PART III: AFTER THE UNSEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 41: Mysterious Forest of Arcana

(A/N: Just like with Chu Chu Island, this storyline is also mainly filler and could’ve instead been removed and replaced by something that would’ve helped the pacing of the Arcane River storyline as a whole. Arcana seems to be based on the Forest of Spirits that Orchid, Lotus, and Guwaru come from, making it possible that it was created from the Erdas of spirits from Maple World and Grandis. The NEXT update made minor dialogue changes to the Arcana storyline, although none of the core story was changed. There was also a bonus questline introduced at the end of the story, which concludes the running parallel story of the Alliance’s preparations to launch their expedition into the Arcane River.)

With the red fog around Lachelein still remaining, the Adversary realized that it would still take some time before the nightmare over the city would lift. Suddenly, however, they heard a noise near the canals, where they were surprised to find that the Flying Fish awaited them. Realizing that the path which the Flying Fish had taken was free of the red fog, the Adversary hopped aboard its back as the pair left Lachelein and began flying over the Arcane River. Soon, however, they ran into a large Vortex of Light that pulled them in and threw them in the middle of the forest of Arcana.

There, the Adversary encountered a mysterious light and began following it. They soon encountered a Small Spirit crying by himself and lamenting the corruption of the forest. They approached the spirit to comfort him when suddenly, dark Water Spirits appeared and began attacking. The Adversary defeated the spirits and returned to the Small Spirit, who told them about the large Spirit Tree in the center of the forest, which had once resonated with the Song of the Forest and had sheltered the spirits from danger.

However, the Song of the Forest had grown silent, causing the Spirit Tree to wither, after which discordant spirits had begun to manifest. As the tree withered, it had become shrouded in an evil stench, and the Vortex of Light had appeared shortly afterward. The Adversary asked about the Song of the Forest, which the Small Spirit explained had been created by the Songblooms that grew around the forest.

The Small Spirit believed that the Spirit Tree would restore itself if the Song of the Forest were to play once more, but he explained that he had been unable to restore the Songblooms. Just then, a mysterious Wind Spirit appeared and offered his help. The Small Spirit asked him to carry them down the cliff to the Floral Flute. After gently setting them at the foot of the cliff, the Wind Spirit flew off.

The Small Spirit told the Adversary that they would need to collect the life force from the wild spirits in order to breathe life back into the shriveled Floral Flute. The Adversary collected Essences of Water, Sunlight, and Earth from the nearby spirits, which briefly revitalized the flute before it shriveled up again. They attempted to revitalize it once again with more essence, though it still had no effect.

The Small Spirit then began crying, causing the Wind Spirit to appear once again. The Wind Spirit told them that one of the Whispering Flowers might know how to help before vanishing once more. After searching through the forest for the right flower, the Adversary found a Whispering Flower, which told them that the Floral Flute thrived on moonlight, and that the greatest amount of moonlight fell on the highest place in the forest.

The Adversary told the Small Spirit what they had learned, but the Small Spirit explained that the Floral Flute was too big to carry. He instead suggested cutting a trimming from the Floral Flute plant and planting it at the spot with the most moonlight. After planting the cutting atop the highest point, the moonlight revitalized the withered cutting and allowed it to bloom, creating a beautiful sound.

The pair then went to the Spirit Tree in order to see its status, though they discovered that it still remained silent. Undeterred, the Small Spirit led the Adversary to the heart of the forest, where he told them that they would need to ask the Tree Spirits for their help in navigating through the maze. As they proceeded deeper into the forest, they found the same mysterious light that had led the Adversary to the Small Spirit and followed it until the light split into two paths.

