Chương 5: Chapter Five

"Here we go again," Adam muttered to himself. He was leaning his weight on the spear and, despite having just emptied out his stomach twice, felt a lot better about his odds this time around. The spear was the perfect weapon against the slimes. They won't stand a chance. Wave One 60-Second Timer As soon as the blue slime squeezed out of the treeline, Adam was next to it, jabbing his spear-tip right through its jelly flesh and into its core. It was destroyed immediately.

He hopped back several steps as the slime shot out a pressurised stream of its acidic innards thanks to the precise strike he'd made. The spear was not only perfect for piercing the body of the creature, but it also didn't cause the violent explosion he'd experienced with the sword. I wonder if there's a way to precisely cut into its body to extract another collectible core. Adam put his hand into the right pocket of his grey jeans to grab the one he'd looted earlier, but there was nothing but some lint inside.

Oh right, that was from the previous life… Man, that's going to be impossible to wrap my head around. Strangely, Shitbox doesn't seem to have realised. Maybe he's not as powerful as I thought. But, then again, I did kill him with my sword after he said it couldn't be done. The cube seemed to be struggling to understand what'd just happened for a moment, but then it announced, [Excellent! You cleared the Wave within 5 seconds.]"Pretty slick, right?" Adam replied, twirling the spear in his hands.

The innate proficiency from simply touching the weapon allowed him to already have quite a good feel for the spear. Coupled with his experience from his first life, he felt more confident in himself. Knowing the weakness of his enemies was also a hidden superpower. [Completing a Wave this quickly increases the rarity by one level.] Adam nodded. That's more like it! I should be able to repeat that with the next wave as well. Wave One Complete Choose your Upgrade The tesseract unfolded itself into a podium.

Two new symbols appeared alongside a familiar one. The ones he hadn't seen before were both spears, one with a spiked aura and one with speed lines. All three of them glowed green. Upgrades Available Spear Damage (Uncommon) — Increases spear damage by 10% Throw Speed (Uncommon) — Increases throwing speed by 20% Movement (Uncommon) — Increases movement speed by 10% Hmm, it seems that, much like the sword and shield, the upgrades for the spear are divided between two utilisations.

I could specialise in spear-throwing, but I think that's way too risky a fighting style, considering I only have one spear. If I miss or my throw doesn't kill, then I'm left wide open. I'll probably pick damage. Although, the movement upgrade might not be a bad idea. He'd already noticed how big a difference the 150% from Lancer made, not just in how fast he ran, but also in the speed of his attacks.

The 200% he'd had with Fool had enabled him to climb the big tree with ease as well, so it seemed like a useful thing to upgrade. I'll stick with damage for now. Plus, I want to see what happens when my weapon hits level 6. Upgrade Selected Spear Damage (Uncommon) Just like with the sword, there were no obvious signs of the increased damage.

"Armament." Weapon Status Spear Common Quality Level 1 Stat Upgrades Spear Damage +10%"Shitbox, tell me again. Something happens when I hit level 6 with my class, right?" [You will have to reach level 6 to find out. Players have to discover the facts and facets of the Trials of Defiance on their own.]"But I can ask other players at the tavern, right?" he said, recalling the initial excuse for why the beetle smith wasn't allowed to explain it to him.

[How do you know about the Dimensional Tavern and the 'Armament' command?] Uh oh, I probably shouldn't alert it to the fact that I'm a time traveller.

"You mentioned it earlier, didn't you?" he lied unconvincingly. [I did not.] Although it seemed like the tesseract was poised to interrogate him further, it just dropped the topic to continue the stage. Wave Two 60-Second Timer As soon as he heard the announcement, Adam was already sprinting to the opposite side of the clearing. Two blue slimes squeezed their way out, and he killed the first immediately but missed his strike on the second one.

It hopped onto his leg and its acid burnt through the jeans covering his right thigh, exposing his flesh. The smell was revolting.

