Part 34: Treasure Hunt

It seems like it's been ages since I've been here..

"Hometown, then?"

"Not quite.. that's a bit northwest, but I don't see much of a point to going back there."





"Not much cash here."

"I don't think you're allowed to complain when you're raiding another kingdom's treasury."

"Back taxes."

"Princess.. this isn't our kingdom."

"If we're going to be treasure hunting, I know somewhere we should go.."



"I never turn down an actual invitation to plunder somebody's home town."

"You certainly didn't hesitate in Santeem."



"You never really think about what's behind the counter of a weapon's shop."

"I think that's because most shopkeeps make sure that there's no way for people like us to get behind the counter."





"Hmm.. that's a pretty nice sword, but I think it's going to Ragnar."



"Are we just visiting every place that there was a lock we couldn't open and emptying it out?"

"That's the plan, yes."




"If this keeps up we'll be able to clean the medal guy out.. not that he has anything I really want."



"The hidden passage in Gardenbur reminded me of this place.. I felt the same kind of draft right here."



"Well, I'm disappointed. This is just where they stick their senile old men to forget about them."

"Princess, you worry me when you talk like that."

"You shouldn't worry.. our tower room is for Cristo."

"If you're going to lock me away somewhere, just take me back to Gardenbur. I actually kind of liked it there."



"Adventurers. Licensed treasure hunting expedition, saving the world, ect ect. We'll be out of your way in a minute."




"Two new swords.. wait, Ragnar, when did you get here?"

"Ragnar followed for to get a second new sword, of course."

"Eh, whatever. Here you go."



"Umm.. Ragnar is having a small problem.."

"What? Oh, dammit. Cristo, get over here."

"I can't help with this... lifting curses is a highly specialized art."



"This is expensive. Well Ragnar, you're back to the Frost Blade."

"Ragnar does not have it.. remember? We sold it before Ragnar started to use sword of badness."

"Oh yeah..well, one more reason for you to hang tight in the wagon. We'll try and get you a new sword soon."



"Why are we here again?"

"Locked room with a restless ghost that we were told to never, under any circumstances, open."

"This is the best treasure hunt."

"Am I the only one who thinks this might be a bad idea?"

"Yes. The rest of us are sane."



"Fascinating. The ghost seems to be stuck in time to back when the lighthouse flame was destroying ships."



"Huh. Yeah, just from the looks of this thing we're not touching this."



"This place looks kind of suspicious, so I'm thinking it might be worth checking out too."

"Well, since nobody's us in this direction it's either a fantastic hidden treasure or we've stumbled upon a den of monsters that will eat us alive."

"It's about 50-50 either way."

"I don't like those odds."

"We do."



"Holy crap. It's like the walls are made of water."

"I think we just found the pirate's treasure trove."



"I'd suggest using the Stone of Drought right there where the current is flowing differently."



"That's amazing. How did a bunch of pirates put something like this together?"

"You shouldn't underestimate the ingenuity of pirates when it comes to hiding their treasure."



"Wow, the big thing right inside the doorway. That's kind of odd."

"Probably another trick.. they want us to stop here."



"The rare species of snakes and carnivorous fish they stocked the cave with are probably another good indicator."



"Do you think the medal king somehow hid all these medals around, or what?"

"It's hard to tell.. are you suggesting it's all some kind of game?"

"You have to admit it's pretty strange that these identical items are scattered around the world in out of the way places."



"I've got to say that the wildlife around here is fascinating.. it's very similar to other varieties we've seen, but with different color patterns and temperament."



"That's because they belonged to pirates. This place really is weird.. the walls and ceilings blend together in some places."



"Don't forget the green genii running around waving to people."



"I think this is more than the entire treasury of most of the castles we've went to."

"Not once we get Santeem back into shape."



"Heh. Another piece of equipment that has cursed written all over it. Why are there so many of these?"



"I think we've found the real treasure here. Once again, it's not a claw."

"I want it.. but I promised Ragnar a new sword. Damn."



"Just take it and let me never see it again."



"Alright Ragnar, here's your new sword."

"This is.. Ragnar... so beautiful, Ragnar has never seen so happy. Thank you Lady Hero!"

"You're welcome. Now let's go tomb raiding."



"There it is...I can't believe we're about to raid a tomb."

"Technically you could say that a number of the places we've been to have actually been tombs in one way or the other."

"That doesn't make it any better."

"No, what makes it better is that this one is royal."



"I guess they were trying for a minimalist look."



"Although the wall of locked doors certainly sends a very clear message of "get the hell out."



"I think the little fairy-winged dragons are trying their best to help with the message, but they're not very intimidating."



"Not this again."

"Not what again?"

"That's right.. you weren't with us for the ice cave. Those are sliding panels on the floor."



"And flying dinosaurs flapping around in the air. How many guards do you think they lose every time they bury a king?"



"Are you seeing what I'm seeing? I think I'm going to like it here."



"Princess! Watch where you're pointing that thing!"

"Sorry.. I didn't actually know it could do this before that."

"It's too bad that Metal Babbles are nearly fireproof."



"That's a weird staff... I guess I can see why they'd be storing it down here."



"A warp gate in the Royal Tomb.. maybe this helps when they have to entomb a king?"

"Give me a second and I'll tell you.. huh, no, not much help at all. It just goes back to the first floor."



"I'm confused, are those the priests or not?"

"Considering what we're about to do to them, I really hope not."




"Ha! Finally got one!"

"You.. just keep doing that."



"We really need to figure out what to trade these for. I'm torn between the helmet or a few more useful things for everybody."



"I think they have a healing spring in here.. it's a good thing, too, since I'm getting tired.



"They've got some pretty good room for expansion here. I think they're expecting to go through a few more kings yet."

"Somebody was thinking ahead and figured it would be a pain in the neck if they kept having to expand the place every time a king died."



"I think that's about everything. Everybody else ready to go?"



"I think I'm about done, yes."

End of Update Snapshot




Lamarck hasn't picked up any new tricks or changed that must as of yet, but one thing that became clear in the course of this update is that right now Lamarck is already wielding about the second best weapon that isn't cursed in the game. That's likely to remain the case, since we're probably not going to find anything better. What you see is what you get.



Alena's gotten even stronger and as you can see is one of our best bets for killing metal king slimes.. for a few more levels, anyway. That defense is still a problem, but she's fast enough that enemies can have a hard time hitting her.




Cristo's still waiting on those last couple of spells, but he's doing better than you'd expect. Not much more to say yet, but he's going to be more useful soon.




Brey is pretty much completely done with offensive magic at this point, but he picked up another buffing spell for our team. His HP has also shot up recently, which is very good news.



Ragnar's now using the best weapon in the game and it's reflected in that unreal attack power. There's actually quite a difference between the best and second best weapon, but I really did screw up and sell his frost blade and battle axe thinking that the multi-edge sword wasn't cursed.




No changes for Nara's spell list, but I did buy her some metal babble armor.. I just kind of forgot to equip it. Add another 100 and change to her defense, but she's still just sad for HP. The only thing she's got an advantage in for defense right now is the Golden Barrette.



No changes for Taloon. He could be greatly improved with a Sword of Miracles, but there's only 32 small medals in the world and we've already spent 6. this forces a choice.. we could afford 2 more Swords of Miracles and a couple of Hats of Happiness for those who can use them, or we can get one person a really good helmet.




You can kind of see how being out of the party has impacted the leveling of some of the characters, like Mara. She hasn't gained any more spells and her equipment is pretty well fixed at the moment, but in a few levels she'll become our best anti-babble weapon. Even if we don't use her again for a while I might have to do a bit of leveling for the B Team off screen.