Update 20: The Yuck Puddle(s)

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...
...
Is there something I can help you with?
Eek! M-My apologies, Eine, I was just wondering what sort of book that is.
It's a human anatomy textbook.
Anatomy... I've heard that word before, but I assume you mean it in a medical context?
Correct.
As much as it embarrasses me to admit, I have wandering eyes, and I saw diagrams in the book. I recognized them as humanoid, but could not tell what they were depicting.
This one I have open right now is of the muscular system.
...I'm not sure what that is.
Ah. I assume your knowledge of the human body is lacking, given that you were raised by Vessels.
Right. I obviously know roughly what parts of the observable body are what, but beyond the fact that I have blood inside of me, the workings of my body, and other humans' bodies, are an enigma.
You are welcome to go over my books about the human body any time, if you wish. A little bit of knowledge about your physical form goes a long way, especially when you are trying to describe something wrong with it.
...Do you have time to give me some lessons, actually?
Me? I...am not much of a teacher, but I would certainly be willing to try...



Okay, one more cave, and then we can get back to looking for the Titan's Heart.





Euch. One step in this place, and my nose is not happy with me.
I can see, maybe smell, why that bat flew out into the freezing cold.
It's a toss-up on whether I'd take dyin' in the cold over this stench, aye.
Let's be careful. I could be wrong, but this cave smells bad in the same way that my family's toxins smell bad.
Awful smells and it's probably got poison everywhere. We sure picked a real winner to explore...


Big beastie right off the bat, huh?
From the back, it looks like the lizards from the forest with all the gas in it.
Oh, good, we can kill it to save our noses, then.
Maybe.


Yuck.
So this thing just vomits poison everywhere. Yeah, I'm down to kill it.
Poison lizards have identical field behavior to greedy lizards, the things from the Miasma Forest. They patrol a set path, vomiting temporary damage tiles in a cross-shaped pattern every few steps, until you get too close, at which point they will chase you. Again, like greedy lizards, they only take one step every two turns.





Poison Lizard
Level: 34HP: 2032STR: 37TEC: 32VIT: 36AGI: 29LUC: 32DS: 96
EXP Given: 13577
Damage Vulnerabilities:
100% 100% 100%
50% 125% 100%
Disable Vulnerabilities:
30% 40% 10% 30% 10% 30%
10% 10% 20%
30% 30% 50%
  • Poison Tail: Deals medium cut damage to all party members. Attempts to inflict poison on hit targets, with a high chance. The poison deals 81 to 90 damage each turn. Fast.
  • Poison Tail: Deals 100% melee STR-based cut damage to all party members. Attempts to inflict poison on hit targets, with a 60% base chance. The poison deals 81 to 90 damage each turn. Has a speed modifier of +5, and a base accuracy of 99%.
  • Poison lizards will always use Poison Tail on the first turn.
  • When at high HP, poison lizards prefer normal attacks over Poison Tail. When at low HP, they instead prefer Poison Tail over normal attacks.
  • If this is the first turn:
    • Use Poison Tail.
  • If the Poison Lizard's HP is below 50%:
    • 80% chance to use Poison Tail.
    • 20% chance to attack.
  • If none of the above occurred:
    • 30% chance to use Poison Tail.
    • 70% chance to attack.
Drops:
  • Poison Trihorn: 100% chance. Sells for 513 en.
    • Komodo Hammer (99 ATK, 9% Poison Imbue): Made from 1 Poison Trihorn. Costs 8800 en.
The colossal lizards that make the toxic caves their home take in the miasma of the area and supercharge it within their bodies. The toxins inside a poison lizard are quite powerful—however, to make this simpler, take some oyster shrooms. They'll counteract the toxins within your body, causing the lizards to have a much harder time getting it to stick.
Poison lizards are simple, and they're not particularly threatening. Despite the Toxic Cave probably being the last cave a player will get access to in the 3rd Land, poison lizards have comparable stats to patrol bats, the earliest-available FOE in the 3rd Land. Much like patrol bats, they also only have one skill, which is less powerful than patrol bats' one skill.