"Argh! Fucker!" he yelled and disengaged. The sudden movement stung a lot, but he gritted his teeth and ignored it. The slime hopped forward again, and he quickly stabbed it through its core. [Excellent! You cleared the Wave within 10 seconds.]"Do I get another rarity upgrade?" he asked. A bead of cold sweat trailed down his forehead. [Yes.]"What's my health at? That hurt way more than last time." [The attack dealt 45 points of damage. That means you now have 55 Health or 55% remaining.]"Goddamn, three hits from the small ones will kill me??" [Yes.] I think I really underestimated the health and defence that Defender came with. Although Lancer encourages a more offensive fighting style, it requires more finesse since I can't afford to take too many hits. Since it didn't mention anything about the damage being reduced by my defence rating, I'm assuming 100% is the default.

Wave Two Complete Choose your Upgrade This time there was only one unfamiliar option as Shitbox unfurled to reveal his choices. The one he hadn't seen before was a spear held aimed at a bullseye. There were two greens and one blue. Upgrades Available Spear Damage (Uncommon) — Increases spear damage by 10% Throw Aim (Uncommon) — Increases accuracy with throwing by 10% Force (Rare) — Attacks pierce armour by 15% I'd like to pick damage again, but I need the piercing for the purple slimes and the boss.

Plus, it's rare. Upgrade Selected Force (Rare) Force didn't change anything about his weapon, which he thought was odd, since he'd assumed it would make the spear-tip narrower or something. Wave Three 90-Second Timer [During Waves you may take damage. Although you can—]"Skip," Adam told the tesseract. Then he ran across the clearing again. Despite running back-and-forth, he didn't feel exhausted at all. The stamina boost is awesome. The low health and defence might become a real problem though.

I'll make sure to get the apple and top-up after finishing this wave. When the purple slime squeezed out of the treeline, Adam was right there, holding his spear in both hands and ramming the tip right into one of its cores. He couldn't tell if it was the weapon or the new piercing upgrade, but he didn't feel anywhere near as much resistance as when he'd used the sword. The core broke and the slime stretched to try and form itself into a spike to retaliate.

In doing so, it made it much easier for him to hit the remaining stone. Adam hammered his spear into its dense body, destroying the second core, right as the two blues emerged next to him. He thought for sure the purple slime would explode like a grenade, but instead it shot out its innards with such pressure that it arced over his head and nearly reached the central tree. He danced back two steps to bait out the blue slimes' attacks, being careful to avoid the deadly purple stream.

The two slimes dutifully hopped towards him, and he surged forward with a stab that killed one, but his follow-up jab at the other still whiffed. This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Adam backed away as it jumped and then moved back in when it landed, stabbing it twice and striking the core on the second hit. He turned around and walked towards the tree as it sputtered and died, just like its friends. [Well done! You cleared the Wave within 25 seconds.]"Do I get another rarity upgrade?" [No.] Hmm, maybe that means the limit is within one-sixth of the duration. If I'm fast on wave four, I should be able to clear it within fifteen seconds. Wave Three Complete Choose your Upgrade There were two new symbols. One depicted a fast-moving spear held in a hand, and the other had a flying spear with a trajectory line. Adam frowned when he saw the rarities.

Upgrades Available Spear Speed (Common) — Increases spear attack speed by 10% Throw Range (Common) — Increases throwing range by 10% Crush (Common) — Increases the impact of attacks by 5% All of them are common… I guess more speed for my spear might not be bad. Before he picked it, he located the healing apple and skewered it with his spear, bringing it to his mouth and taking a bite. [Healing Apple consumed! Recovering Health back to 100%.] Adam breathed a sigh of relief as the dissolved skin on his thigh returned, covering up his flesh beneath. Then he started hopping on the toes of his shoes, eager to finish the next wave as fast as possible.

"Select spear speed," he said. Upgrade Selected Spear Speed (Common) This time there finally was a visual change to his spear, as the tip at the end became slightly narrower. He'd thought the piercing upgrade would've had this effect, but he figured it made sense that in order for the spear to get faster, it would have to get slimmer. Wave Four 90-Second Timer He ran towards the other side of the clearing again. As soon as the first green slime appeared from the trees, he'd already speared one of its cores.

