Valkyrie no Bouken/The first continent

Starting out
You will begin your quest above the lower left corner of the map, above the range of forest that separates you and the warp zone below. While you may be under the impression that you need to collect a ship and set sail from the docks to the north to escape this continent, the truth is that anyone can access the warp zone in the lower left corner to travel instantly to three different locations on the second continent. However, wherever you go, you will end up surrounded by strong monsters, so it's a good idea to spend a little time on this island increasing your level and strength. The warp zones will be described in detail on the second continent page.

Leveling up
From the start, your goal should be to travel east until you locate the hotel on the opposite side of the island. Once you locate the hotel, it should become your base of operations while you increase your level. You should attempt to reach level 3 before moving about the rest of the island. Use the hotel frequently to restore your wounds, but not so frequently that you run out of money. Read the following advice, if you chose, on how to limit the amount of money you spend at the hotel.

Explore the continent
Once you are strong enough to stray farther from the hotel without risking death, you can explore the continent a little more. In the north east corner of the map, you will find a free potion for the taking. If you follow the north coast a little more to the west, you will also discover an antidote, which may come in handy. As you follow the north coast to the west, you will eventually come upon the docks where a ship can launch, but it will be guarded by a much larger monster known as a Shizasu. It remains motionless, but it constantly launches fireballs at you. You can choose to tackle it now, or wait. Either way, you'll need to travel a bit more to the south, where you will discover yet another Shizasu guarding the entrance to a mountain path. This one you must fight.

Obtaining the Ship
Since the Shizasu is motionless, you only need to stand just far enough away from it for your sword to strike it. There isn't much that you can do about it's fireballs, so just concentrate on attacking it as quickly as possible. Don't worry about the surrounding enemies unless your health is in jeopardy. Use the potion or your healing spell in the middle of the fight if you need to. Once the Shizasu is dead, it will drop a key. Collect the key (which is good for four uses) and enter the mountain path. Follow it all the way to the end, and you will encounter a treasure chest. Stand on top of the chest, pause the game, highlight the key in your inventory, and press to use the key to unlock the chest. You will receive the ship (assuming you have an available space in your inventory).

Setting sail
Once you destroy the other Shizasu in front of the docks (and collect another set of keys), you can walk right off the dock, and you will instantly appear in your ship. Note that you can still attack from the ship, just as you would on land, you simply won't see any animation take place. Once you get on the ship, you may be tempted to explore the huge continent to your north. However, you will do yourself a very big favor if you take the time to sail all the way around to the southern east corner of the first continent, and visit the island that you find there. If you open the chest located on the island, you will obtain a damage reducing helmet. Once you collect it, activate it immediately. It will disappear from your inventory, but it will appear on the Valkyrie's head. It will remain in effect until it happens to break.

Growing stronger quickly
There are many useful items hidden in the world of Marvel Land, and the first continent is no exception. Read the following description below if you would like to learn the locations of some items that will substantially increase your fighting power right from the start.