Part 76: CH71: Grind Your Face Off

CH71: Grind Your Face Off


Dungeon Video: Floor 7
This floor is Malik's floor.


Its "only" enemy type is this little fucker, who will summon two enemies from a random floor (including floors AFTER THIS ONE), and also split in two at low HP. I actually died to one of them summoning the crystal enemies from a prior floor since my party wasn't really set up to kill them, combined with the dangers of enemy aoe magic on high difficulties.



: This one was even weirder than the previous one, if you can believe that.






: That thing's huge!
GentleEel gazed down upon them before speaking in a kind voice.
: Captain, this is GentleEel.
: GentleEel, huh? He sure is big.
: Hmm? What's that now?
GentleEel tilted back his head and began to boast.
: Yes... Yes, I see...
: What now?
: He says he was born in Lake Grale.
: Holy cow! Lake Grale eels are among the most expensive fish on the market!
: Hold on a moment, Mr. Eel!
GentleEel is startled by the loud man and stares silently at the party.
: I have been lucky enough, on occasion, to dine on Lake Grale eel. The aroma... The texture... The moist succulence that drips down your chin like fishy honey... You, sir, are no Lake Grale eel! I bet you weren't even born in Windor!
: N-Not from Windor?!
GentleEel's lower lip begins to tremble. When he next speaks, it is in a whisper.
: Mmm... Oh... Gentle Eel says that's not true. He says he has a birth certificate and everything.
: Lies, sir! Damn lies! I can tell by the texture of your fleshy underbelly that you are but a common river eel! Now prepare to pay for your crimes!







No way I'm doing this with 4 Sophies, as you'll see later.


Most of his attacks are taken from the "Gentleman" enemy in the Arena.


I have no idea what that is. Some Japanese thing? Oh, and he has no Mystic Arte - I think he's the ONLY boss in the entire dungeon who doesn't. He does show up for the previous fight's Mystic Arte though.


He spits water instead of tea.


He has the "reach into your had and pull out a shard of ice that you toss up and drop on a dude" move too, but with no hat it looks weird.


This one is new, and the reason I brought 3 spellcasters. He runs straight up into the air, then jumps and swims across the ground...


...but you can knock him out of it with a ranged attack.


He also does that Russian dance I forget the name of, which can stunlock you by repeatedly knocking you into the air.


Sometimes the spells don't succeed in knocking him out of his dive-swim attack at first.






: Yes, I... Oh, so you... He says he's sorry. He didn't know. His mother told him he was special, and he always just believed it.
: The truth will always come out in the end. Better to face it than to ruin your entire life.
: That was impressive, Captain.
: It was, wasn't it?
: I'm going to blame this one on Eleth Highs and move on.



We got the Eau de Peau, which is a Unique Item for Malik that triggers a skit.
Skit: Accessorizing with the Captain


: I thought I'd try out a new cologne. ...You don't care for it?
: It's a wonderful fragrance! ...And the only one who needs a bath here is you, Pascal! Some perfume wouldn't kill you, either.
: Do you like fragances, Cheria?
: Yes, and this one especially. It's kind of sweet, but still quite elegant.
: I could let you borrow some.
: If you don't mind, I'll take just a little... Hey, Asbel!
: Yeah?
: Now hold still, okay?
: Hey, don't spray people in the face with cologne!
: She thinks you need a bath, Asbel.
: What? But I bathe every single day!
: Mmm, you smell great.
: If you're going to use it like that, buy your own.





At this point we can't use normal items to pay the entry deposit, we'll have to dualize stuff to make it more expensive.

Dungeon Video: Floor 8


Fuck those trees. They have iron stance and they cast aoe spells at a fairly good clip. That's basically a hat trick of "annoying to fight". Also this is Pascal's floor.


Also, we're going all-Sophie here.


