Part 10: 05/03/09 - 05/04/09: Thebel The Garden of Worldliness (Part Three)

After last night's... interesting heads-up from that one weird kid, I guess that explains why there's moons on the day calendar here and a constant reminder on the main HUD too...



So, first day of Golden Week! It's a 3 day holiday, though really it's just 2 since the first is a Sunday.

Hmm, Sunday... that reminds me.

Current Net Price Tanaka
super recommended double plus pro click

quote:

Current Net Price Tanaka in your television
Everyone's friend of desire

Hmm, translating it sounds rather clunky huh. Oh well, that's what the opening actually says (though it's not translated in-game).









We'll show you great items at unbeatable prices! Ooh, you won't be able to touch that dial!
Let's bring out our item of the day!

quote:

Current Net Price Tanaka in your television
Shop, it's now or never

Oh my goodness! I can't believe its wondefulness!
But wait, there's more!



We could totally not buy this, but if we either can't afford it or opt to not but it then we lose the chance permanently.



Honestly, Tanaka's is such a good deal in general, that missing out here sucks so much. Granted we don't get the stuff until Tuesday...



See you next Sunday, same time, same channel!

> The catchy song starts up again...



> The shopping program is over.

Welp, that's it for this week. Now to find something less important to do...

Iwatodai Dorm



Sure am.
Damn you, you backstabber!
Well, go right ahead then. The door's right there. Don't worry 'bout me. I'll just be here, doing nothing.



The bigger it is, the more enemies there are inside it.
And watch out for those red Shadows.



Know what you're getting into before you attack one.

How do you know about that, Akihiko? They sure don't appear at the start of Tartarus and none are in Thebel at all...



Will you be able to fight with only three members until he returns?
Of course.
C'est magnifique! Then, I'll be counting on you.

Oh wait, it's Sunday! Damn I nearly forgo--



Nooooooo



And now, the news.

Today we'll look at the epidemic of youth depression, including an interview with the leader of the...

And then it just ends. Welp, okay.

When The Moon's Reaching Out Stars / Way of Life



Alright, so, while we're out ever-so-briefly we could totally sell all this trash gear we've picked up. Getting it from Shuffle Time isn't quite as efficient as just taking the money outright but it's not really bad either.



Oh and those Empress's Masks are just for use here flipping them for an easy 6k. Gonna have to remember to do that sometime.



Although she's late... Hmm. I wonder where she is...



But, uh, it's a Sunday so we're limited in what we can do right now. That means I guess we can stay inside and study, go to the movies or do the needful and play an MMO.

Let's be real, there's only one option here.

Joy



> You don't see any other players.

> The girl in gray signs on.



u remember me rite? =/
...Have we met?



> The other player seems sad.

Hey, if you're going to reference Persona 2 and then try and act like it's clever, you're not allowed to get mad when I do it too!



hmm... what kinda people r we, playing inside on such a beautiful day?
Sunshine is overrated.
HahaHAha!! dman straight! XD

> It seems like Maya is amused.



lol... we're s'posed to be leveling, but we jus keep on chatting =3
but hey, grinding gets old rite? its more fun talking to u, tatsuya.

> Maya opened up to you.

> Your relationship is stronger now!







Oh shit, I figured it out. It's Sunday which means sales day which means... Maya is Saitama!

Ace detective!

> Maya's player signed off.

> You decided to log out as well.

Honestly, it's amazing that we're even capable of putting up with this thing even if it IS for S.Link purposes. Makoto always looks so bored in these scenes, moreso than at any other time.



Also Maya does indeed just steal our nighttime slot too. For some unexplained reason. It's kinda very dumb!



Let's see, today is a Monday which means we can't Tanaka again. We could spend today with Maya as well, but that's not really ideal. Hmm...

Iwatodai Dorm



During these times, you may encounter an enemy. So if you think you're in danger, use Request Help immediately.
When you do, I will contact the others and request that they assist you.



Honestly, I'm impressed that Akihiko can sleep with something on his face like that. Just like in general.



Today's subject is a 20-year-old girl with bright blond hair.



...Next is the news. Pain, pain, go away!



So the second guest we've seen on Who's Who is Lisa "Ginko" Silverman, an American girl who... can't actually speak English because she wasn't taught it. Because her dad is a weeb. Really. She's got a super-obvious crush on Tatsuya, is super into Bruce Lee and kung-fu movies in general and decided to try to learn Cantonese in lieu of Japanese to spite her shitty parents. Lisa's primary Arcana was the Lovers, and her default Persona is Eros, the overtly on the nose Greek God of Love. She's a playable character... in Innocent Sin... and only an NPC in Eternal Punishment.