Poison Tail only deals a moderate amount of damage on its own. The poison is decently powerful (a max damage tick would be 30% of Ace's max HP), but that's it. If you can consistently cure poison inflictions, these things are a piece of cake. Hell, if you really want to guarantee total victory over these things, you can eat either an oyster shroom from the 2nd Land, or a crimson apple from the 3rd Land, both of which give your entire party +30% resistance to poison.
HE IS SIMPLE AND NOT
PARTICULARLY THREATENING
POISON LIZARD

...Actually, I'm not sure this is a good idea.
Why? You've survived worse.
I'm not worried about that, I'm worried about smelling like lizard vomit for the next few days. Don't want the poison eating through my gear, either.
Fair.


In that case, we just gotta kill it before it can ruin your armor.





After the fight against that plated chaser, seeing damage numbers like this is a breath of fresh air.

Follow my lead if you don't want gunk both on and in you.


That's it?


Perfect.


That's that, then.



We really just stepped on that thing, huh?
I thought it'd be tougher.
Take easy victories when you can, lass.



More incremental upgrades. Sorry there isn't a lot going on with skill-building right now, I promise things will get much more interesting once we get everyone to level 40.

Obtained pagoda branch x2 and cave palm bark x1.

Two of them, great.
My nose is screaming.
Hm. Bit hard to see, but I think I spy some plants here, like the ones we just picked.
No sign of any of that "cork bark" we're supposed to get, though.
...Shot in the dark here, and I'm gonna regret suggesting this, but maybe the stuff we just picked changes when these things spit on them?
You're suggesting we go harvest bark off the plants...while they're covered in these lizards' poison.
I'm already regretting letting that thought exit my mouth, but yes.


Well, if I'm the one that suggested this, it's only fair that I've gotta do it. Let's see...


Why did I have to be right?
Obtained cork bark x3.
The game at least gives you the necessary hints to figure out the solution to finding cork bark, but still, this is such a strange quest. No other EO game has field effects modify gather points like EO4 does.
They should. The dungeon exploration is the fun part of these games, make it weirder.

Warm to the touch. Huh.
A rank 1 Fire Rune isn't good for much.

Obtained pagoda branch x3 and cave palm bark x1.

What're we waiting for? On with it, the man needs help!
You can choose not to help the Sentinel, but if you do, a random party member steps on a branch...




Resulting in this battle being a blindside instead of a preemptive attack.

Hard as hell to hurt these things, but at least their shells make a nice noise when they crack.






Guessing you got weakened by all the poison goop too?
Unfortunately. I should have brought more protective footwear... Nonetheless, you have my deepest gratitude. I shudder to think what would've happened to me had you not come along.
We did what any good person would do.
...This is hardly a sufficient reward, but try these fruits.
When you have a taste of the fruit, it is delicious! Your exhaustion from the recent battle fades away.


Those are very delicious. Thank you.
They're as big as apples, but as squishy and sweet as cherries.
And judging by how much better I feel after eating them, they're healthy, too. Weird paradox fruit.
We don't have a name for these fruits, but as far as we know, they only grow in that small cul-de-sac up ahead. Making the trek up to this cave is an ordeal, but the fruits make it worth it.
I could use these to cook some good pies. Or maybe as garnishes... Wait, no, I need to see what they're like as a sauce.
I'm glad you enjoyed them. Just remember to leave some for us, haha! I should get back to the village now, though. Got a long trek ahead of me.
We've got a skyship, do you want a ride back to the Golden Lair?
Thank you for the offer, but no. I actually quite enjoy the trip to and from here, it gives me a lot of time to think. Safe travels.
With a grateful nod, the Sentinel leaves. You decide to resume your own search.


Yep, there's more of those fruits.
Let's gather some.
You can come back here for a once-a-day 80 HP heal for the entire party, in case you're ever back in the Toxic Cave for some reason.


