Part 15: Levers

Chapter 15: Levers

Last time Jian became a Dragonmaster... sort of? I suppose he has to cut off Iggy's head to become a "real" Dragonmaster.



By the way, you know what's also not in the game? Althena's Sword, which is the sword of the Dragonmaster. Again, kind of an important bit of iconography not to have in the game, but honestly at this point the game has far larger problems that not including a specific sword.

Whatever, we need to go find him really quick which is why we have to... do a thing.



Okay, first off, I got Gab some expensive new armor, and Jian some headgear. I actually can find this in a blue chest, but if I can buy one and not bother with the blue chest shit I will. There's not a whole lot more I need to buy, just stuff for Flora.

Anywho, what to do next?


I wonder if something made from junk, without using magic, will really be able to fly...

I guess that's as good a lead as any.



Although this guy's dialogue does change too... but it's telling us about a cave we've already been to. Why the hell would we ask about it?



Well, obviously it's because we want to learn about geography.

That's a cave that draws in all the moisture from the surrounding area, meaning that the cave is always running with water. It even takes the water from the river in this village. Pretty impressive stuff, huh? But that's only the start of it... There's an underground lake which erupts periodically... It's called the Blue Dragon Lake. And within it, stone flowers grow!



Oh, you're going to make us backtrack, aren't you?





All right, let's just do this now and get it over with.


Look, look! I knew I was right! Ha!
Looks like Tovia was telling the truth...
That's right! I told you, didn't I?! Flowers! I was right!
My apologies, Flora...
This is amazing... They are really quite beautiful, aren't they?
Now we're much closer... Looks like they're made from stone!
I wonder, just how many hundreds of years it has taken for them to blossom?
Stone flowers! How mysterious! And kinda romantic too, I think!



All right, we got the damn flowers for... no reason. Just that I knew that we needed them.


Excellent! Now we take this to Kirlis, right?
That's the plan... I just hope he's willing to help us!
Well, keep your fingers crossed! We need to get back to Vile Castle and stop Ignatius as quickly as possible!

Okay, so I kind of did this in the wrong order. I'm thinking the game expected us to go see Kirlis when we first finished the Blue Dragon Cave, or possibly before that. We were probably supposed to see him, get sent off to get those stone flower thingies, and then go back. Fuck you Lunar Dragon Song, I'm not playing that game. But because I did this, I missed out on certain pieces of dialogue that the game assumes I'd see, and as a result the dialogue is going to be disjointed. Then again, the game does not program in alternate dialogue in case you do this in an different order. So it's kind of my fault and kind of not.



So yeah, we pass through the forest again. Wee.



This time, we'll actually enter the tower.



So the tower is all sciencey-looking as you might imagine. And I'm going for that chest.



Headgear for Gab. It also helps protect against poison and paralysis, so that's okay.



Although there are these things on the wall that shoot balls that hurt you. I don't know why that's there.



So there's two staircases leading up. I go up the first one I see.



And I go up the first one I see on the second floor.



And we're here. Hi Kirlis.

Oh, and refusing the hand the stupid flower provokes no funny dialogue, so let's just give him what he wants.

Really? Really?! My thanks, young'un! I simply must have anything rare... Rare things for my collection! Well then, get ready! Prepare your mind for expansion! For I am currently creating something incredible! Head up onto the roof and check it out!

"Prepare your mind for expansion?" Are you pushing drugs?



It kind of reminds me of that little airship in Arc the Lad 2... that's probably just me.


Hey, don't be so sure. I like the design, anyway!
I don't really care if it flies or not... because I won't! Sorry, but... I don't like heights.


I know... I know... You're too surprised to even speak! Same thing happened to me, when I had the idea!
So... where exactly is this going?
Of course, of course... Look here! This is called a Levitation Stone... It's going to be the power source for the airship.
Hold on...? A stone that can fly?
That's right! You'd better believe it! But I can tell, you're shocked and surprised. This is not an ordinary stone, after all! It's a Levitation Stone, that's why!
So... Let's see some flying!
Well... you see... the thing is... Yes, that is the problem. The crux of this matter! Levitation Stones only work in pairs!

Of course it does.

You need two of them to tango, as it were! Or even rumba! The awesome power to float is created by the resistance between a pair of stones, you see.
So where's the other one?
Well said! Sharp, you are! One might be found... In Negri Ocean Lab! That's the place! So...
You want us to go and get it for you, right?
I see... you're smart. That's just what I want! How'd you know?
It's hardly... airship science?
You've got that right! Well them, off you go! Run along! The Levitation Stone from Negri Ocean Lab! You got that?!

Yeah, yeah, I get you... wait, where is this lab?



Okay... where's the damn lab?



You fuckers are never psychic when I need you to be.



I ran around the tower trying to find another exit, thinking the lab was attached to this tower. It's not. There is some more treasure in this tower.



But other than a blue chest containing armor for Gab, which I've already bought anyway, none of it is particularly worthwhile. This Healing Ring is the only other noteworthy thing here. Gives you HP regen, obviously, but HP regen in this game is 5% of your max HP rounded down. Not worth the accessory slot.

All right, where is this damn lab, then?



Outside Port Olbeage.

