Part 115: Fire

Rock the Omni-Blue Mage - Part 4: Fire

Rock enters a giant rock that teleports him to another rock where he finds himself between said rock and a hot place.




Admit it - you totally heard the Mega Man teleport sound.



If you've ever been a FFV4J Fiesta participant, then you know that Karnak is known for two things:



1. Rods



2. Wild Nakks

The latter is especially important for a Blue Mage, as they have another !Blue spell for Rock to learn, which he is currently demonstrating.



It's called ???. It's a rather curious technique, as when enemies use it there's no battle message/call out and the only indications that it's
being used is the attack animation is delayed and that the actual animation itself is just an exaggerated version of a normal enemy attack.

Essentially, it's a 3 MP Vampire only in reverse, minus the drain effect (i.e. Damage = Max HP - Current HP).



Talking with the townspeople reveals that some book-learnin' nerds were moaning loudly enough about some stupid crystals shattering that they got fenced off.

Rock isn't much of a bookworm, but he's definitely keen on that Learning part.



Speaking of which, Rock gained the !Blue command while hunting furry sacks of Gil.



Rock visits Karnak Castle, a place where open bonfires are kept near bookcases and infirmaries.



He also scopes out the place for potential loot before heading out to the Fire-Powered Ship That Is Powered By The Flame Crystal.

RockBoo'tz



With it's cool mechanical charm, Rock feels at home.



Defeaters are a priority target, as if they are the last target they summon 2 Motor Traps. They're not particularly deadly, but they use Gamma Ray, which can annoyingly chain-Stop a solo character.
Don't use Vampire on Poltergeists unless you want another DEATH: 7 from unexpected heavy damage



If you didn't have a spare Ether at North Mountain, Crew Dusts will use Flash when they are alone.

Lookin' cool, Rock!



+1 to Strength, Agility and Defense. Not bad, Sgt. Rock!

By the way, did you know Blue Mages can use rods?





Rock does.

Breaking rods with breakneck Haste, the entirety of the fight is seen in those 3 screenshots.
BOSS DEATHS:



So dumb. Was brick and mortar not enough? It worked out well enough for those last two kingdoms.



With the clock ticking, Rock makes a beeline for a particular chest.



Abusing the fact that !Blue is unaffected by silence, Rock avoids any potential toad-ing from Sorcerers and cuts them down with Goblin Punches.







Next targets are the Elven Mantle and Main Gauche chests.



These particular chests tend to have this particular formation.




The Gigas enemies will use decently strong physicals as well as Aera, the upgrade to Rock's Aero.



Thankfully, Rock is able to get both chests fairly quickly through the magic of Goblin Punching.



Apparently there's some weird soldier running around with a pack of wolves. But no time for that, Rock's got some accessorizing to do!







See, there's something particularly off about that soldier.



The bastard has the next !Blue spell! Death Claw is particularly nasty, in that sets the target's HP to single digits and paralyzes them.
Good thing our boy's new fashion choice protects against para-

Final Fantasy Wikia posted:

It protects against Instant Death, Petrify, Toad, Poison, Darkness, Old, Berserk, and Silence.

Final Fantasy Wikia posted:

It grants +12 Defense, +2 Magic Defense and Weight, and +5 Strength, Speed, Magic, and Stamina.

Translation: all of Iron Claw's physicals deal 0 damage.



With Iron Claw inadvertently powering up Vampire, Rock powers through for an easy win.

After finishing the Karnak 500, the path to The Library of the Ancients opens up.

ENDING LEVEL: 20
BOSS DEATHS: 0
TOTAL BOSS DEATHS: 3

Next Time: Turn to the chapter concerning your DEATH.