PART IV: AFTER THE DEFEAT OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 3: New Age

(A/N: This section covers the 6th job advancement storyline. The addition of the 6th job storyline changed up the story presentation a little, as the original version had Carlisle arrive from across the sea in search of the Adversary right after Grendel fuses the two worlds together.)

As the ground began rumbling, the Adversary heard the voice of the Goddesses in their head, who expressed their shock at seeing Erdas that destroyed everything that they touched. Realizing that the Erdas may soon destroy the world, the Goddesses declared that they needed to stop it, though they soon realized that their strength was not enough. Elwin wondered what the purple aura hanging in the air was, and whether it was responsible for having melted the ground. He noted that everything had gone dark, as though something terrible was about to happen.

As he approached the purple Erda to examine it, the Adversary quickly warned him not to touch it. Elwin asked whether the purple matter was Erda, adding that it was different from the Erda that they had encountered in the Arcane River. Just then, Lily warned them about the approach of several monsters, which seemed to have been formed out of the unstable purple Erda. Grendel warned them not to get close to the monsters, though the monsters nevertheless noticed them and began to attack. The Adversary quickly jumped in front of the magicians and fought back against the Erda creatures.

Though the Adversary managed to defeat all the monsters, Elwin noticed that their attacks hadn’t worked properly and wondered in alarm whether Grendel had awakened something even stronger than the Black Mage. The Adversary realized that fighting the purple Erda monsters felt just like when they had fought the Erdas in the Arcane River for the very first time.

Lily pointed out that the Arcane River was a river that flowed with an enormous density of high-grade Erdas, and that in order to deal damage to them, one needed to train their power over Erda for a long time. However, Elwin pointed out that there was no one who could handle Erda better than the Adversary. He then had a sudden realization, which Grendel confirmed by explaining that the purple Erda was a new type of Erda that hadn’t existed before. Grendel then began wondering whether it was a consequence of the dimensional convergence that even he hadn’t anticipated.

While thinking about their ability to manipulate Erdas, the Adversary realized that they had also heard the voice of the Goddesses, who had taught them how to do so. Thinking back to what they had been saying, the Adversary wondered whether the Goddesses were right about there being a major problem. Suddenly, an enormous purple Erda monster manifested, causing Elwin to panic about what they should do.

Lily thought for a moment before pointing out that even though the monster was made out of an unknown type of Erda, it was nevertheless still Erda, which meant that the Adversary would be able to damage it with the help of their Arcane Symbols. After the Adversary fought and incapacitated the monster, Elwin expressed his amazement at the fact that the Adversary had won so easily against it.

Lily sighed at her brother ignoring what she had said, noting that just as she had mentioned before, the Adversary’s Arcane Symbols had allowed them to win. She reminded them that the Arcane Symbols were like seals around the soul, and that their power was different from physical strength, as it was the power of the soul itself.

Elwin asked whether the symbols were capable of allowing the Adversary to suddenly grow much stronger, enough so that they could defeat the large Erda monster when they had struggled against the smaller ones just moments ago. Grendel noted that it was a good question, for no matter what the situation was, growth always happened in stages, which made him realize that if the Adversary had already accumulated power that manifested belatedly, they may not have known about it until then.

When the Adversary expressed their confusion, Grendel explained that they were already ready to face and defeat a new type of Erda which they had only just encountered for the first time. At the Adversary’s silence, Grendel admitted that it sounded unbelievable, though he explained that since they had gone through the Arcane River alone, they wouldn’t have been able to compare their growth against anything else. He noted that every day throughout their journey, they had penetrated through a higher density of Erda, perfecting their powers bit by bit, which meant that they were likely the only one who could handle the new purple Erda.

Suddenly, the incapacitated Erda monster began growing unstable and exploded violently, causing everything to fade to black. When the Adversary awoke, they found themselves alone in a strange, purple Erda Flow. As they began walking through the area, they soon encountered countless objects from the outside world floating in the air.

As they recalled the Goddesses’ words about the world collapsing, they suddenly began hearing the voices of the Goddesses once again. The Goddess of Maple World spoke aloud that the world was collapsing, engulfed by the Erda that had appeared at the border between Maple World and Grandis. She added that slowly, the Erda that made up the world was changing into a strange form. The Goddess of Grandis noted that it was due to the seal that separated the two worlds being broken.

