Part 24: Atelier Bunny?

Update 24: Atelier Bunny?





Music: Succeed on Earth


When we go through Henmil's Gate, we get deposited to the World Map again, with this new area on the other side.





I don't like the Path to the Heavens. The first area has a lot of different elevations and the perspective here really sucks so it's kind of hard to tell how high or low everything is relative to where you are.

I mean, it's not really a problem, it's just sort of annoying.





There's a lot of loot here, although most of it's just bags of money or Mana Stones. There's also another of these huge stacks of rocks with a Mana Stone on top, but the real reward is the thirty or so Stone Elements you can get from extracting all these rocks.

If we head to the northeastern section of the map...





We're almost there. It should be close, now.

What's that, meow?





Aww, lookit the little bun-


We should stay back. That thing looks pretty vicious.


Shut up, Delsus.


He's injured. I'll tend the wound.



There you go, little guy. All better.





… …

Please don't be afraid. I won't hurt you. I'd like to show you my village. Please follow me.





This is pretty impressive.

We hide from humans because we don't wish to scare them.

You aren't really THAT scary...

I almost forgot, my name is Trolin. Please, make yourselves at home.


Well, that wasn't really where I thought any of this was going, but more towns means more shops, right? Let's see what sorts of new and exciting items we can find here.





Atelier Totopop & Mofuma: Welcome to the Animal Kingdom


What is it?

I just saw a rare race for the first time in quite a while, po. Lucky!

...Rare?

MEOW?

Oh, no, not you! Though you're interesting too, po. Well, it has been a while since I spoke with a human. Maybe a couple hundred years, po. The name's Totopop! I own this shop. This is the Mystical Beast Drug Store. Run by beasts, for beasts. However, I'm sure our products will work fine on you, too. But I don't just sell medicine, po! Think of this like a general store. Here, take this as a sign of our friendship. Drink it all down, po!

What the hell is this?

It's a popular beverage in our village, po. Just drink it and see for yourself.

What's it going to do to us, meow?

You'll turn into mystical beasts like me forever, po! It's so great!

Meow!? That's strong medicine!

Wait...! Does that mean we can't turn back into humans ever again?

Oh, po! In that case, just sniff it a little. After a bit, you'll pop right back into humanity, po.




























Music: Popo's Pleasant Money Lecture


Today you're going to learn about the Transformation feature. I've invited Totopop to join us for today.

Welcome, po! Thank you, thank you...I own the general store, po.

Relax a little there, pal. Don't usurp my hosting job. Okay, now. Teach the class.

No problem, po! This medicine has been passed down in my village for longer than anyone can remember...If you drink it, you'll change into a mystical beast forever, po. However, a small whiff will have the same effect on a temporary basis.

If you want to use the medicine, set your Action Dial to the animal and press the square button. So...are there any benefits to changing into a mystical beast?

Of course! You'll be super cute, and your popularity with otaku will soar!

… ...

… ...

… ...That's it?

Oh, po! There are other benefits. They're just not as cool, po.

Phew! For a second there, I thought I was going to have to refund this class.

It will be easier to move around in tight areas. Also, mystical beasts can safely fall from higher altitudes.

Hmm...yeah, that might come in handy. Any other advice for the player?

Sure, po! Always enjoy living the life of a mystical beast, po. You'll have good luck each day!



For a second, I thought I was going to lose my hosting job...but now I know there's nothing to worry about. I'm the cutest ever!























Music: Animal Village


What!?

In order to purchase anything from the Mystical Beast Drug Store, you'll need to pay in Karikari Nuts. That is our currency.


Oh, well that's no problem. Karikari Nuts grow in lots of places, but I find the easiest place to farm them is Arcose – they grow on the wall outside the antique shop so you can just run in and out.





Witness the power of being a bunny! Like the tutorial said, this allows us to go in small places or across small platforms. We can also fall much farther, though that's more useful for taking shortcuts back rather than making progress.





We can also farm Dunkelhite here, in the event we need it instead of Rafflesia. There's some Sweet Glowgrass here as well.

Anyway, most of the inhabitants just spread rumors about each other, but there's another important person to talk to here.





You are the humanity children, yes? It is a please to meet you.

You're pleased to meet us?

Please excuse my speaking. It has been a few hundred the years. Welcome. Mofuma is being my name! This is Mystical Beast Restaurant. It is owned for the mystical beasts, by the mystical beasts. I am guessing that it is fine for the humans to eat too, yes? Please find our gourmet dishes quite inviting, please.


This place is so very precious. I kind of want to make a Hundred Acre Woods comparison, but Totopop is waaaay too chill to be Rabbit.





I didn't actually end up buying anything this time (I somehow only have eight Karikari Nuts so I can't buy the really good stuff), but Mofuma sells more Palm Fish and Totopop sells a couple of curious gadgets that I'm sure I'll need someday. Mofuma and Totopop also both do synthesis. I can't make any of Mofuma's stuff right now, but Totopop has one lone recipe right now that I can try...







Po! I finished the tranquilizer!

Meow – I hate shots!

How can you hate shots? This will completely cure Paralysis, Poison, Sleep, and Stone, po! It's the best anti-toxin in the entire store, po!


I don't think we've even come across Stone yet. This could be a nice item to have, although Baji Serum is kind of rare so I can't synth a lot of them, and it costs five Karikari Nuts to purchase outright so I can only really get one at a time.





When we leave the village, we're deposited on the world map again. Going north takes us back to the Path to the Heavens, but south...







...Takes us to Kavoc's Sewers! We've also unlocked the Hidden Village as a teleporter destination, so this is a useful shortcut back home.





Music: Succeed on Earth


Anyway, back on track; we need Transformation to scale this mountain, as there's a path that's to small to cross otherwise.





