Quesada's Swan

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Now to head off to the Tranquil Woods to hunt those Prickleboars!

Here's the music for Aball Village.

Along with the music for the Autumn-colored Forest, the Tranquil Woods.

I still can't take pics yet! Boooooo!

I check the map, it seems like there are three stars on the map, three Prickleboars Velvet needs to hunt...

Not much chests to look for as I have Velvet try to go up a small creek. No good.

As we head north, Velvet surveys the area, saying that it looks promising...

I pick up a Comfrey on the ground. It's used for medicine sometimes.

Two turns east, and we encounter our first battle: with two Prickleboars!

Now I'm guided on a tutorial, the battle music, as per usual, sounds blood-pumping...

Velvet has a limited amount of energy she can spend on attacking...

I'm now told I can get "souls," which allows me to get more combos.

Like the Tales games I've played before, I can switch targets holding the R1 button and moving the cursor to the direction of the next enemy.

At the end of the battle, I get Prickleboar Meat!

I have Velvet pick up a Lingzhi Mushroom, another ingredient for medicine...

Another skit now, where Velvet thinks of different names for Prickleboar hybrids in case the villagers try to breed them with other pigs. She settles for "piggleboars" after she rejects "oinkleboars."

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After going into a small tunnel, at the other end, we see more prey!

With another chest with an Apple Gel inside!

So the five diamonds above Velvet's display is a Soul Gauge...

Velvet recites her teacher's second maxim: "Know your foes, and strike when they're weak!"

More explanations about the Soul Gauge...

There's another save point in between the crossroads.

The north path, however, is blocked by a huge boulder!

After saving, we take the eastern way, up an incline to the cape...I hear seagulls cawing...the last Prickleboar's there, along with large ruins.

The view of the sea and the area here looks so vast and beautiful. I wish I could take a screenshot of this...

I'm guessing the ruins before Velvet are ruins of the shrine of tranquility...I'd better avoid that.

I take care of the last of the Prickleboars, and head back.

The obstacles here (the deep canyon, the cracked boulder at the north road) might mean that I'll come back to this place later...

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As we head back to the largest area in the woods, a fleet of Prickleboars stop us!

Velvet's thinking the same thing I am: it seems like we hunted their family...

But Velvet persists.

Velvet: "Maxim three: 'Never waver once your sword is drawn. Control your feelings to control the tide of battle!'"

The battle begins!

The tutorial teaches me about Hidden Artes, since these enemies are Beast-types, and Beast-types are weak against artes like Searing Edge, I can use that arte...

Searing Edge is a fire-type arte...

As Velvet takes care of the Prickleboars, something happens to one of them! One of them's about to transform into a daemon, I think?

A man yells, "Seres!"

A burst of flame and the Prickleboar is out.

Velvet mentions it's an exorcist arte!

Arthur appears, and tells her that her emotions will be her downfall.

He's talking to someone that Velvet can't see...so only Arthur can see Seres.

Arthur recites his fourth maxim: "Never let your guard down, even when victorious."

Yikes...the Prickleboars laying there...eeeee...

Arthur mentions that a certain someone that he's meeting with is late. He tasks Velvet with getting Laphi's medicine. He also points out there's daemons around! Uh oh...

Arthur says only exorcists can handle daemons. That's the way it is, he says.

She asks him if she can be an exorcist.

Arthur says, to paraphrase, only people can be born to be an exorcist, not made.

So only exorcists can see Seres...

And Velvet levels up!

---

Velvet's still conflicted about the Prickleboars from earlier, saying that she should have let them go...

We head back to town, and Velvet greets her friend Niko.

Niko mentions if Velvet were a boy, she'd be in love...

Why can't there be girls in love with each other in this series? That's also possible, right?

Niko tells her to change her style. Velvet mentions her comb broke. Velvet looks at a comb for sale, but she's worried about Laphicet.

The shopkeeper tells Velvet the medicine for Laphicet hasn't arrived. Oh my god...

The daemons have already crawled into the city, hopefully not into the village...

So the city's called Midgand, and the daemons have pushed the army there back.

So Arthur is Velvet's brother-in-law, meaning he was married to Celica...

The shopkeeper indirectly (or unintentionally?) insults Velvet by mentioning Arthur's right hand. Velvet's not too happy with what he said, and takes off.

Niko begs Velvet for that quiche recipe. It's, in her own words, "life or death" for her.

Velvet asks Niko what her parents would think about her boyfriend.

Niko doesn't care about what other people have to say about her date with local vet.

Velvet tells Niko if Velvet were a boy, she'd be in love with her...

I save and stop here.

I'm guessing why Arthur's right side is covered by his black coat: it's to hide something that happened to his right arm, probably from what happened seven years ago...

Aside: Is it just me, or does Velvet's personality remind me of Korra's a bit?