The Long Way Round
Next we run into an Ogre Chief and two Ogres who feel like a step up in toughness, but the rewards are pretty worth it - 690 gil and 672 EXP. But the way they hit, I'm going to spend a hundred of that on a sleep at the inn, because Kaili's already in critical health. At least everyone's level 10 now.
I decide to head back to Cornelia, and see if I maybe missed an Esuna spell or similar because it feels like not being able to cure poison is a bit of a gap in Clair's skillset. In combat on the ship over the inland sea, I notice that Glitz's dagger has really made a difference to his damage. Maybe he's got a warrior in him yet...
Cornelia's Level 1 white magic shop hasn't got the spell I'm after, but I pick up Protect while I'm there, because it's only 50 gil. Maybe I need to head back to Pravoka.
Maybe not, as there's no luck there either. At least I'm making some small EXP/level gains as I go here, I had Clair do a little healing, but we're making some good gil too, so maybe it's just in one of those expensive stores back in Elfheim...
On the way back over the sea, Clair gets pretty close to death, so I slow down to give her chance to Cure herself, and decide to break out my first Fira. It's nice, but not stunning. I suspect it's going to to come to the fore in those 4 vs 9 fights though. Or, as I try it again on land against 6 wolf variants, maybe it's just not that effective at sea? Seemed to be 80 each against those 6.
Another quick nap and I check the white magic stores here again. I see Heal in the Level 3 store, and decide that'll be useful as it's multi-target too. I'm starting to think I'll just stock up on antidotes though. The 2500 gil price tag on Poisona confirms that for now. I technically have enough for it right now, but I don't think it's the best use of the funds.
I'm sort of both proud of myself for not looking that up, but also annoyed that we've just been on a bit of a wild goose chase... I guess I want to go for something of an authentic experience though. There's definitely a pull both ways in my head, the pragmatist who thinks "just look it up" as it's quicker, but the purist on the other hand wants the original experience as much as possible. It's a bit refreshing having things not be super-duper user friendly in a way.
Those Copper Armlets look a lot more affordable now though, and I grab one each for the mages. I also grab some bits at the item shop, including some antidotes. We reached Level 11 with Glitz's torching of the wolves, so I think I'm going to aim for Level 12 before heading to the castle next to the town, which is where I assume the Prince is napping.
With those little upgrades and stat increases, fighting outside of Elfheim feels a lot safer and therefore somewhat uneventful. I decide to get everyone up to Level 12 before heading for a night at the Inn and head up to the castle. I don't want them visiting royalty looking rough round the edges...