Part 61: Chapter LIII - Enough of this weirdo
Enough of this weirdo
Our next sidequest takes us to Melphina for the first time on “Disc 2”. New city, new conversations. 
Seems there’s a lot of that going around.
Mistress Marsha of the Forest Maidens is praying and doing all that she can, but it doesn't look good... Isn't there anything anyone can do!?Precocious Child: Look at this flower garden. The soil has lost its moisture. Dry soil means the flowers aren't going to bloom to full. And Meister Olebeag's mysterious illness is getting worse as the days go by... This garden represents this town's current condition, don't you think? Oh, er, maybe you're not old enough to understand this yet...
Sincere Forest Maiden: But something's been bothering me. I've been praying to the Blue Elf myself and something feels... different. As if there's a wall around it. I hope my prayers are reaching it safely...
With Meister Olebeag ill, we're in extra danger of being assaulted by monsters or even other towns. So, we of the Order of Melphina have stepped up our patrols... Nothing bad's going to happen on our watch!
The fiends after the Blue Elf were able to escape. We chased them into the Numor Mines, but once there, they skittered into the shadows like the rats they are. Ooh, to think they roam free…
Meister Olebeag is in a terrible state... I'm very worried. There’s a strange power that surrounds Meister Olebeag. It feels heavy and strange and… wrong. Who could be behind this? 
Hrm... Oh...Master Sykes. I did no notice you there. My apologies. Worried about your boss? Of late, I've found myself heavily pondering the life I have led, and questioning the choices I have made... Meister Olebeag... Was that there were a way I might ease your suffering...
Dr. Sykes is making frequent trips to Athlum Castle lately. What’s that about?
Don’t you know? She’s got a lot of knowledge when it comes to Remnants. She’s probably doing some research. You know everything! I was just in Cobalt Plaza, praying to the Blue Elf for Meister Olebeag's quick recovery. That's when I found my soul mate! She had very beautiful eyes, filled with sincerity. I haven't told her how I feel yet. I hope that someday we can devote our lives to each other and protect this town together.
You made such a valiant effort in the great battle on the Malbourge Flatlands! I was there, too. You really impressed me with the way you were handling your sword. Weren’t you raving about some other people a while ago? Neo and Leticia? Oh, I'm over that. Watching you on the battlefield, I realized that I don't need a woman - just being a strong warrior is rewarding enough. Thanks for cheering me up! Uh… okay... Okay, let’s get onto the sidequest already.
Site?
…What? Why do you wear that ridiculously baffled expression? …Ugh, this WOULD be what I get when I ask for the best… Uh… The reason you have come here is to be my assistant. So, as I said, get going to the place you need to be assisting me at! Head to the Yvalock’s Nest. The plants that grow there are the key ingredient in my secret elixir! Yes… with the mere addition of those three ingredients, this soon-to-be panacea of the world’s ills will be complete!
W-wait a minute! This is not the time to reveal yourself as the idiot you apparently are – this is the time for action! But… I realize not everyone is blessed with as piercingly logical a brain as I. Fine, I will give your poor, taxed mind a minute to catch up. … … …………………… There, I’ve waited enough! Now, annoyingly unreliable assistant #1: go forth, and collect the ingredients of my elixir!
Accepted quest: The Assistant The “refuse” option doesn’t work this time. 
“Annoyingly unreliable assistant #1” was a strong contender for chapter title. One problem – we still don’t know what to get.
What’s this? You still don’t have my ingredients? If you don’t hurry and gather them, you’re fired, I tell you! Fired! What ingredients? I need 10 drops of Blackrose Nectar, 8 flasks of Parasitic Oil, and 5 Shadowood Seeds. I shouldn’t think it’s too much to remember, even for you. So, hurry up and get them! This quest has a subtle dick move with those requirements that you won’t learn until completing it.
Some wierdo scientist guy from Melphina somehow conned me into going to Yvalock’s nest to get some “special” materials.
Unlike pretty much every other dungeon-delving sidequest, you aren’t taken to Yvalock’s Nest automatically – you have to go there yourself. That’s because this is a harvesting quest, and you Music: Dark Secrets
Yvalock’s Nest – It is said that many, many years ago, a creature known as the Yvalock inhabited this spot. Some refer to it as the Animate Cave.
