Part 35: You Can Use Them For Home Defense and Pest Control

Okay, so when I said evening, I actually meant morning. Sorry about that.

Chapter 7: You Can Use Them For Home Defense and Pest Control



: Why are we stopping, prince?

: Because I've got another great idea! We're attacking Renvall again!

: Excuse me?

: It's the last thing they'd expect us to do right now. They'll never see it coming.





: Do you see the stats I've been getting? I'm going to rub it in my brother's face so hard!



Waterside Renvall hasn't gotten much more difficult since normal mode. The enemies are tougher, sure, but...



It's almost funny in a way. In normal mode, Murray was a step above most cavaliers, making him a legitimate problem, but here in hard mode, there were cavaliers just last chapter with stats that outstripped his. Not helping is that he only has a steel sword and a javelin, not what you'd call the highest class of weaponry.



The way the map is designed, it's very easy to take the enemies down one by one. They're spaced so far apart that you're never in any danger of getting swarmed.



You ever wonder why Murray just left the west ballista unmanned like that?



There's a theme for this update, and that theme is:



Levels that are actually good.



After some experimentation, I discovered an easy way to snag the Energy Ring while only catching the attention of the magician. In lieu of a pirate, it's the next best option.



While I mostly wanted to point out that Seth's being used to attract enemies over to the slaughter, I also thought that this shadow effect was kind of cool.



Meanwhile, the Energy Ring magician smites Colm as planned.



And...Energy Ring acquired. That was easy.



Vanessa airlifts the lad out of danger, and the challenging part of the level is done.



Garcia likes the Hatchet. It's small, light, and easy to use.



Joshua's constitution, meanwhile, lets him lift giant slabs of metal without too much issue.



Also, you know one thing that doesn't get boosted in hard mode?



Ballistae.



For some odd reason, as we advance towards the bridge, Franz gets the attention of the mercenaries.



Maybe they're banking on the crit chance? I don't know.



But beating them around only makes Franz stronger. If he ends up capping his strength, that'd be absurdly funny.



If the ballista isn't doing piddling damage to Seth, it's missing Joshua entirely. The guy behind the ballista only has a crit chance of 3, so the only "risk" of approaching the ballista is if you can't take 14 damage, minus whatever defense you have. Really not a problem.



Oh yeah, I'm sure you noticed, but the fighter and mage who were guarding the west ballista have been futilely chasing us across the entire map.



Not too much of an issue to sort them out. Even Colm can do it.



Meanwhile, Joshua demonstrates who's the better swordsman.



My only regret is that he didn't also gain resistance. I would have been the smuggest little LPer...



Seriously, ballistae are only a problem if you're Vanessa, and I'm not stupid enough to put her in range.



Dropping the pursuing mage gives us a Pure Water. We'll see if we end up needing that, since resistance is actually fairly common in this crowd.



As pathetic as a ballista is, I'd rather not have a random factor that could mess me up at an inopportune moment.



There are no reinforcements on this map. Once we deal with the soldiers on the bridge and the archers flanking Murray, he's going to be all alone.



And I don't believe I have to say that archers and soldiers aren't difficult opponents.



Well! Even Artur's gaining his attack stat this map. Miracles do happen.





Toying with a soldier even gets some strength for Vanessa. It's too bad I didn't have Colm get a level this map while my luck's riding high. He'll probably get nothing but speed next map.



Perhaps if you'd put them in a position where they could actually do something?



While the rest of the team catches up, Franz and Murray have a javelin duel. It's as exciting as it sounds.



Our healer gets another stupendous level off of curing random nicks.



See what I mean by resistance, by the way? Even the people who shouldn't, technically, be getting resistance are getting resistance. Honestly, I'd prefer that he got more skill and speed.



No, I'm not going to feed Murray to Seth. I've got someone different in mind.



Using Colm to distract Murray from killing himself on Seth...



Wearing him down a bit with Garcia...



And Eirika's ready to claim her prize.



Or...not.



Plan B.



It's a rousing success.

After I take a little time to give Natasha more experience and build up supports, we close this uneventful chapter.



: You look like you could use a nap.

: If only that would help...Every day...they forced me to watch The Hottie and the Nottie...six times.

: You poor thing...

Of course, we know the truth. It was actually Chairman of the Board.

Next Time: We bring an end to this silly little segment and actually start getting into some new content.