Part 19: With no reason to be; just to be somebody somewhere

~Update 10: With no reason to be; just to be somebody somewhere~

Welcome to Chapter 4. This is where everything starts coming together. There's also going to be some anime-ass anime stuff. You'll start seeing the signs once it approaches.

The biggest thing to happen in this chapter is that the group will finally be complete. Feene will round out the group of seven, we'll find out what her whole deal is, then I'll force you guys to choose three out of the seven heroines. It'll be great.

Before all of that can happen, we need to get the introductory story nonsense out of the way. It seems there's been an interesting development...


-Wake's Dorm Room-



Ughh...not now...


???: Wake up, Wake. ...It's morning.


...Wha...Huh!?

...Good morning, Wake.



Oh...oh crap...wait, last night, did we...?

What!? W-Wait, it's--

Did we what?

Chlotz!? Oh shit... please, please tell me we didn't...

Mornin', Wake! Let's have ourselves a cheerful day, like always!

Why are you both in my room!?

Don't tell me you forgot?



Remember? Chief Ruby said that President Rhiod was having a press conference today.

O-Oh, right. The conference thing.

Thank you merciful Star God...

Where's your remote? Oh, there it is. Let's get this party started. Ooh! It's started already.


-AngelMarker-

*Camera flashes happening during this scene*



AngelMarker Industries is developing "Neo Ether," an entirely new form of energy!




[Reporter C]: *distant* Down in front!


I've been waiting for this!

We are finally at the stage where we can create the energy of the gods ourselves. This device I'm holding is a "God Brace" that emits Neo Ether. I want you all to try to imagine this... As long as we have Neo Ether, soon everyone will be able to fight like a Disciple! With this possibility, the eradication of the monsters will surely become reality!


[Reporter A]: When will this new Ether be completed?


[Reporter B]: Are there any side effects of this artificial form of Ether?


[Reporter C]: I still can't see! Stop being jerks, guys!


-Wake's Dorm Room-

So this is the big secret project that you guys wouldn't stop hinting at?

Is it really possible to create Ether?



AngelMarker Industries really is amazing, huh.

The device to create Neo Ether is being developed at the research lab. Once it's completed, any Disciple can fight in the Circles, without a God's Gift.

Alright, pause time. Remember last update when I told you guys to keep something in mind for the start of Chapter 4?

Ruby has been really militant with her assertion that she's in charge of the Dusk Circle missions, and her orders are absolute, and blah blah power-trip blah. But then in the last chapter she suddenly just threw a student part-time worker on monitoring duty and declared that she had better shit to do with her time. So why the change in attitude?

This is why. Now that this whole "God Brace" thing is taking off, Ruby doesn't need God's Gift and the S Ranks anymore. They're no longer useful to her, which means they aren't worth her time anymore. So she sticks Chlotz on monitoring duty and just tells him to give her a shout if anything happens. She doesn't completely cut them loose of course, because they might still discover something useful to her.

Fuck. Ruby. We'll leave it at that for now.

Huh...

But aside from that, Fuuko... You've been fidgety for a while now. What's wrong?

Ahaha...



And... um... Well... the laundry...

You got undies on the floor, man.

Yeah, well, I didn't think you guys would barge in here while I was still asleep. Deal with it.

That sure was an interesting way to start the morning. My only complaint with this scene is that Official Fuuko has no reaction to Wake's dialogue option of mistakenly thinking that the two of them slept together. Such a wasted opportunity.


-School Route-



Hey, Feene. Good morning to you, too.

Good morning, Miss Beautiful!

Feel free to beat him up if that starts to annoy you.

Good morning. When did you get back?

I took the red-eye early this morning.

For anyone who doesn't travel by air much, Feene is referring to taking a flight that departs at night and arrives the next morning. It's a reference to your eyes being red from being really tired or up really late.

I wish to fight alongside you all in the Labyrinths from this moment on.




[1st-Year Disciple A]: I didn't know she was back!


Ah... Well then, I will see you later. Please excuse me.

*Feene fucking books it*

It seems Feene wants nothing to do with her stalker fan-club groupies.

Miss Beautiful is is beautiful as always.



Oh great, now Fuuko is starting to get into it.

Come on, you two. We're going to be late if we keep standing around gushing over Feene.


-School Gate-

Huh? Ms. Chloe's at the school gate.

Good morning, everyone!

What are you doing over here, Sis?



You mean, the guy who only talks about health and hygiene? Did he catch a cold?

Don't you be knocking health and hygiene Chlotz.

That's not important. If you don't hurry, you're going to be late!

Crap! Let's hurry!


