Part 38: Seduction

Update 38: Seduction



I wanted to explore a bit more with Flight and stuff, but it looks like Kavoc might be in trouble so let's head that way first...





Music: Whistle


How did this happen?

The townspeople need our help! Hurry!





Stop whining! Who's going to protect Kavoc if we just give up!?

Hey, you guys okay?

L-Lady Marietta!

Don't worry. Everything's going to be fine.


The game throws us into a fight with some monsters.









The thing about Murder Mode before is that it bottomed out Lita's MP so she could really only use Jump Kick (and even then only like three or four times). But now that I have Pale Wing, she can bust out Meteor Strike, and, well...





Lita is devastating. She killed everything but the Legion in the middle, and still did some decent damage to it considering they have good defense.

After the fight...


What's the situation?

Monsters started showing up after the earthquake. As usual, monsters weren't far behind.

What about the townspeople?

most of them evacuated. The others are hiding in the cathedral.

Is there anything we can do to help?

We can handle things here. You should go help Captain Beggur.

Meow...where is he?

He went to the sewer and never came back.

Don't worry, we'll find him.

Thanks. We'll hold them here. Good luck!





There are a few Growloons hanging around that we can kill off, mostly up in higher spots. Speaking of higher spots, we can also fly around a bit and reach some stuff on rooftops that have been taunting us all game.





Including a Mana Item! This thing gives a temporary 50% chance of not taking damage for a while. It takes 5 Spirit, Power, and Holy Elements, which is fairly reasonable for what it is.

Oh yeah, remember a long time ago when I was exploring the town square with Deimia and found the Edge Cast weapon for Delsus here? Well, it disappears after the earthquake, and that's the only copy of it anywhere, so as far as I know that's the only permanently missable item (besides the quest rewards for finding everything).





A few shopkeepers are actually still around. Lyla and Norman are both gone, but Hagel is still here to sell us weapons if we need them. And, of course...





Atelier Veola: A Present

Music: The Laughable Pair


Not only is Veola around, she's still up for synthesis and Lita trolling!


I'd like to apologize for my behavior last time...

Oh, don't worry about it. It's in the past, right?

Thank you. I'd like to make something for you, Lita.

...You don't have to do that.

Do not worry, it's the same as I made for Klein. This will protect you.

Really?

Yes. I hope you like it.





I don't...what IS that? It looks like a mustache. Well, I had to synthesize a couple more Comet Jewels (I forgot how many of those things we end up needing) but I have the other stuff, so let's see what this present is.





...Ohhhh man.


I made you a present. Is it okay?

Wait, is that -

Do you like it? It's a Priestess Tiara. It turned out a lot better than I expected. I think this will be my masterpiece.

...How does it look?

...Heh...

What are you laughing at!?

Huh? Is something funny? I guarantee this item will work. It protects from attacks like Poison and Paralysis.

Oh, wow.

It looks as good on you as I imagined it would.

Do you really mean that, or are you making fun of me?


I can't decide if Veola should have named it Princess Tiara instead of Priestess Tiara. I guess naming it Priestess Tiara gives her plausible deniability that the gift is actually an insult. Glad to see Veola's okay and up to her usual antics, at any rate.





It'll be fine! I'm right here...Don't be a chicken.


Looks like the kids are fine, too. DO they even have parents? I wonder if Pamela's gotten back here yet?





We can also find this precious item above Veola's shop. I'll have to remember to take this over to Totopop's later.





All right, time to hit the sewers. They're as small as ever so we don't have to worry about many randoms, but some of the enemies prowling here now are these Mull Beasts. They have an attack reminiscent of Arlin's Double ability, which is to say it hurts like hell. Klein can still survive a hit from it – maybe even two, if none of the hits crit (they crit a lot) – but these ladies are still quite dangerous. They also like to just get extra actions because they can. Fortunately they also have a weak standard attack they use a lot, so it's not like they're spamming this nasty ability all the time.





Music: The Name's Beggur!


Are you okay?

Oh, hey. Don't worry, I'll handle these guys.

Watch out, old man!





Ohhhhh no you didn't! Cheap shots are off limits!

Here they come...





Squish.





Ein asked us to come give you a hand.

Damn! I must have lost track of time. No matter how many of these things I kill, more take their place. We need to take out the boss. It's gotta be around here somewhere. I'll stay here with the small fries – you go find the boss.

Any idea where it's hiding?

If I knew that, would I be wasting my time here?

… …

Well, my brother's back to normal. Come on, let's find the boss.


And after a little more exploring...





That is one fat boss...

So this is the cause of all the trouble.

We'd better take it out quick.

Mmmm...You don't want to hurt me, do you?





What the -

I can't...meow...move...


Am I the only person who is baffled by the idea of a paralysis spell allowing the affected person to speak? You have to move your mouth to talk, yes? Maybe all RPG characters are also ventriloquists.





