Part 1: Chapter One: The Azoth of Destiny

Where do stories begin? We could say, I suppose, that our story truly began with the forging of those legendary works of alchemy, the Azoths. But really, that’s not the whole truth. The truth is that our story can only start once all of the pieces are on the board.

Video- “Stirrings”

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Unfortunately, knowing of the pieces and knowing their purposes are two very different things. So let’s leave them for now and move on to the story of what should have been the happiest day of Viese Blanchimont’s young life. The day she would officially become an alchemist…

Video- “Viese and Felt”

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Mana, the father of power… the mother of life… The source of all nature…
I hereby pledge to uphold the tenets set forth by Lilith, the Mana of Creation.
Now, slowly open your eyes.

Viese’s friend and mentor Kreuz, who heads the Eden Temple, conducted the ceremony.



Make a pact with Mana to make your title of alchemist official.
Always remember to show gratitude and respect to your Mana.
I won’t forget.
Here, I want you to have this.
How pretty… It’s a pair of rings, right?
It’s called the Share Ring. Its true purpose is unknown.
Perhaps you can figure it out. You should give one to someone special.
What?
So, have you decided who to give it to yet?
……
Be mindful of your feelings.
…Alright.
You’re all set, now.
With the aid of Mana, you will have many wonderful adventures…
I understand. Thank you!

The Mana Lutanus, who was librarian at the Eden Temple, had another gift for Viese.



I have a present for you.
For me? Thank you!
This is a very special day.
System Message: Received [Alchemy 101]!
You now have the recipes for [Heal Herb] and [Fear Bottle]!
Remember to study hard.
I will, I promise. Thank you.

And so Viese left to return home to her workshop.



I cannot help but note you look somewhat confused. Perhaps I’ve been moving too quickly, taking for granted what you know about the world.



There, the spirits known as Mana and Humans live a peaceful life.
From the mother mana, the Creation Mana Lilith the source of that power is Elements.
It is a world where everything that has form is composed of Elements.
The users of those Spirit Mana and Elements crafted skills from where there were none.
In the extremes, they crafted skills that created rare metals. These people were called Alchemists.
Eden’s only town, Noir… Here, a young man and young woman are studying Alchemy.
The boy’s name is Felt. The girl’s name is Viese.
These two orphans have been raised together since they were children.
Today, Viese is being initiated as a full-fledged alchemist.
Things are going to change, but…
Walking along in this gentle autumn breeze she still does not know the fate that lies in store for her.

And so Viese returned to Noir to find Felt.



Feinne’s Fourth Wall Lectures: The Town of Noir
The town of Noir has four buildings that can be entered, and only three of them matter for now. The most important is of course our Workshop, whose various uses will wait for another time. The other two that we can always access are Yach’s General Store and Melona’s shop. These stores sell both ingredients and recipes, and later in the game we’ll also see some little subplots from them. There’s a few recipes you can in principle afford right now but you don’t really need any of them because you can’t make them right now.

But felt was nowhere to be found…



Where could he be…?
…I bet he’s at that gate again.
The Belkhyde Gate is just outside of town.
Let’s go.

Belkhyde… A legendary world behind a sealed gate, filled with unknown dangers.



Belkhyde… It’s a whole other world… Nothing like Eden.
These ruins are connected to another world beyond the Belkhyde Gate.
What kind of world can it be?
I knew I’d find you here.
Oh, hello Viese.
Don’t, “Oh, hello” me!
What happened to “Let’s go celebrate when you become an alchemist,” Felt?
Uh… that was today?
…I should have known you’d forget.
Are you still thinking about that other world?

Despite all he had in Eden, Felt couldn’t stop thinking about the world beyond the gate.



Isn’t it exciting just thinking about it?
Ha, I guess Eden is just too small for you, Felt.
Did you ditch study hall to hang out by the Azoth again yesterday?
Well, alchemy is kinda boring. I’d rather be swinging a sword than studying.
It’s weird, but I can concentrate better over there.
I just want to grow stronger. When that day comes…
Hehe…
…What?!
Oh, nothing.
…I want to go to Marmel Forest. Want to come with me?
Sure.
Besides, I haven’t checked out the Azoth yet today.
Okay, I’ll just follow you then.

And so they left for the forest to meet the Dour. I suppose you don’t know Dour, come to think of it. They’re the Mana of Wood.

Video- “The Pact of Wood”

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Huh? What do you think?
I’m a full-fledged alchemist now…
So you say… But, this is the Wood Mana’s holy ground. This is Dour’s tree.
Besides, how can you be a full-fledged alchemist when you still burn the Cauldron every day?
Ugh! Why do you always bring that up?
Come on, you’re the hardest working student in Eden.
Yeah, but… You’ve always been more talented than me.
Even when we first started, you were better than me at synthesizing.
You learned elemental extraction in less than a week!
If you just study hard, you’ll pass…
Yeah, study hard…
But, that’s the hardest part.
…You never change.
Yeah, yeah. Let’s go.

Feinne’s Fourth Wall Lectures: Marmel Forest
So we’ve got some stuff to talk about in world basics now. There is stuff all over the place even in early areas like the forest here, much of which isn’t fully accessible yet. The most important thing is subtle and I’ll show it right now.