Hoy, Kirtida. Pretty sure this is the cork bark we took a request for.
It does match the client's description, yes. Judging by the faded purple stains on your armor, I assume obtaining it was not easy.
Yeah, it sucked, but we got to eat some good fruits that apparently only grow in that cave, so it's impossible to tell if it was a bad time or not.
I see. Well, no, I don't, but I will take your word for it. I'll deliver this cork bark to the client the next time they're here. As always, thank you, Guild Daffodil.


The Qibo shield has 31 DEF, and gives +40% poison resistance.
Named after an ancient mythological Chinese doctor. Not to be confused with the Quibi Shield, which is too vertical for its own good.





Oh, careful, lass, some'a that stuff might still have poison lizard vomit on it.
Wat.
Berund Atelier has the following new items in stock:


Actually remembered to have Ace equip the Qibo shield. I don't really care about the poison resistance, but it's a pretty big DEF upgrade over their current shield, so whatever.

I did decide to get a new sword for Marlin, and fill it with ATK forges.

You are finished with exploring the caves already?
Took a lot less time than I thought they would, yeah.
May I request to join the active group? I find myself restless at the moment.
I am in the same situation. If someone wouldn't mind letting me take their place, I would appreciate it.
I...still don't feel confident enough to contribute in combat, but if we're resuming the search for the Titan's Heart, please let me accompany you.
I'm far from exhausted, but I wouldn't mind stepping aside to let Naijou join.
I have experiments I can do on these fruits.
That opens a spot for me, then. Thank you.



Oogh, feels like the heat's even worse down here.
Hopefully that means we're close to the Boiling Lizard.
Hopefully none of us get cooked in our own armor before we get there.


An ice stake chop point not far from the entrance to B3F. Somewhat convenient.

Oh, hello, Kibagami.
Guild Daffodil! I was wondering when you would join us. I see some new faces amongst you.
We rotate out who's going exploring to keep people from getting exhausted while also keeping our active group a manageable size. Oh, uh, I'm Shelly, by the way.
Ace.
Were you...complimenting your comrade's name?
No, my name is Ace.
Ah, my mistake.
Last but not least, I'm Marlin McCoy.
Kibagami, you were traveling with other Sentinels, correct? Have they all gone ahead?
Ah, no. Multiple times, now, some of my bushi have had to fall back for one reason or another, and I've been waiting for them to rejoin me. However, you have beaten all of them here! It seems they are undertrained... This won't do, but I will deal with it at another time. In recognition of your speed, please, take this. I found it housed in one of the many stone pillars that line the walls here.


Another burst technique, neat. Thanks. You gonna go on ahead yourself?
I could, but I have a far better idea. If it would not be too cumbersome, may I join your group until we have retrieved the Titan's Heart?
Kibagami bows deeply.
Enough time has been lost already, and I fear for those afflicted with the Titan's Curse.
We managed well enough with Wufan accompanying us. I, personally, would not object.
Look, easy way to do this, raise your hand if you've got a problem with this.
No-one does so.
Alright, great. Let's get moving, then.
I cannot thank you enough. Let us brace ourselves and go forth!


Same rules as Wufan. Kibagami will occupy the 6th party member slot, but only while we are on B3F of the Golden Lair. Furthermore, if we leave, we have to come back to this room to get him to rejoin us.

...Is what I thought, until I was testing something after writing the rest of this update and realized that Kibagami will also rejoin you if you enter the lower area through a shortcut. Wasted a bit of my time for nothing, oh well.

Kibagami is good for Shockwave and not much else. His decision to subclass Medic makes sense for the story, but is an abysmal decision gameplay-wise. He barely heals for anything with Healing and Line Heal, and Full Heal will basically drain him completely of TP.
But he's a big cool minotaur man, for style points.

At least the burst skill he gave us is decent. Swipe Slash costs 4 units of burst, and deals 200% ranged STR-based cut damage to all enemies. In addition, it also attempts to instantly kill all enemies, with a 35% base chance. Definitely worth keeping around for helping to clear out random encounters, or just instantly end a battle if I get particularly lucky. Ice Coffin isn't doing much for us right now, so I swapped it out for Swipe Slash.

