Part 62

Chapter 49

So Mysidia barely edged out Troia as our first destination. Before we do, let's go check out Mythril.





People are understandably freaked. Also, the Tails guy has disappeared. Bastard better show up soon, I've got enough tails to fuel his sick fetish for years.



You can buy Mythril stuff, which is alright, but most of your stuff should outclass it by now anyway.




Unrelated to Small Tails, a Small Tale is a red herring designed to mislead. This thing only restores a hundred HP.




When you're in a town, you can look at the Lustful Lali-ho. Whoever's in the lead proceeds to say that same line.

...I had to double check to make sure I didn't save after doing that. Thankfully, I reloaded. Don't want to waste a good porn magazine!




This area's pretty great for grinding, as the enemies go down easily and give great EXP. I manage to boost Edge a bit here.



If you look hard enough, you can see these special areas around the world map. They usually have either Small Tails or special treasure. This one is southwest of Mt. Ordeals.

I didn't even know these things existed until just this last playthrough. I just found it by pure chance.




This guy is a pushover, though I revive Golbez to speed things along.



Nice EXP. It knocks Edge up a level and he learns the always-awesome Mirage.




But that chest has a Ribbon, which nullifies status effects. Since Edge is my primary healer, I stick it on him.



If you don't launch the airship, you get to actually walk around and talk to people.




...They can talk!?

In the deck below, the Eblan Four are doing what they do best: Taking up space.



Thank you. If something happens to me, let the seneschal know.



There's nothing to worry about. Porom and the Elder are still there.
Yes, you're right. If the need calls for it...I will come to their aid as well!



I know it hurts, but wait for me. I can't take my eye off this man in black for a moment.



Haste makes waste. We need to wait before we make our move.

So wait, why aren't these guys following us around and taking valuable hits for us?



You can't go underground, sadly.



Alright, time to go to Mysidia.



The mages are not in good shape.



What?
Oh, no... Not you, too...
What!?







So in each area, you're going to fight one of Rydia's summons. Here, we fight Ramuh.




He likes to use Thunder magic. Yeah. The large amounts of Diamond Equipment we have makes this fight even easier than it already is.





Once he lets off Judgment Bolt, you know you're close.



This is the sign you should let up.



I know you well... You are kind and gentle!




...What.

I didn't know this either, but you can actually kill the summons. If you do, they're dead, and Rydia won't be able to summon them anymore. So once you hit Rydia pleading, just stop attacking.





Let's do it right this time.




There we go.



So now Ramuh is back on our side, and we can proceed to never summon him because Rydia's only a few levels away from learning Thundaga anyway.









That must be why the door was sealed shut. He was staving off Ramuh and the monster hordes. What a terrible state of affairs...
Where is Palom?
He went to Troia, but I don't know anything more than that.
We saw him from the Falcon. He was riding on a black chocobo.
Troia...
What of the Water Crystal?
It's been taken. Kain has fled to Baron with it.
Kain did what!?
He...he said he was going to kill Cecil.
You're joking!
Ridiculous! That can't be true.

I don't know why everyone's so surprised. It's fucking Kain, after all.






After each summon, we get another glimpse on what's going on in Baron.

Cecil...






Well that's lame.

With this, all of the Crystals are back in our grasp.
"Back," you say?
Yes.








In what will be a common trend, everybody we recruit will either be too exhausted or too incompetent to help out. Excluding the party, the optionals, and the Baron crew, we need to get Porom, Palom, Leonora, Harley, Yang, and Ursula. As for summons, we gotta save Ramuh, Ifrit, Shiva, Titan, the Sylphs, and the Mist Dragon.



...It's all right. She is far from your average white mage. You know that just as well as I do.
Yes, Master! I will keep a watchful eye on her recovery. Please take care of yourself!

You do that, you creep.



To close off the update, let's visit a couple more areas. This place is on an island chain somewhere around Mysidia.




It's a really small cave with no encounters.




It's still got a big secret. A lot of these tails are damn difficult to find, which is why you only need 14/21. Honestly, making these things very hard to find yet not forcing you to find them all is a pretty decent choice of game design. It's rewarding, and it doesn't require nearly that much bullshit.



Our last stop is south of Troia.





This trio is very fast, and they cycle through an attack pattern of Fira, Osmose, Drain, Thundara, and Blizzara. Drain's a joke, but Osmose can hurt your reserves, and their spells are painful, especially in a Full Moon. I had to switch moons to beat them.





I wish I had this before. Still an upgrade for Edge, so I give it to him.



Next time, we visit Troia and go to the Lodestone Cavern to save Palom's ass.