Part 48: The Densest Element Known To Mankind

The Densest Element Known To Mankind

Music: Fall

Short(relatively speaking) update today because it was either that or an update that's way too long.


Today is a regular old day where I can finally make those fried veggies for Blaise.


And I'm going to promptly ignore him and do another Kuruna quest first. I'm not sure how many of these I want to do before the marriage vote, but I at least want enough to show off her character development. The other bachelorettes have all their quests done or only have a couple left, whereas Kuruna's get halted halfway through until you do the Unity Festival, and I want things to be semi-fair.

I could just finish everyone's questline before the vote, but I do kind of want to get the vote done sometime this year.



Well, not exactly...But even though we had the Unity Festival, he hated the settlement for so many years. I just don't want to see him alone!
Okay, I'll come along, then. But wouldn't Ondorus be more appropriate than me?
He has his own duties. I don't want to disrupt him.
You're a very thoughtful leader.
Oh, I just try to keep my comrades' best interests at heart. There's no time to waste. Let us make haste, comrade.
Sure thing!



Music: Love

Well, it was a two-way street. We couldn't have done it without you.
I wasn't much help. I was opposed to the Unity Festival up until the eleventh hour.
Well, I was practically the same way! I would've kept on hating you if Link hadn't convinced me! Sorry to have held a grudge like that.
Well, we were both equally at fault, really.
We never would've opened our minds without Link!
Indeed.
Hey, it wasn't ALL me!

But we did all the most important parts.

Anway, it looks like the Sharance Tree has grown, but the flowers haven't blossomed.
No, they haven't. Perhaps it's my fault. Maybe I still harbor latent hatred toward the Hornless...
No, don't blame yourself. I'm sure we must be missing something.
Are you sure?

Well, the fact that you keep referring to us with a vaguely-racist term probably isn't helping.

The "bond beyond the races". I suppose that just coming together isn't a "bond."
Which means?
Link, why don't you start dating Kuruna?

Music: Contest



Friendship isn't the only kind of "bond." It could be love.
That...may be true.
Kuruna, do you hate Link?
Of course not!
No! Not at all!
Uh, Wells? Lay off Kuruna.
I was speaking hypothetically!
I have a reputation to uphold! Don't tease me like that!
Sorry about that. But why haven't the flowers bloomed?
I wonder...The records only have the "bond beyond the races" written. Maybe there's another secret.
I'm stumped. Well, there's no need to rush. It could take another 10 or 20 years, for all we know.

Or it might help if you wait until spring, since flowers generally don't bloom in fall.

Yes. Let's take what we've learned from the Unity Festival and go from there. We can build on this!
Let's get going, then, comrade.
All right.
Wells, I hope we will remain friends.
I'd like that, too.
Well, will you accompany me back home, comrade?
With pleasure.
Well, it's time to get going.



Regardless, please take this as a token of my appreciation.
Hmm...
What's the matter?
It's about what Wells said. He was just joking, you know!


This is going to end well.

Y-You could've put that a LOT more delicately!
What do you mean?!
You should know. Goodbye!


If cluelessness was an Olympic sport, Link would get the gold medal.


But I guess Kuruna thought he only deserved the silver.



So?
I'm over it.

What a convenient way to wrap up that plot thread. Not that there was ever any danger of a named character leaving permanently.



What?
Never mind...

Seriously though, how is Link so earth-shatteringly dense? This is unusual levels of gormlessness even for an anime-style protagonist.


...that's nice, Collette.


Collette might realize what a horrible influence Marian is?


So have you been eating them? Link has canonically been trying to get you to eat your vegetables for 3/4ths of a year. Don't let his efforts go to waste.


Well, our house might be bigger, but it still lacks indoor plumbing. So baths are still needed.


Yue confirmed as stranger danger.

Among her wares today is...




Okay, one level doesn't matter that much in the grand scheme of things, but fuck it, I can afford it. Hell, I could have afforded two if I didn't mind being broke for a few days.


I probably shouldn't have bought even the one though, because look at how unexciting that levelup is.


Holy shit, calm down Sherman, your sprite is sweating.



Playing house is when you do whatever you want to your playmate--
isn't it?
...

This is a followup to a conversation I didn't show off, where Marian says she's been friends with Collette since they were both little, and they liked to play house together. Poor Collette.


The mailbox quest bottleneck means I have loads of freetime most days now. I spend the rest of today beating stuff up as a Wooly, just because. Extra skill xp is always important, because your skill levels impact your stats way more than your actual level.


And they all feed into each other, like how crafting needs drops from mining & fighting. The accessory grind in particular is super important, because there's a wide variety of them(meaning you need a lot of skill levels and accessory bread to make them all) but you'll probably only use a small subset of them depending on your playstyle.

The next day...


There's not even going to be a throwing skill until RF4! I call fowl!


I guess I should get this out of the way while I remember that I have Fried Veggies.


Sure, if you count 'waiting a few days for ingredients to grow' as a challenge.

Yes...a little.
Then let me have a taste now.
Please...
......! Ha ha ha...
...?
I'm sorry, Link. It seems that I've pressured you too much.
Is it not good?
Oh, no. It's very, very good. And your earnest feelings have been instilled in this meal. But not for cooking, but your love for your field.
...
I thought I would get you to realize the joy of cooking. To welcome you as a fellow cook, but...How childish it was of me. I'm sorry, Link.

I probably spend more effort on cooking than on growing stuff in the fields, but .

Oh, don't be. I'm honored that you think so highly of me.
This is to show you my appreciation for this wonderful meal. Please take it.
Th-Thank you very much.
Perhaps it will be Collette that welcomes...Oh, um, never mind.


This accessory bread gives me something very important.


These let Link walk on water while they're equipped, completely obsoleting the lilypad magic seed. Unfortunately, they're also a pain in the ass to make - they require 6 ingredients(most accessories only need 3 or 4), all of which are monster drops.


That's a pretty damned weird harvest festival. Especially since Turnips(pink or otherwise) aren't even a Fall crop.


Several dozen updates after first showing her off, I remember that Mei makes a cameo in the inn sometimes. I'm rewarded with a bland RF1 reference.

(The 'special meaning' being 'gameshark a lv80 Lover Snapper in because there's no way in hell you're marrying Mei otherwise')



Huh? Why do you say that?
What?!


No, really, that's how the conversation goes.



>You bet!

That's good to hear! It should be a lot of fun, huh?

Not really, unless you're good at aiming and hand/eye coordination. (I'm not)





I am not every good at athletics. I hope I don't do anything clumsy.


Honestly, .


Letting Marian participate in this contest seems...unwise.


Welp, out of stuff to do, let's go kill things.



Attack after a running start to do a lunge attack!

The rest of the day is spent grinding shortsword skill using the Chaos Blade.


The slippery winter area is probably not the best place to try out our new attack. Although the lunge attack is kind of finnicky anyway.


One nice thing about the Chaos Blade is that it innately inflicts paralysis on things, making it a super-easy way to grind the Paralyze Resist skill. Much better than eating random mushrooms(which is a valid way to grind the ailment resists in this game) or letting enemies inflict you with paralysis.


After I'm sick of dungeoneering, I make a bunch of Healing Potions because the Pharmacy skill grind hates you and wants you to die.


Fully upgrading the Tear Pendant leaves me something not so great defense-wise, but useful if I ever do some magic. Also useful if I ever fight something with powerful water attacks. And if I want to fight with farm tools for whatever reason.


Man, the days go fast when you have no plot stuff to do and only one quest to show off every day.