Atelier: Arland Trilogy Part #49 - Update XLVI: An Adventurer and the Hollow Shrine

Part 49: Update XLVI: An Adventurer and the Hollow Shrine

Another update is upon us, goon sirs. Only....seven videos this time, including another short ranking up scene? Alrighty then. Let's begin.

After a few weeks with Rorona in Arland, this scene pops up. Throughout the rest of the game, you'll periodically get these kinds of scenes. Guessing it has something to do with alchemy level.

What's the matter? You look serious.

I've never really done anything for you as a teacher.

What? That's not true. You teach me all sorts of things.

That's not true. There's that, um... You know...

I'll try to be better! I'll teach you all I know about alchemy!

Really? Wow, I can't wait for that.

That's where this thing comes in! I prepared a recipe even you can make! Ta-da!

But of course.

Wow, thanks! Wait... Are these...pies?

Yup! It tells you how to make pies using alchemy! Now you can have pies whenever you want!

What do you think? Are you impressed?

Yes... I like pies, so...

I knew it. Great! Once you get better with alchemy, I'll give you a new recipe. Oh, by the way, if it comes out good, you have to let me taste it.

*Rorona leaves*

So, of course, pies. Rorona is performing a very sacred ritual here, where the master hands down her pie recipes to her student. This is a sacred responsibility, never to be taken lightly.

Our first voiced scene is with Marc. This one happens in Artisan's Square after Marc has enough friendship points. Simply dragging him around for about a month or so (along with a couple requests or so) total should do it. Video goes until the screenshot of Totori talking about Marc and kids.

Did you make this toy?

It's not a toy. It's a robot. Robot.

Robot? How's it different from a toy?

But what about robots that happen to be used for fun and games despite their intrinsic functions?

What are you talking about? Anyway, can I have this?!

No fair! I want one, too!

Hey! I asked him first!

This is still a prototype, so I can't give it to you. I'll give you all one after it's finalized for production.

Really? Awesome!

It's a promise then. You better not break it!

.............

Nope, cuz it's not cute at all.

Not cute, hmm? That would be something I hadn't even considered during the primary design phase. But don't you think it looks cool? It'll go "VREEEEEM!"

I want something cute.

Hmm, I'm sure in a bind now. I'm not familiar with what girls your age consider "cute."

Yeah, cats are cute.

Cats? They're all the rage these days? And when did you get here, Missy?

Hehe. I was actually watching you the whole time.

I don't understand how cats are cute, but making a quadruped may prove an interesting endeavor.

Hal Emmerich, the younger years.

He's gone. He's a real weirdo.

Do you think he'll really make that robot?

I want a cat. Cat, cat, cat!

Oh hey, here's some easy Rank Points to miss. "Favorite" is when you don't change your equipment for over a year. There's not been much reason to upgrade just yet, so it's an easy five points for me.

Here's another neat passive skill Totori gets at level 20. Will Power is a rather nice skill that allows Totori, if she suffers a fatal blow, to occasionally shrug it off and survive with one HP. Obviously not something you can rely on, but it can surprise you.

The Holy Land Shortcut northwest of Arland is our first area with Demon enemies and Ghost enemies. It's a very good idea to bring Rorona here, because...

They come in pretty large groups, perfect for Bomb attacks. Rorona's bombs have the same blast radius as normal Bombs, making this group less impressive than it might seem. And on the plus side, the ghosts are weak against Fire.

And like a good teacher, Rorona is ready to help her student in any way possible, even if it means throwing baked goods at her to recover her HP and boost her defense.

The reason we're stopping by here mainly is for a new recipe book. Again, kinda out of our league at the moment, but we might as well pick it up while we having nothing else in particular going on.

Well, I say that, but you might want to check out some ingerdients around here. They're all of pretty nice quality, and you'll find a really nice trait like Judgment M or some such every now and then. That's something I'd recommend for most areas, actually. Just check out the gathering points for valuable traits / items. You never know.

But let's finish up all the "Outskirts of Arland" areas. Nabel Lake has some alright stuff, but it's 20 points.

