One day while out exploring with his friends, a young boy falls from a waterfall bridge into the forbidden lands beneath. While looking for a way back to Potos village, he discovers a rusted sword that can be used to cut through the overgrown path blocking the way. After approaching the sword, a ghost suddenly appears asking the boy to remove the sword and upon doing so, a great wave of energy is released. This is no ordinary sword!
Potos Waterfall Path |map|
With the sword, start by clearing the hedges to the right. You will notice that when you attack, your attack gauge begins recharging. You can only do full damage when you are completely recovered to 100% so keep that in mind and don't just swing like crazy! The rabites you encounter look harmless but their attacks can be sudden and unpredictable. As you fight with the sword more, you will learn a new technique allowing you to do a more powerful charged attack by holding and releasing the B button.
Potos Village |map|
When you reach Potos, you can buy a bandana at the item shop - just remember to equip it. At the elder's house (upper right corner) you will learn that it was the Mana Sword that you pulled out, breaking the seal against outside monsters that it provided. Just then, an earthquake hits and you fall down a hole that opened in the ground, drawn into a fight with the Mantis Ant.
Mantis Ant
The Mantis Ant is a lot tougher than a rabite, but it should be pretty easy to defeat at level 3 and having the bandana equipped. Keep moving and make sure it doesn’t hit you with its sickles and don't attack when it is blocking. It will also use Acid Breath and Gem Missile, which you can’t dodge. If you are killed, the man at the Inn will revive you with a Cup of Wishes. Just make sure you attack at full power when its guard is down.
After you defeat the Mantis Ant, the knight Jema will tell you to visit the Water Palace where he will be staying. The elder will call you to his house and tells you that everyone agrees you must be banished since you endangered the village by pulling out the sword.
Path to Pandora |map|
The wilderness outside of the village leads to the village of Pandora to the south but it seems a crisis has halted all travel and no one is allowed to enter.
Instead of going south, take Jema's advice and travel west to the Water Palace. You can make use of the cannon travel service (to the right out of Potos) if you don't want to walk all the way there. On that path, you have the opportunity to buy supplies and rest at Neko’s. Outside the palace, Dyluck and his men are preparing to enter the forest to fight the witch Elinee who dwells there.
Up in the Water Palace you will find Luka, the guardian of the palace, and she will have you seal the Mana Seed with your Sword. She will also give you a spear, one of the sacred Mana weapons. As Jema departs, he tells you to head to Gaia's Navel to visit the Dwarf Village, which lies west past the Kingdom of Pandora.
After you leave the Water Palace, you may or may not be attacked by goblins. If you are attacked and captured, a girl will sneak into their camp and rescue you before you become the main course. Being rescued by her will allow you to add her to your party a little sooner than if you weren’t captured. To reach Pandora, just follow the trail south from the Water Palace and Potos.
Pandora |map|
A strange curse has fallen over Pandora and you will notice many of the townspeople are in a trance. There are some ruins to the south but the entrance is barred and you will just find more people in a trance there. Visit the castle to the north to see Jema in the throne room. As you make your way there, you will bump into the girl that saved you earlier. She joins your party saying she wants your help to find someone named Dyluck. (Now that you have a second character, you can open her menu with the X button and switch control with Select.) Following Jema's advice, leave Pandora and travel west to reach Gaia's Navel.
There are more dangerous enemies in this area than before. You will likely want to adjust the girl's position on the action grid (found in the spinner menu) to the upper left most segment to make her more aggressive. Stop by Kippo Village before going into Gaia’s navel and buy some better armor there.
To reach the Dwarf Village, you need to go through the waterfall cave. If you have the girl, she won't enter the caves without visiting the Haunted Forest first to look for Dyluck. Enter the forest by using the teleport stones to the north. You will come upon an area in the forest that cannot be cleared without the use of an axe so the girl suggests you head to Gaia's Navel first and ask the dwarves.
If you weren't captured by goblins earlier and rescued by the girl, you can head to the haunted forest anyway and pick her up. You will have to rescue her from 2 Werewolves which are very tough opponents so be prepared.
