Blow me!

I hate work, so I kept exploring. I ended up in Venezia and found Nancy. I convinced Elwin to talk to her, and they ran away to elope. Do I feel gross? Not with my new spear!

But back to Lone Valley! Karth needs to speak to the guy who...guards...the valley, so we do just that. His name is Bart, and he knows more about summoning. But he's more preoccupied with his missing daughter, Arche. She ran off into the valley a few days ago and has been missing ever since. What's worse is a recent earthquake has caused the spirits to go mad, attacking everything they see. But we're big, strong adventures who have business here. We agree to kill two birds with one stone, and Bart gives Klarth the Opel Pact Ring. This ring will allow the user to make a pact with Sylph. Before going deeper in, head to the town in the north. Enter the tool shop and buy a pickaxe and rope. We'll need them, and ToP isn't giving you free stuff.

Beyond the bolder is our introduction to the dungeon's gimmick. We see four tiny spirits floating nearby. When we get close, manifestations of Sylph attack us. They're not hard, so don't be afraid to go after them later down the road. As they fade away, they'll say how much pain they're in because of miasma. Klarth calls this evil smoke Demonium. Cless makes a dumb joke at this point, but to reach Sylph, we need to clear the miasma. This is easier said than done as the second part of this gimmick is more manifestations of Sylph blowing high winds around the area. Sometimes they keep us away from treasure, and others blow us into tornadoes. In the caves in the back is where most of the miasma is. We'll need to drag three rocks onto pits to stop the spread of the gas. While we do this, though, the miasma damages us. The basement of the caves is a long and winding path that sucks to be in. There's a rare mob called the Helltaker. If you find one, just run away. You're low on HP/MP, while the Helltaker has 2000 HP, only takes damage from elemental attacks, and aren't worth what you get from him. I drained so many orange gels... But once you've closed the holes, the cave becomes free to roam, and all the manifestations are cleared up. We can now head to the real Sylph.

A lone tree stands on a cliff, and Sylph comes to greet us. She thanks us for saving the valley but gives us some bad news. She's willing to form a pact, but it won't matter. Mana is draining from the world because the Mana Tree, Yggdrasil, is losing its power. Sylph asks us to save it for the sake of preserving mana, the key to stopping Dhaos, and Klarth finally stops being useless. He still sucks, but he can summon Sylph in battle to deal decent damage to a single enemy. Yggdrasil can be found in a forest to the south, so I may have an idea...

Bart is waiting for us as we leave the valley. We inform him we, nor Sylph, saw Arche. We promise to keep an eye out for her and continue on.

Back in Boar Forest is Yggdrasil. Sylph gave us an orb to use now, and we do. The same spirit that spoke to Cless before his life was ruined appears before us. This is Martel, and she shares more bad news. Yggdrasil is the source of mana on the planet, but it's dying. Apparently, it also feeds on mana, so is this a chicken and egg thing? Either way, Martel doesn't know what's wrong. Using mana isn't enough to drain it, so Dhaos might not be involved. Sadly, Klarth gets mad. He doesn't believe Yggdrasil can create ALL mana. Cless tells him that the tree is dead in his time, and magic is a legend. After some bickering, Klarth comes around just as Martel abruptly leaves. Mint tries to heal the tree, but it doesn't do anything. There's an expert in magic in the country of Altavista, so we're gonna head to Venezia and hope to find a boat.

En route, we stop by Hanel again because we have to. This time, though, it's in ruins. Something destroyed this peaceful town. In the center is a young girl. She's the only survivor, and she tells us Demeter did this. Cless and Mint want to help her, but Klarth tries to talk them out of it. We're busy, after all. But Cless knows what it's like to be alone, and Mint is always helpful, so we're gonna help the girl. She says her name is Rhea Scarlet, and Demeter went north. In Venezia, talk to people in the mayor's house. They'll say Demeter used to be kind, but he changed a year ago. It reminds me of Ares... Demeter now lives on an isolated island, so we'll find a boat...

... tomorrow!

I'm having fun running around with my spear. I hope Miguel, the swordsman, taught his son about a lance! Also, Rhea is seventeen. Why does Cless treat everyone his age like a child?