-2nd-Year Classroom-

Did you say "Trigger"?



They say that when you take it, it makes you feel full of energy and refreshed. Of course, that's only a hallucination, so you're only fooling yourself.

Also, one of the side effects is that it makes you really short-tempered. Yesterday, a Disciple who was using it went on a rampage and injured a teacher. He wasn't badly hurt, though. He'll be back by tomorrow.

...Why would anyone use such a scary drug?

People around here don't have much of a self-preservation instinct, Narika.



You're just going to destroy your body that way.

I guess he was willing to go that far in order to improve his grades.



You juicin', LightBlueHair?

D-Don't be stupid!

Got my eye on you...

Anyway, it's scary to think something like that is floating around. One more problem to add to my list.

Frightening stuff. Now for something completely random!


-Laboratory-

Virtues of the Seven Stars! Assemble!

Witches of the Seven Stars - Check out the cutscene




"Girl Next Door"!



"Perfect (Exceeder)"!



"Bra Size 45!" (I know what the actual title is, shut up.)



"It's Not Me It's You"!



"Lucky Star"!



...Torri!



"Hot for Teacher"!



"I'm Too Sexy!"



Ah, having some fun with song references. Wait... Chlotz! Get out of the shot!

Why did we do those stupid poses?

Because it's cool, that's why! Now shut up!

"Virtues of the Seven Stars"? Is that the name of our group?

I'm trying it out. I'll let you know if I come up with something better.

The group is complete! Actually, not really. Feene still doesn't join after this scene, for some stupid reason. The story needs to be advanced one more time, likely just to open the next Labyrinth. It's close enough though.



I will do my best not to drag you all down.

At this time, the fourth Circle Seed has finally activated. Once it materializes into a Labyrinth, the order to send in your team will be given.

Going from the speed of the previous Labyrinths, I don't think it'll be long.

I'm looking forward to it.

Is that so?



That's total bullshit and we all know it. It should be obvious to everyone reading this that Ruby is eager to get data from those new God Braces.

Wake, can I borrow you for a moment after this? I want to update your data in Renda.

...

Redux.

Sure thing.

Come to the training room.


-Redux-



I--

I'm just asking if you are ready.

Fine.

It's going to take some time to collect the data. I need you to sit for 20 minutes.

I can do that.

Well, let's get started. This may not help pass the time... But have you ever heard about this?

*sigh* NO Mark, I have not heard about 'this'. What is 'this'?

The Dusk Circle Zero Squad.



Damn it. That would have made an awesome name for the team...

It was before you were born.

Yes, Mark. I can do basic math.

So what did they do, exactly?

They went into the depths of the Dusk Circle on this island to investigate it. They valiantly stepped into the inactive Pandora Labyrinth.



But they did leave something behind for us. We call it the Zero Files.

What kind of information did it have?

It seems that back then... The interiors of the Circles did have Ether within them. As proof of that, they were able to send a small amount of data up to the surface. Part of their record includes these words: "A source of endless Dusk Energy exists within the Pandora Labyrinth. An inactive Circle has no exit."

Spooky.

Two more teams were sent in an attempt to find them, but no one ever returned. The government reached a conclusion from this... They concluded that Star Energy could not be used within those spaces. Finally, they gave up on investigating the Labyrinth.

So despite how suicidal it was, they still sent two more teams in after Zero Squad?



More teams would have been sent into other Circle Seeds, as well.

I'm going to go ahead and assume that these other teams were sent in before the transmission actually came back.

Because the alternative is that we just heard Mark say that AngelMarker/The Government sent in two more teams after being clearly told that inactive circle seeds have no exit. It's not like the people in this world haven't already set a precedent for doing stupid reckless shit, but that would be a level of dumbfuckery that I refuse to believe got green-lit.

Besides that, if the transmission had actually come back before the other teams had been sent, then how in the hell would they have gotten anyone to agree to go in? "Okay, so Zero Squad said there's no exit, but they're clearly a bunch of idiots. You guys are a lot smarter, so track them down and show them how much better you are at science-ing than them. Sound cool?"

So let's just assume that the 'seriously, stay the fuck out' transmission was received after it was too late for the rescue teams.

If AngelMarker employees were participating in the investigation teams... And if people were still being sent into the Circles... It's quite possible that I could have been on a team going into inactive Circles.

For that reason, I could say that a great many people owe their lives to Zero Squad.

Right, so now you're just running headlong into active seeds that are overflowing with monsters, instead. Much better idea.



This leader was an S Rank Disciple, and an extremely intelligent student.

Because of these accomplishments, she was given command of an investigation team. That team then proved that it was possible to enter and exit an active Labyrinth!

