Myght-y smart

We rose the Blue Dragon Tower last night, so we have to enter it now.

The mobs are the same, but the rewards are really good. It's worth hanging out in here to level up if you want to grind. The Goddess Statue is right outside, and the enemies are weak. To get through it all, we need to navigate through water pools. They'll warp us around a few areas, and it's a confusing endeavor. Some of the pools are traps, and elementals will attack us, though. It takes a while, but with the low mob difficulty, it's not a terrible walk. And MP restoring items drop all the time in here, so think of all the headaches you'll save later! There is no boss at the end, so go all out.

In time, we'll reach a dimly lit room. Nall will call out to see if anyone is here, and the area will light up as the Blue Dragon appears before us. He's a bit talkative, and we can't get a word in. We try to warn him about the Vile Tribe and what they did to the Quark, but ol' Bluey would rather let us continue on our journey. He opens the path to the Dragon Helm, the same piece of armor we saw Dyne wearing in the opening of the game. When we get it, we all hear a roar outside. The Blue Dragon is gone, with only Phacia remaining. I'm glad one of our BBGs is properly dressed. We talk for a bit, and we get a glimpse of why the Vile Tribe hates Althena: it's the only way they can think to get out of their exile and harsh environment. But she'll quickly teleport away, and we return to the mourning village of Lyton.

A few citizens give us the idea to travel east across the Tamur Pass. Before I went there, I did some digging through the Forbidden Woods. It's infested with strong enemies that are just slightly not worth it. I'm not sure why this area exists, but I got through it to the Althena Spring. Jessica got her onsen scene if you're into underage girls...

The Tamur Pass is a rocky canyon filled with more palette swaps. There are also a number of signs, most of which are lies. There are no falling rocks or secret passages (that I found). It is worth exploring around, though, for a few bits of new armor. Even if it's bland, I like that everyone has a lot of unique items. Sometimes you have to suffer through a sandstorm. But like all other weather patterns, I don't know if this changes anything. Eventually, though, Xenobia will find us and attempt to end our journey here! She'll summon a small host of magically immune knights and a mage to back them up. I used up my Special Arts in the first battle, but this is a test of attrition than anything. The number of mobs will double on fight two, but they're the same as before. Before the third round, though, two saviors will appear! From far away on horseback, a man and woman will rain archer fire onto them, scarring even Xenobia away. They leave before we can talk to them, but I suspect we'll meet them again. They got an anime cutscene! Leave through the south exit, and we'll come to the town of Tamur.

It's a village on the edge of the Frontier, home of the Vile Tribe. Many of its inhabitants are concerned, but others just want to drink the world renowned alcohol. In the back of the place is ol' Laika. Even our characters start to wonder how he keeps being everyone we're going. Laika gives us further clues, I think, about the Black Dragon, but we need to see a man named Myght first. Apparently, we need to fly again. We learn later that the Black Dragon is somewhere in the Frontier, so I guess it's easier to fly over the badlands? He offers to escort us to Myght, but only Alex can join him. We can turn him down to explore the locations east of Tamur, but you might as well agree now.

The two of them will begin to climb Myght's Tower while the rest of our crew is in the bar. There's a boy guarding the entrance, but he lets us pass with Laika here. The two of them have to get through some pretty easy mobs, but they're only a breeze because Laika hits for nearly 1000 damage across three swings. Just when I felt like Alex was getting strong, Laika shows off how weak we are. You should probably just auto battle this whole place. At the top is a crotchety old man who farts when we meet him. Laika comments that he's actually gotten less stinky, and the two old guys start to talk. Laika introduces us as the next Dragonmaster and asks the crazy older guy to build us an airship. With surprisingly little arm twisting, Myght agrees. It'll take a while, so Laika will hang around here, and Alex can return to town.

As I said, everyone will be in the bar. Kyle's drunk and even Jessica is, too. Mia's just there, but Nash is gone. Eventually, he enters to let us know there's a commotion in the town square. We all go over there to see our two saviors about to hang an alleged conman. We have an option to do nothing, but Nall wants us to cut down the poor man. As we do, he runs away, and we meet his executioners. This is Temptest and his wife, Fresca. They were enacting "Plains Justice" because that man lied about being a doctor and sold fake products. Honestly, I'm down for what they did. Tempest then accuses Alex of being in league with him, which he denies. But Tempest doesn't believe it, so the two of them duel.

Tempest is no joke, man. He gets three attacks and can do over 70 damage per turn. I had to use a few healing items, but don't worry about skills; I found normal attacks to be more effective. I won, but I wonder what could have happened if you lost? Afterwards, Tempest quickly changes his tone. They've been looking for their village songstress for three days, which Nall thinks is the only reason we won. The two of them give us a token of friendship, which is a carved idol of a dragon. They then head home before continuing their search. This encounter, as well some NPC banter, inspires everyone to find Tempest and Fresca's home of Pao. I assume that's through the Lost Woods, so I'll be finding fairy children...

..tomorrow!

Finally, a short update on Lunar. It's nice!