Epic of Bee

I stepped through the portal; I entered a room ten feet wide and thirty long. Two red slimes were moving about the room, but the moment I entered, they looked at me.

Then they shot at me like rockets, and I tried to move out of the way, but my speed was restricted. I dodged the first, but the second hit me, and my vision suddenly started to flash red.

I turned to try and strike, but the first was already flying at me. I tried to complete my slash, but the slime was too fast.

Then I was back in the starting room.

"What the hell was that?!" I complained as I sank to the ground.

Everything had happened so fast that I didn't have time to react, but I was still alive, even if that meant being back in the starting room. This place was definitely like the phone games from my old world, but the monsters seemed jacked right off the hope.

"Well, I am not going to get anywhere sitting here," I said to myself as I stood up.

I walked over and retook the sword, and a new set of power-ups were displayed for me.

[Speed increase 1]

[Fire Strike 1]

[Ice Orbs 1]

Since the first room was the darting slimes, it might be better to try the speed boost, but the Ice Orbs were interesting. That could be helpful, but I would only get one to start, and it was trickier to hit an opponent in the game with them early.

I took the Speed boost, and there was a slightly noticeable difference, but nothing crazy. I hoped that it would be enough to let me get past this first room.

This time, I ran forward and ran sideways as soon as I got in the room. Both slimes saw me but missed as they flew by me.

I whipped back around, slashing as I did, and the creature exploded in black particles.

Suddenly, I was knocked back as the second slime hit me, and my vision went red again. I had stopped moving after my swing, so I swung again and connected with the slime.

The red blob exploded, and I dropped to the floor as three more Power-Ups appeared in front of my red flashing vision. It didn't hurt, but the flashing was very annoying, so I tried to focus on the Power-Ups choices.

[Speed Increase 2]

[Wind Strike 1]

[Shock Aura 1]

I selected the Aura, and my health bar was refilled, removing the red from my view. That was a relief and would help make this a little easier.

I now had electricity rolling over my body, but it looked pretty weak; but there was also a halo that circled me. It was about five feet from me, but when I made a sword strike, the blade went through it, and nothing happened.

At least I couldn't hurt myself with it, so that was a positive. I took a deep breath, rolled my shoulders, and then ran forward.

Or that is what I wanted to do, but I was forced to speed walk no matter how hard I tried. This was going to take some getting used to since I couldn't rely on my strength and speed anymore.

I entered the next room and cut left, and spotted the single monster. It turned to me and slowly started to crawl towards me. This room was much bigger than the last, but the monster looked slow and weak.

"Ha! This should have been in the first room!" I exclaimed as I rushed to the strange turtle-looking monster with a red pointed shell.

Then, when I was about fifteen feet from the turtle, it instantly sprayed fire at me. I had no way to stop myself, and I felt a striking pain, and then I was back in the starting room.

"Gah! Damn trap monster! Of course, it wouldn't be that easy!" I complained as I dropped my hands.

This was frustrating, but complaining about it was going to get me nowhere! I walked back over to the weapons and looked over the three, trying to decide if I wanted to try the sword again or not.

This time I grabbed the green bow, and I pulled the string back as an arrow appeared in my hand. It took about three seconds to draw the bow, but the shot fired straight across the room.

I was also faster now, but I was for sure going to die in the first room. Then I remembered something and tried to pull the bow back as I moved.

It worked, but I moved at half my normal speed, so I might be able to make do with the bow. Not that I really had much choice now. I was stuck with this weapon until I died, and now I had to pick from the Power-Ups.

[Wind Strike 1]

[Extra Projectile 1]

[Strength Increase 1]

This one was a no-brainer, and I picked Extra Projectile with barely a thought. This was one of my favorite abilities when I played the game between my lunch breaks or after work.

I pulled back my arrow, fired it, and then groaned as two arrows flew off in fifteen-degree angles from the direction I had shot it. This was going to make it even harder to hit them!

"Well, that was not what I expected, but I am just going to die again. I will just chaulk this up to another learning experience," I said with a sigh, staring at the portal in front of myself.

I had to remember that there was a purpose in all of this. I wasn't just here to play a game.

I had come here to rescue Helaina, so I was going to have to put everything I had into this. I had told her that I would save her, and that was what I was going to do.

I just had to Bee-lieve in myself!