Part 16: The Other Wind Mana

Update 16: The Other Wind Mana






Music: To Each Their Own Way


Yeah, what she said. I'm gonna hit the hay.

I think I'll get to bed, too.

… …

Klein, can I ask you something, meow? Meow...could you sleep in my bed with me? I get so lonely at night...meow...

What!? You always slept by yourself before!

I try to be brave, meow...But it's too hard. Zeldalia always slept next to me, meow. Can't you at least try?





Meooooow...Can you at least hold my hand 'til I fall asleep?

Okay, I guess that's not so bad...














What was that!?





...Zeldalia!?

That's right. I can communicate through Norn's body. I don't do it all the time...But I like to watch over her as she sleeps.

So what's going on?

Norn's still a child. When she's alone, it reminds her of the past. She was lost in the mountains when I found her. Yes...she's a mountain cat.

!?

I personified her when she was very young. She doesn't know anything about it, though.

Why are you telling me this?

Because she seems to like you. She's a good kid, you know. Take care of her.

… …


I really don't like the idea of someone being able to hijack my body in my sleep, even if it was someone I trust. I guess as long as it's just talking then maybe it's not so bad? At any rate, going home just triggers that scene, but when we try to leave...





Oh yeah, I found pants in the house. Weird. Okay, actually leaving this time.





Music: Looming Crisis


Meow! I'm worried about Zeldalia!

You should steer clear of the forest until we figure out what to do about the monsters.

Kleee~iin...!

We should make sure Zeldalia is okay.

Oh meow, Klein. You always know what to say! Purr...

She's our friend. We should help her out.





There's supposed to be a ton of Growloons, so just let Norman know when you get rid of them.





Oscar's still hanging around the town square. Sadly, I still can't make either of his recipes (they require fairly rare items, such as Frozen Rain and Palm Fish). I bought this nifty dragon tongue from him, though.





Do you have any others? I'd love to read 'em!

Hmm...Well, I have this one.

Huh...? “My, Myself, and Bombs.” Hey, that sounds great! Thanks!


(Fade out/in)


That book was da bomb! See you later!


Oh no, Yach, that pun was da bomb. Okay, let's zip on over to the forest.





Music: The Forest Where the Witch Lives


This bit isn't too bad. The enemies in the forest are the same, so they pose basically no threat at all. We just have to find the four or five Growloons hanging out here and kill them. Easy.









As you can see, some of them are floating pretty high so you need to keep some of the environment intact as a means of reaching them. Also, there's something seriously wrong with the, um, spaceboxes of these stumps that made it nigh impossible to do what should have been a very simple jump. Oh well, I got them anyway. Once we kill the last Growloon, we automatically move on to Zeldalia's house.





Music: Cute Witch


Zeldalia! Are you okay, meow?

Ouch...it's just my back...

What's going on out there?

Oh...the Mana of Wind is just being a pain again.


SILWEEEEST!


It's been like this for awhile. I'd go do something, but not with my back acting up.

Just leave it to us!

Don't underestimate it. Nothing's more dangerous than a Mana gone wild.


Our party walks out, but Arlin stays behind for a moment...





I can't stand by and do nothing.

I know you're anxious, but now is the time for patience.

I wish I had more time.

… …


You've got plenty of time, Arlin. Isn't your best friend a clock or something?







Music: Ferocious Drive


Oh, it's not Silwest, it's just...uh...I don't actually know what I'm looking at but there's a pig involved because this is Atelier Iris.





This guy is actually pretty nasty. Physical attacks don't work, so Lita has to rely on Force Blast (and if you let her MP bottom out then she can't even do that; fortunately, I reset her MP back at base).





The Jin Rider generally does 30-40 damage per hit. That SOUNDS manageable, and I guess it really is if you're on the ball, but I wasn't so much.





I decided to cycle around my characters a bit before ultimately reverting to the usual Klein/Lita/Norn setup. Delsus' Dark Arrow is pretty mediocre here, and again it's really the only thing he can do to damage this boss.





Anyway, the reason this boss is so dangerous is that it frequently gets extra actions, so you can basically count on it getting two attacks per turn. Furthermore, even with a decent equipment setup, Klein is still kinda slow and so Jin Rider sometimes gets two turns to Klein's one (so up to four attacks).





I tried to paralyze it, but no such luck...







So yeah, this is the sort of battle that can go to shit very, very quickly.

Fortunately, the game allows you to swap out knocked out characters for battle-ready ones, so I got Lita and Delsus in for Norn and Klein.







Things got kind of dicey without my healer, although I have plenty of healing items around if I need them, too.





Ultimately, I was able to overpower him before he got to off any of my other characters, and Delsus and Arlin got delicious boss EXP!





Hey, it looks like Arlin is finally rounding out his skill set a little. Good to see.


Whew, glad that's over. We should report this back at the bar.

Wait, did you see that? I think it's another mirror!





How convenient.


It has a similar aura to the last one we found.

This must be the other half of the Henmil's Gate puzzle.

But what was it doing here?

It probably has something to do with that ring of stones. It's obviously manmade, so someone must have hidden the mirror here.







This game is notoriously lacking in resurrection items, and even now I only really have this one. I have the elements to make more, but I don't have a Mana who can handle the Life Element, so they'll have to wait.

Now that I look, it seems I have some of every element except one. I wonder what else there could be?





What are you looking at?

… …


Right, then. Let's report to Norman and then head off to Henmil's Gate.





Music: Town Where the Bells Chime


Everyone appreciates it. Here's your reward. [1,200 Cole]. I'm starting to think maybe these Growloons are a sign of things to come.

Really? Well, it means more work, and more money for us. So it all works out.

Ha ha ha...that's the spirit.





