Skuld: You're lucky you aren't dead.
Urd blames the problem on her inability to remember which ingredients to use, and thus we embark into the stage that will hopefully restore Urd's apothecary skills...
Kako wo Omou AREA - Stage II:
The first negotiable mechanism you'll see is a Hammer Muscle equipped with the hito condition and the hanasu action. Step into its activation radius to have it tell you a hint about the stage. The golem tells you that "in order to open the gates of wisdom, you must prove your worth. Give the great cauldron a fruit, a stone, and some smoke to show that you are wise." Extract hito and hanasu from the golem and run down the stairs. Tag Belldandy in via the blue swap pod.
Look for a lonely Sude Muscle standing behind a patch of flowing sands. Give it hito and hanasu and then activate it to hear the "fourth testament of muscle: muscle begat the world." Take hito back and head toward a motor-like contraption.
Swap your furu action for its susumu action and activate the motor to watch it shake a little bit. Now go back to the Sude Muscle and retrieve the hanasu action. Give the hanasu action to the motor and activate it to unlock another entry for the encyclopedia. Now go back to the Sude Muscle for its susumu action and give susumu back to the motor. Activate the motor and let the platform carry you across the chasm. You'll meet a second new mechanism: Ken ("Sword") Muscle. First, walk up around the golem and pick up the item.
The Sword Muscle is equipped with the kaze condition and the mawaru action. Place your hanasu action on the Sword Muscle and activate it to hear the "third testament of muscle: muscle brings peace." Turn around and exchange your mawaru action for the motor's susumu action. Give susumu to the Sword Muscle.
Hit the Sword Muscle with enough wind gusts to lead it onto the platform. Extract susumu from the Sword Muscle and swap it back onto the motor. Activate the moving platform. Once on the other side, extract susumu from the motor and give the hito condition and the susumu action to the Sword Muscle. Activate susumu to lead the golem off the platform. Extract the mawaru action from the motor on the platform.
Swap mawaru onto the Sword Muscle and keep activating its hito condition until it faces the Sude Muscle in the corner. Now give the Sword Muscle the susumu action again. Use a combination of susumu and mawaru to move the Sword Muscle towards the stairs.
Use mawaru to turn the Sword Muscle once and use susumu to navigate it away from the stairs. Now give it mawaru and activate the action three times. Give the Sword Muscle susumu and use this action to lead it toward the dried plant.
Once the Sword Muscle is in position, run back to the Sude Muscle in the corner and extract the furu action from it. Go back up the stairs and tag Skuld in at the red swap pod. Go back down the stairs. Run to the dried plant.
Throw a water ball at the dried plant and it will bloom and bear fruit. A short cutscene will play and you'll get a hint about what to do.
Give the nearby Sword Muscle furu and activate it. Voila! The golem will cut off the fruit, which will roll off into the great cauldron below. You will be allowed access to the second part of the stage. Go through the retry gate. You will pass a blue swap pod and Belldandy will tag in. The following section is long and tedious: a lot of the activity I describe are for encyclopedia completion. Feel free to skip ahead if you're only interested in finishing the stage quickly.
Find the Sword Muscle and throw a gust at it to activate its tsuku action. Turn around and extract the hiraku action from the stone gate. Swap your hiraku for the Sword Muscle's tsuku and activate it with some wind magic. Extract the kaze condition from the Sword Muscle and give kaze and tsuku to the stone gate. Activate tsuku with wind magic. Now fetch hiraku from the Sword Muscle and give it to the stone gate.
Use wind magic to open the gate. Go through to the other side, then turn around and extract hiraku from the gate. Exchange your hiraku action for the mawaru action equipped on the motor in front of you and give mawaru to the stone gate.
Activate the stone gate's mawaru action with some wind magic. Now extract the gate's kaze condition and give it to the motor. Shoot a gust at the motor to activate its hiraku action. Go get mawaru back from the stone gate and give it back to the motor.
