Part 4: Chapter Four: A Voice From the Ruins

When last we met Felt and his new ally Noin were asked by the mayor of Tatalia Village to drive a band of soldiers from their sacred ruins. We rejoin the story after a trek through the desert.

Video- “Trouble at the Ruins”

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Shhh!

But they were not alone at the ruins.



Chaos: Heh. Even after their civilization has crumbled, they still protect this place.
Soldier A: I know you’re disappointed, sir, but if you don’t hurry…
Chaos: Yes, I know.
Worry not, I won’t be late. He may be an idiot, but he still represents the Empire.
Soldier A: Sir Chaos! You never know who may be listening!
Soldier B: He’s right! Please try not to do anything that might arouse suspicion.
Chaos: Just a little longer. Just a little…
I must return to Riesevelt. Stay here and await further orders.
Soldier A: Yes, sir!
Whoa. That was close.
Who was that?
That was Chaos, the highest ranking soldier in the Imperial Army.
He’s a master swordsman. No one has ever faced him and survived.
Chaos…
Sounds like the Empire is up to something here.
We should go inside and check it out.
Yeah, let’s take a look.

Sure enough, the Imperial forces were hard at work deep in the ruins.

Video- “Imperial Showdown”

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We need a plan.
Should we back off?
Good idea.
Soldier A: Halt! Who goes there?
Shh!
Look, I’ll distract them while you get away!
Hey, wait!
Listen up you random encounter! I’ll play you a tune called “My fist in your face!”
I am Noin, Silvaresta’s Fury!
Who wants to go first, huh?!
Soldier A: What? A Simsiltian dares oppose us?
Get her, Men!

And as I mentioned earlier, Felt was not the sort to allow someone to fight alone.



I won’t leave you here alone!

And the Azure Azoth was only beginning to show its true powers.



Was that… the same voice I heard before?
???: What are you waiting for?
Huh! Hiyah!
System Message: Felt learned the skills [Mana Wave]!!
W-Wow!
I knew it. The voice that I heard before was coming from the sword.
???: Very observant. The ultimate creation through the dark arts of alchemy.
Azure Azoth: That is I, the Azure Azoth.
But enough talk, now is the time for action!

And with the Imperials defeated, they found the door Chaos had mentioned.



What are they all doing in a place like this?

And it seemed there was more to this door than met the eye.

Video- “The Girl”

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Are you the girl from before…?!
Master who wields the Azoth, you must come to the Altena Church.
Gardo and I will wait for you there.
Please… Hurry…
H-Hey! Wait a minute!
Who was that? What was that?
I don’t know her. I swear!
She appeared once in Eden to guide me here. Now she came again.
Altena Church… I guess I’ll have to go there to investigate.

This would prove to be much easier said than done.



We’d have to cross the Eastern Sea to reach the Altena Church.
Sea…? What’s a sea?
What…? You’ve never heard of the sea?
It’s… well… Just think of it as a huge puddle of water.
Don’t worry. I know how to swim.
You’re gonna swim across the sea?! Oh, I’ve gotta see this.
???

They found something almost as unexpected nearby.



System Message: Learned Recipe for [Craft].
…What is this?
…It looks like… a Craft Recipe.
Craft…? Recipe…?
You need recipes to make items with alchemy.
Alchemy… riiight.
So, you’re a big shot alchemist now, huh?
No, I’ve only learned a few things so far.
…What do you know about alchemy?
Well, nothing really. I’ve only heard stories.
Alchemy… The ability to make something from nothing.
All who use it, suffer. It destroys the balance in the world… It’s the devil’s art.
?!
But, I’ve never met a real alchemist before…
Well, until now that is.
It’s okay, though. I can see that you’re free of any dark influences.
……
Besides, it’s not my place to tell you you’re doomed.

Felt had not even considered that this was a world without alchemy.



You are so right.
So, is the Empire looking for alchemy recipes?
That is possible…
But, do they even know how to use alchemy?
Looks like there’s nothing here…
We should go.

Noin was rightly concerned that the Empire might still be hanging around, and left Felt alone for a second to check. This gave him a chance to do something sort of awkward.



