Part 34: Keiv Moc Part 2

The rest of the dungeon is pretty much more of the same, not particularly noteworthy.



Along the way we learn a couple Artes:





Yuri learns Shining Fang, a very nice arte where Yuri spins his weapon in front of him.




Estelle gets Cavalry, an Arte that makes you immune to stagger for a short time by giving you the same kind of "shield" large/strong enemies get.





Rita gets ∠＝(x,y,z) "Descartes", where she summons a large animal claw out of her book to scratch enemies. Okay.





Repede gets Shadow Fang, an arte that causes him to wildly attack the enemy in front of him. Pretty neat.





Karol gets Punishing Smash, where he spins around wildly, hitting enemies in a fairly big area around him.



Also here's the Bug Breath we got last update, does pretty good damage to bugs but is only moderately useful otherwise.





And Raven gets Cyan Instant, where he fires off arrows in eight directions around him. Can be useful if surrounded.


Eventually, we'll reach the end of the dungeon.



Watch the cutscene!



The aer is weaker than it was there, but there's no mistaking it...



That monster looks just like the ones that attacked Dahngrest!
Here it comes!

Alternate battle video using Yuri (PS3 version, Japanese voices)





Listen to the full conversation!

What's up with this forest?
Is... the aer causing this?
Grrrr... woof woof woof!
I can't believe there's a place like this in the forest.
This must by why the town kept getting attacked by monsters.
I-Is there any way to quiet the monsters?
We have to get them before they get us.
We might not make it back alive...
So it's a little tough, let's just get it over with!
I hope we only have to kill this one.
Stay sharp.
We'll lose our lives if we aren't careful.
Full power!

Gigalarva is rather simple and easy. There's a gimmick, but unless you're going for the Secret Mission you can completely ignore it.





Here are some of his attacks, but really, this guy should be no problem at all. I'm not all that great with Raven and still manage to come out on top easily.

His gimmick relates to the puddle in the middle of the arena, occasionally he will try to get there and stick his tail in it, healing himself.



To get the secret mission, you need to make it stick its tail into one of Raven's Serpent mines. Rather simple if you're controlling Raven and know what you're supposed to do, but you're probably not gonna figure that out on your own. It's also pretty much impossible if you do this with Raven on AI.





All in all, boring boss.


Now the town's safe.
We're lucky! We're happy! Woo-hoo-hoo!
The aer is still out of control.

Successfully clearing the Secret Mission gives you a Stun Bracelet, an accessory that prevents being stunned 50% of the time.


Achievement/Trophy:

Secret Mission 6




There's more of 'em!



Ah, so this is the end, huh? Farewell, all my dear fans the world over.



You're supposed ta say stuff like, "We can make it through this together."


Suddenly, our mysterious white-haired friend jumps into the scene.





His fancy maneuver gets rid of all the monsters surrounding the group in a flash.



Who is he...?
Duke...



Wait!
...
What is that sword?! Let me see!



What good would that knowledge do you?
Well...I mean... With something like that, we might be able to stop the blastia from going berserk... We saw that happen to a blastia. The aer was out of control. We couldn't do anything...
This was only a distortion. It is a natural occurrence.
...Distortion?
Um, thank you so much for helping us.



Huh...?
What do you mean, aer krene? This place?
Aer krene are the springs from which all aer in the world comes.
Springs of aer...
Who are you...? This isn't the kind of place you just go for a walk.
...
We would've been dead without your help, though. Thanks.

Duke leaves.



...That power... Could it be the Rizomata Formula? I can't tell anything from checking things out here. I have to see some others.
Hey, didn't that guy earlier say these were all over the world?
Yeah, he did.
We won't know anything solid until we find them and study them.
So I guess we're finished looking into things here?
Yeah, let's get back to Dahngrest and meet with the Don.


Skit: Lead On, Old Man
Man... I wish we could get out of here already...
Don't get so flustered, boy.
We'll get outta here nice and easy, ya'll see.
Not everyone leads a carefree life of unicorns and rainbows like you, you know!
Life is a lot like this forest... Winding paths, intertwinin'. Ahh, this forest is really relaxin'.
C'mon, let's leave our philosopher behind and get a move on.
Listen ta what I've got ta say!
So you mean we're lost in the forest of life?
Oh ho, so ya get what I'm sayin'...?
Before we find our way out of the forest of life, we need to find our way out of this one...

Everyone except Raven starts to leave.

I'll lead. I have found direction in this life more times than--
Hey, wait! I'm not done yet...!



And with that, we get to make our way back out of the forest.



