Part 11: Monster Mash

Update 11: Monster Mash

Today we rejoin your friend and mine, Donnel, as he ventures down an exciting path.



To the PARTS store!

With no Axe, I don’t want to make any cave progress in Toros, so I’d rather just stock up on some things.






Later in this update I am nearly poked to death by two satans, but sure, Rosetta, nothing crazy.



Lukas is here proving restraining orders cannot be a thing in Kardia due to their lack of any sort of legal or judicial system.



Toros is a Fall climate cave. These seeds that can regrow indefinitely when watered are great for caves, because there’s no 30 day limit on season that’ll kill them.



A set of Eggplant and Sweet Potato seeds get me ready to head out.



First though, let’s check on those cucumbers in Carmite. They’re still alive, so honestly, farming in caves is sometimes way more convenient than...your actual farm, because you don’t have to worry about watering every single day.



That said it would be nice to get some actual results from these.



Aww, my old friend dropped by to visit.



He even gave a Level Up! Thanks, pal.



The rest of the morning was spent fishing.



It was a waste of your time and mine.



This is my only simple joy.



Sharron you don’t have to say “but” we weren’t talking about anything.



Spoilers it’s Sharron.



Now, before I plant, it’s time to deal with the Demons.



Ah fuck this is the bad zone.

See those red squigglys next to the Seal? That’s Paralyze. It completely removes Donnel’s ability to run. It’s, like most status ailments in Rune Factory, more annoying than crippling, but some bosses can require some serious movement.



At least we got another one of these.



Clearing these patches is a little annoying with no Axe to remove the stumps, but I found a 3x3 spot here.



And one over in the bottom right.





And now begins the slow trudge back to Edward’s, legs paralyzed by a demon spear.



Oh yeah it was really awesome, Mist.






For once, yes.





Edward’s checkups can clear any status ailments you have. They don’t restore any HP or RP, though.



Welp, Seal is finally gone again from the first time we encountered the ants.



I think that’s enough for one day. Axe still isn’t going to be ready, so tomorrow will be another “fuck around” day.



Oh, I realized I never showed this off, this calendar next to Donnel’s bed displays holidays.



Tomorrow is Melody’s Birthday! We’ll have to go hunt for a present. I wonder if she’s into Devil Horns, because we have one of those!




Oh and I wanted to note that no, nobody likes us yet, still.



My watering trip into Toros Cave proved fruitful on the combat front.



Also I found some cool looking grass. This will be a perfect birthday present.



Alright, that’s all I really needed to do today. It’s almost axe time.



Passing the time before Leo’s opens fishing at the pier, I found a new type of fish!




Not entirely sure how I caught a squid with a fishing rod but I mean I’m not going to deny the results.



Oh, hey there Mei.





Goodbye Mei.





Oh, this is a damn treasure.



Might as well sell off the excess stuff while I’m here.



Stumps can now fall before our mighty Chopping Axe.



It takes 10 swings to fell a single Stump, though.



Even the charge attack only cuts it down to 5 or 6.



Here’s Donnel’s HP/RP situation after only 3 or 4 stumps.



That said...it was entirely worth it.



Let’s get us a Hut.







Wow, he wasn’t kidding. I just walked back. And it takes Leo 2 days to make an axe? Come on, man.





It is time for the Monster tutorial.

: And remember, your monster’s friendship levels will drop if you don’t give them “feed”. Feed is automatically stored in your hut when you grow and harvest “grazing grass.” If you’re out of grass, you can buy some at my shop and place it in the window to the left of the hut entrance.

Okay, so like, here’s why monster friendship sucks to raise in this game. You need to get that feed. That’s farming, which is as always, an everyday watering thing, so that’s a chunk of RP lost. The more monsters you have, the more feed just gets siphoned from your reserves super fast. And Camus and Neumann do sell it, but it’s overpriced.

Happiness raises the effectiveness in combat/chores of monsters, and monsters that produce crops will give us better quality ones with higher happiness. Still, it’s so hard to raise that it’s barely worth it. For now. There’s another way to do it that is much easier and we’ll get to that. But like, the Grazing Grass stuff? You can kinda ignore that. They won’t starve or anything.





Yeah, that’s 100 G a pop. Not super worth it. Neumann also sells it for the same price.



I went ahead and watered the Carmite crops before heading for the bath. Time to give Melody her Birthday gift.




: You’ll never capture my heart with materialistic stuff!

I...just wanted to give you a birthday present…

: What I really love are people who come and take lots of baths! And, of course I hate Peeping Toms who look into the women’s bath.

It was just a birthday present, chill, Melody. So giving people gifts they like (Melody likes colored grasses) on their birthdays raises their affection (and sometimes Love Points) towards you, but…


Apparently Melody didn’t really give a fuck.



Cold as ice, that bath lady.



Well then, it is time. Time to start building the Monster Squad. I’ve decided to grab two of our old favorites from Carmite.



Hello, old grinding friend. I come in peace.



Oh holy shit your arrows Seal me? I didn’t even know that.



Alright, you just have to vigorously rub these monsters until hearts fly out. You’re gonna take some damage doing this, because the petting animation is long, but eventually…



ORKWA? What kind of a name is ORKWA?



Well, unfortunately, the monster name limit is a piddly five letters. That sucks. Thankfully, though, we STILL got a fitting suggestion.




Thanks to sheep-dodger for this suggestion. Go watch the “Noone Lives Forever” LP on the archive.




I’m pretty sure Kate’s a lady Orc but okay Donnel, whatever.



Now then...oh boy.



Give me a minute to mentally prepare myself here.



Shit shit shit fuck shit



I’M RUBBING THIS BEE WITH ALL MY MIGHT



Finally. And, uh...SQUAR? No.



TooMuchAbstraction echoes my sentiment regarding the bees.



Got one, now his buddy can fuck off.



Well that was...disastrous.



Let’s eat that Roundoff we got from Edward to cure the Seal. Again, I’m not sure why it looks like a giant pair of lips. What is that...made of?




Oh, it actually restores some HP/RP. I had forgotten about that.



Anyway, Orbin’ out. Time to go grab our next monster.



Oh this is already going poorly.



You will not believe how close this was. I did save first though. Anyway, LUCY is a pretty damn good name for a SatanDemon, but…



DarthTNT made a good suggestion with Dante.



Also look at my HP after this. Damn.



VICTORY SWIPES



And that’s how Donnel partied so hard he passed out.



I know.

See you all next time.

Oh, regarding the marriage poll, I'm gonna keep it open until we clear a certain dungeon related to the top choice right now. (Mt. Gigant)

So it'll be a while. Remember if you want to vote, check the post first for the format stuff so my vote robot can calculate your stuff correctly. Thanks.