Part 51: Chapter 30- High Places

Chapter 30- High Places

Hey there everyone, today's update will be a little different than normal. Firstly because I'm going to spend a sec talking about some actual game mechanics again, and secondly because there's very little story advancement. This update will have a few short scenes that aren't hugely critical to the story but are interesting anyways that are available in Phase III, as well as some Reyvateil Talk.

So, let's start with something I haven't really gotten into in an update in game terms, that we got Shurelia. Shurelia is slightly different than Aurica and Misha. She doesn't really have 'cheap' songs. Even her infinite red magic song Primal Word is pretty expensive. Her songs transition at higher burst %s than either Aurica's or Misha's. The upside? Everything she's got is absolutely incredibly powerful. Her Red Magic tends to be absolutely brutal, and her Blue Magic songs combine several effects into one. Her elemental buff song hits all elements, her stat buff song hits all stats, and her healing song both heals and revives.

This is a good and bad thing. Her songs are so expensive and you get so relatively few of them (9 max possible Life Fills as opposed to 27 max possible healing songs for Aurica or Misha) that you need to be careful to use them at the right time. More than either of the others you should always keep a good supply of MP restoring items on hand to help keep Shurelia singing, because as long as she's going chances are you're doing well. Now let's get back to our regularly scheduled feature, where we're about to get an airship!

Resume recording.

We headed back to Platina. As the President of Tenba said, the airship was ready for takeoff. This airship was a real symbol of the bright possibilities for this world's future, and I was excited to see it completed.



We finally did it! The collaborative efforts of Tenba, Platina, and the Teru Tribe...
We finally created the airship, Gungnir. It can fly through the Blastline...
We poured our hopes and dreams into this airship...
Yeah. This world is steadily uniting...
Engineer: Would you like to fly it now?
Of course!
Engineer: I knew you were going to say that! It's ready for take off.
Then good luck and take care!

Now we can go anywhere in the Tower, even past the Blastline, from the World Map. This also opens up a new location within the Blastline itself, Dragon's Nest.

We decided to try the Gungnir out in the Blastline, where it was designed. We found an odd island floating just outside the blast area.



Don't tell me you want to look around it! My body's already starting to tingle...
You're right. The farther we go, the more damage we'll take.
I'm also curious... but, I don't want to walk a lot.

Your health steadily goes down as you walk in the Dragon's Nest. Make liberal use of the Rest Save Point here when looking for the awesome recipes. It feels like almost any enemy in the game can spawn as a random here, so you can end up with some relatively difficult random fights here for when you can first arrive.

Somehow, there was a settlement here! I was shocked, and Krusche was even more excited than I. I understand she's been hoping to find someone who left her long ago. She found a clue in this unusual place.



Hi, I'm Lyner. I'm from Platina.
My name is Garzburn. I'm the ruler of the Dragon's Nest!
You know, I've had so many Human visitors lately.
There was one who came the other day who had silver hair.
Was it... Luke!? Excuse me! What happened to him!?
His airship broke down and he stayed here for a few days... Then, he flew away.
Oh, I almost forgot... he told me to give this to a girl with orange hair, if she ever visited me.
That's...! It's Luke's precious tool box!
Luke... I didn't expect to find any trace of you up here...
Lyner, can I go outside for a little while? I want to be alone...
Sure...
Krusche seemed surprised to find a clue about him...
Oh, the other day, I saw some people flying by at an incredible speed!
...that was probably us...
Oh, right...



What!? You defeated him? How interesting!
...!?
Garzburn; He's been bugging me for hundreds of years!
And, you're telling me that you defeated him!?
For that long!? Did I do something wrong...?
No, don't worry about that! We've been fighting over this island for the past several centuries.
I'm glad that I won't have to fight anymore.
...Oh, by the way, I've been collecting precious tools since the ancient times.
I have rare artifacts from the ancient civilization.
To show my appreciation... I'll let you make purchases from my collection.

Garzburn sells some extremely nice and extremely expensive grathmeld recipes and rare materials. He'll be our one stop shop for some of the harder to find things when we're making endgame weaponry.



Can I sit down?
That's strange. You're worried about me, but you're not my boyfriend.
No, but I am your friend. So... shouldn't I care about you?
It's like you're my big brother... I kinda like that.
I just wish Luke cared about me half as much as you do...
...He didn't care about you?
You know that toolbox? Well, I gave it to him.
And he gave it back?
That's just where he drew the line.
So... he was one of those "too cool for school" guys, huh?
Yeah, I guess you can say that. He was always way more into machines than people.
Once he got into some new technology, nothing else mattered.
So, I decided to enter his world, hoping that he'd notice me.
So... that's why you became an airship melder?



...Typical girls can meld missiles?
Oh, yeah. I used to wear pretty dresses... and I even had long, beautiful hair.
Really!? I can't even picture you looking like a girl...
...Do you want me to throw you overboard? Huh?
No, no! I was just kidding! See? Ha ha ha...
......
I thought I was over Luke...
But, every time I see something that reminds me of him, it's like... bam!
And then I start to miss him...
Don't worry, Krusche... You'll find someone else who's really nice...
......
What?
Lyner, will you go out with me?