Looking at the script, there are three references to Negri. Three total mentions of the name in the whole script, and we saw all of them. The game does not tell you where to find this.



So this is obnoxious.



Falling rocks from the sky for no reason! Cool!



And acid pools. If there's any reason why this place is such a shit hole, the game never tells us.

It starts pretty simple. You can only go to the top right.



And there's a fork in the road here. The right just leads to treasure, though.



Paralysis protection and HP regen. Eh



And I didn't even see this at first. I had to come back to get this.



...actually, it does improve luck and dex, as you can see. Still, not worth going back for, I'd say...



Anyway, the room on the top has a lever. So what door does it open? Well, there was a closed door right next to this room.



Ha ha, nope. It opens this door at the beginning of the dungeon.



Anyway, a couple of doors down, and it leads to another lever.



And the only blue chest in the whole place. It gives us some armor for Jian that I already have. So I skip it.



Oh, and guess what. That level we just pulled? The door it opens is yet again on the other side of this lab, right next to where the first lever was. There's also a lever inside this room. And the door it opens is on the other side of the lab, by the second lever.



Honestly, the blatant padding here is just sad. It's not even a particularly large lab or anything, but you can just hear the designers desperate to squeeze just a few more minutes of playtime in. By the way, by this point my play time was... around 21 hours I think. Admittedly, recording and other LP business pushes the play time up a bit, but yeah it's hard to imagine, isn't it?



One more room past that, and we've already got the stone. No boss or anything.

Well, it's floating, OK... Looks like we found it.
Don't let me near it! I think I want to smash it!
Flora...I'm sorry. Please, try to understand. We don't have time to walk to the Frontier. I'm betting everything on this airship story. If it really does allow us to fly... then we can go straight to Vile Castle and save Lucia!
...I know...
Flora...?
I'm fine! Fine, OK? Oh, what? You think I'm scared of that airship or something?! That says a lot about what you think of me, huh! I'm fine, I'm telling you! Not scared at all, OK?
Flora... You're doing a good job of convincing me otherwise, but...
Oh, Gabi! Stop picking on me! Let's just go, OK?
Flora... thank you.

That was... sweet? I guess that could be a good character moment if we cared about Flora. Why is she here again?

Anyway, it's time to return to Not Myght and get our airship. And that means we gotta pass through two towns and the eastern Moto forest.

I really do cut a lot of the chaff out of this LP.


Bless my bones, you are impressive, young'un! You did it, you really did it! I almost didn't dare dream! Now my dear XR45 Sakura will be completed! You'll be able to fly, fly, high as the sky, wherever you please! Oh yeah!

Oh hey, this airship has a name. Anyway, let's claim this airship.


However, there's no guarantee that I'll make it back. Flora... look at this thing! It could easily just fall apart in the air! So, I've decided... I'm going on alone.



I would say that Jian has a memory of a goldfish, but as anyone who's seen Mythbusters can attest, goldfish can be trained to memorize simple mazes, and they can retain the training for over a month. I'd rather not ascribe that level to intelligence to Jian.


Lucia is special to me, too, you know! She was my first... my first friend... And my first true comrade! You think I want to lose her? I want to save her just as much as you!
Gabi...
Don't count me out, either, OK? If it looks like it's going to break up, I'll hold it together with my teeth! I'm fine! Let's go!
Flora... thank you.
Well, Jian... Do you finally understand now? So stop this time wasting nonsense and let's get airborne!
G...G...Gabi's right!
Both of you... thank you.



Now that we have the airship, we can, in fact, go anywhere to any town on the map! It's about damn time!

...not that there's anything to do, mind you. I mean, this makes Gad's job so, so much easier, but why would I bother at this point?



There's not even a reason to talk around, since as far as I can tell, there's very little new dialogue.

Actually, there is one thing we can do. We don't have to, and it's not really worth doing, but... yeah, sure, let's do it.



Now while we can go to any town, that's not true for dungeons. In order to go to a dungeon, we'd have to land on the nearest town, and then immediately exit. For example, if we wanna go onto the western side of the Sungrid bridge, we'd have to land on Lind, and then exit, and then we can go on the bridge.


After all, she was the one who put us all the way out here in the first place...


You're not the only ones trying to get back something you've lost, you know! Just give that some thought...

Oh, and speaking of Lind, I wonder if the writers suddenly remembered that the Vile Tribe was portrayed sympathetically in Lunar SSSC.



In any case, there is something to do on the Sungrid bridge. We pull the lever on the Lind side, and then go to Leephon, leave, and enter the bridge from that side. Then we gotta travel all the way to the end of the bridge.



No one has even cleaned the bodies up. Nor have they decomposed, somehow.



That lever we pulled on the other side? Opened this door.



And it leads to another fucking lever, because of course it does.



And the door that lever opens is in the middle of the bridge.



Angel Rings auto-revive you once. Considering that I haven't had a KO since... the three stooges fight, I think, I do not need this. The thought is nice, I guess.

But, uh... yeah, that's it. There's nothing else to do. Next time, we go back and give Iggy what's coming to him. It's an update certain to be full of drama, excitement, and maybe even a little romance.*

*_{Drama, excitement, and romance not guaranteed}