Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis/Chapter 5

This is the beginning of a new school year, so the term starts much like the first term (in the first chapter). Flay takes a quick interest in one of the freshmen, and the workshop is introduced to Anna Lemouri.

Week 2 Class: Naturology I Basics
This week opens up the Millennium Tree and Dragon's Grave, since the main characters are now sophomores. There is still only one class available, but make sure to explore first to gather new items and recipes, as well as expand Anna's Grow Book.

A cut-scene plays out when visiting the school grounds that shows another side of Roxis. Visiting the cafeteria will show Anna and Flay in training. When you return to the workshop, another cut-scene will show some of the impact Anna is already having on the place.

When you're ready, head to Student Affairs and sign up for Naturology I Basics (again the only class available and a required course). Zeppel summarizes the five methods of gathering ingredients. and goes on to teach the students the basics of gathering fruit using a boomerang. The assignment is to go to the Millenium Tree and pick some fruit, then return to Student Affairs. The students receive 2 Amber Soup and a Nectar to help them along.

Once the students reach the first fruit picking area they'll receive the fruit picking tutorial. Fruit picking really isn't very different from mining ore or picking vegetables. The fruits available in an area can vary by time of day. It's likely that the first area will yield Tangerines, Bitter Grapes, and Lando when you arrive. Night should fall as you make your way to Mid Realm, so the fruit will be different at the next site (namely the Night-In-Grapes and X-Lando), and if you make it to the third site before or during dawn you may receive a third set of fruit.

Once you leave the Millenium Tree, the class is finished. If you've collected one of the less common fruits, you'll receive an A.

Week 3 Class
This is the first time the students are given a choice of courses to take. The choices are Synthesis III Derivation and Combat III Chain. Which class to choose is probably going to depend on how well prepared you are, or whether or not you're confident in your ability to produce a high quality item for the Synthesis class. If you have the X-Heal recipe and the ingredients for the item, choose the Synthesis class. It's much faster to complete, and there's little chance of failing. If you have a good stockpile of Lightning Rods (a half dozen or more), and want a good fight, take the Combat class.

Synthesis III Derivation
Arsha informs the students that there is an assignment to complete in advance of the course: synthesize a high quality healing medicine. Jess suggests making a Heal Jar, and the students return to the Workshop to complete the assignment. If you have access to a better healing medicine than the Heal Jar (such as the X-Heal), you may want to make that, instead. It's also a good idea to use cooperative synthesis (press psx: S while synthesizing) to get some help from the other students. When you're finished, take the item to Vayne's classroom.

Melanie will take a look at the items the students have made for their assignment. She then goes into a short explanation of derivation (making alterations to existing recipes to learn how to make new items). After this, she gives out the grades. A good quality X-Heal will earn the students an A, while a quick and dirty Heal Jar with low quality will probably receive a much lower grade.

Combat III Chain
This course requires four or more students in the party. It is intended to teach the basics of chain attacks. Lorr explains to the students that chain attacks are the most important aspect of party combat, and that you can deal great amounts of damage by cooperating with those in the support row. He goes on to give the assignment: use a Chain to defeat the Stone Emperor at the Mana Ruins Outskirts. The assignment text mentions a 10-Chain, which means using a Burst. As with the Burst assignment, this is best achieved with bombs. The students are given three Bomb Ices and three Heal Jars.

When the party is organized and items prepared, head Off Campus to the Mana Ruins. The enemy should be to the north, and the path should be familiar enough from previous classes. The Bomb Ices aren't going to prove very helpful in this particular battle, at least not for completing the assignment with a good grade. Bring along some Lightning Rods instead to get into Burst Mode quickly.

It should be possible to start Burst Mode before the enemy has a chance to attack.

Once Burst Mode has started, use skills that do a higher number of hits to the enemy, and call on the support row to increase the chain count. Meet the criteria of defeating the enemy with a ten- (or more-) hit chain and this should be an A for the week.

Weeks 4, 5, & 6: Free Time
With some decent grades (a couple of As or Bs), the students can receive up to three weeks of free time in this term. Lower grades might mean taking three weeks to finish classes, or possibly even detention instead of free time.

As with every block of free time, remember to grab all of the available jobs and explore the new areas available. Then choose the character quests with which you'd like to finish each week.

The character quests available now are for Anna, Flay, Pamela, and Roxis.

Week 7 Event
This week uncovers the identity of Vayne's father, at least according to Sulpher. Apparently Vayne's father was an infamous alchemist, and the rest of the students are interested in finding out more.

Go to the Faculty Room and talk to Dior, Lorr, Zeppel, and Isolde. Dior seems to have little relevant to say, but Nikki is asked to stay behind just in case he comes up with something. Lorr mentions that Zeppel and Isolde are about the same age as Vayne's father, while he is too young to have attended school with him. Isolde isn't in her room if the students attempt to visit her room first, but she will be there after they have spoken to the other teachers.

After speaking to all of the teachers, Flay gets it in his mind to seek out a place that supposedly only Vayne's father has seen.

Head to Dragon's Grave and seek out Heaven's Road. As the students make their way through Heaven's Road, looking for the fabled place that only Vayne's father has seen before, cut-scenes play out showing events back at the school.

When they finally reach the home of the Great Beast, the students learn a few new skills, including Variable Strike and Finishing Burst. The fight against the Great Beast is very hard, and will require all of the students' skills, including Variable Strike and

Finishing Burst. Try to keep healing spells up and make sure to go into the battle with plenty of nectar to revive fallen party members. Chances are pretty good the Beast will take out all of the active party members at least once in a single attack, it's just fortunate that the party usually gets a number of attacks in for each of the Beast's.

After the battle with the Beast, the chapter closes with a cut-scene in which Vayne is trying to remember his father.