Part 40: Get Smart

Update 40: Get Smart






This is the final dungeon.

Okay, that's enough main plot. Let's synth some more!





Atelier Blaire: Bakery/Armory

Music: Popcorn Strategy


Gah! You scared me!

I just had an epiphany! The world is more dangerous every day. Bakeries should make more than just bread! From now on, our bakery will also sell protective gear!

So, what, you're an armory now?

Huh? Of course not. We're a bakery. I've simply decided to use my baking skills to create breads that will protect the wearer. There's already too many monsters around! We should all pitch in to solve the problem.

Bread...wearer? Are you sure about this?

I've never been more sure. As of today, we have a new product line! There's bread you eat, and there's bread that protects you! Behold, Operation: Fresh Baked Weapons!

_{I'm not so sure about this.}





This is going to get pretty weird. First off, let's try out this “wearing bread” concept by applying bread to leggings.





“too sticky”.


Here's my latest – you won't find it anywhere else. I call it Fried Bread..._{Well, it's Bread Pants.}

If you're too embarrassed to say it, it was probably a bad idea.

Hmph, nevermind! It's a double-serving item. You can wear it for protection, or eat it if you're hungry.

But if we eat our pants, what are we supposed to wear?

I didn't expect you to have such a dirty mind, Mr. Klein.

Wait, what? No...I didn't mean it like that!





Hmm...could be worse I guess, but the Gogo Suit is pretty old and it still has better stat boosts. I'm curious about Fight&Eat, though. Do you regenerate HP while wearing the pants? If you wait long enough, do the pants disappear?





Heh...”Offensive” in more ways that one, I expect. Let's start with the bun.





Here's the latest advance in culinary weaponry, the fabulous Rock Bread!

Hmm...Are you sure it's not just a rock you picked up somewhere?

Can't you recognize fine workmanship when you see it? I made this form scratch! Here, eat it!

I don't think so, meow! I'd break my tiny teeth!

You're probably right...But, it's a weapon. You don't eat it.

...Couldn't we just throw a rock?

Quiet! Just take this, already...





And now we can turn our rock bread into a new item with a few other materials. Note the Metal Pipe, a rare case where food synthers need something from Veola's store.





New weapon time! Only I could make special Smash Bread!

Looks like a club. Getting hit with this would really hurt.

That's the whole point! What kind of weapon wouldn't hurt someone?

It's too hard to eat, though.

Meow...I don't think bread makes a very good weapon...





Nasty Pleasure? But I already have a Bunny Suit.

Anyway, as you might guess, Blaire's armaments are kinda crap, although I still sort of suspect that their special properties might give them some niche use or something. I'm pretty sure Delsus can equip one of them, so I might let him try one out if not simply so I can laugh at the idea of him firing crossbow bolts out of a lump of bread.


Now let's switch gears for a moment...





Atelier Norman: Drunk as the Gods Get, Yes?


I never thought I'd tell anyone this, but...I've had a dream ever since I opened up the bar. Now I've decided to make my dream a reality.

A dream?

There's a rare drink called the Smartini. It's difficult to make, but I want to try.

That'd be awesome. How can I help?

In ancient times, the Smartini was rumored to bestow eternal life. I already have the recipe, but the ingredients are hard to find...I don't want to jinx it by telling people my plans, but I realized that maybe you guys could find the ingredients I need. I can trust you guys with my secret, right? This is just a hobby of mine, though, so you don't need to rush. I can't afford to offer a huge reward, but I'd still appreciate your help.


And there you have it, Norman's ultimate recipe. Indeed, I have the ability to make every last thing on his menu now. We'll get to the Smartini itself in a moment, but first let's start with some old recipe variants I missed.





First of all, there's a variant of his plain old drink set that I missed before. If we use Garigari Nuts to make it, we get the all new...





How about this Garigari Liquor?

Ugh...I can tell it's bitter just by looking at it!

Now we're talking! Pour me a glass!

I'm a little hungry, so give me a burger and some lando juice.





First you hate sweet...now it's too bitter? Barkeep, another!

Wow, you sure do pack it in.

Mind your own business!

Take it easy...But you could eat Klein under the table. S'all I'm saying.

