Part 35: The Purple Prick

The Purple Prick


It's a fine day for a trip through the forest, don't you think?


This area is pretty much another wiggly cave between point A and B, except that traps are back. I walk into a few of them, but it doesn't mean much with all the healing at my disposal. It's basically just a nuisance. Let's focus on the few points of interest that are on the way.


Can you spot where the chest is? Right next to Ryle


Damn right I am!


Don't worry, it's just -50Hp for everyone and we'll get treasure





"The accuracy is enhanced, so it's easier to hit the enemies' weak spot!"

This part doesn't affect her damage, but gives a higher crit chance. No idea how much, but I like crits and equip it anyway.


More walking ensues, but at least the area is pleasant to look at.


I can already smell the trap treasure.





"Are all chests here so obviously dangerous?"

Nah, that's the last of em.


This teaches Mariel a new attack skill! It's not bad, but the name definitely raises some wrong expectations.


It does decent damage and pretty much always blinds enemies. It also has a small chance to cause confusion too. If most of the random battles weren't a joke already, they'd sure be now.


The second screen of the forest is as wiggly as the first was, but actually has new enemies.


Oak Kings are kinda dicks. They are fairly resilient against most types of attacks and regain 50Hp at the start of every turn, but also suffer hard from fire. Aside from having a two-hit melee attack, they try to constrict you with their roots, and have a sonic attack that never worked on me. They are kind of a test to see if you're ready for this stage of the game. If they give you trouble, you better get more of those sweet Level Ups!


These guys also regen 50Hp each turn, and spam a low damage earth attack all the time. Not much to them, aside from looking really weird


Near the end of the second screen, we find the inevitable save point.





"It's getting cloudy."

"Yeah, it's getting dark."

"Looks like it might rain soon."

"Let's get hurry."

"..."

"Fina, what is it?"


Oh no what a surprise

"You mean that Mahzok in dark armor!?"

"What are you talking about? I thought you girls already beat that guy."

"Actually mom was fighting him alone, and we couldn't even move. The Mahzoks also can warp back to their realm instantly, so it's possible that guy is still around."




Remember Graphost and his acid rain zone?

"Tsk! It's him again! And his special trap "Tempest"!.."

"Plants are corroding away!? Oh no!"









"Man, when will this jerk ever go away!?"

"What are we gonna do? Miss Fina, we're right back into the same situation!"

"Unless we get rid of that "Tempest" thing, we don't stand any chance!"

"Damn!"

"Let me see what I can do!"

"Latyss?"

"Sylph! Gather all the winds you can!"

"!? You try to use React Wind?"

"Yes!"

"No use! We're inside of his own realm. Winds are not effective in here!"

"I'll add my life force and magic to enhance the power!"

Jfyi, if the translation is to be believed, Latyss means to kill herself here to save us

"Stop it Latyss! We can't fight without you!!"

"Fina..."

"Sessha thinks so too. From now on, we must gather our strengths into one! If we lose you here, then everything's over."

"But, there's no other..."

"(We're facing Mahzoks here! It's my turn to save everyone as true successor of Savior Flare!!)"

"Can't you at least do something about that rain? I can't reach him from here."

"Now we're sitting ducks!"

"I don't think my gadgets can make any openings in his realm~"


SO FUCKING STOKED ABOUT HOLES BRO

"Fina! I got an idea!"

"Mm?"

"I want you to..*whisper*..Got it?"

"Waa!? Are you serious? It's TOO risky!"

"Just do it! Orubia can't hold much longer!"

"Fine! But I won't be responsible if things go bad alright?"

"Force Barrier-! Come and protect us!"


Fina makes another barrier inside of Orubia's. I wonder where this is going?

"That won't get you nowhere, this time you all gonna rot to death! MwaHahaha!"


Ryle's move makes our bubble rise into the air...


...a bunch of explosions happen...


...and everyone gently floats back down. Praise be to our lord and savior, Anime Plot!

"YES!! It worked!"

"Yeah, but why?"

Because That's all you gonna get.

