Dragon Warrior/Southwest Alefgard

Enemies that you will encounter near Tantegel Castle:
 * Ghosts
 * Magidrakees
 * Scorpions
 * Skeletons
 * Magicians

Enemies that you will encounter in the middle of the region:
 * Metal Scorpions
 * Wolflords
 * Wraiths
 * Goldmen
 * Wyverns

Enemies that you will encounter in the southern part of the region:
 * Knights
 * Wraith Knights
 * Demon Knights
 * Magiwyverns
 * Metal Slimes

Now who's running away?
By the time you start crossing that western bridge into the Southwest region of Alefgard on a regular basis, you will probably start to notice that you have become so powerful that monsters are now starting to flee from you! There's little that you can do about it except to appreciate how strong you've become.

The Mountain Cave
As you travel further into the region, you may discover a cave situated in the mountain chain along the east. If you have the spell of Radiant, it might be a good time to explore the cave and see what it holds. This cave is entirely optional, and holds little of great value, but there is at least one treasure that might come in handy. The cave is home to a different set of monsters, some of whom you may have seen before, and some that are entirely new. When you venture from the first floor down to the second, the monsters get even stronger.

Floor 1
Enemies found on Floor 1: You won't find much treasure on Floor 1. Just a lot of stairwells down to floor 2. What you will find, if you travel to the passage along the north east corner, is a lone treasure chest containing a Herb, which might come in handy. All of the monsters on this floor reflect the difficulty of the monsters outside the cave, and should pose no problem. Only one of the stairwells on this floor can lead you to all of the treasure contained in the floor below. The remaining stairs (those found in the corners) simply lead to dead-ends.
 * Ghosts
 * Scorpions
 * Druins
 * Magicians

Floor 2
Enemies found on Floor 2: This is where the real treasure is, but you're going to have to fight for it. The monsters down here are considerably tougher than the ones above. Knowing Stopspell is important for your survival in fights against Warlocks and Drakeemas, a special underground variety of the Drakee species. Don't come down here without it. Knowing the spell of Outside is an added bonus, and will guarantee that your strength level is high enough.
 * Drakeemas
 * Poltergeists
 * Drolls
 * Skeletons
 * Warlocks

If you took the center stairwell to this floor, then you can collect everything that the floor has to offer. Of particular interest is the Fighters Ring, which in contained in the left-most chest of the pair found in the north. Donning the Fighters Ring (which is done by selecting it in your item list), does not necessarily enhance your strength, but it does improve the rate at which you perform excellent strikes.

Another interesting treasure chest requires that you explore the pathway along the southwest corner and back up. This chest may contain a lot of gold, or the Death Necklace. Whatever you do, do not examine the Death Necklace, or a curse will be placed upon you. If you are so unfortunate as to be cursed, you must visit the curse breaking man in Brecconary Town before you can remove the item. However, finding one isn't completely bad luck: it fetches a nice price of 1200 gold when you sell it at the item shops.

Venturing south: the importance of leveling
The further south you travel, the stronger the monsters get. While you might not have any trouble with monsters in the northern part of the region, the monsters below may rip you to shreds in no time. It becomes very important at this point in the game to pace yourself and dedicate some time to leveling up. While this slows down the progress of your game, it makes staying alive much easier, and it prepares you for parts of your quest that you must still complete.

If you've had no problem with the region around Rimuldar, than you'll be fine in the section below the Mountain Cave, before you cross the bridge to the west. You can fight the Wolflords, Wraiths, and Metal Scorpions with ease, and if you're lucky, you may stumble upon a Goldman. There is some very expensive equipment that you have yet to buy, so all the money you can find is welcome.

Crossing the bridge to the west is another story. If you are not prepared, monsters like Wyverns, Knights, and Wraith Knights can damage you heavily and even kill you in only a few turns. Even though it may take some time, it is wise to wait until around level 15 before you spend a lot of time on the other side of the bridge. Knights are quite susceptible to Sleep, but they know the magic of Stopspell and will try to prevent you from casting anything. Wraith Knights are powerful undead fighters that know the spell of Heal.

By traveling even further south, you will be venturing into the territory of Demon Knights and Magiwyverns. Magiwyverns aren't too bad if you manage to cast Stopspell successfully, but Demon Knights are in a class by themselves. Even at level 16, you should probably run away from them until you advance another level and learn Healmore.

Wandering around this far south may be dangerous, but it might be worthwhile if you chance upon a Metal Slime. Metal Slimes are to experience points what Goldmen are to gold pieces. You would be thrilled for a chance to strike these level boosters. The problem is… they don't like to stick around. They run quite frequently, making it difficult to score the three or four hits needed to take them down. There's not much you can do about it either as they're quite resistant to Sleep magic. Just be persistent and you might find a stubborn Metal Slime that actually insists on fighting you.

Hauksness
Once you cross over the bridge south of the Mountain Cave, you will notice a region of desert to the south. If you travel around the mountain range to explore it, you will see what looks like a town situated in the desert. You may be excited to make this discovery until you step foot inside.

One look at the town close up, and you'll realize that it is completely deserted. What's worse, is that the town is literally crawling with monsters; strong monsters. These are some of the toughest monsters that you will ever encounter outdoors. If you're not ready to fight these monsters, then leave the town immediately. Obviously nothing in the game is without importance, but it will take a trip to Cantlin to learn more about this mysterious devastated town. Whatever secrets it holds will have to wait until you are at least level 17 and know the spell of Healmore.

A mad dash to Cantlin
Ordinarily, you should wait until you are truly strong enough to reach Cantlin safely. However, if you find that you have amassed a sizeable sum of gold pieces, in excess of 25,000 gold, then you may want to consider making a dash to the final town in order to increase your offensive and defensive power. This will aid you considerably in your quest to earn more experience and higher levels. If you are going to attempt this, be prepared to run from every fight, and always heal any wounds you suffer before continuing on.

Details on approaching Cantlin may be found in ../Southern Alefgard/.