It doesn’t come across in screenshots, but the walls of this cave pulse with a dim orange glow.
This is a pretty small dungeon. This quest is not so bad on NG+, when you already have full upgrades for Mr. Diggs and 20+ digs to spare, but on a clean run through, you’ll probably have to come back here a few times to harvest enough.
This tunnel dead-ends into glowing orange rocks.
This digging spot has the Parasitic Oil.
The Shadowood Seeds are at the far west. class changed to Paladin! Because my Psionics have passed my Remedies, if only barely, Rush has now switched classes to Paladin, like Paris. This was not unexpected, and does not interfere with my progress towards Ninja. That’ll happen once my STR hits 59. I think I’m still 13 points shy, so still quite a way to go. There are other class changes and arts learned, but I do a lot of reloading, so I’m not sure what sticks. See the list at the end.
The Blackrose Nectar is found here. Note that the dead-ends to the right are blocked off with rocks. Well, that’s everything, so back to Melphina!
This is the mild dick move. He asks you for a lot of items… but will only take fewer than that (generally half), letting you get away with harvesting fewer. But you don’t know that the first time. (I’m not listening.) Whaaat!? Assistant – are you hiding something from me!? How could you? Fine, fine, geez. … This… this is it! This, finally, is the arrangement of ingredients I’ve sought for so long! I have tested the results with my own two lips! Indeed, good medicine tastes bitter. So what does this for again? Yes! Yes! With this, even that sweet-mouthed beauty in town will swoon over me! Aha! Aha! Ahahahahaha! With that, he runs off, leaving you with nothing, not even a change to the quest journal. You need to leave the bar. Celapaleis is nice this time of year. … Okay you back? Good.
Okay, that’s bad, but if the love potion business didn’t make it clear that this “Scientist” is a huge creep, the rest of the sidequest certainly will. Not even being chewed up by monsters would be as cruel an experience as this… I mean, I- Ergh… Arg! What’s wrong with you? … I feel as if I have lost something I can never regain. Take your pittance and leave me, boy. I’ve had enough of males for one day. Reward: 400G The scientist guy must have had a real traumatic experience, because he seemed really bummed. I couldn't say anything to cheer him up!
Thus, today I begin the creation of a new formula – a new challenge! A new hope!!! Yes, these shall be the secret ingredients of my new concoction. Got it? So, be off, my ever-revering assistant #1! He still hasn’t told us what he wants us to fetch. Or he did but I forgot to screenshot it. One of those. Err… what do you want again? Gahhh! You still haven’t gotten ANY of the ingredients for my miracle drug? Where’s your lust to work, or at least get paid? From this list, I need 25 drops of Blackrose Nectar, 15 Shadowood Seeds, and 6 Handfuls of Cosmosand. That’s all you need to find! I don’t know how to spell it out for you any more than I already have! So get going! The scientist guy wants to try another experiment. He asked me to get him more materials for an "even better" concoction.
Inexplicably, the cave has expanded. I think this, along with the disturbing orange pulse is why it’s called the Animate cave. Now, we COULD get some of the ingredients from harvesting the spots we know about already, but that would be inefficient (and boring). There are better spots farther in.
- Video: Rare Monster Yvalmock 
Two of the ingredients can be harvested, but the third one, Cosmosand only drops from Yvalmocks. Those are rare monsters positively infesting this place. Yes, there can be multiples of the same kind of rare monster. That’s only for specific cases, though.I’ve decided to cut back on useless videos. So while I fight a lot of rares in this update, I’m only showing fights which are interesting.
They only have the one attack. It’s not very threatening.
Dragon Tail is a Power Grip – Sword art. It’s a fast spinning slash.
They are not very tough. They are guaranteed to drop a Cosmosand upon death, though. learned 
Stealth! Stealth is allegedly supposed to make the targeted union invisible to enemy unions. The problem with it is that it requires that the Stealth-using union ALWAYS goes first, and if a union which is stealthed attacks a union, that union can attack right back. So Stealth is pretty worthless.
