Part 24: Stratum 1: Isolation

The Valdian Knights were well known as the most powerful offensive force on the continent, and were one of the few organizations capable of standing against the frequent Majin attacks on the borders of Valdia.
- excerpt, The Fall of Valdia

A Questionable Gift

I’m not waiting for approval. We’re going to Besek NOW.

Video- “Olifen Lead In”

Click For Video

Hey, Olifen. Wait a second!



Calm down.
How can I be calm at a time like this?
Olifen…
I know…

We had a somewhat unwelcome visitor on the way out though.



Count Duphaston…



What do you want?
I wanted you to have this.

It was some kind of librum.



It’ll help you with the trials in Besek.
You should take it, Commander.
A Librum?
It was created ages ago to ensnare the Majin.
You’re not afraid of such an artifact...
Or are you, my dear Commander?

It may not have been a good idea, but if Besek’s half as dangerous as is rumored we’ll need all the help we can get.
- operation record, Commander Olifen

First Blood

Besek is a much stranger place than I had expected.



We’ve been lucky to avoid the Majin up ‘til now.
What’s on your mind? You have a plan?
I’ll find the Princess and bring her back home to His Majesty. That’s the plan.
You understand what we’re getting ourselves into, right?
The Valdian Commander jumping headlong into battle without the Council’s backing…
I hope you thought about the consequences.
Do you know how long My Lady’s been missing!?
You expect me to sit around and wait for the Council’s permission!?
Besides, His Majesty petitioned the entire kingdom for help. As a proud Valdian, aren’t I obliged?
You’re missing the point.
The King doesn’t have the power to issue that sort of decree. Only the Council does.
So now, if you return home without the Princess, they might kick you out of the Knights.
Think about why you became Commander in the first place…
All I care about is Lenarshe’s safety. Nothing else matters to me.
*sigh *
Commander Olifen!

They can do whatever they want to me after we get back, I don’t even care. I’m not totally sure about our contingent from the Church. Marie seems solid, but that kid…



We gotta get a move on, right, Boss?
Absolutely. Is everyone prepared for battle?
Of course.
Ready, Boss.
I-I’ll do my best, Commander!
We shall vanquish all evil, in the name of Valdia!

Still, he’s supposed to be an expert on Besek and the Majin, and it’s already clear we’ll need someone like that.

Video- “Isolation”

Click For Video with Commentary



Ally Team:
We’ve already seen our main party in the preview, but in case you missed it I’ll go over them briefly. Our main character, Olifen, is armed with rapiers and slashing swords. He gets Air buffs like Glynne but unlike Glynne he gets good stats. We’ve also got Logue, a heavy melee fighter like the mercenary Alexei, Levatte, who has healing, support, and Light damage magic, and Marie, a powerful caster with Fire and Air magic. Our party has no archery, but Marie certainly does give us some serious ranged power. We’ve got no choice as to our party right now, so not much else to talk about.

Enemy Team:
We’ve got a pretty novel enemy group this time around. There are three low-level Laquo and two each of the new Majin Stelios and Gripnor. Let’s take a look at them all.



Stelios is a frog-like Majin. Its tongue attack acts just like a Spear, and it resists Water. Fire and Pierce attacks are your best bets, though everything is pretty powerful against them.



This lower level Laquo is just like the stronger ones we saw earlier. It’s a tough melee fighter who is vulnerable to Pierce, Fire, and Air. We’ve got all those things, so picking Laquo apart is simplicity itself.



Gripnor is a surprisingly powerful hybrid melee fighter and caster. It uses Earth magic, though it’s not powerful enough to cause Fracture so it’s not so much of an issue. It’s very vulnerable to Fire and Strike, and pretty vulnerable to most other types of magic. It’s also got really strange hopping animations.

Deployment:



We’re going to deploy in a tight group, because we’ve just got one healer and we can’t keep our cloth characters safe without melee support. Our front line is pretty tough, though, so we can rely on them keeping it together.

Tactical Objectives:
- Capture the new Majin
- Scrape up as much exp a possible

Map:



Olifen, this place…
It’s Cenwyn Marsh, you first battle with the Knights.
But why is this place here, in Besek?
U-Ugh…
Hey, you okay there, Levatte?
I-I’m fine, thank you. I won’t be a burden.
Stay alert, guys.
Majin are powerful creatures. Don’t forget that.
Levatte, be careful. This is your first time in combat.
Commander…
Yeah, like we’re planning to die HERE, eh, Levatte?
May Holy Atona bless our swords with her might.
We shall vanquish all evil, in the name of Valdia!

We start out with an aggressive push towards the nearest Majin. We might have a powerful party but we still want to make sure we’re only fighting a few Majin at once.



