Ruined Passage

Ruined Passage
First appearance	Sword of Mana (2003)
Latest appearance	Sword of Mana (2003)
Background music	Endless Battlefield

The Ruined Passage is a dungeon in Sword of Mana. It's part of the northern portion of the Ishe Desert region, at the westside of the world. It's connected at its southern entrance to the North Glass Desert, and within inside is the point of no return on further north in the teleporter which connects to Dime Tower. Once crossed the teleporter to Dime Tower, the player is unable to return to the overworld, rendering void any quest, whether it be active or in wait to be activated.

Story

Traveling through the northern part of the Glass Desert, the protagonist initially finds the passage closed and has to take another path.

After recovering the rusty Mana Sword and learning about its power in Ishe, the protagonist must look for a way to reach the Mana Sanctuary to stop Julius, who is revealed by Cibba to actually be the reincarnation of past Emperor Vandole.

Cibba tells the heroes that maybe they can get to the Sanctuary, even without a key, by raising the Dime Tower, which Bogard revealed that it was Cibba himself who sealed the tower in the Glass Desert, therefore, making him the only one capable of breaking its seal.

Cibba warns of the dangers at Dime Tower, but the protagonist is undaunted, determined to forge ahead. So, joining the other main character, the Hero and the Heroine head north together to Ruined Passage on their way to Dime Tower, while Cibba and the others stay on Ishe.

Bogard, however, warns them that there is a strong magical barrier at it entrance, which can only be undone with the help of a Mavole.

When they arrive at the entrance of the path, Goremand appears. Then, after a short dialogue, he reveals that he didn't show up there to steal their souls, but rather to help them for the time being, claiming that their souls aren't ready to be consumed yet.

Learning that they wanted to enter Ruined Path, he decides to help the protagonists, informing them that what they are looking for is in a small shrine in the Sealed Cave on the far west.

Doubting Goremand's loyalty, the protagonist questions his change of side, but he replies that he is only interested in consuming souls, indifferent if it is theirs or Julius', and that he is only on Julius' side to collect souls along the way.

Finally, after suggesting the heroes to use the armory in southern Ishe to reach the island, he disappears. Thus, following the given clue, the heroes head to the indicated location.

Later, after getting a Shade spirit in the Sealed Cave and returning to the entrance of the Ruined Passage, both Shade and Wisp join forces to dispel the seal of the door, despite their discontent towards each other. Soon the door opens and the two leave; with the seal broken the protagonists can continue their path.

After traversing the ruins, the protagonists arrive at a room with a teleporter. The protagonist's ally remarks that this is a point of no return and asks them if they want to continue. Entering the teleporter, the heroes are warped inside Dime Tower.

Enemies

• Viper
• Wizard Eye
• Hell Hound
• Beholder
• Wolfiend
• Dullahan
• Springball (Rare) - only during daytime

Obstacles

• 2x Metaballs (Slash and Bash)
• Stone Seal (Wood)
• Stone Seal (Moon)
• Stone Seal (Fire)
• Stone Seal (Light)
• Stone Seal (Dark)
• Raised plataforms by levels, highgrounds gaps and grapping points (needs flail)

Treasures

• Chocolump (On the west side of the temple entrance, before the sealed door)
• Magic Walnut (On the east side of the temple entrance, before the sealed door)
• Luna Icon (After the sealed door, take the northwest exit all the way to a high platform at the end, go up the stairs and exit at the top)
• Chocolump (From above, jump off the platform to the north)
• Long Seed (After destroying the Wood Stone Seal, heads to the east)
• Obsidian (After destroying the Light Stone Seal, straight ahead)
• Angel Grail (Next to previous, going to the east)
• Gumdrop (Passing the stone seal room, on the right side of the first crossing)
• GummiFrog (From the previous one, on the right side of the second crossing)
• Dion Wood (Still in the same room, on the left side of the third crossing)
• Oblong Seed (From the previous one, take the north exit, in a room full of platforms and grapping points, take the right exit, from there continue straight ahead in the middle corridor)
• Small Seed (Still in this room, go back and take the bottom corridor)
• Maia Lead (After take the north exit of room with platforms controlled by levers, go east and proceed to destroy the Stone Seals of Moon and Fire, just below the last one)
• Magic Walnut (Keep following the previous' path until the end.)
• Round Seed (Go back to the beginning of the room and take the north path, then go east to the top of the platform)
• Chocolump (On the side of the previous)