Ah, Pika and Cliché [two Tropers that tuned into this Liveblog when it was a forum topic]. Thanks for tuning in, and thank you even more for the advice. So, spending my roulettes on things like Pow and Stache are bad, unless I do so while focusing on the other stats equally? I’ll keep that in mind! And there are really six ranks for the Brothers, four for Bowser, and their sole purpose is so you can buy/equip better gear? Wonderful news, if I do say so myself; I was worried that this game would do something stupid and require you to be a certain rank by a certain point, but if that’s all it’s for, I’ll never have to worry about level grinding!
By the way, this is another short update. And when I say ‘short’, while I progress a fair bit further than last time, this’ll only be about 5 paragraphs long due to only one really important event happening during this section. I would’ve played more, but I was suffering from something called ‘lack of sleep’. Now, BACK TO ADVENTURE, BY BOOGITY! …Still nope; even combined with Stuffwell’s narmishly cool one, Toadbert’s catchphrase is still idiotic.
In the area following the Midbus battle (seriously, how are hogs and busses connected?), I meet a few of those giant, lollipop-toting Goombas from the instruction manual. I forgot to write their name down, but I think they’re called ‘Chuboombas’. Here’s their gimmick: if they take a breath of air before they charge at Bowser, they’re going to pause for a second just out of his counter range, and then tackle him. If they don’t take a breath, no pause. After taking out a couple, I find some kinda little purple creature with big lips and yellow stars printed on it. I assume I have to hit it; doing so yields me a couple of coins. I wonder what the heck those things are supposed to be…
After a couple of battles, Bowser levels up. He gets a +4 Horn on the roulette; interesting to note is that it’s run by a Boo instead of a Lakitu. I explore a bit more, come to an area with a large pit…and then things take a turn for the even weirder. In the form of a mysterious, black, misty text box, something referring to itself as Bowser’s consciousness makes itself known. Long story short, it teaches us how to travel between little warps called ‘Chakroads’, which we must reveal during our travels in order to warp there in the future. Bowser has no clue what’s going on, but we’ll forgive his idiocy on the basis that it’s funny (plus, the way some things are phrased throw even me for a loop).
After this new feature is introduced, the ‘consciousness’ reveals to Bowser that he is not really a part of him, and is in fact somebody in the Mushroom Kingdom. I have no freakin’ clue who it could possibly be; probably somebody I’ve never seen before in a Mario game. Regardless, I decide that the best thing to do is use the Chakroad to get back inside the Cavi Cape Cave (say that 3 times fast!), get to the save point, use it, quit, and take a quick nap. I swear, in the next update, we’re either getting out of this dang place, or we’re getting back the Fire Breath! Perhaps both!
Bowser: Level 2, 80 Max HP, 18 Max SP, 59 Pow, 50 Def,13 Spd, 31 Horn
