Part 43: Tales of The Past
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Early's roughly to the north-west of Freezikiel. Just like we've been told, it's eternally night time here. This does have the one benefit of being the only place you can see Aselia's moons. At least, when you're in the air and looking roughly north-east.
Skit: The Wrong Expression
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We'll do that soon enough, but first we have all the tat and whatnot around the tiny city to collect.
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Let's start with the last recipe. To say that, it's not very good; it just restores about half your health. It doesn't even cure poison or 1% of TP or anything. Bleh.
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For 50,000 Gald we can get one of Cless' last three artes, and the penultimate Arcane one at that. We can't get the other two for a long while; one of them requires being at least level 100 (with an extra bonus requirement...) and you can probably make a safe guess as to when we get the other.
Oh and there's another more important and almost needed reason for coming to this place. You see that soldier to the left?
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After a mini scene that consists of "Dhaos is probably here but we don't know for sure" we get this. The Derris Emblem is a super important accessory. We'll need 6 of them, and there's only 5 in chests after the point where we need to use it. You CAN get them as a drop from a whole one thing sometimes if you're lucky but let's not have a rehash of the desert.
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In the equipment store we can bug this old guy. He asks us three questions that if we answer "right" he'll give us something for. Now, these questions have no right or wrong answer, per se, due to being, y'know, subjective but the "right" answer is what he wants you to say.
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If I was answering what I'd honestly prioritise, it'd be low price. I've bitched about stuff's cost before even if its really, really good (see: Mystic Symbols, Holy Symbols). If something's expensive chances are it's not even worth the price though there's usually one or two exceptions. And even then you can probably get them for free.
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I'm guessing this question's asked under the assumption that you're making something as a craftsman and not for fun or whatever, based on the first two options. With that in mind, if something came out terrible or not up to standard or whatever, I'd definitely smash it with a hammer and try again.
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"5. Something that isn't an axe."
But seriously, I'm not sure how 1 and 4 are all that different in context. You could reason it as 1 means people who are like a middle-school bully or whatever in which case sticking a sword through their face is definitely a wee bit excessive. I'm especially confused by how 2 and 4 are different in any way; surely if you're using a weapon for protection, it's because you must use it. This one's definitely set out like that to trick you into screwing up. Fortunately, GameFAQs is always there to lend a hand for this kind of thing.
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For answering all three "right" we get another card. Hurray! There's only one more of these to go and we could go get it but I'm putting it off because it involves backtracking to a place I really don't want to go to yet.
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Anyway, that's enough of that. Let's just go to the inn and endure the giant, giant cutscene that lies ahead.
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Notice how she didn't even mention Suzu. Bizarrely, in spite of that this is actually a scene that Suzu changes. Very, very slightly. See if you can guess where!
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It's true, he is "still" in his twenties (at 29).
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Surprisingly, even with Symphonia's penchant for just stealing stuff straight from this game and then pretending it didn't, what Origin said IS actually true.
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Pupil: Thank you very much. By the way... When is Klaus going to be coming back? I mean, he beat that Dhaos guy, didn't he? The village elders were so excited when they heard! I thought the whole party would be destroyed in that crazy party!
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Pupil: Haha, that sounds just like him. We'll see you again tomorrow.
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Maybe I'm just a giant sap but this scene never fails to make me smile.
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Chester really was acting like a giant child the entire time. No prizes to anyone who figured this out before, since that amounts to approximately everyone.
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Time for a flashback...
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It's a bit longer than this, but it's just a repeat of the exact same scene from the beginning of the game.
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The Earring is one of the best accessories. The only catch is that it's only usable by Mint.
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20 Defense, 20 Luck and immunity to non-elemental attacks? At this point, Mint basically has her optimal equipment. Unicorn Horn, Ring Shield, Star Cloak, Star Beret, White Gloves, Earring, Mystic Symbol... Shame she can't use a Fairy Ring with those two but you can make a decision as to whether to use the Earring or Fairy Ring in some situations.
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Investigator: I'm with the Alvanista's investigation team, the intelligence division. I'm here because one of the miners claims to have seen an enormous castle not far from here. The mine was built into the side of the mountain, and supposedly he saw the castle from the top of that path.
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Investigator: If you heard northwest from this city, you'll find the mine.
We could head northwest, but first...
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There's another cave over there to the southeast! We should check that one out first; you never know.
Skit: Dhaos' Castle
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Even though all of Early itself is eternally night-time, that's not entirely true for the island itself. You can still be on the same island but if you're far enough away from the city then it does become light. Case in point: the cave to the southeast.
Skit: The Pervert King Strikes Again
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So, this (optional) dungeon has a somewhat annoying gimmick. As you can see from this first little area, you can only see in a limited range around wherever you are.
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To make it worse, we need these "Tools of Light" to go further than the second room. In there, there's a little gimmicky puzzle we need to solve before we can get any further. We can't even think of getting them for a while, so we can't do shit here other than fight a few things in this first room that aren't very interesting, challenging or worth it.
Skit: Killing The Mood
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In the cave we actually go to, it's not exactly a "mine" as we were told. It's just two screens of a giant staircase that leads to the top. At least we're not forced to go through another dungeon before reaching something that might not even be there.
Skit: The Final Problem
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At the top of the staircase, we find this oddly specifically shaped ledge that's clearly overlooking... nothing. Well, that was disappointing.
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