I made a mistake. Before venturing into the Abandoned Mineshaft, you should visit Valestein Castle. There's a missing child that you can find, and I wish I had done it. It involves McGuire's family...
Elsewhere, you can escort Elena back home too. She's at the docks you and Dogi parked at and is fondly remembering her youth when we get there. She and Chester used to hang out here and look over the bay at Genos Island. It finally ticks for me that this island, that's been mentioned several times, is named after the fabled warrior. You can also be creepy and "measure" her for an achievement, but that's weird. Stop being weird, Falcom. Over sexualizing children is why I dropped the Trails series.
Anyway, report to the mayor, and Father Piere is here too. Bishop Niklas, who I've totally forgotten to mention, succeeded in getting him out of jail. But the mayor tells us that he knows of the legend we heard as well. Every elder does. Everyone also knows that the inhabitants of Genos Island were killed by a deadly disease twelve years ago. Dogi's master, Bernhardt, knows more of the legend than anyone else in Felghana, and he lives up in the Eldern Mountains, where the last statue is. So there are two birds for one stone, so we start the climb.
Eldern Mountain is a long place. There's a lot of jumping up, so good thing the double jump upgrade was in the last dungeon. Chasms, snow, and annoying mobs stand in our way. Speak to the children in Redmont before beginning your ascent. The girl asks us to find her treasure in town, but the boy asks us to save his chicken/pikkards. There are four burm leaves on the mountain, and we'll need all of them. I think we can only get half before meeting Bernhardt. As we get to the midpoint, Dularn shows up again. Having three statues scares them, so they attack us. But not themself. They sick their harpies on us.
They're color coded to magic, but I don't think it matters. Focus one at a time and try to blow away their feathers if you get stuck in a delta attack. It took me two tries.
Bernhardt is in his shack. Dogi came by but has already gone ahead to help us. Bernie reiterates the Genos legend and adds more to it, but I don't remember exactly what was new. Was it the four statues contain the sealed power of Galbalon? Regardless, let's finish this dungeon and enter the worst one!
Keep climbing until you find a cave. Eventually, you'll catch up to Dogi. He's stuck at a large gap, but we can fly. Green magic across, and Dogi tells us how cool we are. Before we continue on, Dogi throws us a new bracelet. We now have the yellow/earth magic. It's more of a tackle or wall break thing. You can also block with it, but guess what I'll never do! The gimmick for the caves is your footing sucks. Most of the place is a pitfall, and you should fall once. You'll find the Stone Boots at the end of a path, which prevents you from sliding on ice. Every time I fell, which was often, I warped back to the save point after Dogi. Go slow and hope the mobs don't knock you off. After the annoying 2D maze, you'll reach an ice dragon.
Gildias has a few attacks. If you're close, he'll bite you. Otherwise, he can breathe ice, which form ice blocks or spikes on the floor. He can also push you back. Gildias' strongest attack is when he combines the two. The fastest way to defeat him is to spam Tornado. I beat him in one try! I remember having so much trouble with him a few years ago, so I feel strong. Gildias drops the final statue, and all four begin to react to one another. The world shakes, but I'm sure it's nothing. The path out is blocked, but Dogi somehow caught up to us. Reminding us of who he was in Ys I and II, our friend punches down the wall, and we exit the caves together.
Chester is waiting for us. He knows Adol has all the statues and demands we hand them over. Dogi asks his former friend what he plans to do with them, and Chester responds that McGuire will rule Felghana and usher in a new period of prosperity. But that's not what Dogi asked. "What do you plan to do with them?" Chester drops the act and knows Dogi sees through him. There's no way he'd treat his sister like that. Chester tells us he wants revenge. He and Elena were born on Genos Island, which wasn't wiped out with disease. McGuire torched the place looking for Galbalon's power. Chester has been working for the count to exact his revenge ever since he remembered this. But it's not just to get even. Chester wants everyone in the castle to suffer. Dogi calls him out for it and asks if revenge will make Elena happy? "Will it even make you happy?" Dogi tries to talk him down and suggests getting Redmont to overthrow Mark. Chester doesn't care and simply stabs Dogi in the chest. As Adol panics over his comrade, Chester demands the statues, which Adol hands over to get Dogi aid faster. He takes him to Bernhardt.
And here we get more backstory. Barnhardt, out of guilt, tells Adol the truth. Bernie was a knight for McGuire twelve years ago. He and others stood back while McGuire's sorcerers killed everyone. Luckily, the Stoddaets got away. Bernie helped Chester and Elena reach safety. Something triggered in Chester's memories about a year ago, and Barnhardt told the story to Chester then. He urges us to stop Chester while he cares for Dogi. I return to Redmont and figure out the next part...
...tomorrow!
I hate that I have to play this in bits. I want to keep playing!
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