Choose a Weapon

Magma (Level 1) – leaves a fire trail that burns enemies

Target (Level 1) – chance to deal triple damage

Cactus (Level 1) – spawns an orbiting cactus that deals damage to enemies

Inside the birthday card, Primrose wrote out a list that helped explain things to me. He mentioned that hidden powers were much more valuable than powers that were always revealed to everyone. Ideally, I should have as many hidden powers as possible, so that enemies would be surprised by them. Magma and Cactus both had the same problems. The powers were both visible to others and could also cause problems on Earth. It would certainly be difficult to walk on grass with a trail of fire behind me. Similarly, a cactus that constantly orbited around me would be a distraction, and others may get injured by it accidentally. Target, on the other hand, could not be seen and would only deal damage to enemies that were aggressive towards me. Primrose also listed Target as the second-best weapon for me to get, so I chose that one.

After the decision was made, sixteen more pink slimes appeared. Over half of them immediately disappeared into smoke because of the spurs that were already on the ground. The rest of the slimes were farther away from where the last batch of spurs had landed. I went up and touched the slime farthest away from me and waited. The slime did not feel like anything. Not hot or cold, not really solid, but not liquid either. It was as if the slime was just real enough to exist, but not real enough to have had any properties of its own. A npc, a fake person, just like Primrose said. Eventually, the little slime turned a hot pink color and attacked me. The window with my name and the three lines showed up again, which probably meant that I had received damage. Though, it must have been a small amount, because I had not noticed any change to the length of the red line. It was still the same length as the two colored lines beneath it. The slime who attacked me, and many others nearby, all poofed into smoke. I touched another slime, and a few seconds later, it also attacked me. Another puff of smoke as it and the final slimes all vanished together.

Choose an Item

Rage – deals double damage briefly when taking damage

Dice – adds 3 more rerolls

Bubble Shield – become invincible brieftly every 10 seconds

Choose a Weapon

Fire (Level 1) – chance to inflict burn, dealing damage over time

Porcupine (Level 1) – chance for enemies to fire out quills on death

Sticky Bomb (Level 1) – chance to attach a bomb to an enemy

Bubble shield was another important acquisition to Primrose. He mentioned invincibility as a very useful power to obtain for the future. However, it was another item that was not supposed to be revealed outside game worlds. Once I chose it, I realized why almost immediately, as a blue translucent bubble surrounded my entire body. It would have been obvious to anyone who looked at me, that something had happened to my body when the Bubble Shield activated. Primrose warned me away from both Porcupine and Sticky Bomb because the damage was uncontrollable. The quills could hit anyone or anything nearby, which could cause harm to innocent people and friendly npcs. Enemies with a Sticky Bomb attached to them could also run into crowded areas before detonation. Fire, on the other hand, would only hurt enemies that attacked me. He wrote that the enemies did not actually catch on fire, and that he would explain Damage Over Time effects to me later.

Eighteen more slimes appeared, but most of them vanished because of the spurs. Seven of them were far larger than the regular slimes. They were about four times the size, but they still had the same small, beady eyes and tiny mouths. When they poofed, two regular slimes appeared in their place. It was no wonder that they were four times the size when there were more of them hidden inside their larger bodies. That meant that there were actually far more pink slimes for this wave than it seemed. I had not noticed the Wave counter earlier, but it was in the upper right-hand section of my viewing area. A white word on a cream-colored background was not the best choice, in my opinion. This was already the third wave. The wave would have ended faster too, if it was not for the Bubble Shield. Invincibility actually seemed to counter Primrose's plan, since it prevented the slimes from dealing damage to me. Without the damage to my body, the spurs would not spread throughout the area, and the slimes would not get injured as quickly. Porcupine (Level 1), Fire (Level 2) and Target (Level 2) appeared as choices afterward. I opted for Target (Level 2).

Wave 4 had some new enemies that appeared. Small, green koala creatures with wooden slingshots. Five of them showed up, but two of them disappeared before they could even fire a single shot at me. Four larger slimes and six smaller slimes were also there. In a way, this wave was even easier because I did not even have to touch the slimes. Just let the slingshot attacks from the koalas hit me. After the almost unnoticeable amount of damage was received, the spurs from the spike boots would jump out and hit all the enemies nearby. At least, when the Bubble Shield did not actively prevent me from being damaged.

Choose a Weapon

Target (Level 3) – higher chance to deal triple damage

Shooting Star (Level 1) – drops a star to attack enemies

Ice (Level 1) – chance to freeze enemies

The Ice weapon had finally arrived. It was Primrose's number one pick for weapons. He wrote “Crowd Control – I'll explain later” next to the name. Another new npc showed up with Wave 5, but it also vanished into smoke before it could do anything. With only one single attack taken from a pink slime, the wave was cleared super quickly. All thanks to spike boots and spurs. Ice (Level 2) was chosen as the reward. Wave 6 had little witches join the attackers. They shot out the same ammunition as the koalas, but three times as many projectiles. The projectiles just looked like small white circles surrounded by a red border. I positioned myself close and waited for one of their attacks to connect. It did not take long before I was headed to Wave 7. Or so I thought, but another item needed to be picked beforehand.