When you reach the center of Gaia’s Navel, go in the cave on the left; the cave on the right doesn’t lead anywhere yet. The Kid Goblins here are all sleeping and make a great target for charged attacks. Go through the cave until you reach a lava pit. Go left from there and then up to go into a long room with a switch in it. Hit the switch with a weapon to cool the lava bed. Proceed until you reach an area with a cut-off staircase. Go to the far right and up to a part of the cave with another switch. Hit the switch, go back down the stairs, and go up the now completed path to Dwarf Village.
Go to the armor shop and buy better armor; especially the Spiky Suit for the boy. Visit the blacksmith, Watts, in the upper left and have him temper your sword. It's a good idea to spend some time fighting in the cave first to sharpen your skills. When you’re ready, go to the upper right part of the town and go into the cave on the left. Make sure you have at least 150 GP to see the show they put on. After the show, go in through the right cave where you’ll overhear the sprite in the show and the elder of dwarf village talking about how they just scammed you. They will however return your money when they see you. After you go back into the main part of the village, another earthquake hits.
Tropicallo
Tropicallo will dig underground and resurface again in one of three places to spit a pumpkin bomb into the air. The pumpkin will keep bouncing after you until it hits you. With good timing, it can be dodged by moving at the last moment. Attack the red part of its body when it surfaces, or you won’t cause any damage. While Tropicallo is burrowing, it's a good time to charge up your weapon to attack in the moment when it resurfaces.Another enemy, Brambler, will extend a vine attack other the area but it is slow and easily avoided. Use Candy if your HP runs low.
After the battle, the elder will ask you to take the sprite along with you to the underground palace that Tropicallo opened up. It turns out that the sprite really does have amnesia and wants to come along to see the Mana Seed to regain its memory. Remember to buy armor for the sprite in the village before you leave. Also talk to Watts and buy the Axe and he will open up a shortcut to Gaia’s Navel. You won’t be able to get past the lava bed in the Fire Palace without Freeze magic, so head to the Haunted Forest above Gaia’s Navel.
If you don’t have the girl yet, you will find her being attacked in the forest by some Werewolfs, which are very dangerous if you have a low level. Once you defeat the werewolfs, the girl will join. This is another good opportunity to level up, fighting in the forest and the caves. When you’re ready, use the axe to break the barrier in the lower left part of the second screen (After the 1st warp) in the forest. Go it the warp past the barrier and fight the Eye Spy there. Step on the switch and go back the way you came, except take a right and go down the stairs. Go along the path until you reach the Witch’s castle. Be careful; the enemies in the forest and castle are the strongest monsters you’ve faced so far.
Make your way through the castle until you come to a switch that won’t work. Go down the stairs, release and talk to the soldiers, and re-supply from Neko. Go back out of the dungeon and step on the switch to activate a bridge. When you reach Elinee, she will make a hasty retreat and lead you right to her pet, Spikey Tiger.
Spikey Tiger
Spikey Tiger will jump into the air and land on you, causing a lot of damage and/or knocking you out. It will also jump onto the ledges on the sides and cast fire spells on you. The only way to hit it on the ledge is with the Bow or Boomerang. Make sure to use Candy when HP is low and use Cup of Wishes to keep everyone alive. When it jumps into the air, move out of the way just before it lands to avoid it, then attack in full force while it is recovering from the jump. Another good time to attack is while it is munching on one of your party members.
After you defeat Spikey Tiger, get the Whip from the reformed Elinee. Exit the castle and Luka will contact you, telling you that an elemental named Undine may be in trouble. Use the whip to take the shortcut in the forest trail; it is where a staircase leads up to a side of a cliff with a peg on each side. Go to the Water Palace, talk to Luka, then go to the trail on the right side. Enter the cave and keep going until you see a pink tadpole-like creature.
Tonpole
It has weak attacks and flops around. It can still hurt you, but try and conserve your HP. Keep attacking and keep your distance. Once Tonpole is defeated, it will turn into Biting Lizard.
Biting Lizard
This monster is a lot more dangerous than Tonpole. It will swallow you with its tongue and keep you swallowed until someone hits it. Its tongue attack has a very long range, so watch out for it. While it has someone swallowed, charge up your weapons to attack it. Just use normal attacks if nobody is swallowed.
