Part 11: This is an Update About Love

-re.
Wait, whu?
Well, we're here. Time to go rescue Azu!
Oh. Okay, I'm down with that. We're coming Azuuuuuu-


Huh, there's treasure here now.
Okay sure I guess that's cool. But it's not like we-


Damn it, Ellie! This is not the time-
Senia. I like you. You're a friend of mine. But if you get between me and treasure, I will rip your still-beating heart out of your chest and feed it to your little boyfriend.
Oh. Uh, okay.


Oh neat.



Sadly, the caves are not monster free this time, and we've got tougher monsters than a bunch of pre-teen boys.



But we're a lot stronger, too.

However, Bolt Strike is a bit overkill at the moment. It won't one hit kill the enemies, no, but two Bolts will do the job just fine. Hell, a Bolt and a PsiAir from Lena will also take care of enemies. There's just no point in spending the MP on Bolt Strike. And believe it or not, MP conservation is going to be a slight concern, at least to preserve my sanity.



Oh, and despite earlier claims, I don't think Win D is an attack spell. Maybe. Probably not? It doesn't do damage when it hits. I have no idea what it does, then. Who cares!

EDIT: It's most likely an MP stealing spell. Enemies rarely cast spells, so that would explain why it never works.


Oh you are kidding me.
How did they even know what's going on here?
How did WE?




Uuuh
Should we come back later?
Er, what? You guys again? Hey, uh, er! Rick, Kule! You aren't pushing hard enough!
I know, I know. Don't over-strain yourselves! We'll take care of it.


I'll remember this, dammit!
Hey, now. It's not like I'm trying to make fun of you.
But seriously, what are you-


Well, uh, bye I guess.



We're right next to where we need to go, but there's a bit more treasure on the right side of the cave. I mean I'm rapidly running out of space to put all these unneeded healing items, but what am I supposed to do? Not get them?



Although I'm already starting to run a tad low on MP.



In any case, the door goes away for the girls (which I guess is what the staff was for but the game doesn't display a message when the door goes down, so I don't know)



Well, okay, that's certainly a change of scenery. Has this been here for a while?

Hey who's up for a jarring tone shift?


Seriously? It's pretty obvious that he's NOT, so why are you asking now of all times-
Well...



Flashback time!


He'd been hurt, and had collapsed. I hurried home, calling for help all the way. My father nursed him back to health, and we soon became fast friends...
Yeah riveting can we get back to the task on hand?

So, uh, this dungeon.







It's hard to show in screenshots, but it sucks. You know how many of the dungeons so far were either more or less straight lines or so short that were impossible to get lost in? Well fuck that noise! The game is taking off the kiddy gloves! By which I mean it's still easy, but now the dungeons are annoying mazes that are harder to navigate than they should be because of the small field of view. Kinda like the original Lunar 1, actually. Spoiler, this is how many of the dungeons in this game will go from now on. _{When they're not recycles.}





I guess the enemies are slightly more intimidating this time around.



Slightly.



Oh, and I was wrong about something; you can't use the Meat to heal. As far as I can tell, you can't use it at all. So I just threw it out.

You are history's greatest monster.



Oh hey, a new thing! So what does it do?



...the "info" option for items isn't very helpful sometimes. It's just a full party cure that's better than the Cure Herb. That's all.

Oh, and I didn't realize that the Cure Herb cured the whole party. Well it does. Now you know. I end up trying to use up some of the shitty healing items I have.





The Lively Potion restores all HP for one character, and the Rest Potion restores all HP for the whole party. Wee.

And, yeah, I guess there's not much else to really say about this boring ass-



Oops, sorry, gotta get back to Senia's pointless backstory.


We were inseparable! But this made my father angry. He scolded me... Said that I should realize that I was the daughter of a chief. My father didn't think very highly of Azu.
Oh. Okay. And?
And what?
You liked Azu and your dad didn't. I guessed that much. So what happened next?
I'm getting to that!
Okay, I'm listening.
No you gotta wait.
Why?
I 'unno.



Do you know how many times I had to just stop and wait for MP to regen? Too many. Although I think that MP only regens when you're still, or at least I didn't see it regen while I was moving. Also, holy moly do the robes make a difference. Before waiting Senia and Ellie had around the same amount of MP, and after waiting Ellie has about 20 MP more. So, hey, whatever helps my sanity.

However, it doesn't seem to effect MP restoration when you defend in battle. I believe defending will only give back 5 MP regardless. Yeah that's pretty much useless now.



I really hate how most of the treasure is placed in such a way where when you see the chest, the way to actually get to it requires a massive detour. Oh, that has a Sun Sparkle, by the way.



Oh, and I didn't realize that you can actually use Cinnabar as an attack item! It did 51 damage, which is actually quite good. Huh. I don't know if that would be the best thing to put in make-up, though. Unless you need exploding lipstick for some James Bond thing.



