Part 5: Stratum 1: Offering Part 1

It is said that the people of Stag worshipped many gods in the old days, which led to many conflicts with the Valdians.
- excerpt, Legend Cycles of the Ancients

Bad Omens

The Count wanted to give us some advice before we pushed forward. It turned out to be very timely in retrospect.



This is important advice about capturing Majin.
Please listen for a moment.
You may be an expert at capturing Majin, but…
Besek is a dangerous place.
It is not for the inexperienced or the faint of heart.
You should be wary of the larger Majin in Besek.
They are powerful juggernauts!
There is a special method to capturing them.
You need to know this.

He told us that we needed to surround the larger Majin in order to capture them even if they were bound.



Select the bound Majin, then select an ally.
This is crucial, and you will master it in time.
You should have many victories ahead of you.

We continued on deeper into Besek.



A vast door was waiting for us.

Video- “Offering Lead In”



(I have to stay… focused…!)
Ugh…
Ashley, are you okay!?
I-I’m okay. All this magic energy in the air’s just making me a little… nauseous.
???: (Delve deeper into your memories…)
(Remember me, Ashley!)
Aaah!
Ashley!? Please, you need to rest!
*pant pant* No, I’m okay… I’ll be fine.

Video- “Offering Part 1”

Click Here to Watch with Commentary



Ally Team:
For the first time we’ve got a full party of seven on the field. Joining Ashley, Glynne, and Reyna are Vivian, Stein, Velnor, and Nena. This isn’t really an ideal party, because only Ashley and Glynne are really tough enough for close quarters work. We’ve not really got a lot of options, though. Our only real Majin option would be the Caprus or Laquo from the last map, and they’re really not that great.

Enemy Team:
There are only seven Majin on the map this time, but they’re much tougher than anything we’ve seen before. There are two Laquo, two Velox, two Aquamotes, and a Caprus. Let’s look at our new Majin enemies really quickly.



Aquamote is the first Majin that can really be dangerous with its casting. It’s got Aqua magic and can heal. It’s nearly immune to Aqua itself and is very hard to injure with Strikes. Fire and Piercing attacks are very effective, though. Aquamotes are priority targets again because they supply great skills when sacrificed.



Velox are ranged Majin much like Apis, though they’re actually armed with bows instead of shooting spines. They’re vulnerable to Fire, Light, and Darkness, and these low level ones lack any real skills to speak of. They can pose a threat to our casters but are pretty easily defeated.

Deployment:



The Majin start out relatively tightly grouped, and are ominously all on one half of a much larger map. I choose to start out on the right side to take advantage of the sparser grouping of the Majin on that side. I want to push with Ashley and Glynne because Laquo are serious threats to everyone else in the party. Once I’ve rolled the right side I’ll be able to take the remaining Majin one or two at a time.

Map:



Ashley, just worry about yourself for now.
Y-Yeah… I guess you’re right…
Falsin!
Cede Falsin!
Holy Atona, please guard and protect us.
Majin! You better watch out!

I start out advancing Ashley aggressively to the right. I don’t quite get in range to attack the Laquo physically, so I throw a Sacra at it instead. The Velox moves over to support its ally but is largely inconsequential. While it’s at a much higher elevation, Reyna does manage to hit the Aquamote above the party with an arrow. Velnor isn’t quite able to reach Ashley or Glynne to buff them, so he buffs his own speed and then moves up to be ready to support next turn. The Laquo attacks Ashley for little effect, after which the Aquamote shows why Aquamotes are pains in the ass.



Velnor’s turn comes up, allowing me to hit Ashley with his Accelero buff. Speed buffs are amazing and this can’t be emphasized enough.



Ashley? What is it?
I think someone’s watching us…! Keep your guard up!

Velox are vulnerable to Sacra, so I bypass the Laquo for now and thow some love its way. Having more Majin at low health makes it a bit easier to deal with the Aquamote’s healing abilities. Meanwhile we’ve been moving our caster group up behind to try and get them in range to be helpful.



If it isn’t the book, what’re they reacting to…? Ashley!?

We throw some Terra magic with Glynne at the Laquo to get its health down a bit more. The Velox manages to hit Stein with an arrow, but in return we trash it with a Pyro II from Reyna, overkilling it and getting Reyna a level.



Reyna gains the same Pierce Evade skill Ashley has. The Sacra I skill is something we picked up from sacrificing a Majin earlier, not something she naturally gets. I throw a Malus at the Laquo and once again bring its health down to critical levels, but the Aquamote uses its second heal on it. It’s out of heals now, though, so I can finally make some progress by throwing more firepower onto the Laquo. I also capture the Velox, allowing me to flank the Laquo with Glynne.



Nena and Vivian both have a sleep spell, Somnus, that I’ve been using since it has a longer range than our damage spells. I finally manage to land one on the Laquo, which means physicals will be guaranteed crits as long as it’s asleep. The Aquamote moves back into range to hit Glynne with an Aqua I and is overkilled by a Pyro II from Reyna for its troubles. His ally joins him right after thanks to a combo from Glynne and Ashley. Glynne gains a level somewhere in here that I don’t capture the status screen for. He hasn’t gained any new skills, though. The two Majin are captured, allowing me to push forward aggressively and draw in the Caprus and Velox.



There must be something else here.
Both of you, watch your backs!

The Caprus and Velox are weakened with magic on their approach, putting them in good positions to be captured.



???: (Yes… that’s a good girl… My Ashley is a good girl…)

Ashley slams Caprus with a Light Attack, overkilling it. We trade blows with the Velox a bit to get it in overkill range, meanwhile getting close enough to the second Laquo to start drawing it in. Ashley pounds the Velox, overkilling it and causing her to gain a level. This also triggers her class change.





Ashley’s gained a lot of physical and even some magical power out of this level. She’s also no longer vulnerable to Fire attacks. By choosing Prodigy, we’ve also gained a use of her unique skill, Punishment. This is a powerful Mace attack that also can Mute an enemy. We then move up into the Laquo’s face, confident that it’s no threat to Ashley. This keeps the Laquo in place while we pepper it with arrows and spells to weaken it. We also shoot the second Aquamote with Reyna to weaken it. It heals the Laquo, though this isn’t a real problem at this point. I take advantage of this to throw more magic into it and have Ashley heal a bit to get her some free EXP. After a few actions like this, I get Reyna in range to take out the Aquamote with a Pyro II, causing her to level again.



The game then gets just as impatient as I’ve been the past few turns.



Hahahahahaha! Cede Falsin!
You’re just wasting your time taunting me!

Another Combo from Ashley and Glynne overkills the second Laquo. Glynne levels after capturing it.



He gets the all-important buff Accelero from this level. The Aero I skill is another from a Majin, not a natural skill. After this I capture the Aquamote and end the map.

Battle Result:

Levels:
Ashley 10->11
Glynne 6->8
Reyna 6->8

Majin:
Caprus Lv. 7 x 1
Laquo Lv. 6 x 2
Aquamote Lv. 6 x 2
Velox Lv. 6 x 2

Things only got worse when we defeated the first wave of Majin, though.



Ashley!?
Something’s coming!
Majin: Welcome, puny Falsin!

The door creaked open, and a nightmarish Majin floated out.



I am Otakuphant!
Foolish Falsin! All you’re good for is food!
Your threats don’t mean anything to us!
Otakuphant!?
That’s… the same name as a god in the Church of Stag…
Why!?
Reyna, he’s coming for us! Pay attention!
I know!
Candidate of Izel… become my flesh! I want your power!
Just be quiet!

Our battle was only beginning…
- journal entry