...Are these turtles part of why you were hangin' back in that room?
I have no comment regarding that.
There's a navigation puzzle to be done here with weaving between these three tortoises, but...

I was feeling impatient, and I knew I could kill plated chasers already, so I took the easy way out.

From there, all I had to do was bait the lower plated chaser away from the door, and then run for it.

Was wondering when these things would show up again.


If you are curious about it, you could climb the rock to inspect it more closely.
Always have to be careful with the labyrinth, of course, but...that sure looks like ore to me.
Seems safe enough. Gonna try to grab some ore, lass?
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Here I go.
Shelly climbs up and finds an ore that could be useful as a material. She digs out the ore with the tools on hand before rejoining with the party.


Well, that was fun. Let's get going.


Hmm. It's tight, but I think we can squeeze through this.


...Cool.
In multiple senses of the word, hoho.


This shortcut would be much more useful right now if I didn't have to walk up to that small clearing to get Kibagami to rejoin me every time I leave the floor. Oh well.
*bling noise*

What the? Earlier, Rea said that that wasn't the case, but now she's laboring under this false impression again? Could it be... is Rea Shifting in a different order from me?
lmao

(I'm not going to fix my previous comment. You already know it's wrong.)


A...cave-dwelling baboon?
Must be some weird subspecies, because I've never seen a purple baboon before. It's got some thick-ass arms, though.
A new type of frog, as well.

Baboon
Level: 34HP: 732STR: 37TEC: 35VIT: 34AGI: 20LUC: 28DS: 91
EXP Given: 4731
Damage Vulnerabilities:
100% 100% 100%
75% 75% 75%
Disable Vulnerabilities:
50% 50% 100% 50% 100% 50%
25% 25% 125%
100% 50% 100%
  • Slicing Arm: Deals colossal cut damage that pierces rows. Extremely slow, and slightly inaccurate.
  • Slicing Arm: Deals 300% melee STR-based cut damage that pierces rows. Has a speed modifier of -20, and a base accuracy of 90%.
  • Baboons only ever use Slicing Arm.
  • If any player character has an aggro buff, baboons will use special targeting for Slicing Arm.
    • At all levels of HP, if any player character has an aggro buff, baboons have a chance to specifically target the party member with the lowest amount of HP.
    • At low HP, in addition to randomly going after the party member with the lowest amount of HP, baboons can also randomly go after the party member with the highest amount of HP.
  • If the Baboon is below 50% HP:
    • If no player characters have an aggro buff:
      • Use Slicing Arm with standard targeting.
    • If the above didn't happen:
      • Use Slicing Arm, with a varying target type:
        • 50% chance to target the player character with the most HP at the time of use.
        • If the above didn't happen, 80% chance to target the player character with the lowest HP at the time of use.
        • If none of the above happened, standard targeting is used.
  • If the above didn't happen:
    • If no player characters have an aggro buff:
      • Use Slicing Arm.
    • If the above didn't happen:
      • Use Slicing Arm, with a varying target type:
        • If the above didn't happen, 50% chance to target the player character with the lowest HP at the time of use.
        • If none of the above happened, standard targeting is used.
Drops:
  • Thick Bone: 90% chance. Sells for 236 en.
    • Falchion (100 ATK): Made from 1 Thick Bone and 1 Poison Ferrule (Venomshroom Drop 2). Costs 10510 en.
    • Stiletto (86 ATK): Made from 1 Thick Bone. Costs 6940 en.
    • Vajra (79 ATK, 2 Slots, +2 TEC): Made from 1 Thick Bone and 1 Steel Earth (Mine: Golden Lair B3F (Cold)). Costs 6620 en.
  • Toxic Bone: Obtained by killing the enemy while they are afflicted with poison. 100% chance. Sells for 283 en.
    • Strength Ring (+8 STR): Made from 3 Poison Ferrules (Venomshroom Drop 2) and 3 Toxic Bones. Costs 4500 en.
Baboons. They're horrible creatures. Their incredible powers can shatter bone, and attempting to direct them to target someone with armor can anger them further, causing them to act arbitrarily. Their robust physique is an incredible threat to adventurers braving the depths of the Golden Lair, and your best bet is to simply kill them before they kill you.
Baboons are the strongest monster in the Golden Lair. They are very slow, yes, but if they get to take their turn, you will regret it. They've got almost as much STR as plated chasers, and their one skill, the only action they will ever perform, deals 300% STR-based damage. It pierces rows, too. Oh, and they resist the (at this point in the game) most common ways of rendering them helpless: 50% blind vulnerability, 50% paralysis vulnerability, 50% sleep vulnerability, 50% arm bind vulnerability.

