Part 14: Fort Galga

Update 14: Fort Galga






Music: Inferno


This is the reward I got for getting however many items for Lector, making this the only time I have to reference Lector in this entire update!





I decided to try my hand at smithing again before I run off to the fort. We'll have to do a lot of fighting and I'm poor from all the money I spent on synthesis items, so I thought maybe I could simulate a new weapon by doing this.





Hmm, this might be okay...







12 def, 15 Mana. Not bad at all. I think I'll keep it for now.





Okay, people, there's more to life than the deadly odor thing.

I decided to zip through the fairy's house so I could revisit the fiery death path to get that Growloon I didn't kill before to raise my rank, since I only need one more. On my way through...





Of course. You can use those stones to create explosives.

Wow, how'd you know that, Delsus?

There weren't any cute girls in my geology class, so I had to pay attention.

That's good news. I don't suppose you could collect some legien stones for me. I need five of the same color. Try to bring me the best stones you can find. I'll give you a reward based on the quality of the stones you bring.


Unfortunately, this is a formal sidequest, and as I just learned, the game can only allows one sidequest to be active at a time so I really need to do this as soon as possible. I do have more than 5 Red Legien on hand, but...you know, I bet Hute could sell me some more Silver or Gold, and she's near the fiery death path (can you guys tell I've forgotten the proper name of that place? _{it's Valiant Path by the way} )





Huh? What are you guys doing here?

Um...What are you doing here?

I heard about this ruin while I was in Arcose...so I wanted to check it out. There may be a sanctuary beneath the lava flow...I'm not sure why it was built, but it seems dangerous experiments were done there. But then, the volcano erupted suddenly, and it was all covered in lava. Unfortunately...not much can be done about that now.

Lava, huh? If only there was a way to freeze everything.

...That's it! You're a genius! We just need to make a lot of Ice Bombs!


Rurona runs out of the area.


...and there she goes. Is she really going to do that?

...I don't know.

She must really love ruins.





I made my way back up to the place I got blocked off last time, and...the Growloon was gone. I wondered for a second if maybe I killed it and forgot, but then I realized that maybe it didn't load properly because of Rurona's cutscene at the beginning. So I left and came back...





...and it turns out that the Growloon is still alive, but there's an invisible wall that prevents Destruction Blast from hitting it. Yeah, fuck you too, game.


Okay, I also wanted to visit Hute for some Legiens. Are you guys ready for one of the more surreal moments in the game?





Music: Dota!


What!?

What do you mean, sold out? You have stuff right there!

If I say we're sold out, we're sold out. Bother someone else today, okay?

… …

Are you really Hute?

Of course I am! Can't you tell by looking at me?

Why's Hute smell like cigarettes, meow?

I know who you are...





Huh!? Two Hutes?

Which one's the real Hute?

Why are you doing this again, sis!?

Aww...you're no fun, sis. Why'd you have to come back so soon?

Why do you keep doing this?

What? It's fun.

Fun!? You're annoying my customers!

I'm not hurting anyone! Besides, they're your only customers, lately.

W-Well, I usually have more!

Fine, fine...I'll think about stopping.





...That wasn't the first time?

No...it seems like every time I leave, she comes in to harass my customers. There's gotta be some way to get even with her...

Huh?

What is it?

...Nevermind.

Guess I'll talk to my sister about it. Later.


... … … ...I can't make this stuff up, folks.





Aaaanyway, Hute has just enough Gold Legien and I have just enough money to get 5 total. Back to the blacksmith!





...Hmm. I'm not sure if that was really worth the money and expending semi-rare items for. Oh well, at least the sidequest is done.

I went back to Kavoc, got sort of confused, and headed to Veola's because that's always a good place to be, and triggered a new cutscene...






Music: A Girl's Memories



...That does not concern you.

Oh really? Well, I say it does. You're causing the Chamber of Commerce a lot of trouble. This place stinks, it's loud, and those random explosions...

