Tales of Vesperia Part #102 - Aer Conversion in the Blade Drifts

Part 102: Aer Conversion in the Blade Drifts

Last time, we finished with a bunch of sidequesting, and now we're ready to go back to the plot, at the Blade Drifts of Zopheir.

Watch the cutscene!

So? What are you gonna do at the aer krene?

An aer...converter?

My plan is to efficiently convert the aer into matter, decreasing the overall amount of aer. But for that, it's ideal to have the converter use energy similar to both aer and matter.

How's that energy different from aer?

Elementally-separated aer transitions into matter in stages, and eventually becomes stable. I'm going to stop its transition between the two states and develop a converter formula.

So it won't be aer or matter?

It's a state that's closer to matter than to aer, but it's still not quite matter. We call it "mana."

It actually has a really long, complicated name. But mana's good enough. But it'll still be less stable than actual matter, so we'll need something to act as a core.

The apatheia...

And a lot of aer and Estelle's power to recombine the formula.

Using my power without the control formula will unbalance the aer. It'll just flood out again...

But we can't just sit here and ignore that thing. And...

Yeah?

I guess I should be the one trying to stop you, but... I'm game to get in on this bet too.

The theory is correct. It'll be okay. So let's go to the aer krene.

This place hasn't changed a whole lot since the last time we were here, but it did actually change a bit. We'll get to that.

Skit: Not Enough Fat to Burn

It's f-f-freezing... Think there's a cabin or something where we could get out of the cold?

I don't think anyone would build a cabin on top of a sheet of ice...

If we just had some fire...

Oh yeah, Rita, use yer magic ta give us some fire, would ya?

What am I, a walking matchbox...?

And besides, using it on YOU would be a waste of aer.

What's the big deal? Weren't ya usin' it over and over again just a little while ago?

That was to defeat enemies! What would you want me to set on fire, anyway?

Hmmm, you've got a pretty muscular body.

Huh...?

Well, I mean, what with the guilds and the Knights and all, it's a lot of work...

...Doesn't look like there's enough fat to burn very well...

Hah hah. That's too bad.

...Huh? ...Hey!

Karol learns Roaring Dragon Blow: He rolls towards the enemy, then uppercuts at the end.

Halfway towards the aer krene, we run into another cutscene.

That's our genius mage-girl Rita. Yep, yep!

Come to think of it, you did say you'd investigated Zaude, didn't you?

Despite its amazing size, it wasn't running off of aer. Even though it was a barrier blastia to protect the entire world.

A barrier blastia?! Oh yeah, they were protecting the world from the Adephagos!

But the runaway aer was the cause for the Adephagos awakening, wasn't it?

Ah, so that's why they would use a barrier running on power other than aer.

But then, what sort of power was it using?

...The Children of the Full Moon, perhaps?

It was actually energy taken straight from them. Inside that giant core, it continued to power Zaude as a virtually perpetual formula.

"The light of life was extinguished from the Children of the Full Moon..."

So that's what Myorzo's legend meant.

They sacrificed themselves for the world... The Children of the Full Moon were protecting us this entire time.

Alright, see this iceberg here? They're new, they weren't here last time.

You can shoot them with your sorcerer's ring to push them around.

When they hit land, they drop a treasure chest that is stuck on them, and you can go collect it.

Skit: The First Sign of a Cold?

...Achoo...!

Huh? Are you catching a cold, Estelle?

No... It's just...I've been so cold, ever since I saw Rita use that water magic of hers...

That's terrible! Are you sure you're oka--

ACHOO...!

Now it's both of you? You should just tell Rita to stop using that kind of magic.

I can hear Rita already.

"I'll decide what type of magic I use, thank you very much!"

Oh, come on. If we tell her that we might be coming down with colds, I'm sure she'll--

What's that? Something about me?

Kchoo!

Hey, you catch a cold too?

...Maybe someone's...talking about me behind my back...

...

Apart from the icebergs, this place is the same as before.

That doesn't stop us from learning new artes, though. Rita gets Crimson Flare!

Which is pretty cool.

Grabbing a couple more treasure chests...

Now for something funny. Let's cook some Sorbet!

Skit: The Cold Is Fatal

Who the hell thought it'd be a good idea to make s-s-sorbet in this freezing weather...

It's s-s-so cold, my t-t-t-teeth are chattering too much to eat...

I think sorbet can be delicious, even in the cold.

So it was you!

I was just expressing my opinion... I never said it was me!

J-J-Judith, you're all right eating sorbet d-d-dressed like that?

If ya get...an upset stomach, Judy...I'll give ya a massage!

Th-th-that's hardly something you should be saying, with your p-p-purple lips and your runny nose!

Rita, can you...cast spells...like that?

