Part 20: Chapter Twenty: World Fusion
Last time we left the not-so-heroic Gobi he was in the middle of acquiring the Gills when the sounds of canon fire interrupted his dealings.
: Wh-what?!
: W-well, it’s none of my concern. I’m just a businessman. On the other hand…the fact that the Dark Dragons were willing to attack someone so close to neutral territory is worrying. I better go and see the survivor.
: Ugh! It seems the survivor is not long for this world…
: Begone, foul specter! You do not belong in the land of the living!
: Important information, you say? Hmm…Aha! I have an idea. Guildmaster, you are in luck!
: Aha! I know better than to haggle with you, guildmaster…5000 GP it is!
: Excellent. This streak of successes is surely a testament to my mercantile genius. Most likely it will continue forever! Ha! Ha! Now…time to remind a few customers of their contractual obligations to yours truly.
: I return at last, generous customers!
: Finally…
: What are you waiting for?
: I cannot wait any longer.
: This had better be worth the wait…and the cost.: Now that I have fulfilled my end of the bargain, there is another matter I must discuss with you. I must ask that you perform a small task for me immediately, namely the slaying of a specter that has appeared in Prima very recently.: Oh yeah? And why should we do anything more for you, fish man?: It is a miraculous day when I agree with the thief twice in the space of a few hours. Was the theft of our finances not enough? Must we now be compelled into servitude as well?: Well, you are still in debt to me. And if you choose not to help the one whom this specter plagues will surely lose his life. I do not believe you are the type to simply abandon someone in need.: It seems we have no choice. Let’s get this over with quickly and return to our journey.
Now we have five party members, meaning one of them has to sit it out on the side for a bit. Since Gobi isn’t really that great in battle he’ll be warming the bench for a long time to come. Party members on the sidelines gain reduced exp from all battles.
: A whole city beneath the waves…it’s a pretty amazing sight.: Prima is the center of world commerce. Its wealth rivals that of Auria, although the Manillo at least appear sensible enough not to literally pave their streets with the gold they earn. Due to its location under the sea it has never been attacked, not even by the Dark Dragons.: Hm! You are quite knowledgeable, young lady!: I read it in a book once.
: There’s the specter! Now, get rid of it!: Be careful, everyone! I have fought against such creatures before. They are not to be trifled with!
: We’ll see about that!
Meet Morteo, Morte and Mortea’s purple cousin. Morteo is a cakewalk – he only has a medium strength physical attack. This is another fight that can be won simply by turning on Autobattle, but I’m recording it anyway in order to show off Nina’s Zom spells that deal critical damage to undead enemies.
(Video – Morteo)
: That battle was easier than I expected.: Our travels have made us stronger. Still, it is important to not become overconfident. The incautious fox cannot complain if it falls victim to the hunter’s traps.
: What happened?
: You have had a close brush with death, friend, but don’t worry – we’ve taken care of the problem.
: This is Ox, one of the Iron Ogres from Gant. His ship was attacked by the Dark Dragons and sunk just outside Prima. Thank you for dispelling that horrifying apparition, by the way.: It was no trouble, and it’s not as if we had much choice in the matter anyway.: Hmm…
: I was running from them because I had to give you a message.
: We tried to fight, but they captured our families…: Hmm…I smell another opportunity here…
: What do we do now, fearless leader?: The same as we always do. Since we cannot yet reach Scande, we will attempt to break Zog’s hold over this region by freeing the captive Iron Ogres.: Same as usual, hmm? Good enough for me.
: Although I still think you are a despicable individual, Gobi, it seems our purposes are aligned for the time being.: We have vowed to defeat Zog’s forces. We will help you.: The world’s greatest thief is on your side! Feel better?
And with that, Ox joins the party. Let’s talk about Ox for a moment.
Ox has a massive amount of HP, the most of any in the party except Bo despite being five levels lower than everyone else. His strength is also second only to Ryu in spite of the level gap. And this is before we give him some decent weapons / armor too. However, his Active is abysmally low. It begins at 0 and won’t increase for at least twenty levels. This means that Ox hits like a truck and can take an absolute pummeling but is slow as molasses and will always act last in any given turn. In addition, he gains levels far more slowly than the rest of the party.
As an aside, Ox also has the spells Cure3 and Heal. However, his low AP pool means he won’t be using them very often and is in no way a substitute for Nina. Ox’s field activity is the ability to break down crumbling wall sections and smash boulders. In addition, he can also shake certain special trees on the world map, causing them to drop fruits that restore health.
With that said, we are now free to revisit certain other areas before continuing with the story. For instance, remember the weapon we found stuck in a rock in Krypt?
Ox can smash the rock and let us take the B.Rang trapped within it.
Unfortunately it’s broken and can’t be used right away. We can also revisit Agua yet again for some more goodies.
Inside here are some curatives, as well as the SilverBR, an accessory that decreases random encounters when equipped by the party leader.
Aside from items, there’s another thing that can happen now that Ox has joined the party.
:…Ugh.: Karn? Is something the matter?:…I’ve been having strange dreams lately. A weird voice in my head keeps telling me to go to Gant.: Why don’t we go there, then? We might find out something about the weapon the Dark Dragons are building whilst we’re there.:…It will be good to see my home again.
: Forwards…must go forwards…: Karn, wait up!
: Hidden…behind shelf…forwards…forwards…
: Rocks. Behind rocks. Must break rocks. Rocks. Must break rocks.:…Stand aside, little one.
: Welcome, heir to the Fusion Clan. Long have I awaited your coming.:…My head…ah…: Do not worry, child. The power I carry called out to you, compelling you to come here, but the pain will fade quickly.
: As expected, you learned the spell.: What…what did you do to me? I feel…strange…: Long ago, there lived a clan of people who could fuse their bodies with those of other clans and races. Through this they could become composite beings that compensated for the weakness of one clan with the strengths of another.: Sounds kinda whack to me, old man. If these guys were so awesome then where are they now?: Patience, young one. Most of the clan was wiped out during the war against the goddess Tyr many centuries ago. However, a few survived to carry on the ancient arts…including me.
: Huh. So what you’re saying is, I can do that fusion thing too now?: To an extent. I only possess a fragment of the overall knowledge of the clan. I am sure there are others like me scattered around the world who could pass on more, if you’d care to find them.: Cool. Guess I’ll keep an eye open for ‘em.And with that, Karn gains the power of Fusion. This is pretty much exactly what it says on the tin; Karn can fuse himself with other party members in order to augment his own powers. Right now he has the spell of ‘Shin’, which fuses him with Gobi and Bo.
Shin is the frontmost character. Shin is special because he retains Bo’s hunting and forest walking abilities – and the former is actually upgraded, allowing him to shoot faster and further on the world map.
In-battle, Shin attacks with a bow, like Bo does, although he does considerably more damage. His HP is also a massive 450, more than double Ryu’s. Overall Fusion is a really great ability since it means certain characters on the sidelines (Gobi) aren’t useless.
We’ll be seeing more of this power next update, so stay tuned until then.