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Library of the Ancients
- Head west from Karnak and south along the continent. You’ll soon see a desert in the middle of your path. This place is dangerous, as it’s populated by Dhorme Chimerae. These creatures possess the powerful Aqua Rake Blue Magic spell, which can, if you have less than 300 HP, wipe out your party. Still, the spell itself is worth learning if you can survive a battle, and will make mincemeat of a boss in the near future.
- The Library of the Ancients is in the southeast, in the midst of a forest. There’s a dungeon in here, but you might as well look around the normal Library first. There’s a healing pot on the second floor, and on the roof you can find a row of three books, the right of which is possessed by an enemy. Nothing serious - though you can learn Aera from Page 32, the first enemy, and Level 5 Death from Page 64, the second enemy. Keep your team away from level multiples of five to avoid getting horribly murdered by the latter.
- Return to the first floor and go through the left door on the lower level. This leads to the dungeon, and random battles to boot. The enemies down here look like single battles, but every time you fight one you’ll have to follow up against a second one, and possibly a third. Nothing too difficult overall, and three of the four have blue magic to learn.
- B1. Walk straight ahead to move a bookcase out of the way. Walk into the gap in the bookcase in the north to move a lower bookcase to the left; this allows you to access the rest of the room. Walk along the tops of the shelves to the right side of the room, and continue as far as you can to shift a blocking shelf out of your way. Head to the northeast corner of the room and you’ll see a chip in the floor; interact with it to open up a hole.
- There’s a darkened room here. Open the right chest for an Ether, then head through the south exit. You’ll emerge in a larger room. To your left is a door, and next to it is a ladder. Ignore the door and go up the ladder, then check the bookshelf to reveal a passage. This will take you to a boss battle.
Ifrit
This fight is fairly straightforward, and should seem rather tame compared to the Liquid Flame from the last dungeon. Ifrit has some powerful attacks - Blaze and Fira, as well as a physical strike - but he’s a little slow, and by this level your team should be more than capable of wiping him out in a hurry. Blizzara is a key weapon here in the hands of a Black Mage, though Shiva, a Mystic Knight, or mere physical attacks can do him in quickly as well. You’ll get a Flame Scroll for winning, and the Ifrit summon to boot.
- Return to the previous room after beating Ifrit, then back out to the door you ignored earlier. Go through and you’ll be able to head north, a path you couldn’t take before fighting Ifrit. On your left is a gap in a shelf; go through and south to find a Ninja Suit. Back in the previous room and north is another darkened corridor; head south and take a left to find a Phoenix Down and an exit.
- The next large room contains several easily-moved bookcases. On the right side of the room is a small ladder; check the books at the top to fight an enemy, and beyond it a save point and stairs. A boss waits down the stairs.
Byblos
This is one of the harder bosses you’ve faced so far. Byblos combines status strikes - specifically Toad - with strong physical and magical strikes. Most notably it has a wind attack that will hit everyone for almost 300 points of damage, which can ravage a team that’s running on fumes. Use Cura to keep everyone’s health up, Protect to shelter your mages who can’t resist physical strikes, and Slow to give yourself more breathing room, then batter Byblos with your strongest fire magic. Fira, Mystic Knight buffs, Scrolls, and the Ifrit summon you just got all work really well on Byblos. Physical attacks aren’t so great since he casts Protect on himself, but you can use them if you have no other options. So long as you aren’t forced to leave someone a toad for too long (which can be quite devastating) the battle shouldn’t be insanely difficult. You’ll get an Iron Draft for besting Byblos.
- Beat Byblos and you’ll meet Mid, another important NPC. He’ll take off after a cut scene, and you’ll wind up in the main Library. Leave the Library and return to Karnak. You’ll find Cid and Mid on the second floor of the Pub. Watch the cut scene that follows - one that finally narrows down the game’s big bad - and the pair will run off to repair the Fire-Powered Ship, allowing you to sail it at your leisure.