There isn’t much to do on the way back to town. There’s another one of the statues that crumbles when Link reads it near Link’s home, and Ezlo notes that the reaction is startling. Entering Town, a man in a top hat carrying a box crosses the entry path, followed by a bunch of children. The man is talking about Kinstones, medallions that are broken in two and can be joined by people who find two matching halves. He gives Link a Kinstone and a bag to hold them in. He then talks about joining the matching halves, called Kinstone Fusion, which is said to bring happieness. He and Link fuse Kinstones, and a cutscene shows the odd spiky barrier on a tree in South Hyrule Field blowing up to reveal a cave (complete with showing it on the map so the player knows where to go). Link goes to investigate and finds a heart piece in the tree cave.
Back in town, Link can find Swiftblade, a swordsman who offers to teach Link. He starts with the most basic of techniques, one that’s felt odd by its absence [1]: the spin attack. He first possesses Link to demonstrate the attack, then invites Link to show his mastery of the technique. Once that’s done, he gives Link a scroll reminding him how to do the spin attack, and there’s room on the screen for eight of them, so we’ll be learning more sword techniques eventually. Being a central hub for the game, of course there’s a shop in town. In addition to bombs, a shield, and Mysterious Shells, he sells the first wallet upgrade, from 100 to 300 rupees, for 80 rupees. After that’s done, he sells the boomerang for 300 rupees. There’s not a good farming location that I’ve found (yet), but there is a game in town…
That game is run by Anju, and I just now realized that Majora’s Mask Anju’s Ocarina of Time counterpart was the Cucco Lady. Anju’s Cuccos keep getting out, and she challenges Link to round them up within a time limit. Each time, the game gets a little harder. There’s no cost to play, which is good because this game is hard. After the first couple iterations, the base movement speed isn’t fast enough, so Link has to roll everywhere to get them. Only, once he’s got a Cucco, no more rolling. They’re not always easy to pick up. The NPCs in town can block Link’s rolling; two in particular stand out: the postman making his appointed rounds, and a fscking dog that always seems to be in Link’s way. And Link has a pretty good arm, but if he tries to throw a Cucco across one of the sections of fence that stick out (for the gateway where Anju stands), they bounce off the fence rather than go in. I’m guessing, with the constant increasing of rewards, there’s going to be more reward than rupees and Mysterious Shells, but once I had enough money for the boomerang, my thumb was introducing a motion to secede from my hand in protest. I’ll wait a few dungeons to see if Pegasus Boots are a thing in this game.
That’s mostly it for the town. There’s another one of the crumbly stone markers Link can read/destroy, with Ezlo giving the same reaction as to the last one. Guards to the north and northeast won’t let Link pass, but the one in the northwest will if Link demonstrates a Spin Attack. The next area is the Trilby Highlands, which is mostly unremarkable except for a Business Scrub in a cave. That Scrub offers to sell Link the first bottle for 20 rupees. Well, he just spent all his rupees on a boomerang, so back to South Hyrule Field he goes to search under every bush for rupees. Once he’s finally found enough, he comes back and buys the bottle and continues onward.
The next area is the Mt. Crenel base, where a number of vines climb the cliffs, but none where Link can get to them. In case the way forward isn’t clear, a Deku Scrub in a cave hints toward getting the bottle from the Scrub in the previous area to get started on his way up. Back outside, Link takes the bottle, fills it from the nearby pond/river, and pours it on a vine that hasn’t had the chance to grow yet. The vine grows, giving Link the way to start his ascent up Mt. Crenel.
Next: Climbing up a giant’s Plinko board.
[1] If for no other reason than before learning it, Link couldn’t even hold his sword out to tap walls or anything. So it’s really two techniques in one.
