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Beyond the Beyond: Update 73: The Magnificent Blue (on the seas pt. 2)
We last we saw our heroes they were boarding their ship while Domino figures out how to reach the next destination he has in mind. It is a possible long voyage and not something to be taken lightly.
Back on land the team considers their options. Finn however is busy digging through his pack for his Light Orb.
You really want to go all the way across the globe? From here?
Like I said it's a long shot but if we're serious about chasing Shutat we have to be ready to make such trips. 
Maybe we don't have to!
What? The town Domino was talking about isn't going to come to us. No but I was thinking about Edward and the Light Orb and an idea hit me. 
Does it hurt?
Just hold on before you start complaining. Let's see... how did Edward do this?
Using the Light Orb brings up this sub-menu because we have someone placed in a town. In this case Edward is in Marion Town.
I'm pretty sure Arawn is using these things to spy on us.
And why would you think that?
GAH! Of course I'm going to keep tabs on your progress.
Am I using this thing right?
You're doing fine. Just concentrate on the person you want to reach and the Light Orb will do the rest. Okay.
Seconds later the team is falling from the sky right outside of Marion Town.
AAAAAAHHHH!
That was fun! Let's do it again!
I think I'm going to be sick.
Character wait points are usually right by the entrance so it is easy to reach the character you want to talk to.
Hey, Finn! Do you need my assistance?
Yes I do actually. Let me explain...
After Finn explains what they've all been up to in Edward's absence Finn's plan can progress.
Hmm, that shouldn't be any problem. Leave it to me!
So does your dad know you're here, Edward?
Yes. He wasn't happy to hear that Sir Samson isn't with me but it's not like I'm in any danger.
You okay being in Zalagoon on your own?
It'll give me a chance to visit my uncle.
As I've mentioned before it isn't necessary to accept the character into the party after saying Yes. (If it did I could do the same thing I'm about to do. It would just require some party shuffling as part of the process.) I send Edward to Zalagoon.
The team just has to step outside of Marion Town (because the Light Orb only works on the overworld) so they can teleport to Zalagoon. I'd prefer to just be able to teleport directly to a settlement we've already visited but this works just fine. To teleport to any location the team just has to send its out of party member ahead of them.
Ow. Are we going to be doing that a lot, Finn?
Hopefully not. I just figured this was probably a lot faster than sailing up Aridia's west coast.
But what about our ship? We can't sail without it.
I think I see the mast on the horizon.
...how?
Because I planned ahead. Now you kids have fun. I've got something to attend to.
That sounds like a ringing endorsement!
Teleporting via a Light Orb doesn't just move the team across the world map. It also moves the ship to a point on the coast that is usually near where the team lands. I say usually because there are plenty of destinations far from the coast.
The team sets sail and begins their journey east.
How do pirates find all these remote locations? How else are they gonna hide their treasure?
Ha! Pirates don't normally horde treasure, kid. A horde in some remote location is money that can't be spent and pirates love to buy a good time.
Does the same apply to you?
I'm not your average pirate.
Back on the boat means back to sea encounters. At least the Wyverns continue to have goofy-looking animations when they take damage. I'll take that any day over the super bats.
Out in the middle of nowhere a Succubus and two Mystic Fungus suddenly pop up. The Succubus is the only one to present any danger and that is neutralized when Finn and Annie take her out in the first turn.
Another one of your former minions, Tont?
It's hard to tell when they all look alike.
Consulting the map says that, yeah, the team really is out in the middle of the ocean. I didn't mark the cursor this time but if you know where Zalagoon is on this map and follow that east you'll find it.
As the ship approaches the shores of Gebergheim a Venom Giant and a Huge Gel appear.
I wonder how many different kinds of giants there are in the world.
I'm wondering where the hell this giant came from. Are they out swimming in the ocean now?
How else do you expect a giant to get a thorough bath?
Bathing? With sharks and jellyfish?
Use the jellyfish as scrub brushes?
Please tell me that's not where the slime thing came from.
EEEWWWW!
The northern shore of Gebergheim is coated in shoals. Before we got the ship we never saw shoals. Now that we do have a ship and can actually sail around it seems I can't get away from them. Even with a boat the game has to make travel as tedious as possible!
I'm amazed we haven't seen any shipwrecks.
