Part 76: 10/24/09 - 10/27/09: Tziah The Desert (Part Four)
It's honestly more than just a little amazing how close we are now to the full moon, huh.
Troubled
It's rare for you to be here. ...Is it for Archery Club?
Yes. The teacher asked for a report... I see... Then, you must be busy. Um, not really. At least not compared to you... 
Um... I wanted to ask you something. Yes...?
Well, I... I guess you could say it's my way of atoning for the past. I see. Well, in my case, I don't really have a reason anymore, if I'm being honest. I know the whole story about my father now. 
......
...I guess I should have though about this earlier, huh... Why didn't I question myself sooner? ...What's done is done. But, it seems like everyone has their own reason for fighting... 
...What are you trying to say? ...I'm not exactly sure. It'll all be over after the next full moon... but I'll probably still be trying to figure it all out.
...Maybe so. But, at least then we'll be able to return to a normal school life. The Student Council members will be here soon. If you want to talk later, let me know. No, that's okay. Thanks for listening.This is an interesting idea that's just now been introduced. Might've been nice to have a bit earlier, but I can understand why it's placed here considering how close we are now to the Full Moon.
Changing Seasons / Sun
Since she just did something, we'll spend the day with Yukari.
It is spending the day and nothing more, though. We'll get something out of this later, when we have the time.
Iwatodai Dorm
As you know, the next operation will be our last... Are you feeling nervous?
Not really. That is amazing... It is unusual for someone to be so calm before a battle.Well, it's still over a week away AND all the previous big Shadows have been kinda sorta super easy, so...
I don't know. ...I hope you find one. The next battle will be our last, so let's do our best.There's nothing on the telly for the first time in a while, and Koromaru doesn't even wanna go walkies. If it wasn't for the plot scene at the start of the day, today would've been quite possibly the shortest one to date.
At least Sunday's gonna be longer because we have a date lined up and ready to go.
When the Moon's Reaching Out Stars (Reincarnation) / Way of Life -Deep Inside My Mind-
> Yuko is not eating as much as usual.
D-Don't worry. I'm not sick or anything...> Yuko's face has turned red.
Makoto, you have some sauce on your mouth. Will you wipe it off?
Okay, I'll get it for you...
That this is not only a right answer, but the best one is so weird to me. I'unno.
> Today, you two became a lot closer.
> It's getting late...
> You decide to go back to the dorm.
Iwatodai Dorm
I'm prepared to go to Tartarus at any time.
Arf! Arf! Koromaru-san seems to be ready as well.We're not gonna be going to Tartarus today, but we do need to do it sooner rather than later now.
Everyone seems to be cherishing their lives much more than they did before. Shinjiro-san's departure seems to have helped everyone grow and mature.
The first way is to get all stressed out thinking about it. The second way is to turn your nervousness into energy for training. I choose the second one. I'm all about training. The more you train, the stronger you get. The stronger you are, the better your chances of winning.Akihiko blowing some minds with that reveal, I'm sure.
I don't believe for a second that Red Hawk would do that! There must be some Wacky Misunderstandings at play.
We'll see just how right I definitely am next Sunday. For now, let's take Koromaru out for a bit.
Joy
Ohh, I get it... Gotta walk the dog, huh? I didn't know you had one. We used to have one, too. Man, that dog was awesome.> You talked for a while.
I will gladly take this +10 at this point. It'll let us rank up Mamoru whenever we bother dealing with him again. Probably sometime around the next exam, honestly.
But for now, we have more relevant stuff to contend with.
Changing Seasons / Sun
Geez, he's completely out of it. He should start drinking coffee before he comes to class... How about you, Makoto?
Once again, this is a subtle wink to the player. The question today in vanilla was about the linguistic origin of "coffee."
But which one of these things is NOT Arabic? Wristwatches. Bingo! You hit the jackpot. Both "sugar" and "magazine" has their origins in Arabic. However, they're derived from European languages, not directly from Arabic.
Well, that was interesting and all but let's keep hanging out with Yukari a bit more. Playing it a bit fast and loose with Yuko's time limit right now, but it'll be fine.
Joy
Oh...> Yukari's expression has darkened.
