PART III: AFTER THE UNSEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 1: Saving Maple Island

Olive reached out to the Explorer and told them that black flames had engulfed Maple Island. She and the Explorer rushed back to Maple Island, where refugees were boarding ships to escape. They met up with Tess and Rondo, after which Olive explained that a dark shadow had set the island ablaze before disappearing.

The Explorer realized that it must have had something to do with the Black Mage and explained to the others about what had happened with the seal. Tess immediately blamed the Explorer for having unleashed the Black Mage, but the others jumped to their defense. They then realized that they could use the Seal Stone of Victoria Island in order to restore the broken land, just as Athena had mentioned. Tess took the Seal Stone in order to try using it, but he was unable to make it work.

As they wondered why the Black Mage had attacked Maple Island instead of a larger target, Tess accused the Explorer of having deliberately freed the Black Mage, claiming that it was too convenient of a story that the Explorer was the only one who could enter the Gate of the Present, with the seal breaking immediately after someone entered it for the first time in centuries. As Olive and Rondo began bickering with Tess, the Explorer told them to stop, admitting that it was all their fault. They then gave the Seal Stone to Tess and decided to leave with the refugees, believing that they didn’t have what it took to be an Explorer.

As Olive attempted to change the Explorer’s mind while they walked away, Rondo and Tess rushed over to call them back, explaining that the black shadow was heading to the Maple Tree where Sugar was. Recalling their fond memories with Sugar, the Explorer grew determined to save her and rushed towards the Maple Tree, fighting past the corrupted snails along the way. At the Maple Tree, the Explorer found an injured Sugar crumpled beneath the flaming Maple Tree as the Black Mage’s Shadow towered over her.

Though the Explorer tried to help Sugar escape, she refused and told them that she needed to protect the tree, explaining that as long as the roots were safe, the leaves would one day grow again. Sugar sensed the Explorer’s fear and told them that they could escape, promising that she would be able to take care of the tree. She explained that their roots were as strong as the Maple Tree’s, and that it was okay if their leaves had to fall, as they would grow again one day.

The Explorer realized that Sugar still believed in them, even after knowing that they wanted to run away. As their determination to fight surged, a mysterious voice rang in their head and told them that a great strength of will slept within them. It reminded them to remember their heart’s greatest desire, to protect others, as their heart was the key. With a sudden surge of strength, the Explorer tapped into a portion of the divine power of the Adversary in order to defeat the Black Mage’s Shadow.

(A/N: This voice belongs to the First Explorer coming from within the maple leaf. The desire to protect is the key to using the power of the Adversary, which is what lets us destroy the Black Mage, and so we can almost consider this as him setting us on the path to our ultimate destiny.)

As the Explorer attempted to carry Sugar, she told them that there was no one who could heal her, for as her life force was connected to the Maple Tree, she would die once the tree’s roots burned up. As the others rushed over, they began debating about what do, as water had no effect on the flames. Reflecting on the mysterious voice’s words, the Explorer told Tess to hand over the Seal Stone. Even as the others looked at the Explorer unremarkably holding the Seal Stone, the Explorer focused on their strong desire to save Sugar and poured their determination into the Seal Stone.

Suddenly, the Explorer was transported to the Erda Flow and encountered Sugar, who transformed into the Goddess of Maple World. (A/N: This area is the same place you reach by entering through the Horizon Portal in the Bowman Instructional School for your 5th job advancement.) The Goddess explained that she had waited for many years under the Maple Tree as Sugar, her avatar, for someone like the Explorer.

She thanked the Explorer for saving her with the strength of their will. She explained that she would need to return to her Goddess form, and though Sugar’s journey had come to an end, theirs was just beginning. She then sent the Explorer back to Maple Island, telling them that one day, they would grow to become a great tree with roots deep and strong.

Back on Maple Island, the Explorer was surprised to find Maple Island restored. The others asked where Sugar had gone, and so the Explorer told them about their meeting with the Goddess. Though they all wondered why Sugar had decided to leave, they realized that they had no answers. Tess then apologized to the Explorer for the way that he had treated them throughout their journey. The four then agreed to make Maple Island their hometown, even though Explorers were meant to be wanderers.

As they went their separate ways, the Explorer recalled how Sugar in her Goddess form had told them that they had saved Maple World, although they felt as though their desire to protect Sugar and their friends was much more simplistic compared to the extravagant ideals of keeping the peace and protecting everyone’s hopes and dreams that one often heard of larger-than-life, mythical heroes. They realized that the power which had allowed them to defeat the Black Mage’s Shadow was neither the maple leaf, the mysterious voice, nor the strange power that had engulfed them, but rather, it was just their strong determination to protect.

