Part 4: It Gets Worse

Chapter 4: It Gets Worse



Hey everyone, it's time for epic tournament fighting!




I'm gonna show them all that humans are no different than beastmen! We're just the same! I'm gonna show them how great humans can be!
......


But we are feeling generous today. Let us see how long you last before you come begging for your life! Or indeed, before you are eaten alive!





And indeed, she does get back; Lucia doesn't participate in these battles.



These are actually boss monsters, so it's a bit of a hindrance to not have another character to use cards/sling healing items/get hit, but uh, obviously not enough of a hindrance that I had to use manual control for the whole battle.

Yeah, other than poisoning the enemy, buffing Jian's attack, and healing when needed, nothing that taxing. Jian didn't even heal in this fight. No chance to heal in-between fights, so that can be a challenge I suppose.



These fights drop plenty of healing items. Also that monster was called a Raft. Okay.





Why not just let her help? Or that's against the rules, why did they let you bring her there?



The next monster has this attack, which does a bit more damage, but it's more of the same. I used one Healing Drop, and the monster dropped two more of them.





So how is this promoting racial harmony again?



Like the previous monster, it has a special attack and it's slightly stronger but hardly



What.



What



Why, that's significantly less than what I should be doing. It- this is actually real. This monster broke my weapon. In a game where equipment is paramount, and it's hard to get money, the game decided that this monster should be able to break your precious equipment. Someone thought this was a good idea. Oh, but it gets worse. This isn't the only monster in the game that can break equipment. Just... keep that in the back of your mind.

If you're curious, this right here is what broke me when I tried to play this for the first time.



I actually attempted to beat this encounter, although I planned on resetting anyway, but the poison damage you see there was the best damage I could do.





This game is a piece of shit.



The rematch went off without a hitch, thankfully. Being able to save anywhere may be a small mercy, but I'll take it.



God, would a "congratulations" kill you?

Lucia, I'm sorry... But look at me! I'm fine, hardly a scratch on me!


...Is he really a mere human?



That seems slightly unnecessary.


Jian, no!







Hey, it's Lady Appearing on the Cover.

...You're right.
My name is Gabryel, anyway! You can call me Gabi, if you like! I'm...

Clearly the daughter of the beast king.


What is it, Gabryel?
Look over there! What's going on, I wonder? Let's go and check it out!




Jian...? This is the human who fought so bravely in the Coliseum? But this is terrible!
Ow, my head... Lucia... What... what happened to me?
...You're alive! Jian! Oh, Jian! I thought... thought you were dead! You had me so worried for a moment there! But I'm so glad you are OK.
Heh, sorry about that! What happened to me, I wonder? Hey... Lucia! What's wrong with me?! My body... won't do what I tell it to! I can't perform any of my special skills! None of my techniques!

You mean... techniques like "sitting up?"





...

... ...

How is this game getting worse?

Who was it?! Cursing me! Who was it who put this terrible thing on me!
Zethos... The Beast King, Zethos.
The King himself...?!
You'll have to meet with him if you want the curse to be lifted, I'm afraid. Perhaps I can help you with that.
What do you mean?
Follow me, you'll see! I can get you a meeting with the King.
You can do that?
The Beast King is now in a city called Leephon. I know the way there! Follow me!
Thank you! Miss...?
It's Gabryel! Call me Gabi, OK? And no "Miss" either!
Thank you, Gabi! Sorry to put you through this.
Don't worry about it! Let's just get started for Leephon City!

Okay, so... let's just parse out what happened here. The king of the beastmen cursed Jian for... being too good at killing monsters. He also just happened to have a spell that prevents you from standing on your head, because beasts fucking hate circus performers.



And now we have to go through the Thieves' Woods again to get to this city and cure Jian of his... not standing on his head.

Oh, and I just noticed this, but Gabryel's name is spelled with an "I" here. Quality!



While the curse sounds stupid, it's actually pretty debilitating. Jian's three part combo involved standing on his head for part of it, and without it, he only has a one part combo. Jian's martial arts style is so dependent on headstands that he's lost without it. Except he only stands on his head for the last hit, so he should be able to do a two-hit combo but that implies the game designers don't hate you.

Since Jian was holding up the party's offense, this sucks pretty hard. The game does give us another party member, though, so maybe she can make up the slack.



Ha ha ha. No. She's worse than Lucia. Lucia at least with her Strong Umbrella is starting to do ok damage. Gabby here... well someone decided in a game that's already tedious to play, and has just been made more tedious, that our new party member here should be at level one and starting level equipment.

_{Holy shit her name is spelled two different ways on the same screen are you fucking kidding me?}



I did manage to get her a slightly better weapon, although it's just 4 points better, but I couldn't afford an armor upgrade. More than that, she just needs levels.



Gab at least comes with a skill, Gale Cut. Of course, being that it's 10 MP she can barely use it (it's not just Lucia with that problem) and at level one it does piss poor damage. But finally an ability that hits all enemies.

It's also the only ability she ever gets.



The monster's level scaling seems to go by Jian's level alone, which... sucks. So Gabryel dragging down the party average doesn't matter; we have to level her. The other two were on the verge of a level, couldn't prevent that, but at least Gab levels very quickly.

By the way, the experience monsters give does scale too, which actually is a good idea. I know, I'm surprised too. Then again, monsters don't give out better loot (or money ever) at higher levels. Win some, lose a lot.