Those aren't related to the Chronolex.

Hello!? I don't care! Finish up your Chronolex and get the hell out of here!





I -

I -

you -

you can't just -

I hate you


...Did he just come here to hurt her feelings?

That's what it looked like.

I have other customers. If you don't intend to buy anything, please leave.

Ha! You're helping customers now? That's a laugh! You know what? Just keep it up. You're better off blowing yourself up, anyway.


This guy better thank his god that this game doesn't allow me to kill NPCs. Thankfully, he leaves the shop at this time.


...I'm sorry you had to see that, Mr. Klein.

Who was that? He didn't seem like a customer.

He wasn't. He's a member of the Chamber of Commerce. He's got a reputation for verbally abusing people around here.

Sounds like someone I know. What was that, uh, Chronolex thing?

...It doesn't concern you.

C'mon! I'm trying to show interest. Can't you tell us what it does?

… …

...Alright. The Chronolex is an ancient device.

Uh huh...

...Nevermind.

What!? Come on!

If I told you, you'd never believe me.

You might be surprised.

Please, just leave me alone...

I was only asking -

It has nothing to do with alchemy! I don't have to tell you anything!






Well, THAT was depressing...on the plus side, we're finally starting to get into the meat of Veola's story. I'd forgotten how long it takes for her arc to really get going past the initial “Veola starts to more or less tolerate Klein and Lita's presence” phase. But that's part of why I love her.





Speaking of meat, we're also finally ready to take on the “real” content of this update, Fort Galga! I stocked up on some alchemy items (nearly burned through all my Spirit Elements to make 9 of these but they're worth it and I can always farm more), so let's go!







Music: Popcorn Strategy


By the way, between this update and the Puni God stuff, Pilke has become a strong contender for the status of being my favorite non-shopkeeper NPC.


Hold on just a second. Are those chickens your “boys”? What are you tryin' to pull?

Relax, I've got it under control. They're not here yet.

Perfect...just perfect.

Besides, there's some stuff you guys gotta do for me, first. See those cannons all around? You need to take 'em out. Even we couldn't survive a hit from those bad boys.

So all we have to do is knock out those thieves, right?

There you go, toots! Then there's nobody to fire the cannons.

What's to stop them from firing as we approach?

Chill out, geez. We'll be distracting them while you approach.

It's worth a shot. Let's go.





Get on your knees or get outta the way!

Vile Man: What's with this guy? He thinks he's gonna take us on.

Ohhh, you better believe I brought backup!

Evil Man: You tink yer funny! I'll murderize yer face!





Live Man: Ha ha ha ha! Dance!

Yaaah! A little help here!


Yep, I'll get right on that.





Right after I check the monster log.

SUPER PUNI







Music: Ferocious Drive


This is the first really combat intensive section of the game, and I remembered it being hard but it's not really all that bad. Most of the enemies are three different varieties of thief, who are somewhat fast but don't hit all that hard. They can also use Herbs for a decent heal, but that's more of an annoynace than anything.

The worst thing about them is sometimes they get a “Quick!” action, which as best I can tell means that sometimes they just get an extra turn. Even then, they aren't that dangerous.





They also drop Falcuttas sometimes. I kept Arlin with his poison sword for now, but I'm sort of intrigued by this other weapon as well. I'll probably just forget about it until Arlin gets a weapon that's better than both.





Klein can ELE EXTRACT power and stone elements from these one-way arrows, like the ones in Iris' Resting Place...





And I can also extract elements from my human foes! Most (if not all) of these enemies turn into stone elements (?) which aren't exactly rare so Klein's usually better off using Flame or Ice Bomb or whatever instead of using his weaker standard attack.





Speaking of which, there's an alchemy item in one of these towers! This is Aeroangel, a decent wind-based mana item. I'll try it out on the boss. Oh yeah, I was supposed to try out some of my unused mana items here, wasn't I?