The pair decided to split up in order to cover both paths, and as the Adversary continued alone, they soon felt their strength being drained. Several Tree Spirits then appeared and demanded that the Adversary return their friend, believing the Adversary to be the same stranger who had appeared some time ago. Just then, the Small Spirit appeared and created a bright light to distract the Tree Spirits, allowing the Adversary to escape. They returned to the heart of the forest, where the Wind Spirit returned and told them that he had seen the missing Tree Spirit somewhere nearby before vanishing once again. They began to search for the Tree Spirit and found him being corrupted amongst the wild spirits.

The Adversary took the lost spirit and fought through the corrupted Snow Cloud Spirits and Thunder Cloud Spirits in order to bring him back to the other Tree Spirits. There, the Tree Spirits transferred some of their energy into their comrade in order to stop the corruption. The Small Spirit then told the Tree Spirits about his mission to revive the Songblooms in order to restore the Spirit Tree and asked about the Bramble Harp. However, the Tree Spirits told him that his efforts were pointless, as they believed that the corruption was too deep to undo.

Just then, the trail of light reappeared and the Adversary followed it to the withered Bramble Harp. The Wind Spirit then popped in and told them that a large tree that responded to sound was blocking the Bramble Harp from feeling the starlight in the sky. The Small Spirit believed that the tree might move if they made enough noise on the other side. In order to do so, the Adversary collected the crystallized Deathcries of the Toxic Spirits and Volatile Shrieks of the Volatile Spirits. By smashing the crystals, they were able to create a large noise that caused the tree to move aside. Just then, the Tree Spirits arrived and demanded that they stop, claiming that there was no hope of reviving the forest. When the Adversary and the Small Spirit refused to give up, the Tree Spirits created vines in order to trap the pair as punishment for ignoring their warnings.

Just then, the Tree Spirit whom they had rescued arrived and told the other Tree Spirits that the Bramble Harp was beginning to bloom. The rescued Tree Spirit freed the Adversary and the Small Spirit and thanked them for rescuing him. He explained that the other Tree Spirits were behaving aggressively because they felt guilty for failing their duty to protect the Spirit Tree.

He apologized on their behalf and noted that the Adversary was nothing like the stranger with the terrible aura who had passed through the forest earlier. He explained that a calm yet powerful aura of immense evil had appeared not long ago from the stranger. As the stranger had passed through, everything in her wake had vanished and transformed into something else. Though she had only been walking by, her mere presence had resulted in the corruption that plagued the forest. He added that others had followed behind her, though he didn’t know how many.

(A/N: The corruption in the forest was caused by Tana, who’s being escorted to the Black Mage by Arkarium.

Please note: the following text contains major spoilers for Kao’s timeline. If you don’t want spoilers, skip to the end of the author note.

In Kao’s timeline, it gets revealed that Arma was corrupted by Tana in the same way that her influence corrupted the spirits of Arcana.)

The Adversary and the Small Spirit then went to Marimba Lagoon, which they found had completely dried up. The Small Spirit explained that when the lagoon used to be full, the dew that collected on the blossoms would drip onto the surface of the lagoon, creating a calm concerto of water. At the base of the lagoon, they found a large rock obstructing the water flow. They broke through the rock and found a new passageway. Upon entering, they discovered a vast cave, where a Rock Spirit was trapped under brambles. After being freed, the Rock Spirit told them that he had been swimming underground with his brothers when a large wave had swept them away. They found the Rock Spirit’s brothers trapped in brambles up above and realized that they were blocking the water.

The Rock Spirit told them to find seven of his ten brothers scattered throughout the cave so that the Adversary could stack them on top of another and climb up to free the other three. After rescuing the scattered brothers, the Adversary was able to save the trapped ones, allowing the water to flow back into the lagoon. Just then, they heard a rumble as the Wind Spirit returned and warned them that the Spirit Tree was in trouble. They fought their way out of the cave and found the Spirit Tree completely engulfed by the evil aura. The aura began to spread outward, creating corrupted spirits that began attacking them. As they fought the spirits off, a massive spirit with much darker energy appeared. After the Adversary defeated it, the massive spirit shrank in size and revealed itself as the spirit of the Spirit Tree, the Spirit of Harmony.