Not that levels help her that much, especially with her poor equipment. I decided to stop at 6, mainly because I didn't wanna trigger another level for Jian. Gabryel can now use her Gale Cut a whole two times.

After some grinding and some jobs, time to set sail.






Really, who could have imagined that things would turn out like this?!

Hi to you too.

So, two seconds into town and there's already an emergency. At least it is something to do. Let's check it out.



...yup, that sure is a thing that's happening.



Gronk. You're really going with "Gronk." Suddenly, "Rockgagong" doesn't seem all that silly.





I- I can't get over this, I'm sorry. There's a fucking curse, a well known curse, specifically to fuck over people who stand on their head. Someone wrote that, and someone else approved it.



And we see yet another mention of the Vile Tribe.



For some reason, Jian specifically notes that an inn room is empty. Foreshadowing?



Uh, no, this is wrong. Maybe a translation error? In any case, Althena lives in her tower on top of a mountain (except when she lived in a city in the middle of nowhere but that wasn't actually her.)



No shit. And that's wrong too. The main shrine, or cathedral here, of Althena does have students, but they're all priests and priestesses. They study healing, which is considered separate from magic (at least, that's how you can explain Neo-Vane rejecting Ronfar.) _{Then again, Walking School/Magic School doesn't seem to distinguish between them, but no one really cares about those games.}

It shouldn't surprise anyone that this game doesn't follow canon very well, when it bothers to at all.



Oh, nevermind, we're actually talking about "Gpddess" Althena.

Well, it is true that she has not shown herself for a number of years now. But if she really is gone... What's going to happen to the world? Maybe that is why the Vile Tribe attacked? That's got to be it! Oh, what I am to do? Looks like no school for a while, anyway...

Now, the Goddess Althena being gone is actually not that unusual in Lunar canon; she reincarnates every once in a while. Although several Lunar have contradicted themselves about whether this is understood to be normal, or it's not.


He's got underlings called Deuce, and alone or together, they're really tough!



In the town square (the game literally calls it "Central open space") there are two merchants. Odd...



And they sell delivery items. You know how delivery items way too cheap to bother selling for profit? They're not expensive to buy, either. So you might be wondering: can we just buy all the delivery items and just coast our way to an easy fortune?

... kind of? There's not that many delivery jobs that exclusively use items you can buy, but there are some. Also, it's a little easier to fill big requests if you can buy the items you're missing. It kind of depends on where you're taking job and what jobs you roll. You also need to either remember what items they sell (it's well over 10 different items, so good luck with that) or have a list on hand.



Although the Gad's here isn't open at the moment. We can actually go on a boat and return to Port Searis and do jobs there. However, every time we have to go to the port, talk to the man, travel the world map, and leave the port in the other city. It doesn't sound that bad, but if you're trying to run a lot of jobs, then... it gets annoying fast.



Oh hey speaking of which.


Hey, you look like you've got some free time. Go over to the checkpoint and see if things are OK, will you?

I already did that. By the way, if I go back to the checkpoint, none of the guards there have new dialogue. But re-talking to them and coming back triggers the next event. Quality work, guys.


I'd like to know more about...
I'll take care of this!
You..?!
Hey, Gabe! What're you saying?!
Jian, don't worry! Leave this to me! I've got a great idea.
Hold on a moment... Just who are you?
Your guardian angel, perhaps? But we don't have time for joking around, do we. The situation at Cathedral of Althena is certainly grave. Please, let us handle this!
Let you handle it...? But just what are you going to do? More to the point, what exactly can you do?
Don't worry! But I don't have time to explain. Jian, Lucia... You guys wait here. I'll be right back!


Gabi... she must have a plan of some sort, right?


...?! That's... why... The royal emblem?! You... you... where did you get that?!
Does it really matter? So, what's it to be... Am I allowed through, or not?
Ye... Yes, of course. My apologies. Please.
Ahem... Well then, pleased we have that sorted out. I'm glad you made the right decision. This will only reflect well on you!
Yes... thank you...

Unless Gab is actually a crazy lady who beat up the princess and stole her identity, then you'll have so much egg on your face. You know, I'm going to choose to believe this.


What do you think, muscle head? We can now leave the Bay. They've decided to allow us through the checkpoint.
What? But how did you...?
I'll leave that to your imagination. Well, you two? What do you think of me now?
Gabi, incredible! Just what I'd expect from you.
You certainly have your moments.
Well... I have no choice. It is beyond my jurisdiction to override this decision. Leave the bay and head northwest to get to Cathedral of Althena. But please... Do be careful, OK?

Finally. Okay, next dungeon. First, party chat!


Sounds nasty! I don't know how dangerous this is going to get. You two can wait here, if you like.
I'm sorry, are you talking to me? What do you think this claw is for, bub? Trimming the verge? My father raised me to never run from a fight! But you can stay behind, if you like.

Was that... a Wolverine reference? I thought that maybe the translator briefly came to life to insert a little bit of WD-esque humor, but based on what Jenner wrote, I'm wondering if that's a line they swiped from a fan. Wouldn't surprise me.

Oh, let's also check out the shops before jumping to the next dungeon.



Holy shit that's expensive.



The weapons aren't quite as expensive, but still out of our reach. Still, I can get a new set of claws for Gabryel, and it brings her up to useful. Yay!



With all the business in town concluded, next up is the Cathedral of Althena.