Avoiding enemies seem the only valid strategy, attacking with the sword seems to be working only once every 5 times. The third level was a bit frustrating, had to dash once the enemy followed me on the other side of the forked bridge. The justification to reach the "joined together" theme is very forced, doesn't work without reading your itch page. Focus more on the fundamentals and don't be afraid to hard code stuff, a jam doesn't have to be programmed as if you are gonna work on the game in the future, planning on potential new systems and stuff.