Editing Secret of Mana

[[File:Tropics Scorpion Army SeoM screenshot.png|150px|thumb|left|Scorpion Army's hidden paradise]]

There, they learn from the [[King Amar III|ruler]] that the local oasis has run dry because of the disappearance of the fire seed from the nearby palace. The town’s minister also adds that the elemental spirit [[Salamander|Salamando]] has also been kidnapped. The party finds a Cannon travel center next to the settlement and head to the frozen [[Ice Country|wasteland]] of the north to investigate. They land in [[Todo Village]] where a local [[Walrusker]] talks about a [[Tropics|tropical paradise hidden deep within the [[Crystal Forest]]. While searching the frozen woods, they stumble upon a lone [[Santa’s House|shack]] with a talking [[Rudolph|reindeer]] pleading the party to get his master back from the [[Ice Palace]]. After further exploring, they find a warm settlement devoid of snow and ice in the middle of the frigid plains. In the middle of this peculiar place lies a large heater, holding none other than the fire mana spirit inside. They free the creature, which immediately joins the team, making the whole area freeze.  Turns out the Scorpion Army was behind all this and stole the elemental to attract rich tourists. One of the lackeys blurts out that they saw an old man grabbing the seed while they nabbed Salamando back at the Fire Palace. This gives the party the incentive to explore the Ice Palace lurking at the end of the forest. Inside, they are greeted by an [[Frost Gigas|ice giant]] who is revealed to be none other than [[Santa|Santa Claus]]. He fell for the Mana Seed’s power once he sought to make children believe in him again, and transformed into this hideous gigas instead. He gives the Mana Seed back to the protagonists who return to the desert to put it on the fire altar.

This feat did not bring water back to Kakkara, however, and the protagonists press on toward their next destination by taking the cannon aiming to another continent. They arrive in enemy’s territory in a place called [[Southtown]], where they meet an old tasnican undercover agent who gives the party the secret password to the [[Southtown Sewers|sewer]] connecting Southtown to [[Northtown]]. There, they encounter the [[Resistance]] a group of young spies trained to defeat the Empire. Their leader is the young lady called Krissie]] who claims a man named [[Dyluck]] has recently stationed himself in the [[Northtown Ruins|eastern ruins]] to steal people’s energy. They decide to investigate here, and find Pamaela speaking about marrying Dyluck, deeply upsetting Primm, who knocks her out. Krissie brings her to the local doctor while the party enters the old ruins.

The party encounters Dyluck in the deepest part of the ruins, and he tricks Primm by stealing her energy. This betrayal angers Randi, who hits the soldier with his weapon. This momentarily snaps the possessed man out, telling Randi & Popoi to save her beloved friend located in the back room. The lady is found unconscious next to Thanatos who immediately paralyzes the two adventurers upon sight. His plans are thwarted, however, when Dyluck decides to transfer some of his life force the party, resurrecting Primm and freeing Randi and Popoi. The mystic knight retreats, leaving his underling [[Vampire (Secret of Mana)|Vampire]] to deal with them. The party defeats the creature, but do not make it in time enough to save Dyluck.

With nowhere else to go, the protagonists return to the Resistance headquarters and tell Krissie what has happened. She then informs the Emperor claims he wants a truce and disbands the imperial army, but the Resistance is highly skeptical of his true motives. They still agree to come to Vandole’s meeting in the [[Imperial Palace]], but it is quickly revealed to be a trap. The party is put to jail along with the entire Resistance, and a destined to be mauled by powerful mechanical bioweapons. The adventurers fortunately escape and try to settle their argument with the Emperor. As they storm the throne room, they are greeted with Vandole surrounded by three of his four imperial generals: Geshtar, [[Sheex]], and [[Fanha]]. Geshtar pleads the Emperor for a rematch, and fights the trio atop the palace while the others escape. He is killed off by them, but not before the mechanical genius burns the whole place to the ground. The party is saved in the nick of time by King Truffle riding a fully grown Flammie. He gives its favorite [[Flammie Drum|toy drum]] to the party, saying they can call him anytime, then escape the palace by flying toward Matango. Truffle directs them to the Lofty Mountains, where Sage Joch awaits.