I look up to that Disciple even now. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she's the reason you can go into Circles.

Nnnooo. I'm pretty sure the reason I can go into Circles is because Star God gifted me with the ability to do just that. Don't go stealing credit from Him, Mark. He doesn't like that crap.

It's not made clear who this Disciple was, but it's heavily implied to have been Ruby. If we had a rough time for when the first Labyrinth cropped up, then we'd be able to get an idea of her's and Mark's age. Right now they would have to be somewhere between 22-38 years old, which is kind of obvious judging by their looks.

It's not important, I just think it's fun to speculate. Because it's a Japanese game, anyone over the age of 28 is contractually obligated to make 'jokes' about how old and decrepit they are, which Mark and Ruby haven't done. So I'd say those two are like, 26, tops.

Chlotz told me about what happened to your hometown. You want revenge, is that it?

Obviously that's part of it.

If I can give you my own opinion...



Yeah, Mark. You don't say. I wonder why that is?

Alright, we're done.


-Laboratory-



The next Labyrinth seems like it's close to appearing. I'm checking in periodically just in case.

I see. I hope the Neo Ether will be completed by then.

Let me guess, you're still itching to get in there?



I still think you're doing a good job of that here, by managing the defenses, but I know you aren't thrilled with that.

Well, I'm not exactly going to complain if I get to have you fighting with me. It would certainly be a relief.

Glad to hear it.

Alec's hungry for some real action. Countdown to him getting too eager and doing something foolish is now on. Everyone else is being a reckless moron, he might as well join them.


-Hallway-

Would you tell me where you're dragging me off to?



Oh yeah, loving the sound of that.


-Student Council Room-

This is just a rumor...



In other words, they're dealing the drug underground.

There's already been an incident in which a teacher has been injured... As part of the student council, I wish to do something about it.

That's where we come in. We'll help crack down on a deal and stop the sale.

Um... But aren't you busy with sterilizing the Circles...?

Yes, I am busy sterilizing the Circles, as Chlotz should know. Not to mention the other list of stuff I have building up on a daily basis.

Come on, man. We can't just stand by and let this happen.

All I can promise is that I'll keep an eye out.

Really? Thank you so much!



See? I told you he'd cooperate if I told him about it.

Thanks, Chlotz.

(You can't even begin to comprehend how much you owe me for this, Chlotz.)

Chlotz is using his famous friend to help him score points with his crush. You pathetic bastard.



Anyway, the story takes a break here for a moment. Feene still isn't on board as far as gameplay is concerned, but before we take care of that little oversight, there's new stuff to show off.

Quests and items are nothing important. That's just typical upgrade stuff. Likewise, the Labyrinth is just the training center version of Greed.

What is worth pointing out is that the maximum BP has been slowly increasing over the past few dungeons. We're up to +300 now, although 400 is where we want to be, since most everything BP related is a round hundred number.



The biggest addition is this little shop right here. Let's have a look.



The children we've been setting free into Fort City can now be hired to go hunt for treasure.

Also, there has been no improvement to the spelling error situation. Awesome.



Baki? Is that you?

I'm glad you recognize me, Father. How have you been?

Not bad. Not great either, but not bad. So, running a scavenger business now, huh?

It seemed like a prime opportunity.

Baki's got a little monocle.



As the tutorial card pointed out, you can send independent Star Children out into Labyrinths to search for stuff. Claim allows you to pick up the rewards once they have returned. Recall is for when you want to cancel a scavenge and pull the Child back.



It costs money to send a Child out, and it will take a certain amount of time (I'm pretty sure you could just keep Resting if you really didn't want to wait). It's a little bit expensive, but it can save you time trying to hunt for items.



The available Children to send are picked at random. As you can see, if you went and dumped a bunch of level 1 children into Fort City to try and level it up, then you could wind up having to refresh this list a bunch in order to find your higher level SC's. You obviously want to send the stronger kids. It's nothing serious, but it is quite annoying. Try and level the little guys up before you send them out into the world.



At the current facility level, we can only send out two SC's. I send Udo and Pit out into the Greed and W. Wind Tunnel Labyrinths, respectively.



I came back the next day and they had returned with some Mana Stones. Nothing good unfortunately.

I thought the Scavenger operated on in-game days, but I hadn't advanced at all between saving/quiting and loading up the next real-life day. It's possible it just automatically completes when you save and quit, then load. I'll do some testing.



We make a quick stop at the Lab Quest board before moving on. I just want to point out that beating Mammon is a quest which gives the Upgrade Parts T. This boosts the Heroines' weapon ATK/MAT/TEC. Switching them from the S versions of their weapons results in a loss of 100 SPD though.

