Part 7: What Lies Beneath

Following the old man's instructions, Prince Theo went into the mill room and pushed the heavy millstone with all his might. He had never thought that it could be concealing something, and at any rate could not have possibly moved the millstone as a child. Slowly the millstone moved to the side, revealing a ladder leading down into darkness.



Theo was astonished to find that beneath the old man's humble abode was a sturdily built room with multiple exits. Of all the structures that he had seen in his short life, only the worship site and Camu's pagoda compared. While the construction was impressive, however, it was also swarming with fierce creatures.

Seriously, at various points I would go through about 4-5 encounters in a row here before I could move.



Trying to make any progress was difficult, and as he fought Theo perfected several of the spells he had earlier learned. These spells came none too soon, as he needed every advantage he could in order to survive.

Arctic 2 lowers enemy agility and does decent damage, although I'm starting to wonder if the game even bothers tracking monster stats. It's also one of the few spells that will hit practically any non-boss enemy without being deflected or ignored. Recmax allows our HP recovery to catch up, since it heals 100 or more HP per use. It's also the most expensive spell in the game at 6 mp.



The underground was full of terrifying creatures that Theo had never seen before. As he looked at them, suddenly the scurrying noises underneath the old man's house made a horrifying kind of sense. Had these monsters been just underneath his feet his entire life?

Centipedes are probably the least threatening of this bunch, since they've only got a poisonous bite and a regular attack. They do have a decent defense, but nothing that will stop you from killing them. Hags are a bit more annoying, since they can steal your MP and use Recmed to heal themselves. On the other hand, they don't have any kind of offensive magic. Druids... druids are a nightmare. Not only do they steal your MP, they can also steal your HP. They use Bagefir2 and Lightning2, with enough power to do 40-50 damage. Two druids can end Theo's life in a single turn. To make matters worse, they've got such a strong defense that even the Sword of Hope usually doesn't do more than 1-2 damage to them at this level. Hags and Centipedes have about 70 HP, while Druids have around 100.



Naturally, as Theo fought the horrors of the underground passageways he took note of their most useful abilities and learned them for himself. Anything other course of action would have been too dangerous.

So, let me tell you about PillagMP. It does exactly what you'd expect, with two caveats. First, it's possible for the enemy to resist and for the spell to be reversed back on to you. Second, the spell costs 3 MP to cast and can steal as little as 1 MP from an enemy. Interestingly enough, the enemy can't seem to steal your MP when you have less than 10.



Exploring the labyrinth was a complicated task, as Theo found that the passages twisted around on themselves and led nowhere in most cases. To the south and west, no matter what direction he tried to go he became turned around.. unless attempting to back to the entranceway. It seemed that passage was only permitted to the east.



The way east only allowed for a single path, which ended at a room with three doors. Theo was tormented by sounds of voices coming from each door that were too low to hear, until the thought struck him that the Ring he still carried might allow him to hear more clearly. As soon as he slipped the ring on his finger he could hear the doors clearly!

Directly in front of Theo the door promised him that he wouldn't regret coming in that direction. The left door promised a shortcut, while the right door called him a cutey and promised to take him to heaven. Theo knew that he would have to explore each direction in turn, and was left with one thought when the clamor diminished.



Thankfully the doors were silenced as they opened, and Theo headed to the left first to investigate the promised shortcut.



The way was blocked by a pile of rock, but Theo smashed it aside with his fist to reveal a doorway. After overcoming so many trials, no pile of rubble was going to stop the prince!



Unfortunately, the door had lied about the shortcut. The pathway to the left ended with an empty chest, bearing a message on using ivy plants to climb the wall and enter the castle.



The pathway to the right was initially far more promising, with multiple branching pathways that Theo hoped would lead him to the castle of his birth.



Some of the paths were dead ends, however, and even though Theo destroyed any pile of rubble he found no secrets were forthcoming.



In one corner of the maze Theo found a suspicious chest, which turned out to belong to a second black marketer. The man's prices were exorbitant, and Theo had a hard time imagining that the man saw many customers.

Why the hell is this guy down here? At any rate, he's too far out of the way to be worth visiting.



Another dead end also featured a chest, with a mysterious fruit. Theo couldn't imagine what it would be used for, but it jogged his memory regarding the Treant's fruit that was said to bloom under the full moon.

The Y Fruit is a bit weird. It does damage to an enemy in battle, and reduces your MP out of battle. The second part makes a certain amount of sense, but what's the logic behind the first part? Do you throw it at the enemy and make them sick?



Finally, Theo was able to reach the highest level of magic and master the most powerful of attack spells. Despite this, however, he felt far from safe.

5 MP, around 60-70 damage to all enemies. Two casts will wipe out any non-boss enemy in the game, so it's every bit as good as you'd expect from the last spell in the game. Speaking of this spell line, I misjudged the first Explosion spell. While it does hurt you, it only does about 15-20 damage to you and still does around 60-70 damage to your enemies. Against enemies like druids, that's actually a fairly good bet if it kills them faster.



After exhausting all possible avenues to the right, Theo decided to try the front door and see where that led him. Immediately, the character of the cave changed to something more rough-hewn.



Working his way through the cavern Theo at last came to a sheer cliff, with two ivy vines hanging down to the left and the right. There was nothing to recommend one vine or the other, but Theo was frustrated by the direction the path had taken.



