After the credits, gameplay will resume in one of two locations. If you are Carlie, you will already be in Lakeshore Village Astoria so you can skip the Castle City Jad section on this page. If you are any other character, you will be in Castle City Jad and will be heading to Lakeshore Village Astoria next.
Castle City Jad
The city has been taken over by beastmen who won't allow you to leave the city. They have also confiscated the weapons and armor from the merchants so don't bother trying to buy anything from them. If you look around the town, you will run into the other 4 characters (Carlie isn't here) but they won't join you right now, not even the ones you chose to be your partners.
You can only leave the city at night (it seems the beastmen are more concerned with killing you than preventing you from leaving the city when they change forms) so stay at the inn and tell the innkeeper to wake you up at night. Head south when you leave the inn and kill the Bound Wolves that block your path. Continue heading south, killing Rabites and Myconids along the way, until you arrive in...
Lakeshore Village Astoria
So, this is Lakeshore Village Astoria. Your business here is brief. You must talk to two NPCs before the game will advance. They are the woman to the east, who tells you that Holy City Wendel is across the lake, and the man to the south, who talks about a mysterious light.
After you've talked to them, go to the weapon shop and buy your new weapon. To equip your weapon, press 
to open the menu. Then go to the equipment section (it's in the top right corner). Press 
to make the cursor appear and then press again so you can choose your weapon. Point the cursor at your new weapon and then press again. Now you know how to change your character's equipment! Sell your old weapon to the merchant and then go to the inn and sleep. Alternatively, go into the forest and level up. It's your decision.
After you've slept a bit, you will be woken by a bright light. Follow it into the forest. It's not too hard to follow; after you pass the path to the Cave of Waterfalls, take the turn to the left and keep going until you reach the Golden Goddess Statue. This statue, and the dozens just like it scattered throughout the world, are images of the Mana Goddess. The gold ones have the power to restore your HP and MP, and both the gold and silver ones will let you save your game. Do so now.
Continue upon the path. Next screen, you will see a rather ugly gargoyle statue. For now, it does nothing. Keep a mental note of where it is; you'll need to find it later. Keep going until you reach the light. After the scene ends, you should now be the proud owner of a Mana Fairy inside your head, which depending on your character will evoke either fear or pride. Go back to Astoria.
Um, yeah. Astoria is no more. It's been blown up. Weep if you feel like it, then head back to the forest for some training in the basics of Trials of Mana fighting. Alternatively, go to the next chapter.
The Art of Killing Rabites
Look down at the heads-up display centered at the bottom of the screen. Let's get all the elements of it identified. The big set of numbers at the top is HP. Left side is HP remaining; right side is HP total. Below that is your character's portrait. This will change if you receive any status effects. Kevin's portrait also changes to a werewolf when he is transformed. LV, on the left side, is short for level; MP remaining is displayed on the right. The bars surrounding your character's portrait are for Techs. Each time you attack, a set of those bars are lit blue. When they light green, yellow, or red, you can use a Tech.
Now, you need to master Techs. Go into the forest, and find some Rabites. These little critters have 20 HP, which is perfect for our needs. Using your -button attack, hit some enemies four times (note that you must wait a few moments after attacking before you can attack again; also note that your character's weapon will sparkle when he/she is ready to attack again). Your Tech bar should be glowing green. Now, press 
. Your character will glow white and flash around, making funny noises and apparently suffering a seizure. This is normal. Walk up next to an enemy and press to unleash your Tech on the unsuspecting Rabite. You should do roughly twice the damage you normally do to an opponent.
Before we move on, there are two more things to know. Whenever HP changes, the amount of HP gained or lost always appears on-screen in big numerals. There are four colors of HP, and they all mean different things.
- Purple: Damage done to an enemy
- Red: Damage done to an ally
- Yellow: Health recovered by an enemy
- Green: Health recovered by an ally
Also, you may have noticed that the experience gained per kill and the level of the enemy encountered appear on-screen as well. These are very useful to us. You should always try to be at the same level as the enemies around you. If you are at a lower level than them, you will find it more difficult to fight them. This book's introduction says that this game is not difficult if you follow this guide. This is important, and cannot be stressed enough. You should attempt at all times to be at either at or above the experience level of your enemies.
Now that you know the basics of fighting in Trials of Mana, let's go meet your partner and explore the Cave of Waterfalls.