I give the T weapon version to Chloe, Torri, and Fuuko. They've got excess speed that I don't mind trading off for an increase in attack. Especially Torri. Everyone else has a Rapid Ring accessory to boost their speed and they still don't match Chloe/Fuuko/Torri.



No sign of Feene in our bonding list. Before we fix that, however, we need to try and make a dent in some sub-events.

A ton of sub-events are available right now. Enough that I could probably make an entire post of just them. Luce, Ruby, Mark, Chlotz, Alec, and Triche all have like four each. They range from funny to weird to spoiler-ish.


-2nd-Year Classroom-

Oh well, let's try and make some headway I guess. I've got some room in this update and I'm fine with dragging out this whole 'getting Feene' thing for as long as possible.



And now, people are starting to doubt the Original Core's ability to hold them back.

I think this is supposed to be 'Star Wall'. Not sure if it's a translation error or a mix up with the script in general. The Star Wall is what's holding the monsters back from the Original Core, not the core itself.

I can guarantee, in the year since I became the leader of the guards... I have never let a single monster through our defensive line.

That means that the rest of these monsters... They must be coming from the Nests. Active Dusk Circles are capable of ejecting three Nests in a single week. So far, the research has been promising. The Labyrinths without Dusk Spawners haven't been generating Nests. The Dusk Circles must be sterilized if we hope to win the battle on the ground.

Man, you are chatty today.

My apologies. I may have caught something from him.

What do you mean?

I just saw Chlotz. He talked my ear off, like always. I guess that's just who he is.

Not fond of him?



But he's growing on me.

After I beat you in that fencing match...

Which you cheated in.

*sigh* Yes. Which I cheated in. If I may continue...

He came to see me, alone. At first, I thought he was there to pick a fight with me for what I did to you.

But then he asked me if something was wrong. You weren't the only one worried about me... Both Ms. Chloe and Chlotz were as well. At the time, I thought he should mind his own business... But now, I think he's more mature than I am.

I wouldn't be so sure about that last part. He has his moments, but let's not get carried away.

But do you know what he said to me when I saw him a minute ago?



So it's not just me he does that with... What's up with that?

By the way, why do you keep glancing around every now and then?

I don't know if you're aware of it... But there's a rumor about us going around.

Hm?

A childish insinuation that there's a romantic relationship between you and I.

I wouldn't let it get to you. The students around here are weird like that.

That would be ideal, but...

I feel like everyone is staring at me. I've caught an unusual number of girls looking at me recently.

I thought you'd have noticed it too. Doesn't it bother you?

Not really. I've had people staring at me since day one. I've gotten used to it. Kind of unfazed at this point.

Unfazed, huh...

I suppose denying it won't help much.



That's all you really can do. It's only going to get worse if you start going after people about it.

Oh yeah. I meant to ask if you wanted to head out to the fencing club. Almost forgot.

No, I'll pass. I don't do well in big groups.

Yeah, Triche said something to that effect. So you're just done with it, then?

I'll never be able to thank Triche enough for letting me into that club. He was the one who taught me the basics of swordplay. On top of that, he showed me all the best soba restaurants on this island. But there's nothing left for me to learn.

Ever thought about being a coach, then?



By the way... You've been staring at me rather intently.

Is there something on my face?

Nah. I was thinking that you look a lot like your brother. Just a weird random thought.

Really? People usually say Enzea looks like my father and I look like my mother.



Oh...

Don't give me that look. I'm over my parents' divorce.

I respect my father, but his success came at a price. I think it was the right thing for them to get divorced.

That's a pretty mature way to look at it.

Me? Hahaha, no way. If I was really mature, I wouldn't depend so much on my father. My brother doesn't.

When we were growing up, my brother had no illusions about our parents. I think that's because he's been fiercely independent ever since he was young.



After all, he had as much influence on my personality as my father did.

Oh, if you'll excuse me, I have to go to a meeting.

That's thankfully done with. We learned a lot about Alec at least. Turns out we do find out what happened to his mother. Divorce isn't exactly nice, but at least she isn't dead. That's the typical fate of any parent not directly seen on screen.


-Hallway-



You're sure it's accurate, right?

Of course it is! Luce got me this fresh info!

Fine, fine. Calm your junk. Well? What did you find out?


-Heroes' Grave-

According to what Luce told me... She's received tips that Trigger dealing has been going on here.

I can't believe these assholes would deal drugs here of all places.

Wait... shhh....



Hold up. We need to wait and make sure.

