Onward we go! Our next stop is area 4-4: Colosseo.
One thing I should note is that the timer counting down to our doom is gone now. Don't make the mistake of thinking it's still there.
After entering, I find a random chest on the first screen, which I savescum into giving me a Flame Whip after far too many attempts (this, I should note, is by far the most annoying part of the game). Since the Wyrm Wing is now worthless, I discard it in favour of my new toy, which has these Over Skills on it:
Lina:
- Flame Whip: Red Cyclone: Level 1, 3-hit physical fire-elemental attack, power of 76, does more damage at less HP, also damages Lina
Serene:
- Flame Whip: Flare Burst: Level 1, 2-hit magic fire-elemental attack, power of 114, low accuracy, unblockable
Cierra:
- Flame Whip: Burning Lash: Level 2, 4-hit physical fire-elemental attack, power of 77, Mot-Vit, effective against beasts
Also, I check out the Golem Manual in my inventory and find that all it says is, ""![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
![[down]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_down.png "[down]"){kind=icon}
[right] will shut it down." I guess that explains why they weren't especially concerned about losing this thing.
Anyway, moving on, I enter a battle arena (as you might expect), and find three hanging ropes (as you might not expect). Naturally, I can pull on them to get various things to happen: the left rope will drop bees on us (to much the same effect as the last beehive we saw), the middle rope will drop a barrel on Ein, and the right rope is the correct one.
I'm sure you can tell the level of maturity that this trap operates at.
Anyway, for disarming the trap I'm awarded a Banango, which is a fruit that looks exactly like our Earth bananas. I replace our Steak because Lina can master this new fruit. Before I do that, though, I pick up the rope, along with a note that says, "For: the lucky villen Ern. From the Blue Fool."
Again, you see the level of maturity this trap operates at. But enough talk; Lina's got some fresh fruit to master, and she gets this for it:
Lina:
- Banango: Banango Slugger: Level 1, 1-hit physical non-elemental attack for 55% of the target's HP, destroys all remaining Banangos
Note that Lina is rapidly transforming into a Monty Python sketch. Note also that I don't care.
Anyway, moving on. On the next screen, we run into the kids who set the trap before. They introduce themselves as the Red Sage and the Blue Fool (no prizes for guessing which is which), and they do so in a way that makes it perfectly clear that they're one of those stupid Japanese comedy groups where one guy says stupid things in a Kansai accent and the other guy responds to the effect of "My word. It appears that you have said something stupid. And in a Kansai accent, no less!"
...yeah.
Anyway, they announce their already-known intent to get rid of Ein for being a "villainous bully of demons". They also take credit for the flood earlier. The Sage then does what any good comic relief antagonist should do: she leaves her little brother to deal with us.
The Fool is weak to fire, and has a slight weakness to lightning, so Serene and Lina are your best bet. He's backed by two hammer guys, but I deal with them before they can become a problem. This, however, forces me to face his Break Out, the dreaded Illusion Waltz (one of exactly three Break Outs that can compete with Devastator). Fortunately, it only hits the back row, so I can use position switching to keep my HP up long enough to unleash an Inferno on him. S-ranking the fight gets me the Blue Bomber, a weapon that Lina can use to halve one enemy's HP (and it targets the enemy with the most HP) or kill them outright, and that Cierra can use to do an ice magic attack against the front rank. I have no use for it, so it's tossed.
The Fool runs off, warning that there's more water on its way. Fortunately, it won't actually put me on a timer, so I have time to do what I want to.
The next screen contains some stairs up, along with a barrel. Breaking it with my Hammer would get me more Banangos, but I'm not using those so I don't. I also head a screen east before going up.
This screen has a sword on it, chained to the wall. Fia suggests that the sword must be cursed if it's chained to the wall, before electing to remove the curse. One command minigame later, I am the proud owner of the Zantetsu, one of the game's two katana-type weapons. Only Fia can use it, and she does an attack called Ama-Tsubame that inflicts four non-elemental hits with a power of 120 against the closest enemy. It does more damage as Fia loses HP, and has the Mot-Vit effect. I shouldn't have to explain why I ditch my Silver Rapier for it.
(Incidentally, Fia opens any attack with the Zantetsu by telling the sword to "fly like a bird", which probably sounded poetic in Japanese but just sounds stupid in English. It's no reason to ignore the thing, though.)
Anyway, back one screen and up the stairs. As we climb, we are confronted by the champion, who's just a normal fighter. Heck, only the last hit of his DANSHIGU SEIBAAH actually did any damage. He eats Disaresta before the day is out, and I get myself a Mithril Sword (next tier of sword). It replaces the Black Scythe and teaches me these Over Skills:
Ein:
- Mithril Sword: Earth Shaker: Level 3, 6-hit physical non-elemental attack, power of 127, last attack hits all, uses the last element used in the fight
Fia:
- Mithril Sword: Rising Edge: Level 1, 3-hit magic non-elemental attack, power of 107, can't hit flying enemies, uses the element of the last attack done in the fight
Serene:
- Mithril Sword: Bone Breaker: Level 1, 3-hit magic non-elemental attack, power of 103
Cierra:
- Mithril Sword: Mithril Blade: Level 1, 2-hit magic non-elemental attack, power of 152, uses the last element used in the fight
I'm pretty sure that the whole "use the last element that was used in the battle" thing is Mithril Sword-exclusive. It's just as well, really, because it can cause serious problems.
Anyway, this screen has a lion statue on it. Examining it causes Fia to reveal what she knows about it: it was used by warriors to test their courage. Sticking your hand in its mouth causes it to judge your actions and determine whether or not you're courageous. If you are, you're blessed. If not, you're cursed. Fortunately, Ein is courageous, so he gets 3 points to all his stats (along with 15000 general-purpose points and a global affection boost).
Supposedly, it's possible to fail this, but I simply have no idea how that would happen. Didja Redo could only think that not saving the Undine earlier would affect it, the article here suggests that it might involve running away, and I'm not about to test either of those.
Anyway, on to the next screen. We're at the exit, but there's a barrel to smash first (again, you need the Hammer to do so). This one contains a Blood Fang, the next tier of claw (I drop the Flame Whip because whips suck). Here's what we get out of mastering it:
Lina:
- Blood Fang: Buster Claw: Level 2, 4-hit physical non-elemental attack, power of 93, does more damage at less HP
Serene:
- Blood Fang: Bloody Rave: Level 2, 3-hit physical non-elemental attack, power of 112, does more damage with less HP
After mastering the Blood Fang, Serene became my first character to have a stat reach 100 (her Strength, of course). Anyway, moving on.
The next screen has some enemies on it: a bird, an ape, and a lizardman. The lizardman has a new spear for me if I S-rank him, so I do so and get a Crystal Lance. It replaces the Book of Nanai, and I master it for these:
Ein:
- Crystal Lance: Crystal Dance: Level 2, 4-hit magic ice-elemental attack, power of 125, last attack hits the whole front rank
Fia:
- Crystal Lance: Diamond Edge: Level 1, 3-hit magic ice-elemental attack, power of 71, Mot-Vit
Lina:
- Crystal Lance: Falling Star: Level 1, 3-hit magic ice-elemental attack, power of 119
Serene:
- Crystal Lance: Blue Gleam: Level 2, 5-hit magic ice-elemental attack, power of 92, last 2 attacks hit enemies behind the target
With that, we're done here, and I went on longer than I thought I would for this area. As such, I'll end it here for now. Next time, I'll actually get that ultimate weapon I was talking about (among other things).
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