As the ship finally reached Melmond, the party clearly saw something horrible was going on. The earth around the port seemed to be rotting and sinkholes started appear all across the city with some buildings damaged showing clear signs of damage. Wishing to finding what exactly has happened to Melmond recently, the party decided their first stop to be Castle Vreyanne, the headquarters of the Knights of Dusk. Situated on the small hill overlooking the city and the port, the castle has been serving as the knights' headquarters for generations. Named after the region, the Dusk Knights have served the ducal family and the city well as their main protectors. However, it seemed they too have suffered as the usual bustling around the castle has been missing. As the party approached the castle, they were stopped at gates by the guards on the wall. Despite Kelin revealing who he was, the guards refused to open the gates on his surprise. They were held up there until finally a person existed through the small entrance. A person Kelin knew well. "Captain Marceau! I-"
Before he could continue, the woman coldly responded: "Well, if it isn't the traitor finally deciding to return home. What, did that voice finally tell you it was time to return home or did someone knock some sense into you?"
"I can explain. I-"
The anger started to visibly appear on Captain's face as she slowly raises her voice. "Explain, huh? So you are still that same lunatic that deserted us. Now you even some posse with you."
"At least give me a chance."
"No, I don't give a damn about you anymore. I hope that stupid voice was worth all of the trouble."
"At least give me a chance to speak with Master then."
"Oh, I assume you haven't been in the city?"
"No."
"He is in the northern part. I hope you two have a nice conversation."
"Why is he there?"
"You will see. For the rest of you, I don't know what this bastard has promised you, but you are not allowed inside Vreyanne. As for you, Mr. Cooper, you have been exiled from here already. I assume you received the letter."
"I have."
"Good. Then I don't have anymore to say to someone like you. If you try to return here, you will get a nice cross bolt through your chest. I personally guarantee it. Now leave before I make you so."
With that, she returned back into the castle. The party, stomped at what just happened, wanted to ask Kelin questions. But first they wanted to find lodgings for the night so they left the castle area and went into the city. As storm clouds started to gather in the sky above, the party was met with the sorry state of the city. The city seemed to look like a warzone as many houses were destroyed, the ground collapsed in many places across the city and people were scarce. As the party settled in an inn, they went around to hear what happened as the rain started falling. Several months ago, a largest reported monster raid ever forced the knights to intercept them in the field. What they didn't know was that their leader, a vampire, had snuck in with a small group of monsters and wreak havoc on the city. Many civilians and city guards died and, while the monsters were all slain, the vampire still lived. He took over the cavern where the Earth Crystal laid and started to take its magic for his own, causing the earth to rot and decay across the whole of Dusk Head region. As the party returned to inn to settle down and discuss the new information, they noticed Kelin hasn't returned back. As the night fell and the rain started pouring down, Rosch went out to search for him. He finally found him at the city cemetery standing in front of a grave.
Rosch: "There you are. We have been waiting for you. Come on. Let's get out of this rain."
Kelin: "..."
Rosch: "Did you hear me what I just said?"
Kelin: "Y-yeah. I just... I just... I just need some time."
Rosch: "You can get that in a warm place. Now come on."
Kelin: "I don't want to."
Rosch: "Look. Whoever that grave belongs to, I am sure he or she would want you to take care of yourself."
Kelin: And would you do the same? Would you do the same knowing that you are standing on your master's grave?"
Rosch: "Oh."
Kelin: "Yeah. Knight Captain Sistine Galecki. She was the one who recruited me into the ranks. She was the one who trained me. She was the one who made me the person I am today. And yet, I wasn't even there when she died. And yet, I wasn't even there when they buried her here. And now, I can't even pride myself as being her successor as I am no longer among the knights. What am I supposed to do?"
Rosch: "Revenge her. Nothing else matters now."
Kelin: "You don't think that's a bad idea?"
Rosch: "Well, heroism is a strange thing. You are supposed to be all good and ignore your own feelings no matter what. So you are not supposed to abuse your power. However the person you want your revenge on is now standing in your way. So now you have to choose if you want to fight him because he is your opponent or because you want revenge."
Kelin: "So what's your point?"
Rosch: "Easy. We have to fight so we will. Now you can remain here and deal with your feelings which, I am sure, you truly need and I don't think no one will oppose you. Or you can come with us and deal with the vampire and then you can choose if you killed him because you wanted the revenge or because it was your duty to do so. Those are your options."
Kelin: "..."
Rosch: "So what will you do?"
Kelin: "Firstly, I will listen to you. Let's get out of here."
Rosch: "Finally. This damn rain is ruining- Hm?"
Kelin: "Why did you stop? What's with that grave?"
Rosch: "A familiar name. I hope I am wrong though. Speaking of which, why was your master buried here? You would think they would have buried her closer to the castle."
