Part 11: Stone

Update 11: Stone



Okay, I guess we'd better find that shopkeeper's sister or something. We need to go to Alexia Cave, but there's a brief stop on the way there...







Music: Inferno


Watch your step. That's a river of lava.

It's hot hot hot! Meow...Can we go?

This isn't the right way. Alexia Cave is over there – follow me.


Like the sewers, this is an area we can kind of but not really explore right now. I think if you're really good at platforming (in a game that's not really oriented around platforming) you can get a decent ways in, but I think I'll just wait until I have more exploration abilities before I try and proceed. At any rate, we can just head left along the very bottom of the screen to safely exit towards Alexia Cave.







Music: Hot or Cool


Look up there!...She's the one? Hmm. How do we get up there?


We start immediately below where this lady is standing, but unfortunately that's much too high to jump. Looks like we'll have to find a way up and around...





The enemies here aren't too bad. They hit decently hard (then again, I am using my frailest party setup) but they are no match for Super Lita.





First, let's follow the different-looking path to the right to find a familiar statue.


??? Hey, what gives!? I was having a great dream...and some jerk wakes me up.

Oops, I'm sorry...





Uh, okay.

Man, it seems like forever since I saw an alchemist...I waited here so long that I turned to stone! Ha ha!

… …

...Just a little Mana humor, there. Well, since I'm up anyway, guess I'll help you out.

That would be great, actually.

Sounds good. You can call me Deimia. I'm a Mana of stone. You can't always depend on the younger Mana...so I'm glad to help.

























Music: Popo's Pleasant Money Lecture


Allow me to introduce everyone to the mana of stone, Mr. Deimia!

… …

… …

...Where is he?







Sorry, sorry...I wasn't late, was I?

Phew...That was close. I was almost a magic pancake...

So, what's your deal?

Uhh...I can be a step ladder. … ...That's all.

A step ladder?

You heard me. By standing on my back, you can reach high places. Here, allow me to demonstrate.





Not even close.

So...try summoning me in front of the ramp. Set the action dial to my face, like so, and press the square button. As long as there's room, I'll show up! You can walk all over me until I disappear. Because of me, you can pass ramps like those. That's pretty much all I do.

That was great...right, Klein? What else does Mr. Deimia have to say?

...It's a good thing that ramp was exactly my height...

That's all for now! We'll see you later!


As mundane as Deimia's effect is, he's still vital to getting to all sorta of places and items and things. Perhaps we can use him to help us reach the trapped woman.





















Being a Mana of stone, Deimia really likes rocks. I have a bunch that I've collected – Fest Stones, Fest Rocks, and Red Legien are all pretty common, so they make decent gifts to gain his approval.





On my way further into the mine, I found a new weapon for Arlin (minor stat boost + poison attack)...





...And Lita got an excellent levelup. I also had her equip Deimia right before this (he boosts Stone Blast, and he gives her enormous HP and defense boosts to counterbalance her all-out offensive nature) and passed Uru on to Delsus.





Hmm...I can feel a cold wind blowing in from somewhere.

...Hey, there's a door over here.

The wind might be coming from the other side.

...That's strange. It won't open.

We need to keep moving. She's still in danger.


And here we have yet another thing that doesn't matter know but we need to remember for later. I'd forgotten just how much of this goes on throughout the game.





All right, here we are. Hey, this is the very ledge featured in the tutori-


I know I saw her around here somewhere!

It'd help if we could climb up there...

Too bad there's nothing to boost us up.


Right, but I just got-





oh for fuck's sake.


They actually keep talking but I think we all get the point here.





Check out that gold rock. I bet that'll be nice for some synthesis later. We can also extract Air and Light elements from those funky crystal formations, both of which are rare elements for this point in the game.





Music: Dota!


Who are you guys?

We came here to rescue you, but it looks like you're doing just fine...

…


The woman, Hute, suddenly moves very very close to Klein.


Whoa-

I was so scared...I didn't know what to do...Thank you for saving me!

Oh, it's no problem..._{Heh, you can let go now.}

Jerk...

Come on, let's get you home.

Ohhh...I think I sprained my ankle...Here, I have a bandage. Could you...help me put it on?

Oh...Okay...



Enjoying yourself, Klein?

Wha-huh?

Lita's acting strange, meow. Is she hungry or something?

It's complicated. ...Man, what a drama queen.

Meow?

… ...

We should return.


Klein and Lita's relationship angst can get on my nerves at times, but I love that the game practically mocks itself for it here.

Thankfully, through the magic of falling down we can get out of the cave quite quickly.





...You look fine. You had me worried for nothing.

Why are you being like that? I didn't ASK you to worry.

Nevermind. It's good to have you back.

Stop treating me like a child!

Well, maybe if you stopped running off and getting lost, I wouldn't worry!





...Sisters are hot.

I think they fight like that because they really care about each other.