Hey, that's not funny! I'm serious...
You're just no good with this romance stuff. You're even worse than me.
I doubt that.
Hey, if I wore a dress, your ass'd be knocked out.
...Is that so? Well then, why don't you put your money where your mouth is?
...Maybe I will. If I ever get the chance to.
We've been here for a while. We should get going soon.
Oh, Lyner... thanks for worrying about me.
No problem.
Nothing you said really mattered, but I feel better anyway.
You couldn't just leave it at that...

We left the Dragon's nest and headed higher up the Tower to the Observatory. Mei-Mei was low on power, I guess you could say she was 'asleep'. She said some strange things.



Mei Mei is on break now~...
Zzzz...zzzz...zzz...



...That's what I like~... about you... Lady Shurelia~...
......



Zzz...zzzz...zzz...



Did you... finish your homework...?
Zzzz...zzzz...zzz...

Some of what she was mumbling made sense, some of it I think I was glad didn't. We kept going all the way to the Rinkernator, the highest point of the Tower.



But, I think it's sad that we don't have any other places to go...
We don't know that for sure. We might just not have found one, yet...
You're right. If there weren't, this whole world is being wasted.
I couldn't agree with you more.
Lady Shurelia, do you come here often?
Yes, it's a special place to me.
It's like the lifeline of the tower. Sort of like the carotid artery.
So, why is it called the Rinkernator?
Because, this is where the changing of the guard for the tower administrators takes place.
When that happens, the Tower is reborn, and it's like reincarnating the administrator, thus we get Rinkernator.
If this connection is severed, the Tower's functions will cease.



No, I am.
This Tower has yet to experience the changing of the guard.

We headed back down the Tower. That night, Lyner came by again. We hadn't really talked alone since we'd Dived, so it was good to have some time with him I guess. He asked a really awkward question about installing again, I don't really understand why he keeps bringing it up if he doesn't want to.



...I don't know if it's appropriate to ask...
?
Lady Shurelia, can you install?
Huh?
It's not like I want to, I was just curious...
I guess I can... but it's been a while, so I'm not certain.
You shouldn't get your hopes up.
I didn't say that I want to. I can't do that to you, Lady Shurelia...
...I see.
...Huh?
It's nothing. You didn't say that you want to do it.
Please don't make a comment that confuses me. You are going to sleep soon, right? Good night.
Oh...
Did I say something wrong...



I like it... but I wasn't satisfied with the shaved ice from the other day.
Huh? What was wrong with it?
It was just plain ice with nothing on top. That is not shaved ice! You're being fooled by the people of Horus.
Really!? But it's cold and refreshing. Cold things are precious to begin with here in Horus.
...You're right. The temperature isn't as low as in Platina, either...
You really like shaved ice too, huh? That's a little unexpected, but it also makes me feel a little closer to you.
...!
I like it but... it's not like I always eat it. And this time, I was just upset that it wasn't the same as in the First Era...

Also, I worry Lyner's got something terribly wrong with him. He must be seeing things.



Really? But, your face and body landed flat on the ground, and it looked pretty painful...
...!
Lyner!? What were you looking at while you were fighting? When you enter combat, please focus on the enemy!
Huh? I'm sorry.
But shouldn't I care about you, too?
...!
There's a difference between that... and seeing me fall! If you have time to watch that from beginning to end, go attack the enemy...
Or...
Don't just watch! You can help me, too. You may have forgotten since I took off my armor, but I am your...!
You're right. If you trip again, I'll be sure to help you up.
...Don't worry about that. It's embarrassing. I'll get up on my own!

If she's in her ordinary costume instead of Linkage she does indeed fall down after some of her Songs.



Are you saying it was my fault!? You're the leader of the party, so you have to watch out for all party members!
Well, I thought I was, but...
Really? Put yourself in my position, everyone calling out for me in public. It was so embarrassing...
...I'm sorry. I messed up...
......
Um, Shurelia...?
What is it?
Do you hate me?
...Huh!?
Well, when we found you in Firefly Alley, you were talking so calmly with Aurica...
But when we're alone, you yell at me for no reason at all...
Is it because I'm always messing up, but you don't want to yell at me in front of everyone?
......
...No, that's not it.
...I'm sorry.
Um, I didn't know you were allowed to apologize to me...
When I'm with you... somehow it always turns out like this.
......
But... you are...
I think you are very skilled. And, I trust you...

We also had a talk about Tastiella.



Well, she is called granny, so it'd probably be a little weird if she was too energetic.
And you're talking about her when she still had her body, right?
Yes. Back then, my age was also only 3 digits long.
...It's still hard for me to keep track of your ages.
I was just younger back then. Well, my appearance hasn't really changed much, but...
Tastiella's appearance hasn't changed either, right?
Yes. Appearance-wise, nothing has changed since a few hundred years ago. Same as me.
Ah, like attracts like!
Lyner... that's not the right thing to say.

Sigh. These conversations always seem to turn out wrong. It's time to rest now. Computer, pause recording.

Confirmed.