Olberic's second chapter takes him to Victors Hollow, a town of warrior-lovers in the east of Orsterra. You can reach Victors Hollow most quickly from S'warkii, heading west to the West S'warkii Trail and then north along the East Victors Hollow Trail. Victors Hollow is on the west side of the trail.
Tressa's third chapter can take place in Victors Hollow, so there's a chance you've already been here and looked around. If not, though, it's worth checking out the town before proceeding with the story:
- The Townsperson at the entrance of Victors Hollow has a Nourishing Nut (M), an Invigorating Nut (M), and a Magic Nut (M) to Purchase / Steal, and you can Scrutinize / Inquire him for New Weapons for Sale at the Armory. Great start to the town.
- Out front of the Tavern in the south of town is a Listless Gladiator who will give you a Side Story to do. He has a Knight's Sword and a Silver Helm to Steal / Purchase. Be careful fighting him, as he's incredibly strong.
- Down the street from the Tavern is a Doting Aunt who has the Father and Fighter info if Inquired / Scrutinized. This is part of a Side Story, unsurprisingly.
- On the west side of town is an orphanage, and the Orphanage Matron out front has the Marta's Gang info as part of a Side Story. If you Challenge / Provoke her and win, which seems very uncharitable, you can enter the orphanage and find a chest containing a Heavy Coin Pouch. You monster.
- To the right of the Inn is a Merchant. He's carrying a Robe of the Flame and an Inferno Amulet that you can Purchase / Steal. Both are tricky to Steal, particularly the Robe of the Flame, though both are great items.
Victors Hollow: Arena Gate
The big draw of Victors Hollow is the arena in the north, so we'd better look around there as well:
- To the left of the entrance to this area is a side path leading to the Forest of No Return, a Danger Level 48 area. Pay attention to the name if you're trying to enter early and maybe think twice. Across from the Forest of No Return is a man named Mont d'Or who is carrying an Imperial Lance that you can Purchase / Steal.
- On the left side of the street to the north is a house guarded by a man named Barker. He has a Tomahawk Bow and a Charm Bow to Steal / Purchase. If you Challenge / Provoke him and win - no mean feat, as Barker is pretty powerful - you'll find a Silver-filled Pouch inside the house. (Also a Townsperson who tries to insist that he's injured. Pretty funny if you beat him up anyway.)
- There are plenty of decent items to be Stolen / Purchased out on the streets, and you can also Scrutinize / Inquire the young Spectator near the stairs for the Discount at the Inn info.
- There are many NPCs with good stuff outside the Armorer, to the south of the arena. You can get a Golden Hairpiece, a Magus Knife, a Shadow Bow, a Fur Cap, a Victor's Spear, a Divine Blade, and a Bear Cleaver from the assorted NPCs here. The Spectator on the right has the Challenge with Ease info to Scrutinize / Inquire about, and the young man named Estadas has the Estadas's Condition info (part of a Side Story).
- If you head towards the arena and check the fencing to the right of the entrance you'll find a path into the tree-filled garden. Walk through it and you'll find an Old Man looking over a fence. Scrutinize / Inquire him and a Lightning Amulet will appear on the ground nearby.
Victors Hollow: The Arena
Might as well have a look around inside, as there are a few more things to find before we move on. The Arena Attendant immediately inside the arena has a Light Nut (M) and a Slippery Nut (M) for you to Purchase / Steal. Look in the small room on his left for an Inspiriting Plum, and in the small room on the right for a purple chest containing a Dark Amulet.
That's all? Yep, that's all. On with Olberic's story. If you turned down the trigger for it upon entering Victors Hollow you can get the ball rolling again by going to the Tavern, speaking to the Tavern Keeper, and choosing Hear a Tale.
Still on the trail of Erhardt, the great traitor, Olberic treks to Victors Hollow. There's someone here by the name of Gustav who knows Erhardt, though Olberic has no idea where he is. Fortunately he quickly gains a clue, as he just happened to come into Victors Hollow on the eve of a great tourney. Turns out Gustav will be participating, and Olberic needs to speak to him. The purple-haired woman who takes notice of Olberic may be able to help.
Head to the south end of Victors Hollow to trigger another cut scene. The woman, Cecily, convinces Olberic to enter the tourney himself - though to get past the normal rules he'll need to be creative, and challenge one of the participating champions to a street duel. You'll need to wander around Victors Hollow and Challenge worthy opponents twice:
- Near the entrance of town is a Prideful Warrior who is weak to Swords, Daggers, Fire, and Lightning. He uses normal melee attacks and isn't a big deal. Cross Strike will make short work of him once he's broken.
- Outside the Inn is a Contemptuous Warrior who is weak to Spears, Bows, Wind, and Dark. He'll buff himself then use some pretty standard melee Skills. Thousand Spears can quickly wear down his defenses and leave him vulnerable to Spearhead.
