Part 13: "Because we live in such a world, we continue to write stories."
Chapter 13: "Because we live in such a world, we continue to write stories."(The Leviathan Depths, Aaron Aaron 5)
Welcome back!
Despite the ship, this is essentially a standard area. Movement and encounters and even treasure all work basically the same.
As you may have figured out, the non-Story version of this area serves as a map. Moving the boulders also has a tangible effect here.
Here are two shots of the area from last time, the better to keep track. It may be easier to follow along if you keep them open in another tab.
The normal enemies here are Mermaids, which are fairly tough and hit decently hard. They're aggressive when you fight something else. Their drop is Mermaid Blood, which gives 33 HP.
The giant shadow is a Leviathan, the red enemies of the area. They're generally aggressive and will usually move towards you, if someone erratically. Unlike red enemies, they generally don't respawn.
At this point I switch him away from the Book, since I want him moving sooner than that.
A typical Kumo level. Unlike Nana, that HP growth doesn't really slow down, so it gets absurd very quickly.
(Thanks to HenryEx for fixing the level up screens, allowing us to actually see his Skill go up.)
I head east. The map tells us that there's a dead end with treasure there.
This is one of those Leviathans. This one sticks very close to the town, so fighting him is basically inevitable.
Heart of Stone, learned at level 5, is Kumo's main use. Defense affects both physical and magical damage and it's highly effective, especially compared to the zero damage Kumo will be doing for a long, long time. Being a physical attacker who can't use items like the Chatty Barber or any of the +swing items is rough.
(You could always let him keep the Praying Mantis Axe, but... Why?)
Plus, I've never seen it fail. If it doesn't have perfect accuracy, then it's damn close.
Without it, Camil would be doing a lot less damage here. Once it's up, Kumo guards...
Because holy crap does Surge hurt.
The beginning of The Depths is kind of tough, mostly because someone will be using a still-weak Ax and Mask. I got them up to level 1 before entering and Camil's still much less effective than she was before.
The town has a Skill Up.
I fight the one on the first screen on the way back, which provides a better look at Surge's damage:
The add here is a Merman. They're basically the same as the Mermaids, except that they're a return of the White Dragon Wisp strategy of enemies: they're blue on blue, so they're really damn hard to see. Their drop is the Slime, which gives +5 Attack and +28 HP.
Then I run back and heal. Fighting two Leviathans is rough on your potion supply.
There's an exit up north, but the map already tells us it'll be blocked. I head west.
Leviathans are actually pretty fast-moving. Best not to mess with the one here.
Now, do you remember how I said that the boulders are moveable last update? There's nothing really stopping me from leaving, kicking Kumo out, and moving the boulder to block off the area east of the entrance; that'll allow me to skip the hex north of my current location, which I already know has no treasure.
But I need Kumo levelled anyway, so I won't bother.
Heaven's Blessing is a skill Camil and Kumo share, though they have different HP thresholds required. (Camil's is 60% instead.) It's similar to Nana's Prayer, granting +30% flat chance of evasion and +5% critical.
Note Kumo's HP. His Defense never gets very high, so he'll spend a lot of time below the threshold for Heaven's Blessing.
The volcano here is the boulder that blocks off the first square from the one north of it, which is where we are now.
I'm pretty fond of the map gimmick. It's a neat revelation the first time you get it, presuming you think to check the area behind Kumo before completing the dungeon.
This is the tiny rock blocking the way to the square two right of the first one. For some reason, you can break this as a ship but not as an immensely larger person.
This strait counts as a room barrier, so far as the map is concerned.
Sadly, there is no giant red chest looming in the Depths. You need to go back to the real world to collect.
I'll keep going until I can break the second rock, though. No reason not to, I haven't used any healing items yet.
See that blue spot on the upper-right? That's a Merman.
Look at that same area now, when everything is tinted the same way. Can you see it? I can, barely, but largely because I know it's there. They are, for all intents and purposes, invisible.
This mostly comes up when you run into one by accident, immediately prompting Mermaids to go aggressive and swarm you. So, uh, watch out for that.
Leviathans can't fit through narrow straits. This sucks, because this combines with their aggressive AI to make them camp you at these points.
They go down in two turns if I'm willing to use Light Axe+Lightning, though, and I'm getting positive HP/SP economy from single fights, so they're not a big deal. But it's a pain.
Off through the north exit.
