Part 51: Stratum 2: Sojourn Part 1

The Majin may be monstrous to the eyes of humans, but it is said that some display concern for their fellows and work in what could almost be interpreted as organized groups.
- excerpt, Legend Cycles of the Ancients

On The Rocks

It seems there are more impressive Majin here in the second stratum.



It means we’re making progress, that’s for sure.

Video- “Sojourn Part 1”

Click Here for Video with Commentary



Ally Team:
I almost switch Komori for his kid because she came at a pretty impressive level but it’s not like I need another powerful Dark caster in this team, so the guy who can heal and almost take a hit stays.

Enemy Team:
Really diverse mix of Majin here. We’ve got two Uro Lumen, two Hecta Gigas that are a bit lower than we’ve seen yet, two Magiquarius that are also a new level, a Thiefler, and a Sprite.



The low level Hecta Gigas are a huge pain in the ass. They’re only really vulnerable to Earth, which we don’t have much of, and they’ve got Fracture Attack and Martyr. We need to keep them apart because they really like taking hits for each other and ruining our efforts to capture them.



Here’s a bigger Magiquarius than we saw in Ashley’s Tale. It’s still immune to Water and takes double damage from Fire. We do need to worry a bit about getting Bled by the Aero II but beyond that it’s pretty laughable.



Sprite is a lot like the Unseelie it shares a model with. It’s armed with a shortbow and a shortsword, and it can heal and cure allies. It’s vulnerable to every single thing Thage is good at and for the most part should be pretty easy to deal with.

Deployment:



We deploy to the side with the Thiefler so we can squish it before it gets the items. That simple.

Tactical Objectives:
- Get Chests
- Capture the Hecta Gigas

Map:



(It’s similar to that wolf… Is there a high-level Majin here?)
Kid, are you shaking again?
Um, it’s just from excitement.
My adrenaline is racing, just thinking about fighting!
Ha, your spirit’s the same as ever…
But I wonder if you know the REAL reason you’re shaking…
Huh? Wh-What do you mean?

We want to start out with a hard advance toward the center of the map. If we can manage to not attract the stuff from the right we’ll be in great shape but that’s really hard in practice.



We shall devour your soul!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
I don’t think so, whelp.
Hand over that librum, Falsin.
It is not yours.
Take it from me, if you can.
GREEEEE! You will die!!!

The Uro Lumen that just talked smack moved up into our range, which wasn’t so smart of it. Retica shoots it, getting a level with no new skills or much of import. Now we push our slower character up and get ready to dish out a brutal beating.



Is there anything we should know about them?
Their master should may come if we capture them.
We’ll have to be sure we drag him out of hiding, then.
A-Aren’t we in enough danger already!?

Silly Retica, we’re here for ALL of the Majin. So yeah, we need to specifically capture both Majin. Raki runs up and smacks the Uro Lumen, doing quite a lot of damage. Thage then finishes the job with a Malus III, negating the risk of its Fracture Attacks. Worryingly, the other Uro Lumen is also coming in. Alexei moves to catch it and smashes it hard with his big old hammer. Meanwhile Komori runs up to get the Hecta Gigas on the left stuck in far from his ally, we don’t want their Martyr skill to ruin anything. It obliges me but also Fractures him, which isn’t ideal at all. The right Hecta Gigas is coming in as well, so I clear out the Uro Lumen with a spell from Thage and a quick capture from Alexei.



Thiefler is going for the far chest, so we take a shot with Retica and manage to already bring it to near death. Velnor levels up from a buff, he gets Revivsphere out of it. We’re now engaged with the Hecta Gigas on the right as well with Alexei, which is good because they’re way far from each other. Raki runs up and finishes off the Thiefler while it’s still in a good position. We spend a long while playing with the two Gigas, but both suffer the same fate, falling to Thage’s powerful magic. I start sending most of the party up to the left now, Raki moves towards the item and my archers and Komori towards the Magiquarius. Meanwhile Thage, Alexei, and Yuri are going to be sent towards the right. The first chest contains a Missionary robe, a male only robe that’s just sort of okay because there aren’t many males who use robes. Komori levels up under a barrage of magic from Magiquarius.



He’s still not great at healing, though, because his Water aptitude is just bad. We pour minor firepower into the Magiquarius on that side while Thage advances towards the other. It takes the bait and tries to hit her with a spell, so she replies with a brutal Fire spell then pulls back behind Alexei. Even better, she levels up from the attack.



Thage has Malus IV now, it’s even stronger than Malus III and can Curse targets. It’s still not as powerful as Pyro III, that’ll have to wait for the almighty Malusphere later on. Also note that we’re rank A with Water now, which is pretty great. Alexei cracks the Magiquarius in the head and Fractures it, negating any physical threat it could have posed. Meanwhile Raki finishes the one on the other side off with an attack after much effort dragging it down. After the right Magiquarius casts and moves to the side, the Sprite also engages. Magiquarius drops to a Pyro and the Sprite catches a Fracture Attack that makes it pretty much worthless. A Malus IV finishes the job. Now I just need to scoop up all the Majin and get the chest, which contains the decent Sabatons boots. Yuri and Raki level up while I’m capturing.

Battle Result:

Levels:
Thage 14->15
Raki 11->12
Retica 8->9
Velnor 7->8
Komori 8->9
Yuri 7->8

Majin:
Thiefler Lv 7 x 1
Uro Lumen Lv 9 x 2
Hecta Gigas Lv 10 x 2
Sprite Lv 8 x 1
Magiquarius Lv 11 x 2

Their master showed up, as we expected.



Wh-What’s going on!? I feel something… getting closer!
You really ARE sensitive to the Majin’s presence, huh?
Ha, looks like we dragged their master out of hiding.
I shall kill you! Slaughter you! CRUSH YOU!

A big, dumb hunk of rock.



I am the Escha Gigas!
You sinister Falsin… What is the meaning of all this?
I am capturing every Majin in this place.
Vile, blasted Falsin! Be cleansed from this world!
Your hands have as much blood on them as ours!

Still, we couldn’t afford to take victory for granite.
- recovered text fragments