Part 123: Wood

Rock the Omni-Blue Mage - Part 12: Wood

Last time, Rock destroyed some annoying crystals and learned about long-term planning
This time,



Grandpa Galuf died, Rock picked up an Air Knife and enters the castle of meat.



Fun!



Enemy formations on the first few floors are still nothing special. However, that Magic Dragon is certainly of interest, as it's possible to get 3 !Blue Spells from them. One of which will be a new one.



Black Warlocks are nasty as they tend to live up to their name in casting various instant death spells. Thankfully the Reflect Ring blocks against all except their Drain spells.



A few battles later, Rock picks up a level raising him up to level 40. And as we all know, levels matter as a Blue Mage.



Especially since in Castle Exdeath it's possible to encounter 3 Magic Dragons, making it super easy to get !Blue spells.




However, what Rock wants is the new !Blue spell, Level 2 Old. Like all the other level spells, it's exactly what's written on the tin, made infinitely useful by being one of the best status ailments to inflict in the game.



Especially since Blue Dragons are vulnerable to it. They tend to show up in packs of 3 if no other enemy shows, and can be cheesed for an easy 7500 EXP, even moreso since Bone Mail reduces ice damage.



Red Dragons reappear in Castle Meat, and also have the !Blue spell Level 3 Flare. Unfortunately, Rock can't get it, as they only use it when !Controlled.

On top of that, Level 3 Flare only targets enemies, even when used by enemies themselves, meaning that it would need to be Reflected off of them.
In short, unless Rock cheated and went Mime, it's logistically impossible with just the one extra command slot afforded by all other jobs. A real shame, as it would be useful against Exdeath.



Carbuncle is also in the castle.



He is also a demonic hellbeast that also likes to fuck about with Reflect. Despite appearances, he's got a straightforward pattern. Cast 3 tier 3 !Black elemental spells, then drop all defenses.



By the way, remember when Rock found that weird cyclops goat monster in that one secluded area and how it turned out to be a summon?



Rock does.



Towards the top of the castle, Rock finds a special chest.



Special in that it's already empty.



Who else but Gilgamesh? (Cue laugh track)



He's a scripted encounter, but you still need to smack his HP down enough to start the script. He'll readily bust out status effects, such as Sleep, Mini, level halving and even .



Speaking of which, it's a good chance to pick up Pond's Chorus if you missed out. Just be ready to have Maiden's Kisses on hand.



Once you hit the magic HP level, Gil busts out his mighty morphing trick and decides to use the "Excalibur" that he plundered from the chest.




It backfires, leaving Rock with nothing to worry about.



Except for scoring sweet loot. It will not be used.



Eventually Exdeath decides to fire him for incompetence. Tough break, Gil.



The reward is the sword he was actually using, Excalipoor, Originally a trap set by Exdeath, it only ever deals 1 damage.

Unless you're a Blue Mage. See, Goblin Punch ignores any scripts on the currently equipped weapon and hits using the list value for Attack Power.
Meaning that the 100 Attack that Excalipoor "gives" actually gives 100 Attack.



In either case, Exdeath is only a few floors away (on the 13th floor, to be exact). The quickest way to deal with him is with gratuitous amounts of money tossing.

RockTrump



The reason for speeding through Exdeath is because he has the next !Blue spell: Doom. It ignores Reflect and Bone Mail, and gives the target "30 seconds to live..."
Rock does not learn Doom, and will be learning it later.



Exdeath is level 66, meaning he's vulnerable to Level 2 Old. This means his stats will steadily drain, causing him to be slower, hit for less, etc.

Interestingly enough, it doesn't cause him to grow, despite being a tree.



Rock's got a fair amount of money saved up, and Zenigage is easily one of the best damage dealing options he's got at this point.



Even still, it's going to be more of hoping the RNG rolls your way if you're planning on grabbing Doom and winning.

In any case, Level 2 Old is a really nice thing to use against Exdeath.

BOSS DEATHS: 1
TOTAL BOSS DEATHS: 16
ENDING LEVEL: 41

Next Time: Third world start! Finally the end is in sight!