Part 21: Saddle Up
Sooo, that thing that happened. Can you do it again?
I've been trying, but I'm not really sure how I did it in the first place. Dang. Well, we could probably use the exercise.
Magi levels acceptable. Welcome to Draconia Speedway.
Please please please tell me that's what it sounds like. 
Ah, clouds. Truly nature's sturdiest footing.
If you think that's the dumbest thing we've seen so far...
oh man oh man oh man CHECK OUT THE SIGN
Holy poop. We need tickets to that right now. I keep throwing our gold at the wall and it doesn't do anything Maybe the fancy palace over there is the box office. Do racetracks have a box office? Now why would I know that? 
Again: Swanky. Omigod. Do you think this belongs to...? fingers crossed here
Hello again. 
Hi, Mr. Apollo! Are you here for the races, too? In a way. I'm actually running them. We gonna get front row tickeeeeeets~ Oh, I can do you one better than that!
...winning prize for each obstacle. say yes say yes SAY YES Zero, we don't even own a dragon! Not to worry! There's a stable near the back of town where you can rent one. Prices are reasonable, but faster is, of course, more expensive. Hmm. Well, in that case... maybe we should enter! Totally! 
Glad to hear it! After seeing what you four accomplished on my world, I have no doubts you'll win. Sign here and here... oh, and this is an indemnity waiver. I'm afraid we can't let you onto the track without it. Indemnity? What's that mea— *sign* let's go LET'S GO Well, whatever it is, looks like we agree to it! Wonderful! Looking forward to seeing you out there!
Guys? I'm worried we might be in over our heads on this one. Probably. But if they're handing out magi to the victors, we have to give it a shot. ...Indemity? It means they don't pay anything if we, like, get injured or die. Oh, it'll be fine, then. I mean, why would we even do that? That'd be really dumb. And so the point goes sailing over his head, off into the horizon, never to return.
Oh man! Been a while since we've done this! I know. I've had a raging caffeine headache for the last two days. That's why I bring spares!
Have you guys had any of these chocolate covered espresso beans? I think there's something wrong with them. Zero! Those were my coffee bean pieces from Giant World! I'd get my money back if I were you. The giants make terrible candy.
Wow. Place is deserted. I'm not surprised. Everyone's getting ready for the big race. Hi! I want a cappuccino? And, like, three iced coffees for my friends?
Sure thing. And I want the cappuccino extra dry? I mean, if I see even one drop of milk in the espresso, I swear to Odin... Just ignore her, she threatens pretty much everyone. Aaaah. Threatens but never follows through, eh? Uh... here's a tip. Extra, in fact. Thanks! Hey, quick word of advice...
I have no idea what that means. Neither do I!
Next stop, shopping! Wait wait wait wait. We have unfinished business here. We do? Yeah.
BAH DAH DA DAHT DAH, DAHT DAH DAH-DAH DA 
-items|armor|insertgold- Have you ever noticed how some of these metal guys just buzz out words and the others sound like Roy? I have noticed that! Wonder what's going on there? Maybe you guys speak different languages? Yeah. That's probably it.
I'll take one of these in emerald green! That's pretty expensive, Heather. It'll wipe out most of our money. If we're going to race dragons in front of a live audience, I am not going to look like I've been wading through a sewer.See this item? It's Dragon armor. Buy as much of it as you can carry.
I mean, not really. I'm engaging in hyperbole for comedic effect. But, in all seriousness, you need a suit of this for everyone that can wear it. Dragon armor grants O-Damage. Once you're wearing a suit of it, you're immune to elemental attacks: fire, ice, thunder, all of them. Every flavor and type, whether groups or singles. Period. Once you get Dragon armor, it will probably remain your armor for the rest of the game unless you find some very special armor to replace it.
Look, I know everybody has their own playstyles, and that enemies later on won't rely on elemental magic quite as much, yadda yadda blah. But trust me on this. Buy Dragon armor. Lots of it. Grind if you have to. Just do it.
What up! Where the dragons at?!
Sounds great! How much?
Just 1000 gold! ...
Well, we could've afforded it if someone hadn't spent all our money on new clothes. Fashion is, like, its own investment. Let's see what else is out there. Maybe we can get a discount.
Hi! Any dragons we can rent?
Well... yes... That doesn't sound encouraging. It's just... Well, nobody rides my dragon. 
How much? If you can get him across the finish line, it's free. Hell, if you can even get him onto the track, it's free. Sounds good! Really?! Dude, we specialize in winning with things no one else takes seriously. That and we're broke as heck. Oh wow! You're actually going to take Drago to a professional racetrack! He'll be so happy! 
He'll be even happier when we win! 
Alright, folks, we're ready for the main event! 
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!! Gentlemen... start your dragons!
C'mon c'mon we're gonna be late!! I'm doing the best I can! It's not like I know how to work a dragon! Why did we let Sara drive? Paper rock scissors. She kicked all of our asses. The secret is to always pick rock!
Finally!
AUGH I WASN'T READY GO GO MAKE THE THING DO THE THING I'M TRYING I'M TRYING
... Is... is this as fast as it goes?
GLORP I'm beginning to question our decision-making abilities here.Welcome to the Dragon Race! Bet you didn't see that one coming, did you?