So repeat through this cave, killing Yvalmocks for Cosmosand, and harvesting points for the other components until you have enough.
The only thing of note is that I broke 50k damage on an Omnistrike. I didn’t find enough Cosmosand, so I had to leave and come back. Gaou mentioned wanting some Polished Scale.
The Yvalmocks are part of the secondary monster group. Wait, have I not explained that yet? Each dungeon has two groups – a primary monster group which has some of certain monsters always present, and a second group, of which one is present. Rares are included in the secondary group. So if there are any other rares in the dungeon, like this Gaias Terrapest, there are no Yvalmocks to be found.
You wouldn’t think something that big could jump like that. Anyway, I killed it, and eventually got the last Cosmosand.
Of course, I wasted a bunch of time because you don’t need that many. Don’t be like me. Quest Smart. (I’m not listening.) What what? Smirky sneaky assistant #1, are you just taunting me? Because that isn’t very nice! Alright already, I’m handing. ……… This… this is it! This time, I’ve finally succeeded in creating my ultimate elixir! Not too sweet, not too bitter… less filling, tastes great! In fact, for a moment I was captivated by the overwhelmingly clear flavor. So what’s it do? The next-generation elixir the world has been waiting for… My super invisibility potion is almost complete! Wheee-hee hee hee hee! Uh-oh… Let’s come back later.
But instead, while I was getting an eyeful, the girls saw me, and certainly didn’t seem happy about it… It was a brutal beatdown! Sounds well-deserved to me. I didn’t even do anything wrong! My motives were completely pure! I am a doctor, after all! Uhhh… To put it clearly, I have been wounded, both body and soul. It is more than I can stand… literally. Here, take your money, and begone. Just… sometimes, look upon it and think of me… Reward: 800 G I’ll probably just spend it all on lunch. The scientist guy got stomped by some girls he ticked off. I didn't know what to say, so I decided to leave him alone. But wait, there’s more!
My body as well has returned to its formerly hale and hearty state. For the first time in some time, I have begun work on another miracle potion. Sounds like a bad idea. However, I have finally struck upon the method to brew an elixir worthy of being called the ultimate. I need 30 drops of Parasitic Oil, 18 scoops of Cosmosand, and a single Nightblossom Seed. (So, that’s 15, 9, and 1. Got it.) With just these few ingredients, I can create a potion that is nothing short of miraculous. Riiiiight. So then! Assistant who may one day be almost as fabulous as I #1! I think you know what to do, so go do it! Er… what was it again?
Do I really need to answer that? 30 drops of Parasitic Oil. 18 scoops of Cosmosand. 1 Nightblossom Seed. The scientist guy decided to give it one more go. Third time's a charm, right? I really hope he gets what he wants this time...
The third and final cave section has been added to the southwest corner. Nightblossom Seeds have a chance to drop from a Yvalock – not a YvalMock. So all we need to do is find Yvalocks and Yvalmocks and we’ll be good.
Okay that’s not the right rare.
learned 
Permafrost II!
As I said, we just need to find the right rares, and…
Oh come on!
Somewhere during one of these dungeon crawls, David learned Permafrost II, which lets him upgrade Blackout to Blackout II. It did 14750 damage. Okay, well this was a bust so let’s leave and come back.
Seriously?By the way, one quick test is that if you see any monster at that spot, any monster at all, then no Yvalocks or Yvalmocks will spawn.
The farthest room has a digging point full of Parasitic Oil, and there’s a chance that digging there will restore Mr.Diggs count to full, which is really handy for this quest. - Video: Rare Monster Yvalock
Yvalocks are only trivially different otherwise. They don’t have a guaranteed chance to drop the seed, but you only need one anyway.
So enjoy this video of the Gae Bolg, which you haven’t seen for a while. 
Look at that. He asked for 18 Cosmosands, but you only NEED 3. What a dick move.And it worked too, because after all that hunting, my BR has gone from 37 to 40 just from this one quest. Oh well, at least I also learned a lot of arts. My BR is fine, I am at best at the expected BR, I’m not too high. In my previous playthrough I was at about BR 40 at the start of Disc 2.