"Dear Ryle~ Don't startle me like that again~ I...I was so scared~"

"I knew he would do something like that again."

"Just can't predict what else he would do next~"

"Ooh~ I see stars everywhere~"

"It...just feels like boarding on a ship~ Urp~"

"Now, it's our turn!"

"Oui!"

"Sylph, let's go!"

"I'm ready any time!"

"Magical Octagram engage!"

"Let's finish him for good this time!"

"You are SO dead~!! How dare you to attack me twice!?"

"You're over pal!"

"Let's get it on!"

YEAH








Ahahahaha, look at that guy! I mean he's as fabulous, as he is badly drawn

"We must make as many shots as possible before he does "Tempest" again!"

"I can see why we Mahzoks been defeated by you humans despite of your puny powers."

But of course he won't tell us! I mean, we're humans and should already know, right?

"And you'll be the next loser! I guarantee it!!"

"I don't think he can make another "Tempest" that quickly...Let's finish him fast!"

"Still little bit of headaches, but I can fight, don't worry about me."


Graphost is a fairly hard boss, and can become really bad when your girls aren't experienced enough. All of his attacks do solid damage, and he'll whip out a really dirty trick after you've brought him to like 50% health. Your party combination also plays a bit of a role in his fight, but our party is decent enough. The perfect party would include Fina and Orubia, but we'll manage.


The first round in this fight actually counts as a surprise round for you, so you pretty much get a free turn. I use it to cast some buffs on me, and armor debuffs on him.


And Mariel also blinds him on the second turn. The status lasts for quite a while, and I always use it again when it wears off. This removes his normal sword attack, which is kinda important as you'll see in a moment.


His skills aren't affected by blindness though. And take into account that this landed on Caris, the member with the highest defense aside from Ryle. Latyss and Mariel don't take this strike well.


His other attack isn't as powerful, but can still be bad for your more fragile members. Graphost really liked to attack Caris though, and that definitely worked in my favor. I pretty much use everyone's best moves while also keeping my Hp up. This goes on for a bit, and then Graphost pulls out his trick...






Drastically sounds about right. Yeah

And this is the point where the fight can go completely down the drain. If you don't have enough healing powers, you'll lose a member on your next turn. And guess what? He'll probably cast it again while you have to resurrect, and traps you in a vicious cycle! Our Orubia is experienced enough to know a powerful group heal and would fix this real fast, but she isn't here. Our party can just barely stay on top this time. I basically only let Ryle attack after this move, while Caris casts her strongest heal on Latyss, Mariel throws out a weakish group heal, and Latyss uses her Aero Heal which is a decent group heal. Keeping Latyss alive is my top priority, because she has the strongest healing of the group. And Graphost often used his normal attack after the eye thingy, so that gave me some extra room because I kept him blind for the whole fight. Don't get me wrong, this fight isn't bullshit hard, but it can really kick you in the nuts. And with that said, Graphost is also kind of another test to see if you're strong enough for this part of the game.


He goes down eventually, and drops the Tri Emblem. It's a neat stat boosting accessory that I give to Ryle.

"Grrrrrrrr! How could I lose to these puny human kids~!! Arggggg!!"


Let's hope that he stays down for good this time!

"Whew~!"

"..."

"Fina, what's wrong?"

"Doesn't it bother you? The reason why that Mahzok kept following us even after Meldia."

"!?"

What is that you say? More plot-hooks for the ever growing pile? What joy!

"Why would he attack us first instead of Meldia?"

"Maybe he tried to stop us from finding the lost city?"

"In that case, they would not be attacking us now."

"I know, they would destroy the city before we can reach it."

"What is their true intent? For what would they invade Factoria, and even control the dragons..."

"Unlike Raymah who always use his puppets to attack us, Graphost is quite straight forward 1 on 1."

"That means the Mahzoks are divided into 2 separate forces."

"Two?"

"They sent 1 of them to occupy Factoria and another one for monitoring our moves."

"If that's true, there's no way for us to find out their true goals."

