Secret of Mana/Gaia's Navel

The path to Gaia's Navel
From Pandora Village, you will start out in the lower right corner of the map shown to the right. If you visited Pandora castle and recruited the girl, you will also obtain the Spike Knuckle weapon, the first hand-to-hand combat weapon. Be sure to equip both characters with weapons that you haven't reached skill level 1 with yet and start training. Additionally, you should set the AI behavior of both characters to what you'd like. If you're not sure what to choose yet, the square one down from the top, and one right from the left is a good starting point.

Run to the west over the bridge, and start making your way north-west until you reach a pond. In addition to Rabites and Lullabuds, you start to encounter green insects known as Buzz Bees. Their attacks have a chance of poisoning you, so be careful. Attack everything that you see in an effort to gain experience points, and especially to increase the girl from level 1.

Once you reach the pond, you must head to the east. You'll cross another bridge, where you're likely to encounter some Mushbooms. Continue fighting your way east until you can head north again. Follow the path north as it doubles back to the west. Cross another bridge, and battle all the way to the west until you're faced with a choice to exit to the north or to the west. To the north is Gaia's Navel, but to the west is a small village known as Kippo where you can rest and do some shopping.

Kippo Village
Kippo is a rather small village, and you won't obtain a lot of information here, but it is apparently the home of both Dyluck and the Cannon Travel man. If you're very low on hit points, consider staying at the inn. Even if you do not sleep there, you should save your game.

At the shop, only buy Elbow Pads for both characters (assuming you have the girl) if you have a lot of gold. They only offer a one point defense difference for the price. Depending on how much money you have, you should consider buying the Kung Fu dress for the girl, or Chain Mail for both characters. Saving up to buy one of each will take a lot of fighting, but it will give you the best defense for the journey into Gaia's Navel.

Gaia's Navel
There are two paths leading to and from Gaia's Navel, one to the south, leading back to Pandora, and one to the north which ultimately leads to the. The rest of Gaia's Navel is composed of circular paths which wind their way to the center, where two caves are visible behind waterfalls. The primary enemies around Gaia's Navel are the Buzz Bees, although there are a few other enemies scattered around.

There are a couple of options as to what can happen at this point, based on whether or not you have recruited the girl from Pandora Castle.
 * If you have recruited the girl:If you travel all the way around to the center of Gaia's Navel and walk inside the left cave entrance behind the waterfall, the girl will get upset because this is not the way to locate Dyluck. At this point, you can either agree to leave with her, or insist on continuing.
 * If you insist on continuing: The girl will depart on her own to find Dyluck. You can proceed through Gaia's Navel until you reach the Dwarf Village.  You will later be able to find her trapped by two Werewolves between the first and second maps of the Haunted Forest.
 * If you agree to leave with her: You will backtrack out of Gaia's Navel and exit through the path to the north. You will enter the Haunted Forest, but when you reach the bone pillars that block your passage, she will realize that you need an axe to proceed, and that you should find the dwarf village below Gaia's Navel in order to continue.


 * If you have not recruited the girl: You have the option of proceeding without her, or finding her first. Either way, you will find her trapped by two Werewolves between the first and second maps of the Haunted Forest.  It's a good idea to find her if you have not found her already, as she will be helpful in the trip through Gaia's Navel.  However, be prepared for the fight against the two Werewolves, as they are fairly powerful.

If you need to return to either the Water Palace, there is a cannon located to the north. and east.

The eastern entrance to the Navel has a Neko in the small cave; he can save the game and sell some items. The left cave brings you to Dwarf Village after a long tunnel network.

After you drain the water and cross the opened path, head to the left and open the chest to get the Magic Rope. This allows you to quickly exit dungeons.

When you reach the Dwarf Village, there are two tasks to perform:
 * Visit the smith in the north-west corner of the village. Spend 100 to repair the rusty sword.
 * In the north of the village, visit the exhibition, and pay the cover fee and donation. Head to the backstage of the exhibition to recover the hold.

Once you do this, Tropicallo will break out of the Underground palace and attack.

After defeating Tropicallo, you will recruit the sprite, obtain a spear orb, and collect the Chobin's Bow. Head to Watts to obtain the completed Axe and open a short-cut to and from Gaia's Navel.