Would YOU like to have a little fun...?





Music: Bullfight


Sweet, the cavalry's here.

Nobody likes a cheater, lady! Now fight fair, or I'll have to teach you a lesson!

Who the hell are you!? I mean...hey there. So, you're a knight, huh?





...What are you trying to do?

What? My spell failed!? Who...who ARE you!?

I cannot betray my wife...





I'm going to kick your ass! Dragon APOCALYPSE!!!





Ahh!


Wow, not too shabby, old man.

Now's your chance! Everyone, attack!

Huh...? You're a man! I should be able to seduce you into doing stupid and dangerous things!

Well, he's already a pro at that.





Music: Horned Enigma


I'm sorry to report that Beggur does not actually guest star in the gameplay here. Also, the Succubus (actually I think her name is Banshee for some reason) calls a bunch of friends including a couple Mull Beasts.





So Klein died (but this time it was at least a combination of bad luck and me making bad decisions, rather than Klein just being that stupid frail).

I almost started over since I wasn't far into the fight, but then I remembered something someone said about Norn and thought I'd test it out.





The theory goes that Norn's Magic Shield both stacks on itself AND resets it's duration every time she recasts it on someone. Since the buff lasts five turns, this gives Norn enough time to constantly reapply it before it fades, and since it stacks on itself she can make the whole team nigh invincible as long as she has the MP to keep up (which Klein could normally supply with Mana Items, but I have some normal items that can refill MP as well and Norn just has a ton of MP to begin with, so that's not a major concern right now).





Things got a little dangerous for a while, but once Lita killed off the Mull Beasts by dropping rocks on them from the sky...





...things got pretty well under control.

The boss can still Charm people which is really annoying, and if she hits Norn with it then you run a risk of Magic Shield wearing off, but fortunately she never Charmed Norn. She got both Marietta and Lita with it a couple times, though, and Marietta actually healed her a couple times, but Lita's angry deathy rage won out in the end.





Also I wasted a bunch of Force Blast uses on her before realizing that, unlike other enemies that look like her, this boss can be hit with physical attacks. Whoops.





I was...She passed away seven year ago. It seems so long ago...

She was very beautiful, but when she got mad...watch out.

After seeing her face, I could never be tempted by another woman.

Captain! Are you alright, sir?

All clear down here. How goes it topside?

All clear, sir! A Galgazit showed up to help.


Wait, there are actually Galgazits besides us?


That's good to hear.

I'm sure Mull was behind this.

Mull...!? Are you telling me Mull could have done this?





Do you know where he is?

I've seen him near Iris' Resting Place a few times...Don't worry about Kavoc; we'll protect the town.

Brother...


That wraps up today's main plot segment, but I'd like to wrap up our oustanding sidequest right now. We were looking for a water-themed place to do something to get something about something that might lead to Aroma Material. Let's go!







Music: Lakeside


The sidequest doesn't trigger until after Silencia because we need Flight to reach these statues. There are three – two to the south and one hidden away in the northeast corner.


You're right...not to mention the huge lake right in front of it.

“A world of water”...Any idea what that means?

I have no idea...and I usually just make stuff up.

Didn't we see one of these statues somewhere else?

The Spirit in the Spring of Nelvia!

...Let's check it out. You guys might be on to something.


Oh, so we actually have to visit both places I thought made sense. That's...cool, I guess, although I'm not sure I appreciate the legwork this quest is looking like it will require. At least I know I'll get something worthwhile out of all this.





We need to ask you something...


fade out/in


I remember a story from my childhood in the Land of Mana...Pour the water Mana's power over the statue. That will save the lake.

Lake? What lake?...That didn't sound like a story.

You'll just have to ask her that. That's all I can say...so long.

...Her?

I'm sure we'll figure it out.


That was basically the least helpful conversation I've had all game. Well, let's head back.





Examining the first statue made something good happen...





Huh?





As it turns out, the game wants you to use 50 Water Elements on each statue, for a total of 150. Since our max is 99, this can get a bit tricky. Fortunately I have a ton of items that give Water Elements if I extract them, so I was able to make do anyway. Once we visit all three...





I am the spirit of this lake. Thanks to you, my true power has returned.

What's that supposed to mean?

This lake died, once. The Nymphs disappeared, leaving only a barren wasteland behind. But Iris gave us this sphere, and the lake returned to normal. She saved us all.

Sounds like everybody loves Iris.

Thanks to you, we no longer need to depend on this sphere. I shall give it to you...





And one trip to the Garden of Eternity later...







...we have our second and last Aroma Material! Now we can juggle Mana around for even more Element optimization and have two powered up at a time for skill point boosts. It's not super necessary, but it's nice to have the option of transforming two Mana at once.





That wraps it up for today. See you all next time!