Part 30: Chapter XXV-A: BONUS: The Hero of a Thousand Years

Bonus: “The Hero of a Thousand Years”

I didn’t actually know this at the time I recorded it, otherwise I would have done this then. As has been pointed out, the quests “The Hero” and “The War of a Thousand Years” reference each other, and the bosses of both these quests can be found in the same place.

Normally, you can only have one side-quest active at a time, and the other one overwrites it. But for this quest, the designers built in an exception.


- Video: The Hero of a Thousand Years


Let’s travel back in time to Balterossa, just after finishing “The Silent Soul”. Both quests are now available. To get the special event to trigger is simple enough:




I ain’t afraid o’ no ghost.

Accept the quest…




Exiting to the World Map will suspend the current quest. Exit to the World Map?
Yep!

Then immediately leave the dungeon to suspend it. Go back to Café Moondust.




Call me the Stopmaster!

Accept this quest now…




And once again leave. Now we have activated both quests at least once.




Keep your pants on.
Hey – you sure you’re okay? Haven’t been thirstin’ for qsiti flesh, right?
Well, Albic qsiti meat is pretty tasty… er, or so I’ve heard. … I’m going to stop talking now.
(Will wonders never cease.)




He’s dead, he can wait.
…Come on, just hurry up and do it.
I’m on it!
The ghost warrior haunts a small island in the shifting sands in the Great Subterrane. But if you cannot find a way over the sands, you won’t be able to pass to the island. Some other monster has been raised from the dead, it’s said, but you probably should just leave well enough alone with that one.

Re-accept “The Hero” quest. (Or the other one, it doesn’t matter.)




If you see across the pit, you can see the monster from “The War of a Thousand Years” waiting, even though “The Hero” is the active quest.






There’s a special cutscene which has two of them now!




Defeat the Mantroskylo!






There’s a new mechanic in the fight, too! That yellow colour means that it is a Neutral union – it will not attack us unless we attack it first. So let’s not fight it.




The Absolute Queen will single-mindedly target the Mantroskylo in this fight. So do we, and in short order, it is in critical condition.






Once the Mantroskylo is defeated, the Absolute Queen dies immediately – even if it was killed by ‘her’ itself.




The dialogue changes if this is how you did the quest.

What could possibly be the reason to carry such a grudge for so long? I really want to know… Er, ahem. This is for you.
Reward: Rough Elven Stone x1, 5000 G. Obtained Honor of Determination! Obtained Vanguard! You’ve learned a new formation!

This combines the rewards for both quests AND grants you an extra 500 G on top.




Whoo boy, yer a legend o’ yer own, sonny… This should end the thousand-year conflict. Stubborn gets, ain’t they? Don’t know one need to be fightin’ for a thousand years straight anyhow. Sure, before becomin’ a ghost, he must’ve had something he was real hung up on… Enough to not get around to dyin’ for… That said, Balterossa’s gotta be doin’ somethin’ to deserve it, yeah? I smell a conspiracy, and a big one! Welp, I got a meetin’ so later!

Actually, the one you didn’t do the quest from leaves after the first quest is done. So I did it a second time to get the alternate dialogue. Here are the new journal entries for doing the quests together:


The hero-turned-monster is dead. No one really knows how he transformed into that thing. Not my problem, I guess.

I killed the monster and the ancient hero. I don’t know why they kept fighting all these years. Isn’t there a better way to spend time…?




That’s it for now. Next time we fight a battle we really shouldn’t be fighting this soon.



The Hero of a Thousand Years

Next Time: My heart was the only casualty