We still have an errand to complete.

Oh, right. We came here to pick up an order for Hagel.

AH, here's his order. And here's a special gift. Thianks for helping me.


We get two Comet Stones, another nice synthing item.


Come on, Hute. We can finish this argument back at the shop...

Ohhh, you're on, sister!


And that wraps up this mission! Let's head back to Arcose.





Yeah, it's my favorite too.





Music: Anchor and Pickaxe


Hute operates her store out of the mine between Arcose and Poto's Forest. This is my personal favorite spot for farming Mini Pendelooks – they spawn frequently here, and you can respawn them quickly by entering and exiting the shed at the bottom of the area. Sooner or later we'll get to the point where I actually need them.





I also found a ton of Red Legien and maxed Deimia's love/energy out with them.





Hute mostly sells rocks and ore and things, but I believe she's also the first (if not only) merchant who sells Machine Oil, which we'll need for some of Veola's stuff. We can also use it in place of some oils in food dishes (and I think it's even required for one...no, really).





Okay, time to start heading back. I could have teleported via the fairy's house, but I wanted to pick up a few things. Back at Iris' Resting Place, we can reach this neat-looking handle, good for synthesis





There's a second one, but it looks like we'll need the ability to shrink or fly or morph ball or something to get there. Oh well.









Oh hey, I can actually make these. To be honest, I forget about a lot of Klein's Alchemy Items that aren't straight damage/healing, but I'm going to try and be good about using all this stuff someday.





Zeldalia's house has a teleporter as well, although I think it's one-way. Let's head back to Hagel and give him his ore.





Great, this is exactly what I ordered!

We were glad to help.

Now it's time I do you guys a favor. There's only one way to thank you properly...Time for a song!

You've gotta be kiddi-






Music: Hagel's Song



Make him stop!

Meow! Hssssssss!

What in the world?

I can't take much more of this.

It's not that bad, guys...Nope, nevermind.

STOP! Hagel! You can stop now!

Hold on, guys, there's a second verse!

Uh...Hey, why don't you save that for next time?

Not a bad idea, actually. Here, you can have this Star Piece, too.


I don't know what they're on about. The song is actually pretty catchy.

(In case anyone is wondering, Hagel's VA doesn't actually sing anything along – the song link is everything we hear)





Well, we have to keep trying.

Lita's correct.

Well, any bright ideas?

We're running out of time.

True. We should decide our course of action quickly.

I'm sweeeepy, meow.

Norn, you're always sleepy.

Well if I'm sleepy meow, I can't not feel sleepy.

Norn has a point. Maybe it's time to rest.












Soon...This world shall bear witness to the truth.


'kay.












Music: Town Where the Bells Chime


Once again, we have to run around town to find the event flag. But first, there's an optional conversation with Norn.


You look really sad. What's wrong?

Meow. I'm worried about Zeldalia, Klein. Is she really alright without me, meow?

I'm sure she's fine. It's not like you'll never see her again, you know?

Meow? Can we visit? Can we, can we?

Well, we can't just drop what we're doing. But if we're in the area, we'll stop by.

Promise, meow! I want to go see her soon!


It's a little odd having this conversation since we just came to Kavoc through the teleporter in her house. It does actually pay to check up on Zeldalia now and again, though, so let's try and do that.

Now let's leave the house and head to the central area of Kavoc.





How come you can't trust me?

Something isn't right...


The lady knight storms away from the rest of them.


Marietta!

Let her go! She is no longer Alkavana.





Whoa! I didn't know she was with the Alkavana!

Looks like something's wrong...

Now I'm hungry, meow!

I'll fix you something nice when we get home.

Since when can you cook?

There are a lot of things you don't know about me, sweetheart!







Oh, by the way, there's a crossbow for Delsus up around here near the Square of Elemental Extraction. We can reach it now that we have Deimia to help us climb up here. This is the only item I couldn't get in my last file, cheating me out of my precious 100% completion, so I'm making sure to grab it now.

(oh and I guess it also has merits as a weapon upgrade for Delsus. Nothing special, but it's still a step up and it didn't cost me anything money)





It seems he really can cook.

I'm impressed.

There's no secret to it...You just have to practice.

Hiss. Less talking, more cooking...I'm hungry, meow.

I'm almost done, Norn. The finishing touch is the most crucial ingredient...

Okay, meow...



… …



Is it done yet?

Almost.



… …






Norn rushes offscreen and out of the house.


Wait a minute, Norn!

Meh. She probably went to grab a bite somewhere else.

















A letter?


-If you ever want to see your little cat again, come to the sewers...
-Beggur


...We should hurry.





Dammit, Norn. Oh well, I guess more Beggur isn't so bad. Join me next time for another battle with the good ol' Knights of Alkavana. Oh, and feel free to vote on who gets to fight since Norn's not available. See you then!