If they still had treasure in them that'd be pretty awesome!
Until Finn steered us right on them because of the treasure.
As if. I love treasure but I'm not going to take stupid risks to get it.
Just because the team's near shore doesn't mean the random encounter rate is going to let up.
GET OFF MY BOAT! We know one place where giants don't belong.
Until we make friends with some of them!
The team sails on but is soon beset by yet another giant-including random formation. The basilisk is a nice touch though. We weren't seeing enough purple in our enemies.
You have got to be kidding me!
Prraaa! That's the spirit! You're getting broken in quite nicely, human. That's not a very nice thing to say, Steiner.
I'm okay. I was just surprised by how many monsters have appeared today.
I bet the land is just crawling with 'em! That seems like a safe bet. Except for Marion.
Marion doesn't know what it's missing. If demon ladies are prowling the ocean they could be anywhere.
Except for Marion.
Maybe Marion's just too boring for monsters to mess with. Or they saw what happened to Bandore.
I could get behind that explanation.
The Firedrake spell can be counted on to give monsters hugs - hot, fiery death hugs! Also I rather like the dragon head. It adds a nice aesthetic touch which is appreciated in a spell Tont casts a whole lot.
Too bad the Griffins don't feel the same way.
Ow, ow, ow! Stop scratching me!
So instead you scratch back?
*mutters something inaudible*
Tont can attack. Like this 1 damage hit against a Griffin shows he doesn't do a whole lot of damage with his staff. He can attack though!
All of this fighting bumps our resident speed demon up another level where she gains 2 more points of Speed to widen her lead. I've never had Annie get this much Speed before but I'm hoping she keeps it up.
Northern Gebergheim is home to more Hydras. Like we've seen before being near the continent means the game pulls formations we'd encounter on land. It would be nice if these creatures showed up in southern Gebergheim too to smooth out the difficulty curve of random encounters but without anything to do in southern Gebergheim they'd probably just be "blink and you'll miss 'em" encounters anyway.
Now there's a lot of heads!
I'm just glad these things don't breath acid or anything.
Would that be better or worse than breathing fire?
For us or the ship?
BRARGH!
Maybe we should decide based on what's better for Domino? But this is an entirely normal day for us. The sad thing is that that statement is completely true.
Domino is targeted by not one but two Hydras. It might have been all three but the first Hydra died without getting a turn.
I guess I need to step up my game if I want to keep up with you kids.
You'll get the hang of it eventually.
Domino does get beat up by two sets of double attacks but thanks to that back row modifier (and Hydra C was in the enemy back row thus getting a double penalty) it doesn't get close to groggying him.
At least with these weaker enemies (and his weapon upgrade from the Island of Discipline) Domino manages to help out in killing monsters. His damage output isn't impressive but he doesn't have to spend any MP for it!
I guess they can't all be like Ruburan. Then again Ruburan went a long way towards making Final Conflict tolerable. I can't say the same about Domino because I like Beyond the Beyond more. The plot of Beyond the Beyond might be barebones but at least it isn't constantly trying to insult me by flatly contradicting other games in the series in the most blatant ways possible.
Tont attacks again and manages to kill the last Hydra.
Aha!
Proud of yourself now?
Darn right I am. I'm not afraid to take on something with more heads than me.
As long as someone's here to help when you get bitten.
Meh!
Eventually the team finds an end to the shoals and can weight anchor.
Do pirates really come by here often? They do. I've been here many times. It's not easy to reach but it's worth it.
Are we just going to have to wait and see why it's worth it?
Ha! I don't want to spoil the surprise. You kids are in for a treat.
Hrph!
And even the vigilant father bear might find some reason to smile.
If Sir Samson smiled I'd be worried. Pyrraa, that scowl is his natural state.
After a couple days of hiking through rough terrain fighting off more monsters the kids approach a village tucked in around a large forest. Visible are perhaps the only shoals in game that don't hug the coast. Instead they wall off the bay near this village and thus make it harder to find because it isn't visible from the boat.
Naturally of course the moment they swap to the village map it's flat open grassland with waterways. There's a reason I side with village/town maps when they don't match the overworld map. The overworld map is a filthy liar! Oh well.
Next time on Beyond the Beyond - one very out of the way town!