Also, Chalk isn't a bad attack item either, considering that it hits all enemies.



Seriously have I hammered it in enough that this dungeon isn't very fun to play? I have? Okay, good.


Hey, did you hear that?
I did! I think I hear Ellie and her friends!
_{Of course Brown and Steele couldn't be bothered.}
Really?! We're gonna get out of here!
Oh thank the Goddess!


OH COME ON.
I was horrified! Then, well...


Dad told me to ask him not to meet with me anymore, but those were my dad's words, not mine... As I was explaining that to him, a monster ambushed us. Azu shoved me out of the way.


But that monster... Oh, Azu... In the blink of an eye, Azu had been hurt again. And then he told me that I'd been a burden to him... From that day forward, I ventured into the forest alone to train myself. But I knew the day would come when I'd have to escape from the marriage my father planned.
Wait hold up. How long where you in the woods training?
A few months I guess.
What were you doing?!
Fighting bears, mostly.
Wait hold up why did you never mention this before?!
Eh. Didn't seem that interesting. Will you please let me get back to my story?
So I came here, looking to get even stronger. When Azu arrived, I thought it was because he was worried about me. I mean, I was gone for months and I didn't tell anyone where I was going. I figured he'd be a little bit concerned. I thought he'd want to take me with him...
Okay, now we get back to the part where you were fighting bears?
Yeah! How'd ya do it?
Well, I guess there's not much to say. The secret to it is-
HEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!
Oh no it's- uh, Lena, can I see your hand?
Sure.
It's... Elenora! Let's rescue her!



JRPG villains never do spend any money on prison door construction for some reason.


Yes... Thank you, Lena.
And the rest of these girls?
Their stories are just like mine. They tried to shield someone, and got taken instead. _{Apparently our entire male student body are freakin' deers in headlights...} There was also another kid... Azu, I think. He was taken deeper into the maze. By which I mean he's the next room over. I don't think our captors are trying very hard.
It's gotta be him!
Thanks, Elenora! We'll take care of it!


You just focus on rescuing the boy that was taken deeper in!

Well, uh, let's do that.


Azu! Hold on, we're-

Uh, Elli-




Okay, we're ready.
FINALLY.


S-Senia...
Hm? I recognize you from Iyen... Are you here to save the boys?
You filthy... What have you done to Azu!? If you've hurt him, so help me I'll...
...Senia.
Well then, this concludes my research. Pity I haven't the time to... entertain you myself. Rather, 'tis the time to test a little project of mine.





So hey, we've got probably the hardest boss so far. First of all, there are in fact two enemies; Mynos on top, and the Minotaur on the bottom.



Although most of the danger comes from the fact that the Minotaur can hit like a brick truck, especially against Lena, who has the lowest defense and least HP. Mynos went down in two rounds, so it barely did anything.



Thankfully, Ellie's Flaze ensures that this is a short battle. For comparison, Senia's Fullstone doesn't even do half that amount of damage. Although I think the Minotaur probably resists earth damage, as Fullstone did better damage against Mynos. Like earlier Lunars, this game doesn't tell you if you're hitting elemental weakness or resistances. Hell, I don't really even know if they're in the game.



For some odd reason, despite doing worse damage, Senia's always stealing the kill.


Nothing we couldn't handle, though!
Azu, hang on! I'll get you down!


Senia... Thanks.
I've grown, haven't I? I won't ever be a burden on you! Never again!
Senia...
Seriously, is that all he knows how to say?
Urgh, I know. Just get to the love confession already.


But I wanted to learn strong magic, too. For you, Azu. But, I suppose you're just here on my father's orders, right...?
That is the truth, but, well... I've changed my mind.




Aw!
It's so sweet I think I'm gonna cry!
But, what about my father?
I'm sure that we can make him understand. We just need to tell him. Together.
...you're right! I'm sure we'll be able to explain. Come on, let's go! Together!



I guess.



Before we sign off, let me show off the text intro to the next chapter to confirm something:



Senia is gone. She left the party. She left the party to go home and get married. Senia is 14, by the way.

And she doesn't come back. Senia is gone forever. I was... a little miffed when I realized this in my first place-through. Especially since her replacement isn't nearly as fun. But we'll get there when we get there.

It's worth noting that in the remake Senia does come back for the end. And so does Azu. As a matter of fact, Azu is playable in the remake. And since we're talking playable characters...


_{Image stolen from Lunar-net}

Magic School Lunar has an entirely new character called Blade. He's the burly manly type, likes blades (no really?), does ice magic, and has a crush on Ellie. Honestly, it doesn't seem like we're missing much by not having him. Although in the remake there's combination attacks and one of them has Ellie throw him at the enemies. That's cool.

As far as I can tell, at the end of the game, you have a party of six characters, which is larger than the five you normally get in Lunar games. Sadly, yes, we are stuck with a party of three here, though.

Next time... a character I've been dreading this whole LP.

...yay.