Breath of the Wild: Trial of the Sword Diary Day 4

This is my ongoing diary for a Breath of the Wild: Trial of the Sword: Blind: 3-Hearts-and-1-Stamina-Wheel run. Previous entries can be found here:

Day 1: https://pastebin.com/3uwAf3zE
Day 2: https://pastebin.com/JLBviHzX
Day 3: https://pastebin.com/hGV6VXWp

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DAY 4:

Floor 6:

After cooking up all my ingredients, I made my way to the next floor. I was absolutely not expecting what I found there: complete darkness. Well, not complete darkness - fiery pedestals dotted the forested room like burning stars in the night sky. After waiting a moment, a fire began blazing in the distance, and it took only a moment to identify its source - a pair of fire Keese! Keese tend to be weak, so I switched to my Boko spear and poked at them from a distance.

With those Keese dealt with, I took another look and saw more fire Keese hanging from darkness. At this point, I had around 70 arrows, so I felt no sense to be hoarding them, especially since I didn't want to fumble in the dark toward the Keese without knowing what else might be lurking. I aimed my bow and took out all three.

I could also see an electric Chu in the distance, but I decided to leave him be for now, as he might prove a valuable weapon against other creatures in the darkness. I lit my torch on one of the flames nearby and began to explore the perimeter.

After not finding much, I decided I should take out the Chu. So I readied my bow and let loose a single arrow. And suddenly, light! At first I thought the electric Chu had somehow caused the whole room to glow with its death, but it seems that this was the last enemy, and with the challenge complete, there was no more need for darkness. So it seems the darkness was artificial - with that kind of power, who knows what tricks may lay deeper in these trials?

Floor 7:

More darkness. But illuminated by one of the fire pedestals this time was the tell-tale sign of a skull hideout. That meant that there was a high likelihood that I wouldn't be fighting simple Keese this time, but either Bokoblins or Lizalfos. But which one? With no sight, sound became my greatest ally, and my question was quickly answered as Lizalfos grunts echoed quietly through the forest.

A head-on approach seemed foolhardy. With a torch I could see slightly better, but I wouldn't be able to easily attack without losing all my light and putting myself at a great disadvantage. Arrows were also out of the question, as I couldn't see anything that wasn't inches in front of my face. I lit a torch and went sneaking along the walls, careful not to get too close to the hideout.

I did get perilously close to a Lizalfos guard patrolling the perimeter, but luckily he didn't spot me. I could just barely see his eyes glowing in the darkness, though it was hard to make out with other glowing bug life all around. But the two lights moved together, and that was my cue to shoot. Even with a headshot that knocked him over, however, my arrow did very little to his health. I realized that this may be trickier than taking them out one by one.

Deciding I needed a different strategy, I walked back and took the other side of the perimeter. On the way, I decided I would hit the rope holding the lantern in the skull to have it drop down on my oblivious foes. I readied my bow, took a breath, and released.

*fwiiiiip*

I misjudged the distance, and the arrow hit the lantern itself rather than the rope supporting it. Naturally, this caused quite a stir, and while I couldn't see what was happening, I could hear an uproar. I imagined them rushing out of the base, looking for the source of their disruption. I sat patiently, waiting until I was sure they had given up and gone back inside. It could be disastrous if I risked shooting again and dropping the lantern while they were no longer inside.

After some time, I prepared my bow once again. My second shot was true, and an explosion temporarily brightened the entire forest. I made a mental note, and lit a torch to begin sneaking along the wall once more and reach the back of the hideout, this time in the opposite direction.

Once there, I came to a standstill. What exactly is my plan? It might be nice to climb the skull, but that requires me to put away my torch and lose my only source of light. Ultimately I decided the risk was worth it to reach the high ground. But I immediately regretted my actions as I was engulfed in pitch black, with not a single light to orient myself. I quickly lost track of my directions and panicked. Slowly, I inched forward, hoping to see something rather than fall off. At last, I spotted fire below, which helped illuminate a lone Lizalfos - the very one I had shot in the head earlier. Hidden on top of the base, this was my best chance at attacking; I let loose a volley of arrows to defeat the overgrown lizard. In the corner of my vision, I saw the glowing eyes of another creature. Again, I fired arrows to destroy him.

I dropped down in front of the base and spotted two more inside, still injured from the explosion. I readied my bow, lit an arrow on fire using a nearby pedestal, and killed one. I repeated the process for the second, but when he didn't die, I rushed in to finish the job with my sword. With his death came the light.

Floor 8:

Darkness once again, but there seemed to be a lot more light sources and structures here. I walked a bit to my left but spotted a Fire Wizrobe. I felt it would be wiser to explore my surroundings more carefully before tackling that challenge, so I retreated and walked to my right toward a small tower. I carefully climbed the tower and examined my surroundings. There appeared to be a Bokoblin camp just below. If I could fire a few shots from up here, I could inflict serious damage from relative safety where they couldn't directly reach me. So I fired a shot. They immediately spotted me, a bit more quickly than I'd anticipated. Still, they had no way to reach me. But they charged anyway, seemingly with a plan in mind. Curious, I watched them grab their weapons and head over toward me... and to my horror, take the previously-unseen stairs to my location! I knew the only choice was to retreat, but my foot caught on a stone and I couldn't jump off the tower! One Bokoblin approached, and just as he swung, I managed to jump over the obstruction and off. Unfortunately, his swing was fast, and he hit me midair, taking out all my health.

