Part 6: The Item Co-Lector

Update 6: The Item Co-Lector






Music: Wind Over Time


On the way to Lake Forwel, I decided to make a couple stops. Here I'm showing off a blocked path – there is a trail here, but the game simply won't let us proceed until the plot allows it.





Hey, this looks inter-







...Oh. Guess we won't get much accomplished here, either. Let's just go the correct way for now.





Music: Lakeside


Zazzy wouldn't turn and face me so I could get a good picture of him, so for the moment let's pretend he's a fisherman. I don't think he'll mind.


Eh!? Huh? What was that, sonny?

I said -

HUH? Whaaaaat? What are you saaaaaying?

...Get a hearing aid, pops.

How rude! I can hear just fine!

… ...Forget it.

Don't be such a jerk, Delsus.

Ohhh, my granddaughter! I haven't seen you in ages!

Uh...I'm not your grandchild. Actually, we'd like to get to the ruins.

Oh. Well why in tarnation didn't you say so? You can't get up there. Alkavana passed a law. You can't travel there without a Visa.


The old man wanders off to his home, to lie in wait for when he can resurface for an obnoxious sidequest.





We kicked their butts last time!

I don't want to push our luck.

Guess we'll have to take a boat, then.







Here we are, on the other side of the water. We can head north or east. Let's try east first.





Music: The Forest of Meeting


This is the roadblock that Alkavana se-MANA ITEM MANA ITEM





Hey! What are you doing? That's the item Mull created...Don't take it!





I opted to return the item (even though it's great) because I wanted to see what happens, but it turns out this is one of those secret not-options.


You're only going to use this for evil...I won't give it back.

Come on, let's go.


Our group runs offscreen. Neun runs after them...and then our group returns without her.


I think we're safe, now.

...I feel bad for her.

Yet another female heart broken by the great Delsus...

Tch...Idiot.


Well that was all very strange. Anyway, we can't proceed forward without a Visa, so let's double back and head north this time.





I don't actually know why this character is referred to as “Little” Girl, since she looks to be an adult to me.


A question. Where are we?

Oh, a new customer. Hi, the name's Lector. This caravan sells rare items that we collect from all across the globe.

I don't suppose you have any Visas.

Of course I do.

I'm sure they're hard to come by, and – Huh!? You do!?

I've got three of 'em: for collection, sample, and trade.

Who'da thunk it?

Could we have one? Er, how much are they?

Hm...How about we make a deal? I need someone to make me an Item List. Think you could do that?

Yeah, no problem!

Okay, then. It's a deal. Here you go. All I need you to do is stop by whenever you find a new item. I may even pay you.














Music: Popo's Pleasant Money Lecture


Toady were going to learn about...Um...Where the heck is Klein? Oh well, I guess he was too busy to make it. But don't worry! I have another guest speaker!





Start whenever you're ready.

Well, this is a little something I call Making an Item List. When you find a new item, stop by and I'll register it on the list. Depending on the items you bring, you'll receive various rewards. For example, I'll give you a present after you bring me enough items.

Just...collect stuff and show it to you. Wow, that sounds easy!

It is. And you can review the list whenever you want! Cool, huh?

Thank you for speaking, Lector. Do you have any other advice?

Not really. Come visit me whenever you like!

Oh well, guess I'll see you next time!


























In case the vague concept of “present, maybe?” doesn't entice you, Lector also hands over a whopping 100 cole per item found...





And if we complete sets of items, such as this one, we unlock stuff in the Bonus menu on the title screen! Pretty nifty, I think.









One cool thing this lets you do is view all of a character's different portraits. There's also a sound test and a cinematic viewer, but I didn't get anything for those just yet.

Okay, now let's head back to the roadblock.





Drei, remain here and keep watch.





And that's the fifth (er, third?) and last of the Alkavana Knights. Beggur, Ein, and Zwei leave, and our team enters.


It's about time they left.

That one shouldn't recognize us.

With some good acting and a little luck, we'll be on the other side in no time.


Our group approaches Drei.


You need a Visa to get through the gate.

Here you go.

Let's see here...Seems to be in order...Okay, you may pass.

Hey, keep up the good work.


Boy am I hungry! I hope we have chicken divan tonight...

Hee hee! Looks like we fooled him.

Let's get out of here before Beggur comes back.





Just a short jug further, and we have an intriguingly named first proper dungeon!





Music: Sleeping Reality


I like Iris' Resting Place a lot. The music is good, the fights are a step up but not overwhelming, and...I dunno, I'm just a sucker for ornate cemeteries.





This is one of the first places where you can really farm Mini Pendelooks. I don't think there's any particular need to do so right now, but they're here if you need 'em. Let's have a look inside that door.





I dunno...Looks like some kind of factory.


The fairy notices us and walks over.


Oh, hello. Welcome to the reverberatory furnace.

The refribriwhat?

You can fuse any of your ore here, no matter how hard it is. However, this furnace is being repaired, so you'll need to come back later. By the way, my name's Puko. I'm the janitor. Nice meeting you.


Hmm...I guess we'll have to figure out what this is useful for later. I'll try to remember it's here.





