Speedrun

I can’t stop, I need to move. A group of zombies lunge at me from the side. Not enough time to fully clear past them.

I use the shield on my right arm to push back the monster's attack midstride as I continue sprinting down the corridor. The interior of the dungeon is not as dense with monsters as it is on the outside probably due to all the corridors. The entrance must be acting as a bottleneck but there are definitely more monsters in here than usual.

I can hear the scraping of coral and bone on the left side corridor coming up. Good thing I am fast enough to avoid their attention. I need to move faster.

I throw a bottle of slime from my belt to the floor. The slick slime sticks to the bottom of my boots. I reach into my backpack pulling out a makeshift sickle and chain. I toss the sickle as far as I can and pull. It latches to the deep grooves in the cobblestone floor locking in place.

With the slime on my boots I slide extremely fast down the stone hall. Something scuttles. The stone crab grabs hold of the chain.

Darn.

I let go, I need to keep the momentum going but It's alright. I still have the speed from that last hook to launch me into the next corridor. It’s too bad I would have liked to keep that.

Something is moving in the darkness in front of me.

No time. I am sliding too fast to stop or think–

I raise both shields.

I can feel the weight of the impact reverberate throughout my body. Shards of bones splinter around me. The brittle shrapnel scratches me. I don’t think there is anything left of the cluster of skeletons I just collided with. Good thing they aren't sturdy or else that would've really slowed me down.

My first roadblock is coming up. One of the two doors in the dungeon. It is still sealed shut with so much being different I hope the bosses haven't changed. I was kind of hoping the monsters would have been kind enough to open the way for me.

I only have one powder charge. I will have to do this the old fashion way. I need to save that for the final boss door behind the dragon turtle.

I shudder at the thought of that angry fish man.

I dump a cleansing potion on my boots. Not normally used for this but from testing I found it works well as a solvent for monster slime. Good thing because I would never be able to get it off my favorite boots otherwise. The slime is only going to make pushing this door harder at this potion. I ready myself and push with all the strength I have against the large door.

Slowly it begins to budge. I only need a crack that I can squeeze through then I will be in the clear. I can hear the sounds of feet shuffling behind me. Their steps are limbering and slow.

Zombies.

I don’t have time for this!

“AGGGRRRRGGHHH!”

It's right up on me. I push my body off of the door slamming my back into the monster knocking it over. There are three of them still standing. I need to be quick! If it wasn't for this unskippable door!

With a swing from my right arm I slice into the zombies jaw with the edge of my shield. Hitting their rotten flesh feels like mashing wet paper mache. It still advances on me.

“WOULD YOU JUST QUIT!”

I smack it with the other shield and it loses its balance and falls down. There is some distance between the others and me. I turn back to the door and push.

Slowly the gap is getting wider.

“MRAWHGHHGAGGG!”

I kick off the door, get some air and flip over the two other zombies. They lunge forward into the door having lost sight of me throwing their full weight into where I just was. Their bodies slam pushing the door creating a larger opening. Quickly I remove and toss my backpack over their heads through the opening.

I take a few steps back from the door.

“You guys lookin’ for me!”

The zombies turn their lifeless eyes transfixed. They lunge forward towards me without self preservation. I get low and slide between the two. I use my shields to flip them on the back. With the way now clear I bolt forward.

I slip through the crack in the door. while grabbing my pack and throwing it over my shoulder as I take off towards the first boss.

Water droplets slowly drop creating a large pool of water.

Drip.

Drip..

Drip…

The Unholy Water begins to form in front of me at the center of the room.

Just like last time.

Except this time I am even faster.

I grab two glass bottles of ice potions on my chest tossing them in front of me as I close the distance with the boss. The body has fully formed but the boss is still missing its core. The bottles shatter on contact with the scolding surface.

I sprint through the now lukewarm water. The nose of my helmet pierces through the forming core in the process. The boss explodes into a fountain of water. The rain of its remains drizzles throughout the room.

That doesn’t matter to me. I am already out of the room and on to my next boss. I stick my hands into my back pocket pulling out a pair of oversized sheep leather gloves.

I feel like I am making good time but I don’t think I should check my stopwatch. Not with everything that is at stake. Those zombies definitely cost me a couple of seconds.

I keep running until I am in a large atrium with two floors. I stop. I don’t need to catch my breath. I hold it instead. I need to wait patiently and listen–

A slimy wet smacking sound breaks the silence. There!

