Part 13: Chapter 8 – Thriller!

Chapter 8 – Thriller!



Welcome back everyone. Today we head over to Isla to meet up with Holmes before we continue our journey to the mainland. Before heading there though, I bought some weapons for our squad.





This map is called the Holy Dragon Neutron for those interested in the names of the maps.











: what did he look like?

: I think he was a big, ugly-looking brute. ...Er, or he might have been a small, pathetic-looking midget... I can't really remember, either.

: Whatever, who gives a damn about him, anyway. More important is Xeno and Juni. Where the hell are they? Geez... They can't even take care of their own hides!?

We move on to see a scene with Katri.









: Why does Holmes have to sound so mean all the time?

: Holmes is...

: Huh?

: No...nothing. Never mind.






Well time to start the map in earnest. Let’s look at our opposition.





Short version: They suck hard. This map is piss easy unless you are really unlucky. As such try to give as much experience as you can to Xeno or other underleveled units you brought. The gold mummies are basically experience Pinatas as they give almost a full level without being any challenge what so ever.



Xeno is a great unit with good growths and is usually worth raising.



Yuni is your first playable thief. She can steal stuff of people but that means she has to fight them which is obviously a risk. For this map she will be content running around and opening treasure chests.



Katri is plot cleric number two. As such you can’t let her die. Still she doesn’t die too easily for reasons we’ll see later on.





Juni starts pillaging the chests right next to her. The Iron Shield gives 7 defence for 4 hits.



Xeno starts murdering the zombies that start next to him.



Sasha becomes Juni’s bodyguard, which in hindsight wasn’t necessary and resulted in her getting a ton of levels due to Elite and Zombie suicide. Prior to turn two we get another scene with Holmes and Shigen.





: Katri's bracelet... I remember where I saw it.

: "Is that thing still bothering you?"

: Look, remember the time we went to the Temple of Fire in Saria?

: Temple of Fire? You mean the ancient temple where the Holy Dragon Neuron is supposed to be resting?

: Right.

: I do remember the mess we ended up in over there. Not only did we get attacked by some weird monsters, but we didn't even find the treasure we were looking for. That Zombie Staff was the only thing we found that could've been worth anything. Yeah, going there was definitely a bad call on your part.

: Sure, we didn't find any loot, but there was a ancient mural in the treasure chamber.

: A mural? Who would care about something like that? It's not like we could've brought it back with us.

: Just shut up and listen. The mural was of a bracelet that the goddess Utona gave to her daughter, Saria.

: Huh? ...! ...Wait... You don't mean...

: Exactly! Katri's bracelet is the Ring of Saria. It's a heirloom passed down through the Sarian royal family.

: ...Then that girl's a descendent of the royal family of Saria?

: Yeah... But that's not what the real problem is...

















: But what about Katri?

: No... She's not the one in danger. It's Xeno and Juni...

So yeah, Katri just turned into a giant fuck off dragon. She will go Berserk and not care whether she attacks friend or foe, so basically the only way you can screw yourself in this map is rushing to her aid. Kind of a dick move but yeah.





With her transformation comes an increase in stats, two breath moves and access to Dragon scales which means that apart from some special weapons she will be invincible as it raises her defense by 40.



She starts taking her anger out on the poor zombie close to her.



Vega meanwhile gets a bad level cleaning up some other zombies. Yuni grabs the second chest which is a Agi+ potion Speedwing.





A zombie attacks Sasha which triggers her Gale skill (you will always attack first if your speed is higher) and she gets an amazing level out of it.



Xeno gets a great level as well.





Once two turns pass, Katri will transform back into her human form.



However by using the Ring of Saria in her inventory we can now transform at will into the dragon for a random amount of turns and can control her as well.



Meanwhile Xeno and Runan have a talk





: I have no idea what's happening, either, but Holmes should be at the fort.

: All right, we'll head for the fort. Are you coming with us, Xeno?

: No... I need to stay. There's someone I need to protect...



A couple of turns later a ship arrives at the western coast.





: I'll get them runts... They'll be sorry for pickin' a fight with the Isla Pirates! No one goes scroungin' around in my turf!

for the next three turns the ship’ll spawn pirates along the western coast before going away.