(A/N: There are quite a few differences between the original Explorer storyline and the revamped one. Originally, Sugar never died at all and stuck with us the whole way through. After the island gets destroyed, we ended up seeking out the five Heroes to ask whether there’s a way to restore the island.

The Heroes explain that the Seal Stones were created with the energy of the continent that they were made for, meaning that only a Seal Stone created for Maple Island can restore the land. However, as Maple Island didn’t exist back then, the Heroes never made a Seal Stone for it, and so we have no way of repairing the island. The concept of a Seal Stone only fixing the land that it was made for has been removed, which is why it technically makes sense for us to be able to use the Seal Stone of Victoria Island in the revamp.

If the Explorer was a magician, we’d end up talking to Evan, who would give us some of Freud’s research on the Seal Stones from Afrien. That research explains that there are three key points to using the Seal Stone: a focal point to channel its power, which can range anywhere from a person to a continent; the combined will of five individuals to give intent for its power, and a strong desire to abandon destruction and seek peace. That second point was alluded to in the revamp with the way that Xenon notes that there are five of us, although like I mentioned before, all the rest has been retconned and removed.

Eventually, the shadow would come back and we would defeat it when the other four Explorers buffed us and the Goddess of Maple World would give us her blessing. It feels really weird that we’re defeating the Black Mage’s Shadow in our first job, whereas we fight the Black Mage’s Shadow at fourth job in the original storyline. After we defeat the shadow, our combined willpower transforms the maple leaf into the Seal Stone of Maple Island, exactly like how it was described in Freud’s notes.

I have lots of problems with the Explorer revamp changes, but what I hate about it more than anything else is that it turned the Explorer, whose appeal is that they’re a free soul, into a “chosen one” type character and locking them into some sort of grand destiny. I would’ve been fine if that was the extent of the problem, but the way that they chose to present them as a chosen one was done in a very heavy-handed and clumsy way.

The Adversary as a concept is the embodiment of the game’s biggest theme of symbiosis. They’re a vessel holding the will of the people whom they protect, with each drawing strength from the other. They’re not valued because they’re born special, they’re made special because they’re valued. The original Explorer storyline captured this idea perfectly in the way we spent a hundred levels with Sugar and the others, forming bonds over the course of months to years in-universe.

The other Explorers working together to defeat the Black Mage’s Shadow by buffing us perfectly encapsulates the idea of the Adversary drawing strength from the people and using it to defend them. At the very end of it, our combined determination is enough to create a Seal Stone to save Maple Island with their collective effort. We were made special because we spent a hundred levels with them and formed bonds through shared memories.

The revamped story loses all its spirit by making us speedrun through a condensed version of the original story. We probably spent a total of twenty minutes in-universe jumping from place to place, barely even interacting with anyone. If the writers had intended for us to inherit the power of the Adversary, they should’ve leaned into the theme of symbiosis and emphasized the bonds we made through walking alongside humanity, which is supposed to tie into the idea of the Adversary being a narrative foil to the Black Mage, who worked alone in the shadows in his attempt to save the world.

Instead, our importance as the Adversary gets cheapened because the writers treat our interactions with others as some sort of obligation, even going as far as to kill off Sugar needlessly and reducing her into a stepping stone for whatever character development they could milk out of it. By making our importance come from a magical talking leaf instead of our friends and allies, the writers go completely against the point of the story, which is that inner strength and unity is stronger than any divine power, and that people are more than just the destiny set before them.)

The Explorer then returned to Athena Pierce and told her about what had happened on Maple Island. Though they apologized for using the Seal Stone, Athena told them that they had done exactly what they had needed to do and asked them once again not to blame themselves when the Explorer noted that they had merely fixed the mistake that they had created. Athena then asked how they had been able to use the Seal Stone, as even she didn’t know how, to which the Explorer told her about the mysterious voice that had explained how their desire to protect others was the key to using the Seal Stone.

Athena realized that she was right when she had declared that the Explorer had a great power, as they were no ordinary person to have walked through the Gate of the Present, face the Black Mage’s Shadow, and use the Seal Stone. She then told them to become stronger, as the power they held may save Maple World one day. The Explorer then returned to their job instructor, who taught them stronger skills.