The ladies are archers/gunners, and the most dangerous enemies here in my opinion. They have relatively powerful attacks, and they like to use delayed attacks (they fire into the air and the attack hits a couple turns later). I usually go after them first. The knight/merc guys are just standard physical fighters, stronger and sturdier than the thief type enemies but slower.





First mana item display; the Sleepaid. The sleep regulator will regulate your sleeping. It has a decent area of effect, too, so it can be handy for groups of enemies (such as here).

Incidentally, Norn also has a sleep spell, but it's a double type move, while Sleepaid is instant. I'm not sure if there's really any reason to favor the spell over the mana item.





The Love Gem inflicts Charm, which is kind of like what paralysis or stop is in most games – the afflicted character just doesn't get to do anything until the status is removed. Pretty neat, but as I said, the Love Gem also is kind of expensive (10 Wood Elements and 1 Evil, and the latter has a x3 multiplier from Plua).





I might be a little drunk with power. Extracting elements is just too fun. First the square, then my fellow humans...only when I have extracted the entire world will my extract-lust be sated.

(that would be a much more compelling villain than the one we actually have)





Once we kill all of the enemies on the left and right sections, Pilke's syndicate shows up.


Nice job, guys! Now it's our turn! Let's show 'em how it's done in the PF! IT'S PARTY TIME!





The fairies proceed to throw themselves at a huge metal gate.





Looks like we're even, playa.


It works surprisingly well. Also, I'm not sure if Pilke is addressing Delsus, Klein, or us.





This is a book, and quite possibly the best titled book of all time. We'll give this to Yach and eventually Veola someday. Be sure to get it!





Okay, next up is the Obake Bag. I thought maybe it was a status effect (or several). Well, as it turns out...







it forgoes that and just does HUGE damage. I'm gonna have to make some more of those.





Oh yeah, Lita learned a new ability. As I recall, this is one of those abilities that ejects enemies from battle. I should have tested it out here.





Instead, I had her drop a rock on her enemies. I love Stone Blast.





Lita also powered up right after using it, so she's good to go for the boss fight.





Unholy Water just inflicts bio. It also has an area of effect and it's surprisingly easy to mass produce, but so far I haven't really needed poison to help me win randoms. The Herbal Drop is kind of nominally useful, I guess? I think one of Norman's drinks cures Sleep, too. Whatever. And of course the Mark of Courage sounds super cool but I forgot didn't want to waste one on a fight here.





Once we kill everyone in the central left and central right areas, we can proceed to the boss.





Video: The Bandit Boss

Music: Duke of Stratosphere (new boss theme!)


Mr. Brigand: I'm impressed that 5 people had the skill to overcome the fort of 100 men. Of course, it also takes great skill to command fifty thieves.

Fifty? Oh shoot, meow...We came to the wrong fortress, meow.

Mr. Brigand: No, you stupid cat! That was the trick! Forget it. Finish them!

So he scared people away by lying about their numbers? Lame.


Mr. Brigand: I didn't come this far just to give it up without a fight.

You should have just accepted you were a loser and moved on with life.

I can't stand people like you. You're not just a murderous thief...you're also a liar!

Mr. Brigand: Oh please, spare me the sermon. It's time to die!





The final battle still isn't too bad. Most of the trouble is getting rid of his minions quickly, since their combined damage can add up pretty fast.





Lita drop kicks the ladies...





Klein blows up the wolves...







Aeroangel does solid damage (just shy of 200) and has knockback. Unfortunately I'm pretty limited on Air Elements as well right now, so I won't get to use it much more for a bit.





Eventually the leader can summon new allies, but falcon hawks really aren't a big deal right now. He goes down quickly enough...









...And Norn continues pulling her weight for the team.





Klein nabs Pass Item, which expands Mana Item's area of effect in the opposite direction of Wide Item. Also worth having.







...And we're done for this update! Next time we'll see what lies beyond Fort Galga and hopefully reach this Nelvia place.