thank you so much !! im glad you've enjoyed it so far. i think you're absolutely right about the sword thing right before the fight. now that i think of it that's where the sword ball minigame should have been 🤭
as for secret passageway, the second blob you mentioned is actually referring to another secret passageway in the current room! I'll admit this one is pretty hard to find, but i will say that it's really close the the lower left exit of that room.