As previously mentioned, you can rent four different types of dragons, all of varying speeds. Here, we've selected the slowest dragon. I definitely understand why you'd want to hire a faster one; just bear in mind that, if you don't pick the slow one after hearing what its owner has to say, you're a heartless sociopathic monster. Also, regardless of dragon speed, you're going to screw up the break and get left behind. It's really not an issue. There's no timer on this section.
However, it does mean this is going to take a bit.
We've lost already, haven't we. Yup. Let's just get it across the finish line. Maybe we can keep some of our dignity. We had dignity? Guys! Twelve o'clock! Wha—
The hell? Why are there monsters on the track?! Who cares? Punch through! 
As you're plodding along (or zipping, as the case may be), you'll fight random encounters, because this is SaGa and nothing ever comes easy. Faster dragons will cover more ground between fights and therefore end up in fewer fights. This is somewhat baked into the difficulty curve, which we'll get to in a bit. For now, know that there's four track sections or so. It's a long haul, and you don't necessarily need to win fights to get to the end, so feel free to run from them at your discression. Fight whenever you're able, though. You need stat boosts and gold—especially gold—right now.
Quick! Pull in for a pit stop!
okay, now pull back out!
Was there any point to that? Any point to what?
Someone's hurt! Great, one less person to beat. ... I'm kidding. We've got, like, a ton of healing potions. Let's stop and make sure he's okay. Besides, we've basically already lost. You alright?
We were waylayed by monsters! Another team...
Just gimme a sec, I'll have you patched up. Hold on a sec. The obstacles Apollo was talking about are monsters? Ugh. Yeah—nasty ones, too. The magi they're holding is probably making them even more powerful. This doesn't make any sense! Why would Apollo keep huge feral monsters hopped up on magi as the obstacles? Well, we did sign an indemnity waver. Yeah! Whose dumb idea was that? ... ...what?
Another one! Lemme guess. Ambushed? Not g-gonna lie... we took the magi off the last team. Hey, you gotta play to win. Have some X-Cure!
Thanks... Guys? I hate to say something like this, but there's only one team left now... ... Omigod! We could totally win this thing!This is how the game balances out the increased encounter rate if you take a slower dragon. The slower your dragon, the less minibosses you'll have to fight, because the people that get there first will get the shit kicked out of them. Take the slowest dragon, and you'll deal with more random encounters but only one miniboss. Take the fastest dragon, and you get the reverse.
Oddly, the dragon you pick also determines what kind of magi you'll collect from the miniboss(es). It's kind of a neat touch; there's a certain number of magi guaranteed, but the types won't necessarily be consistent from playthrough to playthrough.
One more!
Here, have some sunscreen! Thanks... watch out... this one... it's bigger... Pfft, whatever. We've killed gods before.
Nice dragon! GLORP 
This group of Watchers serves as the last miniboss. They are absolutely bonkers and have no business being out on the track at this point in the game. They're far and away more powerful than Venus in terms of total damage output. The only thing they lack is a group attack, but they more than make up for it with Beam, and they occasionally bust out StonGaze as well. Also, there's no blocking Beam with Dragon armor or immunities. It's a physical attack, not an elemental one. It also goes right through shields, so that's out as well.
And we're fighting three of them.
Even though this isn't technically a boss, it's a pretty big goddamn hurdle. Fortunately, the one thing Watchers don't have is thousands of HP and O-Damage.
Guys, I got a plan! Keep 'em busy!
Es ist Partyzeit!
Great work, everyone!
oofJust keep chuckin' dem group attacks and hope for the best. If all the Watchers focus their Beams on one character and/or use Flash to blind people, they'll (essentially) waste their turns, which buys you more time to zap them. You should only need two rounds or so to drop them, so open fire and hope the losses are acceptable.
Look! It's the finish line! C'mon, Drago! Ride! Ride like an incredibly slow gust of wind!
Your attention please! The winner of the race is... TEAM BUTT! IT'S PRONOUNCED BYOOT You did it! You actually did it! GLORP GLORP Aww. The little guy just wanted a chance, that's all! Wing high five, bud!
This... this is the happiest moment of my life. I never even thought Drago would see the starting line, and now he's in the history books. You have no idea what this means to me! Just goes to show you: you don't know who's gonna win the race until it's over. I'd go ahead and retire him now though well yeahLater...
Well done! Well done, all of you!
Uh... Ahem! Sorry, just having a bit of a chuckle. All these proud, brash racers, beaten by a ragtag group of teenagers with the slowest dragon on the track. Uh, excuse me? Ragtag? Not with the money I spent on these clothes. It's just an expression. No offense intended. Sir? I have a question, if you don't mind... I'm sorry, Roy. Usually I'd be happy to chat, but I have to finish track teardown. There's a lot of work to oversee—physical and legal. We'll catch up another time. Sure...
Okay, anybody still think he's trustworthy? Anyone? Zero? Nope. Heather? No way. He may be a total hottie, but I'm not gonna fall for this twice. Sara? I don't care if he's honest as long as he's a good kisser ... What?Next Time: Mr. S Explains It All—Whoops, We Broke Reality