This item triggers a skit, as well as having a description I liked.
Skit: Accessorizing with Pascal


: Is that a new scarf?
: Sure is!
: It looks... Um...it looks very nice on you.
: For serious?
: ...What?
: Well, I don't think it suits me at all.
: I...I see...
: Ha ha haaaa...
: You have pretty terrible taste, huh, Hubert?
: That is absolutely not true! That scarf looks great on you, whether you know it or not!
: No it doesn't!
: Wrong! It is quite becoming!
: This is so stupid.



: As luck would have it, Fourier was there to greet us.


: Fourier?! What are you doing here?
: Some loser named Solomus decided to drag me up here! ...I was busy, you know! Well, Pascal, as long as I'm here, you might as well return the lapcomp I asked you to pick up for me.
: Um... Yeah, see, that's a funny story...
: I see. In that case, we have no choice. You must fight me!
: I can't fight you!
: Have you forgotten how to battle?
: What? No, that's not wha-
: Oh? So you already presume to have defeated me! Is that it?
: Ohmigosh, what's wrong with you! Stop it! ...Of course, if we did fight, I'd totally win.
: Is that so? Well, anyway, I just happen to have made a machine for you all.


: I call it a "teleporter"!
: What does it teleport?
: This device can summon one of my veres monsters instantly!
: Wow, that's amazing! Show us some more!
: If you want to see more, you'll just have to fight me. And I don't think you'll win so easily...
: Fiiiine. We'll fight. Are you happy now, Sis?





So we're up against Fourier and a tougher version of her cat-bird things.



Cat-lizard-dragon things I should say.


The Veres has all the attacks of its lesser, previous version, while Fourier uses Pascal's moveset.


Four Sophies can really build up the combo counter.


Fourier has a Mystic Arte, but...


...it's exactly the same as Pascal's Sapphiring Squad aside from cutin and VA.


Things are a lot easier after the Veres goes down.


Didn't notice Pascal being dead there. Oh well, she was already higher level than most of the party anyway due to bench XP bonus skills. Also if you notice Sophie's shout there, some of the titles have their own associated victory cry.



: Oh dear. My teleporter broke.
: Bummer.
: It's all right. I was just going to let you have it anyway.
: So, um, Fourier? What's the lapcomp do?
: It's like a portable version of the Archive of Wisdom.
: Oh, wow! That's awesome!
: Let me tell you how to use it...
: Thanks, Sis! That sounds great! Anyway, we gotta go. So bye!
: Isn't that something? I barely had to explain how it works. She really is better than me...





While building up my item for the next floor, I realized I never opened some of the costume packs I bought for Hubert. Here's "Strahtan Avenger".



Dungeon Video: Floor 9


Floor 9 is Sophie's floor, and its monsters are fiend-themed. They're actually much easier than the previous floor's monsters. Too bad about the boss though.



: At the end of the floor was another weird girl.


: My name is Reala. I'm looking for a hero. Do you know one?
: That might be difficult. Would you mind telling us the reason for your search?
: I am the incarnation of a goddess. To save my world, I must locate a hero in this time period.
: Oh. I see.
(It might be best if we avoid this girl...)
: Something wrong, Hubert?
: No, never mind.
: What are you doing here?
: We need to find Solomus.
: And that means we must defeat you in battle. I'm sorry.
: That's okay. I'm prepared to fight as well. Here I come!



Ok Reala is a goddamn pain and a half and the reason this update is late. Let's do a stats comparison.


This is her.


This is my highest Accuracy. I don't know the exact formula, but accuracy and evasion are used to calculate whether a hit staggers the victim or not. There's a second, related problem I'll cover in a bit.


Not that having a low accuracy PREVENTS staggering, it just makes it more difficult.


She's got a pretty long melee combo.


She can cast photon burst in about 43 frames (59.94fps) and wasn't interrupted by the two strikes that hit her in that time.


Fortunately you can dodge it. It does about 6k, 3k if you're wearing the reduction title (wear the reduction title).


The good news is that knockback attacks still work just fine on her.


