Babel Tower

There are two ways to go from Karisto Station: northwest and northeast. The map indicates west is a dead end in a mountain basin, so I went there first.

This is Sol, and it's a vertical tower that stretches high into the sky. Noa is excited by such a sight and runs forward. She listens to Gala and doesn't go in alone, thankfully. The party enters the not-Eldridge, and the ra-seru feel a great evil onboard. However, they also sense people living at the top. Sol is so gigantic that the mist hasn't reached the upper floors.

Reaching the top felt like a weird maze. We have to travel around a small, circular staircase, and rooms extend every few feet. Usually, they're small rooms, but there are a couple of connected areas that look like inns. Exploring from there eventually takes you back to the stairs, but I think they took me to the same place. I'm roughly 93.2 percent sure I just got lost, though. Ultimately, you don't even need to venture into them yet. Heading down the stairs brings us to a giant penguin that blocks the path. It says something about sages, which I'd bet involves the golden treasure chests scattered around Sol. They all contain stat boosting items, so seek them out for multiple reasons. But we'll return to the penguin later... The new seru named Spoon can be fought here, and it heals the whole party.

As we approach the safe areas, the team hears a fight behind a door. We suspect that a monster just killed someone because the sounds stop as we reach the door. It's flung open, and an old man is there! He begins yelling with a Ye Olde English accent, threatening to kill us because we're monsters. Gala points out the obvious, and Gaza apologizes...sorta. He doesn't actually feel bad, but he just recognizes that the team is human. After realizing Noa isn't someone named Mar, he then goes down the stairs, which is not towards safety.

Above him are where the people of Sol live! It's a bustling area with a lot of things to do. It's why this update entry might feel kinda small. We can enjoy an arcade fighting game with pallet swaps of our characters, a battle arena, and have Gala participate in a comedy act. We (the players) don't get to see it, but we hear it went well! There's also a jazz club, a private club, and a bar. And at that bar is Cara. She's upset at a man named Grantes. Grantes doesn't respond and only drinks. Cara is mad because he seems to be living off her, which makes Noa think he's a pimp. After Vahn and Gala dance around what a pimp is, Noa realizes that pimps are bad people and flying dropkicks him. Pimp. Cara asks her to stop, and Noa gets confused. Bad people need to be punished, but Cara and Gala are trying to get her to calm down. "Adult things" don't make sense to her, and I'm kinda confused, too. Either way, we all go our separate ways. A woman at the bar extorts us for a fairy tale about a winged man falling in love with a human after he lost his flute. We can also find a kindergarten class to learn Cara steals to provide for the school. She's well liked in Sol! THERE'S ALSO MORE OVERPRICED STUFF!!!

At the top is a Biron Monk hut. After Gala convinces Old Deez that we're cool, we learn a Genesis Tree is at Sol. It used to be in the basement, but it died. Fortunately, a seedling still exists. Deez gives it to us and asks us to place it back there. We leave the hut, and Gaza starts to threaten us again. He calls us evil and promises to stop us. Noa is confused, as am I, and no amount of talking will stop Gala. Four monks get thrown aside with ease when they try to stop him, so it's down to us.

Despite being old, Gaza is tough. His basic combos aren't too bad, but his beloved Astral Sword can cripple a character, even at max health. I learned just how strong Miracle Arts are as Noa reached her max stamina blocks (9) and unleashed them. Should everything hit, she can do nearly 3000 damage. Keep Vahn and Gala ready to heal, and this fight will be long but manageable.

The party laments that this battle didn't need to happen, and they call for a medic. Gaza is alive. But then Songi opens a portal and flies in on a floating turtle. He claims we killed Gaza, and now we're the monsters. Songi takes Gaza with him, and we're confused. It doesn't matter, though, because we have a penguin to get past. But I'll do that...

...tomorrow!

I may need to magic grind soon. My healing is falling behind my enemies' damage.