OMG PLOT!

Last we left off, we were told to repair the legendary sword in the bandit and outlaw town of Longadeseo. The epithet makes it seems sketchy, but it's not that bad.

It is an annoying maze, though. To get to where we need to go, walk through the weapons and armor seller, then through the bar. Go around the flashing bunny house but don't go too far. Near the top of the building, east of the bunny house, is a secret entrance. Run past the bunny girl who wants to make Rek prettier and go up the stairs. We'll meet the man named Hawk, an information dealer. We'll tell him we're looking for the legendary blacksmith. No one else in town is talking, so he's out last hope. As payment for this deal, he'll ask for 50000 gold. And then he says that's too much and lowers it to 2000 if we play a game. We're now playing hide-and-seek with Hawk. He'll be dressed up in three outfits through the town, and we have to sus him out.
He'll first be in the church.
He'll next be in the ladies' room in the bunny house.
Finally, go around the town and past the style smith and talk to the bartender. Answer no, no, and yes, and that'll be him. Return to his house in the well. He'll say the legendary blacksmith moved away one day long ago. He left behind his wife and child. His daughter, Sally, lives in the house to the northeast. She frequents the resting place of her mother in the northern shrine, though. Sally won't be home, so head to the shrine.
She'll refuse to temper the sword because of how much she hates her father. Return to town and keep pestering her. She'll eventually agree to do it because we're a kind soul. Normally, we would have to find the rest of the legendary armor before she finishes, but we already have them on Rek. She then fixes the sword in record time. She'll ask us to find her dad to tell him his daughter is waiting. I don't know if we will, but I set off. Before going anywhere, go to the Style Smith. They can make the Sword of Raminas more powerful when they make it better. I don't know how, but I had the 35000 gold to spend, so what else was I gonna buy? Medical Herbs!?
 
Northwest of Gandino is a temple. West of Grandino is a shrine with a scholar, giving us a clue about how to use the floor puzzle in said temple. Step on the four plates until a symbol that corresponds with the legendary gear. In a clockwise form, head, shield, armor, and sword. Using the item on the field reveals most of the symbols, but the helm is a total mystery. It's supposed to be Sun, Cross, Heart, and Lightening, but the translation team got lazy again. Finishing this puzzle causes a giant castle to descend from the heavens and a light to transport us up to it. We then fight the castle.

I don't know what happened here, but it was pretty easy. Bikill, Increase, Magiward, Barrier. It doesn't have high DPS, but why are we fighting a floating castle?

The first thing we see are two monsters who want to kill us. They're stopped by a distant voice that wants to see us, so we make our way to that voice. This castle sure looks a lot like Zenenthia from DQV!. In fact, it is Zenenthia from DQV! A ghost tells us Durren, the boss, kicked all the humans out before capturing it from the Dream World King. In the throne room is Durren, who's glad to see the Legendary Equipment. So glad that he sends him minions after us.
 
First up is the combo of Killer Machine and Land Armor. Land Armor poses no threat, but he will defend his friend often. Killer Machine often gets two attacks in a round. As long as one of those isn't a one-shot to the mages, you should be fine.
The next opponent is Terry! Remember Terry? He's easy and poses less a threat than Land Armor. Has more HP, though. Watch out for his thunder magic.
Finally is Durren himself. His getting two attacks a round can be tricky, but he lacks any real KO power. Annoyingly, he often uses a spell that nullifies all buffs. I had Muri casting Increase and Barb casting Healus every round, but if we were near max HP, feel free to BiKill someone. Unbuffed fighters can use Swordline but use basic attacks if buffed. It'll take two or three rounds for him to kill anyone, even the mages, so just keep your HP up. Durren will die, and give us some plot for the first time in a week! Mudo was just the public display of evil. He's not the great evil we built him up to be, but just a pawn. Him, Glacis, Jamiras, and Durren are merely table setters. When he fades away, Terry will get our attention. He's upset he sucks, but then Muriel will remember something. Tarry is her brother! He'll join the party, and the family will be reunited. Terry's bad, so I'm not using him. The castle will now be empty. Make your way down, and we'll see the castle fill in the gap on the other world's map. For once, it's pretty obvious that's where we're going.

When we enter, we see people roam the halls. Head straight to the King, and he'll give us our next location. More importantly, more plot, too. Everything that was sealed away by those table setters was done so for a reason: to make sure humans can't interfere with the Great Evil's plan. That Great Evil is named Deathtammor. "Death tamer"? Who named this guy? DT lives in the Demon World, a location separate from the Real World and the Dream World. The only way to reach that world is with Pegasus! Fortunately, Pegasus can be found on its own tower only accessible from the well in Zenethia!

I've been wondering what this tower north of the South Gate has been all game! We're heading up a straightforward enough tower with no puzzles. Just don't fall off the unsecured pathways. There's a man in the basement who tells us he's been trying to cure Pegasus but has been unable to. Pegasus has been turned to stone, you see. How have the monster not killed him? There's no way to avoid the lava floors, but there is a secret entrance to the right of the screen, past the pitfalls area. Reach the top of the place, and our horse will begin to glow just as Hassan and Rek did. Before Falshion can merge, three mobs show up to stop us.

This can be quite tough. The genie in the middle loves teamwide ice spells, and the two on either side of him are wildcards. Fragile, but unknown. The guy on the left dies in two rounds, as does the right one. Bikill Hassan, Barrier, and Healus spam solves everything! Afterwards, the horses will merge, and we'll have a proper airship that follows us across both (three) worlds! Return to Zenthia, and the King will give us the ability to go to the demon world. Which I'll do...

...tomorrow!

Even with Terry in the party, there's no new plot in Glandino. You can recruit a monster in Arcbolt if you want. In the prisons is the dinosaur that Terry "slew" and is willing to join us with the Blue Swordsman in tow. Once again, I don't know if I'll be using him, but it's good to have a friend, I guess. I think there may be two more nights of this. I wonder if actual plot can re-sway my opinion that this isn't a very good game? I hope so!