You...do I?


Do you what? I'm not sure I followed that conversation correctly. At any rate, let's move on to some foodstuffs.





I thought I tried all of the possible combinations of fish earlier, but it turns out I missed out on a sashimi dish. Behold!





Whoa...this one looks...Oh...I'll just call it Black Sashimi.

Eyuck! Just looking at it made me lose my appetite!

It's too fatty...I wouldn't recommend it...


But it has Fish Island in it, how could it be bad?

There's also one more mushroom recipe – however, to complete that one I'm going to have to make a quick stop somewhere else...







Atelier Totopop & Mofuma: Hotter Than Hot

Music: Dota!


Remember the Nekotreat, cat dessert extraordinaire? It actually has a couple of variants that I had forgotten about, and one of them is rather important. Let's see what we can make out of this.





Spicy? But it looks like it's supposed to be ice cream or something. I don't know if this was a good idea...


It is done, yes? The favorite treat of all, Nekotreat...But it is not looking the normal.

Looks a little too red...I think...

I will try the small bite, I think...





Are you alright?

It is the spicy hot...It is now called Hot Nekotreat, yes?


Hmm...well, that can't be it. Let's experiment a little more.







spicy death


It is done, yes? The favorite treat of all, Nekotreat...But it is not looking the normal.

Well...It's emitting it's own natural heat.

Meowch! The spicy smell hurts my nosey...

I will be trying the small bite...





WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!

Are you alright?

I can feel the insides of my being slowly melting from the hotness of this...This...Nekotreat EX.


...Right, I think we've put poor Mofuma through enough for today. I have what I need now, so back to Norman's we go.





If we stick the Nekotreat EX in a mushroom recipe...





I'm not sure even Delsus could handle this one...I present Manly Fungos.

Ewwwww!! My nose is crying tears of kitty snot!


Remind me to add that to my list of sentences I never needed to hear.


What is this, Cajun? You just grilled it til it was black.

...Just try it.

Okay...I accept your challenge!


Predictably...





...Delsus ends up on fire.


Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! W-WATER...I need water..._now

I probably shouldn't serve that...If it nearly killed Delsus...*sniff*


I can't tell if the sniff is to suggest that Norman is sad he can't serve the meal or trying to suggest that he's laughing.





And now for Norman's ultimate item! Both the Nectar and the God's Dance are stuff we synthed with Mofuma (and which both required things Norman himself made – the Herbal Elixir for Nectar and both the Demon Slave and Dragon Slayer for God's Dance). I still happen to have one of each in my inventory, so...





At long last, I've made it...Smartini, the ultimate cocktail!

So...That was your ultimate goal?

Yes...The ingredients are so rare that most bartenders never get to make one. But, I can! I just did! Thank you for finding the ingredients for me. I appreciate it...You helped me out so much; order whatever you want! Everything's on the house today!

Heh...That's MY ultimate goal!

All-you-can-eat! Yay!





Is it really that great?

It's too bad you can't drink, man! You'll just have to eat as much as you can instead! Haaaa ha ha ha!

Way ahead of you!

You might want to slow down, Lita. You're already looking a little chubby.

I am not!

You sure? Looks to me like you're growing an extra chin. Right, Klein?

Don't drag me into this...

You're a liar, Delsus! Isn't that right, Klein?

Er...well, it wouldn't be so bad if you had a little more meat on your bones.

Meat!? Gaaahh! You're such an idiot, Klein!

You really are an idiot...The first rule of talking to women is they are NEVER fat! Even if they're huge...don't you know that?

… …


I think technically Klein was telling Lita it would be okay if she overate because she's too thin, which is still insulting and Klein is still an idiot.





The Smartini offers a boost to Skill Points, allowing a character of your choice to make a little progress on leveling up abilities. It's a nice bonus, and they're not really all that hard to make if you're just hellbent on maxing out everyone's skills as soon as you can. I also gave this to Marietta because apparently she's just the character I'm giving all my stat boosters to (although in fairness, she probably does want it the most thanks to her late joining level and subsequent lack of skill points to spend).