He changed his grip and destroyed the second, then ran through the blue slime that appeared alongside it, skewering it on his spear and destroying its core as he ran. Before it could pop and spray its destructive acid all over him, he flicked his spear and sent it flying away. Plop-plop-plop came the sound of the other green slime. Adam side-stepped out of the way quickly, only to clumsily back up again as the second blue slime hopped directly into his path. He shot forward and hammered his spear into its core.

Perhaps it was due to his increased damage or maybe because of the angle of the strike, but the core didn't just break this time, it split.

"Oh fuck!" he muttered, tossing himself to the side just as the blue slime popped and sent its acid everywhere. A tiny bit got on his left pant leg, eating holes in the jeans and forming red coin-sized welts on his calf. Fortunately, it didn't dissolve his skin, although it was quite painful and itchy. Probably a bad idea to scratch at, but damn. It feels like ants are nibbling on my leg.

"How much damage?" he called to the tesseract. [You received a partial attack dealing 20 points of damage. That means you now have 80 Health or 80% remaining.] I could die from just five partial hits?? Plop-plop-plop came the second round of projectiles, and Adam immediately pushed himself up off the mossy ground. He ran right under the baseball-sized slime loogies and flung his spear out in front of himself, tearing a gouge into the side of the green slime, but missing both cores.

It hopped towards him once, surprising him with the move and forcing him to scramble back a step. Then it started expanding as though taking in air. Adam hurriedly stabbed it again, once more missing both cores. The strike did stop it from trying to shoot him point blank though, but in retaliation it hopped forward again. Adam circled around its 'back', before stabbing it a third time and hitting one of the cores. Calm down! he scolded himself internally. You won't hit shit if you aren't focused!

He stabbed and destroyed the second core, but once again split it.

"Goddamnit!" Before it could shower him in its highly corrosive acid, he ran towards the tree, diving as soon as he heard it explode. Pop! Adam landed on his belly at the foot of the tree, but none of the acid reached him. I can't tell if I've just been lucky killing most of the slimes without popping them until now, or if the additional damage and piercing are at fault. [Well done! You cleared the Wave within 30 seconds.]"Yeah, yeah…"

Wave Four Complete Choose your Upgrade Upgrades Available Spear Damage (Uncommon) — Increases spear damage by 10% Throw Speed (Common) — Increases throwing speed by 10% Bleed (Uncommon) — Attacks inflict bleed dealing 10% weapon damage over the course of 10 seconds He didn't need to think long about these options and just picked damage. Upgrade Selected Spear Damage (Uncommon)"Armament," he said, bringing up his weapon stats again.

Weapon Status Spear Common Quality Level 3 Stat Upgrades Spear Damage +20% Spear Speed +10% Three more levels until I find out what happens at level 6.

"Wait, where's the force upgrade I got?" he wondered. [General Upgrades can be viewed by uttering the word 'Upgrades'. It may also be useful to check on your Player Status during a Stage by uttering the word 'Status'.] Wave Five 180-Second Timer"Upgrades," he said, waiting for the sound of the slime king making its way to the clearing. Upgrades Force +15%"What a bizarre way to structure this stuff. I guess it's because upgrades like force will stick around, even if I change weapons?" [Correct.] If I revive for a third time and I end up with a bad class, it may be worth picking mainly general upgrades, rather than weapon-based ones. If I did that then I could buy a new weapon from the silverfish in the market and not lose all my upgrades. A quake rolled through the ground, before a shadow appeared on the opposite side of the clearing. Then the boss arrived, landing like a meteor with a loud boom. Adam spun the spear in his hands. Last wave.

Then I can take a break and try to figure out why the fuck I keep coming back here when I die. Oh, I almost forgot, I should go get the glass acorn before I leave the stage. The dark-blue slime with the crown on its head leapt off the mossy understory and a new shadow appeared directly where he stood.

