ITEMS TO GET: Hi-Potion, Elixir, Ether, Phoenix Down, Lamia Flute, Brigandine, Ruby

   Go back to the Mountain Path and retrace your steps to the green where you fought the Hill Gigas. Exit north here and you'll end up on the world map; this time on the west side of the Outer Continent. Continue west until you reach Iifa, the Tree of Life.

   After a bit of dialogue, you'll have three choices on how to proceed. Choose the last one to get Eiko to use her magic to break the barrier around the tree. You'll receive the Ruby, which offers both the Reflect spell and Eiko's Carbunkle summon.

Legend of Mana?

   Head forward, following the twists and turns of the long branch. You'll fight tree monsters along the way; none too surprisingly, they're weak against fire. After four "branch" screens, you'll reach a horizontal scene. Continue westwards; you'll pass a Save Moogle and eventually reach an altar. Select the second or third option to descend into the tree.

   Inside the tree, you'll battle Dragon Zombies; not only are they also weak to Fire, they're also undead, which means you can damage them with heal spells. On the first interior screen, loop around the north side of the room and exit south. Head down and right; you'll see two little nooks on the right side of the screen. Investigate the southern of the two, activate the question mark, and choose the first option to make a chest drop down; it contains a Phoenix Down. Collect the Hi-Potion from the bottom of the screen, then circle around to the left. You'll pass under the branch you were just on and end up on the next screen.

   Head south through another spiral. After you come out of the loop, move right into the nook and keep going until you can't see Zidane anymore. Search around here for an Ether, then continue south. Check the path to the left the Lamia Flute for Eiko, then go south some more. After a bit of dialogue, your party boards a leaf to descend further into the tree.

   You'll fight three Zombies on the leaf; they helpfully drop Revivifies when defeated. (The Revivify item cures the Zombie status condition.) Talk to VIVI; he whines some more about Puck, and then a Dragon Zombie attacks. Defeat it as usual.

If you squint, maybe you can see this chest

   The leaf stops at the core of Iifa. Talk to Garnet, then go down the stairs. Look around the base for an impossible-to-see chest with an Elixir, then check behind the trunk for Brigandine armor. Equip it on Zidane. Talk to Eiko, then head to the far left of the screen and activate the exclamation mark. The screen starts shaking. Heal up, equip Eiko with the Phoenix Pinion, then go up and talk to Garnet. After a lot of dialogue, you'll end up in a battle against one of Kujya's minions: The Soulkeys.

   This is a tough battle; The Soulkeys has some powerful attacks that can hit the whole party. Don't forget that you can cast heal spells onto the whole team by hitting R1; you can also use these spells to damage The Soulkeys since it's undead. If you cast Fire or Fira on The Soulkeys, it will receive the Heat status and lose HP every round; however, the power of its falling leaves will also increase (since the leaves are now on fire). Whether or not you want to take the risk is up to you. Eiko's Phoenix summon is also very useful; it does Fire damage and simultaneously revives dead characters. Make good use of Trance Mode; if Zidane goes into Trance, scroll all the way down his Trance Skill box and look for his later, more powerful, skills. Soulkeys has about 10,000 HP, maybe a little more.

   When Za Soulkeys is defeated, you receive 9 AP and an FMV of Iifa regenerating. You're automatically returned to the entrance.