As promised, today is double update day! Episode 16 - Run Away Misha So, as we walk outside the inn to begin the episode, we find good news. Neat, it surely comes at the right time The storm is over, and airships can fly again. This is NOT a deus ex machina, by the way: it is just the result of the actions of Aurica, Radolf and Ayatane, who went on a mission to restore the climate control system and stop the storm. We would have joined them in said mission had we chosen Aurica's path. Anyway, remember when I said that we wouldn't dive untill after restoring Misha to her adult form? Yeah, scratch that: I just remembered that, upon restoring her, some events will unfold that will be given a completely different meaning if we dive into Misha's level 6 immediately after seeing them. But now we are at level 4, so better get level 5 out of the way before proceeding. Is it ok for a Mind Guardian to reveal this kind of details? So as we enter the cosmosphere, we are welcomed with a bonus scene where Hama tells us that Misha tends to speak in her sleep, and gives us a sample of what she usually says. Hey I didn't write these dialogues, don't look at me like that. I am just reporting the facts. What in the world is Leard doing here? So, the issue of this level involves the past relationship between Misha and Leard, and actually gives us a juicy bit of backstory. As usual, the Cosmosphere shows us stuff in metaphores, so the issue is depicted as Leard being Misha's drunk, abusive father. You will notice that Misha's sister appears, despite no siblings being mentioned at any point in Misha's backstory (heck she was artificially created, and she mentioned being the only Beta Reyvateil left in this world). You will also notice that the sister is played by the same NPC who played Aurica's schoolmate and Misha's mom in previous dives... Is this becoming a running gag? ... AND SHE ASKS LYNER OUT AGAIN. Seriously, what's up with that? Jack surely plays a big role in this Cosmosphere So, the level is totally whacky, and involves a drinking competition. If we leave that aside for a moment, however, there is an optional scene in which Jack takes a moment to have a sit with Lyner and explain what's going on. I like how, the deeper we get, the more often it happens that Jack is given the task to explain Misha's hidden feelings to Lyner: it really drives home the point that, when she was a little girl who had just arrived in Em Phyena, Jack was a very important presence for her, so much so in fact that she assigned him a major role in her Cosmosphere, the second biggest role after the Mind Guardian. Anyway, Jack explains that Misha was deeply traumatized by something that had happened to her in Platina: remember when I said that Misha, having been artificially created, was trained since the day of her birth specifically to prepare her for her mission? Well, get this: the one who trained her was no other than Leard, Lyner's father. Who apparently was very strict and verbally abusive towards her, something Lyner and Misha bonded over (Lyner would try to cheer Misha up whenever she cried as a result of Leard's actions). Not that Lyner remember any of that! Keep count of the bunnies! Oh, and another of those bunny thingies shows up. I said this before, but keep track of these. Costume get! So we clear the level and get a costume for Adult Misha, which we of course cannot use at this point. We also get the Red Magic named Stubborn Father, which is... Rather bad, actually: using it once does unlock a talk topic with Misha, so my suggestion is to use it JUST once, unlock and watch the talk topic, and then just forget about it and use Flower instead. A gift of love! Clearing the fifth level of the Reyvateil we chose as our canon love interest also causes her to make something for Lyner, as a gift. In Misha's case, it's the Decorated Hakama, an item that is atrociously broke. Why, you ask? Uber Lyner Well, for starters, it greatly improves Lyner's elemental resistances, all the while ADDING AN EXTRA HIT TO LYNER'S NORMAL ATTACK FOR EVERY ELEMENT. Basically this means that, if Lyner deals 100 points of damage with his normal attack, he will then deal 25 more as fire damage, then 25 more as Ice damage, then 25 more as lightning damage, and THEN 25 more as wind damage. Give or take elemental resistances of the opponent, of course. Oh, and one of the Grathmeld recipes you should have obtained back in Platina is the Ardel Jewel, which we can now create, having found the ingredients in the tower's core. Basically, the game is over here and now IT FURTHER BOOSTS LYNER'S ELEMENTAL RESISTANCES. In theory the catch is that, as an accessory, this thing has no enhance slots, so you don't get any fancy Grathnode Crystal to use with it, resulting in a stat drop. But honestly, who cares? The numerical value you see next to each Resist is a percentage. Meaning, if your Fire Resistance is 20, you take 20% less damage from fire-based attacks. With this set up, ALL of Lyner's resistances are 100 and yes, that means he is now completely immune to magic. Oh, and the final boss of the game? That would be someone who exclusively uses magic. Did I mention that Misha's path is ridiculously easy? Tenba's nuclear reactor So back to our mission we go. After much battling against painfully underwhelming mooks, we get to the control room for Tenba's reactor. And here, the single most idiotic sub-quests of this game ensues. Seriously, I love this game, I really do, but the sheer amount of idiocy in the events that are about to transpire truly puts my love to the test. Get this: a specific item, the Power Cylinder, is needed to cut the power. Now, this being the single most vital structure in Tenba's possession (what with it keeping AN ENTIRE ISLAND AFLOAT, meaning that, if something happens to it, HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE WILL FALL TO THEIR DEATH), you'd expect it to be heavily guarded, right? Sure enough, it is guarded... I really cannot come up with a witty comment on this ... By ONE SINGLE GUARD, who immediately tells us where the Power Cylinder is. Except that, it turns out, it isn't in this building, and in fact it isn't even in FIrefly Alley: IT IS IN TENBA'S DESTROYED LAB. Yes, the one that was hit by that piece that fell from the tower, which we visited before. Now, you might remember that such installation is in the NORTHERN part of the Wing of Horus, and that Firefly Alley floats below the SOUTHERN part of the same continent. Even if we take an airship to Nemo we still have to walk there, then walk back and take another airship, meaning that, in realistic terms, we will be gone for at least two days. TWO DAYS DURING WHICH THIS GUARD WILL NOT CALL FOR REINFORCEMENTS, WILL NOT REQUEST TIGHTER SECURITY MEASURES, AND WILL NOT EVEN FIX THE DOORS WE BLASTED OPEN TO GET HERE. Where do I even begin to comment on this? Will this guy ever get a clue? So, back at we Inn we are, and Lyner, being Lyner, states that the upcoming mission is too dangerous, and that Misha should stay behind... Eh... ... With predictable results. After ranting on how she just wants to be with Lyner and how stupid he is for not understanding this simple fact, Misha decides to go retrieve the Power Cylinder on her own... Of course, Lyner fails to talk her out of it, and of course she manages to get on an airship that departs the moment she hops aboard, leaving the party to wait for the next airship, and the not exactly exciting perspective of having to improvise a rescue mission, in a dungeon full of monsters, without Reyvateil support... It's a small world Except Aurica shows up. Looks like we will have Reyvateil support after all. Painfully underleveled Reyvateil support but hey, better than nothing right? Foreshadowing ensues! Aurica explains what she is doing here: apparently, after completing the mission to restore the climate control system, nobody needed her at the Church, so she wandered off on her own. And then she drops a juicy bit of foreshadowing: apparently she has been found to be defective, the cybernetic part of her mind (I.E. the part that interfaces with the tower, handling the Cosmosphere etc) appears to have a bug, whose nature has still not been clarified. A bug in Aurica's mind. The mysterious power she can tap into. The word "Mir" in her Hymn Code. Demon Aurica. Hey, you guys were the ones who voted against taking that path! Anyway, the next airship arrives, so we need to hurry and get on it: Misha could be in danger, so let's hurry to Nemo! Oh look, we are in Nemo again! Calm your horses, Jack. I understand you are worried for Misha, but we have business in Nemo first. But that is a story for another episode.