When The Moon's Reaching Out Stars / Way of Life



Hanging out with friends is nice, but it's important to get some alone time too.



So, that's today down the drain. We're gonna try again tomorrow.
I always have the worst luck on my days off...

'Sunfortunate, that. We're also fairly limited on what we can do today right now, but it's fine since we have just the thing.



We could totally do Maya again, but this is a day that gives us effectively guaranteed bookstore time so we'd be a fool (no, the bad kind) to not take it.

Joy



What was your name again?
Makoto...
I'm just joking. I know who you are. I'm not that old.
My wife and I were just talking about you, Makoto-chan.



Makoto-chan, do you like Melon Breads?
Someone gave them to me, but I have more than enough. Go ahead, take one.
Thanks.
Don't worry about it; it's just a Melon Bread. There's no need to thank me.
Makoto-chan, you're so polite. I wish HE had been that way...



Do you want one for a friend too?
...Because it'll take us forever to finish them all.
Thanks.
Alright, here ya go. Um... uh... err...
What was your name again...?
Remember, dear? This is Makoto-chan.
I'm sorry, Makoto-chan. He's terribly forgetful lately.
Here you go.



...Where did he run off to, dear?
Who's "he"?

Let's not play the pronoun game for once, maybe.

Our spoiled son. He hasn't been back in a while.

> Bunkichi seems lonely.

Where did he go, dear?



> Mitsuko seems sad.

Troubled

What are you talking about?



My apologies, Makoto-chan. I hope I'm not making you feel uncomfortable.

> Bunkichi and Mitsuko shared their painful past with you.

> Your relationship is stronger now!





H-Hey, hey, why the gloomy faces?
It's dark outside. I don't need it to be dark in here too.
...Please come again. We'll be waiting for you, Makoto-chan.

> After saying goodbye to Bunkichi and Mitsuko, you decided to go back to the dorm.

Iwatodai Dorm



You'll have to carry it with you, even when you're not in battle.
A one-handed sword is probably the easiest to use.
It's not too hard to swing, and it has decent range.



But if you want to go to Tartarus, you can go and tell her.

Let's see, it's a Monday so that's probably out but... the next Saturday IS the night of the full moon...



Sorry Junpei, already know. Hold R1 and it displays until you let go! Already used it, even.



There's no excuse for being unprepared.
We can't afford to let ourselves be surprised.

Now I'm not putting complete stock in what that kid said, but if he's telling the truth and we have to deal with One Of THEM, then we're limited on time to go to Tartarus...



So this is our first opportunity since we last went. Might as well take it and see if we can at least finish Thebel at last.

Mass Destruction / Wiping All Out



Goddamn, a Gold Shadow! This wasn't supposed to happen! I was meant to get to secretly finish grinding without needing to do anything here on-screen.



But, yeah, these guys are Metal Slimes through and through. Nimble bastards, tank hits real good, almost always go first and run if given any chance. Stat-wise, Wealth Hands are level 1, have 100HP, 100SP, 1 Strength, 1 Magic, 1 Endurance... and 99 Agility and 99 Luck. They're immune to Expel, so whoops that's out. Resitant to everything else though.



Thankfully, Elizabeth gave us these Agilao Gems otherwise we sure wouldn't be killing this thing anytime soon.



Don't even give any EXP but that's fine since that Wealth Coin is very important. Because it's vendor trash. It's another 3000 on top of whatever else we can get, which is pretty great.

The Poem For Everyone's Soul



...At some point I apparently did pick up a 3rd Juzumaru. How about that.

Ahh, and the hilt has beadwork laid in... That's why it's called the katana of evil's bane.
It's a good-sized sword, too.
Approximately... 81.08 centimeters, with a 3-centimeter curve, measuring about 3.96 centimeters in width.



Cards like this are semi-rare but useful to get whenever you can, since they're statboosters. They all increase Luck and a second stat based on the Lesser Arcana represented. Cups are Endurance so this Lu+1/En+2 which isn't exactly my preferred stat gain.



And while we're here, let's make the first boss of Nocturne. He's going to theoretically end up being really useful for what we need him for. Gonna stick Pixie and Nekomata together for this one to get best chances of Pulinpa and anything useful.

Pulinpa (ST Panic; base 25% chance) is only available on Pixie at this point and she needs grinding to level 4 to get it, you see, hence swapping her in at the end of the Dancing Hands. Jack Frost DOES have it by default but he's level 8 and if you can grind enough to get him here you're a more patient person than I. Or playing Portable since it requires no grinding to manage that there.



