Moar!

The next place I had to go was actual story: Tasnica's castle.  Apparently there was a spy or something.  I talked to their king, who turned out to not actually be their king, or was under mind control, or something.  I hear the boss music, and out comes a Dark Stalker.

Killed in three hits.

According to the FAQ I'm using to remind myself of where I have to go next when I start the game back up, it appears later as a regular enemy.

Anyway.

I got the sword's orb I was missing from that.  Hopped onto Flammie and went back to the mountains, where I had to see Sage Joch.  It was apparently time for a test of courage, which essentially meant a doppleganger fight.  Kicked the dopplegangers' asses and then flew back to Gold Isle to get the sword forged so I could level it up.  Then, where to?  Where else?  My favorite weapon levelling spot: Ice Country.

With the sword at level 6 on everyone, it became time to continue the story.  Serious shit went down too, the Empire raised a sunken continent that contains the Mana Fortress.  I managed to get the next elemental, but couldn't release the Mana Seed, so no level 8 elementals just yet.

The area beneath the Tree Palace, once raised, has a fairly long tunnel system containing a bunch of enemies with the dreaded rare drops of awesome equipment.  Being the RPG player I am, naturally I immediately want to farm the best stuff out of it.  Also, I've got a bunch of weapon orbs now that I might go back and get forged (and then grind out the levels on everyone).  Also, I should level up the last elemental to level 7 right now, so that once I get that final seed, I won't have to grind it all 8 levels in one go...