As one final cruelty, baboons get pissed off if you use an aggro buff (so, Decoy Sign or Taunt), and depending on their current HP, have good odds of just directly hitting whoever in your party has the highest or lowest amount of HP. Gods help you if they go for the party member with the lowest amount.

The best solution for baboons, then...is just killing them before they can kill you. 732 HP makes that a bit tough, but baboons are also all but guaranteed to act last on any given turn, so focus fire can (hopefully) bring them down before they can use Slicing Arm.

Zapper Frog
Level: 37HP: 512STR: 39TEC: 40VIT: 38AGI: 32LUC: 30DS: 100
EXP Given: 3397
Damage Vulnerabilities:
100% 100% 125%
50% 50% 0%
Disable Vulnerabilities:
100% 50% 100% 100% 100% 75%
100% 100% 100%
75% 75% 100%
  • Electric Dive: Deals heavy STR-based volt damage to one party member, with splash damage. Slightly inaccurate.
  • Belly Flop: Requires a Jumping Frog to use. Drains all of the party's burst.
  • Electric Dive: Deals 130% ranged STR-based volt damage to one party member, with splash damage. Has a speed modifier of ±0, and a base accuracy of 90%.
  • Belly Flop: Requires a Jumping Frog to use. Drains all of the party's burst. Has a speed modifier of ±0.
  • Zapper frogs, on the first turn they're in the front row, will always use Electric Dive.
  • When the above does not apply, zapper frogs prefer using normal attacks over Electric Dive.
  • If the Zapper Frog is in the front row, and Electric Dive has not been used while in the front row yet:
    • Use Electric Dive.
  • If the above did not occur:
    • 30% chance to use Electric Dive.
    • 70% chance to attack.
Drops:
  • Zapper Skin: 60% chance. Sells for 157 en.
    • Hard Leather (69 DEF): Made from 1 Zapper Skin and 1 Hard Shell (Claw Beetle Drop 1). Costs 5290 en.
    • Caster's Coat (58 DEF): Made from 1 Zapper Skin. Costs 4250 en.
  • Zapper Tongue: 40% chance. Sells for 189 en.
    • Saetta (105 ATK, 3 Slots, +10% Max HP): Made from 1 Zapper Tongue. Costs 8550 en.
    • Higoyumi (94 ATK): Made from 1 Zapper Tongue. Costs 7970 en.
Curiously, the frogs at the deepest level of the Golden Lair have managed to develop an organ that allows for electrical bursts—akin to a coil creating an electrical discharge on an armored skyship from my homeland. As far as Labyrinthine frogs go, they're nothing special besides this, but biologically it's fascinating.
Zapper frogs are quaint in comparison to baboons. No special behavior designed to screw you over for playing normally, they don't resist every reasonable solution to dealing with their attacks, they're just there. Electric Dive hurts, sure, but it's not 300% damage like Slicing Arm is.

Oh, Electric Dive deals purely volt damage, but it's also STR-based. I don't know why. It could've just been a TEC-based attack. I'm almost tempted to call it a mistake, but I can't be sure.

Not enough.
It seems to have heavily injured the monsters, at least.


...Why do I feel slightly more tired after watching those frogs impact the floor?
Even the frogs can mess with magic, I guess.