Troubled
Yeah... What? ...So? ...Get to the point, okay? ...Huh?
It's not funny!
...... Fine. Do whatever you want. ...Just don't call me again!> Yukari hung up on the caller.
Sorry. Are you alright? ...Oh, yeah... I'm fine. Thanks for asking.
You know who I was on the phone with, right...? Yeah, it was my mom.I think even that lady sat on a bench figured that out.
She says she wants to get remarried... I don't really care if she wants to get married again, but I can't stand how she's been living...
I don't think that's fair to my dad.> Yukari seems to be upset.
Thanks. I'll never be like her. I'll never be that weak...
I've decided that I'm gonna live on my own. I'll show her that I can be happy that way.> Yukari has shared her innermost feelings.
> You understand her a little better now.
For some reason, I feel like I can tell you anything, Makoto-kun... Let's head back now. I'll do the rest of my shopping some other day.> You decide to go back to the dorm...
Iwatodai Dorm
Newscaster: His claim that Apathy Syndrome was foretold by Nostradamus seems to be widely believed now.
There's nothing of note at the dorm tonight, at all. I guess when Naoki Tanaka's the only thing of note on the news as well, we've got a pretty lax evening all around.
We're not off to Tartarus juuuust yet, though. Last night I nearly did, but we'll go another day before thinking about it.
Changing Seasons / Sun
Listening: The people with Apathy Syndrome? Yeah, they are. My friend's brother's friend is one too.
Gossiping: It's starting to be a serious problem. It's on the news every day now. Oh, and did you see the special program they ran? Nostradamus actually predicted all of this!
> The first bell has rung.
Sadly, we can't quite focus on anyone else that I'd prefer today. Because it's a Tuesday, you see. So, I guess Keisuke wins by default?
Joy
I'm still deciding about whether or not I want to study abroad.
My dad's trying to make all my decisions for me.That was a sudden sharp turn from indecision to daddy issues.
I haven't had a say in anything... He's been acting all weird since I had that talk with him about quitting the club... It's like he thinks he understands me now... Are you gonna be a doctor? A doctor...? Hmm...
But, if I study abroad, then there's no turn back, right? I mean, I couldn't be a doctor then, could I?
I know what you must be thinking... A chance to study abroad--what an opportunity...
...Sorry, Makoto-kun. It seems like all I ever do is complain to you. ...But I always feel a lot better after talking to you, so thanks.> It seems like Keisuke trusts you.
> Your relationship is stronger now!
...In times like this, I must put my faith in the heavens... You can go on without me. I have to go to the book store. I'm going to buy a fortune telling book and stay up all night until I finish reading it!> After saying goodbye to Keisuke, you decided to go back to the dorm.
Iwatodai Dorm
I have so many memories of my time in SEES... good ones... bad ones... What about you? Did you enjoy participating in SEES? Yeah, I really liked it. I hope you always remember the good time we shared together.
The number of The Lost didn't decrease after the last operation...
But, we're almost done. Peace will return to this city soon. Let's prepare for the final battle.I noticed that there were still folks hanging out with Apathy Syndrome. The professionals on the TV have spent all month patting themselves on the back for being right, despite literally all evidence proving them wrong. Speaking of which!
Newscaster: One of them has accurately guessed the dates of recoveries and relapses in the past... He believes that the next wave of recovery will begin on the 7th.
4th. November 4th. The Full Moon is the 3rd, so it'll be the 4th.
We've got a week to go before the full moon now, so... Tartarus? Tartarus.
The Voice Someone Calls
So, uh, about the Laevateinn. It's good. The Outenta Mitsuyo is the strongest 2h sword available normally, without overlevelling, since it marginally beats out the Claymore. The Laevateinn just blows past it and does not look back. Its downside is that its accuracy is almost literally the worst. 83% hit rate puts it below almost every other weapon. There is only one thing below it. Yeesh.
But, hey, 340 attack power. There's only 3 two-handed swords that beat that, and the weakest requires that we're level 70 to obtain, for a power of 351. Just think about that for a moment.
So, we're bringing these folks with us today. The Laevateinn even looks pretty dang cool. Could make a second and give it to Makoto, but I'd really rather not do that. Variety and all.
