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For the last three battles, the mood has been somber. All of our main characters have lost their homelands and war is on the horizon if they can't stop it in time. So it's a bit of a sudden tone shift, to say the least, when the familiar shop music starts up again.

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(The game never explains if Shop Lady is the same across all stores, or a series of inexplicably identical individuals a la Nurse Joy from Pokemon.)

Ralph: Huh? What am I doing here, of all places?
Store clerk (speaking in Ralph's accent): Welcome!
Ralph: Woah! You speak the sacred accent, lady?
Store clerk: Of course I do, it's basic business sense! After all people from all nations come to my store.
Ralph: Your accent sounds a little weird, though.
Store clerk: Ehehehehehe. I learned it from a correspondence school, so please excuse me if I've missed some of the finer points.
Ralph: Sure, so long as I get a discount!
Store clerk: What I'd like to say is, uh...I'll do my best to learn more. I'd love to give you a sale, but I've got all sorts of difficulties, so...
Ralph: What kinda difficulties ya talkin' about?!

(One spending spree later...)

Store clerk: Thanks for your patronage! Please come again!

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???: Hahahahahahaha...HAHAHAHAHAHA... (breaks down coughing)
Leon: Th-that laughter!



T. T.: You lot sure have kept me waiting!
Leon: I knew it...
Fam: You actually lived through all of that? Do you have cockroach-like resilience or what?
T. T.: As sharp a tongue as ever. What you saw was a mere illusion!
Ralph: Where the heck were you, then?
T. T. (chuckles): Tightly holding onto a cliffside branch, of course!
Leon: ......
Fam: Even if you kidnap me now, there won't be anyone to pay a ransom!
T. T.: It's not about mere monetary gain at this point; it's against my aesthetic to let my prey get away.
Karen: Say--who is that?
Marcia: Don't look! You'll catch his stupid.
Karen: Okay.
T. T.: Hahahahahahaha! Go, my adorable minions!

Stage 6: The Challenger Returns

Link to full battle

(For whatever reason, there's a slight audio crackle in all of the recordings of this update. I've done everything I can to reduce it, but I don't recommend that you listen to the video at full volume.)

Midboss T. T. is back, though since he's designated the task of beating us up to his flunkies he's not a valid target, and we've just blazed through a random battle containing all of the minions before us now (except for the "commander" of this ragtag bunch of misfits: the stone golem, pretty much just a wood golem with slightly lower physical defenses but is resistant to fire, and can attack from ranged). I send Marcia (backed up by Leon) upward, and the rest of the party down the other path. (I also forget to equip my shopping spree gains for a few turns, but that's quickly fixed.)



The stone golem's stats (description: "A golem made of stones. Because magic is not very effective against it, defeat it with direct physical attacks").



Marcia picks up an armor upgrade that eventually goes on Leon.



The wolves pack a poison bite. Being poisoned (indicated as yellow bubbles emerging out of the character, who is in a pained pose) is a very minor annoyance (it's only a per turn loss of 10% max HP rounded up), so I don't bother healing it until the party joins up again many turns down the road.

While Marcia and Leon fight their way through the monsters in the upper path I bungle them into boss taunt range, but the game considers this battle such a non-threat that the music doesn't change.

T. T.: Can you overcome my ace in the hole? Go, stone golem!
Stone golem: Yo.



Karen picks up an armor upgrade for herself. Meanwhile, the rest of the party has surrounded the stone golem and taken him out of commission.

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T. T.: Huh? Are stone golems that weak?
Fam: Brint it! I won't let you run away this time!
T. T.: Hmph! How are you going to catch me?



Fam: Who said anything about catching you?
T. T.: Erk! Well, then...try this!



T. T.: Hahahahahahaha! Can't tell which is the real deal now, can you?
(Everybody except Karen sweatdrops.)



Leon: He's not floating back up...
Marcia: Did he run away?
Fam: Must be long gone by now.
Ralph: Should we...get outta here as well?
Brian: Agreed.

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Ralph: Since when did we get surrounded?!
Leon: ...that's--!
Baruk: We meet at last, you despicable assassin.
Fam: You're wrong! I didn't kill anyone!
Baruk: I have no interest in listening to your lies. Die!
Brian: It's no use...everyone, stick together!

Dot's Footnote About Moon Runes
No, I didn't mistranslate that. Apparently the game doesn't consider all those soldiers I cut down while fleeing the palace as "kills" or "anyone".

