“End me already…hic…”
And so, we return to see Diana, who was currently curling up into a ball and bawling her eyes out as she smashed her head against the wall. She was good at puzzles, she said? F*ck no! She sucked ass!
So, after about 4 hours of constant frustration and head pain, she finally broke. There was no way in hell she was going to complete this damn puzzle!!
The 4th trial of the Crystal Caves is known as the labyrinth of madness, infamous for driving many young adventurers insane. Diana here was a perfect example! 52 different rooms, 13 levers, constant traps and illusions, this trial was the perfect ‘F*ck You~!’ sign.
To make it even worse, if that was even possible, she needed to hit the 13 levers in the correct combination to get the gate at the far north end of the labyrinth to finally open! And the only thing to give her a sign was the *Click* noise she’d get after she flicked the levers! If she got it correct, it would just go *Click*. If not, then two *Click* sounds would come up.
She needed to flick the levers 25 times, and the same lever could be pressed three times! THREE TIMES!!! Long story short, this was a trial that truly tested the endurance of those who dared to enter!
Sadly, after the 4 hours she had spent shouting and cursing in frustration, she only managed to get 4 of the 25 flicks. Add in the occasional trap and illusion, it was a perfect recipe to drive her insane.
But! She would not give up! She had crawled through the first 3 trials, she would not lose now! Rising up, she wiped away her tears and began the process once more. She wouldn’t back down! Not here, not tomorrow, not until she finished thiisss!!
*Click, Clack!*
“……F*ck.”
And that’s over. The moment she got her 4th lever flicked, the 5th one would always fail!! Agghh!! What did she do wrong to deserve this?! All she wanted to do was try and level up!! Not what this sh*t is!
But, just as she was getting ready to smash her head again, she felt something, coming from the previous trials before her. It took her a bit, but she soon realised that her companion had woken up! Slimey’s back in the show!
Huh? But Slimey’s not moving? Slimey was still in the first trial, the one with that huge slime. No…D-Did Slimey fail and die?!
No! Let’s not go there first. From her connection, there didn’t seem to be any distress nor danger coming from Slimey, so he seemed alright. But why was Slimey waiting in the 1st trial? Was it chatting to the giant slime or something?
Little did she know, that Slimey really was having a nice pleasant chat with the giant slime.
But that aside, she really needed to finish this trial! But how?! She couldn’t just stay here! She would starve!
But then, an inspiration came!
[Slime Army]
Lv 1/10
Allows you to form an army of slimes to fight for your cause. Requires 2 MP for each slime. Any Exp gained by the slimes would be transmitted to you. You can let the slimes roam, or control them willingly.
“Yeah! This should do!”
With her plans set out, she began her mass production of her very own minions. Sadly, they weren’t addicted to bananas, but that’s fine in her book. She clasped her hands together, and slowly, a slime began to emerge from within!
Ah! Why don’t we make this a bit fun? Forget the normal boring slime blobs, let’s make them a bit more special! *Flips through her library of game knowledge* “Found it!”
Her eyes lit in excitement, as the slime in her hand began to morph. Out from its back, a small bushy tail emerged, and a pair of cat ears popped out of its head, not implying that the slime actually had a head, but, moving on~.
Also, let’s give this guy a pair of googly eyes too! And…Done! Her creation was finished!
*Boink!*
Her new slime minion looked up to her, its googly eyes staring at her. Being the person she is, she released a cute ‘Aww~’ and petted the little guy. Its googly eyes showed no change, but the tail behind it swayed happily.
Somehow this guy seemed more like a dog…Oh! Let’s give it the name Dogoo! Since it’s like a ‘Dog’, but also ‘Goo’, ya get what I’m saying? N-No? Okay…Although, it had cat ears…
Somehow this reminded him of a certain JRPG he used to play…Something starring a certain Nep…
Anyhow, one guy wasn’t enough! There were 13 levers in this place, so she continued on and created 12 more! Her own slime army was being amassed, and soon, she would take over the world! Mwahaha~!
Placing her control on each slime, she tried to move them. ‘Tried’, since she realised that precisely controlling 13 slimes at the same time was a stupid idea and ended up rolling across the ground while holding her head!
So, she controlled the slimes one by one, and led them towards each lever that existed on this damn puzzle labyrinth. Once they got there, she made them jump on the levers, since, slimes didn’t really have any physical prowess.
