Day 22

Game - Final Fantasy 3, Day 22
Hours Played/Hours Total - 4 hrs / 30-1/2 hrs
Starting Point - Inside the Saronia Kingdom
Current Goal - Find the Temple of Time and retrieve Noah's Flute. Wake Unei. Save the World.

What Happened - Going to attempt a quick post! Let's hope it is quick and not lengthy!
     I started off in Saronia Kingdom. I had just recently excavated a sunken cave of its tasty treasure, and along the way, I gained a few new levels. With this in mind, I gave another shot at fighting Odin. Of course, it seems that I had yet another SURPRISE! I beat Odin on my first try this time. I always run into this in basically all games. I come to a point of trying to beat something and constantly fail, but I return back to it at a later date (whether days, weeks, or YEARS) and are able to beat it on the first try. It's a nice feeling, but it can also be really frustrating. Why? There's a good chance I might have gotten pissed off before I gave up the previous time, so this time almost feels like a slap in the face. Anyways...Odin summon acquired! Woo! I found out later that the Odin summon is basically useless...
     After defeating Odin, I figured it was time to find the Temple of Time and move on in the game. I was hoping to beat this game before March is over, but I have a feeling that this will not happen. I still have a little hope left though. The Temple of Time was said to be located at "Cape Twin Horn." This points to a place that is both: 1. A cape and 2. Looks like horns. You would think that would be easy, but apparently I'm the only one who thinks that half a dozen land formations look like a set of horns. A quick look over my guide informed me that the set of "horns" located South of Saronia was the correct one. I dived underwater and began the search of the Temple of Time. There was nothing really special about this dungeon. I was almost frustrated by the number of Magic Keys needed to open doors, but I thankfully had JUST enough. Seriously, I had eight of them, and I used every single one. Had I been off by one key, I probably would have just stopped playing completely. Either way, I descended down into the depths of the temple in order to obtain Noah's Lute. There were many great items to be found, and thankfully the enemies weren't too powerful. I did run into the classic Behemoth here, but his only troubling quality was his ridiculous amount of HP. I looked it up...one has 12,000 HP. I realize I'm a good ways into the game, but that feels like an awful lot for a simple enemy. However, outside of his large HP number, he wasn't really any challenge.  A handful of floors later, I found and recovered Noah's Lute. Now I just needed to find Unei's cave and awaken her from the dream realm!
     After coming up and out of the cave, I immediately set air sail for her cave. I had already found it a bit earlier, so I didn't have to go looking for it. It's a simple cave with only a small walk and a strange person lying on a stone slab. Turns out that person is the all powerful mage known as Unei. The group played Noah's Lute, and she immediately sprang up from her endless sleep. A cut scene ensues with what is supposed to be a funny bit of the old lady running around and stretching her legs. After it slows down, she tells the group that she already has been informed by Doga about what needs to be done. She knows where to find the airship known as the Invincible and plans to helps us get it. As she is walking out of the cave with the group, she handed over the Fang of Fire, and finally I was informed of the Elemental Fang's true purpose. Apparently the bad guy, Xande, set up a protective barrier in front of his tower that can only be passed with the four fangs in hand. Our group had two, she gave us one, and now I just need to find the last one, the Fang of Earth. Unei informs us that we need the Invincible to obtain the last fang...so off I go!
     Unei directed the me to head northward to a set of ancient ruins known as...The Ancient Ruins. It's a really classy name. Anyways, the ruins are currently occupied by some archaeologists who are researching the ruins. They inform me that a recent cave-in blocked a portion of the tunnel off and separated them from the rest of their team (siiiigh). Thankfully, Unei quickly solves the problem by making the giant adamantine rocks disappear using dream powers somehow...With the path cleared, I began to explore the ruins. Nothing too big to deal with here. There were the occasional monster here and there, but nothing was too hard for me to beat. I found some nice items while I was going through, but nothing was by far amazing. All in all, it was a fairly boring dungeon delve. After climbing down multiple floors, we finally come to a large water area with what appears to be a huge ship in the water. The group climbed aboard the ship, and Unei revealed it as The Invincible.
     Now this is by far the coolest air ship in any FF game ever! It's incredibly massive compared to the previous two airships. Of course, that also makes it much slower. The cool part is that you are actually able to explore the ship in its entirety! Inside, there is a Moogle (For the FF3 mail thing), a set of beds for free healing, the Fat Chocobo (storage), and an automated shop where you can buy limited magic, armor, weapons, and items! This is both awesomely useful and fairly unique from most Final Fantasy games, where the ship is simply just a transport. This means I have a kick ass flying fortress! Unei explained how it all works (controls and stuff inside) and then instructed me to find the Cave of Shadows. She said that it would hold inside it the Fang of Earth that I need to reach Xande. After imparting these words upon me, she was being called by Doga (wherever he is) and would meet up with the group at Doga's mansion after we retrieved the Fang of Earth. Time for some adventure!
     Before going to the Cave of Shadows, I consulted my guide for another side mission of sorts. I was to locate the Dark Knight secret village of Falgabard. I wasn't able to reach it until now because it was located behind some "small" mountains. You see, that is the specialty of The Invincible! I can fly over small mountains by getting RIGHT next to them and hitting A. This is both annoying and feels pointless...Why not just make the ship automatically able to go over them? Why make me hit A every time? Regardless, I made way to find Falgabard, which was easy to locate with a guide. This is the coolest village so far! It's chocked full of awesome Dark Knights and specialized equipment just for them. Finally, Luneth (current Dark Knight) was able to get better armor and weapons. After selling a few things, I was able to fully outfit him. I then confronted an old man who challenged me to a fight for the ownership of a powerful sword. He turned into a Shinobi and fought valiantly, but that wasn't enough to save him. After defeat, he told me that it was a great battle and rewarded me the Kiku-Ichimonji, a powerful Dark Blade for you know who. After defeating him, I searched around town and inside a nearby cave for even MORE tasty Dark Knight treasure. After fully looting the town, I finally made way for the Cave of Shadows.
     The Cave of Shadows (unfortunately) was located on the entire other side of the map, and I had to climb over a dozen small mountains made into a maze-like formation. Thus began my annoyance with the having to mash A every time I wanted to cross one. Anyways, after crossing the mountains, I sat down in front of the Cave of Shadows...and stopped there for the night. It wasn't a super glorious post, but I did manage to get a decent amount accomplished, both story and side quest!

Ending Point - Nearby the Cave of Shadows.
Levels Achieved -

• Luneth - Level 40 - Dark Knight Level 52
• Arc - Level 40 - Evoker Level 31
• Refia - Level 40 - White Mage Level 54
• Ingus - Level 40 - Dark Knight Level 1

Goals Accomplished - Found the Temple of Time. Retrieved Noah's Lute. Woke up Unei. Searched the Ancient Ruins and located The Invincible. Discovered the awesome village of the Dark Knights, Falgabard. Looted Falgabard of its awesome treasure. Located the Cave of Shadows.
Next Goals - Enter the Cave of Shadows and retrieve the Fang of Earth. Go to Xande's Tower and defeat him. Save the World.

~May the Crystals Guide Me~