Part 14: Chapter Fourteen: Crypt Hunter

Last time we saw Chun Li or something? Anyhow, let’s get back to the main plot.



Besides the ‘magician’, there are some other scams to watch out for. These include the dancing girl on the right, as well as the innkeeper, who lets you sleep for free but steals money from you during the night.

However…





You can catch him red-handed if you have the pouch.

: Stop right there, thieving swine!





In order to progress the plot we have to speak to Bleak’s elder.





: Greetings, Elder. My companions and I have heard rumours about a master thief living here, a man who can open any lock. We would like to discuss acquiring his services for a certain job.

: Ah, yes. You want to open the safe in Auria, don’t you?

: How did you…

: Know? It is my business to know things, child of the wing clan…or should I say, Princess Nina.

:…!

: I have people in every city in the land. Even Scande, despite Zog’s efforts to cut off my eyes and ears there. As for your request, there is only one man with the skill to crack open Auria’s central vault.



: Krypt?

: An ancient tomb in the middle of the southern desert. The sweltering heat and scorching winds make it impassible to almost everybody. However…I can help you cross it. For a price.



: WHAT?! Are you insane? A solid gold bar for a mere icicle? I saw those things on sale in Auria, and they cost a fortune!

: I know you can afford it.

: This is pure robbery!

: Nonsense, my dear. Robbery is what my subordinates do. This is extortion.

: I suppose you won’t budge on this.

: No. I care nothing for that rich fool or his daughter. Bring me the gold and we’ll talk. Until then, I must bid you good day. Or good night, as it always is around these parts.



: *Sigh* Everybody gather around. I’ll warp us back to Auria.



Back in Auria, the party blows nearly all of its hard-earned GP on the G.Bar, then heads back to Bleak.



: You have a G.Bar!

: Take it and give us the Icicle, you vile man.

: Oh, I most certainly will!





: It was a pleasure doing business with you. The cave that leads to Krypt is to the southwest. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to make some investments with this.



: That horrible old man, laughing and rubbing his hands with glee.

: At least he opposes Zog.

: I suppose. Oh, look – there’s the cave he mentioned.



This is the Desert Cave. It’s not very exciting.



: Ah! The wind blowing into the cave is scorching hot!

: Ryu! Use the icicle!





: The desert is so vast. I am confident of my eyesight, but even my eyes cannot see the end of it.

: The southern desert stretches across the entire southeastern part of the continent. There is only one settlement of note – Arad, which must be due south of here.

: I can see something on the horizon. I believe I can lead us there.

Before that, though, it’s time to list all the lovely creatures we can encounter in the desert. Surprisingly, none of them have anything other than standard physical attacks.



The two Creeper palette swaps are SandClods. They hit hard but are go down after only a few hits. The creepy-crawly in the middle is a Scorp, and whilst you might expect it to have a poisonous attack, it actually doesn’t.



Next up we have two Prickles and a Cactus. The Cactus is a glass canon with high attack but low defense. However, if left alone they will buff themselves up and become hard to kill, so it’s best to take them down first. The Prickles don’t have any tricks aside from standard weak physical attacks.



: That must be Arad. I would like to hurry there and get out of this desert as soon as possible – the sand is becoming engrained into my fur.

Music: 27 – Desert Town



Once we get there we find that the entire town is populated by midgets.

: The desert tribe may be able to tell us more about Krypt. We should ask their Elder if he can help us.



: Greetings, travelers. What brings you here to these arid lands?

: Well met, Elder. We are here to investigate Krypt, and were hoping you could share anything you know about it.

: Krypt, you say? Hmm…Well, I can tell you one thing – it is surrounded by vortexes of quicksand. Only one possessed of great dexterity and lightness of foot can enter that place normally. I doubt your group would be able to enter.

: Is there no other way in? It is of vital importance that we gain access to Krypt.

: There is one way to gain access. I have in my possession a magical Fife that, when blown, will allow safe passage over the vortexes. I would be willing to give it to you if you perform a small task for me.

: What kind of task?

: Our lands have recently been troubled by a giant sandworm that eats our livestock and threatens our people.





: Very well then – we will destroy this sandworm for you.





The screen darkens and the “Sleeping at an Inn” jingle plays.



To proceed, Ryu and co. must go to the northeastern corner of Arad where the goat pen is.



The conspicuous pile of sand is where the sandworm is. Approaching it triggers a battle.



The SandWorm isn’t too tough since he only has a medium damage physical attack. However, if he hits Bo too many times it can become problematic due to the latter’s lower defense. The best strategy is just to attack and heal until he dies. I was going to skip making a video for this guy, but I might as well show off Ryu’s dragon transformations a bit.

(Video – SandWorm)



: Please take the Fife as a gift of my gratitude.

: Krypt is to the south of here. You can easily see it on the horizon once the sun comes up.

: Thank you, Elder.



: I can see a large building in the distance.

: It must be Krypt. Let us hasten onwards.



: I suppose now we have to play the Fife. Uh…I’ve never played a musical instrument in my life.

: Allow me.



: A bridge?

: Now we can finally find this master thief.



Welcome to Krypt. Krypt has many treasure chests sequestered within its walls, and all of them are trapped. In addition, there are many pitfalls and locked doors to frustrate the player. There is also a new enemy to fight.



These are E.Chests. E.Chests are just as awesome as G.Slimes since they also give out over 1000 experience points each. They have high defense but low health and no interesting gimmicks, so it’s best to kill these guys whenever they appear.







: I’ve been wondering…what is the purpose of this building?

: Nobody truly knows. The books I have read all say different things – that it was the tomb of an ancient king, a vast vault meant for storing treasure, or an impregnable desert fortress. Few have managed to enter, fewer still left alive and nobody ever managed to reach the bottom floor.



This room is full of raised squares like this one.



Many of the crossroads also have pitfalls built into them. Falling down one places you in the middle of a vast empty room with a staircase back up located near the top. Since both rooms are rather big the party will wind up fighting a lot of random battles here.



The stairs going down are easy to find and aren’t trapped in any way, but a number of the raised areas contain treasure chests. For now, it’s best to just ignore them and focus on going straight down.



This room contains something interesting.



Examining the rock reveals that it contains the B.Rang, an upgrade to the Foil we found at Karma. It’s stuck in the rock and we won’t be getting it for quite a while.



: Ryu, wait. There are some strange creatures up ahead. They appear to be guarding the staircase leading deeper into the building.

: Can we sneak past them?



:…No.





The oh-so-cleverly named EyeSpy is the next boss. EyeSpy only uses basic physical attacks until his visible HP bar is depleted. After that he begins using a special T.Bolt attack that hits the entire party for 20 – 30 damage. As his HP goes down the number of eyeballs surrounding him decreases, but this doesn’t seem to affect anything.

(Video – EyeSpy)





He then explodes and we are free to move on. Or we would be, if this wasn’t the end of the update. Next time - graverobbing! Backtracking! Safe unlocking!