The strait is a room divider again, so this counts as moving into the upper-right corner room.
There's a new serpent-looking enemy on the map called the King of Herrings here. You'd expect it to be special, with that name, but...
That's a nickname of the Giant Oarfish. It's apparently thought to be responsible for a lot of sea serpent sightings, but here it's just another enemy. It doesn't quite go down in one turn to two Camil swings + Heart of Stone + Lightning, and it does give about twice as much experience, but it doesn't do anything special.
Their drop is the Mystery Scales, which give +20 Defense.
Off to the west, now.
The King of Herrings I mentioned.
This strait puts us in the same room as the boulder blocking the way west.
Said boulder.
The amazingly oversize desk saves as normal, and the whirlpool is a teleport back. I break the boulder, kill another Leviathan (still no drop) and use it.
Back in the real world, I kick Kumo out, move the boulder in the first room to the right, and grab the red chest.
You'll note that the chests I grabbed in The Depths show up as opened here. It's a nice touch; you really have no excuse for missing normal chests here!
+56 Defense as a normal Armor, +10 Attack, +15 Skill, +30 Defense and immunity to Stagger as an all-purpose. I stick it on Randolf; it'd be good to have on either character as a switch for enemies that Stagger, but Camil wants the Mask of Determination levelled more than she wants a swap armor ready.
(That said, most of the Stagger immune items are Mage ones, so Randolf probably won't actually use it. Oh well.)
I move the boulder down for whenever I go after the boss. I wouldn't be surprised to see that the positioning blocks off the chest here, but... Well, as I said back in The Tower, I need Kumo at level 25 if I want to get his Glossary entry. Having to go back and move it twice more isn't going to throw me into despair or anything.
Camil levels up the Ax and Mask on the way back to the Desk.
The area to the west of the desk.
We got one of these ages ago and it was too weak to use. It's not used in any recipes.
Off west again. I kill a Leviathan mid-screen and get one of the most pathetic red enemy drops in the game:
Come on, +28 HP and +5 SP? That's sad.
(Spermaceti is a kind of wax.)
Through a strait, into the upper-right corner:
The Speckcinder is very straightforward: +52 Attack and 64 Range, or +32 Attack. Unfortunately, it's basically just a worse Chatty Barber when it's an All-Purpose, so it's basically worthless long-term.
It's better than the Amaryllis, though, so Kumo gets it.
Kumo learns Wave Cutter at level 17. It has a high base power, higher than Light Axe and equal to Inferno, but gains a below-average amount of power from Strength. It does ignore 50% of defense, though.
It does about about as much as Lightning right now. It's not very good, and only Kumo's very high HP keeps the HP threshold reasonable. Half HP is about full HP for the other two.
The way to the boss.
Kumo is level 17 of 25.
Unfortunately, unlike The Tower, I don't know any really quick way to grind in the Depths.
It's a little faster with Mage Camil, at least. Safer to engage larger groups.
Poetic Justice is Kumo's final technique, learned at level 19. Just as Heaven's Blessing was a version of one of Camil's final (normal) spells, Poetic Justice is his equivalent of Randolf's Hero Supplement. It's a very strong self-buff, giving the Hero status, and Kumo can use it below 60% HP instead of below 40% like Randolf.
Hero status multiples Attack by 2.8, adds +10 Critical, multiplies Skill and Speed by 1.5, and increases maximum HP by 30%. It's kind of a big deal.
Arguably, an end-game Randolf should therefore switch to physical attacks, but... There's only so much physical gear, and he's better at magic than physicals when he hasn't activated Hero Supplement. Plus, Dragon Slayer has a required HP threshold and uses 60% of Attack as additional spell power, so the status isn't wasted on spellcasting or anything.
Then I level Kumo to up 25. It sucks, but I do it. There's a couple spots on the first screen where you can fight four enemies at once, but it still takes about 45 minutes.
In the process, I finally learn to spot a moving Merman, at the point when I'm already done with the dungeon. Naturally.
Camil is a lot stronger now than she was before. Kumo will contribute, at least. Even without Poetic Justice, he can still use Heart of Stone and Heaven's Blessing.
This isn't actually that much money, by late-game standards. It's about 3/4 of the cost of the Expensive Stone and about 5/8 of the Decorative Plant. And it'll going to cost me about five times as much to buy everything in the crystal room before the doors.
