Part 13

Heading toward the newly opened pathway we’ve got a few old friends. One of the neat details is that at least some enemies don’t care about elevation since as sea creatures they’re not confined to the sea floor. Those jellyfish have no problems attacking from where they are, but we can’t get to that lair yet. The seahorse lair, on the other hand, has a dolphin inside.



Our first new enemy in a little while is cleverly concealed next to a rock here. The manta ray has the ability to throw lightning at you, but only in straight lines. The trick is to stand slightly off their straight line path and attack them using the sweep of the sword. That’s the last significant lair keeping us from our next destination.



On Durean the Soul of Shield takes automatic effect. There’ll still be falling lava, shown as a pillar of fire, but that can’t hurt you unless you walk into it. The effect of the Soul of the Shield is to keep you from receiving direct hits. It’d probably be possible to complete this section without it, but much more difficult.



The first lair is a gorilla lair, who are miraculously untroubled by the fact that fire is raining from the sky. With that kind of wide open space they’re not a problem, and clearing the lair releases the named dolphin Lue who you might remember as one of Leo’s pets.



Another gorilla lair holds another mermaid, but the more interesting thing here is off to the right…



The enemy upon the higher ledge is a Metal Gorilla, which we can’t hurt yet. It’s a bit more mobile than the metal enemies we’ve seen so far, but we’ll be getting an alternate method to kill them in certain situations.



“I’m on an island dodging falling lava chunks and fighting tornado flinging fire birds. I don’t even have words for this.”

“The word you’re looking for is ‘metal.’ It’ll make more sense in a few hundred years.”



Clearing the firebird nest releases a couple of gorilla nests, giving us another mermaid who lives in her own bitching ocean condo and giving us access to another Strange Bottle.



“So. Metal.”

“You’re starting to get it.”



Despite the more interesting enemies, we’ve also got some Rocky running around with their own lairs. Clearing them out…



Pops us up another level. We’ve come a long, long way from where we started. The lair also contains the final portion of the trio of mermaid dancers.



Moving on we have access to the metal gorilla lair, which we have to bypass. With our current sword we can still stun them long enough to squeeze by. Really starting to look forward to that new sword.



Next up, more Rocky and suspiciously straight lava puddles. It’s really more of an environmental hazard at this point, and still relatively easy to avoid. Clearing the Rocky gets us another dolphin…



Who’s hanging out near Lue.



“What the.. how in the hell are those Gorillas not on fire?”

“Evolution, my friend. Life… life finds a way.”

“And the result is fireproof gorillas?”

“Beats fireproof fish.”




Continuing on, the volcano we’re climbing continues in a series of tiers with various monster lairs opening up staircases to let us proceed forward. It’s pretty straightforward, until…



“Oh come on, this is exactly the reason the ice armor exists!”

“Looks like the difference between metal plates and liquid metal is pretty substantial.”

“Easy words when you’re floating in mid air and don’t even have a corporeal body.”




The whole end goal of this ordeal is to pour out the mermaid tears on this particular stone. This doesn’t have a direct effect, but instead allows us access to a few new areas.



We get a new sword out of the deal, although we probably could have pushed through the heat and just soaked up the damage to get it. It’s more powerful than the current sword we have, but loses the stunning effect on metal creatures for a chance to remove all of an enemy’s health at once.



The real goal is this lair, which we couldn’t have easily solved by just gritting our teeth and bearing it. The result is another mermaid statue released, allowing us to continue moving on. With that, it’s time to head back to the undersea shrine.



“Not yet, but I’m sure she’ll show up eventually.”

“Okay, wait.”



“Does she always look like she just bit into a sea urchin?”

“She always sits like this. She looks SO mean.”

“Is that how she…”

“It’s not just having a bitchy face. She’s pretty horrendous.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”



The second dolphin we rescued creates a passage to lead to the only dolphin granted the dignity of a name.

“Well, glad to see you’re in better shape than Turbo.”

“We live a lot longer than dogs. Anyway, the Blue Stone I received from Dr. Leo is a strange jewel. It attacks anyone who looks at it and then changes their personality.”

“Wait, did it change your personality?”

“Of course not. If that person has a good mind, they will become a great person. If they have an evil mind, they will become a bad person. If they are a dolphin, they will become a dolphin.”

“Like the Tri-“

“Don’t even finish that sentence.”



“Please save the Queen and get the Blue Stone back.”

“Wait, doesn’t that mean that she was an evil person to begin with?”

“Search me. Here, I know this ring will help, so please take it.”

“A lightning bolt ring? Well, I’ll treasure it I’m sure.”



“Including that she’s kind of evil?”

“I don’t think she was a bad person. She was just attracted to the jewel.”

“Just keep telling yourself that.”



“I’m starting to see why.”




Another dolphin pushes us across a gap in the sea shrine, letting us access a big pearl. It doesn’t let us avoid being turned into a rabbit, but that’s okay.



We also get a new magic spell, which I’ll make a point of demonstrating at some point. Magic Flair works by building a ring when you hold down the magic button that gets bigger the longer you hold it down. It remains in place and damages enemies who run into it.



“Is he the one who helps people cross the empty space, or the one who rescues Lue, or…?

“Beats me, they all look the same to me. I just felt like sharing.”

“…sometimes I wonder if I’m actually doing a GOOD thing here.”



“Anna, Kanna, and Nanna. This isn’t making me feel any better.”

“Silly, Nanna’s not actually my name. It’s a stage name to keep with the theme.”

“Okay, that does help a little bit.”



With all three mermaids rescued we get to not only see the dance, but participate in it.



It’s… not much of a dance. They just swim back and forth in a constant cycle. There doesn’t seem to be a discernible benefit for going along, so it’s entirely cosmetic.



“I think the word is stopped, but seized is pretty good too. And… thanks.”

Next Update: The Rainy Island and Dolphin Dreams