As I said, that also means the end of Atelier Norman. I'm sure we'll stop by his place every now and again to stock up, and of course I have to visit once or twice more to check on RIP GRWLN, so we should still run into him before the game ends. For now, though, it's time to go back to Arcose.





Uh...are your lips swollen?

Must be your imagination. Here, I have something for you. This is the bread that Hute requested.

Meow! I'll try it!

I have a bad feeling about this...!

!!!!!

AAAAHHHHHH!! Too hot!!!

Meow! Hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot!

What kind of bread is that?

Oh, it just has a little spicy cream inside. Hute said it was great, but I wasn't going to fall for that. I think I'll add it to the menu, just in case.





Huh, apparently this is the spicy foods update. As you can see, I need to use our latest bread weapon to make this.





Have a 12-Alarm Sandwich. I can't believe I'm making this. You can't eat this whole thing can you?

I figured it might be useful in battle.

I guess you're right...This bread is super spicy!


I dunno about that, it's just spicy food. Maybe it could work like a breath attack.





This was around the point where people started stalling on new recipes, so I decided to run around and see what I could get with Flight. Since I was in the area, I ran over to the Valiant Path and grabbed what I believe is the last Mana Item, the Basilisk Eye. It inflicts paralysis and maybe stone. Not that interesting if you ask me, but it probably has good applications I never bothered to figure out. There was also a Growloon up in this final area that I killed.







Alexia Cave also has this side area that has a few semi-rare Mana Stones that were worth grabbing.

That probably took enough time/generated enough battles. Let's see if Blaire's got anything new.





Music: Sadness is Whisked Away by the Wind


Ah! Klein!?...Why do I keep doing this?

You know, you can tell us if something's bothering you.

Oh, no, I'm fine. Really!

You were staring out the window...You miss your home, don't you?

NO! Of course not...

Okay, nevermind then.

I'm sorry for worrying you. I'm fine, really. Don't worry. You came here to shop, right?


Hmm...Blaire doesn't have anything more to say about it. Perhaps it's time we paid a visit to Villa.





Huh? Why?

Sometimes I see her staring out the window. She looks really sad.

Hmm...I see. But if Blaire doesn't want to talk about it, I can't really tell you. I can't believe she's still...It's been a long time. Next time you see Blaire, could you give her this candy?

...Candy?

Blaire loves this candy. If she's acting strange, let her have some, okay?


Okay? I guess as long as Klein doesn't tell Blaire that it's from her number one most loathed Arcosian, everything should-





Hey, I have...candy...for you. It's, uh...from Villa.

You can keep it! I don't want any of her stupid candy.

Well, I'm not that big on candy, so...I'll just leave it here. If you don't eat it, that's fine.

… …


...And that's the entire scene. Didn't Klein do the exact same thing with Veola? He brought her something, she rejected it, and he left it anyway saying if she didn't want to keep it that was fine but he didn't want it, either, or some such. As clueless as he can be, I think that tactic works reasonably well.

Unfortunately, Blaire still wouldn't add anything new to the menu after that scene, so let's make one last stop by Mofuma's.





If we take Blaire's latest bread/weapon/spicy death to Mofuma and use it in the Burnt Bagel recipe, we'll get something different.







Is everything alright? You look sad.

Many apologies...I burnt the bagel for you due to lacking the attention.

Well...yeah. You really toasted that sucker. I barely recognize it.

I am having the idea. Why not use this as boomerang? I shall be calling this new weapon Toasted Bagel. They will be the fear.


Mofuma remains the cutest. And now for our last trip of the update...





Well, you're in a good mood today.

Heh...the owner might allow me to make sweets. I begged and begged, and she said I could make them under one condition.

What is it?

I just have to make one that blows her away.

I get it. It's sort of like a graduation exam.

I'm sure you can do it!

Is there anything Norn can do to help, meow?

Thank you all.

Heh, those two are up for anything, as long as it means more sweets.

What was that?

I'm going to ace this exam! Once I do, Blaire's Sweet Parlor is open for business! I have a few different recipes in mind, I just need the ingredients...I can't put them on the actual menu yet, but I'll make whatever sweets you need.





Join me next time for sweets galore, and possibly some Other Stuff!