The Adversary then realized that they were hearing the memory of the Goddesses, which had been imbued inside the purple Erdas that made up the floating objects in the air. Proceeding ahead, they continued listening to more of the memories, in which the Goddess of Tynerum noted that their powers weren’t working on the purple Erda, and that there was nothing that they could do to fix things. The Goddess of Grandis agreed, adding that they couldn’t even hear the voices of the purple Erdas.

However, the Goddess of Maple World replied that even so, they couldn’t stand by and do nothing, as they couldn’t afford to lose their world after the immense struggle that had happened just to retake it. Hoping to push back the purple Erdas, even just by a little, the Goddesses used all their strength in order to do whatever they could to halt its spread. In the end, however, the Goddesses realized that their strength was not enough to stop it.

Suddenly, a wave of purple Erda engulfed the Adversary, who awoke to find the Goddess of Maple World hanging in the air, turned to stone. The Adversary immediately realized that she been reduced to such a state as a result of having expended all of her energy. They also noticed the destructive purple Erda eating away at the corners of the statue, which threatened to destroy the Goddess forever. Believing that they could awaken the Goddess if they calmed down the purple torrent around her, the Adversary decided to collect Arcane Power inside an Arcane Stone in order to break through the Erda torrent.

(A/N: It’s not really explained where you get the Arcane Stone from, as it just pops up in your inventory. In order to gather Arcane Power, you need to hunt mobs to fill up the stone with EXP, similar to how you originally had to fill up the three Arcane Stones of Maple World, Grandis, and Tynerum for your 5th job advancement by hunting monsters way back in the day. Despite the fact that we’re canonically collecting Arcane Power, you’re not actually restricted to mobbing in the Arcane River in order to fill up the Arcane Stone.)

After filling up the Arcane Stone, the Adversary began using its power to free the Goddess. As they did, they suddenly began to hear strange voices calling out to them, causing them to wonder whether the voices belonged to more memories of the Goddesses. Upon focusing on the voices, they once again began hearing the same conversation between the Goddesses, who had discovered that their power didn’t work on the Erdas, and that they couldn’t even hear the Erdas’ voices.

This time, however, the Adversary began hearing the same strange voices intermittently as the Goddesses spoke, which they recognized as a murmur from multiple people far away. Though they couldn’t make out the words precisely, the Adversary understood that the voices were trying to say that they weren’t trying to break things down, and that they were trying to reach out and speak to the Goddesses, even though they couldn’t reach them. Upon listening more closely, the Adversary heard the voices saying that they didn’t want to destroy, and that they were the world itself.

Just as the voices began to ask the Adversary who they were, the power of the Arcane Stone broke through the torrent and filled the Goddess of Maple World, freeing her from her stone prison. The Goddess was shocked to find that the torrent had dissipated, adding that she had never thought that she would be able to open her eyes again. She then noticed the Adversary and realized that they were the one who had saved her. She greeted them and noted that it had been a while since she had last seen them before asking them whether they were okay.

When she asked them how they had gotten out of the torrent, the Adversary explained that they had heard her voice, which had told them that the purple matter was Erda, causing her to realize that they had heard her memories imprinted onto the Erdas. She told them that she was glad to have been able to help in some way, to which the Adversary told her that they had heard not only her voice, but someone else’s voice as well, which they described as a small voice which had called itself the world.

Though the Goddess had no idea what the voice was, she explained that she and her sisters were the ones who had first awakened the Erda within the Adversary and guided them to a new power, and that the Adversary had still continued progressing, having grown extremely powerful at the end of their journey, enough to face the new type of Erda which had appeared in their fused world. Because of their strength, she noted that it wouldn’t be strange if they had been able to come across something that the Goddesses had missed.

The Adversary then offered to continue exploring the torrent in order to learn more about the purple Erdas, as well as to free the other Goddesses. Proceeding deeper into the Erda Flow, the Adversary encountered the Goddess of Grandis, who had also been turned to stone, with the purple Erdas similarly eating away at her.

In order to free her, the Adversary once again filled up the Arcane Stone, whose power they used to restore the Goddess’ strength. As they did, they once again began hearing the strange voices, which began growing louder and clearer, lamenting that they hadn’t wanted to break anything. The voices then recognized the Adversary and asked them for help.

When the Adversary asked whether they had met before, the voices explained that they had seen the Adversary when they had chosen to live. Surprised, the Adversary asked whether the voices had been there at Limina, at the moment when they had awakened the Seal Stone with their determination to live. Just then, however, the Goddess of Grandis was filled with the power of the Arcane Stone, allowing her to return to her usual form. The Goddess greeted the Adversary and asked them whether they were the one who had calmed down the torrent around her, noting that they had helped her once again.