As you might guess, this place is home to many spirit enemies. These ladies have super low HP (I think it might actually be 1) so Delsus can kill them easily with his Dark Arrow and Klein with his normal attacks. Lita gets to cheerlead.





This attack makes me think of Paper Mario but I don't know why. It doesn't hurt too bad, at least.





These electric thingers can be extracted for some Lightning Elements. I believe they hurt you if you touch them as well – I didn't try it out.

If we head forward a little, Lita will get distracted by something.





I can feel a lot of Mana energy...

Well, it's man-made.

Yeah...I think an alchemist probably made it. Can you feel the power? Iris' Resting Place...I wonder what this was for.

Whatever it was, it's just another ruin now. Come on – we have to find that catgirl.





A few Growloons hang out in this area. This one can't be extracted – only destroyed.





While there are plenty of ghosts here, there are a lot of Punis here, too, so Lita gets her chance to shine.





These arrow blocks force you to move in the direction they point. It would be annoying if I couldn't just extract them for Power and Stone elements.





These statues are Very Important, because...







Y-Yeah...Because I'm an alchemist.

Hm, that is rare. Goodbye, then.

Wait up!

Hm?

Why don't you come with us? We could use your power.

Ah, yes, of course...Because you are an alchemist.

The more Mana I know, the more power I can use, so...

…

At least you're honest, I suppose.


And thus we get our third Mana, the Mana of Darkness, Plua!



















Music: Popo's Pleasant Money Lecture


Today, Plua is going to teach us about Summoning Monsters.

Hello, class.

So, what can you show us?

If you use my power, darkness will summon many monsters to you. I assume this would be useful when you with to train by fighting monsters.

Oh, yeah! Klein could bulk up super fast!

It isn't difficult to use. Just set the action dial to the most basic monster, Puni, and press the square button.

Thanks, Plua. How about one last tip before you go?

Using my power will change your adventure. It may become more difficult, but also prove more rewarding.

Hmm...difficult doesn't sound fun to me.

Would you like to try it now?

Wh-What?



What was that noise?






Waaaaaauuuuuggggghhhhh!









...See? Fun, wasn't it? That's all for today. See you again.

Ugh...That was my...line...
















You can find other Mana by searching statues, just like that. In fact, if you see anything strange on the map, you should check it out. That's not all...Even if you find a statue easily, it might be super hard to reach it. But if you master using different actions, it shouldn't be that big of a problem. That's all for now...See you again!


Oh come on, that wasn't even a tutorial! *grumble*





















Sometimes we'll come across these balls of mana. These can be extracted for a whopping thirty-six of their respective element – in this case, Dark.





I also nabbed this new Mana Item, the Mana Jar, which restores MP. Sadly, it costs 5 Spirit Elements to make (Actually more since Plua can handle them, but has a modifier), so I can't make very many. Perhaps I'll find a decent place to farm Spirit Elements soon.









Hmm, the stat boosts aren't anything special, but what's this MANA UP (S)? That sounds really promising.





These two huge blue sigils just kind of rotate here. We can walk right through them and nothing happens. How curious. Well, anyway, I think I see the exit-







Music: Beat of the Rumbling Earth


It's Mysterious British Gentleman, who has finally deigned to get a portrait!


What the hell are you doing here? Where's Beggur!?

This has gone on long enough. Hand it over, girl.

Are you cracked? I don't have anything for you.

Hmph. Haven't you realized who you are, yet...Daughter of Iris?

…!?

What are you talking about!?

Very well. I will have to take the power myself...





Mull approaches Lita and, um, puts his hand distressingly near her breast region.


What the hell do you think you're doing, you pervert? AH!!!!





Hmph...It's lost its shine...No matter. I'll just have to alter the plan accordingly...





And Mull teleports away. After paralyzing everyone. That's two instances of villain power bullshit in one cutscene.


Lita!

Don't worry...I'm...okay...

Don't worry? What the hell was that!?

What's the Ruby Prism? And why did he call you Daughter of Iris?





We still have to find that girl, right? Don't you want your book back?

… …

Okay, okay...But let us know if you need help, okay?

...Yeah. Let's get going.


Hmm...could we have finally stumbled onto the real plot of the game?

Regardless, let's get out of here.





Music: The Forest Where the Witch Lives


It must be.

We made pretty good time, then. Now, just look for a house that a witch might live in.





Hey, mushrooms I can extract for Spirit Elements! I like this forest already.





The enemies here aren't too bad. Mandragoras are annoying because they like to paralyze someone when they die (which is actually more of an Attack Down debuff than what it is in other RPGs), but it doesn't always work. Golems are mountains of HP and defense but magic hurts them well enough. They also enjoy throwing their heads at you.





High quality water for high quality items! Actually I think there's even higher quality water somewhere else.







It looks like we're here! Unfortunately Zeldalia apparently likes trolling visiting alchemists by putting a Mana Item out of reach. What a mean lady.





Well, that's it for now. Join me next time as we beat up a little girl because she stole some book.







-


Decision Time!

Do we want an alchemy item or a new ability?