Their power would intimidate any untrained warrior.
Megiddos deportat! Tuum edo!
Hmph! Damn Majin, we aren’t your food.
Y-You can understand them, Sir Logue!?
Somehow, the meaning of their words comes to me.

There’s a lot of talk early on in this map. Anyway, all of these Majin are slow and not terribly aggressive so we can largely pick and choose who we’re fighting.



We have no choice but to use this librum from the Count…
I-Is that… the Librum Aurora!?
You know what this is?
It holds the power to weaken Majin and capture them.
The Librum Aurora is legendary!
I-I never expected to see it for myself…

We take the first blood on the map when Olifen runs up and stabs the Laquo with his rapier. His ability to switch between Pierce and Slash is really going to come in handy through this run and we’re already taking advantage of it.



Hey, Majin, you really think you stand a chance?

We push Marie up but don’t quite cast yet. We’re going to weaken Laquo a bit more then Lead Marie to burn it down.



Hey, you don’t look so good. Don’t push yourself, Levatte.

Thank god we don’t have to worry about Levatte actually pussing out mid-fight or he’d be even worse. He does a good job here, though, weakening the Laquo with a Sacra. A Gripnor and Stelios are incoming, and the Gripnor even throws out some magic at Olifen. Olifen’s not quite so vulnerable to magic as Glynne though so it’s not that bad. You know who is vulnerable to magic? Laquo. Laquo is in range to be pounded down, so we lead Marie to cast on it then capture it with Olifen. Stelios advances to take its place and just gets smashed by a spell to the face followed by a Combo from Olifen and Logue for its trouble. Gripnor runs out of spells and has to resort to melee against Logue, which is substantially less threatening.



Don’t get overconfident, Commander…
I know…

I can’t get a Combo on the Gripnor together this turn, so I go for broke and Lead Logue to try and Overkill it. I miss the Overkill, but between killing that and capturing the Stelios both Olifen and Logue level up.



We haven’t gotten any new skills for Olifen yet. One thing worth noticing here is that Olifen only has Summon II, whereas Ashley had Summon III. This gives him less range in which he can Summon Majin.



Logue gained the old standard Fracture Attack with this level. It’s just as good for him as it was for Ashley. Anyway, we’ve cleared the path to the chest, after which we can start on the Majin on the second half of the map.



All good here.
I-I’m doing my best, Sir Logue.

The chest has a Medicine in it, just like the chest in Innocence did. Now we’re going to advance on the near Laquo while keeping our group cohesion strong.



We won, but there’s more out there. Stay on guard!
Don’t worry, Boss. You don’t gotta tell ME that…!

We push up and engage the nearest Laquo, knowing we’re going to get a Gripnor too.



Hey, Levatte, take it easy. We’re with you.
Y-Yes, of course… Th-Thank you, Ma’am.

This Laquo falls the same way as the first, we weaken it with the party and then pound it into the ground with magic from Marie, who levels up.



Marie’s not got any new skills but she’s even more powerful now. Gripnor advances meanwhile, we hit it with an attack from Logue and a spell from Marie and then finish it with a Combo from Olifen and Logue. Levatte goes behind the party capturing things for the easy experience points. Meanwhile the last two Majin, a Laquo and a Stelios, are advancing on the party.



Logue carries out a really key play here, he Fractures the Laquo. What this is going to let us do now is send Levatte in to join a Combo on it for the free experience. Any time we can do that, we want to try. It’ll get him easy levels and one step closer to being useful. All the attention Olifen’s been drawing has combined with getting lots of hits in to cause him to level up again.



He’s picked up Accelero, which can mitigate Logue’s low speed. I hit the Stelios with Logue and then try to weaken it to critical health with Marie but end up just barely killing it. It’s not like I don’t want the experience on Marie, though, so it’s cool. Levatte then runs up to the Laquo and joins Olifen in a Combo on it, getting him a level too.



Levatte’s got his first buff, Magus Def. This is awesome for Logue, because he’s very vulnerable to magic. We finish the map off by throwing some buffs around and capturing with Marie.

Battle Results:

Levels:
Olifen 4->6
Logue 4->5
Marie 3->4
Levatte 3->4

Majin:
Laquo Lv 4 x 3
Stelios Lv 3 x 1
Gripnor Lv 4 x 1

Gold:
720

Refugee:
Mana

We’d defeated the Majin, but things weren’t looking great. There was an injured girl the Majin had been holding captive.

Video- “Isolation Lead Out”

Click For Video

But this is only the beginning…
I know. There’ll be a lot more Majin ahead of us.
One can be deadly on its own, let alone a pack of them.
I’m worried how the other two’ll be holding up…
Commander Olifen!
We have found someone who was abducted by the Majin.
A refugee, huh? Good work, Levatte. Let’s escort them to somewhere a bit safer.
The last town we saw was at least a day’s walk from here, Commander. I don’t know if she’ll survive the journey.
Hmmm… Besek isn’t a safe place. We’ll need to think of something fast…
Huh? Majin!?

