The Arena[edit]
After giving the Hero a name, you are made aware of your nature as a slave in the arena of the Dark Lord. Immediately after gaining control, you must fight for your life and to show the crowd the beauty of agony and pain. The gate opens: enter, the Jackal.
The Jackal's behavior is simple, moving from side-to-side on a path shaped like a W. The key to victory is that the Jackal never travels lower than half-way down the screen, making that area completely safe for you. Move close to the bottom of the W, anticipate the Jackal's approach, and wail on him with your sword by pressing 
. As the Jackal retreats, move down and follow the Jackal until it moves forward again. Repeat, never going further than half-way up the screen. The Jackal will die very quickly.
Arena, Slave Quarters[edit]
After your battle with the Jackal, you find your fellow gladiator and best fiend Willy breathing his last. In his final moments, he warns you that the Tree of Mana is imperiled by the Dark Lord's designs for power and that the Gemma Knights are the only ones in a position to deal with this crisis. He tells you to escape bondage and seek a man named Bogard who lives in a shack at a waterfall. Bogard is a Gemma Knight, and he must be warned about the danger to the Tree of Mana.
You learn that the gate used to admit monsters into the arena leads outside...this could be your opportunity to escape Glaive.
Arena[edit]
As you approach the arena, another Jackal is released for you to kill. The strategy for slaying the Jackal is identical to the previous bout, after which you must go through the gate.
Glaive Castle, Exterior[edit]
As you leave Glaive Castle, you happen upon its Dark Lord and his court mage Julius, the two discussing the Tree of Mana above the waterfall. You hear Julius advising that it'll take a miracle to get up the falls, that a one special girl is the key to this miracle. As Julius teleports away, the Dark Lord sees you and chases you to a precipice. He shoves you off for your eavesdropping. You fall down, down, down the waterfall into blackness.