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There are a few sidequests you can tackle before you head on to the more advanced areas across the river. You can get the Shovel now, and then the Sharpening Stone. If the quests are too difficult, you can come back for them later. And some of them could be a challenge...

To find the Toolbox, you will need to follow Handyman Hank's directions, and head east towards the city of Sankyo. Make sure you visit the cabin to save it as your last "safe place" visited... Because, it is not a safe journey.

The Homicidal Hillside along the way has some fairly annoying Rock Crabs, but those aren't the real threat. Mr. Hank will have told you that something horrible is lurking here.

This is one sidequest where you will need to RUN. RUN. RUN! You will almost certainly not be able to slay the monstrosity until much later. In fact, even getting past the thing is difficult without proper preparation, or good movement skills. (Soula Cola can save a life. Stock up if you're playing Ironman!)

After you escape past the horror, you will be on the outskirts of Sankyo...

Unfortunately, the once-bustling metropolis has been almost completely taken over by monsters. And they are way more powerful than you are used to fighting this early in the game!

Fortunately, there aren't very many of them on this level. I wanted to give you an option to either fight a small number of very tough monsters, or, if you prefer, it should be easy to simply run around the enemies.

All you have to do now is find Handyman Hank's former residence and pick up his Toolbox.

Then... Well... You have to walk back to the taiga... Right past the terrifying horror again... Good luck!

After you've gotten the Shovel, you can recover the Sharpening Stone... but where could it be? It was confiscated by soldiers on the taiga, but where could they have taken it?

Well, when you find the place, you will be treated to one of the "themed" monster areas, and one of the few that isn't really a secret level.

The Army Camp is packed full of soldiers, and has a few buildings to explore. Somewhere in here, you will find the purloined Sharpening Stone. There is also plenty of loot to grab along the way!

There are also "themed" levels for many of the other monster types - the mice, the puppets, monkeys, bears, and so on. But most of them are secrets you will have to find yourself! One of the optional areas might offer you some hints on finding secret areas...

One of the secret areas is even useful right now, if you want to return the Sharpening Stone. Instead of returning to Einsburg through the Perilous Pass, you can find a secret path that will lead right into town. If you keep fulfilling Handyman Hank's questline, he will give you a hint on where to look.

The path leads to some caves filled with little bits of treasure, so be sure to poke your nose into every nook and cranny!

When you've returned the Sharpening Stone, you have nothing to do except to return to the Taiga and head to the west to unlock the next set of areas. But, there is one area you haven't poked into, at the north end of the taiga...

There is nothing to do here... Yet. But it is tense with anticipation... it won't stay quiet for long...