(A/N: If the player is a Grandis class, the Goddess will greet them by name. Otherwise, she’ll greet them as the stranger whom she had met before, though she then says that she’ll have to remember their name.)

The Adversary then told the Goddess about what the Goddess of Maple World had told them, causing her to realize that the voices that they had heard were the voices of the purple Erdas. The Adversary explained that the voices had called themselves the world itself, and that they had been there at Limina during the crucial moment.

They told the Goddess that they had believed that the purple Erdas were a new kind of energy entirely, brought about as a side effect of the dimensional convergence, to which the Goddess explained that she and her sisters believed the same thing, as the purple Erdas were destroying their world. However, the Adversary then asked whether it was possible that the purple Erda, rather than being new, was actually Erda that had already been part of their world from the beginning.

The Goddess replied that it was too early to tell, adding that the Goddess of Tynerum was still trapped in the torrent, and that they may hear the voices of the purple Erdas while freeing her. She thanked the Adversary for everything that they had done and told them that she would wait for them alongside the Goddess of Maple World, where the torrent had subsided. The Adversary proceeded ahead and soon encountered the statue of the Goddess of Tynerum, which had degraded more severely than the other two as a result of all the time that had passed.

After filling the Arcane Stone once again, the Adversary began to free the Goddess, allowing them to hear the voices of the purple Erdas, which came through completely clear. The Erdas explained that when the two worlds had collided together, a strong power had overtaken the Erdas of each dimension, causing them to grow unstable and be stained purple.

In their new, unstable form, they had begun encroaching on the world with their volatile powers, destroying everything in their path. The Adversary held wisps of purple Erda in their hands and realized that they had been right about the Erdas not being new, as they were the same Erdas which had originally composed Maple World and Grandis, which was why they already knew the Adversary and their choice at Limina.

The purple Erdas explained that they didn’t want to destroy their own world, and that they wanted to live and see the new, fused world, for which they begged the Adversary to stop them from destroying everything. In order to do so, they offered to lend the Adversary their power, though they warned that it would be dangerous, as the Adversary already had a considerable amount of power that was quite different from theirs, which might collide and hurt them in the process.

Nevertheless, the Adversary accepted the risks in order to help not only them, but everyone in the world that they wanted to protect. The purple Erdas then agreed to lend their power, which they explained was the power of Sol Erda. Suddenly, the Adversary began feeling as though their power was being drained. To their shock, all of their Arcane Symbols left them and began floating away before scattering in the torrent of Sol Erda, just as they had been warned. Just then, the Goddess of Tynerum broke free from her stone prison and thanked the Adversary for saving not only her, but the other Goddesses as well.

Together, they returned back to the other Goddesses, who once again thanked the Adversary. They noted that the Adversary had gotten considerably stronger, to the point that they could hear the voices of the Sol Erda when even they themselves couldn’t. However, they also added that it was still too early to celebrate, as they had no idea how to handle the power of the Sol Erda, which still threatened to destroy the entire world.

The Goddesses were surprised to hear from the Adversary that the Sol Erda had offered to share their power, though they noted that as the Sol Erda were originally part of the world, it made sense that they would not want to harm their own home. However, the Goddess of Grandis noted that the Sol Erdas had been created from the volatility of the world merge, and that their power wouldn’t be easy to claim.

The Adversary explained that upon touching the Sol Erda, their strength had immediately been drained, causing their Arcane Symbols to vanish, just as the Sol Erdas had warned. Though they had known the risks, they explained that they had still decided to go through with it, as it had been the only way that they could have saved the world.

The Goddess of Tynerum replied that they would have made the same choice in any situation, and that their determination would save them all, noting that since the Sol Erdas’ rampage had stopped, it must mean that their Arcane Symbols were fighting against the Sol Erdas’ power. The Goddess of Grandis added that the two powers were in conflict in the middle of the torrent, though she warned that the Arcane Symbols’ power wouldn’t last forever without their owner at their side.

The Goddess of Maple World explained that there was fortunately still a way to reclaim them, explaining that the Adversary and their symbols were still linked, however weakly, which would allow them to find and reclaim the symbols in the torrent, thus calming the Sol Erdas, noting that their strong determination would allow them to see it through.

