1.1 West Mercay Island

Once you gain control of Link, run to the northeast and enter the first house. Speak with the old man here, named Oshus, who eventually tells Link to seek out Linebeck on the east side of the island.

Walk back outside. Once you begin walking away from the house you will hear a rumbling, which is the sound of the bridge that leads to the east side of the island collapsing. Walk to the northwest part of the area and head up a screen. You will be confronted by a trio of Red ChuChus. With no means of attacking these enemies, turn back and return to Oshus’ house.

After speaking with Oshus for a second time, exit the house and walk to the east. There is a cave that is blocked off by a barrel. Lift the barrel and enter the cave. Walk northward and you will see a sign. You have to write the number of palm trees that are found on this side of the island. The correct answer is 7, so draw the number accordingly. Open the treasure that is behind the door to get Oshus’s Sword.

Exit the cave and you will find Oshus standing outside. In order to continue you will have to properly train with the sword. Go through the training process with Oshus, learning the various sword techniques.

Optional: Rupee Secret

There is a house at the west side of the island. If you clear the rocks in the yard, the man will reward Link with a single green rupee. However, he’ll also give Link a hint about a secret on the other side of the island, so be sure to mark it on your map as we will be heading there shortly.

Travel northward to encounter the Red ChuChus once again. Now that you have a sword, you should be able to do them in with a single slash. Along the way you’ll find a Gossip Stone that suggests rolling into the nearby tree. Do so to cause a red rupee to fall out. Walk around the path and you’ll find some trees that are blocking your way. Use your sword to slash them down and enter the cave.

1.2 Mountain Passage

Defeat the Red ChuChus that appear and climb the steps to find a treasure chest. Open it to find a small key, and use it to unlock the nearby locked door.

There are four levers here that Link will need to pull in the correct order to proceed. There are a pair of stone tablets on each side of the cave that hint to the proper order. Additionally, there is a treasure chest on the right side that contains a red rupee. From left to right, the correct order in which to pull the switches is 2, 1, 4, 3.

Defeat the enemy rats and you’ll find that one of them is quite evasive, running into the small holes at the northwest part of the cave. Push the nearby block so that it covers the hole on the left side. Walk back to the right side of the room and keep a lookout on your map. Once you see the rat with a small key run out of the hole on the right, follow it to the left. Since it won’t be able to go through the blocked hole, slash at it to recover the small key.

Use the small key on the locked door to the right. Make your way around the path and exit the cave.

1.3 East Mercay Island

Once you arrive at the east part of Mercay Island, you can run on over to Linebeck’s ship at the southeast part of the map, but he is nowhere to be found. The man by the boat suggests looking for him at the Milk Bar, the large building located to the west. Enter the Milk Bar and speak to the owner. The owner will point Link towards the Temple of the Ocean King, located at the northwest part of the island.

Optional: Secret Treasure

Back outside you could visit the shop nearby, but anything useful is a bit too expensive. However, there is a treasure chest we can reach. Throughout the village there are Cuccos hopping around. Walk over and pick one of them up. Now head just southwest of the Milk Bar and you’ll see some land across the water. Use the Cucco to float across the water and then toss the Cucco aside. Open the treasure chest here to get a common treasure. These will come in hand later on in the adventure.

Run to the northeast part of town and head northward through the opening to encounter some more enemies. Defeat the Red ChuChus as well as the enemy crows that appear. NOTE: If you cleaned out the farmer’s yard on the west end of the island, the farmer would have pointed out a secret tree in this area. Roll into this tree, causing a big green rupee to appear, worth 100 rupees! Follow the path to the west a screen and then go ahead and enter the Temple of the Ocean King.

1.4 Temple of the Ocean King

Once you enter the temple, walk forward through to the next room and watch the cut-scene that triggers. The purple areas are safe zones, but if Link is standing on any other ground, his health will start to deplete.

Run to the northwest part of the area and hit the crystal orb that is found here, causing the spikes to be lowered. Run back to the south end of the room and speak with Linebeck. During the cut-scene, Linebeck will give Link a small key.

Run back to the northwest part of the room and use the key on the locked door. At the far northwest part of the room there is a crystal switch. Strike it and it will lower the nearby spikes. Quickly run to the northeast part of the room where you will find a second crystal switch. Strike it and it will cause a door near the top of the room to open up.

Run over to the top of the room and open the large treasure chest to get a Sea Chart. Run back to the south end of room and you’ll find that Linebeck has disappeared. Exit the Temple of the Ocean King and you’ll find Linebeck back outside.

After speaking with Linebeck, return to the village. Before taking off, it might be a good idea to purchase a shield from the shop. They are available for 80 rupees, which you should have by now, especially if you obtained the big green rupee from the tree.

After acquiring a shield, walk over to Linebeck’s ship at the southeast part of the island. Speak with Linebeck and Oshus, and Link will be asked to mark the map. Trace over the island at the southeast part of the map to reveal a secret. Oshus will indicate that this is the next destination. Speak with Linebeck and set sail.

There isn’t too much to do in the Great Sea at the moment. You can stop by Cannon Island, but we can’t do anything of importance just yet. You will see a face on your map which indicates the location of Beedle’s Shop Ship. You can sail over, but most of his goodies are a bit too pricey for your wallet at this time. Draw a line for the Isle of Ember at the southeast part of the map. Along the way you may see a Golden Frog, but we cannot do anything with him yet. Set sail and arrive at the Isle of Ember.