In the darkness I can see a giant mass of pink sticky flesh coming right at me. At the precise moment I sidestep the attack, grabbing the tongue in the process. Now here comes the hard part.

My whole body is yoinked towards the darkness. I am in the air going faster than last time. I have to wait and time it just right.

I’m almost there. I can barely see the owner of this gross tongue.

Just a little more–

I slide my hands out of the gloves detaching myself from the frog warrior’s tongue at the apex of my speed. I shoot through the air aimed directly at the second boos room.

Everything is a blur. This is a lot faster than last time.

A lot faster…

I need to think about how I am going to stop this time while going this quickly.

I blast through the second boss room so fast the Gravestone Golem doesn’t even awaken.

I am not slowing down. This is bad. Thankfully it’s a straight shot until the maze.

I can see the corridors of the maze ahead…

“Darn”

I’m going to hit the wall. I raise both shields together. My body slams into the stone. The wall breaks and debris scatters everywhere. I can feel pain throughout my body. I am pretty sure I just broke some bones and a few ribs.

I can taste blood in my mouth. My head is splintering with a headache.

This isn’t good, there is no way I can continue like this.

I reach into my back pouch fumbling through my items. My finger grazes the teleportation crystal. I move digging deeper and retrieve my only recovery potion.

I drink the bright green liquid down out of the crystal decanter in one gulp. It works remarkably fast.

There goes my only one. I can’t mess up like that again. At least I didn't set no damage as a goal. It takes only a few moments for my body to feel close to okay. I stretch a little bit and then continue running deeper into the maze.

I fully mapped out my maze over the past month of exploring this floor. Not only that, I have memorized it. I know exactly where I need to go.

I pick up the pace feeling a little bit after the potion effects have fully kicked in. I can hear the hissing of naga but I don’t see them. It sounds like they are communicating? Singing?

If it’s going to keep them busy and away from me I'll take it. I need to go left here.

As I run past a connecting corridor I glimpse a group of naga praying. A much larger group than that one time…

Their tongues hissing. They pay me no mind.

I’ll have to report this to the Guild. It might be related…

The third boss door is right ahead of me. The torches flicker in the damp air of the dungeon. I remove my backpack resupplying the last of my potions across the straps on my body. I remove the dried slime poncho and toss the backpack aside. It's no use to me now.

I slide the poncho on. I really hope this works…

I haven't had the chance to test it yet…

As I enter the room a giant gelatinous jellyfish floating peacefully its arms begins to reach out to me. I stand still in the center of the room.

I really, really hope this works.

The arms are inching closer…

I close my eyes.

Please Goddess let this work…

The arms wrap around my body. I feel no pain. The slime poncho is working. I slowly start to move forward, the arms still wrapped around me.

It doesn’t take much effort to move the boss. It feels almost weightless like a big helium balloon is tied to me. I feel a little lighter…

My pace begins to quicken.

I start to run, dragging the boss along with me. I guess the truly hard part comes next. The jellyfish is struggling to fit through the door into the fourth floor.

I start running faster hoping the monster can keep its grip. Its spongy form squeezes through the door frame.

I keep running.

“HEY! YOU OVERSIZED REPTILE YOU STILL IN HERE!”

The ground shakes. I guess it was an earshot. That makes things easier. I can feel the dragon turtle approaching with its massive shell sliding along the stone floor. I just need the thing to get close.

The dragon turtle blast into the center of the main corridor charging directly at me.

Breath.

If I’m not careful here I'm dead. The shell is spinning at high speed directly towards me.

I stand still.

It’s getting closer. I can see the monster's scales.

Still, I stand still.

It's about to–

I drop sliding out of the poncho. The floating jellyfish’s tentacle arms wrap up the dragon turtle as it spins lifting it off the ground. I duck below the passing shell.

The two bosses are now intertwined with each other.

“RAWRRARWRRAWR!”

The dragon turtle roars in agony. Yeah I figure the jellyfish stings would really hurt. It retreats back into its shell as the jellyfish envelops it. I don’t think I need to worry about the two of them anymore.

I take off running towards the final boss room and the last door of the dungeon.

I use this moment to quickly check my gear. This is it. All I have to do is go inside and take a good look around and get out. I don’t have to fight this freaky thing. Worse comes to worse. I can use the teleportation crystal. Although, I'm not sure where it will teleport me.

I tighten the straps on my shields to calm my nerves. I drink my last mana potion for some extra energy. I feel my heart pounding and begin to push open the door.

The room…

It’s different.

It looks just like my nightmare…