I did not like how it was eyeing Marlin.
Eh, wha? Me?
I think it got mad after I yelled at it. Probably wanted to beat up whoever looked frailest.
Oy, you yell at it, mate, and I nearly get flattened as revenge?
I'm just guessing based on its face, but it sure seems like it.
Right, no mercy for any other monkeys that cross us.


I feel a strange tingling sensation in my mace arm.
Perhaps these frogs are so charged with electricity that even their skin has an active current. Fascinating creatures.






Nope.
Pardon? This appears to be an identical situation to how we obtained that emerald earlier.
Yes, and that's got me spooked. I'm not pushing my luck when we're so close to getting to that lizard.
The object in the rock this time is a sword that was stuck in there to prevent rocks from falling down. If you pull it out, a randomly-selected party member takes damage.

...Uuuhh...
Alright, Kibagami, we're headed back to town, the lad's wounds need to get treated yesterday.
By all means. I will be here when you return.
Bah. Been a while since we had someone's EXP bar get desynced. That's going to annoy me.
Thank you again for helping me not have to deal with that in Sympathy, by the way.


How mortifying...
Whatcha grumblin' about dis time, Einz?
"This time?" Do I "grumble" to myself that much?
Ye.
...Even more mortifying...
See, ya did it again.
Aaaaaggghh!
Berund Atelier has the following new items in stock:


Shelly is long overdue for a weapon upgrade, so I grabbed a stiletto for her.


Painful to look at.


Skill point investments continue to be uninteresting for the time being. Naijou still lacks a definitively great single-target damage skill, so I'm having him invest more in Shockwave, which is absurdly good for clearing out random encounters.


Ugh, so that's what the current running across its skin is for...
Here, you can actually get to see Electric Dive in action.





That battle got us the materials we need to fulfill the last 3rd Land quest, so that's nice.

Gotta break at least one of the nearby scales in order to access this shortcut. You'll just get shoved back otherwise.

This'd better be worth walking around those stupid scales.


I forgot to mention, but while we were in town, I also grabbed two poison gasses in order to get a baboon's conditional drop. "Kill while afflicted with poison" is pretty easy, especially when you're dealing with a 100% vulnerability.

Not looking good on the "worth it" situation so far.


Well... We have two more ice stakes than we did before we destroyed that scale.
Feh.


Yet another plated chaser.
And this one is patrolling a tight space, no less.
My patience is fraying. Let's defeat this one and move on.
I'm fine with that, but do you need a moment after we're done killing it?
You do sound abnormally agitated, Eine.
Apologies, that is...unbecoming of me, yes. I will be fine.


This party isn't great at killing plated chasers, but whatever. That should be the last one I have to kill for now.

Good thing we took the long way around.
Indeed. The heat from both scales would have been unbearable.


Obtained eclogite x2.

I guarantee you there's just more ice stakes behind this thing.
And yet, we should check that crevice out anyway.
Why?
Do you want to hand Harper this map and have to be the one to tell her part of it was left empty on purpose?
...


sigh


Knew it.
I am confused, what was this about your map?
Our quasi-leader's got a big emotional attachment to maps; she really wants to make sure they're as complete as possible.
Does she have a particular fascination with cartography?
Kinda, but not really for cartography's own sake. It's a family thing. She'd probably love to tell you about it if you two ever get to talk.
And I would love to listen.
Not to interrupt, but... As much as I hate suggesting it so soon after our previous return to Tharsis, our pack is getting full. We also have the materials from the zapper frogs to turn into Kirtida.
Can't do much if the pack's full. Back we go, again.



We've retrieved the zapper frog materials, as requested.
Well done. I'll deliver these to Lament later.
Hopefully this goes better than the last time she messed with monster parts, eh?
She's...done this before?
Oh yes. She had previously experimented with fire-aspected monster materials, burning her house down in the process.
...She's not gonna summon some nasty thunderstorm with those, right?
We can only hope.








Soon. But not now.


