Part 26

Having chosen Vincent, the other three are sent back to Creed's collection.

Speaking of which, remember that ring we couldn't lift before?



Found it!

As we leave, Knox notices that something's not quite right...



I understand you.



Oddler will remain here. Won't you, Oddler?
Oddler, is this true?
I don't know why, but I would like to stay. No, I must stay here...
He's weak. He had better stay. Say farewell.
It was great travelling with you, Nigel. Thank you. Please be careful.
Nigel, you'll learn the reason why he has to stay here soon enough. Don't think about it now. Go to the north.

Finally, we manage to ditch Oddler!

Before I leave, I poke around outside...



And find a Healing Rain. Healing Rains heal everyone on the map to full HP. They are very, very nice items to have. They are also exceedingly rare.



I also pick up Mithril #11 on my way out of the Devil's Tail penninsula.

Anyway, our next destination is the Dwarf Cave. It's a short journey.



Oh, thank goodness. I sure am glad to see you. Here, please examine him.


Ok, let's see.



The fairy casts a powerful healing spell.



What?
Hey, are you OK?
I'm OK. I'm fine. I feel great!
Oh, how can we thank you?
I don't need anything. But why don't you help Nigel?



What fun would THAT be?





Now we're talking!


We use it to destroy large rocks. OK, guys! Let's go back to Grans Island! Everybody dig!



Unfortunately, we can't follow. That'd be too easy. Well, it's time to head back to New Granseal.

Thankfully, we don't have to go all the way back to Hassan to grab the raft.



If we take the north fork here...



We reach solid ground just south of New Granseal.



Damn straight. Well, it's time to go fill in Sir Astral. It feels like forever since we've seen him.



Thanks to you, Granseal has many allies to trade with.
You've also made a lot of new friends! Great job!
I heard about everything from Bedoe. I never imagined Zeon could be revived! I understand that Volcanon is angry.
So Princess Elis must be...
She's alive.



The King springs out of his throne in order to confirm what Knox said.

Y... yes!
Is it true? Is it true?!
Yes, it is.







Engrish, lol. Of course, it's pretty stupid of everyone to just trust the word of the King of the Devils. He could easily be lying, and by the time anyone confirmed it, it'd be too late.  Zeon was telling the truth, however .

Amazing! Nigel! And Knox... You've experienced a great deal.
Hmm...
Sir Astral?
What should we do now?



Rather bold of the useless old windbag.

Impossible!
The King is right.
What?
Astral, thank you. What do we have to do first?
We have to go to North Parmecia. We'd better go and see the storytellers in Tristan.
Sir!



Oh god, that's a mental image I didn't need.



Sure, sure! Just bring Elis back to me!
Be careful, Astral. It's dangerous out there.
I will! Nigel. I'm going with you as an adviser.



We have to remove the rocks blocking the passageway leading to North Parmecia. Maybe we can use an explosive!

Blowing shit up? I like where this is headed!



Sir Astral said it was OK! Here is the explosive.

Remember the cave that was blocked way back in Battle #8? We're going to use the cannon and the dynamite to blast our way through the blockage.

On our way to the town exit, we find someone that wants to speak with us...





My love, I mean Furlong is with you. Am I right?
Yes, he joined us willingly.
No, no. I don't want to stop him, but... I want to be with him! Please take me with you. Please!
This is not a sightseeing trip, if you know what I mean?
Yes, I know. I still want to go!
OK, you look tough enough, anyway.
Oh, really? Thank you very much!

Rose joins our team. As a note: She starts with slightly higher attack power than Furlong, but I believe she has lower attack growth.



But before we leave... it's promotion time!

The final tally for the votes is:

Warrior's Pride:

Brock: IIIII
Samwise: IIIII

Secret Book:

Shaggy: Unanimous

Pegasus Wing:

Darin: IIIIIIIIIII
Bateman: II


Shaggy and Darin are the clear winners of their respective items, but due to ShiningForceHero changing his vote, the Warrior Pride vote ended in a tie. So I just flipped a coin, and Brock won it.


Ashley will use a Vigor Ball, Brock will use the Warrior's Pride, Shaggy will use the Secret Book, and Darin will take a breather until we get a Pegasus Wing.

Let's compare... I've unequipped everything so you can see everyone's base stats before promotion:



And after:



I guess stats DON'T drop when you promote in Shining Force II.



How convenient, the weapon store has a new round of weapons for everyone. A Buster Sword for Nigel, Cluny, and Harvey, a Heavy Lance for Ron, a Large Axe for Samwise, an Assault Shell for Cherry, Furlong, and Rose, Guardian Staves for Shaggy and Vincent, and a set of Power Gloves for Ashley.

Let's gear up:




Well, we're done here. Time to head on out. As soon as we enter the area near the cave, we're ambushed by an enemy force.

Battle #24:



More filler, yay. 6 Skeletons, 5 Lesser Demons, 3 Dark Snipers, and 2 Dark Bishops. Take a look at the guns held by the Dark Snipers. Those Hyper Cannons are better than anything that'll be available for a good long while.  They're the second best gun that can be made with Mythril. If you wanted to get your hands on a few now, however, you could use the "Control all Enemies" cheat and force the Dark Snipers to drop them. They'd then be available under 'Deals' at any weapon shop. 

Battle Results:

Levels:
Cluny 1 > 2
Knox 1 > 2
Nigel 1 > 2
Wolfy 1 > 2
Vincent 1 > 2
Ashley 1 > 2
Cherry 1 > 2
Shaggy 1 > 2

Casualties:

None

I didn't bother capturing any battle sprites yet, but don't worry. You want to see the promoted classes in action?

How about at the Chessboard?
Watch me take sweet revenge on those uppity gamepieces on either Google or Dailymotion - Part 1, Part 2.

 I used a savestate to get back to the Desktop Kingdom, so my progress in the video does not reflect on my current strength. 

Anyway, with the way to the cave clear, we begin setting up the cannon...


Yes?
You know about devices like this, right? Nigel has a cannon and some dynamite here. Can you remove those rocks?
Ah... OK, let me try.






Wow! This cannon is great! I can attend the battles with this weapon. Nigel, do you need this any more? May I use it? Huh? Wow, now I can fight along side you! Please call me when you need my help.
Grizzle is hooked. Ha, ha! OK, Nigel. Let's go to North Parmecia!

Grizzle joins the team as a Brass Gunner


Next time: Passageway to North Parmecia.


But first, it's voting time!

Since Rose and Grizzle joined, we need to vote out two people. The choices are:



I'll show a combat shot of Grizzle regardless, but I strongly suggest booting Grizzle. His attack power is only higher than Rose and Furlong because he has 3 more levels. His lower movement makes him much less useful than either of the Snipers. As for the other to be rid of, anyone is fair game.  I suggest one of the snipers, though. More than two archers is really pushing it.