No wind-up this time. You just go north, and...
Meet Geyser Gazer.
Breach is his first attack; it's not very scary. It does let Kumo use Heaven's Blessing, though.
Kumo has three cut-in attacks here, not two. Any skill aside from Heart of Stone will trigger it.
Then the boss just kind of dies on turn 3.
Um.
Yeah, Geyser Gazer is kind of a wimp. My higher levels do not help.
This next dialogue is probably my favorite in the game.
That's what I was told by the man to whom I owe my life.
If that does come to pass, then it will not be in vain. My sacrifice will become someone else's courage. That's the kind of story I'd like it to be. That's right, just like your own. Thank you.
Kumo leaves The Nest and The Island.
I really like the name "Holy Sword that Cuts the Dark." It's just so earnest--very much like something from a children's story.
The Gold Doubloon the Geyser Gazer dropped is a pretty good item, giving +15 HP, +10 Defense, and +5 Critical along with the Item Drop Rate Up skill. On the balance of things, the higher critical and the hidden evade bonus make a fully-leveled Lucky Rabbit better, but if you don't know about it, then this is a good item to have. If I ever want Drop Rate Up on Randolf instead of Camil, he'll get this one.
Aaron Aaron again. I guess he's the one who stole the white slime, too...
Huh. I guess not! Let's check it out.
The White Will Stone is fantastic.
+30 Skill, +15 SP, +5 Defense, +8 Critical, +5 Agility, Recover SP when Defending... And equipping it is the lesser of its two uses. Randolf gets it for now.
The description is interesting, too. First, whose memories are these? It's in Kumo's room, so I'd guess Aeritz. Second, whose memories are in that Blue Will Stone Aaron's had in his room for a while? Let's go check on him.
When you go check on him, the music abruptly stops. The Blue Will Stone and all three Demon King Chronicles are gone.
(No, we're not allowed to steal from the kleptomaniac. Unfortunately.)
All of the papers on the ground in the following areas say the same thing:
But down the stairs, there's a book that explains a number of mysteries.
However, since the successful eradication, this is a thing of the past. Even still, the people have not been able to forget their fear, still cowering at the sight of a rat, and continue to cut down the flowers that serve as their food.
Why are flowers rare? Because people cut them down, since the rats here eat flowers.
Why the paper in The Sands that mentions the kids seeing rats and says that they hope they were wrong, because they don't want to leave? Because rats carry The Disease.
Why is the Demon King's Castle abandoned? Because it's filled with rats.
As you walk down this hallway...
It abruptly transitions to a field.
It is now time to end this story. Time to finally fulfill the promise that I made.
(That's one hit. Aaron Aaron is a skinny book nerd, not a fighter.)
We hit him so hard he goes flying backwards. So we go check on him, because he's an asshole klepto, but dammit, he's our asshole klepto.
Harold Dieter's Blue Will Stone moves to the center of the circle...
...the three Demon King Chronicles move there, and they become a single book. The pages turn, it flashes gold once...
...and then it
As we follow, we leave Aaron Aaron's Story and continue to chase the Chronicle through The Nest.
It's heading for The Mole's tunnel.
The fake wall flashes repeatedly, then fades out, and when we walk through...
...we find ourselves in another flower field.
Touching the single flower here teleports you.
The Imagination is the final dungeon, the Story of Harold Dieter. As you can tell by all of the flower teleporters that had yet to bloom, it's also very big. It's the place where Camil can fulfill her promise.
Accordingly...
...the Demon King Chronicle is on the Final Chapter.
But not now. First, we've got to head through the Disease. As the Final Battle As Planned put it:
First, though, content I missed, featuring solo Camil. That'll be Friday's update.
Annihilation Record:
Annihilation count:29
No new entries.
