Part 23

Moving in to the next model town area it looks like we’ve got a bit of an uphill slog with about half as many layers, but just looking around you can see that this is a much denser area.



In the meantime, this is the effect of our new spirit. It reveals invisible enemies in a circular pattern based on the location of the soul, leading to weird effects like this where we can see about 3/4 of an enemy. Considering how confined most of these enemies are it only helps a little bit, but since it doesn’t cost us anything this is more than worth it. Clearing the spike machine lets a mouse out, and the cats rejoice.



Afterwards we have a lair that forces the enemy to have to round a corner before chasing us down, making things a bit easier to manage. Despite that, clearing the lair liquidates all of the buildings around it and reveals another lair.



This leaves us penned in a small area with a bunch of small fast enemies charging from the northwest. On the plus side, them only having one way to get at us makes this predictable. Killing them all gets us a new plant friend back at the lab.




Our next step is dealing with catapults, which we’ve “seen” before but couldn’t actually see because… well, you know. They’re very linear, so magic makes short work of them. Clearing them out lets us proceed to another lair and releases a chest of drawers into what looks like an attic room.



Hooking around south of those lairs, we get behind some archers with predictable results when a swordsman 3-4 times the size of archers gets within sword range. Somehow this clears out some of the nearby buildings and gives us an avenue to continue…



Where we get a face full of spikes. This is not a nice city. Once we’re done here we get a bridge that can take us back to the main house and then have to turn around and figure out where the rest of the enemy is.



The answer is a crowded residential neighborhood, where we litter the streets with the blood and organs of tiny soldiers. Are we… are we sure we’re the good guys here? We release a cat, so I think that technically makes us the good guys.



Back south we can clear this unfortunately placed catapult without putting ourselves in any danger. You can also see the edges of another one near that silo, clearing the nearby lair and releasing some steps back in the lab.



For some reason clearing the next lair replaces that open space as well, but with that we’re actually done with this area and don’t have to play Godzilla anymore. Although now this makes me miss Rampage… oh, there’s also a Medical Herb and another Strange Bottle for the grabbing, but we don’t care about those.



“What are you complaining about?”

“Sweet lord GodJesus, you didn’t even wait for me to finish talking before you yanked my leaves off! I’m a plant, but that still hurts!”

“Sorry about that, then. You seemed so eager, so I didn’t feel like wasting time.”

Upstairs, we can reach this room with its poor lonely cat…



“She told me many things about foreign towns. A girl named Lisa took care of Marie.”

“Lisa, you said? Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll see her and Marie again.”



“With you so far…”

“Would you store your Medical Herbs in my drawer?”

“That would mean that I would then have no medical herb, and would have to go get one from somewhere else so… no. Those things almost grow on trees, so I’m not exactly worried about running out.”



As you might expect, Actinidia is an Asian plant that comes in a huge number of varieties. One variety (silver vine) has an effect similar to catnip, and there’s supposedly a Japanese proverb saying that silver vine is to cats as coin is to a prostitute. Whatever the case, we can use this to get the cats to follow us out of the room and fulfill the mouse’s request.



Glad to help, but they’re only going to stay stoned for a little while.”

“Let me give you something. Please come inside.”

“Into a mousey… oh, never mind. That thing’s freakin’ huge. I can’t believe the cats didn’t just follow you in there.”



Part of our reward is another magic spell, although once again it won’t really see the light of day. Spark Bomb drops bombs in the path of the orbiting soul, which explode in short order. They don’t have a very long range, so it’s much less useful than what we already have.



“I… think that’s just how things work, really. I certainly don’t go out of the way to kill stronger enemies first.”

“I would have liked to have been born a plant. I would not fear anything.”

“Don’t you eat plants?”

“Not seeing your point here.”

“Of course not.”



Our second reward is an easy source of medical herbs. Before this, the easiest source was all the way back in the Undersea Palace.



Moving on from the town segment, there’s a new segment of Leo’s lab that we can reach. If you’ll look closely, you can see a new enemy type…



Which is pictured here a little more clearly. These Spike Ball enemies circle around the pipes and are invincible, but are also practically immobile. They go under the pipes at some points, so you can use that to get past them. Alternatively, you can just rush past them and take the damage.



Past that Spike Ball we get our next upgrade, which eliminates chip damage and boosts our defense. Some people might want to keep the Magic Armor for the gem savings, but if you aren’t using much magic isn’t not worth cutting your defensive boost in half.




After this point it’s really nothing new under the moon, although it’s a nice source of fairly easy experience. Although Leo’s lab is a very unique area, once you’ve learned the ropes it’s not that bad.




Chaotically designed, but not that bad. The next few lairs gradually add to the complexity of the whole thing, releasing new lairs until you’ve got all kinds of worms crawling around. Considering that we’re looking at 900 experience right here, though, I really can’t complain. Clearing the lairs releases a doll (not Marie) and a blue gem, giving us some experience and a much needed break for healing.



Coming back, these areas are actually heat plates. I don’t even know if the ice armor would have helped, since I just sucked it up and ran across rather than reset down to such a low armor class.



Pretty much the penultimate lair is full of rotor enemies, giving us a portal back to the Sky Palace. It’s worth going back for it…



Since our next destination is these stairs down. This is pretty much the first set we’ve seen down here, and that’s kind of significant.



Right down the stairs we’ve got Tin Doll, the boss of the area. It’s kind of lackluster as a boss, and there’s not too much to say. You can see the fireballs he shoots from here, and occasionally he’ll rain down shooting stars on you. Other than that it basically rams into you, and that’s it.



These flowers are a temporary refuge for the Tin Doll, which will go into them and give us a short break before coming out. It’s a simple battle, but very mobile.



Tin Doll has 100 hp (33% more than Poseidon) so this’ll take a while, but it’s not a terribly complicated deal. I’m not sure if I’d used my medical herb at this point or not, but I was just happy to get it done. Beating him releases the doll Marie and gets us 800 experience. Freeing Marie gives us a short vision to locate her:



“I’m happy for you? Wait, your dress has pockets?”

“Don’t ask. Just take this with you and save Dr. Leo.

“Starting to see why Lisa left you here.”

On to a more talkative doll…



“I’ll take your word for it, since it didn’t seem like they were designed to do much of anything.”

“When those mar chines started to move, the cities were destroyed.”

“Still taking your word for it. Thanks, though.”



“Not seeing why, since it doesn’t balk at breaking promises to anyone else.”

“I’ll even give you a special indulgence. Go nuts.”

“There will be no revival of the world unless Deathtoll is defeated. Dr. Leo must be somewhere in Magridd Castle. Here, take this stone from my pocket and go to the Magridd castle.”

“Take it from you… you can’t move, can you? That’s actually pretty awful.”



“I’ll make sure she comes by and visits you. I can’t really recommend living in this crazy house, but a visit should be okay.”



And that’s the end of Leo’s lab. We’re on to the last real area at Magridd Castle, nestled up in the heights of the mountains under a bloody moon.

Next update: Ghost and skeletons of soldiers past. Also, for some reason, snakes.