… …

Lita? What's wrong?

N-Nothing...I just feel so sad...It's a great sorrow from...long ago. I think I lost...something very important...I can't remember. Who...What am I?


You're an occasionally unpleasant but highly effective monster guts extractor. Now c'mon, we've got to get into Avenberry proper to figure out how to save you or something.





Now we have an elevator maze that's also a teleporter maze. My favorite.





Ooh, I'll have to try and make an even tinier Craft with this. I don't know if such a thing actually exists, but I'm going to find out!





The monsters here aren't so bad. A lot of them are back from earlier areas like Ka Luda's Playground or even as far back as the Cleft of Nelvia. The main new guy is Jinn (like that Jinn Rider boss back at Zeldalia's but less obnoxious)





DAMN RING!





The Damn Ring honestly seems more harmful than good. I'm tempted to give it to Arlin anyway because I've avoided giving him anything worthwhile and it would be funny. We'll see.





There are some good items strewn about this area. Of course, since it's a maze, it's easy to miss some of the good stuff, but dungeons in this game don't get especially large so it's not too bad to explore the whole place.







Hmm...I would love to try these, but Evil Elements are still kind of difficult to work with right now (only Plua can handle them and she has a x3 modifier). I think I'll have a means of dealing with that pretty soon, though.





I forgot about these. This guy ran away before I could kill it. I assume I get lots of elements from extracting them or just good exp/items/whatever. I'll let you know if I kill one.





Music: What Was Left Behind


The rumors were too kind.

Well there's still gonna be treasure, right? Right!?

… …


Welcome to Avenberry! The inhabitants were kind enough to leave a little guest house right at the entrance for people to save and rest, so let's do that real fast.





Oop! There's some gold!


We get a cool 5,000 Cole. Also, I like how Delsus' money is just kind of automatically ours now.


At least we didn't waste the trip, but...why's the town in such bad shape?





Oh, there's also a teleporter to the blacksmith fairy's house here, though we can't teleport back here – the closest teleport back from there is in the Hidden Village. Still, it's nice if you need to go back and get more items or elements or whatever.





Groooooovecuuuuube

(also Cueparts, which are a high-end synthing item that cost 9 Karikari Nuts from Totopop's store).





The first section of Avenberry is this little puzzle. It's basically just a test to see if you remember what Mana abilities you have and how to use them. Uru, Deimia, the Transformation power, and possibly Nymph/Silwest can all be useful crossing to the teleporter on the other side.





Yes, I can't wait to stab something to death.





oh nevermind then





Music: Eternal Eyes


And this is the second part of Avenberry, and the proper dungeon of the area – the library. As we approach the entrance...





It's the same projection thing as Henmil's Gate.

I am Iris, the one who sealed this place.

That's -

I know why you have come, and what you seek. Please come with me into the library, so I might reveal Avenberry's secrets.


Aww...She's gone, meow.

The recording said to follow her into the library. There's probably another one in there.

We need to follow her...


And when we've made just a little progress into the library itself...





Klein, your book is glowing and warm, meow.





The library is another maze, and has yet more good things in it. There are also lots of Growloons, so we'll need to explore the entire area sooner or later for 100% completion.





I wonder what the drawbacks to this weapon are? I used Arlin for a couple fights and didn't notice any major problems. Maybe I'll notice in the inevitable boss fight. Regardless, that's a sickening magic boost.





Teleporters





Arbitrary walls.





There are new enemies in the library, and some of them are real jerks. Cerberus' breath attack isn't really that notable, but it also has the leaping attack all wolves have that hurts like crazy.







Dark Elementals do completely absurd amounts of damage to Delsus and Arlin and are immune to physical attacks. Fortunately, Arlin also murders them right back with his magic damage attack.





You can pass by most of the good things in here, but when you find this odd passage, be very sure to cross it.





How could you tell?

I'm a Mana of light. Trust me, I just know these things.

Are you serious?

Ahhhh, just kidding...Your clothes gave you away. There's not a lot of people like you around anymore...It makes me want to travel like the old days. Mind if I come along?

Th-That'd be great!

Thanks! From now on, I'll bless you with my presence. But you have a job to do, too. I'm depending on you!


Y'know, Zeldalia makes it sound like having more than one Mana is really hard, but so far all...what? Eight of them? They've all pretty much said “Oh hi, I'm joining you now.”
























Music: Popo's Pleasant Money Lecture


Today, Eital is going to teach you about Avoiding Monsters.

Hello! I hope you'll all be good students...

First of all, what good is this skill?

Well, it protects you from monster attacks. So it's good if you're not in a fighting mood, or one of you're friends I injured...or you just hate leveling up.

Aha, that might come in handy.

The effect lasts until you exit the current map. It's pretty easy to use. Just set your action dial to the No Punis ion and press the square button.

Any more advice, Eital?

Think of me whenever you want to avoid battles. I make traveling easy and fun!

That's it for today's lesson. Take it easy!
























Eital likes lots of things as presents, so she's not too hard to get along with. She's able to handle Holy Elements, too, so we can finally make some Elixirs...but I'm gonna hold off on that for just a little longer.





She also bolsters damage output when equipped on a character. Lita is the most correct answer.





At this point, I remembered that there's something I want to try and do before I fight the boss here, so this update's winding down, but let's see a few more monsters. Legion ( ) is kind of like those Sentry golem jerks from before – he does about fifty damage to two or are three people and has lots of HP.





Golden Punis are still pretty harmless.







I also found yet another Mana Item...it seems like everything wants Lightning these days. I hope I find a Lightning Mana soon – Silwest and her x3 modifier is all I have for that element right now.





That's it for now. Join me next time as we have an update about books.