Part 5

Update 5



"Now this is interesting… where did you come from, little guy?"

"Rooks, shouldn't we be a bit more careful? Isn't that…?"

"Yeah, he doesn't look friendly at all. Darwin, is this the strong monster you were talking about?"

"Maybe? It's not like the people telling stories about it drew a picture."



"Thanks Sylph. Anything else you can do?"

"My lightning will not harm him. The best I can do is…"

"DUCK!"

"Huh?"




"Okay, that kind of hurt a bit."

"I think that I can see why nobody who got a good look at this thing made it back."



"Wait, do elemental spirits even sleep?"

"I think that would be a 'no.'"

"Oh for the love of..."



"Do I have to do everything around here? I just wish I'd kept one back from fighting the cyclops..."



"Or not."

"Be careful, if your head swells up anymore then as a healer I'm going to have to lance it."



"So instead of 'if you can't beat them, join them' it's a case of 'if they beat you, join them'?"

"Don't ask me, I only barely know how these things work."



"Did you somehow miss the thing that literally just happened?"

"Hey, leave me alone! There's a lot of reasons it could have been after us and not other people!"



"Oh, you mean now that we've fought the dangerous monster you were worried about it's time to go on your own?"

"Well, you do have a tendency to head back to the inn whenever you get tired and explore every little nook and cranny on the way to your destination."

"Fine. Weapon and armor, then."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, what she said."

"I paid for those out of my pocket, and this isn't a charity. If you want to go on your own, you leave with what you had when you came in… nothing."

"Well, if that's the way it has to be…I'll see you again if there's a chance."




Before we move on, let's take a look at our new ally. Efrite (Ifrit) is a good bit tougher than Sylph, but as of right now can't do nearly as many things. Stomp All is his best spell, since it boosts the attack of the entire party. Other than that, he's just a slightly tougher fighter.

As a note, elemental spirits actually regenerate HP and MP with every step or movement you make. It hasn't really come up before, but you might have noticed it if you were paying close attention to the screen shots. This makes them a good bit more durable than their paper thin defenses would seem.



"Did we get turned around?"

"Nope, it's just a REALLY big forest."



"And someone conveniently left us a tent in case we were tired."

"Slow down there, Rooks. Not that tired yet."

"Why do all the women I travel with say things like that?"

"Because we're all evidently not idiots."




"Do the plants here look kind of… different here?"

"Well, the man eating plants are definitely new… if it makes you feel any better, the bees are the same."

"It actually doesn't."



"Who is it? I'm busy!"

"Too busy for an old friend?"

"Oh, Rooks! it's been a long time! Who is this?"

"I'll just save a lot of trouble and confusion and introduce myself. I'm Salah."



"That would be me."

"Princess, the last I heard your whereabouts were unknown, but I can see now that you're safe. But weren't there twins?"

"First off, she was literally right next door. Secondly, twins? A whole lot of things just started to make sense…"



"I have heard some bad things. I'm sorry."

"Not nearly as sorry as I am."

"No, don't worry about it."



"Sounds great. Efrite, mind the books. Now, about Rimsala..."

"Well, this Evil Empress…well, I don't really know the details, but if you want to defeat Rimsala you need four different kinds of spirits and three kids of Treasures."




"Good news, we're halfway there on that one."



"Umm.. about that last one…"

"These are the only things that can contain the Evil Empress."

"So, just like the ancient legend..."



"We will need someone with the strengths and talents that Fanal had."

"So…only a Card Master can do it?"

"Yeah, it's not like there's one of those sitting in the room with you right now."



"If by 'have' you mean 'know where it's hidden,' yes."

"Eh, close enough."

"Wait, where it's hidden?"

"It's in the Ice Mine."

"Ahh, even the wind can't reach it there."



"Wait, let you see what? How are we supposed to use all of this to stop the Evil Empress?"

"We'll… wait, did one of you leave the door open?"




"Rooks, I'll be taking Salah with me. She doesn't look like she's doing well at all. I wonder how that could have happened…"

"Wait, you jackass! I'm not paralyzed this time!"



"I'm afraid Ariel has already left."

"How fast does he run? Wait, who are you?"



"First apprentice? How many does he have?"

"I… uh…"

"You don't even know, do you? You must have been first chronologically, not first in brains."

"Prepare to meet your doom!"

"You know that he left you behind just to slow you down, right? That he didn't actually expect you to succeed?"

"Sh… shut up!"



"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this. Okay Efrite, you're on the bench. Sylph, come on out!"




"Is that sufficient?"

"Nearly….wait, did he just try to attack me?"

"Quit mocking my best attacks!"



"Seriously, I don't have time for this."



"You haven't… heard.. the last…"

"Yeah, I kind of think I have."



And with that, we end Chapter 2.

Character Update


I took the screen shots for this before going into the final battle of this chapter. You don't really have any warning that you're going to have Zeref show up and have a surprise boss battle, so it's a good place to get a game over if you're not cautious. Older dungeon crawlers reward thoughtful play and caution. Next update: The Ice Mines. Ugh.