They are a slightly bigger threat then the zombies but nothing to worry out short of the thieves stealing your treasure. As such we go after them with extreme prejudice. Julia levels from it and gets strength which automatically makes it a good level



Sasha is still killing zombies that attack her. More strength



The second wave of pirates spawns.



Juni loots treasure chest number 3





Narron kills one of the pirates and receives a nice level. I think in his 12 levels he got 6 or 7 points of defence on a 22% growth.





Zieg hunts the last of the thiefs and gets another amazing level out of it.



Xeno gets a decent level as well.



Julia seems content with a typical myrmidon level.





: I'm takin' this here lady back to the base. You wimps better not screw up, ya hear?

: Aw, man! Not again!

: Hey, Rene's your name, right? You're an unlucky lady to have your ship sunk by pirates, ain't ya?



: Hehehe... Don't you worry, our base is your new home now!



After loading off the last of the pirates and giving us a flimsy excuse their leader runs away.



Raquel gains a level while setting up a kill.



And Kate’s gains one from finishing off the weakened pirate. Dammit Kate you need to get some better levels given that your promotion is ass.





After dealing with most of the pirates some healing is necessary which results in this level for Plum



Juni plunders another chest. The Thunder sword will go to Sasha asap as she has the best magic score of the sword users.



An average level for Sasha from killing yet another Zombie.



Xeno begins to chat with Katri.





: What... What happened to me, Xeno...?

: Katri... Let's go back to the fort. Holmes is worried about you...



Some more free exp spawns for a couple of turns in the lower right corner of the map.



Vega gets a really good level from killing part of them.



Julia, Vega and Sasha play border patrol and wait fort he zombies to arrive while the rest of the team struggles with the terrain and moves at a snails pace.



Somehow I have the feeling that Julia doesn’t want to catch up with Vega (although he has quite a headstart).



Xeno! I told them you had good growths





The border patrol continues to get some levels.



Juni pilfers the second to last chest for a Thunder Shield which reduces damage from Thunder tomes only.





Sasha grabs her last two levels of the map (making her our highest leveled unit at lvl 15). She is now 1 point away from capping speed.



Julia I know you can do better than that



Runan kills another unit for a defensive level up.



Xeno seems to like getting speed.



Katri gets her only level of the map though healing some of our battered troops while we hunt down the last zombies. I don’t mind any level with defense on plot centric characters.



Juni grabs the last chest. Now it’s just up to Runan to hunt down the last gold mummy for another level and then haul his ass back to visit the fort.





Turns out it wasn’t really worth the effort…



Couple of turns later we finish off the chapter.





: What's going on, Holmes? That huge dragon we saw just now, wasn't that the Fire Dragon Neuron from legend? What's Neuron doing on an island like this?

: Hang on, pal. There's a certain somebody who's more shocked than you are.Katri... You okay?"

: Yes...

: Do you understand what you've done?

: I...was scared... I started running blindly when the zombies came after me... and I found myself in the poisonous marshes. The poison got to me, and I could barely breathe. Then when I thought I was done for, I suddenly transformed into a huge, red dragon. I... I panicked, and burned all of the zombies that were after me. That was a dream, right, Holmes? It was just an illusion I saw when I was near death, right? Please, Holmes... Just say that it was!

: You know well enough by now that it wasn't a dream, don't you?

: But... But why? Why did I turn into a dragon?

: That's because you carry the blood of Utona. How old are you, Katri?

: I turn fifteen today...

: I thought so... The scriptures say that the Dragon Priestess must be fifteen years of age. The powers which accompany the priestess only surface for two or three years after she turns fifteen.

It strkes me as a cruel and dangerous thing to have teens in their puperty turn into dragons when scared.

: The Dragon Priestess?

: In our legends, that's what we call a girl who can change form into a Dragon.

: But... I don't want to be a dragon!

: Then take off that bracelet. That should let you live your life as an ordinary girl.




: The bracelet is protecting you. If you let it go, whoever obtains it next will have the power to take over your mind. If it were to fall in the wrong hands, you could be turned into a savage beast, slaughtering all those in sight. If you wish to remain who you are, you must never let go of the Ring of Saria!

: Enteh? Why do you know...

: I'm sorry, Lord Runan... I promise I will tell you some day. But...not now...

