s rescue by attacking Miles. With one more strike, he knew he’d destroy the groom, but the bride prevented him from hitting him. Miles’s energy was dangerously low, he wasn’t sure he’d survive the attack from the bride. She was inches from him when another flood of wooden arrows destroyed her and Matthew called out, “Grab the veil!”

  Miles slammed his copper sword into the groom, destroying him. He picked up the veil and the top hat, placing them in his inventory. The feeling of elation from achieving these war trophies was short lived, because within seconds, blood zombies surrounded him. As the blood zombies surrounded him, Miles was distracted by the grotesqueness of the undead beasts. He struggled to pierce their red flesh with his sword.

  Matthew’s arrows flew through the air, and he raced toward Miles’s side. “Keep striking them!” he shouted. “You’ll be rewarded with copper coins.”

  Miles really wanted to meet the merchant. He knew after this zombie battle, he might have enough coins to purchase all sorts of vital resources from the merchant. He plunged the sword into the belly of a blood zombie and the impact obliterated the beast. It had dropped something, and as Miles leaned over to pick it up, two blood zombies lunged at him. Their mouths gaped open as they clawed at Miles. He was too weak to fight back. He wanted to crawl over to the dropped item and place it in his inventory, but instead he ripped through two hostile blood zombies with his sword, hoping it would destroy them.

  Another flood of wooden arrows from Matthew struck the blood zombies, instantly destroying them. Miles crawled on the ground, grabbed what was dropped, quickly placed it in his inventory, and raced back inside the house.

  “We need a new door,” Matthew informed Miles. “Get some wood from your inventory and make one fast.”

  “But the zombies can rip it off,” Miles reasoned. “Why should we bother?”

  “We don’t want to make ourselves that vulnerable. We must build it. We can’t be lazy,” Matthew lectured his pupil.