There we are. Also, Nabel Lake is still nice and peaceful, but again, much smaller than before.

But after I returned to Arland, I decided to head back to Alanya, because now that we have Rorona, we can finally get started on something interesting. When I got back to the village and checked in with Gerhard, another scene. Video goes until Totori says "I'll try"

Welcome... Oh, it's you, Totori.

Why did you scowl when you saw me?

Sorry. I didn't mean anything bad. I was hoping for some customers.

Customers? But you have plenty.

People who stay until closing with one cup of coffee aren't called good customers.

Oh, I'm sorry. It's because Ceci...

In all seriousness, I may have to close shop at this rate.

What? Your tavern's going to close?

Not right away. But soon enough...

I need your tavern, Gerhard!

Those words make me very happy, but... I know, how about you help me with something?

I'll do anything I can!

What could it be lacking? I like the atmosphere and you have a lot of stuff to choose from.

Speciality?

Right. I don't have anything people can drink here and only here. That's where you come in. Make one for me.

Make...? You want me to brew alcohol?

Of course. What else could a tavern specialize in?

I'm still too young, so I can't drink. I wouldn't understand the taste anyway...

I think that's a tad contrived...

It's better than doing nothing. I'm not expecting much out of you. Just think about it in your spare time.

But if I don't do it, you might go out of business. Okay. I'll try!

Thankfully, there's no risk of Gerhard going out of business or anything. You can do absolutely nothing about this little subplot and end up no worse than if you did anything.

That said, of course I'm covering what you're supposed to do for this sidequest, and it also leads to a whopping four endings for persuing this little subplot. But, there's no rush. Next, I decided to stop in at Pamela's with Rorona in my party, so I get this scene. Video goes until Totori says "Ew, I should stop thinking about it"

Pamela! Long time no see! What are you doing out here?

Don't give me that. I've always been at this village, but you've never taken the time to come visit me!

You were? Sorry, I didn't know.

You came to see Totori all the time, but you ignored me.

I-I'm sorry! Wait, I wasn't keeping Teacher to myself at all.

I said I'm sorry. Cheer up for me. By the way, how is your body doing?

Oh? Were you injured somewhere?

No, it's not that. Pamela is...

Let me see... You're right. I think I can fix it right away. Where was your house again?

Innards?

I have to go, but I'll be right back.

It's okay. Take your time.

*Rorona and Pamela leave*

She did say innards, right? I imagined something gross... Ew, I should stop thinking about it.

Again, Pamela doesn't have anything we quite want yet. Instead, we need to start preparing in earnest.

Mel here will be taking Mimi's place. By the way, there's a scene with Mimi, or so I've heard, where she yells at you if you don't take her out on an adventure for a while after she becomes an official part member. I've never actually seen this scene, but I can imagine it's something that can happen.

Then again, I know for a fact I saw the scene in the last game where Lionela leaves Arland permanently, and no matter how hard I tried when I was doing the LP of it, I couldn't make it show up, so what do I know. I'm sorry for that failure, as well as another failure of mine. Remember when I said I know of a couple fun glitches in the game that weren't very bad at all? One was the Night's Domain thing, and one was a very odd item glitch.

Basically, very, *very*, rarely when you defeat an enemy (for me, it was an Isle Fish in Nabel Lake), you get a Bomb! But the weird thing is, is that the description for it is all in Japanese, and even if you select it as a spoil of war, it's not in your basket and for all intents and purposes does not exist. I really wish I could have shown that, and believe me I tried, but for the life of me I could not get it to show up, but I wasn't about to waste hours and upon hours of my life for it to show up. Wow, that was a long tangent, anyway...

Upon returning to the atelier without Mimi in the party, I get this scene. I'm not too good at predicting stuff, it seems. Video goes until the screenshot of Totori thinking about Mimi and her non-existent friends.

I'm coming in, Totori. Oh, you're working.

Sorry, I'll be done soon.

Don't mind me. I only came because I have some time on my hands. I'll read a book or something.