Man, ya guys're bringin' in a lotta new mats da past few days.
Is that a problem?
Did I sound like it was?
Berund Atelier has the following new items in stock:



It is safe to assume the Boiling Lizard waits past this point.
...We were right there, huh?
Short floor.
We should check and see what the Boiling Lizard's lair is like, and then retreat to prepare.



As soon as it notices your presence, it flexes its enormous body.
If the scales it scatters everywhere to heat up the Golden Lair did not make it obvious, the Boiling Lizard despises the cold. Do you see the large scale pile further in?
It's difficult to see behind the Boiling Lizard itself... Ah, I think I see it.
Much like the upper floors, if we can destroy that large scale pile, this floor should cool down, and likely weaken the Boiling Lizard in the process.
Not about to fight this thing right now, but good to know. Let's map out as much of this room as we can and get out.



It's chasing us!
Ugh. Probably doesn't want us getting anywhere near the big scale pile.


There's a water tile here that you can use to give the Boiling Lizard the ring-around-the-rosie, putting it behind you instead of in front of you.

Of course, there are scales everywhere, creating several spots where you will get pushed back if you walk into them. If you get pushed back into the Boiling Lizard...well, good luck.

Breaking the scale up here is necessary to move forward. It's the only one you can destroy, since all of the others will just push you back if you get close.

If you need to reset the Boiling Lizard's position, it will de-aggro on you if you leave the room.

Once this scale pile is destroyed, you can juke the Boiling Lizard around the water tile to our northeast.

The scales piles in front of the big scale pile are set up to push you back if you just run at them.

There's a checkpoint of sorts over here, in the upper half of the room.

Been a while since we last had a locked chest.
Grr...


Subtle. Potentially useful, though.

Phew. Least we've got an easy way back to this thing's lair.


Last levels before we fight the Boiling Lizard.

Probably going to reskill Shelly to move those extra points in Blazing Link into Freezing Link before we fight the Boiling Lizard.

Alright, that's basically everything we need mapped out. Big pile's right there, more piles in front of it, we'll work out how to actually get to it later.
I would advise we retreat from this room, then. I'll return to the village and prepare for battle tomorrow. You all should do the same.
There's one last bit of this floor we need to map out, from the other entrance, but otherwise, good idea.



Meanwhile, outside the Golden Lair...
Gold pooka.
It looks...angry, almost.
Sort of. But I know it's happy on the inside.


That's another pooka logged in the Monstrous Codex, and another stat booster to distribute.

I gave it to Harper. Any help she can get with inflicting binds is appreciated.
Pook.

I also helped Kirjonen out and got a farmer's almanac for my trouble. It gives you a chance to not use up vegetable food points when getting food from them.


Can't be too much in here, given the rest of the map.


Obtained eclogite x2.

...Well, that was boring.
Your boredom's in service of bein' thorough, mate.
If you say so. Everyone ready to head home for the day?
Certainly.
Yep, that's it. That's all of B3F we can do right now.

Next time: the Boiling Lizard.
Boiling Lizard? At least let me take her on a date first!





























knock
Come in, Harper.
You know my knock now.
Everyone else here either does three quick knocks or that 1-234-5—1-2 thing. You're the only one that knocks once.
You have good ears.
My mates always told me the same thing... Oh, you brought food. Did I miss dinner again?
No. Yes, actually, but I didn't come get you on purpose.
Wanted a private dinner with the captain, eh?