Maya's Theme
So, anyway, before we go much higher up let's see just how absurd Junpei is right now.
Makoto with the Gae Bolg and over 60 Strength (thanks Surt) just barely fails to kill this Maya. At least the follow up will do it.
Junpei averages 400. With sub-40 strength. The Laevateinn's pretty good!
Anyway, up until floor 151 we're just repeating the same stuff from just before the three knights. This at least gives us some new things to beat up.
Mass Destruction / Wiping All Out
First up we have the Growth Relic which is pretty focussed and simple, honestly. It's still weak as all get out, though, and doesn't really manage to achieve much. Being weak to Strike is sorta interesting, I guess.
On the exact opposite side, we have the Conviction Sword which is so thoroughly boring that it's not even funny. Base Counter is weird considering it resists Slash and Pierce. Mighty Swing is pretty meh ST Slash at this point (220 power, which isn't bad... but we've seen better).
Wondrous Magus are amongst the most common random trash Shadows in the black and are very focused on hitting you with Ice. Matarukaja is weird since if they get the first strike, they'll cast Matarukaja. If there are multiple Magi they will all cast Matarukaja. Don't question it.
They drop Gold Rings right now, which is good because we want 3 of those for Elizabeth.
Regal Mothers are sorta annoyingly good at dodging, despite not having anything boosting that. Rakukaja being their only ST skill is an odd one. No Ice Boost is sorta weird, but I'm sure not complaining.
On the other hand, they're weak to Curse stuff so that's unfortunate.
You may or may not remember Hakurou Musha from the previous block, but they're hanging around now as normal shadows. They usually come with Conviction Sword buddies, which is pretty good EXP all told.
Minotaur III is yet another in the long line of an annoying fight that comes solo. He's mostly annoying because he has no weakness and still ahs the audacity to have over 1000 HP. Regenerate 2 is annoying, but he only gets back 47 HP from is so it doesn't matter that much.
And finally we have the Mighty Cyclops who is very determined to use MT spells to murder you. That he's weak to Fire despite that is interestingly unfortunate, and he only Drains Ice and nothing else. If he wasn't a laughably weak joke, this'd be a very dumb idea for him. As is, he just gets stabbed and dies.
So, hey, Suzaku learned Growth 3 in all that. Zhe Qu is the earliest that has this beautiful, beautiful thing (outside of skill changes which are very inconsistent). Every Persona you have that has this skill gains full EXP for a fight, even if they're not Makoto's active one at the end. I used Growth 2 to make it easier to get Narcissus' heart item but that's only 50% exp. I'll undoubtedly be spreading this around later to make it easier to get various things.
Maya's Theme
The boss fight this time around is a bit of a trek from the previous one, huh. Fuuka manages to find it on floor 154, which is pretty early for her. Good job, Fuuka.
Along the way, we manage to find a couple of these things. Shadow Crystals are items that are pure vendor trash, like various boss drops and the Golden Hand coins. These things sell for 100k a piece, and we have like 4 of 'em by the time we're done here.
Gigantic Armor has 94 Defense and we could buy it from the Police Station right now, if we really wanted to. This particular one ended up having Magic +3, so I'll be giving this to Mitsuru for now.
And then we made it to floor 160, and we have just the one Shadow again. Alright, so heading back for a moment then...
The Poem For Everyone's Soul
The Wondrous Magus is a tough foe, is it not? And yet, you still have managed to fulfill my request. As my master says, it seems you have unlimited potential. Please accept your reward.
Oh, Elizabeth. The Wondrous Magus is absolute cannon fodder. I sure hope this wasn't meant to be challenging, because it wasn't. I'll gladly take 340,000 for something that simple, though.
So, hey, during that climb Makoto hit level 54. That means we can finally do something that's been sitting in the Quest tray for-fucking-ever. But first, we're making Daisoujou, since this is the next Fusion request. Daisoujou's good, but he's made with the four Mitama and also Mithra for some reason. He has Growth 3 by default which is nice, but we're really after that Samsara skill he gets at level 56. It's a multi-target Expel elemental instant death spell. For reference, Mahamaon is one step below and has a base 40% chance for 24MP. Samsara costs 35MP and has an 80% hit rate, by default. Hama Boost is literally the only thing he's inheriting that matters at all because thats an extra 50% multiplier on its success.
