Part 23: Purgatory

Last time we had some interesting conversations with Vahti and Olgar. But now is the time to go into our first dungeon and get the Warrior's ring.



First dungeon this time is the Purgatory. An interesting note, if you look at the character selection screens from the previous update, you will notice that they all have as background the first dungeon that they have access to. I was thinking that perhaps this is supposed to represent their own country, but really Ayuta and Mana don't exactly scream "post-apocalyptic" to me, so I think it's just random.



As always, we start at the beginning.







Thank you.
I just wonder if we'll make the betrothal...
I'll try and find a way out of here.
Thank you again.



Ok, let's get started. After a bit of wandering, we get to a teleporter...



...leading to the first puzzle. Candlesticks again, but this time they are connected diagonally in random ways making trial and error necessary (luckily, you have infinite number of moves allowed in all of them).



The result is the first of two items needed to unlock the boss.



Around the corner is the second important teleporter.



Because it leads to a puzzle. These are getting a bit tiresome.



And now we have second item and can head to the end of the first half of dungeon.



Really.







Of course, as always, unlocking makes the boss appear.



He is still no more of a problem than he used to be...





And we're done before we've even started.



After this I quickly exit and re-enter the dungeon to up the enemy level to the next step!



Second half is more post-apocalyptic, deserted, "New York".



First of three items is in this chest.



And then the next puzzle leads to...



...the second item.



We pass the locked teleporter, on the way to...



...the last puzzle...



...which gives us the third and last item we need to proceed.



Oh hey, it's Vahti and Olgar!







What?
I remember killing you with my own hands!
Olgar, wait. Maybe you shouldn't say any more...
Yes. Yes, you're right. Now that you're here, this deadly boring tournament has gotten interesting.
Are you excited now?
Excited? I can barely contain myself!!
Ayuta! I will be counting the seconds until our next bloodbath!

And with this, the two of them leave...





A long time...
Is something wrong?
N-no, it's nothing...



We can now unlock this and proceed.



In one of the chests, we run into a clothes upgrade for Mana...



Actually, it's quite a substantial upgrade! What I haven't mentioned so far, but is visible on this screen, is that various kinds of clothes not only upgrade your defence, but also your HP and MP! This leads to a somewhat paradoxical situation that Mana (a mage) now has more HP than Ayuta (a warrior).



But, anyway, here we are at the boss area... but he's not around!



However, a crazed Alto appears suddenly!

















Hey, look who's decided to appear!







And the boss dispatches Alto very quickly. I know what you're thinking, but don't worry, this is the third and last time we are seeing Alto suffer a gruesome death! It won't be happening again!



Of course, this leads straight into the boss fight for us, too.



He is quite weak to physical attacks.



And so.





Is something wrong?
If we don't get back home on time... you won't have to get betrothed.
Huh?
I... I-I'm sorry. I should never have said that...
Then why did you? It almost sounded like you don't want me to get betrothed.
No, of course not. Please just forget that I said anything.
I don't like stopping conversations in the middle. I want to hear whatever it is you're thinking.

I must say, I do like her attitude here!

Okay... The truth is, I...
I... I don't want you to get married.
And why is that?
Why...? Well, uh...
N-never mind. It's nothing.



Well. In any case, we got the warriors ring. We'll figure out the rest later.







And with that, we're back in the main room.







So, next time we'll have a chat with everybody and then again venture forth into the dungeon.

Speaking of dungeons, I hope nobody minds that I am not showing the intricate details of dungeon traversal any more--except for the items and plot-related events, the rest of the dungeon (layout, enemies...) is always the same so it's not worth spending time on that over and over again. One other thing that is of course different every time are the puzzles, but as I mentioned, they are really getting tiresome at this point and I am pretty sure that nobody is interested in spending more time on those.