Part 22: Episode 3: Part 6: A Farewell To Caves.

Episode 3: Part 6: A Farewell To Caves.



So, a few thousand feet above Hell itself, according to Scatha, is these guys. They're real fuckers. They have a lot of HP and if you just spam attack you can and likely will lose. They hurl fireballs (lots of damage. Like, 40 even! ~50% hp of both Rhue and Scatha now) which can inflict burning (same as poison-1, which doesnt do much or last long but added up with the base fireball damage. Ouch!)
Thankfully there's only three, I think?




We come to a more typical lavaset in the next area. Not much to say for the very first part. Just a Riser or two to fight.

And jumping some rocks we come to...



I thought only you were supposed to do the boosting.

Change of plansss. Now move a little to my right and kneel down.

(This is dumb. I really hate taking orders from her.)

HURRY UP!!!

Sweet lands, relax Scatha!
Scatha gets boosted up and then she just takes off without a word.



(Stinking witch. Maybe there is another way up.)
So we begin to walk around this big outcropping.



Thankfully the two encounters for this section is this old friend of ours.

Anyway, walking around the rock leads to a stair up to where we boosted Scatha. At best we saved her 10 seconds of walking, a little under a minute if you count the cave sludges.

When you go up the stairs...



"THAT IS MINE!!! NO!! STOP!!!"


There's a flash, a lot of noise and the ground shakes so that Rhue staggers to his knees.

Scatha???
After a small diversion to grab some loot Scatha neglected, I jump the gap and...











YOU WANT TO TAKE THE PLUNGE?!!! FINE!!!!!!
whoa calm down rhue whats gotten into you



This mystery figure has either steam or smoke rising off his head the whole fight.



Oh look, the interface for Link Attacks has appeared but we can't really use them yet.
Anyway, a couple of average passes with nothing spectacular happening goes by.

(What am I fighting???)



I believe Burning Edge is the Step 2 Blade Art damage booster.



Rhue pulls off a godly 18 damage blow to this guy with only 2d6 damage.



And then the next pass is the last... This fight's real easy if you found everything. Could be challenging without the walkthrough but definitely winnable. Mandatory plunges tend to be easy as sin to win, for obvious reasons.



Uhh whatevs idk lol







Whatever it is, it starts flashing, slowly at first, then faster until it disappears in a flash of blidning light with... a very distorted, inhuman scream... or roar?
I'm going to be honest, we never exactly are told what this thing is/was or even what the treasure is. But there's a couple theories based on the scant evidence we get, one of which is too big a spoiler to go into how it'd work but I can tell you the bare basics next update when the second -possible- clue comes up (The first clue being Rhue's sword going crazy).
But one very plausible theory is that its not really important, Lun just realised it was well over halfway through the episode and there'd still been no plunges.





Because we defeated the load bearing plunge, the volcano promptly decides to explode.


The man... where isss he?

What are you talking about?! GET UP!!! We have to get out of here!!!

I don't want to.

You said you'd help me get back to the surface?! Come on, get moving!

...

Do you want to die?!

...

Wonderful.



Shut up.





There's a pow sound here and when we can see again...



I didn't NEED or ASSSk for your help, you little PERVERT!

Pervert?! What are you talking about?

You know exaaaactly what I mean! Putting your GRIMY handsss all over me the way you did!!
You must be desssperate for affections.

No I'm not!!! If I wanted affection I sure wouldn't want it from you!
I've already got a girl! Her name is Serena and she loves me!!!
Wow she didn't ask for your life story Rhue.

This starts playing again, albeit in midi format.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HRd5g8NsNs&feature=youtu.be&t=31

...
Where isss she?

I... I don't know. We were separated a long time ago. I'm trying to find her.

...
Not even a trace?
Scatha seems strangely interested in the whereabouts of Serena, huh. Maybe Rhue hasn't (unknowingly) made her up, as I suspected the first time I played this.

Well...

Wasss ssshe... beautiful?

Yes.

Isss that the only reassson you loved her?



Scatha points here.

How easssy it is to sssay that.
But love is jussst an illusion created by thossse who wish to draw meaning from pleasshure.
If you found your girl, gaunt and ugly, you would not sssstay by her.
You would run off to find a new trophy.
A trophy that would make other wanderersss envy you. It's all a ssselfish game really.
Love doesn't exissst. You desssire othersss only when they can benefit you.



Rhue starts to... leave.



"Ashkt! You idiot!!!
You act all noble, but thatsss exactly what it isss!!! An ACT!!!
You think you're sssome kind of HERO don't you?"

... No.

People are all the sssame, essspecially you ssstupid mean!!!
If you really loved thisss girl that you ssspeak of, Ssserena, you would have already found her.
Now all ssshe has isss a broken heart and her bitter tearsss to ssswallow.
Either that or shesss dead.
Do you think you're a hero now Rhue?
Find the way out of thisss place by YOURSELF, hero boy.



Whatever. Another stupid witch.
Why are women always mad at me for something?
I'll find Serena. I just have to get to Estrana and talk to Cetsa.
Scatha, I hope I never end up like you.



Sometime later...



We regain control at a crossroads of sorts. A crossroads that always leads back here no matter which tunnel you pick. It's some kind of looping affect because no transitions are involved and the tunnels actually do take you in different directions and have you arrive back here from different ways.
You can either wander for a while and the next scene triggers, or, if you step on a few particular squares, which you'll definitely do going through each tunnel once, it also triggers.







You get control again here, but Rhue's walking a bit slowly now. And then halfway through the room you lose control again so he can walk up the rest of the way. Why Lun bothered giving us control is beyond me.



"SWEET FLAMING LANDS!!!"



This is hopeless. I'm going to die down here just like Scatha said.

Hey Purpose!!!
Is this all there is for me?!

Do you take pleasure in my suffering?!
Of course you do!!! Why else would you let me stumble onto my first hint of Serena before sticking me down here?!
Do you feel the despair in me?! Is this what you feed off of?

You BASTARD!!!



Rhue kneels down, and since his head is bobbing, I'm guessing he's crying.
"I'll never find her now...."



...

(Is this for real?)



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzXLIflCwhw



Scatha, standing on a switch...
"Isss it really him? Something isss different about him besssidessss hisss name...
Rhue...
Hmmm..."

More strangeness about how off Rhue is and how Rhue hasn't always been his name.
But, with this we're finally done with the caves of Episode 3. We're in the last quarter of Episode 3, actually. Thank heavens.

the end