Part 17: Chapter 5-4: Raising an Army

Chapter 5-4: Raising an Army

All right. We've got three more new jobs to start out the update, but we won't be seeing much about them until later on.



First up is Lydia, who you may remember as the girlfriend of the Monster/Material Shop guy.

- ...! H... Hey, you!

Lydia walked toward you.

She seemed to be in a bad mood.



- What!? What's a Material Shop? After you took the other job, he said that he would quit his Monster Shop. But right after I paid you, he came to me and said this... "I started a Material Shop." ...You hear?! I thought my heart was going to jump out... It's all your fault. You put some weird idea into his head, didn't you!? This is perfect. You're probably here to poke fun at me... But I'm not letting you off. You're going to take full responsibility for this. Hurry up and crush his Material Shop.

- ...No you can't. It'll be the same as always. He'll just start a new business.

Lydia started to think of ways to stop him.

- ................

- I got it! He just wanted to play a store owner! So if he succeeds, he'll get tired of it! Then finally he'll change and get a decent job. Let's use that. Pretend you're a customer and help him succeed! Since he just started, he doesn't have much merchandise.



- ...he'll get tired of buying back items and eventually get tired of his business! It was my mistake to let you handle everything. This time, you'll do what I say.

Lydia briskly walked away, still in a bad mood...

...So, yeah. Lydia wants us to get at least one of every material in the game and sell it to her boyfriend. If you recall, selling a material to him once will make it go on sale the next time you talk to him, so the buy list is a pretty good indicator of what you need to go collect next. Here's the current list:



So yeah, this one is going to take a while.



Next up is Geese. Not to be confused with Fatal Fury.



(Although he does kind of look like him)

A man with the eyes of a beast appeared in front of you.

He whispered, "I want you to find a girl."

- Her name is Hannah. She's a cute, brave girl.

He was embarrassed.

His name was Geese Greeney. He said that he was a well-known warrior.

- Do you believe you in fate? Love at first sight IS a bit cheesy, though. When I first met her, I felt it inside. You know what I mean? Guys like me are satisfied risking our lives, holding women, and drinking booze. Heheh, that's right..... until I met her.

He smiled childishly.

- She stood out from the rest. And so, I promised her that when I saved up enough money, we'd live together. I'm an adventurer at the very least. I know ways of making a lot of money. It's simple. Just beat any monster that crosses your path. The stronger they are, the more money they carry. I finally made enough after defeating a Lesser Demon.

Geese let out a deep sigh.

- When I got back from the Labyrinth, I discovered that Hannah was gone. If she had gotten tired of me, I'd understand. But knowing her, she'd leave a note or something. Of course I'll look for her, but I want help. I'm counting on you.



The third quest...



- I ask of you... Bring music back to me. And give me the will to live on.

He was Fawn Azael, chief of the Elves who lives deep in the forest to the south of Duhan.

He said, "We, the Elves... have been forsaken by music."

- Everything has sound. The wind across the earth... the forest at dawn... The songs of the animals... Lovers exchanging words... The melodies of the world give us Elves reason to live. To live is to immerse oneself into a melody. But since the Flash... Music has stopped.

The Elves were also among the victims of the Flash.

The forest was burned, and those who survived had to through the pain of losing loved ones. But Fawn said that as long as there was music created by the earth, they could start over.

- But something is wrong... There is sound. But something's essentially wrong... It's like the world is within reach, yet cannot be touched. We have lost what little emotion we had left... We just live and breathe, like any other animals. Please... Bring us back our music and give us the strength to live on.



- Ah... My sister may know something about it. She's a musician. But she's still a novice... She keeps saying funny things. Last time I saw her she said that a song she heard deep in the forest shook her soul. Hardy, har, har. Cheesy, huh? She said that it shook the silent trees and even monsters cried. I've never heard of that happening, and I doubt it even could. Since then, she's been aiming to be a musician. You know the 5th Floor, right? It looks kinda like a forest. She's living there. She never comes back, and she started a Musical Instrument Shop... Well, she might be able to help you. Drop by there sometime. Her name's Lucida. If you ask around, you should find it. But could you do me a favor and tell her to snap out of it?