Choose an Item

Pufferfish – deals damage to all enemies after taking damage

Adrenaline – deals 10% more damage per missing heart

Snail – reduces enemy projectile speed

Choose a Weapon

Fire (Level 2) – chance to inflict burn, dealing damage over time

Lightning (Level 1) – releases a lightning bolt that jumps to nearby enemies

Ice (Level 3) – higher chance to inflict freeze

Primrose listed Pufferfish towards the bottom half of his ranking, not as nice as some other items that were available. One of them being Adrenaline, which I chose instead. I was not sure how or why it was listed as high as it was. I only had one heart, but since Primrose suggested it, I took it. Snail was actually near the bottom of possible items listed, with “barely noticeable” written next to it. Ice (Level 3) was also acquired before I entered Wave 7. This wave was just more of the same. Literally more quantities of the same enemies. At least I saw what the yellow bee hive did for an attack, though. It shot out a bee bullet that flew around until it hit me. A little yellow bullet with wings and a stripe on it. When that bullet hit me, the two yellow hives, two purple witches, and many of the pink slimes all puffed into smoke thanks to the spurs. Two more damages of a minuscule amount led to forty more spurs being thrown out, and the wave was cleared. The red bar that showed hitpoints was still just as long as the blue and yellow lines. Target (Level 3) was picked as the reward.

Wave 8 added in little white storm cloud enemies with sad faces. Their faces turned into angry gray faces when they attacked with a large circle of blue electricity. The attacks actually made the wave easier to clear though, since I just walked into the lightning. Whenever the 4-second timer was up on the spike boots, more spurs would be released. Sometimes an attack would hit me when the boots were not ready, but that was not too often. Ice (Level 4) was taken for the completion of Wave 8 and Fire (Level 2) was chosen for Wave 9. The waves were both basically the same. Wave 10 had five blue mushrooms that were added to the enemies. They were sound asleep, but once damaged, would wake up and shoot out eight of the white/red projectiles. A few green koalas and pink slimes made up the rest of the attackers. I was able to choose another item and weapon afterward. I chose the Rage item from earlier, as well as Target (Level 4) as rewards.

Wave 11 had a bunch of green koalas and pink slimes. I had no issues with them and took Ice (Level 5). The twelfth wave had giant pink slimes with mustaches on their faces. This wave was the longest for me, but still probably took less than a minute. The mustachioed slimes turned into two large slimes when they were hit, but that pushed them into spurs that were already on the ground. When the large slimes also turned into small slimes, a small chain reaction occurred that forced many of them to disappear. Since they pushed each other into more spurs. Ice (Level 6) was claimed. Wave 13 was just the same npcs again. Green koalas, purple witches, yellow hives, and pink slimes. Ice (Level 7) was obtained. Wave 14 added in giant red mushrooms. They were similar to the smaller blue mushrooms, just larger and red. The only difference was that the blue ones did not do anything until awoken, then fired eight projectiles and died. The large red mushrooms were always awake and sporadically fired off the projectiles. It actually made the wave easier, since the more attacks that hit me, the more spurs that were dropped.

Choose an Item

Hourglass – longer invincibility time after taking damage

Snail – reduces enemy projectile speed

Clover – hearts drop from enemies more frequently

Choose a Weapon

Lightning (Level 1) – releases a lightning bolt that jumps to nearby enemies

Target (Level 5) – higher chance to deal triple damage

Shroom (Level 1) – creates toxic spores around you, dealing damage to any enemies within range

It was the first time that the Hourglass had shown up, and it was one of the items higher up on Primrose's list. Clover was actually the lowest item on his list for me. The only one below snail. With Hourglass and Target (Level 5) chosen, I headed into Wave 15. More mustachioed giant slimes, green koalas, and purple witches. Also, another Target (Level 6) for me. Wave 16 was only pink slimes in various forms that I had already seen before. That meant that I had to actually touch them to have them attack me, which made the level take longer than the others. Still less than a minute, though, and Ice (Level 8) was taken. Wave 17 was just green koalas and pink slimes again. At least it made for a quick level, since I just needed to position myself near the slimes and wait for a slingshot attack to hit me. The entire wave did not even take 30 seconds. Target (Level 7) was picked up.