: Hmm... So is that the case... Hey, Katri, stop crying already. You heard her, didn't you? So long as you keep yourself under control, you won't transform. But you still need to keep that bracelet on at all times. You got that?

: But Holmes... I'm scared...

: Don't worry. You just have to bear with it for a few years, that's all.

: But...

: Look... Don't worry, okay? I'll make sure nothing happens to you until then. I promise I'll protect you. So you just have to trust me. Got that, Katri?

: Holmes...

: Ahem... Forgive my interruption, Lord Runan, but we must hurry forth.

: You're right, Eugen. Are you still staying here, Holmes?

: Nah, I think everyone's growing tired of this island. We'll be leaving for the mainland once we're ready.

: Is that the journey to dig up old ruins that you used to talk about?

: Yup, I'm gonna travel around the world, looking for ancient treasures, relics, and legends. That's always been my dream. But I'll never forget about you, Runan. If we find something that might be useful to you, we'll be sure to send it your way.

: "Thank you, Holmes. Thank you for all you've done for us.

: Hey, don't worry about it. I want a man like you to be king. Don't forget, Runan, if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask. That's what friends are for, after all.

We move to a conversation between Julia and Shigen.





: I didn't know you'd left the isle as well. I never thought the old man would allow it.

: He wasn't happy about it, of course. Even when you left to aid the defense of Granada, I had to stay behind. But I'm not a little girl any more. I wanted to test my skills as a swordfighter of El.

: And now you're a mercenary working for Prince Runan. You weren't trying to follow us, were you?

: O-Of course not! It was only coincidence that I met the prince. The man who tricked me is in Lazeria, so I wanted to get even with him. That's why I joined the prince!

: Then what are you doing in a place like this?"

: D-... Don't ask me!





We get another inside look at the plans of the glorious pirate leader.











: We're gonna clear out the goons in the area before going to the mainland. The Taurus Bandits and the Isla Pirates might attack Wellt since you took most of its troops.

Runan
"You're doing all this for us..."

: Nah, that's not it. We just want their treasure, that's all. Oh, I almost forgot. Listen carefully, Runan. Your battles are going to get tougher and tougher once you reach the mainland. If you have any troops who are too weak to be of any use, why don't you leave them with me? We have the luxury of choosing our opponents, and we can fight as often as we want. I think it would be great training for fresh recruits. And like I said before, I'll be looking for weapons and items that'll help you in your quest. But we're in the middle of a war right now, so I don't know when we'll be able to meet again. We naturally can't trade items unless we meet. Once we leave Isla, we probably won't be able to see each other again for a long time. So, Runan, this'll be your only chance for a while to manage your troops. Think it over carefully.

Did anyone else hear the 4th wall shatter? Anyway that’s it for this chapter. Next time we re going to split our troops into two teams before we go on. Since I’m gone over the weekend and don’t know whether I have internet access or not, the next update with the voting information may be delayed till Sunday. Should I have Internet access though, it will go live tomorrow. Till next time.


Character information

Katri

Sister



Character stats

Skills

Summon (starting)

Katri is another mandatory character for Holmes chapters. She is almost identical with Enteh. She has slightly lower base stats and slighty better growths. She also starts out with the summon skill. Biggest difference it obviously her ability to turn into a dragon at will. It’s a great panic button should soomething go wron but since the length of the transformation is random you shouldn’t rely on it too much or you’ll end up turning back amidst enemies who’ll turn you to shreds on their turn.


Juni

Thief



Character stats

Skills

Steal (starting), Picklock (starting), Frontier Fighter (lvl 12), Continue (lvl 28), Charisma (lvl 35)

Juni is your first thief. She can open locks and chest as well as steal as befitting of a thief. Her lack of a defense and strength growth means she should never see combat which kind of is a problem since steal isn’t a seperated sskill and must be activated in combat. As such you’ll always have to take a risk if you want to steal something which is quite annoying especially since you can’t guarentee that it activates.


Xeno



Character stats

Fighter -> Hero

Skills

Sea Fighter (starting), Blazing Wind (Fighter lvl 12),Anti-Evil (lvl 20), Rising Dragon (lvl 30)

Xeno usually turns out to be a good unit, he has reasonably good growths for this game, learns decent skills and has decent starting stats and caps as well as a good promotion.