(Enough of this weirdo.) Wh-what!? Strangely silent assistant #1… After all we’ve been through, how could you be so cold? They’re all yours. ………………………… Ha ha…hahahAHAHAHAH! This is the zenith! I have ascended to empyrean heights! So much so that my heart is racing, my blood is boiling! The simplicity of the components has a certain depth – a rich flavor! It’s taken me to a rose-colored world I could live in forever! I hate to ask. The ultimate elixir is within my grasp! And with it, I can transform into a female in the flower of youth…! Urhuhh hurr hurr hurr hurr!!! Some days it just doesn’t pay to go to the bar. So leave and come back…
I mean, if an old man turns into an old woman, what’s the use in that? *sob* The following line has been enhanced with Too Much Information filters for your convenience. What was supposed to be firm and perky was loose and flabby… What was supposed to be luscious and creamy was dry and wrinkled… DUDE! OVERSHARE!! It was terrible… it was worse than terrible! It was perhaps the worst accident to happen in the history of man! I think you’re overstating things. Here, I suppose it’s not your fault I am old. Leave me… I have seen too many horrors to find any other duty for you today. Reward: 1600 G The scientist guy failed again... I don't think science is the way to go... You can talk to him one more time.
Now what? It seems I just don’t have it in my to complete my ultimate elixir… How disappointing… I wallow in the depths of despair. Too bad, gotta go. Thus, I have decided to take a trip around the world, to expand my horizons and increase my repertoire. In short, you’re fired. Oh no. Whatever will I do. This will be my final gift to you. It’s a rather unwanted byproduct of my previous trials… a failure. I meant to get rid of it with everything else, but I have been too busy. So, as my former assistant, I leave its disposal in your hands. Uh, sure. Alright, that’s all I had to say. If ever our paths cross again, we may share a meal. Be sure to bring an attractive companion. Farewell! Reward: Divine Elixir x1, 6000G. Divine Elixir – An elixir from the Melphinian scientist. Another failed experiment… or is it? Its use is unknown. The scientist guy couldn't create anything useful, so he decided to go on a journey in search of more knowledge. And that’s finally it for this quest. The Divine Elixir is considered a “consumable”, but it can’t be used, because the party is way too smart to put anything that guy made in their mouths.
New Arts Summary
class changed to Expert Paladin! learned:
Revitalize IV!
- Support!
- Stealth!
- Mixed Message!
class changed to Legendary Hunter!
class changed to Legendary Cavalier! learned 
Dragon Crush!
class changed to Master Cavalier! learned 
Nimble Smash III! class changed to Lordly Mysticknight! learned:- Permafrost II!
Blackout II!
learned: - Wind Shear III!
Vivification Herb!
class changed to Lordly Marauder! learned 
Paralyze Gas!
class changed to Master Mysticknight!
learned Fleche!
class changed to Master Paladin!
class changed to Legendary Cavalier! learned 
Nimble Resonance Edge III!
class changed to Legendary Scout!
class changed to Legendary Scout! learned 
Double Slash!
learned:- Restore IV!
Retreat Flare II!
class changed to Adept Cleric!You might have noticed a lot of “Legendary” classes. Classes have an internal upgrade system which boost stats. Legendary is the highest rank of internal class – once you get that high, your only options for class improvement are switching to another class.
Video: Rare Monster Yvalmock
Video: Rare Monster Yvalock
Good news: I was worried that I might accidentally overwrite an Important Save Game, so I decided to go ahead and record the bonus quest you get for agreeing with Ophelia on all three Order of Melphina quests. Of course, that meant I had to actually do all of them again (AND re-fight the Nest of Eagles battle). That’ll either be coming before or after the next main plot update.
Poll: In a locked room deep in the Robelia Ruins, there's a stone goddess that brings you together with the “one of your choice.” What type does Rush want to meet?
A. Someone wild and crazy
B. Someone petite and cute
C. Someone energetic and cheerful?
D. Someone dark and mysterious?
Next Time: That’s… the Silver… something-or-others.