Use wind magic on the motor to make the platform rotate. Follow the new path to the end to pick up an item. Use wind magic on the motor to make it rotate the L-shaped platform again. Tag in Skuld with the red swap pod. Give the motor your mizu condition and have Skuld toss a water ball at it to rotate the platform again. Extract mizu from the motor and give it and the hiraku action to the stone gate. Use water magic to open the gate. Extract the hiraku action from the gate and swap it for the susumu action equipped on the inert motor near the blue swap pod. Give susumu to the stone gate and toss a water ball to activate it. Get your mizu condition back from the stone gate and give the mizu condition and the tsuku action to the inert motor near the blue swap pod. Activate the motor with a water ball for another encyclopedia entry.
Go get mawaru from the inert motor to the west of the first motor and give it to the first motor. Now exchange your tsuku action for the hiraku action held by the second motor. Use a water ball to activate the first motor, allowing it to turn the L-shaped platform. Head to an area where you find a rock crystal formation, a Hammer Muscle, and a Sude Muscle.
Go to the purple swap pod to get Urd. Exchange your hiraku action for the hanasu action held by the Hammer Muscle. Backtrack. Pick up the mizu condition from the motor near the blue swap pod. Give mizu and hanasu to the Sword Muscle facing the stone gate.
Throw a thunderbolt at the Sword Muscle to unlock an encyclopedia entry. Turn around and throw a bolt at the stone gate. Now extract the kaminari condition possessed by the stone gate and exchange it for the mizu condition equipped on the Sword Muscle.
Strike the Sword Muscle with a bolt to have it tell you the "first testament of muscle: muscle represents truth." Extract kaminari and hanasu. Head back to the area with the rock crystal.
Apply kaminari to the Hammer Muscle and shock it to make it perform hiraku. Swap your hanasu action for its hiraku.
Hit the Hammer Muscle with a bolt. It will tell you that it doesn't move things -- it breaks them. Now go give hiraku to the Sude Muscle and step into its activation radius. Extract hanasu from the Hammer Muscle and give it to the Sude Muscle.
Step into the Sude Muscle's activation radius and it will tell you that it doesn' t break things -- it moves them. Go all the way back to the stone gate and exchange your hiraku action for its susumu action. Head back to the area with the rock crystal.
Swap susumu onto the Hammer Muscle and use thunderbolts to advance the golem until it's standing next to the crystal. Extract susumu from this Hammer Muscle and give the action to the Sude Muscle.
Activate the Sude Muscle and let it walk up to the crystal. Backtrack to the motor near the purple swap pod to pick up the tsuku action (giving it your hanasu action in the process). Go back and give tsuku to the Hammer Muscle.
Activate tsuku with a bolt and the Hammer Muscle will break the rocks surrounding the crystal.
Activate the Sude Muscle and it will push the crystal into the great cauldron. Extract the hito condition from the Sude Muscle and extract the hanasu action from the motor near the purple swap pod. Go back to the stone gate.
Give hito to the gate and open it. Find the red swap pod and summon Skuld. Head towards a raised drawbridge with a Sword Muscle standing beside it.
Throw a delayed water ball at the Sword Muscle to make it cut the ropes and lower the bridge. Walk across the bridge and swap your hanasu action for the golem's furu action.
Throw a water ball at the Sword Muscle to have it tell you the "second testament of muscle: muscle radiates grace." Go back to the stone gate and give it the furu action. Step into the gate's activation radius to unlock another action for your encyclopedia. Get hanasu back from the Sword Muscle near the drawbridge and swap it onto the stone gate.
Activate the stone gate again. Now go get the hiraku action from the Sword Muscle at the drawbridge and exchange hiraku for the stone gate's hanasu. Activate the gate again, go to the other side, and extract hito from the gate once you're through.
Give hito to the motor near the blue swap pod and activate its mawaru action until the turning platform lines up with the platform holding the second motor (which is inert right now). Extract hito and mawaru from the first motor and give them both to the second motor. Activate the device once and the turning platform will allow you access to a second stone gate. Extract hito from the second motor and give it to the stone gate. Now activate the gate. Extract hito and miseru from the stone gate. Give hito and miseru to the second motor and activate it. Then swap mawaru back onto the motor and activate the device twice. Extract hito and mawaru from the second motor and give them both to the first motor (the one closer to the blue swap pod). Turn around and extract miseru from the second motor.