Instead, what she did, was to tilt their bodies in one direction to flick the lever, and it was a grand success! So, with that set up, she continued on with a renewed vigour, pushing on until she finally reached the final lock!!
4 hours later, and she slumped onto the stone floor. For now, she’s done! Controlling 13 slimes one after the other was much more tiring than she thought! By the end of it all, she managed to reach the 12th lock!
But in return, her brain felt like it would crack open at any moment! Seriously! Even her 40 hours gaming marathon didn’t leave her this weak! Was this just how the skill is normally, or was it just her being weak?
Probably the latter.
“Hey!”
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
Moving on, it looked like Slimey had finally left the 1st trial, and was now heading for the 2nd one. Honestly, she was terrified. How was that little guy going to survive against that sword wielding demon?! It would get squashed instantly!
Ah, but physical attacks don’t deal any damage to slimes. So, Slimey’s invincible then? Wait, no. That demon also had magic, so…Crap.
On the topic of slimes, her [Slime Army] skill reached Level 2! Hooray for progress! The new level didn’t really increase much, but control over the slimes seemed to be smoother than before.
So, now that she had gotten this far, let’s take a break for a moment. Since she was bored, she decided to play with her bubble magic until she fell asleep.
[Congratulations! [Bubble Magic] is now Level 5!]
“Oh, shut up.”
-Another 4 hours later-
*Click…Clack!*
“Gah! Damnit!”
Slamming her fist against the wall, she softly cursed as she heard the second click. Damnit! She had gotten so close! She was now on the 23rd lock! 2 more to go, and she would be out of here!
“Alright, one more time!!”
Once again, she repeated the process, flicking each lever with the help of her Dogoos. Sounds of clicking gears echoed through the rooms. Finally, she reached the 23rd lock, and was now back! Now, 11th lock, 7th, or 9th lock?
“Hmmmmm…”
Damnit. She forgot which one she flicked earlier! Did she flick the 11th one before? Or was it the 7th? Muuu…Alright, Yolo! 11th lever it is!
*……*
“Come on…What’s with this suspense?!”
*……Click!*
“YEESS!!!”
F*ck yes! She did it! 24th lock achieved! Just one more lever left to go! Now…9th, or 7th? Why was this so tense?! Umm…Ummm…Let’s go with seven-, no! 9th! Please don’t let her regret this later!!
*………………………*
“Come on, come on-“
*Click!*
“Ye-“
*Clack!*
“…………”
……Well, guess the 7th lever is the last one, huh. Well, let’s restart this! No need to feel down now!
Several more lever flicks later…
*……Click!*
“YEEEESSS!!!!”
Not bothering to contain herself, she shouted happily as she hopped along, enjoying the fulfilment of finally being one of the few who were able to fully complete this ‘F*ck you~!’ trial!
*Vrrruuuuu*
Now that the trial was finished, the door at the far north end of the labyrinth fell open, leading to the last trial, hopefully. Wait, does that mean that a boss battle was coming up soon?! Was she even prepared?!
Well, that could wait. After she gathered her Dogoo army, she headed for the door, and just like she expected, the door blocking the path had disappeared! Now, onto the last trail!!
Although, where was her experience? She was already heading through this dark tunnel, shouldn’t her trial be finished already? No…I-It’s couldn’t be…right? This trial was definitely over, right?!
“No…”
Straight out of her nightmares, her eyes fell upon the wall before her. A row of 10 buttons stood before her, with a single iron door standing in between them all, blocking the way to the last trail. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward, and-
“ANOTHER ONE?! WHAT THE F*CK?! WHY ISN’T IT OVER YET?!”
Did this dungeon have a grudge against her or something?! Why was this dungeon being such a b*tch to her?! Sorry for all those cheap wins, okay?! She’s sorry!
And so, her frustration continued to build as she tried to complete this new button combination!
……………
“Hah…hah…I-I can’t do this…”
She’s done for now. It had been around 3 hours since she first began this trail, and nothing! There wasn’t even a *Click!* sound to indicate her progress! She was starving! Please spare her some food!
“Hah…”
Sighing to herself, she leaned against the iron door. At that moment, the door behind her moved, and she fell! “Ouch?!” Turning aside, she rubbed her back as she-…wait, did the door just open on its own?
“……”
…Seriously? The door didn’t need to be opened? It was already opened all along?! Then what was that row of buttons for?! Decoration?!