But I was saved! I had spotted a fairy in the rest area, and slowly approached it to capture it. My observations there paid off now as the fairy revived me back to full health. The Bokoblins were unimpressed, however, as they ran around the tower to reach me. I readied my sword, prepared to make my last stand. They got another hit off on me, bringing me perilously close to real death, but I rallied and knocked two down at once. Still undeterred, they got back up and charged once again, knowing my death was close at hand. I once again readied myself and attacked. But it was all for naught.

One of the Bokoblins managed a killing blow.

Back in Korok Forest, it was time to make the long trek back to floor 8...

After getting hit immediately in floor 1, I decided it was time to take advantage of my seeming immortality, and I allowed the archer to hit me again to send me back to the forest. I died another two times on the way back, but we'll skip the boring details and get back to my heroic deeds.

I made it back to floor 8, but I had forgotten the fairy's existence and scared it off, so I was going in with full health but no safety net. I snuck up on the Bokoblin camp directly this time and positioned myself behind a wall between us. I searched for a good opening to strike from, but they spotted me through a crack, so the jig was up. I prepared myself and let them come to me. A brilliant battle unfolded, and halfway through the Fire Wizrobe must have noticed the action and joined the fray. He shot fire at me while I was busy defending myself from a crazed Bokoblin, and this took me down to a quarter heart. I quickly paused to eat a meat skewer and continued the fight. I finished off the Bokoblins and turned my attention toward the Wizrobe. After firing a couple arrows, I recalled that this Fire Wizrobe had a strong aversion to ice, and I had picked up some ice arrows earlier that I had completely forgotten about. With renewed hope, I pulled out my ice arrows, readied my shot as he danced around, and released. The Wizrobe evaporated as the arrow struck true, and the floor was once again filled with light.

Floor 9:

An uneasy feeling began to envelop me as I entered the 9th floor. Not only was this completely dark as expected, but as I listened to help me determine what I may be facing, I heard nothing. Maybe a slight humming, but that could have been my imagination. I headed to an outpost on my left and climbed up some stairs. For just a brief moment I thought I saw a blue glow.

A Guardian.

And it looked like it was once again stationary. Okay, as long as that's all there is, I should be fine. I've dealt with Guardians before. I fired a few arrows at its eye, then decided I should probably approach carefully to attack.

But then I got an idea. The previous Guardian had an explosive barrel overhead, supported by balloons. I hadn't seen this until after taking the Guardian down, but it seemed to be another way to cause damage. I looked around for something similar, and spotted some explosive barrels behind a wall. Not quite the same, but I could make do. My plan had a brilliant simplicity to it: I would simply pick up the barrel and toss it at the Guardian, causing massive structural damage. Enthused, I pressed forward. I picked up the barrel and peeked around the corner, ready to throw. And then I tossed.

My biggest mistake was overestimating my own strength.

The barrel flew maybe five feet of the thirty between us before hitting the ground. The huge explosion was not nearly far enough away, and I was blasted backward, health completely drained. I woke once again in Korok Forest.

After two more dumb deaths, I made it back. This time, I rushed the Guardian. A swung my blade a few times and finished it off with a few more arrows. As it self-destructed, I worried that there was something else hidden in the dark, but the light returned and I prepared myself for whatever may come next.

Floor 10:

I don't think I'd become used to the darkness, but arriving on floor 10 I maybe freaked out a little upon hearing a loud grumbling that I couldn't recognize. I sat paralyzed and listened again. Ah, a Hinox. But this time I could not see what type. I lit a torch and approached. Blue again.

So a similar fight as in the Beginning Trials, but this time I was blind.

The whole "place a bomb at its feet idea" hadn't worked out well before, so I decided against that. But I did still want to climb onto its chest. I approached its hand as before, but had trouble climbing on. I put my torch away and tried a bit more, and the Hinox suddenly jerked. I froze, hoping he'd go back to sleep, but it was too late. He jumped up, slapping me in the process. I lost all three hearts here, but the fairy from the rest area came to my rescue once again. This time I wouldn't let that recovery go to waste!

I backed up and readied my bow. After a couple misses, I managed to strike his eye. I took out my Flameblade and struck mercilessly, burning at one of this ankle guards. I backed up just in time, then decided to pull out my limited supply of bomb arrows. If this wasn't a good time to use them, there never would be one. A few more strikes to the eye and a bit more wailing with my sword, and he was defeated, returning light to the room. On the one hand, I'm confident of the trials to come, and indeed perhaps this is the last floor. On the other, my fairy safety net is now gone.

I hope I won't need it ahead.

Floor 11:

I was relieved to find another rest area on the 11th floor, though at the same time this means there will be quite a few more trials to come. Here I actually found two fairies! While this is indeed good news, I'm also concerned that this means the trials to come will be much harder. I've seen time and time again that these trials have been carefully crafted, so it wouldn't surprise me if this is a sign of difficulties to come. But that's for another day - for now, it's time to rest.

Deaths today: 6
Total deaths: 11
Bomb Arrows Remaining: 1
Greatest Desire: More strength to throw barrels