P-p-probably not... My t-t-teeth are chattering too much...

And my hands are t-t-too stiff to hold my weapons!

Eating sorbet...in a frigid cold field of snow... Th-th-this is not fun...

There's a similar skit for something else too, but I don't have that recipe yet.

Anyway, cutscene time.

Feel free to speculate what most of the technobabble in the following scene actually means.

Watch the cutscene!

If it does, you'll beat it up for us just like the last time, right?

...You're mean.

Now I'll release the control formula. Once I do that, the aer krene will react to you and produce more aer.

U-umm... I don't understand...

Yeah... Okay...

The water element is strong here, so imagine flowing water and let your body flow with the aer. The theory behind materializing aer is the same as performing magic. If Estelle can recompose the aer into a state close to mana... ...then I should be able to guide the aer into the cyano ciel.

No. Go take a nap or something.

We'd freeze to death if we took a nap here!

We can use the conversion formula we found in Zaude.

That was for substituting life for aer! Your life! You can't do that!

But if this fails, then we'll all be swallowed up by a flood of aer. We'll be dead anyway, right?

We're all risking our lives. Let us help.

I'll use your life energy to guide the aer into the cyano ciel. If we do that, I think Estelle will understand the flow of the aer without interference from me.

Okay!

Yeah!

Sure, why not.

Okay.

Woof!

Ready, Estelle? Here we go. Everyone, come over here.

Go ahead.

Try and synchronize yourself with my formula. There...that's good.

Ugh...

For some reason, a random minigame out of nowhere! It's a really easy and pretty boring one too. If you really want to watch it though it's here.

Face buttons appear on that bar at the top to the right and move to the left. Once they reach that circle in front of Estelle you have to press it.

That's it.

It goes on for a full minute before we're finally done.

Watch the cutscene!

The formula's working. The force field is stable... It's going to be OK!

Ugh...ah...

*Shriek*

D-did it not work?

A formula for reshaping the apatheia?! It's reformulating itself...?

...I am...

That voice...Belius?!

Judith? Yes, it is I, Belius...or rather... I was once Belius...but no more.

What's going on here?

Could the will of Belius trapped in the apatheia have...?

It's gone way beyond working... I never thought it would gain a will of its own...

You have granted life to me. I ask that you give me a name.

A being that controls the essence of a material... Maybe you're a spirit.

And so my name shall be...

Sidenote, they pronounce Undine with a silent 'e' at the end in this, which I think is inconsistent with all other English voice acted Tales games.

Aah... I feel the power swell within me... Such is the benefit of the aer which you saw fit to gather for me...

...It wasn't any cakewalk, either...

Receive this now, as token of my thanks...!

Absorption: Nullifies a spell attack when casting a spell of the same attribute.
FS Bonus: Recover HP every time a Fatal Strike hits an enemy.
Strength 3: Increases physical attack by 15%. Increase due to equipment not affected.

Extra Combo I: Press the attack button at just the right time at the end of a combo to inflict an extra hit on the enemy.
Extra Combo II: Press the attack button at just the right time at the end of Extra Combo I to inflict another hit on your enemy.
Extra Combo III: Press the attack button at just the right time at the end of Extra Combo II to inflict another hit on your enemy.

Very well. However, my powers alone will be insufficient.

Huh?

I control only the waters. You must gather those who rule the other elements as well.

We'll need help from the other Entelexeia, won't we?

I doubt they'll turn into spirits just because we ask nicely...

There are very few Entelexeia left. Phaeroh, Gusios...

And Ba'ul.

Not Ba'ul. He hasn't taken in enough aer to create an apatheia. And on top of that, I won't allow it.

Undine, do you have any ideas?

Your friend Ba'ul should know the location of these places.

She disappeared!

No...she is here. I feel her.

It seems like the aer krene has quieted down too... Even though we're not controlling Estelle's power.

Really?!

You mean Estelle is really free?

Yes... Yes!

That's great, Estelle.

Well, things are sure takin' a turn for the strange.

Yeah, I never would have dreamed any of this would happen. But we finally see the light at the end.

Spirit collection time! We can actually get the spirits in any order. In terms of difficulty, it makes more sense to go to Erealumen before Relewiese, and the third spirit comes from Phaeroh which requires no dungeon and you can do at any point. There's some slight dialogue changes here and there depending on your order, but nothing significant, so we'll be taking the order of Phaeroh -> Erealumen -> Relewiese, which is incidentally also the order used in the game's scenario files.

Skit: Freeing Estelle

Heh heh heh.

Rita, you look...happy.

So do you, Yuri.

There's no longer anything shackling Estelle.

She can use her power without causing any harm to herself or unbalancing the aer.

So yeah. I'm happy.

Estelle's really free!