Sure. Make yourself at home.

...

Mimi, you've been coming here a lot lately.

What? You don't want me here?

It's not that. Except...

Except...

Pfft! Wh-What are you talking about?!

Sorry... Was I right?

I'm not your friend?

Otherwise, why would an aristocrat associate with a lowly commoner?

Mimi reminds me a lot of Jay from Tales of Legendia, to be honest. They're both pale, small, have a fairly similar hair color, and both have pretty big tsundere streaks. Legendia and this game actually have a common motif to them: the sea. Although the sea itself hasn't played much of a role in this game's plot, it shall. It shall indeed.

But I haven't done anything for you as an alchemist.

Uh... Y-You have! Just say you have!

Are you sure? Have I really?

That's irrelevant! Ugh, it's all because you asked a dumb question! I'm leaving!

*Mimi leaves*

I made her mad again...

After a few more village-based schenanigans, it's time to set off. But first, a scene with Rorona and Mel as party members.

There you are. You like making me wait. Hm?

Oh, nice to meet you, too.

Hehe. She's my alchemy teacher, Rorona. She's older than you.

Rorona? The famous alchemist? Oh...I didn't know she was this cute.

You don't have to get so flustered. My name's Melvia, by the way. Totori's like a childhood friend to me.

Melvia? C-Can I call you Mellie?

You can call me anything, but it's kind of embarrassing to be called that at my age.

I'm glad you two get along just fine.

By the way, something caught my eye when I first saw you.

Hmm? What's that?

I knew it. You're wearing a push-up. I thought it looked kind of unnatural. So even the famous alchemist cares about that stuff. You really are cute.

But if you're going to do that, you should check the angles better... You know, like this.

Whoa! Stop touching me! She's like Master in some weird way! I can't take this anymore!

Hey, hold up! If you're going to do it, you better do it right! You'll look dumb if you don't fix it!

I don't care if I look stupid! Stop chasing me!

*Rorona and Mel leave*

Oh yeah, Astrid and Mel would get along famously. I also like that detail of Astrid yet again having a hand in Rorona's clothes.

So, aside from Astrid's taste in clothes, we have something else to discover.

What's the deal with this location? Let's check it out. Upon arriving...

Music: The Peaceful Ruins

These look like ancient ruins no matter how you slice it. It's kind of creepy. I hope it won't crumble all of a sudden.

Would you look at that. We're at Platinum without having done anything in any big location other than the Golden Plains. That's how painfully generous Rank Points are if you work for them.

So, Stein Hill. One of my favorite locations in the game, actually, mainly for the really nice music. It's kind of a sad song, really. A location lost to time... But while it would be nice to just relax here, we have a bounty on a white wolf in these lands. He's hiding, as you may have seen in the first screenshot (he was the white speck at the top of the screenshot), on top of a hill.

There's the furball. Well, this isn't the best party to fight him with. Mimi or Marc would have been a better choice in Mel's place, but Rorona's not half bad herself for this little melee. Besides, would I link a video in an update that I ultimately fail in? I think not. Jagd Wolf

This guy's deal is he is *very* fast, and always gets two turns in a row. That damage can really add up, which means you have to outlast him. He's also got an annoying buddy that you want to get rid of real fast, because one of his moves is lowering defense, and we cannot have that.

Thing is, I must have gotten very lucky, since he'll be focusing 90% of his attacks on Mel. I don't know if that's a quirk of his programming, or what. But having only one ally we really need to support makes life much easier.

My strategy for this fight was fairly simple. Totori focuses exclusively on healing Mel, Mel deals the damage, and Rorona either heals Mel again or attacks, depending on how much HP Mel has. If Mel were to go down, my entire plan would fall apart and probability of success would reach roughly 0%.

The only problem is that this strategy took me a good long while, but it's preferable to losing. And hey, Aragami's a pretty great song to listen to.

And yeah, Healing Items can score Criticals. Who knew? Made my life easier this turn.

