Part 6: Full Metal WHAT?

"We're a neutral city, so we have no allies or enemies."

"Does everybody else in the world know that they're not your enemies, or is this an assumption?"



"Someday there'll be a 24 hour bar, and it will be the greatest invention in the history of mankind."

"Just remember to pass me a drink under the bar when we come back."



"… a forest so thick, not even the beastmen can penetrate it."

Given that they're beastmen, I think this assumption might be unfounded."

My inner historian can't help but think of Germany penetrating the Ardennes in World War II at this point.



"That's certainly a novel solution."

Germany also used this approach to take the Belgian super-fortress at Eben Emael, except with hang gliders instead of giant birds. I wonder how many other parallels I'll see as this goes on..



"I can tell you from my own observations and experience that what will happen will be this place being burned to the ground and most of you being slaughtered."

"Geeze, way to go ahead and spoil the surprise for everybody."



"Hey, I wasn't even in town when that happened! I don't know anything about any stolen children."

"Hawk, she's standing right over here."

"Sorry, it's a reflex."



"What, that you want to make some money? What a terrible thing."



"That's not ominous in the least."



"So you're just going to sit out here in full view of the guards and everybody else instead?"

"I think that should make my point, yeah. They won't touch me, and when he finds out I was here he'll be pretty steamed."



"Really? I'm pretty sure most if not all of the Amazons at Rolante never came here. Hawk, how about your band of petty larcenists?"

"For some reason we never felt exactly welcome. And we were giving that money to the poor, thank you very much."



"..said to be the place where the Goddess of Mana first set foot on this land. The Ancient City is in ruins now.. unfortunately, it's too high for any of us to climb there."

"Yeah, whatever. every country's got a story like that."



"That really is pretty suspicious. Something the beastmen are cooking up, maybe?"



"We were attacked by raiders from Navarre.. King Joster was killed, and my brother abducted."

"I failed to save the Kingdom and Father, but I must save Eliott even at the cost of my own life!"

"Please… I need your guidance!"



"I fear only the Goddess of Mana herself could reverse such a tragic development…"

"So.. I'm pretty much screwed?"

"As far as I can see. Donation box is on the left when you're leaving."



"My… friend, Jessica.. has had a cursed necklace placed on her."

"Snrk..yes, your 'friend' Jessica."

"Stuff it. Anyway…

"If I don't break the curse, she'll be dead! Is there anything you can do?"



"How did this happen? Tell me everything."



"Not again! That's it, I'm going to find the kitchen and make myself a sandwich."

Some time later...



"As opposed to all the OTHER cursed necklaces out there? How many of those things are there?"

"If you knew what I know, you'd never walk into another jewelry store in your life.

"What Isabella didn't tell you is that the necklace also links two lives together…"

"If Isabella dies, Jessica will die as well. The necklace works by choking whoever wears it."



"So.. that's it? There's nothing we can do!?"

"I told you, donation box is on the left when you're leaving.



"The Mana Tree is starting to wither, and Mana is disappearing from this land.."

(Thanks for the new icon, Kheldarn!)



"Is there anything you don't think is a terrible portent old man?"

"A bowel movement, and opinions vary on that one."

"If the Mana Tree dies, the eight God-Beasts will awaken to reclaim this world!"



"You.. didn't pay much attention at church, did you? God-Beasts. Apocalypse. End of life as we know it. That's all you need to know."



"You are the only one who can draw the Sword of Mana!"



"I was going to get around to it, but you seemed like you were in such a hurry..and you were heading in the right direction anyway."

"So if I hadn't, you'd have nagged me constantly until I did what you wanted?"

"That was the plan."

"I'm sorry.. but.. the declining power of Mana makes it difficult for me.."

"I have to be inside someone, in order to survive over on this side."



"I mean, I don't even use swords. You've obviously got the wrong person. Now if it was a Mana Spear, maybe…"

"It's not that simple, I'm afraid…"

"Once the faerie chooses a host, it can't leave until the host dies…"

"WHAT?! What else did you not tell me?"

"Nothing, I swear. Just.. maybe some small side effects. I'm fairly sure that you won't explode or go completely insane."

"I'm suddenly glad I was too hungover to beat you to Astoria."



"It's going to be faster if you just go along with me."



"Rescue Eliott, and bring peace to Rolante.. that's what you want, isn't it?"



"The Sword of Mana is the center of power for all the Mana spirits…"

"It is the implement which the Goddess used to create the world."




"Really, Faeries? That's the best guard you guys could come up with?"

"It's worked so far, hasn't it?"