This is a Lithograph, and we need to remember it for much later in the game because it’s part of a major side quest later. The forest is also covered in plants that we can grow using an item we’ll get later on. These plants have a secondary use, though, that will be much more useful in the short run. As noted earlier, everything in the world is made out of Elements, and we can get those out of them with Felt’s Elemental Extraction ability. By walking up to them and pressing the square button we turn them into whatever Elements constitute them and add those to our reserves. In the forest we can get Wood, Water, and Aroma Elements. We’ll see what we can do with Elements in a later update when we talk about Alchemy.

As they traveled to Dour’s tree, they passed the clearing where the Azure Azoth rested.



This place feels odd.
This place is strong with Mana power…
Do you feel that?
Yes, I do.
C’mon then, let’s go.
The Azure Azoth…
It’s been stuck here for a long time.
Kreuz said that Azoth is the pinnacle of alchemic creation.
Well, if it can’t be used, then it’s just junk though.
Is it true, that nobody can pull that thing out?
Sure seems that way.
Even the Mana of Eden have been trying to pull it out…

To think, that such a thing as an Azoth would simply be stuck in the ground in an old forest.



Relax. I’ve been trying to do this everyday.
OK!
Hmph…
……
……
……

And of course the Azoth did not budge.



Yep, that’s not budging.
Are you alright?
*sigh * Yeah. I bet this thing has some amazing powers.
...
What now?
Hmm.
The center of this sword is full of red gems. I think I’ve seen this somewhere before.
Hmm.
Well, since this was made through alchemy, I’m sure that we can figure it out eventually.
Felt, will you help me?
So, what, you’re going to coop yourself up in the library for days on end?
You got it!
I’ve had enough of studying already.
Come on! You want to solve this, don’t you?

They continued on to the great tree of the Dour.



I don’t come down here very often.
Hmm.
Hey, Viese. You’ve graduated already?
Yep. I’m a full-fledged alchemist now.
Congratulations!
That means now we can always be with you.
Uh huh. I’ve been waiting for this for so long.
But Viese, your workshop is too crowded…
Yeah, that’s too bad…
……
I brought the Mana Gem.
Oh, right.

In order to make use of their skills Alchemists require the assistance of Mana. To facilitate this, Pacts were created that allow Alchemists to call Mana to their side.



I, Viese Blanchimont, have pledged to uphold the sacred tenets of Lilith.
In honor of that pledge, I have come to form a pact with Dour, the Wood Mana!
Whew.
The pact has been made.
I’m glad everything went so smoothly.
Yeah, that… That looked easy.
It might look easy, but it’s actually pretty tough.
If you say so.
System Message: Received the mark of the Wood Mana, the [Wood Gem]!
We can Synthesize now that we have the Wood Mana.
It never hurts to help.
Then, let’s go back to the workshop.

As they left the tree, Viese tried and failed to bring something up.



Rings? Why do you ask?
If you want to get a ring, you should ask an experienced alchemist.
Um, that’s not what I meant.
?
You see…
?
Never mind.
?
You’re sure acting strange.

And that’s when everything went wrong.



The ground began to shake.

Video- “The Sword”

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The sky shattered.



And whole pieces of Eden began to fade away.



The Mana’s holy grounds had vanished like smoke on the wind.





Yeah… I hope so…
Viese, are you okay?
Huh? Yeah, I’m fine.
We don’t usually have quakes, and that one was huge!
It sure was.
I wonder how crazy things are back at the workshop…
Yeah, me too…
Are you sure you’re alright? This is pretty strange, right?
……
Oh no!
What’s going on?
Wh-What’s happening?!
Look at that!

Even the great tree was gone.



Could that have been the cause of the quake?
I don’t know.
But all the holy grounds of Mana are vanishing…
We have to report this to the others.
…You’re right.
Hurry, we have to get back to the Eden Temple.

And as they left the forest, they had another surprise in store for them.



The Azoth…
It’s glowing…

And a voice rang out…



What?
???: ----answers my call…
Who said that!? Who’s out there?!
Are you okay?
???: ----answers my call…
There it is again. That voice…
Voice? I didn’t hear anything.
Wait, you didn’t hear that voice just now?
There’s a voice coming from the direction of the sword.
???: One who answers my call…
Do you possess the strength to bear the burden of Eden’s fate?
There, it’s that voice again.
Felt! Be careful!
Don’t worry.

And the world went black.



???: Are you prepared to fulfill our obligations to the Mana Chiefs, as sworn in the Eternal Vow?
Vow? What are you talking about?
???: A crisis is emerging in Gardo.
The time has come to open the gate using the power of the Azure Azoth.
Gardo?
???: I shall only grant my power to one who is worthy…
H-Hey, hold on a sec!

Felt had no idea what the sword was talking about, and it went quiet again after.



……
Are you alright?
Huh? Hah.
You freed the sword…
The Azure Azoth.
It came loose.
It’s not as heavy as it looks…
What did the voice say?
It was something about Gardo and “are you ready?”
But, I don’t hear it anymore.
Oh, really?

The ground began to shake again, though less than before.



Hmm, I wonder what’s happening…
We’d better hurry back to the Eden Temple.
Right.

And so they left to try and learn the truth of what had happened. They had no idea that the answer was a world away…