I really wish I could tell you that it got terribly exciting, but I would lying. This game is all about wearing him down, while keeping our own troops in good shape. As long as the Healing Salve supplies don't run out, we'll beat him eventually.

Well now, here's something I forgot about at. Rorona having 40 HP, then receiving a blow that did 39 damage. A rare circumstance, indeed, but as long as Rorona can still fight, it's not over.

But the Fates were not with him this day. Victory is ours.

He's worth a very respectable 40 points by himself, and that slab he was sitting on is worth another 20. Even when we rank up, we'll be very close to the final mandatory rank.

Now then, our final goals for this area are to get all the gathering points, just like we did at the Plains, and take out enough Goats and Pot Squirrels for a couple requests we accepted a while ago. Gathering is very nice, because there's a lot of nice ingredients around here, but I must admit Jagd drained quite a bit of my resources, so we can't overextend ourselves.

Getting all the gathering spots requires a fair bit of platforming, actually. It's not tricky at all, thankfully. However, gathering spots are all over the place, so make sure you search high and low for them.

Now where the hell are those final gathering points? There's one near the place where we came in, but I got that and I didn't get the points. Where is it?

Oh, that's right. Can't believe I didn't remember this...

That's all for Stein Hill. A very profitable journey, indeed, but we're not quite done west of Alanya.

Music: Following the Footsteps ~ The Ruins

The Holy Slumbering Tree area is the last location in the ruins west of Alanya (for some reason, Stein Hill doesn't count in this category. Go figure). It's a fairly unremarkable location, but I'd be loathe to pass up 15 points while we're in the neighborhood.

I had nothing more I needed to do down south, so I returned to Arland for the time being (notice how much I'm using the carriage. It is saving me tons of time, trust me). Once I was in Arland, I made an item, and got the following scene.

Yes? What is it?

Huh? W-Why are you asking me that?

N-No! It's nothing weird. Who do you want to be friends with?

I know I made Hom's gender last time a choice, but on this I don't think Totori fell too far from the tree. I went with Girl, but we'll actually get to have some brothers before this game is done.

Uh-huh. Gotcha. Thanks. I don't know if I can do it right, but I'll try.

*Rorona leaves*

Huh? What are you going to do? She's gone... I hope she's not planning something weird.

We'll see. Anyway, time for another little chat with Cory.

...

You look out of it today. Something on your mind?

It's nothing big... Oh, yeah. Cordelia may know, but she might...

What are you mumbling about? Speak up if you have something to say.

I don't particularly hate her.

Oh, really? When we first met, you two were having a huge argument.

That's only because she was putting on airs about her family name.

Oh, I don't really get what's so important about family names.

Well, it won't matter to you even if you understood.

Wow, you sound like an aristocrat.

I don't just sound like one. I am one. My father just bought his status before I was even born.

Huh? You can buy social status and be an aristocrat?

It doesn't have a very long history and only a couple of vain people care about it. There are those like her who try to defend it for generations.

I don't know. Why don't you ask her instead?

Well...I made her mad the other day.

I don't know what you said to her, but she's probably not mad anymore.

Huh?

Wow, it sounds like you were there.

W-Well, I know someone like her. Yeah.

Well, at least she's honest.

Oh... Thank you for everything. I'll ask her when I see her again.

You're welcome. Tell me what happens.

*Totori leaves*

I wouldn't worry about it, but we've got ranking up to do. Video goes until Totori says "Yes!"

Thank you!

You'll need one more rank for a license extension, but I'm sure you'll be fine. You have a lot of time left.

One more rank... Finally...

I-I know that. I'll be sure see the job through to the very end.

Knowing you, I'm sure you'll be fine. Good luck. Just a little more to go.

Yes!

A chat with Filly gives us another scene.

Hi, Filly. Are there any jobs I can take?

Hey, Totori. Hold on. Let me get the list.

Hm-hmm. I hope I get an easy job today.

Wah! Mimi? W-What are you doing here?

What are you surprised at? Am I not supposed to come here for work?

N-No, it's not. It was just so sudden...

