Part 32: Chapter XXXI: The Gang's All Here
Let's pop back into Chek to tell the Abbess about the whole "everybody's dead" thing.
Hmph. Lazy bitch. Something I forgot to screenshot is that the shopkeeper kid is still here selling items. When you talk to him to buy stuff, he says he's really lonely now that all his friends are gone.
: "Yes..."
: "I think that maybe the reason Ryu did...what he did is because he's not whole...because he's divided."
: "Hmmm...it makes sense. An incomplete god would not have full control of his power. I take it your plan then is to journey to the Empire, and find the other Ryu - the First Emperor, that is - in hope that doing so will give Ryu control over his power. Is that it?"
: "First Emperor? Are you talking about the God Emperor? Fou-Lu? I hate to tell you this, but Fou-Lu, Father of the Empire, may his name be blessed, is dead! He founded the Empire centuries ago! You won't find anything of him except maybe his bones!": "We know who he is. We also know that Fou-Lu is like Ryu. They are both Endless, both...gods.": "I don't really know what you're talking about, and I'm not sure that I want to know. But you're asking me to help you get to the Empire, right?": "Yes...so we can find the other Ryu."
: "Humph! I don't care why you want to go. My mission is to bring the dragon back to the Empire, and that's what I intend to do! The fact that he wants to go himself simply makes my life, and his, a little easier."
: "Huh? I wouldn't be cool if I were you! Take a look around...you're basically our prisoner!"
: "Is that so? I don't remember you capturing me. Care to try?"This is the line that made me realize how awesome Ursula is the first time I played.
: "...At any rate, with your help, Ursula, it shouldn't be too hard to get to the Empire, right?": "I just realized something. We haven't yet told Deis about what's happened. She's probably sleeping somewhere in the village. You should find her and wake her up."Oh great, we gotta wake the lump.
HOLY SHIT YES
Ershin/Deis lets off a gout of steam and leaps to her feet.
: "I figured that if I'm going to go with you, it's easier this way. Don't get the wrong idea! It's not because I enjoy being in this armor or anything! I can't go around borrowing that girl's body forever anyway."
: "I mean, what good's a god without a body, eh? It's up to you, Ryu."
: "You're going to the Empire, right? We better get down from this mountain then. Don't worry about Rhem. She's just sleeping, that's all. I must have worn her out. Come on, then, let's go!"
Well at least we have six party members, just a shame about Ersh-
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
: "Ershin, you've come back! Thank you!": "Oh...you're awake, eh? I decided to stick around with them for a while longer. That means I'll need you again. Hope you don't mind.": "Of course not, Ershin! Ha ha...ha ha ha ha!": "What're you laughing for!? I didn't come back because I wanted to!": "......Yes, Ershin. I am just gladdened by your return. Ha ha ha ha ha!": "Sigh...all right, all right, enough already. Listen to me - from now on, I want you to call me Deis, OK?"
: "Yes, Ershin.": "What did I just tell you!? Things'll get too confusing if we both use that name. You can have it, all right?"
We have Ershin back. We can take on the world. No, we can take on the universe.
This is what it looks like to have all six party members.
As you can see, Ursula starts with a lot of diverse magic, and she's very good with it.
Ershin's resurrection and Deis adding her powers to the mix opens up his full move list. He's sufficiently leveled to have Stand Out and Death. Death we've already talked about, but let's see what Stand Out does.
That's the bubble for Silenced, by the way. No skills for them!
*fanfare*
...well, that's certainly a thing. Note the yin-yang gem on the armor now that we can see it clearly. Stand Out pretty much guarantees the enemies will attack Ershin for the next round or two. Considering he's built like a brick shithouse, this is extremely useful against hard-hitting enemies who would otherwise splatter the party.
Also, this is to show just how much AP Kaiser uses. Don't use it lightly, but know that if you do use it it's probably going to end the fight.
As I said in her character profile, Ursula can use shotguns to hit all enemies at once.
It's very effective when you're fighting a bunch of weak enemies, and you can use the in-battle equipment switcher to pull out a multi-hit pistol if you're up against a single tough enemy. Ursula is basically the Angel of Death if you micromanage her equipment, Masters, and skills.
Oh yeah, that sword we got from Ight? Put it on Ryu for the love of God. It's absurdly strong and has +1 hit, and you can always just use your other five party members if something absorbs fire damage.