Wordy little bugger, eh? But yeah, there was an instrument shop down in B5.

Anyway, back into the Labyrinth using our handy new B1 shortcut!

There's a couple new things on B5.



Naturally, giants drop these sometimes. I don't recall ever getting these before, but I got three in less than twenty minutes. Go figure.

Do you remember the door guarded by a Pixie asking for a Carcass or Cathedral Stone? Well, I picked up a Carcass stone while I was making them for Maria's Quest, but...

http://blip.tv/file/5043415

You heard a woman sobbing.

- Never... I'll never forgive...



- I'll never forgive him... That disgusting pervert just loves to watch weak beings like us suffer! That's why... in front of me. And as if that wasn't enough, this time he was trampling all over his poor dead body! After I finally managed to get a Cathedral Stone... All because of him... Now he'll never... ever... ever come back to life...

As soon as you walked into the room, a sickening stench overwhelmed you.

You heard a voice like the howling of the wind.

It sounded as if thousands of people were whispering at the same time.



The menace in the air grew denser.

A rotten smell flowed all around, and a paralyzing black cloud of vengeance began to encircle the area.



And so, we fight our first Lesser Demon. Lesser Demons have a pretty even split between high attack power and strong attack magic, but as the fight indicates they prefer to attack physically. As far as comparisons go, they hit harder than the earth giants, but have much less defense.

- Thank you... for taking revenge.

The Pixie flew beside the corpse.

- This one was a real fool. He was a pretty skillful adventurer, but he was too gullible and naive.

She laughed and spoke of her past, yet her voice was sorrowful.

- Maybe he was aware that I had tricked him.

She said that she went to the surface to bring back a Human male.

She would transform into a beautiful woman, and lure the men.

But the Pixies were doing so only to protect themselves.

Defenseless beings like them were merely a snack to other monsters.

They needed strong men in order to survive.

- He should have just turned his back on me like everyone else. Then I wouldn't be suffering now. He always smiled and went up against those monsters... just because he knew that doing so would make me happy... I don't need this... piece of junk!

What she tossed away was a shiny green earring.

You quietly picked up the earring that fell by your foot.

You got the Earring!

- I would've been happy if he had just stayed alive... I don't ever want to see Humans... ever again...

In case you were curious, bringing her back the stone before this cutscene yields a Crimson Ring, which regenerates HP over time. Fairly nice, I guess, but not worth loading up an old save for.

Also, I think this is the second phase of Geese's quest... but since I'm not sure, I'm loading it up as-is.



In a small room a bit further down from the B1 shortcut, there is an Osafune katana. It's slightly better than the Craftsman's katana, so Sagoon gets an upgrade.



Nearby is the gondola. It can be taken back up the entrance of B5, near where we were talking to the elf girl in 5-1. We'll use it shortly, but first we have a new NPC to pick up.



A little past the gondola is a mineshaft, where another cart awaits with some gold. After picking up the money, it's time to head back to the Osafune room.

http://blip.tv/file/5043298



- Scram! Get lost! If youz don't, I's gonna get in trouble!

- It wasn't me, I said!

You could hear voices violently arguing from the other side of the door.

- How many times do I have to tell you?! I don't know nothing about no gold coins! Gaaaaaaaaaaaah!

- We wuzn't able to go to war 'cuz you stole our money! It be all your fault dat we gets made fun of!

- That kid be a robber. He stole da Boss's loot! It wuz important treasure dat wuz hidden in da minecar! So he gonna get eaten up by da Boss real good! Shoo! Shoo! Get the hell outta 'ere now!



Haha... as much fun as it is to have Daniel get in trouble for something we did instead of the other way around, it would be pretty cruel to leave him to the orcs.

Sagoon's kind attitude gave a good impression to comrades with a Good or Neutral attribute.

You shoved the Orc out of your way and went in.



Such an utterly unremarkable fight that I cut it out of the video, too.