Note that Daisoujou does learn Hama Boost regardless, but he learns it at level 59 so we'd need to level him up once beyond the S.Link's bonus EXP. That caps him out here at level 58 which just so happens to also be when he learns Null Dark. Welp, so much for that one weakness he had!
(Commu there is short for "Community" which is the Japanese name for Social Links. That'd require redrawing assets entirely to change so I can understand why it wasn't.)
It is a hard Persona to come by, even through fusion... Yet, you added it to your repertoire so easiy... It seems you are quickly mastering the art of fusion. Please accept your reward.
The Space Badge is a pretty meh reward, since it just grants Regenerate 3. Really, though, Daisoujou is his own reward even if his role here is to just grant the first of the three best immediate fight enders.
Next fusion quest is to make Alice with a very specific skill, huh? This is a doddle in Portable thanks to skill cards, of course, but we might have to get a bit creative here. Still, she's level 56 so that's a little ways off yet.
Plus we already have Nebiros, so we'll need to get a Belial first if I know my SMT like I think I do!
...Also being level 54 means we could also make Thor. Thor was nice enough to spawn his Heart Item. Thanks, Thor. Like, sincerely, a lot.
Now that we have him, we can finally do that one Thunder Call request from like May/June-ish. This was a dumb decision to put this early in the quest line, yes.
Vicious Strike, by the way, is MT Strike damage with a base power of 340. Gigantic Fist at 315 was the strongest Strike attack we'd seen before now and that was only single target. The biggest downside to Vicious Strike is that it only has a 1% crit rate.
That's not saying much, though, so let's go beat up a professional wrestler.
Strength Mythical Gigas (Portable) Master of Tartarus / Danger Zone
Oh, Fuuka. You're so wrong. So, so wrong.
The Mythical Gigas is really boring to fight. He has a few skills but he primarily uses his basic attack for some reason.
Occasionally he might remember to use Power Charge. In this case it was his like third turn and also his last. The other two were basic attacks. How dull.
Since we have Thor, I bought a Take-Mikazuchi to fry this dude.
The animation is kinda boring, honestly. It's just a bunch of thunder drums that have a tomoe on them, like normal. Makes sense for thunder gods, and all, but that's it. That's all this skill is.
On the plus side, it does a decent amount of Elec damage (base power of 320) and has a 100% Shock rate. That 791 is without Rakunda in play, for the record. It is from boost/amp and Mind Charge, though.
He has 2100HP by the way, so uh... yeah. Pretty dang good.
Just in case you forgot that this is Tartarus and Tartarus hates Junpei, the Gigas resists Slash, reflects Strike and is immune to Pierce damage entirely. Fire is his only other elemental resistance and he drains it.
He does have skills that aren't Power Charge, like a Maragidyne to put his amazing 14 Magic to good use, but the fight is such a nothing anticlimax that you'll probably neither notice nor care anyway.
End Maya's Theme
We'll pick up our requisite Soma and also other thing, and just keep on keepin' on.
The usual thing happens now, where there's barely anything around and floors are small for a bit.
...but there's nothing there......And then we make it to the top of Tartarus, on what would be floor 164. Well, I guess we did it. We made it to the end of the one dungeon. Appropriate that much like the Gigas it's just a bland thing that happens, really.
Let's just grab the final document while we're here. Gotta show this to Elizabeth sooner or later.
...But not before we read it first, of course.
The Poem For Everyone's Soul
That means you've finished exploring the 4th block of Tartarus. However, I feel your greatest challenge is yet to come... My master and I have watched your growth with great delight... I hope you will be alright. Please accept your reward.
It's sorta weird getting a Soma for that, considering we always get a Soma for beating the last boss of the block anyway. I'm sure not gonna complain about it though!
A contest of strength between the two thunder gods... My hair would stand up so much that it would feel like it was trying to escape my head... Please accept your reward.