No.
Ah, um. Sorry. Put myself into the wrong mental mode for a second.
It's okay. I wanted you to taste test a new food.
Oh! Hell, I'd skip several dinners to see any new ideas you've got. What've you got for me?
Remember the fruit that the Sentinel we saved pointed us towards, in the cave with the poison lizards?
Yep. Did you do something with it?
I tried naming it first. It'd be hard to follow a recipe if it calls for "one of the fruits from the cul-de-sac in the Toxic Cave in the Sacred Mountains a few hours away from Tharsis."
It'd take up more room than necessary on the recipe card, that's for sure.
In the process of trying to name this fruit something unique, I have learned that it's very hard to name fruits something unique.
...I've never thought about what it'd be like to come up with a name for any plant, let alone a fruit. What makes it hard?
We call a lot of fruits their names because that's what we've always called them. Either that, or we just take what kind of fruit it is and put another word in front of it.
So you can't really give it a name that's been around forever if you're trying to give it a name now...and just calling it, like, a sentinelberry would be really boring.
You understand. I stared at this fruit for a while, trying to think of what I could call it. I couldn't come up with anything. Then it changed color.
It-huh-wha?
It changed color. It was red, I blinked, it was purple. It tasted the same. It felt the same. I checked everything I could. It was the same fruit, just purple now.
blink
I sat for a bit. This fruit is amazing, but it also makes no sense. Then I remembered how Ace described it.
...What did they say again? She used the word "paradox," right?
Yes. I think just calling this fruit "paradox" is fine. No other fruits are called paradox. Nothing about this fruit makes sense, like a paradox. It might take people a bit to get used to seeing "1 half paradox" or "9 sliced paradoxes" in recipes, but it'll catch on. It'll catch on with me and Uncle Ranger and Regina, at least.
Good name, in my opinion. We got kinda sidetracked there, does this new food have paradoxes in it?
Oh. New food isn't really right, sorry. I made steak with paradox sauce. Buffalo ribeye.
Sick. That sounds like it'd really hit the spot right now.









Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... Well, to get the obvious out of the way, the sauce makes the steak a lot sweeter than I'm used to.
Mm. I did expect that.
It's not bad, definitely. But I'm not sure it's something I'd actually order. It's almost overpowering, like instead of eating steak with sauce, I'm eating sauce with steak.
I agree. Paradox sauce can work, I think, but only a really small amount of it. I just wanted to make sure someone else's tongue agreed. I trust my tongue, but there's no accounting for taste.
Try mixing a bit of it into a marinade? Spitballing here, I'm no chef, but maybe letting the flavor seep into the steak would work better for something this strong.
Good idea.
On that note, how come this was the first thing you made with paradoxes? Again, not a chef, but "steak sauce" wouldn't be my first idea for using a new fruit.
Uncle Ranger loves steak with fruit sauce. He told me that the apple sauce bison steak Regina made with ingredients from the snowy part of Lagaard's Yggdrasil was the first food he loved. He ordered it a lot. Then, near the end of their adventure, Regina put orange sauce on steak made from a dinosaur that came from heaven.
Sorry, a what from where? I know the general story of what happened in Lagaard, but not any of the specifics.
My moms and Uncle Ranger always just called the last place they explored "heaven." It's not actual heaven, but apparently it was a lot like it. Except for all the monsters. And the Ur-Child. Anyway, the dinosaur steak with orange sauce is what convinced Uncle Ranger to try every possible combination of steak with fruit sauce before he dies.
I...see. Do you also want to do that?
I have a lot in common with Uncle Ranger. But I'm okay with not trying every possible combination of steak with fruit sauce before I die. Just as many as I can is enough for me.
Huh, you've already got a before-I-die life goal?
Mhm. Do you?
No...? Should I? I don't even know what I want to do after we reach Yggdrasil and solve whatever problem it's got, and that's fine by me.
...That makes sense, I guess.
I'm only 27, Harper, and last I checked, the world's not ending any time soon. I've got time to figure things out. In the meantime, this adventure's a good way to fill time. Hell, it's already had a net positive effect on the world, as far as I'm concerned.
Because of what we did for the Vessels and Xiuan? And how we reunited Naijou and Kibagami?
Yup. Sure, that's small potatoes in the grand scale of things, but even with the...problems we've had, we're leaving the places we visit and the people we meet in better shape than we found them.
That's true.
Thank you for taste-testing the steak, Shelly. I hope it was good, even if it could've been better.
Thanks in return for trusting my taste buds, heh. Never know if we'll be the ones that end up fighting the Boiling Lizard tomorrow, so get some good rest, Harp.
You too. Remember to hug your plushies if you're having trouble sleeping.

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