Fuck you, no Mystic Arte for you. Unlike Arcane Bottles, Hourglasses are hard to replace. If I'm busting them out, it's because I'm serious.


Unfortunately at around half she gets two new spells, of which Air Pressure is probably the worst. They're both bad.


It had a tendency to clobber my earlier runs.


She can cast it fast enough to stunlock you with it, and if more than two people are in it you might be fucked then and there. Also, remember the accuracy/evasion thing? It's harder to stop her casting even if you are hitting her.


Burning Strike is also bad, but you have more time to run for your life.


It hits a pretty good Radius though.


AAIIIIRRRR PRESSSSSSUUUUUURRREEEE!!!!!!




At this point I'm just spending more time not dying than anything else. I'm going to run out of items before she runs out of HP.


Oh and she gets off her Mystic Arte, since I don't have a time stop available.










It's not nearly as bad as I remembered it being, I could have saved those hourglasses Nobody even dies.


I have no idea what's going on here.




In the end I lost because I got unlucky a few too many times, and Cheria couldn't use the life bottle before she got absolutely creamed.


Rather than make you wait while I kept grinding I just lowered the difficulty.


With mistakes being, you know, survivable, the battle was cake in comparison. It also didn't take fucking half an hour.


Not that Air Pressure is safe, oh no.


Fucking finally.



: I still haven't found my hero...
: Well um, good luck with that. But we have to leave now.
Outtake Video 1: Cheria Edition
Outtake Video 2: Item Spam Edition



In the chests for Reala's floor you can find the Grimm Anklet, which can be equipped on Sophie for a skit.


Skit: Accessorizing with Sophie


: Okay, sure.
: That's totally new! Lemme get a closer look. ...Here, can I take it off?
: Okay.
: Let's try this on for si... Ooof! Bananas, this thing is heavy!
: It is?
: I...I can barely lift my leg! Sophie, wouldn't you be able to move around faster without this thing?
: Maybe, but it provides the weight behind my kicks.
: Dude, being kicked by this thing would huuuurt! ...Ooh! I should try kicking the Captain! Here, wait a sec...
: First count to three, then kick.
: Okay, big kick, comin' up! One...two...three! Buwaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!
: Pascal was pulled into the air by her own foot...
: Ohmigosh that was awesome! Wait, wait, once more! Ready? One, two, three! Buwaaaaaaahhhh!
: Hey, what the hell?!
: Got him!
I hope you enjoyed that, because I think that might be our very last skit for this game. Let's have a moment of silence.





















Refight Video 1! ALL REFIGHTS ARE ALL-CHERIA!
GentleEel continues to speak, despite his bloodshot eyes and a throat raw from crying.
: Really? Hmm... He says that his mother was only trying to help.
: So you still can't own up to your lie, huh? Properly sourced food is essential for health! How can we trust a lying bottom-feeder like you?!




GentleEel averts his eyes and humbly whispers out a couple of sentences.
: Right...got it... He says he's sorry.



: You came back?
: I don't really know why, but, yeah.
: I'll have you know, I fixed the teleporter. Now get ready, Pascal!



: Oh damn. The teleporter broke again. What good is a weapon that breaks after a single battle?
: Wait! What if we just fizzle this circuit here...
: Oh, interesting. And then we can alter this circuit here.



Refight Video 2!
: You have returned.
: If I may ask, where were you before you arrived in this place?
: I was in a very tall tower on an island filled with warriors.
: So she's one of the Riot Peak Guardians then?
: That sounds...complicated.
: I was searching for my hero in the tower, but could not find him. But that is in the past. Shall we battle?
: Yes.



: Maybe you are the heroes I'm looking for?
Hardly. Reala is from Tales of Destiny 2 (which featured time travel) and the hero she was looking for is Kyle.



Oh, also, as you begin to clear out all the normal inn requests, weird ones start to show up.




MYSTERIOUS! Anyway, next time we'll see Solomus and a couple of other fun friends.