About halfway back, though, we encounter a cutscene.

Watch the cutscene! (PS3 Version / Japanese voices)
(scene is unvoiced in the 360 version)



If this is related to the "distortion" he was talking about, then it might not be only this forest that's affected.
You sure mumble to yourself a lot, don't you?

The ground starts shaking.





A bunch of local monsters run by, then...



Don...!



Do something? What do you mean?
Those savage monsters turned docile as pups and ran off! What did you do?
...Yuri, it must be because we stopped the flow of the aer...
The monsters turned tame because we stopped the runaway aer!
Runaway aer? Hmmm...
Hey, old man. Do you know something!?



...So it's true that Don and Belius are friends...
Who is Belius?
The Duce who rules the coliseum of Nordopolica.
Nordopolica...
And what's with that runaway aer?
It was really amazing! More and more really strong monsters kept on coming, but we--
Boy, those are the sort of things you keep to yourself.
What...?



I-I'm sorry...
Excuse me, could I see him for a moment?



What?
Guild Member Ohh...you can use healing artes... Thank you...
...Hmm? Ain't that Raven over there?



Humph.



Whaddaya mean, "trouble?" The reason the monsters got tame was our doing, mine especially!
Huh?! Raven's a member of Altosk?!
Somehow that seems to be the case.



Shut up, you!
Don Whitehorse.
What is it?
I know we've only just met, but I have something I need to talk to you about.



Normally, this guy would cut in right now, causing the Don to leave. However, if you happen to be playing the PS3 version, he's a bit late, so Yuri gets to introduce himself.





Yuri, huh? You must be the leader then?
Um, Don? You still with us?
There's been so few lively youngsters lately I was starting to get bored. If you've got something to say, I'll listen. In exchange, keep me busy for a minute.
Geez, of all times for his bad habit to show itself...
What's that?



W-what do you mean "test"!?
Your physical strength!
That's right. Let an old man indulge in his hobby, just a bit.
No no no no no, I won't do it.
Ah, hey, he ran away!



Hahha! That's what I want to hear! Come at me!

If you skipped the cutscene video before, here's a link directly to the battle.




As you can tell by his stats, you're not supposed to win this battle.



You do next to no damage, while...



he can dish out a ton.



Before long, you'll be dead. Thankfully, the game continues normally when you lose.

What happens when you transfer some stuff and beat him, though? Not much, not even the cutscene immediately following the battle. He drops a Diamond, an accessory that increases resistance against Light-elemental attacks, but that's it.

Note that the following videos contain arte, skill and equipment spoilers if you care about that. I also have Yuri equipped with a costume, however it's a costume that we won't acquire during the playthrough anyway so I figured I might as well show it off: It's one of the three Tales of the Abyss costumes that were available as DLC for a limited time when the PS3 version got released. (Officially you had to pre-order the game, but the DLC was actually up for free for a while on the Hong Kong PSN Store, which is where I got it.) Anyway.

Here's a pretty fun battle that I lose despite good equipment.
Here's a slightly less fun battle that I win.

No matter if you win or lose, the cutscene continues the same afterwards:



That's enough! It's going to turn into a real fight if we keep going. It's been a while since I've had that much fun. All right, I'll listen to you now.





The arrival of this guy means we're back to where we cut off in the 360 version.

Ah, I see. All right you dogs! Time to head out! Sorry 'bout this, but something's come up. We've gotta return to Dahngrest. If ya come by the Union you'll have my ear first chance I get. Hope that's okay.
If I have your word, that's fine by me.
Hmph, you're not nervous at all to talk to me. You all would make a good addition to our guild.

The Don leaves.

Guild, huh.
We're going to make one, right?
We'll see.
So, what do you think? Y'all finally get a taste of how awesome I am?
I sure didn't notice you being too awesome out there!



All right, I'd like to go back to Dahngrest to meet with the Don and keep looking for Barbos.
Rita, once Yuri's done with his business, we should go back to report... Rita?
...Oh, what was that?
Once Yuri's done, we should go back to report to Alexei... Is something the matter?
N-no, it's nothing. Come on, let's go back.


Skit: The Mysterious Man in the Forest
Just who was that strange person with the sword, anyway?
Do you think he came to Keiv Moc all by himself? There are so many monsters around...
Judging by the way he was standing, he's pretty confident in his own abilities. He seemed calm, or even, like, meditative...
Well whatever, he was a strange guy.
Yeah, I have no idea what was up with him at all.




Back to Dahngrest!



Next time, we'll try to hold an audience with the Don, and possibly find out what was so important that he had to return to town immediately.