Hey, between the reward for the quest proper and the extra money from advancing in ranks, I'm suddenly well-to-do. I wonder how quickly I'll burn through all this money on items.





I'm not doing an Atelier Veola proper today, but this is some setup for the next update.


I'm here, too!

What, did you follow him inside?

…!

Oh, I almost forgot. You two travel a lot, correct?

Yeah, I guess we travel a lot.

Could you do me a favor? If you find a book on your way, can you bring it to me?

What kind of book?

Any kind will do. When I read new things, I think about creating new items.

So you're just stealing other people's recipes?

...That's a little rude. At least I'd read the book instead of hitting someone with it.

What's that supposed to mean!?

So if we give you new books, you can make new items for us?

I believe that's correct.

Then get ready for books, Veola.


Yessss, it's finally starting. Okay, lets talk to her again.





You asked for books, right? Here you go.

Magic in 7 Days...

It's a book for beginners, so it's probably ideal for you.

That wasn't nice, Lita.

… …

...I do not want it.

Look, we dragged this all the way back here for you!

I said I don't want it.

It's heavy! I could have thrown it at someone's head! Take it!

… …

That's enough, Lita!...I'm sorry, Veola. She's really not a bad person...I'm sure we'll bring a better book next time. I'll leave this one here, even if you don't need it. It's pretty heavy, and I'm tired of carrying it. We'll see you later.








Y'know, as oblivious as Klein is when dealing with Lita, he's surprisingly on the ball on how to interact with Veola. That's all for Veola this update, but I see quite a bit of synthesis on the horizon...





You certainly look happy.

Oh, you can tell? Well, it's because I finally found the Flawless Marvel!

Way to go!

I was just about to leave, actually. It's pretty far, so I won't be back for a while. I'll bring you back souvenirs!

Yaaay, meow!

It's time to head east – toward the ruins!


Okay, well, have fun! I wonder how long it will be before I wind up having to go there myself for some reason or another.





Oh yeah, sometimes when we talk to Yach he'll give us a random item, as a sort of reward for letting him read our books. This time he gave me a Stained Grass.





Music: Spirit's Hometown


...Hmm...Why isn't it working? Whoa-





…!





What power? THE power.


Your legacy...? Who are you?

However, the power alone is not enough to open this gate. The final requirement is that you must understand the heart of Mana.

The heart of Mana?...

You must be welcomed into the Eternal Land of Mana. Once you understand the heart of Mana and have gained their trust, the gate will open.

Wait! Who are you?


The woman vanishes.


It was a recorded illusion. She wasn't talking directly to us. That makes things a lot more complicated, doesn't it?

She mentioned the Eternal Land.

That sounds familiar.





Where the hell have I heard that before...? Well, I'm bound to remember eventually.

Think harder. You have to recall it.

Yeah, I know. Let's get moving.


Well, I guess this is a cue to head back to the base. But as soon as we enter Kavoc...





Music: Bullfight





No way...You can't even use it, anyway.

Maybe a little pain will change your mind...

Hey, Delsus, isn't that -


Delsus charges forward ahead of the others.


Guys, guys...Ganging up on a lady is pretty low, even for scum like you.

Y-you...!

Hey, isn't he one of Klein's friends? This must be our lucky day...





Well, it's a surprise battle against some decently dangerous enemies. These guys can also deal around 30-40 damage to one or two characters, and with six of them that can add up. Fortunately I'm still healed up and Klein and Lita were able to off three of them before they got to act, so it's all good.





Norn also picked up a new skill that boosts defense, which I suspect I'll be using rather liberally in the near future.

The knights retreat...





Delsus, you idiot! You can't just run off like that!

Listen, sweetcakes, when a girl's in danger, I help her out. It's policy.

I think you've “helped” her quite enough already!

… …

Look, about last time...

I appreciate the help, but I still can't forgive you.


Marietta storms offscreen. I wonder what she stole, anyway?


Damn...I must have really pissed her off...

Gee, I wonder why!


While Delsus and Lita argue, another familiar face pops up behind our party...





Music: Beat of the Rumbling Earth


Damn, Arlin, that is the goofiest angry pose I think I've ever seen. Also, I like how his hair ribbon looks like bat wings from that angle.


I've been watching you, Klein. I must say, I'm impressed.

...BASTARD!

You've done well too, Arlin. But I'm not here to fight. I've been far too busy collecting the Mana you released.

Mull! I'm not finished with you!

Relax, Arlin. Soon I'll grant you the battle you so desperately crave.


Mull teleports away...


Who is he, Arlin?

...He's my enemy. That's all you need to know.








Music: Hot or Cool


I'm assuming it's some place with a lot of Mana.

_{Yeah, there's a lot of 'em...}

Huh? What do you know?

Er...I didn't say anything.

I heard it too, meow meow!

You'd better not be hiding something from us, Delsus.





...That's convenient. How do we know this isn't one of your tricks?

Why would I lie? I'd be wasting everybody's time.

Well, there was a door in that cave that wouldn't open...

Standing around is wasting time. We should investigate this door.

You seem pretty certain, Arlin.

Yeah, why's everyone on my case when he's talking like that?

It probably needs a key or something...

Let's just head back to Arcose. Someone there might have more info.


And we'll do that in a bit, but before we go, let's have a base conversation with Norn.





What are you studying?

Important things, meow.

Here, let me see...What's this? “The Illustrated Guide to Delicious Food”. You're studying a cookbook!?

It's not a cookbook, meow! It's alchemy!

...Right.

This is great, meow. I can use salt and water to make stew!

How's that even possible?

Look, see? I told you it was about alchemy, meow! Zeldalia will be really proud once I master everything in this book.





And that's an update. I can't help but feel like this Alexia Cave thing is a dubious lead, so join me next time as I ignore that in favor of a very special update. See you then!