Part 45

Chapter 38



Last time, Harley caught Desert Fever, and Edward decided he should both backtrack and solo the rest of the dungeons. Joy.




Actually, it's easier than you think. Most enemies you'll encounter won't deal much damage, and Edward's not that bad of an attacker at this point. Of course, most of these enemies are pathetically weak, but hey.



Two Bronze Tails.



Alright, let's get this over with.



This is honestly the only difficult battle I had, and it's not really that difficult. The Revenant is the only thing that hits hard, and even then it's nothing a few Hi-Potions or Life's Anthems can't nullify.



Edward's new harp blinds, which is kind of nifty since he can't inflict Blind with his Bardsongs. Not that blind is as awesome as Confuse, but Edward actually needs the offense.




Up to four.



These guys go down in one hit each.



Five. There is really nothing interesting to show other than all the tails I missed. It's just Edward easily killing random mooks.



Well, I guess there's Edward being too scared to make a jump that two six-year-olds handled with little hesitation.



Edward's harp does full damage from the back row. What I don't think I really mentioned is that enemies also have rows. Edward's doing full-damage to the Ghoul, which is nice, as the Ghoul will do half-damage due to the Zombie being in front. If I kill the Zombie, which hits for 1HP, then the Ghoul will do more damage. Thus the obvious priority is killing the Ghouls first, then laugh as the Zombies fail to do anything.



Now for a quick stop at Damcyan.




Seven.



My recording completely stopped before I noticed and restarted it. Only thing it really missed was my getting the eighth Bronze Tail near the spot where we met Harley over on one of the steam puffs.



Waning Moon, baby. Edward loves the increased offense to OHKO enemies. Trust me, I don't want to waste time by plinking down enemies in a Full Moon.






Fuck.



Look at that! Look at the damage I miss out on by being stuck in a Full Moon! It's not bad enough that I have to solo this damn dungeon as Edward, but I have to do it in the moon that weakens Attack?



Fine.



Nine.




Oh, lucky! Considering you need to grind five Bronze Tails or one Silver from enemies to get the "grand prize," this is a nice nab.



Alright, let's get this over with.



Here are the Antlions. Take a wild guess what's going to happen.





...Huh?



Guess they're trying to catch us off guard here. It'll be at the entrance, I'm sure.



Nope. This is the one act of mercy the designers have, and really the one instance where the game goes off its script. There is no battle with the Antlions. You just get the Sand Pearl and leave. This Tale doesn't even have any bosses. That was really the last dungeon of this Tale.

Yeah, Edward's Tale is rather weird.



We're not done yet, though. One last trip to the Antlion's Cave, this one requiring a New Moon.



A bit obscure, but we get a Silver Tail from this. Nice.



Now for a third fucking trip through the same dungeon. This game.




Well, this is interesting. Are they antlions?



Who would've expected a rich nobleman coming through here?
Sorry, gentlemen, but I don't have anything you'd be interested in.



That must be worth a mound of gold in the marketplace!
Wait! This is desert fever medicine! It would serve you no purpose!



Valuable enough to give up your life for it?
Ah ha!



Edward takes this moment to make a heroic push on this would-be thief...




...and promptly fall into the water below. Way to go, Edward.




Should've just killed him when you had the chance.




(The exit's straight ahead. I hope you're still hanging on, Harley!)

For the second time, the game shows mercy on us and pretty much teleports us to the first screen. Now why couldn't we have taken that shortcut on the first trip? Also, how the hell did that work?

It does suggest that when you enter the dungeon, you're continuously climbing up as you navigate inward. Then, you exit and reach the summit of the mountain, and dive down the cavern below. That, or when Edward jumped in the water at the bottom of the giant waterfall, the current moved upwards to take him here.

Knowing this game, either one is possible.



On the bright side, Edward's gained eight levels during this excursion. Everyone else is still in the mid-teens.



Time to cash in on some Silver Tails.



He has some pretty amusing dialogue.




This is the closest this game ever gets to self-awareness.



Well, that's it for gameplay. Let's do some plot.







Ugh...





Harley! Thank goodness I made it in time...
My deepest apologies. This is all my fault...

Actually, your uselessness was a good thing. It let me grind up Edward without having a bunch of useless leeches stealing EXP from him.






God dammit.



Your Highness! You're awake!
Luckily, this doesn't look like a case of desert fever to me.

Thank God. If I had to solo the Underground Waterway as Harley...

Now it's my turn, is it... I apologize for worrying you.
You've gone halfway around the world for me, my lord! Why did you put yourself through this?

...That was halfway around the world?

You're the one who's pushing herself too hard here, my lady.



What?



Hahaha.

Harley, you didn't have to do that.
O-of course I did. You brought me the sand pearl, and...er, I mean, it is my duty as your secretary, my lord...



And of course, nothing ever actually comes of this.



Oh yeah, we still need to go to Baron. Thing is, we're done with gameplay. I mean, there's still stuff to do, but there's no more dungeons. Just plot. Lots and lots of plot.



Next time, Edward goes to Baron, stuff happens, and we end this tale.