Eternal Sphere!

Akin to nothing, I don't recognize "Til the End of Time" as canon. Fight me!

After checking out PAs with Bowman, who we learn is an overly romantic druggist, I finally return to Lacour. At least, it looks like Lacour.

The guard at the front gates informs us that the continent of El has fallen to monsters. This means Lacour is the likely next target. Out of fear of incursion, the King has ordered everyone to evacuate to the castle. He asks we do so, as well. We can walk around the desolate streets of the biggest city on the planet, and it's hard to tell a massive festival happened a few days ago. The roving crowds are gone, the bloodthirsty shopkeepers left their businesses, and even the innkeeper has left. The music that plays has changed too. I think it's a little overdramatic, but it works for a first playthrough to make that feeling of tension the game's about to force on you. The plot from here out changes.

Rena registers at the front desk of the castle, and we're officially stuck here. Wander around if you want; you can loot 10000 fol from the King and meet with the scoured princess who hates us. But the destination is the not-so-secret lab in the right wing. It's unguarded, and all the people on the floor are gone, so sneak a little further in behind a guard who's not doing a good job. From our vantage point, we can overhear a group of people talking about a missing piece. Someone's eager to get it, but others have reservations. Rena backs out, but she makes a sound and alerts the guard. He's not happy. Fortunately, Bowman is here!

He soothes it over with the guard, and even the King recognizes him. Bowman worked for this lab for six months a few years ago and made a big impact. So much so that he knows about the Lacour Hope, a weapon meant to keep other nations in check, but a demon horde is a good target. Along with the King are three other researchers, Murdoch, Florence, and Leon, their son. Leon is a brat. He's arrogant, self assured, and thinks he can get the missing piece of this weapon all alone. He questions our every move and doesn't want to work with anyone else. Leon's also ten... The thing keeping the Hope from being completed is away at the Hoffman Ruins. Leon's parents know it's dangerous and don't want their son to go alone, so Bowman offers to escort him as punishment for spying. Everyone agrees, and we head to Hilton.

Leon is another mage, so do with him as you will. Magic slows the game down for me, so I run three warriors and a Rena. He's also temporary here... The ship departs and heads north to Iceland. I don't know if those are glaciers or mountains, but the blue things make a natural barrier with only one landing point. The Hoffman Ruins are deep in the forest. We come to a structure that looks like the combination of a Mayan pyramid and an Eastern Orthodox temple (or whatever the generic name for the Hagia Sofia is). After a large set of stairs, we come to a just as large door that can't be opened. Leon claims to know how to open it and insists he's done this before, but he fails three times. Eventually, he asks Rena to press one of the buttons, and the L Gate works. The top floor of the ruins gives me prison vibes, but the bottom/mine area is where the fun starts.

The Hoffman Ruins are a maze of mineshafts. Passages web their way to and fro, and it's easy to get lost. This is one of the few dungeons I can remember with two paths to the boss. The enemy variety is very odd. You can fight two fire lizards or a floating cat. One is harder than the other... If you see a group with seven shield guys, just cast Light Cross. This is also the first battlefield where you may notice the stage hazards. Now, I still have nightmares about the upcoming boss. I once spent a whole week getting wiped by their Thunderstorm spell spam. Because of that, I want to be as strong as possible. And in Star Ocean 2, it's an easy overkill! If you fought Dias in the tournament, you should have spoken to Gamgee afterwards. He'll give you the sword Dias used (with a different name). That is the key to becoming a god! Save scumming the Radar skill can get you two pieces of mithril, a late game crafting component. Have Claude customize the Sharpness into a Midas Sword with the mithril, and then do it again. Save between tries. The end result should be the strongest sword in the game, the Eternal Sphere! Claude's attack is now over 2200! Both Harfanx die quickly. Even using that sword, I can tell the difficulty spike here is terrifying!

After the battle, Leon's gone!? He re-enters from behind a pillar he used as a hiding space. The ambush scared our arrogant wizard. There's some teasing, but everyone knows a child should react like that. Regardless, before the fight, Rena noticed her pendant started glowing, but it's stopped now. Leon gets the Energy Stone we came here for, and we pack up.

As we're about the leave, Opera sees something and runs after it. It's that three eyed dude we saw in Cross. He speaks nice things towards his girlfriend, but Opera gets the willies. This isn't Ernest? Eventually, Opera shoots the man and goes after the corpse. The body returns, holding her hostage and demanding we give it the Energy Stone. Our new enemy is actually a ghost that is possessing Ernest, so we attack it. Even without the ES, I don't think this is hard. Rena heals Ernest, and he comes to. He came to investigate some heraldic ruins on this planet but miffed it up. Suddenly, Opera realizes what this means. If Ernest is back, she has to leave. We can wish the couple luck, or we can bring them along. Ernest sucks, but I need to learn more about him, so guess what I do?

We board the ship back to Hilton, and the guard congratulates Leon for his unquestionable success. But Leon seems to be less talkative. Anyway, customization took forever, so I'll return to Lacour...

Right now! No, this isn't a phantom edit. Shut up!

Leon is insistent that we meet with the King. After we remark that everyone calls him "master," he hands over the Energy Stone. After seeking positive reinforcement from his parents but not getting it because the King's here, the Gehste's leave to work on the Lacour Hope. And now we get punished. King Lacour has looked into us and confirmed that we really are on a mission from King Cross. Out of respect for our abilities, he requests vital aid from us. Lacour can't spare the manpower to take us to El. Instead, we'll need to free up the Front Lines and save them from the monster onslaught. We have no other option, so we'll meet the general...

...tomorrow!

How did one dungeon take so long to write? I plan to brush up on my customization in the next few days, so I'm gonna fly through this game. So get ready to read 1500 words typed on a phone!

It turns out that customizable is a pain in the ass for Rena and Opera, so I'll save it for later. My characters are mid 40 already, so I should get on with it.