Kelin: As you can see, this graveyard had a large expansion recently with a lot of new residents. Too many knights have died so those who defended the cities have been buried here."
Rosch: "Oh. I hope they can rest in peace."
Kelin: "I hope so too."
The next morning the party was invited to the Melmond Castle in order to introduce themselves. Kelin, using his long stay in the rain as an excuse of being sick, had stayed behind in the inn. In reality, he didn't want to present himself to the Duke as he had considered himself a disgrace. After finding out about the death of his master last master, how could have he appear in front of the liege to which he was supposed swear loyalty to? Instead, he decided to rest up and check the party supplies together with Sead since they would need them soon enough. As he was in his room checking upon his weapon, he was surprised by an unexpected visitor. As soon as he realized who the visitor was, he stood up, visibly flustered, and tried to say: "Father, I-", but before he could say anything else, he was strongly hugged by his visitor. "Oh, they said that you
"Not at all. Maybe if you went and become a criminal or something like that, then I would be pissed. But I see it in your eyes, you are still my little boy and no matter what did the knights say, I knew you were doing what you wanted to do."
"Thank you, dad. I really needed to hear that."
"Good. Now, you can tell me all about your travels. Wait, maybe it's better if you do it home at the dinner tonight. Speaking of which, why did you decide to stay here instead of home?"
"It was a long day with a lot of talking and such. Besides, we couldn't fit in the house if we chose to stay there."
"Nonsense. We would find a place for your friends. They must be important to you if they followed you all the way here."
"Yes, they are. Fine, I will return home tonight. But no, we are not forcing them to stay there too. We already paid for our rooms here and they don't deserve getting cramped up in our small house."
"Fine, if you say so. But they have to come to the dinner at least."
"I will try my best to convince them."
"Good. Now that's settled, you can tell me how did you meet and why are you here."
"We are here because of this." Kelin showed the crystal he carried around to his father.
"Oh. I heard the rumours, but I never thought-"
"That your own son would end up chosen as the Goddess' chosen champion to save the world. I know. I still can't believe myself."
"Unbelievable. I never imagined something like this. So how does it feel?"
"Like I am on the bottom of the ocean floor trying to swim up."
"That badly?"
"Yeah. You can't imagine how much pressure I feel every time we go to another city and hearing the state of the affairs. It seems as if the whole world is conspiring just to make us do all the work."
"I am so sorry."
"Don't be. I will manage it somehow. Even if it kills me."
"Now that's unacceptable. You don't have a permission for that."
"What? To die? Do I need permission for that from my dad?"
"Joke all you want, mister. You are the horrible one, thinking that your death would help save the world. What about me, your mom and your sister? Hm? What about us, huh? I have watched so many getting buried due to the last attack, I don't want to imagine receiving the same treatment."
"Okay, I get it. No more death talk, okay? I will do in my power to survive."
"Good. Now do two things for me, would you? Firstly, destroy that bastard that did this to our fair city. He deserves no mercy."
"Don't worry about that. Others are already planning to do that. Besides, I have debt to settle with him for killing my master."
"Oh, you already heard about Sistine."
"Yeah, I spent my evening talking to her. Have to thank Captain Marceau for that if she ever allows me to approach her again."
"Don't worry. I will make Aurora to talk to you."
"No, dad. I don't need your help."
"But-"
"No buts, okay?"
"Fine."
"Good. Now, what's the second thing?"
"You and your new friends come to my shop and inspect my wares. I will even throw some discounts if you want anything."
"No discounts."
"Huh, why?"
"Because I know the city will need a lot of money to repair the damage and I am not stupid enough to abuse one of the city's best blacksmiths for his discounts."
"Unfortunately, it's now official. I got that honour after the recent attack."
"Oh. Still, I don't want any, okay?"
"Then how am I to honour the famed heroes?"
"If you truly want something to do, then here. Take this sword and this rapier here and melt them down to their component parts."
"O-okay? But why?"
"These two have been my most trusted blades and so I want to keep using them in one form or another. So I was thinking if I ever need an ultimate sword to be made just for me-"
"Then you can use the metal for the guard, right? Carrying on the legacy in each blade you wield."
"Excellent. I knew you would understand me. Now-" He got interrupted by knocking. "Come in."
Rosch had came in, holding in his hands a green hat. "Hey, I wanted to check upon you. Oh, didn't know you had a guest. Hi."
"Hello there, hero. How do you do? I am Kleinmann Cooper, city blacksmith."
Rosch: "Cooper? Wait, isn't he-"
Kelin: "Yes, this is my father."
Rosch: "That's great. Oh, right. I should introduce myself. Rosch De Velarie, Warrior of Light and the captain of the Sea Queen."