I’m going to sneak over there and make sure the Imperial Army is gone.
Okay…
You said something about having a purpose, earlier.
I know I wasn’t just imagining it…
Azure Azoth: You are right.
!
Azure Azoth: I was waiting for that insolent wench to leave us alone.
That’s just great. Let everyone just think I talk to my sword…
Azure Azoth: My duty is to protect Eden. I awaken whenever Eden is in crisis.
Well then, what really happened in Eden?
Azure Azoth: I do not know. My advice is to head to Gardo.
Gardo? That is where that girl is…
Azure Azoth: I expended too much energy during that last battle. I must rest.
Heed my advice. Travel East…
No, not again! Hold on!
…I hate when that happens.

Fortunately, the Empire had scattered in the face of their attack.



When my sword—
?
Uh, never mind. Forget it.
It looks like all of the Imperial Troops have already left.
We better go tell the mayor of Tatalia about this.
Right.

With the withdrawl of the Imperial forces, shadowy creatures had taken control of the ruins.



I hate ghosts. You can’t kick them.
What? You can’t kick them?
Nope. Regular attacks go right through them.
But, my energy attack can wipe them all out.
Azure Azoth: Don’t worry too much. My Azoth also does magic damage.
I can attack any kind of monster with this.
What are you talking about? Look out, here it comes!

Feinne’s Fourth Wall Lectures: Advanced Combat
So, today I’ll talk about some more advanced combat topics. The first is enemy resistances and immunities. The most common immunity is to physical attacks, which things like ghosts and elementals possess. Only Magic attacks like anything from Felt or skills flagged as such will damage them. There are also immunities to elemental attacks, it’ll generally be obvious when something possesses them.

Status effects will also start coming up now. There are four, and they are pretty bad actually. Poison does damage periodically, and is probably the least worrisome overall. Paralysis will rob us of actions, and therefore is pretty damn bad. Sleep prevents a character from acting until it wears off. And Curse, the most devastating of status effects, prevents a target from taking healing. Curses need to be removed quickly on bosses, or they’ll leave a character quite dead.

Noin and Felt returned to Tatalia, only to discover things had gotten quite a bit worse.



What is it? What happened now?
Mayor: We just received very troubling news.
…Max has been captured by the Empire.
That’s impossible! He’s too strong. That’s why he’s our leader.
No one can beat him one-on-one…
Mayor: They used a member of Simsilt as a hostage.
They agreed to release everyone in exchange for Max.
What?! You expect the Empire to keep its word on something like that?!

Noin rushed from the tent, and Felt ran after her.



What?!
You’re going after him, aren’t you? Let me go with you.
This isn’t your problem, Felt. You aren’t from Simsilt.
I don’t want to cause you any more trouble.
The only trouble I had was when you tried to take on all those soldiers by yourself.
Besides, I still owe you for saving me out in the desert.
…
…Thank you.
Riesevelt is an island to the east.
Head east after leaving the village. We’ll have to cross Regenbogen to get there.
Then, let’s get to it!

As they traveled the desert, the sands began to rise…

Video- “The Storm”

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If this keeps up, we’ll be stuck in a sandstorm.
Agh, I can’t even see two steps ahead.
We’ll be blown away soon at this rate. We have to get to camp.
Let’s go.

Eventually they were forced to stop and wait it out.



Sanstorms are very dangerous. There’s nothing else to do.
Max is… like a big brother.
My mother got sick and died when I was 12.
I was devastated. I lost all hope. I didn’t know what to do.
Max helped me out a lot.
I get it. You want to help him out because he’s done so much for you.
…Yeah.
But, are you going to be alright, Felt?
Riesevelt is the capital of the Silvaresta Empire.
We will be in much more danger than before.
…I know.
But, I can’t just let this happen without at least trying to help out.
You are a great guy, Felt…
Is everyone from Eden as great as you?
Hmm, Viese, Kreuz… Yeah, I guess everyone there is really great.
Hmm… I’d like to go to Eden some day.
……

Felt began to wonder what was going on in Eden.



I hope she’s okay…

As it turned out, she was herself quite busy…