"Oh shit!" Adam tossed himself to the side. Boom! The slime hit the ground with such force that he bounced a few centimetres up off the ground. He quickly got to his feet and double-handed the spear. Then he rammed it into the boss' body, aiming for one of the three cores swimming around within. By some miracle, he clipped one core and triggered the boss' transformation. Unfortunately, he was a bit too close. The Slime King instantly ballooned in size and Adam was close enough to be sent flying. Déjà vu…

he thought to himself as he tumbled across the moss. Except, this time it hurt way more. He felt a jabbing pain in his chest, as though he'd been stabbed. [Warning! Health below 25%. You are close to dying.] I think it broke some of my fucking ribs! He got to his feet unsteadily, blood dribbling out of his mouth. Adam groaned as he saw that the Slime King was already split into the purple and green twins. Plop-plop-plop! Oh shit!

He rushed towards the green slime as its projectiles flew right by his head, narrowly avoiding him with their sizzling acid and dissolving the moss where he'd fallen. With a roar, he lanced his spear right through one of its cores. Schiiing! Adam leapt out of the way as the purple slime speared through its green twin, destroying the remaining core. He landed with a pained grunt and knew he'd been extraordinarily lucky. No stopping!

he told himself, even as a new healing apple hung not far away on a branch of the great tree. The destroyed cores within the green slime split into four and began to divide its body. Adam ignored it, ramming his spear right into the purple slime. Despite its dense body, his spear broke right through to one of the cores and split it. Schiiing! Adam jumped to the side as the purple slime's spear-head hammered itself into the ground where he'd stood.

Then he finished it off by precisely stabbing through to hit the last core. But he couldn't relax, because four blue slimes had spawned from the corpse of the green one. While weaving around their deceptively-simple hopping attacks, he stabbed quickly, hitting their cores with almost every strike. His accuracy had gotten a lot better already, and he wondered if perhaps the innate understanding of the weapon accelerated his proficiency.

Unfortunately, he was destroying almost every core with his quick strikes and had to keep backing away when they popped violently and showered the surroundings with acid. Just as he finished off the last of the four, four more were spawned from the purple one's corpse. These too died within moments. No sooner had the last one popped than the tesseract announced, [Well done! You cleared the Wave within 50 seconds.] Wave Five Complete Stage Complete Tallying Score As his score was calculated, Adam walked to where the healing apple hung on a branch above. It was higher up than the one from the third wave, but he was still easily able to spear the fruit. Despite the fact that he was no longer in danger, he couldn't wait to have the pain relieved. The moment he bit down on the glossy red fruit, a pleasant warmth flowed through his body. It cured the jabbing pain in his chest and got rid of the itchy red welts on his leg.

Score 120 Seconds Completion Time 150 Point Speedrun Bonus added 125 Damage Received 693 Points Awarded Adam nearly choked on the chunk of apple still in his mouth as he saw his point total. That's more than double what I got on my first attempt!

"Did my completion time trigger the speedrun bonus?" he asked Shitbox as it floated over next to him where a large chest had appeared. [Correct. Completing a Stage within a set amount of time is rewarded with additional Points and a physical award that will be displayed in your Player House.] What's the point of a trophy if I'm the only person who can see it? I guess I could brag about it to the insect people?

The tesseract went on to explain that he would be able to utilise his points to purchase things, but he ignored it and started climbing up the tree. When it finally finished its speech, he asked, "You won't teleport me back to Interim Island until I collect all my rewards right?" [You will be automatically transferred to Interim Island in 10 minutes. Your rewards will both be chosen at random if you do not select them before then.] Plenty of time then.

Adam climbed up to the same spot he remembered from his previous life. Those previous two deaths… They really did happen, huh? Now that he finally had the time to think, he realised there was a gnawing hole in his lungs. It was as though he could still feel the fragments piercing through him from the tesseract's explosion. Or maybe it was just the existential dread that he was stuck, forced to die and resurrect without any say in the matter.

