Double Posting Because This Is MY Thread, And I Do With It What I Choose. Somebody Try And Stop Me

:

This challenge is a horrible idea. It took me countless tries to get in and out of the Earth Cave with the Ruby. Not because it's hard! Not by a long shot. The problem is that, especially now, i just don't know if it's possible to make it to Lich without getting into an encounter with these freaking Wizards!
I'm about to quit. The challenge, obviously, isn't much of a challenge on the fighting front. I made it past Astos, getting the right treasure, playng the mini game 3 times (I think I made 100, Then 80 then 90? Or maybe the amount goes down from 100 every time? I don't recall...) to make extra cash, and getting the tools to hit Melmond at lv 4.
(SPOILER)Note: The secret to killing Astos is Magic. Invest in Ice and Fire, because swords and axes do almost nothing. I NEVER made a critical hit, which is a hint into the nature of the crit. It must have something to do with the level of your character vs. the level of the opponent, since my solo thief made mad criticals at lv. 18-21. It'd be iompossible to beat Astos with a Thief otherwise.)

The only big challenge that remains is probably making 50,000G for the Fairy. But I remember that I get a gold bracelet in the Castle of Ordeals, I have 8K now, and the Volcano is loaded with treasure. I can sell the Fire and Ice Armor for a total of 30K more if I have to. So it isn't like that's a problem. The ONLY problem that this game brings to the table is the difficulty of running away from enemies all over the place, and as much as I want to show you a screenshot of my lv. 8/9/10 - whatever the lowest level is - Knight with a Masmune, it isn't worth walking through the Earth Cave one more time and crashing into Wizards. Then finding them again in the Ice cave(not to mention the occasional Frost Giant). Then Ghosts and Waters (two different non-run parties in the water temple), and, of course, the Worms, Z.Dragons and Steel Golems and Earths and Gas Dragons and Waters in the ToF.

Screw it.

If anybody else has succeeded in this challenge or would like to post relevant information about it, feel free to use this thread.