Here's Ursula's starting equipment. No pistols yet, but we'll get some soon enough. Also, let's put this in perspective. Ryu's new sword that destroys everything in comparison to what he used to have has the exact same Power rating as Ursula's shotgun, which is non-elemental and hits everything at once. Granted it's not +1, but still. Do not fuck with a woman in uniform.
So, moving through the mountain, we find a cave.
Said cave has a new upgrade for Ershin.
Sorry,
lovers, but rocket-propelled beats drills in this game.
Mud Pups are interesting little enemies. They only have two actions: Devour and Snooze. That's about it, though.
Hey, a raft! How convenient.
The raft minigame is actually kinda fun. You use the directional buttons to move left and right to grab bags of money floating downriver, while avoiding crashing into the banks and losing hunks of the raft. The more bags and raft you have at the bottom, the more points you get.
Top score
: "Well, at least we were able to make it down the mountain!": "Right...now all we have to worry about is figuring out how to get a sandflier so we can get across the desert.": "That's right...our sandflier was destroyed by the Sand Dragon, wasn't it? With all that's happened since then, I'd almost forgotten about that.": "Well, for now we should probably head for Shyde. We might be able to hire a sandflier there."Popping into camp, Scias has something new to say.
: "The raft w-w...was kind of f-f...fun."Rock on, Scias.
So now we're back in Shyde. We now have the entire eastern continent open to us again, but doing the round-up of what's changed will take up the entirety of next update.
In Shyde, this Terrifying Tutorial Lady is on top of a building you need to go to. If you only talk to one non-essential NPC in the entire game, MAKE IT THIS ONE. Let's ask about Shift.
: "You are now able to use the spell Shift! Shift lets you travel instantaneously to any city, village, or location you've already been to. Push the SELECT button while on the world map to use it. You can go to any of the places highlighted with a red dot."Yeah. That's INSANELY useful, if only for cutting out mindless walking time across half the world map by warping to major landmarks nearby. Also, before you ask, no cheating and warping back to Astana to get to the Empire. No red dot there. Now, we continue with our regularly scheduled plot.
: "Well, sure, we've got them, but they're not cheap! If you don't have enough money to buy one, you should ask one of the traveling merchants to let you ride on one of theirs. If you wait, one should be along soon enough."Well let's go out and find one, then.
: "It's a simple enough task to stop it."Incoming amazing in 3
2
1
There's sounds of gunfire and swordplay.
The only thing better than Scias or Ursula doing awesome things is Scias AND Ursula doing awesome things.
Hey, this was Marlok's sandflier! Imagine that.
: "You go to zee Empire and come back as robbers? Well, at least you are keeping busy, eh?": "Uh...sorry, Marlok. We meant to ask if we could have a ride, and..."
: "We're sorry, Mr. Marlok. We need to get back to Hesperia and we're looking for a sandflier to take us there.": "If all you want is a sandflier, zere are ways to get zem wizout attacking people, you know. If you go to Shyde zey sell zem zere, no?"
: "Well...we...um...we don't have that kind of money.": "I see. I 'ave 'erd zat money is zee root of all evil, but in your case zee opposite seems to be true."
: "Please, Marlok...we need your help again. We've got to have a sandflier! We'll do anything you ask...any job you want!": "What do you zink I am, a charity service? I am a busy Manillo, yes? I do not 'ave zee time to be giving you a ride whenever you are needing one!"
: "Still...I would not want someone zat I know to become a zief. It would be bad for my reputation, no? So, I will 'elp you buy a sandflier."
: "Ere - take zis."
: "Wh...what!? You mean it, Mr. Marlok!? Thank you!"The screen fades out and cuts to Marlok sailing away on his ship.
: "You know why I...I, zee great Marlok, loaned zem zee money zey needed? Hm?......it is because I see zem doing great things. Zey have a destiny ahead of zem...and I intend to be zere to collect zey realize it!"
Marlok: Magnificent Bastard.
: "Who would've thought that greedy old trader would do something like that!?"
: "Still, now that we've got the money, let's use it!"To the other frog guy!
: "Huh!? This Bond...one......four...six...wow! That's a lot of zeros!"
: "Before I can let you take it out, though, I need you to read the operating instructions. Safety regulations - you understand."The game then gives you a quick rundown of how to pilot the sandflier, but I'll fill you in about that next time.
: "You'll get the hang of it soon enough once you try it out. If you forget, or have any questions, come back any time. Have a safe trip!"
Next time: adventure on the high sands, visiting old friends, and getting