Current winner: Cake Attack (26)
Next: Feldherren (35)
Battle Record:
2014/04/06/ 11:30:18
Demon King Chronicle
■Battle results
Playtime:14:10:54
Save count:150
Steps taken:69827
Battle count:813
Max damage:479
Max damage taken:119
Items:66 Types 161 Items
■Treasure Chests
The Nest: 7/8
Demon King's Castle: 26/26
The Hamlet: 31/31
The Snow Fields: 20/20
The Dragon Mountain: 6/6
Sands of Remembrance: 26/26
The Tower: 11/11
The Seashore: 12/12
The Mirage: 9/10
Leviathan Depths: 5/5
The Disease: 1/20
Unmapped area: 7/10
■Camil(28)
HP:149
SP:84
Attack:266
Defense:64
Range:32
Critical:40
Skill:74
Agility:89
・Praying Mantis Axe(3)
・Mask of Determination(3)
・Zara Sword(3)
・Chatty Barber(3)
・Zara Mantle (3)
■Randolf(28)
HP:102
SP:49
Attack:182
Defense:121
Range:32
Critical:23
Skill:152
Agility:57
・Daybreak Club(3)
・Splendid Leviathan(3)
・Magnificent Zenith(3)
・Varnished Bird Wing(3)
・White Will Stone(0)
■Top 10 defeats
Green Mud Man(178)
Rat(155)
Mermaid(143)
Toothy Piranha(135)
Abominable Snow Monkey(97)
Wake-Eater(89)
Merman(84)
Monkey(83)
Mutt(80)
Scorpion(79)
Glossary:
(Unlocked by levelling Hiku Kumo to level 25)
■Hiku Kumo
His parents were good people.
Being good people made them many
enemies, and they died as a result.
In despair he wandered aimlessly looking
for a place to die, when he was approached
by a strange person. Without really knowing
what happened, Hiku Kumo was dragged
along against his will. Just like that, he
became a member of the Criminal Action
Plan Committee（Total Membership: 2）
A lot of things happened, and for Hiku
Kumo who had always lived so seriously,
The free-spirited Aeritz was exactly
what he needed in his life.
(Unlocked by defeating Aaron Aaron)
■Aaron Aaron
His dream was to be a writer,
but his talent never bloomed.
Now he is researching the
"Demon King Chronicles" on the island.
He's hoping his research will pay off,
and he'll strike it rich on the continent.
(Unlocked by entering The Imagination)
■Flodnar
Born in a village on the Plateau.
Tall mountains surround his town.
For the visitors to the mountain,
the blizzard from the intensely cold mountain
often steals the warmth from their bodies
and the sight from their eyes,
and many have died this way.
An imaginary monster called the White Dragon
was born from the fear the villagers held for
the ferocious blizzards, and the story was
passed from parent to child
over the generations.
The story of the White Dragon planted fear
of the snowy mountain in the hearts of
the villagers. It began to be used as a way
of teaching that stepping onto the snowy
mountain meant throwing away your life.
However, hearing that story as a child,
Flodnar instead grew more interested
in the dragon. As Flodnar grew to the
age where he no longer believed in dragons,
he left the village on an adventure and
ventured across the continent.
----
One day, Flodnar found a child on the side
of the road, and took it in as his own.
For a long time the boy had no name,
but after a certain event he named him Randolf.
----
Randolf had a weak body as a child, so Flodnar
often told he stories of a certain hero. It was
the story of one young man defeating a
monster lurking high in the mountains.
It was a dramatization of the
story from his own village.
(In the original the dragon ruthlessly
killed people, it had no discretion at all.)
After telling the story, Flodnar always said
"Become strong enough that
you can defeat a dragon."
----
When Randolf was 8, he came down with
a very terrible cold. With proper nourishment,
it could have easily been overcome. However,
the continent had fallen on hard times,
and someone like Flodnar
could barely afford any food.
Flodnar crossed to the island, and found
proper food and nourishment for Randolf.
Soon after, Randolf made a quick recovery.
----
They lived on the island for some time,
but one day Flodnar suddenly disappeared.
After that, Randolf no longer had
anyone to depend on. Slowly dying of
starvation, his consciousness became hazy.
A rat ran right near him but it took all of
Randolf's strength juts to follow it with his eyes.
At that moment, the sword leaning against
the wall fell and struck the rat.
Taking that rat in hand and gorging
on its meat, Randolf decided he would
survive on the island no matter what.
That sword was left to him by Flodnar.
(Unlocked by defeating Geyser Gazer)
■Geyser Gazer
Hiku Kumo has lost many people close
to him just because they were good people.
This monster takes on the form of the enemy
from the second chapter of the
"Demon King Chronicles" combined with the
"Weak-willed Goodness"
ideal that he wants to overcome.
Remember the place where we found Rat Slayer? That's probably where they lived, and where the last part of Flodnar's Glossary entry happened. That's why that sword has its name, and it's why Randolf eats rats: it's a reminder of his promise to himself.