Getting a Magatama isn't all that impressive, honestly. It's basically just like the Gems we can find all over Tartarus. This is Severe ST Elec damage, for reference, which in theory means it has a base power of 500 or 600. This is balanced out by this being the only one we'll ever get, outside of repeating this one quest in NG+. Because fusion quests don't exsit in Portable, for obvious reasons, this item ends up being exclusive to the FES release of the game. I guess that's something?
...And now we can clear out a fair few of these in rapid succession for new armor. I'll probably just keep it equipped for the rest of the game (at least on Makoto). Naturally we need Black Frost and King Frost for this one.
why is this after thunder call what the hell game
It just drops a giant snowman friend on all enemies! It has a base power of 149 and occasionally inflicts Freeze. It's alright, but the giant Jack Frost snowman is what makes it important.
The blizzard they summon can freeze every cell in our bodies. I think I know what causes this... Perhaps Black Frost has fallen out of favor with the King, and is venting his anger? Please accept your reward.
So from this point on, we get the Summer outfits for most of the cast. Sweet! Koromaru, of course, doesn't have one and we can just buy Ken and Aigis' from the police station whenever. We still get these from requests in Portable, just different earlier ones. Their defense is thus reduced to compensate, but they have +HP effects added.
Next up we have a, uh... a skill that literally just references Nocturne in its requirements. Gotta have Forneus and Decarabia for this one. Forneus was the first boss in Nocturne and after murdering his ass you could find a Decarabia chilling out in Shibuya waiting for him.
The Summer Outfits are pretty alright for defense, even though they have no added bonuses here. Note that only Makoto's is 95 though; the rest are all 85.
But they give everyone their cool casual summer clothes. Literally no reason to not use them, let's be honest.
Best Friends is very simple, but I can't complain about its effect. It's Rakukaja, Sukukaja and Tarukaja all rolled into one for the usual 15% SP. Not quite how I expected to give out some RaSuTa Candy, but it's alright. Better in Portable where its an item, of course. Nothing else to this one.
They say that Decarabia waited for its friend, Forneus, without knowing that he had died. Every day, without fail, just waiting... ...That is the meaning of "best friends." Don't forget to carry a handkerchief when you use it. Please accept your reward.
So, uh, what's next then?
Ah, a Midsummer Night's Dream. Of course. Naturally this requires Oberon and Titania.
what even is this order why has the highest level required gone DOWN again
Summer Dream sucks, by the way. Oracle is mostly good on paper but still kinda trash in practice. Summer Dream is flatout worse. It has 8 random effects and only 2 are beneficial.
It can fully restore all of your HP and SP.
It can fully restore all the enemies HP and SP.
It can do both, basically resetting the fight.
It can fuck you over like it did here and knock down your party.
It can knock down the enemies instead (unless they're immune, of course).
It can knock down everyone wasting a turn entirely.
It can give everyone a random ailment, which is different for each target.
It can have no effect whatsoever, so that's SP well spent.
Fuck Summer Dream. Use it on the second floor for this quest and then never again. If this wasn't gating off more fashion and also eventually one of the best quest rewards, I wouldn't even touch it.
The mysterious effect might be related to the tempestuous love from the Fairy Court... I've heard that love is also quite mysterious in the human world. Please accept your reward.
At least these skills can just go up from here. Next up we have...
Incubus and Succubus. Once again, the level requirement has decreased from the previous skill.
It inflicts Charm on every enemy. It's pretty good, but of course it's not perfect. If Succubus wasn't so outdated at this point, it might see more general use. If only it didn't cost the usual 15% SP.
A dance that charms all who see it... I wonder how that dance is performed. I would love to join in... *giggle* Please accept your reward.
Just one more Summer Outfit to go. Let's see what lower-than-Thor personae we need this time.
...Oh. We, uh, we can't do this one yet. I know, I'm shocked too. We gotta get to level 59 for this! Also, y'know, there's other requirements too but that's not the point.
Nothing else we can do here right now, so we're finally done for the night. Just a few days remaining before the final battle...
The Voice Someone Calls
At last, the 12th one. ...Are you ready? Regardless of how long it's been, a lot has happened, hasn't it? But, it's a bit soon to be reminiscing. 
...Be careful now.