Stage 7: The Black Wind

Link to full battle



Description: "Baruk, called 'the Wind God', is the dark-skinned Dark Elf strategist of the Turuk army. Extremely treacherous.

This battle is pretty much an upgraded version of the T. T. battle, with more enemies (including a group that is in range to attack at the very beginning if you don't move). Both me and the AI spend a lot of turns sandbagging, but eventually my combat power overcome theirs.



On the lower path is a spear upgrade for Brian.



And on the upper path is the currently best available warrior armor.



Baruk (who taunts us with: "Very well, since you continue to resist, then you leave me no choice but to take matters into my own hands!") is a pain in the butt to face, as he has a ranged AOE attack that not only hurts like heck, it also paralyzes, leaving affected units unable to move or act until the status wears off or is cured. Fortunately, the battle ends as soon as anybody lands a physical blow on him.

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Ophelia: What're you doing in this forest, dark elf?
Baruk: Huh? Is that...a high elf!?
Ophelia: Remove yourself from this forest at once, dark elf!
Baruk: Very well, I've wasted enough time here...listen well, you assassins! The next time you meet, it will be your doom!
(Baruk teleports out)



Fam: Thank you for your helf in this time of dire need.
Ophelia: The high elves and dark elves have been at each other's throats for ages, so don't worry your pretty little head about it, Fammie.
Leon: "Fammie"?!
Fam: Sorry, but...do I know you?
Ophelia: I was great friends with your father, so I know a bit about when you were little.
Fam: I see. But, father has...
Ophelia: Yes, I already know what happened. It must have been very hard on you.
Fam: ......
Ophelia: I believe Kaiser has already declared war on the entire human race.
Fam: It's all my fault...
Leon: But it was just a huge misunderstanding!
Ralph: Yeah. All of us here can vouch for you!
Fam: But...
Ophelia: What's past is past, don't you agree, Princess Fam? What you should be thinking about now is what to do next.
Fam: ...[alright,] let's go to Youku.
Ophelia: Really?
Fam: Yes. We must let the people of Youku know about the impending crisis.
Ophelia: Very well. But it's extremely difficult to cross the steep Urukanos mountains.
Fam: I've already made up my mind.
Ophelia: I thought you'd say that...alright, allow me to be your guide.
Fam: Would you?
Ophelia: You're the daughter of my old pal; of course I'm going to help!
Fam: Oh...thank you so much!
Ophelia: Now that we've decided, let's get going! It'd be awful if the reinforcements caught up to us!

Dot's Footnote About Moon Runes


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T. T.: You lot sure have kept me waiting.
Leon: Is it just me, or is he a little different this time?
Ralph (addressing T. T.): Did you get food poisoning or something?
T. T.: I've been thinking.
Marcia: About what?
T. T.: My life has been an accumulation of many brilliant victories.
Brian: Is that so?
T. T.: But you've left a blemish on this glorious history.
Leon: Make that two.
T. T.: You've left me no choice but to defeat you, here and now!
Fam: But then, you'll just run away again [if you lose]?
T. T.: Since you've gone to the effort of chasing me this far, I won't flee any more, but dedicate everything to defeating you!
Leon: He really does look pretty serious.
Ophelia: .....
Brian: Let's just deal with him so we can get on our way.
Fam: Agreed.

Stage 8: Manly Aspirations

Link to full battle

Midboss T. T. is finally playing for keeps...but honestly, it's not that much tougher than the last . And since the enemies on the frozen river will approach so long as I stick close to the shore, I keep the party moving more or less as one group as I advance and collect stuff.



Having Ophelia (element: water) in the party isn't a massive game changer, though of course the extra action economy is always welcome. Her ranged damage is good for whittling down or finishing off enemies from a distance, she can heal most status ailments, and she can freeze enemies.



The green palette devils can cause sleep (indicated by the character hunched over and with "zzz" hanging over their head), which immobilizes a unit until it wears off or is cured by magic (or a whack upside the head).



At level 8, Karen learns Flash (oddly, the Chinese translation uses the term "remembers"). It is single-target only (her default fire spell will eventually gain larger areas of affect as her levels go up) and doesn't do as much damage, but it has a chance of causing paralysis.



Freeze is the ice equivalent of paralysis, just with a different graphic and a different item needed to cure it.



At level 10, Marcia learns Mute, which is great for shutting down healers and casters.



