At EndarkCuli’s suggestion, I’m going to stop by a few earlier towns before I head back to the Witch Village. Either way, I have a few battles to pass through.
During the first of these battles, I actually see a bit of lag. Which is odd, because this isn’t the map that I remember lagging. It quickly stops, though, and the fight goes on. And then it comes back later.
My rewards for that are 5000 Rico, an FP-Fizzy, and three Vitae. I intermission with Saki. She says there’s something she wants. My choices are “The Thunder Lapistier?” “A new weapon?” or “A fashion accessory?” I’m not sure which of the first two to pick, but I decide to go with the top one. She says that even if she did reclaim it, it wouldn’t bring back her clan. So that was definitely not the right answer.
Next battle. I’m barely getting any experience from these guys. This should be quick.
Yep, it was. I get 4500 Rico and four more Vitae. I intermission with Lucia. She says the enemies are getting stronger, and we can’t afford to underestimate them. My options are “You’re exactly right,” “Don’t you ever relax?” and “You’re underestimating ME!” I pick the middle one, because the first one seems like I’m sucking up. She says yeah, she can relax. But there’s a job to do. She doesn’t want Alph’s relaxing to end up costing him and his friends.
First place I go to is Dotravar. I have the option to talk to Vivi, so I take it. She’s napping, and everyone comments on that. Apparently, that’s just how she is. Then she says someone’s calling her at the magic forest. The conversation ends there, so I don’t know what’s up.
Next, I head to Ridget. I have the option to speak with Mavi, so I choose to do so. She says that humans are so selfish. Alph asks her why she hates humans so much. She says she’ll show him. Apparently if I go to the Palu Forest, I’ll find out. OK then, I’ll do that. Sidequest time!
I don’t remember where Palu Forest is, but I think it’s pretty early on. I head back towards the first map, and get caught in some easy battles. Oh well. It’ll give me chances to do intermissions, anyway.
First battle is incredibly easy. Afterwards I decide I’ll intermission with Mel for a change. She says “We won! It’s the berries!” My options are “Yeah, it feels great!” “What berries?” and “It’s not that good.” As tempted as I am to choose the middle option, I pick the first one. She says that delivering justice always makes you feel good. She gives me a Magi Soda.
Honestly, I think I’ll just report the intermissions during this part. I’m in an early area, so the battles are short and VERY easy. Nonetheless, some of my guys were pretty close to leveling, and the meager experience they get from this is enough to level them. Lucia levels to 35 and learns a new spell.
I intermission with Saki for the second battle. She asks how I view the other members of the group. My options are “As my lifelong friends.” “As my disposable minions!” and “as my reliable comrades.” I pick the first one. She says that’s exactly how she views the group as well. We’re not only her comrades, but her important friends.
OK, I get to the first map in the game. Just as I thought, Palu Forest is here. I go over to it, saving before I enter. The group walks through the forest. They don’t know what they’re looking for, but Mavi says they’ll find it soon enough. After another “Nicolai is a perv” moment, we finally find it. Alph asks what, and Mavi tells everyone to hide in the bushes. We see a group of hunters. They’re apparently searching for something. That “something” is later revealed to be some Minnopi. One hunter asks if they should kill it, and another says they’re still valuable even dead.
Before they can, though, Mavi comes out and stops them. They’re killing innocent animals out of greed, and she can’t let this go unpunished. Seriously, Mavi? That’s why you hate humans? We’ve killed Minnopi before. Heck, I thought they were monsters! Maybe it’s the intention behind it that she hates? I dunno.
Mavi says that these guys are hunting the Minnopi to extinction. Apparently, their noses are a favorite delicacy among aristocrats. They can also be used to make a potion that’ll make you live longer. No one else was aware of this. Mavi says that the Minnopi are an endangered species because of poachers like them. Well, looks like we’re going to fight the hunters. Wow, this is…odd. Never expected to see something resembling a Green Aesop in a game like this. But if it’s a chance to level, then I’d be glad to do this. I have to bring in Mavi, Nicolai, and Alph, but the other five are up to me. I choose Mel, Saki, Lucia, Theo, and Cecille.
First thing I do is check out the situation, and…holy crap. These guys are around level 36. That’s pretty high. I mean, I have eight guys for this sidequest, but there are eight of them, too! Although 36 is about where my guys are, so I guess I’ll be alright. Just to be safe, I save before doing anything. I begin attacking one of the guys. Mavi levels to 37 and learns a new spell. When Lucia’s turn comes around, I check her new spell. It’s called Heal Bomb, and it heals a lot of HP for units in a small area. Should be useful here. I continue attacking the same guy, and Alph levels to 36.