Turn around and activate the first motor once. Extract the hito condition from it and head toward the Sword Muscle. Give this golem hito and miseru.
Activate the Sword Muscle for an encyclopedia entry. Use the blue swap pod to tag in Belldandy. Extract hito from the Sword Muscle and hiraku from the stone gate it's facing and go back to the L-shaped platform. Manipulate both motors with hito and mawaru until you return to the stone gate where you originally obtained the miseru action. Make sure you have the hiraku action equipped.
Give the stone gate hiraku and then use wind magic to open it. Walk through the gate and follow the stairs down to the retry gate. Pass through the retry gate and the purple swap pod.
Strike the antenna with one of Urd's thunderbolts and you'll see an electric spark speed across the ground and light up a torch. There is a Sword Muscle with hito and hanasu up ahead: the walking statues in this part of the stage all say "..." when you use hanasu on them, so don't bother. Extract the Sword Muscle's hito condition and move on until you see a Hammer Muscle equipped with the kaminari condition and the furu action.
Have Urd throw a bolt at this Hammer Muscle to knock down the wall in front of it. You'll see a L-shaped platform with a motor on it. Extract its mawaru action to prevent the platform from rotating on you. Head towards a Sword Muscle equipped with hito and hiraku. Swap your mawaru action for its hiraku action. You'll see a patch of flowing sands. Stand right beside the rail to your left. Now dash for the other side and you should be able to make it before the sands drop you back in the area containing the Sude Muscle and the first torch.
Have Urd throw a bolt at the antenna on the other side of the flowing sands. It will light up a second torch. Go through the blue swap pod (Belldandy tags in) and head for the stone gate. Give hito and hiraku to the stone gate to ensure that you can use it later -- you need to do this or you'll get hopelessly stuck after the next step.
Go through or around the gate to find a Hammer Muscle standing in front of a heart. Run around it to collect the heart. Now hit it with some wind magic to make it walk up to the wall. Backtrack for the furu action (it should be on the Hammer Muscle that knocked down the first section of wall) and give furu to this Hammer Muscle.
Activate the Hammer Muscle with wind magic and it will knock down the moon wall (this makes the two sections of sun wall in this area rise). Now go back through the stone gate and head for the patch of flowing sands. Do the same thing you did to cross it the first time (position yourself well -- you'll have to retry this entire section of the stage if you don't make it to the other side). Take mawaru from the Sword Muscle on the other side and head for the L-shaped platform.
Give mawaru to the motor and step into its activation radius. The L-shaped platform will turn and deposit you near a red swap pod. Get mawaru back from the motor and go tag in Skuld. Head toward the purple swap pod. There is a motor at the center of this currently inaccessible platform. Give it your mawaru action.
Now throw two delayed water balls at the motor to rotate the platform twice. Run back to the patch of flowing sands. Since you have Skuld with you this time, throw a water ball at the sands to allow yourself to cross safely. Make your way back to the Hammer Muscle that knocked down the last wall.
You should now be able to access the purple swap pod nearby. Do so.
Look for the third antenna to the north and have Urd drop a bolt on it. You'll get a short cutscene and then be told to follow the spark up to the Bunsen burner-like contraption.
A golden orb (this is the "smoke" thing, I guess) will be ejected into the great cauldron. Head all the way back toward the retry gate. You'll notice a newly opened path near the Sude Muscle.
Go down the path and follow it to the end of the stage.Oy. It's the missing ingredient -- the "seed of love." That doesn't bode well for Keiichi. Luckily, Tamiya and Ootaki show up and drink every last drop of Urd's freshly brewed potion.
Ootaki: Urd-san! I love you! Let's make babies! Let's raise our child together -- we'll be a poor but happy family of three!
According to Belldandy, pharmaceutical skills have been proof of wisdom since the olden days. Now that Urd has her "wisdom" back, let's move on to the next stage.