She explained that the symbols existed beyond the torrent, which was somewhere that not even the Goddesses could reach. However, as the Adversary was the true owner of the Arcane Symbols, and since they had been recognized by the Sol Erdas, they alone had the power to break through the torrent. In order to help them, the Goddess of Grandis presented them with the Arcane Stone of Vanishing Journey, explaining that while its power had been drained alongside the Goddesses by the Sol Erda, restoring its strength would help them reclaim their Arcane Symbols.

The Adversary then traveled into the deepest part of the torrent, where they found their six Arcane Symbols floating in a circle, with portions of the Arcane River floating alongside them, causing the Adversary to wonder whether their symbols had influenced the space around them. Upon coming closer, the symbols began glowing in response to their owner’s presence, though the Adversary found that a barrier prevented them from getting any closer.

Recalling the words of the Goddesses, the Adversary realized that they needed both the power of the Arcane Symbols and the Sol Erda. As they already had the power of the symbols in the area, the Adversary began harvesting Sol Erda into their Arcane Stone by defeating monsters throughout the world, who had been infused with the Sol Erda spreading because of the dimensional convergence. (A/N: Just like before, you can harvest Sol Erda by defeating monsters from anywhere.)

After gathering enough Sol Erda, the Adversary was able to penetrate the barrier, allowing them to reach the inner realm created by the symbol. Inside, they were surprised to encounter an Erda Collector. (A/N: This is the same one that you use in the Erda Spectrum PQ in Vanishing Journey.) Suddenly, several giant Sol Erda monsters appeared, along with many smaller ones. In order to defeat the monsters, the Adversary harvested Sol Erda from the smaller monsters, which was filled into the Erda Collector.

The Adversary then used the Erda Collector to unleash a powerful laser beam to destroy the larger monsters. (A/N: This is just like what you do to defeat the Arma Jr. monsters in the Erda Spectrum PQ.) Having defeated all the monsters in the inner realm, the Adversary successfully reclaimed the Arcane Symbol of Vanishing Journey.

The Adversary then visited the Goddesses, who sensed the coexisting powers of the Arcane Symbols and the Sol Erda within them. The Goddess of Grandis explained that the replica of the Arcane River had likely been a phenomenon caused by the Sol Erda fusing with the Arcane Symbols, as the symbols represented the Adversary’s journey through the Arcane River, with those memories being manifested by the Sol Erda. The Adversary realized that by calming the torrent and reclaiming all six symbols, the power of the Sol Erdas would become one with their Arcane Symbols, allowing them to tap into a new power.

The Goddess explained that they would likely continue encountering more memories of their time in the Arcane River and gave them an Arcane Stone of Chu Chu Island to help them reclaim the next symbol. After filling the stone with Sol Erda, the Adversary entered the inner realm and found an echo of Muto, which the Sol Erdas had formed in reaction to the memories contained within the symbol. Muto explained that the Sol Erdas were binding him in place, and so the Adversary broke through the Sol Erda vines in order to free him.

The echo of Muto thanked the Adversary and explained that he had once been part of the Adversary’s power, and that he was happy to return back to them. He added that he had also been enhanced with new power, and that it would come in handy for them. Muto then vanished and transformed into the Arcane Symbol of Chu Chu Island, enhanced with the power of Sol Erda.

The Adversary then returned to the Goddess of Grandis, who gave them the Arcane Stone of Lachelein. The Adversary filled the stone with Sol Erda before entering the inner realm. There, the Adversary encountered monsters made of normal blue Erda, which were slowly being infected by the purple Sol Erda monsters. In order to purify them, the Adversary defeated all the Sol Erda monsters in the area, ensuring that all the blue Erda monsters remained stable.

(A/N: This minigame is very similar to how Dream Defender used to work back before Midnight Chaser, in which you had to ensure that all the music boxes in each of the five rooms remained gold by destroying the enemy mobs in the room that would turn the music boxes purple if they stayed alive for too long.)

After purifying all the Erda monsters, the Arcane Symbol of Lachelein appeared before them. They then heard the voices of the Sol Erdas once again, crying out that they didn’t want to hurt the Adversary. The Adversary noted that the voices were sounding fainter, cutting off before they could finish. They realized that while they could still hear the voices with the power of Sol Erda, gathering the Arcane Symbols might make it so that they wouldn’t able to hear the Sol Erdas’ voices at all anymore.

The Adversary returned to the Goddess of Grandis and told her about what they had heard. The Goddess noted that they had heard the will of the Sol Erda, which was gradually awakening as the Adversary cleared up the torrent and became stronger. She then gave the Adversary the Arcane Stone of Arcana, which they filled up with Sol Erda before entering the inner realm.