Actually, yeah. Those buttons were actually just decorations.
“F*ck this. Come on, Dogoos, let’s go.”
*Boink!*
Not even bothering to care, she stood up and walked into the tunnel, closely followed by her army of slimes. Their figures slowly merged into the darkness.
[The 4th trial of the Crystal Caves has been cleared! 500 Experience Gained]
[Congratulations! Slime Maestro has levelled up to Level 6! Your stats have improved]
[Congratulations! Slime Maestro has levelled up to Level 7! Your stats have improved]
Meanwhile, with Slimey!
*Boink!*
3rd trial had been completed! Squeezing through the small gap, Slimey popped onto the other side. Well, no time to waste now! Slimey needed to get back to master!
And so, hopping across the stone floor, Slimey made its way towards Diana, who had just made it into the last room!
“Woah…This looks rad.”
Well, this room looks great! A large cavern, around 4 metres in length and 5 metres wide. Many blue crystals growing off the rocks. Purple runic lines running across the walls, stretching throughout the entire room. Yeah, this sure is the last room alright!
And then, with an explosion of magic, a ball of light appeared before her, shining with a beautiful myriad of colours, the light merging together.
“Young adventurer, congratulations on-“
“Holy sh*t! It speaks English!”
“…On reaching the last trial. Now, you must face the greatest trial of all. Prove your worth, and you shall claim the price. Good Luck.”
With the end of the speech, a surge of magical energy began to gather in the centre of the cavern. Large tremors pulsed through the earth, shaking the world below. Cold sweat formed on her back, as she witnessed the birth of her last trial.
This was it! Time for the last boss!
*Poof*
“……Eh?”
…What the? The magic that was gathering just disappeared suddenly! What the hell happened?!
“…Forgive us for the difficulties. I shall return shortly.”
-Within the dark void-
“Vade! Why did you refuse to come?!”
Floating within the dark void, the large sword floated aimlessly. The runes that ran across its blade only glowed dimly, lacking any energy.
“Hah…Sorry. But I’m not going there.”
“What do you mean?! That adventurer had come all the way here, and you refuse her enthusiasm?!”
“You don’t understand! That girl is a monster!”
“Stop complaining and do your job! Do you think I’ll allow you to do as you please?!”
“Her powers are monstrous! I felt like my soul was being dragged out from within me!”
“…Dark magic?…Interesting.”
How the hell did it come to that conclusion? That aside, the orb of light returned before her, and explained the ‘circumstances’.
“Forgive us for the delay. This is what you shall battle. Good luck.”
The orb of light faded away into the air, as a huge amount of pink slime rose from the stone. Merging together, the giant pink slime from the 1st trial appeared once again! But there was no tension in the air.
“H-Hey~, that tickles~!”
“……”
What the hell was it doing?! Why was the slime cuddling against her?! The orb’s soul was thrown into chaos as it watched the scene that played out before it. Did this girl use dark magic on it too? But there was no sign so magic? Was that just how skilled she was?
How the hell did it arrive at that conclusion?
After Diana separated from the giant slime, she let her own Dogoos have fun with the giant slime, hopping across the ground while playing chase. Obviously, the giant pink slime was losing the chase.
“A-Astounding…”
From the void, the orb watched in astonishment as the slimes continued to play, not even minding the fact that this was supposed to be the last damn trial! Why the hell were they playing chase anyways?!
The orb played the straight man and sighed into the void, simply accepting the fact that this girl before it was too strong for them to handle. Although her abilities were absolute sh*t, the tenacity she had within her was terrifying, so much so that she withstood all the challenges before her.
But, the fact still remained. She needed to have a trial! No way in hell was it going to let her claim victory just by being in this room! Its prided ancestors would stare at it with shame!
‘But what kind of trail would suit her? Her prowess with dark magic seems to be beyond my control, and her tenacity crushed our traps and mazes with ease…If so, what challenge would stand against her?’ Was what the orb had going through its head.
A simple battle would not suffice, and a normal challenge would not strike her down. Something else needed to be displayed! Something more…unique.
After thinking about it, the orb reappeared before her once again.
“So, young adventurer, are you ready?”
“Hell yeah~!”
“Then-“
A surge of magical energy began to gather around her, swirling and spinning around her. A rainbow of light shone in all directions!
“Good luck.”
And out of the light, came a grand serving of…food.
“……Eh?”
Time for the final trial! A trial to…eat food. Eh?