With Dice-Fortress finally behind me, the obvious next step would have been to head back to the Tower of the East and continue there. The problem is that the next course in that area needs the Vanish Cap, and I’d rather avoid unnecessary backtracking if I can help it. So instead, I stayed where I was, unlocked another star door, and made use of what was already available. Inside was the pink Bob-Omb, who opened a cannon I’ll be coming back to later, but for now there were two courses to choose from. The first of those was Stalagmite Cave.

The first star, Downwards, doesn’t leave much room for interpretation. A sign at the top makes two things clear before you even start: once you go down, there’s no going back, and there are no coins waiting at the bottom. With that in mind, I took the drop. The plan was to land cleanly in the water. The reality was the same as it had been during practice — not quite. Close enough to recover, though, and once I was in the water the star was straightforward to collect.

Sweating Tunnel came next, and getting there meant heading back up through the level. Wall kicks, careful movement, and just enough awareness to avoid losing progress to something minor. The bat up there isn’t dangerous, but it’s the kind of thing that can break your rhythm at the worst possible moment. I passed the Thwomps and the Chuckya platforms on the way, both of which I knew I’d be dealing with later, and kept moving toward the lava path. A series of descending platforms over lava isn’t the place to hesitate, so I stuck with long jumps and kept the momentum going. It worked this time, though I know from practice that it doesn’t always.

The red coins and 100-coin star followed, and this part of the course felt more controlled. There’s space to move, room to plan, and not much pressure unless you create it yourself. I made a point of leaving the final coins close to where the red coin star would appear, just to avoid any unnecessary movement at the end. It paid off. No mistakes, no wasted time, just two more stars added cleanly.

Hot Obstacle Course was next, though the name doesn’t quite match what it asks of you. This is where the Thwomps come into play properly. Three of them, spaced just far enough apart to force you to commit to each jump. It’s more about timing than anything else. Get that right, and the star is waiting at the end.

Chuckya’s Challenge lived up to its name a bit more. Platform to platform, each one guarded, each one needing just enough precision to avoid being grabbed and thrown back. I decided to push back a little on one of them, which didn’t go to plan the first time, but the second attempt was cleaner. A few long jumps later, and that was another star secured.

That left the reason I came here in the first place: Cap-Combination. This one needs both the Metal Cap and the Wing Cap active at the same time, which meant heading back down the slide and setting things up properly. I grabbed the Metal Cap first, then the Wing Cap, partly out of habit and partly because I trust the Wing Cap timer slightly more, even if I don’t know exactly how much difference it makes.

From there, it was a matter of flying over to the underwater switch, activating it, and dealing with the timed path that follows. It’s longer than it looks, and the slope works against you just enough to make every second count. Walking is possible, but I found jumping kept the pace up better. Even then, it took a few attempts to get everything lined up properly. Timing, positioning, momentum — all of it had to come together. Eventually it did, and once it did, the rest of the path felt manageable.

One final flight to the star, and Cap-Combination was done.

There’s still another course in this area to deal with, but that can wait for the next entry. For now, Stalagmite Cave is cleared, and more importantly, one of the more awkward stars in this section is out of the way.