Epic of Bee

[Fire Strike 1]

[Increase Projectile Size 1]

[Ricochet 1]

Before I made any choices, I had to test the weapon out. This one felt much different than the other two, but I knew how to use it like it was something I had always known.

I reach forward with the staff, expecting a ball of fire, a crackling lightning bolt, or something. The effect was much less dramatic, and only a tiny purple streak of light shot out.

The worst part was that it didn't even make it to the wall fifteen feet from me! I also had to stop completely to cast, albeit a one-second cast time.

This was a piece of crap, but I decided to increase the projectile size. After doing that, the bolt of light went from one finger wide to about the size of my wrist.

"Fancy, but I don't think this will change things. I might as well get this over with, so I can try with the new bow. Not really a fan of getting up and personal when I am so slow," I said to myself as I speed walked over to the portal.

The moment I was through, I cut to my right, and the two slimes slid past me. I turned, stopped, fired, missed, changed directions, and started moving again.

Only one slime slid past me, and I looked back, changing directions, but the other one was gone. I was positive that I had missed it, but it was clearly dead if it wasn't in the room.

The other red slime slid by me, and I turned and intentionally aimed to the side away from it. I fired the shot, and to my amazement, the three-inch-wide magical purple bolt turned and slammed into the slime before it could move.

I blinked and then held the staff out before myself. What was this?!

I got a mischievous look on my face as the Power-Ups appeared in front of my view. This was more like it, and now I would stand a chance.

[Increase Projectile Size 2]

[Increase Range 1]

[Lightning Strike 1]

That was a tricky pick; all three of them could be helpful. The increases in range or size would be good, but the Lightning Strike would give me extra damage.

I made my choice, and the purple gem at the staff's top started to crackle with tiny sparks. I fired off a shot to the closest wall, and three sparks bounced away from the wall.

That was what I had assumed would happen, but there were other animations I had seen before, but this was good. After three more shots, I deduced that the sparks jumped in random directions, so there was no way to use them like that, but they were still good.

I already had enough things to worry about. I didn't need to try and line up second attack trajectories; this was all a pain in the ass enough as it was.

I sighed and headed to the next room where the red turtle was waiting for me, but I was ready for it. I walked up to it until I saw its mouth move, backed up, and waited.

Fire burst from the turtle's mouth in a large cone that stopped at ten feet, but I could feel the heat from twelve feet.

I waited, and the fire stopped after about five seconds. Once it was over, I stepped forward to activate the monster again since it wasn't moving.

The fire blasted out, and I ran around it this time and fired three shots, but the first two killed it. I nodded to myself, assuming that the same tactic would work for the next turtle room.

This place was a lot of fighting, but each room was like a puzzle that needed to be solved. Once I knew how to solve the puzzle, I could master it and increase my speed to complete it.

I still didn't know just how long this was going to be. From what I remembered, these games were typically one hundred levels to complete without dying.

I sighed.

Just thinking about having to start over put a pit in my stomach, but it would have to happen if I wanted to get strong enough. There were times when you could get lucky and good rolls, completing the entire map the first time, but that never happened when you wanted it to.

I walked forward, preparing myself for this next room. The pig men were thirty feet away, and I was in the left corner of the room.

I lifted up my staff as the pig men ran at me, firing bolt after bolt at them, even though they didn't reach. This was fine, and since I had such a fast attacking speed, they would have trouble getting to me before death.

The moment they got into range, the magical bolt locked on, and two quick hits took down the first. The other two were both hit by two shocks each, and upon shooting the second, another bolt hit the third, killing it as well.

"Yus! This staff is Oinkers! … thankful no one is here to hear that," I said with a sigh, after letting a horrible pun slip out.

[Ice Aura 1]

[Lightning Strike 2]

[Extra Attack 1]

"Oh?! Extra attack? Now that seems really good! Lightning Strike was good now, but in a boss fight, there will likely be mostly single attacks. It would probably be best to get an extra attack since an extra attack would be different from the projectile," I mused.

I took the extra attack because Ice Aura would be better for the Sword to slow the monster's attack speed as they got close.

I made an attack, but this time I swept my staff back and forth, a bolt firing out with each motion. The two attacks happened at about the same time as the single strike, so I would watch out for this Power-Up going forward.

Now, it was time to face the dreaded long-back yellow turtles, but I was prepared this time.