[Editor’s note: As Nick Chester just mentioned, Evila won the grand prize in the Etrian Odyssey II MEGA-Contest! On top of winning the sweet prizes, she’s also getting her winning entry promoted. Congratulations once again, Evila! — CTZ]
For anyone reading on that missed my character information, check out my first post for that.
~~~~
Azel rushed up the Inn’s stairs, clutching several pieces of paper. She took a moment to catch her breath and compose herself before opening the door to her guild’s room.
*SLAM*
“Look alive everyone! We’re going on a treasure hunt!”
…
A strange silence filled the room, as the waking members of Lydia stared at their energetic leader. Derek yawned and pulled himself up off the ground.
“… Do you know what time it is?”
“Yeah, but we’ve gotta move out as soon as possible. If we find this thing it’ll put Lydia on the map for sure!”
“Now you’ve got me interested. What is this thing anyways?”
“The legendary bandit king Edue’s treasure!”
…
“Huh. Never heard of the guy.”
“Are you sure this is for real?”
“It has to be. “Valerie told me all about it.”
The group’s eyes began to widen. Valerie has given them many worthwhile tasks in the past, increasing the guild’s renown and spending money. They were sure to trust a request from her.
~~~~
Azel led the group to a familiar crystal donned door on the 5th floor of the labyrinth.
“All right, we begin our search from here. Everyone ready?”
“Wait a sec, haven’t we already been through here before?”
“Yeah. I don’t remember us finding any treasure that was out of the ordinary either.”
“That’s true… but we were focused on defeating all the new creatures we discovered. We might have missed something.”
“Y-yeah… I don’t think I’ll ever forget that.”
“Derek’s got the right idea. There’s a good chance that there’s a secret passage somewhere here, so we’re going to comb the entire area very carefully this time. ”
“Aww, so we don’t get to search any uncharted territory? How boring.”
“Hey, at least we know what to expect down here. It should be a piece of cake! Easy money!”
“But where’s the excitement in that? An awesome fight against rival treasure hunters… now that’d be a story to tell. Not finding the treasure in some dusty old hole.”
…
*sigh* “Fine… I’ll tag along anyways. Just sayin’!”
~~~~
The members of Lydia mowed through the creatures inhabiting the floors with ease, while checking all the walls carefully for a hidden passage. Just as they were about to exit the 4th floor, Ezra called out to the others.
“Wait. I think there’s something here.”
Just steps away from the exit, there lay a hidden passage. Everyone rushed inside to take a closer look.
“Well… what are you waiting for? Open it up!”
“R-right!”
…
“So? What’s inside?”
“2000en… This is chump change! This definitely isn’t the treasure.”
“My my. How unfortunate.”
“Well, we still have one last area to examine. It has to be there.”
“Yeah… Let’s keep going.”
~~~~
“Here we are. The 3rd floor.”
“Good thing we defeated all those Armoths last time. Trying to search with those things around would be a real pain.”
“Yeah, hahaha.”
“Pfft, I can take those guys anyday. Plus their tusks were pretty valuable too.”
“Good point. But that’s not what we’re after right now!”
The group searched up and down the hallways, and inside each and every room on the floor. With all their options exausted, they found themselves in front of the final room.
*sigh* “This was just a big waste of time, wasn’t it.”
“You don’t think Valerie gave us the wrong information?”
“No… I really trust her. She even pointed out exactly which route to follow.”
“Well, if there’s nothing in this last room, either she was mistaken, or someone else found the treasure before us.”
“Let’s just take a look and wrap this whole thing up.”
As Azel opened the door, a huge figure came into view. Standing in the center of the final room, a giant Golem awaited!
“W-w-w-what the heck is that thing?!”
“Woah! It’s gotta be guarding the treasure. Let’s go!”
“Wait! I’ve got a really bad feeling about this. That thing is bigger than anything we’ve ever fought before…”
“Want to head back?”
“Even if you wanted to… we can’t. I know you didn’t buy any warp wire today. And the path we came from is blocked from this side. The only way out is through this room.”
“Why didn’t you say anything earlier?!”
…
*Gulp* “Alright… lets do our best then.”
~~~~
Our heroes engaged the Golem in battle. While their attacks seemed to hardly faze the giant creature, they were able to keep their strength up and whittle down the Golem’s health slowly.
*THUD*
After a very tiring back and forth, the Golem finally fell into a heap of rubble on the ground. But just when it seemed like their long ordeal would be over, something unexpected happened. A flash of light filled the room, and the Golem was back in one piece.
“What the heck…!”
“Tch. This thing knows regeneration magic.”
“Why did this have to happen now…?!”
Their eyes filled with fear, and their strength clearly drained from the long battle, the party was powerless to stop the Golem’s final attacks. Screams and the scent of blood filled the air as they fell, one by one.
…
…
…
“Huh?”
Azel found herself infront of the guild’s room once again, with the same papers in hand. She opened the door slowly, being careful not to awaken the sleeping guild members. But there was no need, they were already awake. It was as if they were expecting her.
“We’re not going to let that Golem get away with humiliating us like that, are we now?”
~~~~
The second battle against the Golem began much like the first. The party’s attacks were not focused enough to defeat it quickly, but they were able to hold their own against its attacks. Before the Golem began to use its regeneration magic again, Azel began to shout orders to the others.
“Derek, Ezra, keep our defense up!”
“Right!”
“Got it.”
“Van, I need you to bind the Golem’s head. That should stop it from using magic. Eris and I will hit it with all we’ve got”
“Now that’s what I’m talking about!”
“Here goes nothing…!”
Van’s bind left the Golem helplessly trashing about, unable to heal itself, as Azel and Eris’s direct attacks finished it off. The Golem was finally taken down for good.
And thus Lydia lives to fight another day.
~~~~
And that’s all.
Anyways, the core of this story is based on my actual gameplay experience. I looked all over expecting to find a treasure chest with some rare item I missed, but all I found was that money. Then on the way out I had to fight the Golem, because there was no other exit. Oh and by the way, it’s a total cheater!
The Golem is somehow able to revive itself FROM DEATH with a regen spell, and of course it continued regaining HP too. My whole party was wiped out shortly afterwards. But with some battle planning and a little luck, I was able to defeat it right away the second time. No need to go elswhere and grind for experience. It was pretty rad.
Till next time, happy hunting.