First casualty already. Mavi goes down. Thankfully, Cecille should be going soon, so I can revive her. When she does, she levels to 37.
Saki kills the guy I was focusing on. She levels to 37. Things are actually going pretty well. Saki almost dies, but I heal her in time.
Theo is the next to die, but Cecille resurrects him right away. Saki dies next. Mavi dies again. Nonetheless, I’m actually doing pretty well. Alph dies. Then Lucia does, but I managed to take someone down. I revive Lucia, but then Saki dies. Wow. Um, looks like Mel learned Revive, so hopefully I can use that. At this point, I’ve basically lost. Time to restart and try again.
I load my battle save, and give this another try. It seems doable, if difficult. This time I’ll try to take out the Bandits and Savages first, because they have ranged attacks. There are four types of enemy in this fight: Thieves, Bandits, Savages, and Pirates. Thieves are probably the least worrisome. Bandits, like I said, have crossbows. Savages are stronger versions of them, and Pirates are stronger Thieves. I’ll have to be careful this time around.
I have Nicolai use a speed buff on Cecille and Mel, because they’re slow and having them be faster will make things easier. Mel dies, but I can bring her back. Mavi dies next. I have Cecille bring back Mel, since healers are more valuable here.
Alph and Saki go down next. I bring Alph back as soon as possible,but then Nicolai dies. Maybe I should bring in some stronger guys…yeah, I’ll do that. I restart the game again.
This time, I bring in Cecille, Mel, and Lucia, but also Kai and Vivi. That should make things a bit easier. Actually, on second thought, not Kai. I’ll just bring Theo like before, because he has ranged attacks.
I save this battle, and begin. I start by buffing some of my guys for speed and defense.
A while later, two guys are down, and I have four left. I’ll try and res as many of my guys as possible. But it doesn’t end up working, and I lose again.
OK, I’ll give this ONE more try. If I don’t do it, I’m taking a break.
A ways in, things are going pretty well. But then my guys start dying. Thankfully, I’m down to four of them. Actually, make that three. I might be able to win. Now I’m down to two, with four of my guys left.
Alph just managed to paralyze one of them. This is great! I now have five guys left, and only one enemy who can attack. OK, make that four of my guys, but I can still do this. Now I’m left with just the paralyzed guy. He goes down in one more attack.
Phew! That was pretty hard, but at least it got me a lot of experience. My spoils are 3000 Rico and a Vitae. I intermission with Saki, who was in the battle because I forgot about saving when I brought in different guys.
Anyway, now that those guys are gone, the Minnopi can go free again. Mavi tells us that this is why she thinks humans are foolish and shameful. They have no respect for life, and will do whatever it takes to satisfy their greed. Alph admits that there’s truth to that. She says she’s not fighting God for the sake of humans. She’s doing it for the planet. She then walks off, leaving Alph and Nicolai disappointed. I was kind of expecting a Humans Don’t Suck Speech™ from them, but that didn’t happen. Wow. Seriously Mavi, calm down. You’ve been working with a group of perfectly nice humans (plus two dragons), so you'd know that we're not all bad. Plus, you’ve never complained before. What’s the deal?
Anyway, intermission. Saki asks why Alph is looking at her like that. My answers are “You look upset,” “Y-You’re really pretty,” or “You’re weird, Saki.” I answer with the first one. She says it must be because she’s trying to focus her energy. That’s it. Guess it was the second one? I dunno.
Anyway, that’s all for this sidequest. I’ve had enough for now, so I save and quit.
That was really odd. Granted, if anyone’s going to be concerned about endangered monsters animals, then it’s going to be the Nature Witch. But still, that felt a little out of place. I’m fine with stuff like this if it's subtle, but that really wasn’t. Actually, I don’t even know if that’s what it was supposed to be. Probably just some bit of backstory.
Anyway. Next time, I’ll go back to the Lethe Forest and see what’s going on there. I apologize for taking so long to update. I’ll do my best to finish this LP. By the way, I’ve started my Last Exile liveblog. It’ll probably be kind of slow to update, since I’m still working on this one, but I’ll still be working on it. If you have any interest, then I’d suggest you take a look. :)
