@troopdude you are stupid to don't read the instructions. If you die inside the dungeon, you lose EVERYTHING and have to start again from level 1. If you use escape wings, you save the artifacts you got, and start again from the second to last store you visited with full hp. You still lose the items that are not artifacts, but escape wings are supposed to be used when you are close to dying.
renmf, if the nerd's speed is too low, you will just run faster than him and lose the opportunity to use power smashes. You don't lose them forever, if the nerd get faster you will show up again. This is to prevent using power smashes only when the nerd is almost stopping. If you try to use power smash at the wrong time you will just lose one of them as well.