After the battle, proceed through the cave until you reach Undine. She will give the sprite attack magic and the girl defense magic. You will also receive the Pole Dart weapon. Go talk to Luka and the head to the Underground Palace in Dwarf Village. If you want to get there faster, you can use the cannon travel service right outside of Potos. Cast Freeze on the orb to cool the lava bed and proceed.
The monsters here are very powerful. This is a great place to level up and increase your magic levels. You can increase magic levels simply by using your magic. You will only by able to go to level 1. You can increase one more magic level every time you seal a Mana Seed. After you enter the palace, you will need to step on a switch on each side of the room to make stairs appear. Go through the palace and use the Whip to cross the gap with posts on each side. Keep going until you reach a chamber with a gnome. The gnome won’t let you pass, so the gnome and sprite fight until the Fire Gigas shows up.
Fire Gigas
The Fire Gigas is very strong, but has a major weakness to freeze. Watch out for its ground slam attack and fire spells. The Fire Gigas can disappear and float around; it is invulnerable but can’t attack, so this is a good time to cast Cure Water or use Candies. It will only reappear when you stop moving so it's a good time to be ready with a charged attack. Keep attacking with weapons and the Freeze spell. If you keep using Freeze, the battle should be over fairly quickly.
After the battle, the elemental, Gnome, will join you and allow you to seal the seed in the palace. The sprite regains its memory and says that it lives in the Upper Land Forest. Head to Pandora and talk to Phanna twice. She is the girl with the blue hair at the exit to the Ruins. When she disappears, head to the ruins.
The ruins may have a few twists and turns but it's a fairly straight forward path throughout. This is a good time to improve the Sprite's gnome magic since the Tomato Men are weak to Earth Slide and Gem Missile. When you are ready to confront Thanatos, head back to Pandora to rest up and make sure to preserve your MP on the way. Just when it seems he has nowhere to run, Thanatos has a nasty surprise in store for you.
Wall Face
Wall Face consists of one center eye and 2 support eyes. The center eye will revive the support eyes and the support eyes will heal the center eye. You can defeat Wall Face by destroying only the center eye, but the support eyes will rapidly heal it. Fortunately, Wall face has one major weakness: Earth Slide. Use Earth Slide on the center eye, while attacking one of the eyes to slow down recovery. This is basically a fight to see which side wears down first. Keep attacking the center eye and don’t let anyone’s HP drop too low since the eyes' combined attacks can really pack a wallop.
After the fight, Thanatos will disappear with Phanna and Dyluck. At the castle, go talk to the King of Pandora to get into the treasure room. Visit the Water Palace and Luka will tell you some thieves have stolen the Water Seed. Head to the Dwarf Village and you will see Jema and the Elder. Take the path down (just south from where the Elder is standing) into the thieves’ ship. If you didn't already get the Magic Rope, you will need to head back up into the caves leading to the Dwarf Village to get it first. In the strange ship, don’t miss the treasure chest with the Whip’s orb next to the door. Just inside, you will find the Scorpion Army plotting and you will be forced into a fight with their robot.
Kilroy
Kilroy can be tough to hit as he has a lot of range with his attacks. The hammers will moogle you so watch out and don't even try to attack it when it starts to spin. Attack it from behind; it will have a harder time trying to hit you. Kilroy will get faster as it takes more damage so save the Sprite's MP until then. Once it starts moving quickly, have the Sprite cast Earth Slide repeatedly. If that didn't finish it off, make sure the girl's Cure Water keeps everyone healthy. Remember - you can't use magic when moogled!
After the battle, you will get the seed back. Bring the seed back to the Water Palace where you will discover that Geshtar, of the Empire, has taken Luka captive and is demanding the seed. Whether you give it to him or not, you will be forced into a fight with his pet.
Jabberwocky
This can be an easy fight if the sprite is at LV 2 with Gnome. Repeatedly cast Earth Slide on Jabberwocky until you run out of MP. This should at least take away half of its life if the sprite had all of its MP at the beginning of the battle. When one head blows up, you are halfway finished. Just keep attacking and have the girl keep everyone healthy with Cure Water. Jabberwocky's Acid Rain attack is especially deadly so don't hesitate to use a Cup of Wishes if someone goes down.