- Th-thank goodness... Some idiot stole the Orcs' treasure that was in a minecar. They tried to pin the blame on me... I'm so unlucky...

Daniel shook his head twice as if he were completely hopeless, and then gave an exaggerated sigh.

- Listen... I'm thinking of leaving this dangerous place... since I've already made enough money. I mean, I'm all about making my money the smart and easy way! The floors below are full of scarier monsters and it's gonna be rough. But, you know, I wouldn't mind helping you out, if you insist! If you want me to help you, come get me at the Tavern. I'll be playing with the cats in town until then.

Daniel has been registered. He can now be added to your party at the Tavern.

I sincerely hope I never see his face again.



Who wants to ride the gondola?! We do, we do!



There's something special waiting down there if we keep the gondola on the top floor and head back down. But first, for something completely different.

http://blip.tv/file/5044061





You heard the marching beats of drums, the reading footsteps, adn teh clanking of armor approaching.

Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho!
Play the flute, crush the castles!
Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho!
Bang the drums,
set the abbeys ablaze!

A horde of Orcs marching in formation appeared.





- A scrawny lil' guy be scurryin' around!!



- I'ma gonna beat his ass real good.

(Middle) - He... he look so... so yummy an' tasty! I'm a eat'im up!! He'll be real good if I pours lotsa salt an' pepper on 'im!

- Hey, you! If you do anything that I DON'T tell you to do, you will be punished. Is that clear?

- It be da Boss! He'z gonna whip all our butts!



- Loyalty and respect are not needed to rule over them. However, there is some goood that can come out of evil. Actually, in reality there is far more evil taht comes about from good intentions.

Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho!
Getting rid of the lord of gods.
Ho! Ho! HO! Ho!
The King of Demons, His Lecherousness
will soar above and rule the world!

Following the group of Orcs, an army of Kobolds passed by behind the Knight.

- Is there a problem, Sir Eugene?

A warrior with an unpleasant face glowered at you.



- No, I was just apologizing for our Orcs' bad behavior

- Again?! Those stupid... Very well! I'll teach them a lesson they won't forget this time!

- Wait, that is unnecessary. It would be better if we do not dampen their spirits now. That way, it would be more convenient for us later.

- As you wish, Sir...

- Well, this is quite a view. Is this the legendary Elves' Falls? I would like to bring back this peace and tranquility to Duhan. To do that, we must have the Queen, who is deaf to the people's voices, step down. I will stop at nothing, even if I am to be branded as a traitor. Now... I am anxious to see Fate's answer at he Magic City. Will the moss-covered castle walls mark my grave...? ... or will a new dawn arise upon Duhan?

- Why are there so many monsters...?

Seeing the army of monsters, Ricardo turned pale with fright.



- Is he trying to invade Hades or something...?



- If he felt any fear or unease, the monsters would smell it. And they'd devour him completely, his soul and all. But... how could he not feel even an ounce of fear, being among so many monsters...? Is he a devil.. or... one without a soul?



- Don't you think that army of monsters proves it? I bet those monsters were gathered to fight against the Duhan soldiers. But why are they heading below instead of towards the town? I wonder if it's because of the Queen's abduction.. I guess we'll have to go to find out.



- I mean, I've never seen or heard about anything like this. Some people do get along pretty well with Orcs and Kobolds... but there were Lesser Demons and Shades among them. It's impossible to get that sort of pure evil to obey you... Unless you've sold your soul to the Devil.

Rui shrugged.

She knew what happened to people who sold their souls to the Devil.

- And if that's the case, what is that he wants? To rule the world? Eternal life? The ultimate truth? Who knows what the already rich may desire?

So, looks like Eugene's been pretty busy since B2... It's pretty easy to feel some sympathy for him, given how the land has been suffering and the Queen has seemingly been doing nothing to help things. But still.

That's enough for one update. I think we'll be wrapping up the Waterfall level next time. See you then!

Videos:

Pixie's Lover - http://blip.tv/file/5043415

Daniel Joins - http://blip.tv/file/5043298

Raising an Army - http://blip.tv/file/5044061