One of the on-field treasures (armor that only Leon, Brian, Marcia, Fam, and Ophelia can wear) is hidden between a tree and a rock (though you can barely see the sparkle).



The other treasure is a better bow for Ophelia.



As far as I can tell, status ailments don't stack (here, I first mute, and then paralyze, a fairy, but when I check her status it only lists her as being paralyzed).

When I finally get around to attacking T. T. ("Here I go! I'll show you what it's like when I go all out!"), he goes down in one hit.

T. T.: Gack! How...could this happen...!

[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A5EC-nqpzE&list=PLHKv1i7hkngnSdlGlbkyfyOaojbkqminM&index=26][/url]



T. T.: I must admit...this is my loss.
Ralph: How are we supposed to deal with a situation like this?
Brian: Usually, someone who dares to threaten the royal family would be given the harshest sentence possible.
Leon: Death by hanging, huh?
T. T.: (gasps)
Fam: But since there's nobody around to execute such a judgement now...I'd like to hear what everyone thinks.
Leon: I don't think we need to kill him, either...
Brian: But we can't be certain that he won't be a threat to us in the future...
T. T.: I have no intention of harm. I must admit, while I did want the ransom money at first, but in this last battle all I wanted to do was get one over on you. Now that I've been completely defeated, it feels like a burden's been lifted off my shoulders.
Marcia: What should we do...
Karen: (I don't get it.)
Ophelia: You haven't changed at all, have you? Just as stupid as ever.
T. T.: Eh...?
Ophelia: Oh, dear...you've completely forgotten who I am, haven't you?
T. T.: You're...? That's right, you must be...
Ophelia: Have you remembered?
T. T.: Nope, haven't the slightest idea.
Ophelia: I'm Ophelia, you dolt!
(Ophelia punches T. T., and the music changes to the upbeat shop tune.)
Leon (whispering): Did those two used to date one another?
Ralph: Sure sounds like it.
Fam: I wonder.
Ophelia: You've got it all wrong! We worked together, that's all!
Leon (whispering): Really?
Ralph (whispering): Ya sure?
Fam: I wonder.
T. T.: Ah, so that's it...you took a shine to me, but I didn't notice. Forgive me. And I must give thanks to these peasants.
Ophelia: You're the peasant, you stupid...peasant!
(Ophelia punches T. T. again.)
Ophelia: I shouldn't be surprised that he forgot. It's rare for someone to ask me to guide them over the mountains, and he happened to be a bodyguard on one of those trips.
T. T.: You couldn't be more wrong. I've been thinking about you every day since we last saw each other.
Ophelia: Didn't you have no idea who I was? Stop being such a shameless flirt!
(Ophelia punches T.T. so hard that he dies. Seriously. There's little circling angels around his head and everything.)



Ophelia (turning away): Honestly! I can't believe you!
Leon: Uh...Miss Ophelia?
Ophelia: What!
Ralph: Isn't this...a bad sign?
(Ophelia turns back around and sees her handiwork.)
Ophelia: Uh oh, how did this happen?
(Fam uses her magic to bring T. T. back to life. He is so lucky this is a cutscene--she isn't high enough level to actually have Revive in her spell list.)
T. T.: Wh-what happened to me?
Ophelia (putting on the biggest fake smile ever): Oh, uh, you fainted all of a sudden, and Princess Fam saved you.
(Everyone other than Ophelia and T. T. sweatdrops.)
T. T.: I...I see...
(T. T. walks over to Fam.)
T. T.: I can't believe that Your Highness would be willing to save someone who once sought to harm you. You are too kind.
Fam: Uh...well...I...
T. T.: From now on, I'm a new man. Would you allow me to join you?
Fam: Uh....what should I do now?
Ophelia: Now that he's mentioned it...his abilities aren't too bad, if you don't mind that he's a bit of an idiot.
Leon: Why not? I just can't bring myself to hate this guy for whatever reason.
Ralph: Leon's got it spot on. I don't mind, either.
Brian: At a time like this, it's to our advantage to get more firepower.
Marcia: Everybody's just a big softie, aren't we! It's decided!
Karen: (...I still don't get it.)
Ophelia: Looks like it's unanimous.
T. T.: You have my eternal gratitude, Your Highness! I, T. T., swear that I will be loyal to you for the rest of my life!
Ophelia: ...don't count on it.

Next time: Trying out T. T.