I'm gonna take my time when I get back to Interim Island and have a nice meal at the tavern, while I figure out what the fuck is happening to me. I'm pretty sure me going back in time is not a part of this fucked-up game. Adam pushed his thoughts aside for now and climbed through the canopy until he saw the branch with the bird's nest. Just like before, a little glass acorn glinted within. I won't make the same mistake twice, he decided, and reached out for it with his spear.

The spear-tip easily pierced the nest, allowing him to pull it back towards him. He grabbed the little glass piece and lifted it up. It was hollow and seemed quite fragile. Secret Relic Obtained Glass Acorn (Rare) — Grows for 3 Stages With the secret relic in his possession, he crawled back down to get his rewards. Fortunately, it was much quicker down than up. [5 minutes remaining until automatic transferral to Interim Island.]"Relax. I'm here, ain't I?" he said to Shitbox, looking at the upgrades.

Upgrades Available Spear Growth (Common) — Increases spear length by 15% Throw Speed (Rare) — Increases throwing speed by 35% Movement (Rare) — Increases movement speed by 15% Damn, this is a tough one. I think movement is the best pick here, but that won't level up my weapon. I've got the feeling that's what I really should aim for. But…

"Shitbox, how many waves are in the second stage?" [There are 5 Waves in Stage Two.]"Surprised you actually answered that. Thought for sure you'd tell me I'd have to wait to find out." [Knowing the number of Waves does not represent an advantage in this instance.]"I would beg to differ," he replied and picked the movement upgrade. I'll get the last three weapon upgrades I need in the next stage. Or maybe I'll get them from the beetle smith.

Upgrade Selected Movement (Rare) The upgrade didn't really make him feel any faster. At least, that was until he tried stabbing his spear. Holy shit! I knew movement wasn't just for running speed! The podium folded back into its usual tesseract shape, before flying over to the treasure chest. Golden light spilled out from the seam of its lid, and it popped open exactly like the first time. Three Relics floated out from within. He frowned when he realised none of them were rare.

However, besides the apple appearing again, the other two options were new. The first one looked like armour made of wood and the other was a ten-sided die. Relics Available Bark Armour (Uncommon) — Increases Player Defence by 25%. Breaks after 5 hits Healing Apple (Common) — If the Player's health falls below 25%, this apple is consumed, healing them back to full. Once consumed, the Relic disappears Reroll Die (Uncommon) — Allows the Player to reroll Reward or Vendor Options.

Relic disappears after use Huh, a reroll die. Granted, I can buy one of those for one hundred points from the spider, while a common relic is worth 150. I also don't think I can sell it, so it's not worth picking. Besides, if I pick the uncommon armour and sell it, I get 150 points back and can buy a reroll and still have some left over.

"Bark armour it is," he decided. Relic Selected Bark Armour (Uncommon) Adam hadn't realised exactly what picking the relic meant until it manifested on his body. Covering his shins, thighs, forearms, upper arms, torso, abdomen, and even his head, were what looked like pieces of plate armour, except made of bark and worryingly-flexible.

"How do I look, Shitbox?" The tesseract didn't respond, but instead let out a pulse of magic. The big tree and moss were immediately consumed by impenetrable darkness. Then the ground below him became a cobblestone road. The strange dumpy houses came into view with the following pulse, before the tesseract's announcement rolled in. Now Entering'Interim Island' A calming guitar melody flowed through the air, and Adam breathed in deeply as he realised he was out of immediate danger. For now.

[Welcome to Interim Island. Players like y—]"Skip," he said, halting Shitbox's long speech before it could get started. Then he marched in the direction of the tavern. But he made it only four steps before he noticed silvery things in the air around him. Then something big landed in front of him. It was a giant white moth. It stood upright on two of its six legs, all of which had several black bands ringed around them.

Fuzzy white hair-like fluff grew from the back of its head, which held two massive black compound eyes and comb-like antennae. Its wings beat once, as though to get his attention, although he was already staring right at it. Tiny glistening scales floated around the insect like silver snow.

"Hello again, Adam," the moth greeted him in a lilting female voice.