It wasn’t the Majin, but it certainly was a surprise.



What the…?
Uoy tsissa ot ereh m’i! Anook! Anook!
They’re known as Koona.
*gasp *
They are a native species of Besek… Largely serving as food for the Majin.
Ydegart a hcus s’ti…
Count Duphaston… What’re YOU doing here?
You appear to be in an interesting predicament, fair Commander.
We’ve rescued a refugee, but she isn’t strong enough to make it back to civilization… And we can’t leave her out here…
Ah, I see. Well, it is my privilege to tell you that I have just the perfect answer for your situation.
If you’ll allow me the pleasure, I shall escort you to my town.
Please, follow me.
Ah… Okay…?

I still can’t believe there’s a whole working town in Besek.



Hahaha. I see you’re impressed by my meager safehaven. This is my fair town of Isapolis.
Actually, this was my territory before Besek appeared. So since we’re still within my borders, you could say Besek is mine…
I see…
And as ruler of this land, the duty falls upon me to assist any who are brave enough to venture here.
So allow me to welcome you to my domain.
Please make yourselves at home here. I’m aware that Isapolis is not as elegant as one might hope, but it’s safe from the Majin.
Thank you, Count. As Commander of the Valdian Knights, I am in your debt.
Oh, there’s no need to thank me, Commander. I shall prepare lodgings for you all at Twilight’s Rest.
A knight, thrust headlong into battle to rescue his betrothed from the monster’s den…
It’s a real-life fairytale. I am honored to play my humble supporting role.
…
If you have any further questions about the town, please don’t hesitate to ask.

The Count got very serious all of a sudden when he mentioned this Librum Aurora. I guess it’s as important as Levatte said.



And without it, I’m sure you will discover just how truly dangerous Besek can be.
That’s all. Please, make yourselves at home here.
Olifen, I don’t trust the Count. I’ve got a bad feeling about him.
I heard a rumor he performs secret magic experiments…
The Princess has been missing for five days.
We don’t have the time to choose who we can and can’t trust…
I agree, but… be careful, alright?
Yeah, I hear you…

The Count showed us where all the ‘amenities’ were in town, after which I looked around a bit myself. At least it seems like the people here are alright.



Muse: I’m Muse and I’m a dancer.
I want my dancing to cheer people up, especially during these troubled times.
Will you please come see me perform? That would make my day!
By the way, I love gossip, so if you ever wanna hear any, come talk to me!

I think the Count has his butler running the town.



Basil: I’m only a butler, but my lord, Count Duphaston, ordered me to run this town.
Since the appearance of Besek, many people have started to show up here.
My Lord wants to ensure the safety of the town’s citizens and new visitors.
If you find any lost travelers, would you please bring them here?
Thank you very much. Please feel free to talk to me if you need anything.

There’s a strange fortune teller here in town, not that I believe in things like that.



Shivan: Fate has brought you and I together in this meeting.
You will face many difficult trials ahead.
By believing in your friends, the answer will be revealed.
Only then will your true path become clear to you.
We will speak again when it is time. May the gods protect you.

There’s a really shifty guy in town, he’s some kind of thief. I wonder if he knows something…



Leon: I’m Leon, the world’s greatest thief! Well, not yet, but I’m working on it…
Leave everything to me! What…? The Princess… in Besek!?!?!?
Well, er, uhhh… I don’t think I should talk about it…
And if I end up saving her, that’ll hurt your reputation. No one wants THAT!
You wouldn’t feel any sense of accomplishment. But I can still help.
I’m an expert at gathering information. Anything you need! Just come find me!

I’ll keep an eye on him. Anyway, we stopped by the shop in town, as the Count suggested the Koona running it had some high-quality equipment. We then stopped in at the Inn, the girl we’d rescued was settling in nicely.



Are you okay to move around now?
Mana: Yes! I’m doing just fine.
Oh, before I forget… Thank you so much for saving me!
You’re welcome.
Mana: I-I don’t mean to bother you, but I was wondering…
Yes? What can I do for you?
Mana: M-May I stay here for a little while?
Please, be my guest.
Mana: R-Really!? Thank you, Mister!
But if you do stay, I must warn you; there’s not much to do around here.
Mana: It’s alright. I’m actually a magic student!
Staying here will give me the chance to do research at the Traviata House…
I can learn about the Majin and become a better witch!
I see.
Mana: So, it’s okay, right?
Yes, stay as long as you like.
Mana: Thank you!
No problem.

We don’t have time to rest, though. The Princess is still out there, and every minute we delay the Majin could be taking her farther away.
- operation record, Commander Olifen