The Spirit of Harmony’s memories revealed how he had tried to reach out to the other spirits during the time of peace, and how he had been too shy to talk to them. When the corruption had begun to spread, the Spirit of Harmony had attempted to seal the corruption in order to protect the other spirits, causing him to become corrupted himself and lose his strength, which had resulted in the Spirit Tree withering.

As all the spirits gathered to apologize to the Spirit of Harmony for not noticing how he had sacrificed himself, the Song of the Forest began to play and restored life throughout the forest. In the distance, the Adversary noted that the Vortex of Light had disappeared, meaning that they could continue on their journey. Before heading out, they said goodbye to the Small Spirit, who thanked them for helping him restore the Song of the Forest and gave them the Arcane Symbol of Arcana as a token of his gratitude.

(A/N: The remainder of this section is the bonus Alliance questline added in the NEXT update.)

As the Adversary prepared to leave, they realized that the information that they had gathered in Arcana - particularly about the stranger with the ominous aura - would be important to send to the Alliance, for which they sent another letter, hopeful that the Alliance would receive it after hearing about the dreams of the Erdas in Lachelein.

Some time later, Checky watched the preparations in Ereve for constructing the Alliance fleet to enter the Arcane River, with construction going faster than usual thanks to the combined efforts of everyone in Maple World, as well as Edelstein for sending the schematics for the airships in the fleet. Just then, Grendel the Really Old arrived and greeted Checky, noting that the airships were nearly complete. Checky replied that he had also heard that the enchantment of the Rue Ore was also nearly complete, and that the expedition into the Arcane River could soon begin. He added that such a mission had never before happened in the history of Maple World, and that they would soon be able to put an end to the Black Mage once and for all.

However, Grendel noted that it wouldn’t be easy, to which Checky asked Grendel whether he was afraid. Grendel replied that it wasn’t what he had meant before looking up at the immense airship looming in the distance, wondering whether that was the White Spear. Checky confirmed that it was indeed, and that it was the flagship which Empress Cygnus would be sailing upon. He added that it wasn’t just pretty on the outside, as its sturdy and powerful construction meant that it would certainly be able to deal damage to the Black Mage.

After a pause, however, Grendel told Checky that wouldn’t happen, explaining that though the White Spear may be able to help them get near the Black Mage, it wouldn’t be what would pierce through him. At Checky’s confusion, Grendel ominously explained that defeating the Black Mage was a destiny that was already in someone else’s hands.

That night, Claudine arrived in Ereve, where she was surprised to see flashing lights in the distance. She then met with Neinheart, who asked her whether something was wrong. Claudine explained that she had come to report that construction of the fleet was nearly complete. However, she noted that the Empress was absent and asked Neinheart about the light which she had just seen. Neinheart explained that Cygnus was currently training, revealing that she had been working to gain control over the new abilities which she had gained upon awakening as a Transcendent-in-reserve, as she had believed that they would be needed during the fight against the Black Mage.

Claudine was shocked that Neinheart was planning to send Cygnus into battle, reminding him that she was a civilian with no combat training and a frail body. However, Neinheart revealed that it had been Cygnus’ own decision to go into battle herself. He reassured Claudine that he himself would have argued against letting Cygnus go into battle if he had thought that the risk outweighed the benefits. However, he explained that he had seen Cygnus’ abilities first-hand, and that he was convinced that they would be crucial in the fight ahead.

He then added that it was the Empress’ decision, and that he would stand by that decision, adding that the Cygnus Knights would fulfill their responsibility to keep the Empress safe in the battle. Claudine replied that if that was indeed the Empress’ decision, there was nothing that anyone could do about it. However, she noted that the Resistance had no intention of hiding behind a young girl on the battlefield, as they had been waiting for the moment to fight the Black Mage for a long time. She then told Neinheart that the Resistance would do their very best during the battle as well.