Spirit Hunting!

But before that, let's steal into a castle. After I run faster than a child, getting three pieces of dead coral as a reward.

Reluctantly, Arche drags her three friends onto a nearby balcony. It seems broomsticks have a weight limit. From here, we have a stealth mission to free the Prince from Dhaos' grasp. This kinda sucks because it's a SNES era RPG forcing stealth mechanics into it. Those never end well. If a guard is on screen, they will immediately notice you if you come into a possible view. Even if they have their back turned. I suppose, had I been patient, this might have gone smoother. But I tried to force it and got caught a dozen times. You're forced back to the balcony. Fortunately, there are only two guards, and the Prince's room is to the right.

There are no lights on, and it's pitch black. The team talks about not having night vision, but they're too loud. A figure gets out of bed and turns on the suddenly electric lights. It's the Prince, whose name I forgot. He yells for the guards, and the team realizes they have no time. They quickly start looking for a potential culprit and decide on the parakeet. The bird flies across the room and transforms into a monster. It says it would have tortured us had we not found it, but now it's gotta kill us. Had it not moved, it probably would have been fine.

Jahmir has two knights protecting her, and they do an excellent job. The knights jump around, and one got between Cless and everyone else. This meant I was sandwiched and had to divide my offense. It also meant Jahmir could cast spells with abandon. She summons a demon, which does a butt ton of damage to everyone in the area. Arche died, and Cless nearly followed. Fortunately, I was able to take out the knights, revive Arche, and then focus on the boss. With Cless in her face, she becomes no threat.

Prince Laird passes out just as the soldiers enter the room. They blame us for attacking the Prince and want to haul us to jail. We think about fighting out, but Klaeth tells us to follow the soldier's orders. The King will recognize Laird is different, which'll open our way out. So we go to jail, but it's not for long. Klarth is correct, and we're able to go free. We also get the rewards from Jahmir; a spear, a book that sucks, and something else I forgot. As a personal reward for saving the kingdom, the King rewards us with a pass to Moria Minds, our destination, that I might have skimmed over. The pact ring to Luna may be found there.

But dig around the castle first. We can buy two new spells for Arche, which'll help us out later tonight. More importantly, we get clues about three more spirit whereabouts. We can go to Moria Mind now, but the party wonders if we should find some side paths. We will.

East of Balladum is the Cave of Spirits. The path down is blocked by a door that asks for a password. Back in the Adventurer's Guild is a man who sells us a clue for 1000 gald. I'll save you the money and tell you it's YOMI. I think... On the second floor is a lost gnomette. We now have to guide him to his friends. There are no random encounters, but he walks real slow. In the next room are the only fights here. Sadly, they're not worth it. The mobs are immune to physical damage, and there are four of them who like to roam apart. They die to one Tractor Beam, but they reward one gald and exp apiece. Once we end our escort mission, the four of them will block more doors forward. Find a switch to pull, setting off an alarm to distract them. Behind one door is our target.

Gnome sucks. This battle isn't hard, but it sure is stupid. Gnome turns himself in four ICBMs that rain on the whole party. During this, we can't target him. And it lasts so long!!!! Once every forty five seconds, Gnome will return to four stone pillars. Hopefully, Klarth has a Sylph ready. Lame... Anyway, Gnome remarks we won and makes a pact with our summoner. The chest teaches Arche Grave.

Undine lives north of Venezia, and I probably should have come here later. All the battles are pincer attacks, and the mobs have so much hp! I had to start running away because it got so bad, and I got lost. There are several lavers we need to flip to change water levels. I hate it. Good dungeon, though. Undine isn't a tough fight. As you'd expect, it's a pincer attack, but my party took out the ones behind them while I kept the boss from spamming too many spells. The egotistical water spirit will be upset near humans beat her, but she'll sign the pact. The last spirit lives in a volcano in the desert, so I'll head to Feybrand...

... tomorrow!

I kinda hate the battle system. My allies pause the game too often, and I'm sick of being pulled back to the party. It isn't fun. And enough of the damn sandwiches!