Part 18: Xain

Update 18: Xain








Music: The Fire Path


Well, here we are in the Fire Path. This area is not very remarkable for the most part, and even most of the enemies are recycled from the underground path – we just fight them in groups of three instead of two now.





While I like this area less from an aesthetic standpoint, I do have to admit that it's kind of neat to see the fallen houses littering the landscape. On an unrelated note, this place has some good treasure and I made sure to go out of my way to grab everything I could find.





Stone Lizards have a lot of HP and a lot of attack power, but only attack once per turn (that is, the execute a 1 hit combo) so they're mostly just annoying because it's hard to kill them in one attack.





This is bad, Vahn...That pillar is holding up the town of Octam!

No! I don't want to see anything sad happen anymore!


As usual, while the plot is pressing us for time, there's no actual hurry (which is good considering how long fights take in this game). Still, we might as well keep on going until we can stop whatever's happening.





A small but nonetheless appreciated attack increase for Gala. Nice for randoms, but I barely had him attack in the boss fight.

Eventually, we reach a slight change of scenery.





Noa walks over to a nearby rock floating on the lava. That seems dangerous...


Vahn, we can use this! We can climb this and get across!





Whoa! Weee! Vahn! Gala! This is awesome!

Vahn, it looks like there's no other way.

Vahn, what are you waiting for? Hurry! Let's go!





The rock goes along its merry way, without needing any input from us. Eventually it deposits us on a little island.





Curiously, we have to get back on the same rock to continue forward. The second and last destination is where we need to be.













Gola Gola only appears in this lava area (and I believe they are also the only enemies that show up here – I got into about four or five fights here and each one was Gola Gola x2). I usually miss this spell in my hurry to reach the boss, but I figured I might as well nab it while I have the chance.







Xain: Didn't you hear me? I said I'm in the middle of something important! We can talk later after I push over this stone pillar and kill everyone above us!

Xain: Hey! You don't take no for an answer, do you? What on earth do you want? Hey, those Seru on your arms...Those...Those are...Ra-Seru, aren't they?





Xain: Whew! I guess I was wrong. Ha ha! Am I glad! Don't worry about me. I'll be concentrating on this, so just watch me from over there. Killing humans who disobey the Mist is so much fun! Alright, here we go!


He rams the pillar again. I hope my answer didn't end up killing anyone.

Anyway, we obviously are gonna have to fight this fellow so let's just get to it.





Xain: Oh no! Ohhhhh! Oh, this is not my day! You guys are the enemy! Shucks! Why didn't you say so before?! Dohati will get mad at me if I don't kill you. So come on, come at me!





Music: Boss Time


It's funny that Xain is characterized as sort of a wimp, because he is kind of incredibly dangerous.











The good news is Xain has to charge up his super attack. The bad news is it hurts rather badly even with Spiriting. That's a good third or fourth of everyone's HP gone.







Noa and her eight command slots can chain Frost Breath into Tempest Break for some impressive damage. As usual, she's my main damage dealer, though I did have her heal once or twice when I really needed to.







Vahn chained Fire Blow into Pyro Pummel for...less spectacular but still appreciated results.





Stare at this picture for two or three minutes to simulate how much of this battle I spent healing.









His other attack, Bloody Horns, is as dangerous or more than his planet punch attack. It doesn't need to be charged up, and as you can see it's pretty brutal when it hits someone who isn't Spiriting.

But, as luck would have it, Xain was really good about only attacking characters that were Spiriting, and thus didn't do enough damage to me to really get me in trouble. If he decides to go after your characters when they attack or heal, things can get very dangerous. Even so, I had to stay on the defensive quite a bit for this fight, and I'm glad I had the MP reserves to heal through the fight without too much worry.







Fuck you, bull.





Seru Xain: I bet you're happy! You're as happy as can be over defeating me, aren't you! I can't stand it! Just looking at your face makes the anger swell up in me! I'm going to use what strength I have left to bother you! Now watch with your own eyes and see what will happen because you defeated me! Watch in vexation! Ha ha ha!









Music: Mist Infested Area


Boo hoo! Vahn, I'm cold! I hate the cold! Hurry! Let's go back to Octam!

I never knew the Seru of the Mist had the power to freeze molten lava! Vahn, the danger to the town above is over for the time being, but...What Xain said troubles me. I have a bad feeling about this. Vahn, let's go back up and check on the situation.





Well, that was...an odd way of getting back at us. Personally I like ice dungeons more than lava ones, so I'm okay with this development.

Anyway, the Guardian Chain makes it impossible for both the user and their target to block attacks. Pretty nifty against enemies that like to block a lot, but I haven't tried it much myself.





Incense reduces enemy encounters for a while. VERY nice.





And here few have Freed, a new Seru enemy. As usual, Gala wound up learning it and then I lost patience waiting for the others to get it.









There's not anything of note on the way back, so let's skip to the town.





You got that right! We taught that Xain a lesson!

Soldier: Ah, I knew it! When the ground stopped shaking, all the townspeople knew you were successful, and started cheering! Please go and talk to them. They'll be very happy. Oh, and the mayor is waiting for you. Please go see him if you have the time...Say, it's a little cold here, isn't it? Did something happen?

Hmm. In their last moments, the enemies froze the depths of the earth.

Soldier: What?! Yes...I only hope that nothing bad happens because of that.

What could those henchmen of the Mist be thinking? It's a mystery to me.

Soldier: That's right. Whatever will happen later on will happen. But now, thank you, everyone!





I found this in one of the houses. Fury Boosts are an interesting item. You know how Spiriting increases the length of the attack gauge? Well, a Fury Boost does the same thing, but makes that state last for the entire battle. In theory this means you can spam tons of Arts without having to Spirit every other turn to lengthen the gauge again, though you still are constrained by your AP. I might use them in really tough fights, but honestly I rely on Spirit enough for its AP gain and defensive properties that I've never felt the need to use one of these.

With all that said, I suspect that I'm undervaluing these as items and I mean to try one in an upcoming boss fight to see how much it does or doesn't help.





Mayor: Ha ha ha! This is what you'd call a smile of satisfaction! I'm so happy, words can't describe! Say, I have a favor to ask you! Ha ha ha! Would you bring me some Spring Salts from Vidna? That's a town known for its hot springs. I am prepared to reward you. I hope you can do this for me. Ha ha!


Uh...well, it looks like we have a new mission, I guess? It feels like a sidequest, but we don't really have any other leads, so whatever, let's head that way.





They've put up a little shrine to Hari, Hari, and Hari. Nice touch.





And here we are, back in above ground Octam. Join me next time as we return to Vidna and get some salt! It will be riveting, I'm sure.










Music: Battle Theme











Nova is the most powerful magic I currently have, but is limited to a single target. It's also my only wind Seru, though I think I'll have another opportunity to nab Swordie again sometime coming up soon.









Gola Gola is a decently powerful attack that hits all enemies (which is to say it actually hits all enemies instead of doing some area of effect thing like most of my multi target spells right now)













And Freed is basically Gola Gola but water instead of fire. Also, it starts as an ice crystal, then that shatters and the shards become Freed, and then it fires another ice crystal at the enemy which shatters. That's a lot of shattering.