"If the Sword is drawn before the Mana Tree dies, there may yet be hope…"

"The Goddess will awaken and save the world. Your wishes may be granted as well."



"Now.. how do we gain entrance to the Holyland?"



"You'll need to release the energy of the eight Mana stones…"



"Is there any way we can release that energy?"



"War erupted for control of this spell, and the world was torn apart.."

"The bloodshed ended after a curse was put on the spell.. making it take the caster's life."

"The spell was lost soon after that. Nobody knows it anymore."



"Why is it that the longer I talk to you the more screwed I feel?"

"I get that a lot. Your father used to say the same thing, back when we'd get together to play darts at the pub."

"Play darts? But my dad was blind.."

"Well.. eventually.."



"With their combined energy, we may even be able to open the Gate.."



"Some people have even sighted him near the giant waterfall, in the Cave of Waterfalls…"



"Of course! The Goddess of Mana would have no problem removing that collar."

"Welp, I'm in."

"I guess I don't have a choice. Let's go."

"Donation box is.."

"Listen, you're not getting any of my lucre and for good measure we're taking your granddaughter with us."

"What?"



"Damn right you are. C'mon, let's hit the bar."

"You guys are my new best friends!



"…the Beast Kingdom.. When there are confrontations, it disrupts the world's Mana.. This becomes a portent of greater evil… I fear for the safety of civilization."

"Good Goddess, how has the bartender not cut you off already?"



"Woohoo! Who's buying?"



"Bingo. Well, Mr. Priest, I'd like some 'holy water' too or else the Priest of Light might just hear about this.."

"Wow, you might talk like a five year old but you blackmail like you're twenty-five."



Heading back to the Cave of Waterfalls we've got a few new enemies that I didn't point out earlier. In addition to the bats, which can lower our magic defense and make the magic we don't have yet less effective, the goblins have a nasty habit of throwing hand axes that can do around 50 or so damage.



"THere's an opening up there too. Maybe he's inside.."

"I don't want to go up there again! That's where I fell from!"

"It'll be fine. We'll catch you if something happens."



"Oh.. I forgot you can't fly! Well, maybe I can focus some energy from this waterfall.."




"So.. can you do that anywhere?"

"Afraid not. I'd have to be near some kind of natural power source for something like that."



The other side of the waterfall has some stronger enemies, generally types that we've already seen. The exception might be the zombies, which are unfortunately poisonous. The good news is that the poison dissipates when you kill everything on the screen.



Ogre Boxes are basically mimics, and they're fairly tough to take down. You still get the treasure from them after you win, though.



This Goddess statue is something you probably don't want to miss, as it's a bit of a gauntlet here. There's a lot of enemies that can wear you down, and you're going to want to be in pretty good shape.



That's because eventually the path leads to a large room where the path closes behind you. It's time for our first..

Boss Battle: Full Metal Hugger


Full Metal Hugger Boss Battle Video
Nuclear Fusion Boss Theme (Just for Trasson)

The Full Metal Hugger is the very first boss battle in Seiken Densetsu 3, and it's a lot tougher than other first boss battles. Its shell is pretty much impenetrable, and we're really going for the eyes. He's got a variety of attacks, including full target and single target attacks. What makes the whole thing worse is that we don't have any healing magic and if you're not careful you could end up in this fight with a very short stock of healing items. People have mentioned this before, but if you have any other character that Carlie as your third you have to fight this battle with only two characters.



Sometimes he'll close his eyes for a few seconds, rendering him completely invulnerable. This is a good time to heal if you need to, but it's a bit annoying.



When he's about halfway dead he'll lose an eye, heal himself once, and start using the dive attack which can take about 50 HP off of everybody on the screen. That's a good reason to keep your HP up, as at this point the fight is nearly over.



Pretty soon he'll lose is other eye and promptly explode.



"I'm finally free! The faerie told me all about you folks. You've got a lot of work ahead of you."

"But I'm like the faerie, I can't live without Mana.. so I'll go along and help save the Mana!"

"Wow. Aside from the giant crab monster that wasn't nearly as bad as I expected."



"It's right above us! but we can't get to it from here."

"Don't worry, it's safe for now, at least while the Mana power holds out."

"That's not exactly a reassuring statement given the current situation."

"Let's go find my buddies, and then head over to the Holyland, eh?"




Getting Wisp opens up a single new spell for us, giving Carlie the ability to heal. It's not exactly as useful as one would hope, but we'll talk about that more later. Next step is getting out of the cave and finding out where the rest of the spirits are.