Now then, let's just head right on back to the 14th floor.



There's only one Shadow here, but man can this guy be a bit of a doozy if you don't know what to expect...

Chariot Rampage Drive (Portable)

Master of Tartarus / Danger Zone



Nice to see that Mitsuru has learned how to read the number on the mask, without needing to analyze the Shadow first.



Anyway, Rampage Drive is a meanie poopiehead and I'm so hardcore I'm fighting him with the main character tired. (thanks pixie)



Mercifully, he's a big ol' strong dude with no elemental weaknesses so he's susceptible to ailments somewhat. Panic is the best we've got at this stage, the only easy early alternative being Rage and oh dear god no that sounds like a fucking terrible idea.



The early-game really hates Junpei though, so this guy is just that writ large. On top of being immune to Expel and Curse, he resists Fire and nulls Slash and Pierce.



That doesn't mean Strike is a good idea though. No, that's worse. Asshole reflects Strike!



If it is was just that, he'd be kind of annoying but takable in a straight fight. You're ultimately going to be leaving either damage or healing (or potentially both!) to Yukari because Junpei can't contribute to either well, so this guy has a counter for that too. Remember how getting knocked down eats your turn when you get back up? Elec just so happens to be the only magical element this guy has...



Suddenly that susceptibility to Panic is a damned good thing to use, huh. If he wasn't Panicked, he'd deal ~70 damage to Yukari alone, so uh, yeah. Bad times. Strangely he doesn't get One Mores outside of Portable which is not at all a bad thing.



But if "almost one-shotting Yukari" isn't scary enough (which, let's be fair, it kind of isn't), he can also do this make it "almost one-shot EVERYONE" instead. That 70 goes to breaking triple digits. Yeesh.



Mazio is Rampage Drive's only multi-target attack though, but let's pretend he got to use something. Assault Dive is light Strike damage. Bash is also light, for reference, but the difference is quite pronounced as Bash has a Power of 30 whereas Assault Dive is 90. Rampage Drive has 9 Strength and he sure knows how to use it.



Fortunately, there's other means of dealing with this thing albeit they're riskier. Cadenza is a good alternative since it's both a multi-target heal AND an evasion boost. It's not quite as sure a bet as inflicting Panic though. It's still helpful if you don't have a thing that can cast Sukukaja (you almost certainly don't)...



Since remember what I said before about Panic sealing skills? Yeah, his basic attack still goes through. And it's Pierce elemental just to mess up anyone who thought Ara Mitama was a safe bet to solo this thing or whatever.



So, yeah, Rampage Drive is the first "real" roadblock and one hell of a step-up after some eagles and hands that probably don't even get real turns. And that's a good thing. It gives a fight that has some degree of tension since Panic only removes 2 turns and then he gets to do SOMETHING.

Another alternative is to wait until later and then just dunk on the bastard with stronger things and party members that can contribute better but, uh, nope. That's not my speed and is a bad idea in general.

End

tartarus_0d01



Balms of Life are revives that put someone back up with 100% HP instead of the 50% that Revival Beads do. And since Rampage Drive dropped one, we got two out of that guy. How nice. That other briefcase though...



Full party restore. For all HP. And all SP. If they're giving this NOW, I can only imagine what's waiting on higher floors...



Speaking of which, 15F let's go why not!



It ends up being really, really tiny though. There's the stairs basically right in front of where we spawn, one whole Shadow but there's nothing new here, an access point by the stairs because uhhh random generation is dumb and one item (it's a Muscle Drink here, great).



Good work. Return to the entrance.

16F is... as far as we can go. We'll leave in a moment, but first: fixed loot!



Not quite what I was expecting, but Elizabeth wants to at least see this for the last request we can do. It's also on a time limit that is very, VERY close to expiring so I'm glad we got this outta the way now.



We can even read it in the menu if we want, though it's not so much a "document" as it is a "paragraph." Following in the survival horror trend of documentation, I see.



Also, I appreciate that the barricade is formed entirely out of school chairs. And also a magical aura. It just gives it that extra touch.

The Poem For Everyone's Soul



Have you already read it? It's quite interesting...
If not, then I definitely recommend you take a look.



A Bead Chain is always nice for sure, but I feel like this wasn't necessarily reflective of the work required to get it considering we got a Bead Chain and a Soma en route as it is.

Only request remaining now is to have both a Jack Frost and Pyro Jack at the same time and that's not happening for a while. No reason to stick around here, so back to the daily life of being a high school boy it is...