TearRing Saga Part #6 - Chapter 3 – Encounter at Saura Harbor

Part 6: Chapter 3 – Encounter at Saura Harbor

Chapter 3 – Encounter at Saura Harbor

Welcome back. This time we lead the Wellt Liberation Army towards Castle Wellt.

I spend some of the money Maron gave us on Iron Swords and Healing Stuffs (and not on shields which is going to bite me in the ass).

Nothing has changed concerning the layout of the map and the houses have reopened from Map 1.

The opposing forces make their way from the west and consist of a full set of cavalry.

: This is our chance to launch an ambush!

: Ah, a mixed force including foot soldiers... They will be mincemeat to our cavalry. All troops, charge and retreat after the initial clash! From there, we will keep our distance to minimalize our casualties. I shall give a reward to whoever brings me the head of the enemy commander’s head! This is your chance to climb up, troops!

: Yes, sir!

: Ha... Those rodents are not worthy of my time. I shall sit back and watch.

: Lord Runan...

: The clerics should stay in the rear. We’ll send any injured troops to the back for you to heal.

: Yes...

: I would never be able to face my mother if something were to happen to you.

: I assure you I will not fall until I deliver you safely to the queen. Do not worry, Lady Sasha.

: Yes... Be careful, okay?

: You don’t have to worry Plum. I’ll never lose!

A unique feature of this map is that the enemy will always go first in every turn. Luckily for us they aren’t anywhere close, so it’s mostly for effect.

All cavalry units, apart from the boss, are making their way towards us.

Erish has halfway decent stats and his steel spear is going to hurt.

The rest of his troops aren’t to be taking lightly, even though their stats aren’t that high, they bring ranged weaponry (archers and some of the spear units pack hand spears), meaning if they dogpile on a single unit you better hope your units better dodge well or they’ll die (barring Raffin with a shield maybe, but you voted for him to sit this one out).

Anyway, while the troops advance on one another, there is something happening in the city.

: Here, it’s your favorite soup made from tartar. Eat that and begone.

: Thanks! Man, I knew you were nice lady. Munch, munch...

: Sigh...

And now we come in the hot phase of the map. If you survive the next two turns, the rest of the map will be smooth sailing. If you’re unlucky then you will be restarting a lot if you want all your troops to survive.

Narron dodges a blow and levels up again. Could be better, but I’m fine with it after the empty level on the last map.

And we start a dodging spree (after resetting about 5 times because they couldn’t dodge no matter how unlikely the hit rates were.).

Another level up. HP and Skill... meh.

After turn 3, the enemies get some reinforcements.

: They must be headed for Saura. They seem not to have any intention of attacking us, but we must protect the city.

: ...I know. Eugen, tell the troops to make sure the port remains free of danger.

On our turn Sasha kills one weakened soldier and levels up. Strength

We weaken the enemy troops some more and I make one crucial mistake. I left both our clerics wide open...

Enteh gets hit once and I prepare for a restart...

and the second unit in range goes after Plum instead of Enteh who wouldn’t be able to counter and would have died on a hit.

We dodged a literal bullet here and now have to mop up the remaining units. The hard part of the map is over once we’ve done that.

Kate puts the hurt on one of the archers and levels up in the process.

Bartz shows another unit the power of effective weaponry.

For the rest of our turn we decimate the enemy forces till only two archers, the thieves and the boss are left.

Narron murders another one and gets a great level.

Plum levels up from healing.

Same for Enteh.

We start closing the entrance of the town and begin visiting the houses.

: Units who are already promoted can only be trained to Level 30. However, unpromoted units who change their classes at Level 20 may be trained to Level 40 once promoted. It seems that pre-promoted units are at a disadvantage... That’s where this Super-Proof comes in handy. This will add ten extra levels to any unit’s maximum. However, no unit can have a maximum achievable level greater than 40, so use it carefully.

Thus we get our hands on our first Super-Proof.

One of the archers uses his herbs to heal himself.

Julia and Bartz start cutting down the bandits and Bartz gets an underwhelming level.

Bartz gets another Gold Bag for his trouble.

Runan visits the Inn, in which we saw the scene earlier.

: If you can’t pay, you can’t stay. Now get out!

: Here’s your stuff! Now hot the road!

: Aw, man... Hm? Hey, what’re you looking at? This ain’t a show! Get lost!

: I thought I recognized you. I see you haven’t changed much.

: I jumped off the ship before it set sail. I’m a peaceful guy who doesn’t like fighting, you know? No way I’m risking my life against the Isla pirates. Besides, I was tired of the boss overworking us, so I thought it’d be a good time to bail out of piracy. ...Wait! Maybe you’d be so kind as to hire me? I’m not a fighter, but I’m the best in Granada when it comes to picking locks or disguising myself.

: Well, I have the perfect job for you, then. I want you to sneak into Castle Wellt and gather information for us. If you succeed, I shall count you among our ranks.

: Hell no, old man. Why would I do something crazy like that? I might as well commit suicide.

: Fine, then we will turn you over to Holmes. He hates sneaky rascals like you. If he finds out what you’ve been up to., he will be sure to break more than a few bones.

: Ulp... P-Please anything but that! Alright, I’ll do whatever you ask. You want me to sneak into Castle Wellt, right? What am I supposed to investigate?

Eugen got his priorities straight

: …Narcissus! Are you listening?

: Yawn… Ah, that was a good nap... Alright, I get going.

: Narcissus, be careful. Don’t get yourself killed.

: Of course. Oh, where should we rendezvous, prince?

: The Wellt Bridge, to the north of the castle.

: Roger that!

: ...and there he goes. His speed is indeed commendable...

: We need to get going as well. The battle isn’t over yet...