The protagonists head there and climb the tallest peak to where the wizened old man is said to live. Inside a cave, they only find a strange [[Jehk|humanoid bird]] telling them His Sageness went to the [[Palace of Darkness]]. The adventurers headed into the temple, synchronized the Mana Sword with its Mana seed, and befriended its elemental [[Shade]]. Upon heading back to the hermit’s cave, they learn Sage Joch went to [[Gold Isle]]. The party has no other choice but to comply and head for the aforementioned place. There, they learn about the ruler of the isle [[King Mammon]] has used the [[Wisp light elemental]]’s power to turn its [[Gold City|city]] into gold, and locked it inside [[Gold Tower]]. The key to the tower was stolen by a Tasnican spy. It turns out the spy was Mara’s late husband and she’s been keeping it safe inside a box as a memento. She gives the key to the party and they return to the Light Tower to investigate. They rescue Lumina at the top of the structure and fuse the Mana Seed with the Holy Blade. Upon returning to Sage Joch, his pupil claims he is gone yet again, this time exploring the [[Moon Palace]] near Kakkara Desert. After flying to the aforementioned location, they meet with a friendly [[Robin Foot (Secret of Mana)|Robin Foot]] monster named [[Karon]] who let them cross the [[Sea of Wonder]] with his ferry. There, they go inside the palace with [[Luna]] the Moon elemental awaiting them. Randi draws out his blade once again before the Mana Seed before heading back to the Lofty Mountains. To no one’s surprise, Jehk discloses yet another location his master has gone to and the trio has no other choice but to go there as well.

They arrive as the [[Lemlian Castle]] of the Tasnican republic following Jehk’s instructions, where they learn form Jema about an imperial spy hiding amidst the castle. He is out for the [[Tasnican Chancellor|chancellor]] according to the old knight, pleading the protagonists to stay alert. After searching the castle through and through, they finally enter the audience room to meet with the chancellor. To their utter shock, he frames them as imperial spies and tries to arrest them on the spot. Jema erupts into the scene, claiming the chancellor is a fake since he doesn’t cast any shadow, foiling the usurper’s plans. He reveals himself to be Sheex in disguise and attack the party, but they are no match for him and he is forced to retreat. The true chancellor thanks the adventurers for saving the republic and Jema instructs them to go learn true courage from Sage Joch before the Empire becomes unstoppable.

Back atop the Lofty Mountains, the party finally meet the old sage, who shall declare them worthy should they succeed in overcoming his [[Passage of Trials]]. The party accepts the challenge and the way opens next to them. They defeat the monsters on their way to the end one by one, until they come face to face with their final task: defeating their doppelgangers. They manage to do so, and return to the cave’s entrance with Sage Joch nowhere to be found. The mischievous bird is revealed to be the true Joch, as the old man was merely an illusion, stating he has been waiting for them to find their inner strength before unveiling the truth. He then directs them to the [[Sunken Continent]] where the last [[Mana Palace|palace]] is said to be as well as the last remnants of the Mana Fortress.

The trio calls Flammie and fly to the deserted island, but is cornered by Emperor Vandole and his crew as they enter the temple. He declares the last seal to remain here, having visited all previous palaces to undo them behind the heroes’ back. He flees to the last altar with Fanha, leaving Sheex to transform into his [[Mavolia|mavolian]] form to take care of them. The general is eventually defeated, but the seal is broken before they could do anything. The party nabs the last [[Dryad|elemental]] and escape the raising continent by calling the white dragon. Fearing the worst, they go back to Water Palace only to find Luka behind bars. She claims the imperials army unsealed the Water Seed and put her in jail. The then adds that the seal cannot be restored with the Mana Sword anymore and her last resort is now to pray for a miracle.

Back on the emerged continent, the party finds the areas swarming with monsters, with the Tasnican forces amidst the brawl. Jema is among them, telling the heroes that troops around the world are fighting to stop the Empire from resurrecting the fortress. He tells them to go underground and make their way to the palace there. The party accepts and ventures into the bowels of the earth to chase after Emperor Vandole. They are stalled on the way by the Scorpion Army, now seeking to grab the Mana Sword by force. They activate their new & improved [[Kettle Kin (Secret of Mana)|robot]], but are defeated once again. After a never-ending trek around the [[Underground City]], they finally reach the altar room where they find a dead Vandole to their bewilderment. They quickly learn that it was Fanha who betrayed the Emperor, gloating about controlling the Mana Fortress and soon the world itself together with Thanatos. The mystic knight discloses that Dyluck’s body is needed for his transfer ritual, and escape to the fortress while Fanha transforms into her [[Hexas (Secret of Mana)|serpentine]] alter ego to confront the party. She perishes along with Geshtar, who was revived by Thanatos to stall the heroes even further.

