Val

Val is the primary hero of Visions of Mana. A young boy from the Fire Village of Tianeea trained in swordsmanship by Lyza, he is selected as Soul Guard tasked to protect his childhood friend Hinna in her pilgrimage to the Mana Sanctuary, as she is chosen by the Faerie as the Alm of Fire.

Personality[]

Val is the hero through and through, honest, caring and determined to do the right thing and help anyone he comes across. He is friendly, outgoing and outspoken, always speaking his mind and never hiding his emotions. He is serious, driven and extremely devoted in his duties. He is also humble, having trouble in accepting praises.

Nevertheless, as the story goes on, he starts to question the tradition of sacrificing alms to the Tree of Mana, espousing Eoren's dream to restore Fa'Diel while honoring the sacrifice of the alms of the past. Despite witnessing the pain and sacrifice of the alms and suffering the same pain as Eoren and Daelophos, he remains steadfast in his convictions. While he does sympathize with them and tries to understand them and reason with them, he is hellbent on stopping them and protecting everyone. Such drive and search for truth earning him the respect of everyone.

Powers and Abilities[]

Val is this game's Knight Character, and as expected he is a tremendously skilled swordsman, athletic, fast, agile and spry. While he mostly uses longswords, some of his classes makes him wield spears with equal proficiency. He can cast Battle Magic, first Fireball and then mostly Salamander magic and Elemental Sabres spells.

Val can use the Elemental Vessels, not only to use the Mana Spirits' powers on land and in battle, but also to adopt a Character Class, each for a distinct element used in their Class Strike. Like every other playable character, he can switch between relics to change his class, element and abilities. As the Alm of Light, bearer of an element linked to heart and mind, he is immune to Tor Marne's madness inducing power.

Val is noted for his ability to turn monsters he destroys into Corestones, jewels containing their essence which he can use to unlock Abilities.

Role in the Story[]

Val is seventeen-years old at the start of the game, as he begins the Alms' pilgrimage. Together with Hinna, he befriends Eoren, who leaves the following morning.

In Longren the Vale of Wind, where they befriend Careena and her pet Ramcoh, a baby White Dragon of Mana, who is anointed Alm of Wind. In the ruins of the Moon Parish of Etaern, they befriend Morley the new Alm of the Moon.

They reunite with Eoren on the way to Illystana the Capitol of the Deep, where they befriend Queen Palamena, who has to abdicate the throne in favour of her kid brother Iain as she was named the Alm of Water.

After unveiling Master Passar's plot to seize the throne and naming Niccolo as regent, Val and Hinna are tricked by Eoren to follow him on Reignus Shrine, to perform a ritual that could restore Fa'Diel and lift the need for alms. Alas, he is betrayed and Eoren uses his power to turn Hinna to a corestone. Heartbroken, he returns to Illystana, where his friends and Niccolo encourage him to go on.

The heroes travel to the Mana Sanctuary, hoping to reach it before Eoren and get Hinna's corestone. On their way, they travel to the Earth Village of Gudju to ask Gnome to fertilize the ground in which they must plant the seed. They later reach the Verdeus Borough, where the sproutling Julei is anointed Alm of the Woods. Eoren takes the Mana Sword, only to release Daelophos, who is too powerful for the heroes and almost slay them. They only owe their lives to Trent, the Keeper of the Mana Tree who restrains the fallen Mana Knight long enough for them to flee.

As Daelophos releases the Benevodons, the heroes go to the Dark Archives of Log'grattzo to learn more, where the Master Curator Aesh and Bon Voyage create a powerful Corepedo poison to weaken Daelophos when he attacks them. As the heroes destroy the first three Benevodons, Aesh is anointed Alm of Shadow and Val himself is anointed as Alm of Light by Lumina on the Island of Lorimar, after helping theatre actors to perform the play "Daelophos and Cerulia" telling their enemy's past.

The heroes return to the Mana Sanctuary to ask the Goddess for answers, meeting Vadise who tests their worth and Khoda, Val's ancestor and first Soul Guard, who explain them everything. The remaining Benevodons then appear to attack the Sanctuary, but being too few they cannot pierce its defensive barrier. They defeat all the Benevodons, with Val returning to Tianeea to destroy the last at Dorpher Volcano. There, Val breaks into tears when telling Hinna's parents of her fate, but they do not blame him, much to his surprise.

The heroes confront Daelophos at Entwine Bridgepass, but cannot reason with him, and have no choice but to defeat him. Enraged, he breaks the Mana Sword and departs to the Mana Sanctuary distorted beyond recognition, with the heroes in hot pursuit. There, they defeat Daelophos under his most powerful and demonic transformation, but he takes them down with a tremendous Sphere of Destruction. Then, the souls of Hinna, Lyza and Eoren, along with every alm that ever was, lift them up and restore the Mana Sword, which Val uses to finish off the corrupted Mana Knight once and for all.

It is only as he lays dying that Daelophos concedes defeat. With his soul at peace and his curse lifted, the Mana Goddess awakes and anoints Val as her new Mana Knight. He then use its reality-warping powers to restore Fa'Diel and the Five Realms anew, fulfilling his dream of a world without alms. Decades later, after a long and fulfilling life, an elderly Val peacefully passes away in his sleep, clutching the pendant he bought for Hinna shortly before her death. His soul is returned to the Sanctuary, looking like his seventeen-year-old self, greeted by Hinna, who cannot wait to hear all of his stories.

In the Post-Game Quest, chronologically set shortly before they settle their score with Daelophos, Vadise telepathically contacts Val's party to warn them against the threat of Aeve Zalaha's imminent return. So they set out to destroy the evil dragon.

Classes[]

Paladin (Light Class)

Berserker (Shadow Class)

Aegis (Moon Class)

Edelfrei (Wood Class)

Rune Knight (Wind Class)

Weapon Master (Earth Class)

Duelist (Water Class)

Liege (Fire Class)