Grace's New Spell (Village of Sorrow and Tree of Life)

 

The Village of Sorrow was so thick with the aura of death I nearly cried. The village was a literal ghost town with the ghosts of the villages. We helped everyone, and delivered a message to the Jade Champion which Yunuo Ma had lost to skeletal warriors after we collected it. (Grace got it first battle but Sierra had to fight four battles to get it.)

We also found Wavebringer, who asked us to clean the corrupted treants. We brought the bark to Oakheart, who attacked before realizing we weren't bad guys. I guess nature spirits tend to be driven by instinct, but we healed his wounds and he cleansed the trees.

(Welcome to the Village of Sidequests, ladies and gents. This place has a ton of side-quests which grant you a ton of experience, most of them culminating in boss battles. The Mossback quests continue here. There is one more in the Tree of Life involving Oakheart. Wavebringer won't be here if you didn't defeat him in Shirataki Temple and complete Mossback's requests in the other Shosun Village areas.)

 

We eventually found a sheep-man called Ken Shui who asked us to defeat ten cursed ronins, which we did. He thanked us and said he had have driven out of his home by an evil spirit. "We're here to capture it," said Grace.

"I had hoped our leader could save us from the evil spirit," said Ken. "He is wise and always knows what to do. I had thought to look in the dojo but the undead have locked it and the Sorrow Whisperers have taken away the key."

 

We fought the ghosts and, after a couple of battles, we collected the key. Ken tried to take it but then realized he was dead. I cried again. "I apologize Wizard," said the sheep. "I did not realize I was no longer amongst the living. Still, that evil spirit harms us good spirits. Please rescue our leader."

We burst into the dojo and saw a demon pig appear. I noticed that Grace's hair was different. "I decided to get rid of the laurel wreath," she said. "This is my true hairstyle and it should be free." (I finally got sick of the laurel and bought the Peppermint with Crowns, stitching the Laurel into it. I can't wait for dang Grandmaster gear.)
 

As soon as we joined battle, Grace chanted a prayer. "Great Storm Titan, unleash your power on this evil demon!" I felt the dojo shake as the water rose up...

 

 

And a giant fish-faced merman appeared and zapped the demon with lightning from its trident, vaporizing it! I gasped. "What is..."


"The avatar of the Storm Titan," Grace said.


I went pale. I had heard the story of the Tritons from Torrence long ago, but I never excepted to see their god. Clearly Grace was strong enough to channel the Titan of Storm now. "How?"

 

"Remember those strange requests from Rra Balestrom?" said Grace. She smiled. "I was visited by Jove in Ravenwood, near the Myth School, and he gave me a purple crystal which Rra Balestrom combined with the polluted water and Plague Oni's essence to create a card that could summon it."

I laughed. Cyrus was probably in connips having a mighty god of storm near his school. (YES! Grace finally completed her Level 38 spell quest and, as I expected, gained the Triton spell which is her strongest attack spell yet. Don't worry, in three levels[she's now Level 45 as is Sierra, which is why they have higher HP and mana now due to new athames and rings] she'll get a spell that will work better than Sirens and for a bit cheaper.)

Ting Yin, the leader, was glad to be rescued and noted our soul cage. "You will need to craft a soul chain to bind the spirit to it," he said. "Perhaps Ken Shui can tell you how."

Sure enough, Ken pointed us to the cow geisha Xihong Bi, who had been a master blacksmith in life. She couldn't craft the chain for us, but told us how to make it.

We gathered a bunch of dark souls from the walking dead and then I crafted the chain with Xihong's guidance. "Are you sure you can do this?" asked Grace.

"Relax," I said, grinning. "I'm going to be crafting my frist house soon, so I need the practice." The chain bound itself to the spirit cage. "Let's go find this evil spirit and lock him up for his crimes."

 

The evil spirit was a wraith that was hiding in a grove north of the village. We beat it down (despite it using spells to drain our health) and then, while it was cursing profanities, held up the cage - the chain wrapped around the screaming wraith and sucked it into the crystal. "That's done, let's show Hideo," I said, grinning.

Hideo was pleased and announced that it was time to raid the Tree of Life and rescue it from the Death Oni. I took the cage to the broken bridge and the evil spirit screamed in agony, trying to resist the power of the cage, but I flung it out and chanted and the spirit relented, forming a bridge of darkness that bridged the gap over the broken parts.

 

 

We entered the grove of the Sacred Tree of Life and Hideo joined us only to find that the gate was swarming with monsters and a barrier was in the way. He relented to let us explore. The place was crawling with the most foul undead we've ever seen, like wraiths and undead ninja pigs. A goat monk was near the withered tree and told us to find a dagger that could open the way to the Spirit World to face the demon, who had stolen the summoning candles. I looked sadly at the withered tree.

 

 

We found Oakheart there too and helped kill some spiders and ran afoul of an imp that nearly killed us but an angel appeared. "You have cleansed this dojo of the foul demon, and thus I grant you titles of Sword Saints. You will have many darker enemies to face once you have healed Mooshu, but you must stay strong until the end, lest the Spiral be destroyed."


Like THAT wasn't ominous... (There are two secret bosses here - a ghost which has 4500 HP and this imp, Youkai, who has as many HP as one of Jotun's brothers, 8000! If you beat him, you get the Sword Saint badge. We kill him, of course, but it took a while without Feint. Also, Oakheart gives the last of the spirit quests but you'll only trigger it only if you completed all the other side-quests.)

 

We found the bandit Noomonga and destroyed him, taking the shadow dagger from him. We then went back to the Tree of Life and plunged it into the tree as the monk told us to - and the spirit world portal opened up. I was scared - last time we entered, I lost Grace. I hoped this wouldn't happen again but Grace touched my shoulder and nodded to me.

I was relieved. This time we would fight together. I sighed as I saw the pig warlord Kagemoosha. "No, I won't fight like this," I groaned. "Death Oni, can the pig suit and come out and fight like an elephant." The warlord chuckled and attacked. I sighed. Fine, we'll do it your way.

For the third time we defeated a pig warlord, and this time a black cloud of death emerged from the dead corpse. "You were lucky to defeat my brothers, little girls," said the Death Oni. "But this time I have only this to say to you..."

 

"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!!!!" I screamed, mustering all of my courage. "I was in despair when I learned that Malistaire's plan had succeeded... but after traveling all over Mooshu, I feel the words of the Moodha in me - strength of body, clarity of mind, and purity of spirit! I am the Chosen One, and yuo are going back to whatever heckhole I sent your siblings to! BE DESTROYED!"

Grace nodded and grinned. "Good words, Mma. Let's heal the Tree."

 

The battle was hard and tough - somehow the Death Oni knew my book was a threat so he focused on me, but Grace smiled. "You have done your part in fighting the others... let me return the favor."

She invoked Supercharge and two more blades, then two traps, and finally...

Unleashed the Storm Titan. (That Supercharge was cast at six pips. Yeah, overkill much?)

"You have not won! Our fath---" The third Oni did not finish his sentence before he faded away and the spirits of the Tree of Life filled the air.

"Are you okay? I was scared," I began but Grace shushed me.

"I was petrified too, but we have faced Death itself," said Grace, smiling gently. "Now we can get the Fruit of Life and hurry to the Jade Palace. Let's go and heal Emperor Yoshihito."

 

I nodded and we left, seeing the tree fully recovered. I plucked a succulent fruit which was surely strong enough to heal the Emperor. The goat monk gave me an ominous prophecy of my future. Little did I know that our quest would lead us out of Mooshu and into Dragonspyre, and things would get terrifying...

[To be continued...]