There, the Adversary encountered a replica of the withered Spirit Tree, with an echo of the Small Spirit crying over his friends being trapped once again, even when the stranger who had corrupted the forest hadn’t appeared. As he lamented over what to do, he also noted that if the Spirit Tree lost its vitality because of the Sol Erda, it would never be able to be restored again. As they came closer, the Adversary noticed that several Rock Spirits were trapped in vines created from Sol Erda.

In order to help them, the Adversary cut through the vines and freed all the Rock Spirits, who then stacked up on top of each other so that the Adversary could reach the Small Spirit. With all the spirits freed and the Spirit Tree restored, the Small Spirit thanked the Adversary for saving the forest once again, after which he recalled that he and the Rock Spirits had once been part of the Adversary’s power. He then noted that even the Sol Erdas were confused and lost, just as the Spirit of Harmony had once been, though the Adversary had still helped him and everyone else. After confirming that the Adversary would also help the Sol Erdas, he decided to return back to being part of the Adversary’s power and transformed into the Arcane Symbol of Arcana.

The Adversary then returned to the Goddess of Grandis, who gave them the Arcane Stone of Morass. After filling it up, they entered the inner realm, where they found several pieces of the area fractured and distorted. In order to restore the space, the Adversary reoriented all the jumbled-up pieces back into place, allowing them to reclaim the Arcane Symbol of Morass.

(A/N: This minigame is similar to one of the minigames in Black Heaven Act 1, in which you have to use a regular attack on the square pieces throughout the area in order to ensure that they’re facing the right way.)

Finally, the Adversary returned to the Goddess of Grandis, who gave them the Arcane Stone of Esfera. After filling it up, the Adversary entered the final inner space, where they defeated all the Sol Erda inside and reclaimed the Arcane Symbol of Esfera. With all their power restored, the Adversary heard the voices of the Sol Erdas calling out their name. The voices were relieved to have reached them, believing that the Adversary would never be able to hear them again. They thanked the Adversary for not giving up on them, and for having saved them and invited them back into the world.

As promised, the Sol Erdas agreed to give their power to the Adversary so that they could stop the destruction of the world, as well as to keep protecting it. Declaring that they would go into a new world together, they thanked the Adversary for being their guide before bestowing their power, which calmed the torrent once and for all.

The Goddesses then appeared before the Adversary and noted that they had successfully saved the world. After the Adversary explained everything that the Sol Erda had said, the Goddess of Maple World noted that the Sol Erda had called the Adversary a guide, having grown closer with them in the process of the Adversary recovering the symbols and calming the torrent.

She explained that there was no one in the world who would be able to handle the Sol Erda better than them, and that the Sol Erda must have been aware of it. She told the Adversary that the Goddesses shaped Erda in order to determine its form, and that the Sol Erdas must have left the role of shaping their form to the Adversary. The Goddess of Tynerum added that the Sol Erda had gone silent, perhaps because they finally had a guide to lead them. She noted that though it had been difficult, everything had worked out in the end.

The Goddess of Grandis added that everything that had happened was nothing more than the process by which Erdas flowing through two different dimensions gathered and harmonized with each other, and that in all the ages that she had been observing the Erdas, she had never seen anything like it before. However, she warned that the aftermath of the dimensional convergence would continue to linger, as she had no idea when and where the Sol Erdas and their impact would manifest next. Nevertheless, she told the Adversary that she was content with leaving it in their hands, as the Sol Erdas would follow their lead. The Goddesses then thanked the Adversary once again before sending them back to where they belonged.

(A/N: Explorers get some exclusive dialogue while saying goodbye to the Goddess of Maple World, in which they address her as Sugar and tell her that it was nice to see her again. The Goddess replies that it was nice to see them too, and thanks them for protecting everyone, noting that their good heart had saved the world once again.)

Back at the border between worlds, Lily and Elwin shook the unconscious Adversary awake. The Adversary looked around to find that the purple aura around the area had vanished, and that the melted stone had repaired itself. Elwin asked the Adversary what had happened, as the giant purple Erda monster, as well as the other purple Erdas, had suddenly vanished after they had all regained consciousness. The Adversary explained that the purple Erdas were called Sol Erdas, which had been created in the collision of the two worlds. Upon seeing Elwin’s confusion, the Adversary decided to explain everything that had happened to them on their latest journey.