Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation/A new mission

Somnia

You can't get the two eastern chests until later

This is where you'll want to go after beating Gardsbane. Talk to Captain Blade, and then get the northwest Mini Medal before talking to the old man in the courtyard. He'll ask you to get a horse, and we're going to do just that. Pass up the two eastern chests for now (you cannot get those until much later in the game).

Remember those Agility Seeds?

We're past the point where the Agility Seeds would hurt you; therefore, now is a good chance to use them both on Rex. There's a tough dungeon coming up a few pages later, and the added Agility actually WILL help there.

Overworld Travel

Something EXCITING happens on this trip; Carver joins your party! Yes, once you walk a certain distance, Carver will come out, talk to you, and then join you on your quest! Now you have TWO people! Of course, Carver is a pure melee attacker, so your strategy still mostly consists of "hit things as hard as you can", but it's still something.

In fact, you can now mess with the Tactics options. By putting Carver on something besides Follow Orders, you are essentially letting the game itself decide what Carver does for you. As for the A.I. options themselves, they have the following effects on their characters...

King Somnus's Throne Room

Show No Mercy - Pure Offense Watch My Back - Pure Defense (your allies will use healing spells, and use Defend even at full health) Fight Wisely - A mix between attack, defense, and status effect spells like Sap. Focus on Healing - Similar to "Watch My Back", except they won't constantly use Defend). Use No MP - Basically "Show No Mercy", but without MP usage.

Again though, Carver is a pure melee fighter, so Watch My Back is the only one that will make him act significantly different.

In any case, go into the horse pasture (it's a green clearing surrounded by forests), chase the horse counter-clockwise until Carver comes up with a plan, chase the horse into a dead-end, then talk to Carver again to get the horse. Warp back to Somnia and give the horse to the old man before talking to the king. And when you do, be sure to get the Silver Tiara.

Speaking of Treasures...

Remember that Grim Grinner mentioned earlier? Now's the perfect time to kill it for that Strength Seed. If you're curious, Carver is the recommended candidate for it; he's a pure melee fighter, so he will be using physical attacks more than Rex.

The Search for Ra's Mirror

Technically, that Secret Passage is your true destination...but the game forces you to go through a cutscene at the "House" before it will let you move on. The Church is optional, but you can get a Holy Water and a Pretty Betsy from it, as well as a FREE healing service for you; yes, that includes both HP AND MP.

Press A in this spot to find passage

Once you get to the House, search the drawers for some Hardwood Headware for Carver, and break one of the pots for an Antidotal Herb; then say "No", "Yes", "Yes", and then "Yes" to the dwarf in order to go through some cutscenes. Afterwards, go talk to him inside his new house. It's only after you do so that the game will finally allow you to discover that "Secret Passage" on the map. To do so, go in the middle of the clearing and press A.

Secret Passage Cave

Map of Secret Passage

Once again, the enemies here are not hard enough to be worth worrying about. This cave DOES however introduce some new status ailments to you. The Bubble Slimes have a good chance of inflicting Poison on whoever they attack, and the Mad Mollusks and Budding Sorcerors can potentially put both Rex and Carver to sleep with their Snooze spell. Fortunately, they aren't a problem right now; Sleep only lasts a short while, and you should have plenty of Antidotal Herbs for curing poison.

Also, in case you're curious, it doesn't truly matter who you put the Bronze Shield on. Putting it on Carver will take less menuing, but that's it.

Go to the hole in the ground!