(A/N: Originally for your second job advancement, your instructor would send you to a special map, where you had to collect Dark Marbles as a test.)

The Explorer then continued training, but found that they still couldn’t hear the mysterious voice. They decided to find new work to do and went to Henesys in order to ask the townspeople if they needed help. Camila suggested that they visit the Six Path Crossway, as many people passed through there and might need help. At the Six Path Crossway, they encountered Rondo standing before the Interdimensional Portal. After startling him as a prank, the Explorer was surprised to find that Rondo had fox Anima ears.

They then helped pick up Rondo’s fallen hat and listened as Rondo explained that he was an orphan, and so he had no idea why he had been born with his ears. He told them that he had decided to become an Explorer in order to find others like him, although he had realized that the only animal ears that he had seen on people were all decorations. Suspecting that he was from a different world, he explained that he was trying to use the Interdimensional Portal in order to visit Grandis and find his people.

The Explorer decided to accompany him and the two traveled to Pantheon, where they asked Cartalion about people with fox ears. Cartalion told them that the Anima had animal features, although many of them had gone into hiding after the High Flora had declared war on the other species of Grandis.

He explained that Pantheon was perhaps the safest place on Grandis, as the four sacred stones of the Nova protected them after they had been forced to flee their capital of Heliseum. Rondo asked where the Anima refugees had fled, but Cartalion told them that he had no idea, as the Nova had rarely crossed paths with the Anima even before the war. Rondo suggested venturing out to old Anima villages, but Cartalion told him that it was too dangerous outside the Protective Shield.

To prove his point, Cartalion escorted Rondo and the Explorer to the border, where they found themselves overwhelmed by the Specters. Realizing that he stood no chance at his current strength, Rondo decided to become stronger in order to find his people and thanked the Explorer for accompanying him and keeping his secret. Rondo told the Explorer that he planned to stay in Grandis for a while and told them that they could return to Maple World. After the Explorer left, they noted that the flames of war engulfing Grandis were just like the disaster on Maple Island. Feeling sorrow for the unimaginable pain in the world, they resolved grow strong enough to help everyone.

Suddenly, the mysterious voice called out and told them that they had the will to be awakened. It told them to remember their heart’s desire to help those in need, as their heart was the seed that would grow and flourish. Feeling new power awakening within them, the Explorer returned to their job instructor, who sent them to the Chief’s Residence in El Nath. There, their respective chief taught them new skills for them to become stronger.

(A/N: Originally for your third job advancement, your third job instructor would test you by sending you to the Holy Ground at the Snowfield, where you have to touch the Holy Stone and get transported to a pocket dimension. Inside, you had to defeat a clone of your first job instructor and collect the Black Charm that they dropped before bringing it back to the third job instructor.

One of the features of the original Explorer storyline was that each Explorer branch had a different storyline. For example, our quest with Rondo in the revamp was copied over from a level 25 quest that Explorer magicians did. Level 25 Explorer warriors would have a quest with Sugar, bowmen and pirates had a quest with Tess, and thieves had a quest with Olive.

Another feature of the original Explorer story was that each of the other Explorers would have different jobs that worked around yours. For example, if we were a thief, Olive would be a bowman instead, and the others would also have their jobs changed so that each of us has a unique job. This last part of the section is just a mount quest for Explorers.)

During their adventures, the Explorer ran into Kenta at the Aquarium, who explained that he was a monster tamer working to show that monsters and humans could coexist peacefully. In order to do so, he had been developing a way to ride monsters with a special Pheremone. However, strange monsters had recently stolen his research notes and, fearing that it would fall into the wrong hands, Kenta asked the Explorer to protect his Oinker from the monsters and gather their Pheremone samples, while also recovering his research notes. After helping protect the Oinker from the Barnard Gray monsters, Kenta thanked them and promised to teach them monster riding as soon as he finished his research.

Soon after, Kenta reached out and explained that he had learned that Pheremones could cause monsters to grow violent, and so he asked them to go to Leafre and purchase a special bottle of perfume from Chief Tatamo, which could help calm the monsters down. After purchasing it, the Explorer used the compound to tame a wild Hog, allowing them to ride it. Some time later, the Explorer went to visit Kenta again, where he told them that he had learned a way to strengthen the monsters that one could ride. After obtaining Green Hoblin Charms and Cracked Shells, the Explorer paid a hefty donation fee to Kenta, who then upgraded their Hog into a Silver Mane.