You think this is the time for waiting? They're selling drugs right now! C'mon!

Dammit Chlotz. Too reckless.

Hey! What do you two think you're doing!?


[Punk]: Hm? Who're you?


I know it's just a generic NPC sprite, but I like to imagine that this is the same fuckwad that was antagonizing Alec.

Mind explaining what you're dealing?



Prepare to be arrested!

Chlotz, not now. Please.


[Standard Disciple A]: ...God's Gift? Why's he here!?


[Punk]: What? God's Gift!? Dammit, we've been compromised!


If the two of you ever want to walk again, then I highly suggest you don't try and run. I will cut out your damn tendons if I have to.


-Church of Aterra-



It seems the illicit substance is being manufactured at a hideout on this island.

Now, there is one problem here.

Point me to where it is and stand back.



What do you mean?


-Island Nest-



What the hell is this thing doing here? God dammit Ruby, are you even paying attention!?



Let's move everyone! We're going to eradicate this damn nest!

Right!

And then the nest was destroyed. Seriously. It just fades to white after that and then fades in to the next scene. Glossed right over.

Also, for anyone confused as to why all the heroines are there, remember that this is a Nest and not a Labyrinth. The girls don't have any issues with Ether in Nests.

Also also, what the fuck Ruby? What the hell happened to all that monitoring stuff meant to track Nests that reach Fort Island? I'm starting to think that Sasami may have for real sabotaged the security of Fort Island. This place has really gone to shit lately.


-Church of Aterra-

I'm back. The hidden Nest has been dealt with. All that's left is to take care of the hideout.

Well done!



Of course it was. It figures they would act fast once one of their sellers was busted.

Still. How in the hell did a guy like that know the location of a Nest that the Academy, AngelMarker, and the Church didn't?

That is a mystery, but I believe that it will be solved in a matter of time.

In any case, it is truly joyous that a Nest has been scoured from the island. Please get some rest.

Curious er and curious er.


-Serenity Chamber-

I found out about this later... But it seems that Alec was actually the one who told Luce about the Trigger dealing.



He's not a bad guy. He's just kind of a dick about it when he tries to help.

Mmhmm... I think so too.

Oh, it's Fuuko and Narika.

I finally found you guys.



Wake, take a look at this newspaper. See? We're in it! There's an article about how we eradicated that Nest the other day.

What's so rare about that? When the first Circle was sterilized, they held a meeting broadcast around the world.

Yeah. It's not really a surprise that the news would report on something like that.

That's not what I mean. Look at this headline.



What is this shit!? It's supposed to be "Virtues of the Seven Stars"! Virtues! It's meant to contrast with the sins that the Labyrinths are named after! And why the fuck does God's Gift not warrant a mention at all!?

The Witches...? Is that supposed to be you and the other girls?

That's right. Calling us witches, though... It's kind of... questionable.

Conception II NPC Status: Still assholes.

What's a witch?



...Do I look like that?

Narika, you don't look anything like that.

Wait... Are you saying that I look like that?

Oh, no! Of course you don't look like that either, Fuuko!

*Serina and Feene arrive*



Don't you think it's horrible, too?

Ah, Serina and Feene.

What's this headline about? How in the world does anyone think we're witches?

Do they think we'll say things like...



That does kind of sound like something you'd say, though.

What was that?

But... It's nice to get recognition that we're all part of the same team, isn't it?

...Maybe.

...I guess that's one way to look at it. Still though, it really bugs me that they didn't use what I've been pitching.

We're friends who fight together, huh? I like the sound of that.

Are we all friends? I'd like you to all be my friend.

Right!



When did you show up, Sis?

Everyone, I have a message from Chief Ruby. Ahem:

Six hours ago, a fourth Circle has formed a Labyrinth. The mission to go in is granted. This Circle will be the biggest yet. Make sure you take caution when you go!

That's it.

That's pretty important! It's irresponsible of her to just send you to tell us that!



So for anyone who may have been thinking that I was reading too much into it, here's some more proof. Ruby no longer gives a shit about God's Gift and the S Ranks. She didn't even bother to call everyone in to the lab like she always does. She didn't call at all for that matter! She just told Chloe to go let everyone know.

Not only that, she also didn't tell the group that they are departing at 10am the next day or something. She just said "take caution when you go", like she doesn't really care when they head out.



Whatever. I hate Ruby anyway. The less we have to put up with her the better.

With that, Feene finally joins up from a gameplay perspective. That means the next update will be devoted to getting her properly introduced and summarizing her route like the others.

Then we have to get our focus heroines one more round of Bonding. It's their last chance to try and cement their places before I hold another big vote.