Stop freaking out at me! And who said you could call me by my first name?!

Ugh, s-sorry, Lady S-S-Schwarzlang.

Stop stuttering! And why do you act so differently around Totori?!

B-Because you're kind of scary and it makes me so nervous...

Don't be! Oh, fine. You can call me what you want.

S-Sure. Here it is, ma'am.

I want to see, too. I wonder if there are any I can turn in right away.

H-Hey, you're sticking way too close to me.

What's with that perverted look in your eyes?

I-I don't have that look! Ugh... She really is scary...

What? Really?

Yeah. The clien twas really happy. He said he wants you for his next request, too.

Oh, really...? Haha, that's nice to hear.

What about my jobs? What did they say about me?

Um, not much...

Oh... Hmm...

I think this one looks good...

Huh? You can't do so many on your own...

You don't think I can do it? Just hurry up and process it!

S-Sure! Right away.

Are you really going to be okay? I know you're good, but...

Hurry, you receptionist wench! I don't have much time!

P-Please don't rush me...

See, here's the good thing about planning jobs carefully, deciding which ones can be done quickly, or back to back with each other: I can turn them all in at once, and since I'm turning them all in while ranked Platinum, they'll be counting toward Platinum Artisan.

Here's quite the lovely surprise. For some reason, I was able to S rank 50 monster quests (again, I have no idea how the game decides this), but an easy 50 points is an easy 50 points.

Upon returning to the AR...

Hmm. I don't even know how you're supposed to make alcohol.

What's wrong? Something on your mind?

Teacher, maybe you know. How do I make alcohol?

It's not that. Gerhard asked me to make something for him.

N-No! You're still too young! Did you turn into a delinquent?!

What? N-No.

I said that's not it! Please calm down!

*fade for exposition*

I did. You weren't listening!

Hehehe... Sorry. So, um, you want to learn how to make alcohol?

Yes. Do you know how?

I don't know the specifics either, but I think you ferment stuff.

Are there that many kinds of alcohol? So what should I make?

It'll be tough to make something without practice. Maybe you should do something simple first and tweak it later.

Tweak it... All right. I'll try something simple first.

After that scene, you learn how to make the simplest alcoholic drinks. Once you make all these items, you proceed to the next stage in this whole tavern subplot, but we won't need to pay it much attention for a while.

This is what we got from Cory. Very nice items, the both of these, but again, a little too tough for us at the moment, not to mention materials. Take my advise and make the Shoes ASAP. If not the most useful item to make in the game, then the second most. But now, another travel update. This is going to be the last one for a long while, actually...

So, here's what's on the table. A long path far to the northeast of Arland, but there's next to no point to going there at the moment. In the far south, another large location representing the southeastern part of the continent. To the west of Arland, yet another large location, and finally in the far southwest, we can travel down the entire peninsula. This is going to be the last time the world map updates until 6/1 of Year 4, when the license gets extended, so I'll be having to deal with this world map for a while yet.

I am not complaining, as there is much to be done.

Ah, the fabled 9 Totoris. I was wrong again, in that 9 isn't the highest those particular jobs go to. It's 12. 12 Totoris is worth a massive 80 points, but basically you have to get rather lucky, and you have to have the right equipment to make it even possible. We don't, so we'll just have to settle for now.

For another request (and eventually an item we're really going to want), I made some Polish Powder and dropped by Tiffani's to register it. When I spoke to her, another scene.

By the way, Totori. I heard you're brewing as part of your work.

Yes, it's true. How did you know?

Rorona told me. She said you were trying to learn how to make alcohol.

Hehe. It's true. I didn't know how to make it but I still accepted the job.

It probably doesn't taste good since I'm the one making it.

I can't wait until you finish. Good luck with it.

Thank you, Tiffani. I'll try my best!

So yeah, register Polish Powder. By the end of the game, you'll need 20 of these, I think. So, stock up before then, and you'll save yourself time down the road.

But for a final scene this update, a follow-up to Marc's previous scene this update. Video goes until one of the cat robots says "Meow..."