Crossing the Bridge
Before I set off over the bridge, I decided to have a wander round Cornelia again, to see if anything changed, or I missed anything. I found that there's a well that "looks like you could climb inside, but you can't". Good to know. Also an old woman lets us know there's a witch named Matoya to the north of Cornelia, which sounds like it could be more useful given we're about to head north. The shops appear to have the same inventory, so I decide to head out and see what the world has to offer.
Heading to the bridge, I get into a random encounter and realise my HP hasn't been restored. I guess that's another assumption I'd make from modern games - a story reset back to town would be like a long rest in D&D terms, I suppose? It wasn't dangerously low, but I figure before heading into the unknown a quick trip to the inn is in order.
Crossing the bridge we get a nice intro cut-scene with a text scroll
And so their quest began.
As the four Warriors of Light, they felt overwhelmed by the great task destiny had placed before them.
They did not even know the true significance of the four crystals the held in their hands...
The crystals that once, long ago held a light that shone so brilliantly
The time for their journey had come.
The time to cast of the veil of darkness and bring the world once more into light...
Then we're off onto the next landmass. Continent? Looks like it. Not sure if I missed it before, but we have a mini world map now, which gives the scope of the world. I feel like this won't have been there for the NES version somehow, but again, a nice quality of life feature.
Taking the one hint that we had from the old woman, I choose to head straight north, and run into an encounter with 5 Warg Wolves. These look the same as the wolves we've been dealing with so far, but they hit like a truck. Good thing we stopped at the inn.
It seems like this might be the EXP jump though that I was expecting after the Chaos Shrine, and Level 8 feeling so far away. Glitz has quickly made his way there, though he got a paltry 1 HP and 1 Stamina... But we're doing okay enough, and I've found a cave to the north. Is that a witch's home perhaps?