NEW TOWN HOOO

Well gang, we finally did it. We made it to level 6 and actually continued on with the game.
So I'd been pretty concentrated on a cave I'd found north on Terror Chameleon Peninsula, but as my wandering range expanded due to that whole being-able-to-survive-more-than-2-battles thing, and I discovered there was a whole area off to the East that I'd blatantly ignored.

So I decide to start wandering that way and, lo and behold, a second town! Immediately I walk in and the first townsfolk I run into is yelling for help.

Apparently pirates had taken over the town, but very politely because the shops and the Inn were still accessible. I've seen Team Rocket do much worse.
So, after leisurely perusing the shops for new spells, weapons, and armor, I stayed at the inn and then went to go talk to the pirate, which turned into a fight. A fight that I won pretty quickly, thanks to earlier grinding.
After beating Bikke the pirate, he quickly gives me his ship, which wasn't expected because I don't have the intimate knowledge of the Pirate's Code that a true pirate does.

After this, I walked around town a bit, and a friendly townsperson told me that the Elf Kingdom can be found over the sea, but their prince is asleep, and to wake him up they need a magical herb from the witch Matoya. I then wondered if the cave that was north of the starting town was actually where she was at.
I spent a little more time grinding in the area around the town and doing some nearby exploring before setting off in the ship, which I figured was full of a whole new set of random encounters, and it was. I sailed back to the starting town, filled out the Level 1 spells for Red Mage and Black Mage, and then headed back up north to the cave.

Tada, Matoya was there, along with some brooms that were speaking a code that took me ENTIRELY too long to get. (For anyone who is curious, pressing pushing B + Select on the overworld brings up the world map.)

Anywhoo, Matoya needs her crystal back, so I got back on my boat and found this cave.

Will it be a cave that is useful? Or a red herring? Or something that will give me an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT fetch quest?

If you want to find out, tune in next time on Finally Fantasy!
(Or wait for the next blog post. Whatevs.)

Observations:

• Now that I'm out of the starting area, the game is really starting to feel fun. I really do enjoy the old-school games where you actually have to wander around blind for a little bit to figure out what you have to do next.
• The HP increases when leveling up is a little wild. I'm clearly too used to Pokémon and Dragon Quest. And D&D.
• I'm surprised I have a ship already! That was another thing that pulled me into the game a little more; so far the pacing has kept things pretty interesting other than the initial grind.
• The music in Matoya's cave was LIT

Video of the stream can be found here.