Wave 18 was where it got a little interesting, since all the enemies were there except for the purple witches. Six green koalas, five yellow hives, five mustachioed slimes, and then small amounts of red mushrooms, blue mushrooms, storm clouds, large pink slimes, and small pink slimes. Spurs flew out from me every 4 seconds due to the myriad of attacks launched at me. Bee bullets circled around me, plenty of red/white projectiles headed towards me, and lightning cascaded down around me. Needless to say, many silvery spurs appeared before the wave was completed. The wave still took less than a minute. Each wave in the current game took less time than a single fight in the last one.

Choose an Item

Snail – reduces enemy projectile speed

Pufferfish – deals damage to all enemies after taking damage

Clover – hearts drop from enemies more frequently

Three of the final four items available were shown to me, but unfortunately, two of the worst ones were listed as options. Pufferfish and Dice were the two best items of those that remained, but Dice only showed up once before and had not appeared since. With no real choice, Pufferfish was taken. I also chose Target (Level 8) as well. Wave 19 was going to be my final wave in the game. It was full of enemies that I had already seen before, and nothing to worry about. The spurs already on the ground took care of many of them and a couple hits to my body finished off the rest of the wave. Fire (Level 3) was going to be picked for the final reward, but before that, Primrose left specific instructions on how I needed to proceed.

With the Wave 19 “Choose a Weapon” options in front of me, I thought of something that I had never thought of before. Something that I did not even know existed. With the thought of “Alternate Advancement,” came a large transparent window filled to the brim with unfamiliar words. Primrose wrote that I should not bother with anything inside the window except for the Origin ability. There was an ability there that would let me travel to my home game. It was only available to players level 5 and over, so I was just barely able to use it. I found the Origin line among all the others and learned the ability. It was free to learn once level 5 was reached. I just needed to stand completely still for ten seconds after I used the ability, and I would be moved to the first game that I played.

I reread Primrose's instructions several times, just to make sure that I had the procedure memorized, and then activated the Origin ability. A tiny window appeared in front of me labeled “Casting Time.” There was a purple bar inside of it that slowly decreased in length. When the purple line was almost completely gone, I finally chose the Fire (level 3) reward for the completion of Wave 19. That forced all the Wave 20 enemies to appear before me. However, before a single attack reached me, the timer of Origin reached zero, and I appeared on a distant trail. It was near a fallen pillar and looked down towards a group of trees. Trooper Taer still patrolled the dirt path, just as he had on my previous visit to the game.

The first thing I did was immediately take off the Spike Boots and place them in my inventory, just as Primrose had instructed in his message. I walked along the dirt path towards the glowing torches in the distance. There were large stone buildings on both sides of me and a humongous stone wall towards the front. Easily over fifty feet tall. There was a hole in the wall with two more npcs that looked similar to Trooper Taer. They both guarded the entrance to a place called Cabilis. It was the home of the Iksar race. I needed to enter the city and follow the exterior wall to the left. After a short trip through some dark tunnels, the space opened up to a huge lake. There were many buildings that surrounded the lake, including some two and three-stories tall buildings. I walked around four of the buildings before I saw the npc that Primrose sent me to visit, Klok Faziz [Parcels and Town Crier].

Klok Faziz says, 'Welcome to my shop, Redmaw. You would probably find a The Cabilis Examiner Vol. 8 No. 1 handy.'

Klok Faziz looked different from the other Iksars that I had seen so far. He had gold, blue, and purple colors on his face and his body seemed much smoother. I had not noticed any horns or spikes protruding from his body. A large merchant's window popped up in between us. It had a Purchase/Sell tab in the upper left and a Parcel tab in the upper right portion of the window, which brought me to the area Primrose wrote about. There was a message there titled “As promised,” along with a book with a brown cover. I stared at the book for a moment before I remembered his promise to me earlier in the day. The promise to help me understand others.

World Languages Reader – You can understand and converse in all languages of the world, even without the skill

Primrose's attached message stated that I should store the book in my inventory and never remove it. It would allow me to understand most of Earth's languages. English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Portuguese, Spanish, and many more. I had no reason to doubt Pimrose, he had proven his knowledge many times already, but it just seemed crazy to me. To think that I could learn another language, and not just one language, but all the other languages of Earth. All it took was a book placed in my inventory. Video games sure were amazing. Primrose suggested that I visit the nearby bank to familiarize myself with its location. It was just across a bridge, on the other side of the lake from where I stood. However, in between the Parcel npc and the bank, I found a human in a black and purple robe. In his hand, he had a long staff with a skull at the end. It was strange to see a human npc in an Iksar city. Every other npc that I had seen was either an Iksar or “a young scaled wolf.” They were the green and beige creature that resembled wolves crossed with a stegosaurus.

Priest of Discord says, 'Greetings, Redmaw. Are you a child of Order? If you have come seeking the path of Discord, I require only that you give me your [Tome of Order and Discord] and I shall show you the way. Only then will you be freed from Order's confining restraints.'

Redmaw says, 'I do not know anything about the tome of order and discord.'