Expressing his irritation on the wall resulted in a third vine appearing, although Theo's joy was short lived. Halfway up the center vine it snapped, dropping him squarely on the ground. Grabbing the vine Theo tore it open, sending a scattering of seed pods around the room.



The results were fortuitous, for if the chest that he had opened earlier was to be believed ivy seeds would be necessary to enter the castle.



Since he felt as though he were not quite ready, Theo trudged back to the surface world and went in search of the Treant. Although it was more than a little bit weird to eat a fruit from a sentient creature, Theo took a piece with him and set off again for the underground. This time, there would be no turning back.

You actually have to hit the Treant to get the fruit from him. It's the best healing item in the game bar none, restoring all HP and MP. Unfortunately, you can only carry one at a time and have to go back to the Treant if you use one up.



Returning to the room with the two ivy vines, Theo deliberated for a moment and decided on the left vine. As soon as he reached the top, he could see that the passageway had become smooth once more.

The left passageway has more interesting things in it. I'll look into the others a bit later.



Of all the things that Theo had expected along the pathway, three dwarves standing in a room was not among them. With some confusion in his heart, he approached the dwarves and addressed them.



The dwarf on the left promised a hidden path, while the dwarf on the right said that going toward his path would lead to the bottom of the abyss. The choice was confusing, but Theo could only imagine that if one were to describe the castle's placement the abyss would be most accurate.

Going left warps you backward and you have to come back. I saw no point in demonstrating this.



The center dwarf, most strangely of all, wanted Theo's validation on its gender identity.



When he hesitantly ventured a guess that the dwarf was female, it was extremely pleased and rewarded him with a kiss. Theo was a bit disappointed, but chalked it up as practice should he ever find a princess to rescue.

This is a repeatable event that gets you 20 HP each time you answer correctly. Answering male results in taking 20 damage.



The pathway to the bottom of the abyss didn't look at all promising, but Theo felt as though he had no choice..



Taking a deep breath Theo jumped into the hole. The fall tore a scream from the young prince, but to his surprise he landed softly at the bottom. Truly, however, there was no way to return.

That's actually a blatant lie. You can just head westward and get warped backwards, but we'll just forget about that.



The pathway came to an abrupt end at an underground river, leaving Theo at a loss as to how to cross. He could only imagine what kind of eldritch beasts dwelt in the underground waters, and had no desire to meet them.



Surprisingly enough, there were no less than three watercraft available, along with a bridge and some helpful looking rocks. Theo certainly didn't want to swim, and after a few minutes decided that the boat looked like the safest option.

Swimming, rowing the boat, or taking the ferry will get you across. The rest fail, and you're going to take some damage no matter what you do. The boat really is the best option... although the other ones are pretty funny.



The other side of the river was quite a long ways away, and Theo was out of breath, sore, and tired by the time he was finished. Luckily, the pathway from there on out continued as before with no sign of another river.



The passage came to a halt at a nondescript door, with unusual hinges that appeared built to open both outwards and in. Such was Theo's state of mind that he paused for a long second, then decided to pull on the door.

In one of the most bizarre branching pathways in gaming history, pushing or pulling the door results in traveling to a different area. Either choice will get you where you need to go, but pulling has something extra.



On the other side of the door Theo found a chest, just like many others that he had opened in his travels. This one, however, had a jealous guardian lurking in the shadows.



As Theo approached the chest a pointy-eared humanoid in crude leather clothing sprung out, swinging a club at him. Altogether the creature seemed to have entirely too high an opinion of itself, however, as Theo dispatched it in mere moments.

It's pretty bad when you have R and L confusion two screens apart with the same creature. This is the last enemy in the game that we haven't seen aside from the final boss, and it's quite underwhelming. The only noteworthy thing about the Grimlock is that it can steal from you like the Imp could. It didn't use any spells when I fought it, although evidently it can use Recmax to undo all your work at killing it.



Moving on after defeating the chest's guardian, Theo felt a familiar wrenching sensation and found himself in an entirely unfamiliar hallway. The doors around him were stuck shut, but he could only hope that this movement represented progress.

Either pushing or pulling will lead you here eventually, it's just a matter of what you want to see.



A twist in the path revealed yet another black marketer, in an even more unlikely spot than any of his fellow businessmen. Surely there would be nobody to sell to out here, but that didn't appear to have stopped the entrepreneur. As his prices were somewhat lower than the last merchant Theo had dealt with, the prince stocked up on a few provisions that he had eaten over the course of his travels.

Three black market merchants, one legitimate merchant. Theo's kingdom has some problems. This guy is only about two steps off the main path, which is very helpful if you've had to use any healing items or herbs. What else are you doing with that money?



Mere moments after refilling his pack, Theo came upon the entrance to the castle. Sadly, however, the gateway was just as tightly shut as he had feared it would be.



The wall was overgrown with plants, but they were far too weak to support the weight of a grown man. Recalling the carved treasure chest that had warned him of this eventuality, however, Theo realized that he could find a way.



Feeling a little mad, Theo threw down the ivy seed and voiced dire threats if the ivy did not immediately grow into a thick vine. Whether it was the magical nature of the castle or the ivy plant's burgeoning desire for self-preservation, within a few minutes a thick rope had forced itself over the wall to reach an overhanging balcony. Theo had found a way into the castle.