Part 14: Armic's Adventure - Part 1

Unlimited Saga, Part 14: Armic's Adventure

The people have spoken... and they chose Ruby. But I am a tyrant, and I wanted to try and see if I could complete Armic's story, so that's what we're doing instead. Mythe is considered the hardest story in terms of combat, which I think everyone should now understand; Armic, on the other hand, is hard because of economic reasons.



Armic is a Chapa and he has a magnificently terrible voice. Also, he is incredibly stupid. Like so:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcJC61FNmCM

Sadly, this isn't Minstrel Song, so most of the dialog is not voiced. It's a real loss.

So, what is Armic's story about?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1amJ7JXQyvw



Long ago, the Chapa Village suffered a severe drought. There had been no rain for months.



Just when the villagers had given up all hope, a drifter came by, begging for food.



The villagers, in spite of their own suffering, warmly received the drifter.



As a token of his gratitude, the drifter began to perform a rainmaking ritual.



And rain it did, for three days and three nights! The village was saved.



The man left a stone tablet that explained the mysteries of rainmaking. Then he departed. On the tablet was carved the name of the man -- Iskandar.



We have chosen four brave Chapas to gather the items needed for the rite listed in Iskandar's instructions. Come back with the items we need for the ritual before our village dies from drought. May I present our four brave Chapas.






I wonder why they picked a blockhead like me. What was the village chief thinking? Aww, I'd better just stop thinking about it. Anyway, looks like I'm going on a trip.

That's the setup. Armic needs to find some stuff so they can save the village. If this gripping plot about some weird squirrel people who must find a series of macguffins to save their land from drought seems familiar, then I guess you played SaGa Frontier.

Also, I did record his voice acting in that bit too and here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFPOz6PQxiw

Anyway, after that we're dumped in Chapa with no real direction.



We can't look at the list of items yet, because it hasn't been translated. All we can do is go check the Inn and see if anyone there has something to say.



This lady says this even if you visit Chapa as somebody else. So I guess the Chapa like to write...? Or, perhaps, she is just an idiot. Who can say.



This is who we want to talk to. It's Norff, and he will be our first party member.

Oh, is it an alphabet?

Yeah, I'll need to show it to my teacher. I'm on my way to gather herbs now, but why don't we go see him later?

There are some really nice people in this world. I hope this means my job will finish soon.

Chapa's Inn has a shop, but it's one of those trade-only shops. Armic actually begins with some nice equipment, including a silver sword, so I don't want to trade the sword for a single piece of fur or something stupid like that so we won't be buying anything. Let's just go get some herbs or whatever.




This is actually a sidequest anybody can do if they go to Chapa, but for Armic it counts as a story quest and thus has no time limit. As Norff says, it is very easy to do, but you shouldn't just do it and leave because this place is full of treasure bags.



They're almost always trapped, yeah, but it seems to only ever be poison or needles, so you can just open it and take the hit. We need as much money as possible as soon as possible so we can get all of Armic's magical nonsense bought quickly. Usually characters come to Chapa pretty late, I think, so doing that as Ventus or whoever wouldn't be worth the small payout. However, it's still good to do because you get herbs, and herbs are very special. Look, here's an herb:



They come in different colors, with green being most common. You might as well explore and grab the other ones though, because they are better. And what do they do? Well, when used outside of combat, they recover a character's LP.

Yes. LP. They are the only thing that can do this, and you only find them here.

The quest is simple and not particularly exciting, so let's discuss our two protagonists. These are pretty much the only characters who actually have plot relevance for Armic, because they are the only mandatory ones.

Armic has mediocre stats, though he has good water and endurance. His strength is... average. He is pretty much just average. However, he is also tiny, which means he weighs very little and can be made to do light martial arts or simply relied on to go first in combat. Good for combos. Alternatively, you could load him up with really heavy stuff and he'd still weigh less than a regular person! I don't know if you'd necessarily use him over anybody else but, I mean, it is his story so we've gotta keep him around.

On the other hand, Norff is amazing. He's got maximum magic growth, and while his wood growth is average he starts with a high-level wood spell, and one of the few that actually deals damage.




Normally, a character with good wood growth is kind of pointless, since most wood spells are buffs and you don't need a high stat to use those. Only damage and healing scale from the actual element value, which is why fire and water are so good -- you can get basic damage and healing spells without even really trying. Norff doesn't have to try, because he already knows the best wood attack spell in the game. So, even if you never bothered to teach him another spell, he'd be good. But if you do want to do that, he even starts with magic tablets equipped and ready to learn. Sure, if you wanted to grind out the spells for someone with better stats they would do more damage, but I don't have to do anything for Norff at all so I love him. Dude's great.

Actually, pretty much every recruitable character in Armic's quest seems to be incredible, so that's cool.

When you get seven herbs the quest is over. Armic starts out with a bow skill, which is stupid. We're going full martial arts, baby! Eventually his damage output will suffer, and we'll switch him to a weapon, but I want to keep from having to repair things as much as possible. I'm sure you can understand why.




This is Yun Crimsonrain. He's a wizard. Also, an asshole.

Such advanced magic inscription! Iskandar proves himself not just a hero, but the greatest wizard ever! Truly impressive. It is as complicated as Leith Torles's magic tome.

He's talking about all sorts of complicated things. I don't understand it much.

Master, would you help this Chapa?



This is... quite interesting. I'll be happy to help out. Examining this tablet may take some time.

That's okay. It's not something I can make good use of anyway. I'll leave it to your keeping. Please let me know if you find out anything.



Here's the list of the items I need to go collect. Let's start with this.



I see. Then I'll go with you! My master already gave his permission.

Both Yun and Norff are so kind to me! I hate to rush, but we need to get those items.

So, that's how Armic's story is structured. You have to collect the amount of each item listed, and after getting a certain amount of them done it'll unlock his next dungeon. Eventually, of course, we'll need to get them all, and then we'll go fight the final boss and Chaos. So next time we'll talk about strategies for getting this stuff, and get our first optional party member. Stay tuned!