How can I finish Hero's Departure in less than 7 seconds?

Question

Many of the times on the leaderboard for the first level, Hero's Departure, seem plain absurd. How can you beat the evil lord in 7 seconds, let alone 5 or 3?!

Answer 1

Well, this is how I just posted 6"69 with a little bit of planning.

1. There's a free loaf in the boat on the westmost shore. Take it before you go monster hunting.
2. Heal yourself after you get level 2 and before you get to the castle.
3. As soon as the first 30 seconds countdown starts, buy the sword as quickly as possible (time is still running!) and grind to level 3. If you grind in the area below the castle you won't get any experience! You need to do so in the east-north hand patch of land. If you can, find the time to fully heal yourself and buy a new loaf. You could theoretically already win at this point, but you're unlikely to have the time to do that.
4. When the real countdown start, just dash (S) straight for the castle and fight the evil guy. You will need to consume the loaf. If you don't dash during the battle, you'll be left with a little extra HP - so do dash moderately.

This won't get you 3"35 seconds (I still can't phatom what will) but it sure got me in the top 20 at the time of writing :P