Beating both opponents will bring Victorino, one of the champions, over for a look-see. Head to the plaza outside the arena and Victorino will be waiting. Be ready, as this is a legit boss fight, not just another duel.
Victorino
Weakness: Sword, Dagger, Wind, Dark
Weakness (Victorino's Retainer): Sword, Dagger, Lightning, Dark
As far as bosses go Victorino is pretty easy, given that you a) Fight him partway through the chapter, and b) Can fight him with your entire party. All three opponents use fairly standard melee attacks, though Victorino himself can let out a battle cry and then use Pirates' Bane on his next turn, dealing a hefty amount of damage to one character. Nevertheless, you shouldn't have trouble with this fight. Use Level Slash to quickly subdue the two Retainers - and eventually Victorino - and just keep targeting weaknesses, healing as needed. Victorino doesn't have that many defensive shields so breaking him before he can use Pirates' Bane should be a piece of cake.
Victorino is a good loser, and he happily gives his place in the tourney to Olberic. Immediately after Cecily will tell you that the tourney is about to begin.
The Tournament
Olberic and the other contestants will be introduced, and before the matches begin Olberic and Gustav will have a conversation. Gustav obviously isn't interested in telling Olberic what he wants to know until Olberic beats him in a fight, however, so you'll need to guide him through the preliminaries first. You can come and go as you please between matches. Speak to Cecily in the room on the left of the arena to trigger the next battle. First up: Joshua Frostblade.
Joshua
Weakness: Axe, Staff, Fire, Light
Weakness (Dapper Duelist): Dagger, Bow, Fire, Wind
Do these still count as 'duels' if seven people are fighting...? Well, whatever. Bringing two Dapper Duelists into the fight with him, Joshua is a step up from Victorino but still not that difficult. Aside from normal attacks Joshua can increase his attacks to two per turn after the Duelists are gone, and will start using Rhapsody of Love to potentially confuse a target. Joshua's weakness to Fire is locked by the two Dapper Duelists, though that's barely an issue if you have his other weaknesses covered. Take out the Dapper Duelists, then their boss. So long as you keep a few Boost levels in reserve breaking Joshua before he can use Rhapsody of Love to confuse anyone the fight should be pretty easy.
That's two down. Next up: Archibold the Crusher. Guess he won't be winning the tournament this year.
Archibold
Weakness: Dagger, Bow, Ice, Dark
Weakness (Disguised Duelist): Axe, Staff, Fire, Light
The battles are gettin' tougher. Starting off with his weaknesses to Bow and Ice covered by his Disguised Duelists, Archibold will immediately go into Boost mode and prepare to use Champion's Cleave, which hits everyone in your party and inflicts a debuff to boot. Most of his following moves hit everyone, as well, so expect your party to take a fair amount of damage. The Duelists are a little more targeted. The chances you'll be able to break Archibold in one turn are pretty low, so unless you can you're better off having everyone defend and build up their Boost levels. After that you just need to take out the Duelists, chip away at Archibold, and heal as necessary (and it probably will be necessary).
With Archibold down for the count there's only one enemy left: Gustav himself. He is much harder than the bosses who came before him, so don't enter this fight half-cocked.
Gustav
Weakness: Polearm, Axe, Bow, Fire, Dark
Weakness (Shield Wielder): Sword, Staff, Ice, Wind
Ahh, the grand finale. Entering the fight with two Shield Wielders, Gustav is all melee, all the time. Capable of using two actions at once - and three once he reaches fifty percent of his health - Gustav will chew up your party's health pretty quickly if you don't break him. This goal is made harder by the two Shield Wielders who protect all of Gustav's weaknesses, not just one or two like the previous combatants. Aside from Black Blade, which can inflict terror on a target and lock away their Boosting for a while, most of this fight is just a back-and-forth beat-em-up, and a tough one at that.
Ignore Gustav completely at first and target the two Shield Wielders. You need to eliminate one of them as quickly as you can, so don't split up your attacks between them if you can avoid it. Use buffing Skills to deaden the effects of physical hits in the meantime, as each Shield Wielder has 7,000+ HP. Defeating one of the Shield Wielders will lower some of Gustav's defenses, but under no circumstances should you fight him while he still has help. Once the Shield Wielders are out of the way, hit Gustav's weak points - he fortunately has a lot of them - and keep Boost levels in reserve so you can put him back into break status whenever he gets out, or use Olberic's Thousand Spears. Gustav hits way too hard with his three moves to let him remain un-stunned for long periods of time.
You'll receive a Spiked Shield and Gustav's Shield for defeating Gustav. Enjoy the accolades, then head to the Inn to speak to Gustav. After an enlightening story about Erhardt, Gustav will reveal that Olberic's former brother-in-arms is now in the town of Wellspring.