"I know~ We won't know which group the Mahzoks we fight belong to."

"Then let's keep going. They might expose their plan in the future attacks."

"We better continue our search."

"Ah...Rune Tri is right ahead of us."

Yes it is, but we still have to find the famous secret here. And it's really hard to find, because you get exactly zero clues that's it even there! Seriously, despite knowing about it, I still had to switch in Hayami and use her X-ray skill to find the damn thing.


Here it is. This generic tile in the area where we fought Graphost, hides a secret entrance. I really have no idea how you should find it, aside from spamming Hayami's X-ray 24/7


The healing circle down here is nice, because you don't have to dig into your own supplies after the Graphost fight. One of the chests holds 5000 gold, and another has this..


It's a decent helmet, but nothing special.

The real prize is in the middle chest, and you better prepare yourself for hilarity.

"What...is this?"



"It's..."

"No matter how I see it, it's definitely a "corset"~.."

"?? What exactly is a corset anyway?"

"It helps a woman's body line look more slender and beautiful by wearing it under the clothes."



"(Squeezing my waist with that, maybe my breasts look bigger?)"

"What kind of moron would put a corset in the middle of nowhere?"

"Maybe it has secrets hidden or this particular one is very rare?"

"Anyway why don't we just take it? Who knows we might get to use it?"

"But it's an underwear!"

Think about the cooties!

"Then we just give it to someone who might want it!"

"So that means it's useless to us?"

"Oh come on~who would wanna wear an old underwear like this? They can just buy one at stores!"

"I know."

"And too many junks will slow us down during combat."

"How about we let someone wear it while fighting?"

"Won't the corsets hinder hard and fast movements because they squeeze the waist so tight?"

Tempted to make a cheap joke based on my own real life experiences here

"But it would be a waste just leaving it here~"

"Oh get real~!"


Based on how long this group usually argues - quite a while I'd guess.

"Hm? There's a little memo inside....Let me see...What??"

"This product is for users with bust size of 85 or above...And please use extra pads which are sold separately, in case the bust size is smaller than 85."




The screen shakes really violently here, and the Gif was seizure inducing. Also, we're approaching peak Fina with critical speed.

"W-What...is it Fina?"

"You didn't have to shout that loud."

"Why they have to ask about the bust size for wearing corsets!! What's wrong with my bust size!?"



"......."

"......."

"......."

"......."

"......."

"Fina..."

"Ah..."

"Maybe you..."

"Wanted to try on? Corsets...."

"Eek! No, I was just upset about the way they discriminated people by the different breast sizes...and I was~..."

"(So you wanted to wear it huh?)"

"(But I didn't know she would want it so bad~, poor Fina)"

"...~ *sigh*"

SAME

"(Sessha's bigger than 85, so maybe worth a try...?)"

"By the way, does anybody know where the extra pads are sold?"


*Biff*

"That's enough! You be quiet!!"

"Ouch! That hurts~ Now she changed her target from Miss Romellia to me~"

"(Anyway, how much longer do I have to hold this thingy!?)"

"Not fair!! It's a conspiracy!!"

"Not again~ Once Dear Fina is out of control, nobody can stop her~"





Aaaaanyway, this is the super secret All Corset. It has some pretty good effects and is an accessory, so you can still wear your armor on top of it. The bust requirement also isn't just a joke, because Fina and Orubia can't wear it. So yeah, now you know that the rest of the party is well endowed. Congratulations!


However, it also has some downsides for combat as Orubia guessed. I'm not going to equip it right now, because I don't see much point in it. The girls already have good gear, and really, Caris would be the only one that would get a real benefit from the 50%Mp cost.(Latyss still has her 50% ring, jfyi) Making her high damage skills more spammable would be neat, but the Warrior Emblem just makes her better at smashing overall, so I'll pass for now. Though, there definitely are some fights where the resist all thing is real good, so the Corset won't sit in the inventory forever.

Welp, that's it for this time. I'm not going to hold a vote before the Rune Tri, because I don't think that the party setup would change