“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 create the violent explosion that cutting the core in half would result in.
I wonder if there’s a way to precisely cut into its body to extract another Slime Core.
Adam put his right hand in his pocket to grab the one he’d looted earlier, but there was nothing but some lint inside his grey jeans.
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.
Shitbox seemed to be struggling to understand what’d just happened, but then he 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 using the sword and shield in his first life, he felt really confident. Knowing the weakness of his enemies was also like a hidden superpower.
[Completing a Wave this quickly results in the rewards going up one rarity 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 a spear with a spiked aura and a spear with speed lines behind it. All three of them were glowing 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 though, 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 additional 50% from Lancer made, and not just in how fast he ran, but also in the speed of his attacks.
I’ll stick with damage for now though. Plus, I want to see what happens when my weapon hits level 6.
< < Upgrade Selected > >
< Spear Damage (Uncommon) >
Just like with the sword, there was no obvious sign of the increased damage with the spear.
“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 Armament, 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, is that 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 then 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. The acid continued through the fabric and into his skin, dissolving it within moments and 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, while 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.]
< < 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 ready to throw at a bullseye. There were two greens and one rare.
< < 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.
< < Upgrade Selected > >
< Force (Rare) >
Force didn’t change anything about his weapon, which he thought was odd.
< < 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. Not a fan of the low Health and Defence though, that might become a real problem later.
I’ll make sure to get the apple and top-up after finishing this Wave.
The purple slime squeezed out of the treeline and 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 core.
With a roar, 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 he’d manage to kill it in such a way that it didn’t happen. 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 their attacks, while being careful to avoid the deadly purple stream. The two blue slimes dutifully hopped forward and he surged back in with a stab that killed one. Although he was a lot more confident with this weapon, his jab at the last slime still whiffed.
Adam backed away as it hopped towards him, then moved forward as it landed and jabbed twice, managing to strike 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 still get a 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 15 seconds.
< < Wave Three Complete > >
Stolen novel; please report.
< 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 sighed as he saw what they were.
< < 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 useless and the lowest rarity…
Adam decided on Spear Speed just to level up his weapon. Before he picked it, he located the Healing Apple. He skewered it with his spear and brought it to his mouth.
[Healing Apple consumed! Recovering Health back to 100%.]
The dissolved skin on his thigh returned, covering up his flesh beneath.
Adam breathed a sigh of relief.
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.
< < 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, basically 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, and then had 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 because of his damage or maybe because of the angle of the strike, the core didn’t just break, 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 causing red coin-sized welts to form 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.]
Plop-plop-plop came the second round of projectiles, as Adam 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 he scrambled back a step. Then it expanded as though taking in air. He 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 managing to hit 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 hit with enough force to 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 with managing to kill 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 and hard 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 kind of thing happens at level 6…
“Wait, where’s the Force upgrade listed?” he wondered.
[General Upgrades can be viewed by uttering the word ‘Status’. It may be useful to check on your Player Status during a Stage.]
< < Wave Five > >
< 180-Second Timer >
“Status,” he said, while waiting for the sound of the Slime King making its way to the clearing.
< < Player Status > >
< Adam Fischer >
< Lancer >
< Level 4 >
< Stats >
< Health — 100 >
< Stamina — 150 >
< Mana — 0 >
< Damage — 100% >
< Defence — 100% >
< Speed — 150% >
< Upgrades >
< Force (Rare) >
“What a bizarre way to structure this stuff, but 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 weapon type, it may be worth picking mainly general upgrades, rather than weapon-based ones.
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 was 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 as though it would explode 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 and 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, with 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 they landed.
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, though 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 and rammed 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 it 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 his body was slowly healing from the Stage finishing, he couldn’t wait to have the pain relieved.
The moment he bit down on the perfectly-glossy red fruit, a pleasant warm 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 also 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.]
He grunted.
What’s the point of a trophy if I’m the only person who can see it?
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, he thought to himself.
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 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.
[5 minutes remaining until automatic transferral to Interim Island.]
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 and allowed 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.
[2 minutes remaining until automatic transferral to Interim Island.]
“Relax. I’m here, ain’t I?” he said to Shitbox, while 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 Movement.
I’ll get the last two Weapon Upgrades I need in the next Stage. Or maybe I’ll get them from the beetle smith. What was her name again?
< < 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. Golden light shot into the air as 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 a helmet 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 100 Points from the spider, while a Common Relic is worth 150. I also doubt I can sell it, so it’s not worth it. 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, was what looked like plate armour. Except, it was 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 announced:
< < 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 something 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.
During the first month of launch, the release schedule will be Monday and Friday.
As I mentioned at the end of Chapter One, I will release bonus chapters if the story hits various Rising Stars milestones.
If you'd like to help me hit those milestones and get some chapters early, please the story.
Thank you for reading this far! I hope you have enjoyed the story up until now. Things will only get crazier from here!
