Part 10: Do You Think This Counts As the Sewer Level?
Another dungeon, another rough map. We need to get to the Cathedral area of Paris, but to do that, we need to head over to the switch first. While we're exploring down here, we'll run into more Clawed Soldiers and two new enemies: Sting and Ekimmu.
1. At the first crossroads, there's a Strike Expand in the chest and a Shell Bracelet hidden by the lightbulb.
2. At the next crossroads along the left-hand path, there's a hidden Pure Leaf.
3. Coming to the next point of interest, Yuri meets the Ring Soul!
Yikes! What the hell are you? A ghost?! And why so high-and-mighty?
Oh! It's you again...
Ring Spirit?
No, no... I'm not a spirit. Nor am I flesh. I am the Ring Soul. The will of the Judg-- So what does he want with us, then?
The will of the Judgment Ring, the administrator of all fate. I can see it... I can see your future... This I entrust to you...You got Attack Boost
What's this? The power to command the Judgment Ring. Such power will help you carve your way through destiny... Hmph.
Oh, um...he means, thanks! Thank you, Ring Spirit!
I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
It does not pay to forget gratitude... I will appear to you again, to bestow upon you more power... But beware! I am always watching... Watching to see if you are truly the one to command destiny...
He's gone. H-he seemed a little angry. I hope it'll be okay...
4. Moving on, we pick up a Sp-Defend Down 1. Speaking of which, I've forgotten to show you the other Ring Items we've picked up: Poison 1 and P-Defend Down 1.
Following the path, we come to a dead-end with a Save Point and a Switch.
I love how whenever there's a choice, Yuri is so enthusiastic about doing it.
Once the switch is flipped, a truck-cart in another part of the tunnels moves forward. Unfortunately, it's not the one blocking the way to Le Havre.
5. We head all the way back to the beginning and take the right-most path. A short detour gets us a Pocket Watch.
6. Another detour gets us a Phoenix Tail...
7. And a Talisman of Luck.
8. We go down the path the cart was blocking, and at the end of the left-hand fork, we get the Amy Crest, which gives us the spell Heat Edge (adds Fire damage to Physical attacks).
At the end of the right-hand fork, we come to a ladder leading back up into the city.
Edmond: But I hear they removed all the stained glass when the war started. I hate war!
Man, the people over here sure are a bunch of negative Nancys, aren't they?
There's a Soul Benediction hidden in a corner.
Inside the shop, surprise, we run into another friend of Gepetto.
Guy: No? You're looking for a fuse? Of course I have one! Brought back a real good one just the other day. If you want it, you're welcome to it!
You got Fuse
Guy: How much, you ask? Don't be silly! I couldn't take money from you for that old thing! Take it.
Now that we have the Fuse, we can go back to the path to Le Havre.
Yuri manages to not kill himself and clears the path. At the Save Point ahead, I go into the Graveyard. Yuri has enough souls to pick up four more fusions.
Karyl. When you get him, the text says Fight fills your heart once again...
Radeus. Hope fills your heart once again...
Nox. Desire fills your heart once again...
Malakia. A smile fills your heart once again...
Just past the Save Point, we come to a mine cart.
If Blanca thinks it's a good idea, it must be!
Great! We can clear a lot of ground fast with this!Then again...
Riding a mine cart down an unfamiliar track. Safe.
While everyone else careens blissfully along, Blanca notices something behind them.
Woof! Woof!
What's that?!
"That" would be Lenny finally catching up to us.
Ha ha hahaha hah hah! I gotcha!
That guy's pretty stubborn, ain't he? Heh!
Hey there, Spike Boy! You couldn't catch a cold if you wanted to! Now bite me!
Hm?! Why, you little...!
Lenny's cart gets closer to ours and then pulls alongside it as the track splits.
Haha hahaha hah hah!
Haha hahaha hah hah!
My eyes! They burn!
Hey! Where ya goin'?!
At the end of the tracks, we find ourselves in a large room, and Lenny is God-only-knows where. Things are looking up!
Aw, shit. When did the circus get into town?
We finally meet the third member of Sapientes Gladio. I don't really consider this Veronica's official introduction, since she doesn't have any voice-acting until the second time you meet her. You do get a pretty good dose of her, um, personality here, though.
Who are you?!A fashion-challenged dominatrix?
Veronica smacks her riding crop against the ground for no real reason here.
I'm Veronica, Sapientes Gladio's magic warrior. Give yourselves up now and be my slaves, and I just might spare your lives. That's quite an offer, but we'll pass. We're not really into that scene. Such a shame! It'll be too late if you change your minds later, you know. I wonder if you'll be saying such brave things after my pretty pets here have their way with you!
This fight against Castor and Pollux is the first actually challenging boss fight of the game.
Yuri's Fire and Light fusions got the most votes, so I used both of them in this fight.
The strategy here is pretty simple: get as many Combo attacks off as possible.
Speaking of combos, the twins love to use them, and they're strong enough to take out one of your party members in one attack. They're also too heavy to easily knock apart when they group together for a combo.
I really wanted to show off Combo Magic in this fight, but they kept picking on Gepetto and I wasn't able to pull off a four-person combo.
Since I'm running heavy on Fire-based attacks, I concentrated on getting the Water-based Pollux put out of commission.
After that, Castor was easy.
We got a lot of cash out of that fight, but the real prize is the two Crests we won.
Bye-bye, scary lady.
Karin ran over to where Veronica was standing when she disappeared. I'm not sure why.
Another weird character to deal with. With members like Lenny and that chick, what kind of "secret society" is this, anyway?!One with very loose admission standards, apparently.
That fight also gave us enough souls to get Yuri's last first tier fusion.
Well, we're not quite up to snuff yet, but we're a lot closer.