Part 12: Burning Blood

Our next place to visit is this sheltered little town, which is actually difficult to get into with the higher speed hover function.


It's what we do around here for entertainment.

Not.. yet...?



That's nice kid. Now go check under some rocks for scorpions or something.



We have none of these things. Yet.



Yes, this is in fact a reference back to FFL2, when the hero and his parents went off together to go looking for the Lost Ark at the very end. I think it's a nice little touch... although why they haven't fixed this whole mess is certainly a good question.



One out of three ain't bad.

Yes it is, it's only thirty three percent!


only a special girl can draw it.



I thought that was Keanu Reeves?

No, he was only the latest in a long series of.. you know, let's go with that. It was Keanu Reeves. This is the girl who's supposed to draw XCalibr.

I thought she was taken by Fenrir. You know her?

Yes.

Fenrir had an unfortunate accident involving multiple stab wounds and severe burns.

Come back here if you do indeed get it.



In the meantime, we might as well loot his house while we're at it.


you get the pass.

Okay, what the hell? Is he passing out pictures of us and telling random people to give us directions if we should just happen to come by?



Okay.



I'm sure that you're all pretty familiar with the story of Excalibur by now. With the main character's default name being Arthur it's not so subtly implied that he should be the one to get the sword. To hell with that, though. It's going to Marle, since she's several levels higher at this point.



And at this point, Faye's usefulness to the plot has ended. It's too bad, although she will be hanging out for a bit yet.



Our next stop is the town of Cirrus. I can't help but feel as though I'm forgetting something...



Well, that's nice. Maybe he's got a couple of the ones we're missing? Seriously, what was it..?



Oh yeah! Heh, kind of forgot all about that. Back to Zhakal!


with it.

A good question. What are we going to do with it?


masters a lesson.

Now that's an answer.


help with the 4 mystic swords.

Correct. I'll wait outside.



Now, back to Cirrus!



A lot of the endgame equipment has to be put together piece by piece. It's definitely an incentive to explore.



You don't say?



That is a serious door. A man who means business lives behind that door.



Well, this is certainly a promising statement. It seems to imply he already has some of them.



How...? I just can't seem to believe that one.



Naturally we go ahead and rob him before we talk to him. The Laser is yet another upgrade to the Talon's weapon system, doing about 500 damage to all enemies. The Calm is just a joke.



No. I mean yes. Maybe? To ask King Clamin for the Pass to Goht.

I see. I also want to go to Goht for Metal. Let me join you!



The gang is back together again! Except for... you know, Borgin, and Jupiah. How many crew members did they have again? Or were they something different?



The king looks kind of like someone I've seen before, but I just can't pin it down exactly. Can anybody else see it?

Yes.

Find your way underground. Why Goht?

To stop the invasion of the masters.

You're from the other world! I'm from Elan myself.

Then all the more reason to help!

Chrono is working the good old boy network for everything he's worth.



Here it is.

That sure is! Here, take this and go to Porle.



Well finally. That was actually refreshingly easy, but still rather drawn out.



Before we leave Cirrus, a quick look in the shops. The weapons shop is essentially useless at this point, since although these weapons are all fairly powerful they aren't as useful on endgame monsters and bosses who tend to be resistant to damage. Samurai armor is usually about the 2nd or 3rd best in each category and protects from stone, but we're about to run into better equipment. Literally, as soon as we go outside.



Juba and Masa both serve as vendors, as well as allowing us to finally use some of those light and dark stones we've been building up.



Unfortunately Masa has nothing we want in his shop. His real value is in helping with the last two mystic swords.



Juba is rather more helpful, since even his vanilla equipment has something worthwhile. The power gauntlets are the best hand armor in the game, increasing attack power by 5 and providing excellent defense and magic defense. As far as the mixable items are concerned the Mirror Gauntlet is obviously out as we can buy something better from Juba himself. The next town we're going to visit sells an upgrade to the Speed boots, but the Speed shield has the best defense and magic defense in the game as well as increasing agility by 5. The Armlet is the second best accessory in the game, and protects against Fatal attacks. Since we have two slots for accessories, why not?



Now it's about time to raid another cave. This one is to the west of where we fought Jorgandr.



The light and dark stone are nice enough, but the real treasure is off in a corner.



Light armor is actually the best armor in the game. This goes on Lucca in a desperate attempt to make her more likely to survive. Thus equipped, it's time to continue!


see your pass anyway. Alright, you may proceed.

We're trying to do so, when..



Ooh, let's see him try to explain this one away.

Stroke of luck!

Dion!


Goht had me under a spell. Thanks for saving Faye.

Oh, that all makes sense.

Wait, no it doesn't! He didn't even come from the direction of Goht! And he doesn't have any of the mystic swords.

Now what?


to Goht. The only way is to go through this whirlgate.

Let's go!

All I can say is that if we have to lose Faye, Dion had better have gotten a lot better than he was when Maitreya kicked the crap out of him.



... I'll shut up now.



Next time: Let's explore the Underworld?