They escape the structure right as the Mana Fortress is about to lift off. As they land on the resubmerged island, they speak with Jema, who is deeply distraught at the idea of not having prevented the resurrection of the fortress. He then recalls of a distant [[Pure Land|land]] hosting the [[Mana Tree]]. The thick fog surrounding it has recently subsided due to the fortress consuming Mana at an alarming rate. Should Randi synchronizes the Mana Sword with the Sacred Tree, he should be able to bring the blade back to its full power. The party looks around the island before departing and finds Primm’s best friend Pamaela inside the palace. She deeply regrets behaving the way she did prior, but Primm comforts her, saying she was under the Thanatos’s spell. Pamaela reveals that she was jealous of Dyluck and her being an item and that was how the evil sorcerer was able to manipulate her so easily. The two friends make amends and the party heads to the hallowed sanctuary.

Upon landing there, they hear a mysterious voice telling them to come hither. The heroes hack through the thick greenery and destroy many fearsome beasts to finally pinpoint the Mana Tree in the distance. Their rejoice is short-lived, however, as they see the Mana Fortress firing a missile at the Tree.  The party awakes before the destroyed Mana Tree, telling Randi she has been awaiting his arrival. She tells them that the resurrection of the fortress has used up most of the world’s Mana, meaning that soon all the Mana beasts of this land will coalesce into one humongous [[Mana Beast (Secret of Mana|creature]], bringing Mana back to the planet. However, the recent decrease in Mana will cause the Mana Beast to enter an unbridled frenzy, destroying the world. The only way to prevent this is to defeat the beast with the Mana Sword. Randi is the last surviving member of the [[Mana Clan]] able to do this as the Mana Tree reveals she and the legendary tasnican knight Serin are his parents. He once challenged the Empire fifteen years ago, but was left badly wounded. With the last of its strength, he journeyed to Potos to retrieve the Mana Sword but never made it in time. She transformed into the Mana Tree afterwards to protect the world from evil. The Mana Tree bids her son farewell, then reseals the eight Mana Seeds of the world into the Holy blade before dying. Primm & Popoi are supportive of his loss, telling Randi not to give up as they got him covered.

After making last-moment preparations, they fly toward the ominous fortress for the final battle. They traverse the mechanical maze laid out in front of them, leading all the way to some familiar faces. The evil sorcerer reveals that his own body has reached its limit and needs another worthy vessel to house his spirit. As he couldn't take a normal human because his earthly envelope would tear apart, he went on a search for a human born in the shadow of darkness every few decades. It happens that Dyluck's body is one of them and is capable of augmenting his powers beyond comprehension. While the young soldier's powers were sealed as a child, he is no more than a puppet to Thanatos now and will be housing his evil soul and using the Mana Fortress to rule the world. The magic knight is suddently growing weaker by the minute and must now inhabit his new vessel before collapsing. Primm then lunges towards Dyluck as a way to prevent his possession going further attacking the evildoer in the process. The latter's body vanishes almost instantly but unfortunately, Thanatos's soul has become one with the major's body. Gloating about his newfound vessel, the possessed Dyluck tries to further his modus operandi, but suddently finds himself unable to do anything. An otherworldly but familiar voice resonates across the room, telling Primm to listen to it as it is Dyluck's spirit. His echo says that he cannot speak for too long since Thanatos's energy is too strong, but he knows a way to defeat the sorcerer. He reveals to the party that Thanatos was once an ancient sorcerer who sold his soul to Maviola in exchange for eternal life. While his spirit became eternal, his body slowly decayed and he must periodically find a new suitable host to possess. With each new body, his spirit grows ever darker as it feeds on hatred and destruction. Dyluck's spirit then apologizes to Primm, as he cannot join her in the mortal realm anymore and entrust Randi to take care of her. As he finishes his speech, Dyluck uses his last bit of strength to destroy his body, leaving Thanatos without a host and revealing his true face. Desperate to find a new host, the dark entity heads for the heroes in vain as he is eventually defeated.

His death triggers the emergence of the Mana Beast, forcing the heroes to head at the top of the fortress to confront it. Randi is afraid, however, that Popoi would disappear along with Mana should they slay the creature. The sprite retaliates by stating that the world of sprites and elementals are separate from the human world, meaning that they will just not see Randi and Primm again. According to them, the fate of the world is much more pressing than sprites, so they better take care of the Mana Beast quickly since Randi promised his mother to do so. The three of them advance toward the towering being, with Popoi and Primm casting [[Mana Magic]] to fill the Holy Blade with power. A grueling and arduous battler ensues, eventually making the party victorious as the Mana Beast vanishes into snow.

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!width=10%|Knuckles

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