It more or less is, although we have to visit a few more houses.

: Kodder says that it is because Count Maron has taken Princess Sasha hostage and started a rebellion, but rumors say that the queen’s actually being confined because she tried to stop Kodder. I’m ashamed of myself for slandering the queen without knowing anything... This is a magic potion that’ll raise your luck. I’ll give it to you, so please help the queen!

Another stat-up item for the pile.

Sasha kills another Bandit and gets an okay level out of it.

Narron weakens the last bandit and levels once more (I love Elite) with nice results.

And Julia finishes the job leaving one archer and the boss for us to defeat.

: Not as the Verje Army, but as the Wellt Liberation Army... I’m sure the Liberation Army is in the right, but... I cant help but shudder when I wonder how many lives will be lost in this battle... I hoped that Wellt would be a nation free of warfare... Oh please wait. This used to belong to my grandfather. It’s a lance that will penetrate even the strongest shields. It doesn’t look like more than a simple iron lance to me though...

This Iron Spear has 51 kills attached to it, giving it a plus 1% crit chance

: And for good reason, since I hear that Kodder is nothing short of a thief, sucking out as much taxation as he can out of his people, only to use it to fulfill his own greedy desires. I’m on your side, too. Good luck! I know, I’ll give you this. It’s a scroll that’ll teach you a useful skill that allows you to move once again after attacking. But you have to be mounted on a horse or pegasus to use it, so choose carefully who to teach it to.

We get a Re-move scroll out of this. I’ll let the readers decide who gets it.

Plum gains another level.

And Bartz starts his training to become a ~~Seafarer~~ Pirate

: Congratulations! You may now call yourself a full-fledged Seafarer! You’ll be a force to be reckoned with on the water.

We kill the last archer and move into the last house.

: Kodder’s tyranny is getting worse by the day. You’re our only hope now. Ah.. I know. Here, take this. It’s a family heirloom, bu I’m no knight. You might find some use for it.

And we receive our first promotion item. From the look of it, it seems that Narron is on the best way to make use of it in the near future.

We start approaching the boss now, and move into his range.

He gladly takes the chance and rushes in...

and puts some hurt on Esther, who scratches him in return and gets a level out of it.

Kate softens him up some more…

And Julia criticals to finish him off…

Another underwhelming level

More like our luck has finally decided to not suck…

: The enemy commander fought to the death. Perhaps Kodder’s troops have higher morale than we expected.

: The commander’s name was Erish. He is only an average knight. He probably stayed till the end out of fear of Kodder.

: Fear? What do you mean?

: Kodder takes his troops’ families as hostages to ensure loyalty.

: I see... then maybe Erish...

: No, Erish only got what he deserved. It is his own fault for giving in to his greed to help a vile man like Kodder.

: Lord Runan, enemies personal matters are of no importance to us. You must not let such things cloud your judgement. If they arm themself and stand in our path, then we must not show them mercy. Now, let us hurry. We must be off before nightfall...

Eugen is pretty

: Ist main line of defence, Fort Gram, is a challenging point to conquer due to its natural protection given by the thick forestry surrounding it. I was hoping to go to the Temple of Mars and ask for Master Eisenbach’s aid, but...

: The Temple of Mars...?

: Further west of Gram lies an ancient temple dedicated to the god of wind and water, built before the Kingdom of Wellt was established. Master Eisenbach once counted among the Four Great Sages. He has deep, unclouded wisdom and the power to bend the laws of nature itself. It is said that the master has been watching over Liberia for decades, ensuring that nothing disastrous happens. Even Kodder would be hesitant to send troops to the Temple of Mars.

: Master Eisenbach...

: Figuring out how to attack he castle, huh? Sure is taking his sweet time...

: What’s the matter? You seem to be in a bad mood.

: Of course I am! If you haven’t forgotten, our homeland is still overrun! What are we doing wasting time in a place like this?

: We’re not wasting time. We don’t have the power to face the Empire now. We need Wellt’s aid, so we have to fix their problems first.

: Why are you so calm? Aren’t you worried about Rina?

: She’s a strong girl. I can’t say I’m not worried, but I trust her.

: How’s a young girl going to defend herself on her own? Canaan’s soldiers are barbaric. Don’t kid yourself, she’s not safe!

: ...

: Rina said she wanted to stay, but I knew I should have forced her to come with us. And I would have, if only you hadn’ been opposed to it!

: Saving your family but leaving the rest of your people at the mercy of the Empire? Such selfishness would be shameful to us knights of Lazeria. Look, Arkis. She’s my sister. I worry about her every day. But we are, first and foremost, knights of Lazeria. Right now, all we can do is to have faith in Lord Runan...

: Such a nice sea breeze... Can we talk a little?

not a real choice unless you hate support bonuses…

: I was born on a small island off the coast. You’re a sailor, right? Ever heard of an island called Il?

: No...

: About fifteen years ago, the island was attacked by pirates. The men happened to be all out at the time, and the pirates rampaged through our village. They had no mercy, not even to women and children. I was hiding in the marquess’ manor, but they eventually found me. They tried to kill me, just like they would a frightened rabbit...

: ...

: Then a men suddenly appeared behind me and yelled, “Stop!” That’s when I passed out.

: ...

: Then I woke up, the man was standing in front of me, drenched in blood, with several bodies lying at his feet. He then smiled at me ever so slightly, and left without a word.

: ...

: I later heard that the pirates were curshed by Admiral Valce, but I never found out what happened to the man who saved me. Garo, you work under Admiral Valce. Would you happen to know anything...?

: No...

: There’s one thing I remember about him. He suffered a scar protecting me. It was a wound running down his forehead, so deep that I couldn’t believe he survived it at all...

: ...

: Garo...