Page 87 - RKJ 2019 Online Flip Version

they had befriended on the journey to tones from Faris’s Lamia Harp made it very
Drakenvale to help protect them with its own
magic, while readily supporting Bartz and Faris
in either healing or attacking with the Red
Mage Shard and its ability to cast two spells at
once.
“This had better be worth it,” Bartz said,
cautiously kneeling down with Faris to scoop
up some of the Gil from the ground. The
entrance to the cavern didn’t have a lot of Gil,
but there seemed to be a huge pile of it at the
end of the rather narrow tunnel.
“It will be,” Galuf said. “Hah! Have I ever
steered you wrong?”
“You’d think a king would keep a better eye
on his Gil…” the young man muttered, but
shook his head and continued scooping up the
pieces of Gil. Lenna and Faris were not too far
from them, the pirate captain specifically
remaining close to her younger pink-haired
sister as they stuffed Gil into the bag.
They’d managed to grab a decent amount
– just enough to replace all of what Galuf had
lost – when they heard a loud growl. Faris’s
head shot up, instantly alert, her eyes
narrowed as she studied something not too far
away from them. “…That is a Gil Turtle, aye?”
The creature was definitely shaped like a
turtle, with glinting black eyes and greyish-
green scales. It was staring at them as it
lumbered out from one of the many pocks that
dotted this small hallway.
“Yup, that’s a Gil Turtle.” Galuf held his
shield in front of him defensively as the turtle,
decidedly not happy at the humans invading its
home, roared and leaped at them, disturbing
the piles and piles of Gil that were in the area.
Luckily, the attack did not hit as the Golem
Lenna had summoned earlier shifted up the
pile of earth to keep it from hitting them.
“It’s fast for a turtle!” Bartz yelped, jumping
aside before readying a Blizzaga spell against
it. Lenna stumbled away as well before casting
Blizzara on it to back Bartz up. The musical
“I don’t know!” he yelled back. “I have
clear that she was playing a tune – quiet, yet
haunting – and that the turtle froze up upon
hearing.
Still, none of it was enough to render it
completely harmless, and the Gil Turtle reared
back on its hind legs before its neck shot out to
bite Bartz, and then Lenna – only to be blocked
or evaded both times. Faris was staying far
back from the rest of them, her fingers
strumming the harp in a tune that she was
using pure instinct to play. The fact she’d taken
music lessons back when she’d lived in the
castle didn’t hurt, either, which was what had
prompted her to go for the pianos in the
various towns. Some part of her remembered
how to play.
Galuf mostly hung back as the other three
fought the Gil Turtle, blocking with his shield
and Main Gauche and using Samurai tricks to
avoid getting hit. Once, Bartz got poisoned and
he had to use the Chemist’s toxin-healing
ability to help him, but that was just once. Not
for the first time, he felt useless in this
situation. If only he’d had his Chemist
ingredients and had retrieved that mystical
Angel Robe from the castle…!
The old man mentally pressed against the
Samurai Shard that he was using, willing it to
have something useful for him to use against
the Gil Turtle. Hell’s bells, he’d been a Dawn
Warrior! He’d defeated Exdeath thirty years
ago and was the king of Bal! And yet it was
Dorgann’s son and two princesses fighting
while he hung back like a coward.
Most of the techniques the Samurai Shard
imbued him with were fairly useless – physical
attacks. However, one of them sounded quite
promising, a special attack called ‘Zeninage’
that required no physical weapons.
“Hey kids! I’m going to try something new!”
Bartz cast another Blizzaga, the Frost Rod
glowing as he did so, watching as the Gil Turtle
stumbled back. “It had better be good! Is it
good?!”
never tried it before!”
Lenna dualcast a Blizzara at the Gil Turtle
and then a Cura on the rest of them, and
turned towards Galuf curiously. “If you are
going to try something, Galuf, now would be
the best time to do it.”
“Aye!” Faris agreed.
“Alright, then, here we go…” Galuf took a
deep breath, sheathing his Main Gauche, and
called upon the shard of the Earth Crystal for
his new ability. “Zeninage!”
The Gil Turtle gave a screech, knocked
back as Gil flew everywhere, disturbed both by
the turtle and the old Samurai’s moves. Galuf
grinned, relieved that he was able to help in
some way, as his three companions stared. He
turned towards them, only to realize that the
expressions on their faces were not pleasant.
“What?” Hey, their combined efforts had
defeated the Gil Turtle!
A loud ‘twang’ came from Faris’s Lamia
Harp as she all but slammed it to the ground,
her eye twitching.
“GALUF YOU YELLOW-BELLIED CUR,
THAT MOVE USED ALL OF OUR GIL!”
A pause. Galuf checked the contents of
their bag for Gil. Not a single coin remained; all
of it was now scattered throughout the hallway
due to Zeninage, and they would be lucky if
they could pick it all back up without
encountering another Gil Turtle.
“…Whoops.”