Kleinmann: "Oh, is that fine ship that landed in the port yours? Quite impressive."
Rosch: "Well, thank you."
Kleimann: "I hope I get to hear the story behind it tonight."
Rosch: "Tonight?"
Kelin: "Yeah, I kinda promised I would try to get everyone to my family's dinner tonight."
Rosch: "On two conditions. One, you can handle 5 more guests for one dinner."
Kleinmann: "We will manage somehow. What's the other condition?"
Rosch: "You too have some stories to tell about. Is that good enough?"
Kleinmann: "Don't worry. I have some embarrassing stories you would love to hear."
Kelin: "Hey!"
Kleinmann: "What? Don't think just because I have accepted your leave that I won't punish you for it."
Rosch: "Oh, this will be a good night."
Kelin: "You know I could ask the Marquess similar stories about you next time we meet him."
Rosch: "To be frank, I am surprised you haven't already."
Kelin: "Okay, enough about me. What's with the hat?"
Rosch: "Oh, this? Remember last night when I saw a familiar name? Turns out it was for a reason."
Kleinmann: "Did you find a friend here?"
Rosch: "Yes. Steven Grants, my old friend back when I was training to become a red mage."
Kleinmann: "Isn't that the name of- Oh."
Rosch: "Yes, the red mage that died during the fighting for the city. Apparently, all they could have of him was this green hat. To think we once made fun of him for wearing that. He didn't care though. The guy was a real trooper."
Kelin: "Are you okay?"
Rosch: "Yeah. Just simply found more motivation to hunt down that bastard."
Kelin: "I have an idea for a surprise when we do end up fighting him. Dad, are there any decent alchemists still around?"
Kleinmann: "Sure. Don't exactly expect them to make something big like a Phoenix Down or something like that."
Kelin: "That's okay. I just want someone who won't blow themselves up."
Rosch: "Oh, I see where are you going with this."
Kelin: "Let's see how flammable vampires are."
Kleinmann: "Oh, I like the sound of that."
Kelin: "Good. I will visit him today. You check on others and buy whatever we need for future trips. As for you, dad, make sure there is a plenty of food for the night's festivities."
Kleinmann: "I will. Now as for your swords-"
Kelin: "Take your time. We will be here for a while so I can pick it up at any time."
Kleinmann: "What will you wield then?"
Rosch: "Finally switching to one of the blades we have found?"
Kelin: "Yes."
Kleinmann: "May I see these blades? I am interested to see what the famous heroes wield."
Rosch: "You will be impressed. The swords should b3 at the wagon."
Kleinmann: "Let's go."
After a day of shopping, the heroes and Sead spent the night at the Cooper household. While small, it managed to fit everyone as they had a gteat time there. While often embarrassed by the stories told during the evening, Kelin was seen with a smile as he gladly spent time with his family.
Mari benefitted so much from last day's shopping. A brand new silver amulet was much more powerful than her old copper one so she will benefit from the defence a lot. She also went and bought herself 3 Level 5 spells to study: Life, Diaga and Healara. Life was very useful as the battlefield replacement to Phoenix Down as it served the same function. As for Diaga and Healara, they were more powerful version of the spells she had before. As for others, Kelin finally took up Rune Blade as he left his previous two swords at his father's shop while others were fine with what they were carrying. So on the day of the departure they finally chosen their destination: Cavern of Earth on the Devil's Tail peninsula southwest of Melmond. When they asked Kelin why it was named like that, Kelin answered: "It was named like that long before we knew what shape Feinan took. Plus it is well known for the powerful monsters that habit there so the name remained." Their journey to there was marked by usual appearances of ogres and wolves as well as a rather large number shadows which was unusual. However, Dia spell was all it was needed to get rid of them. So the enemy weren't too interesting. What was interesting and terrifying to see was the decay of the earth the closer they got to the cavern. It seemed as if the earth itself became an undead creature as no green could have been spotted for kilometres around. The party actually felt more at ease once they have entered the cavern.
The cavern seemed like a maze which made the party happy. No chance at another mistake like in Chaos Shrine. Unfortunately, they would come to regret their decision. Vampire, not wishing to be disturbed had made arrangements with tribes of ogres, minotaurs and hill gigases to defend the cavern from intruders. He even awakened many earth elementals to guard his treasures and placed baits to attract cobras and anacondas. While most of these threats ended up dead as party had an easy time dealing with them in small groups, hill gigases together with their lizard pets actually made a trap for the party in a small hallway in the western part of the first floor. As soon as the party had wandered in, they all rushed them. While the size of the hallway prevented everyone from attacking, the party was still overwhelmed as 18 hill gigases and 20 lizards was more than they ever fought before at once. Mari wasted no time casting heal spells and Protect while Rosch and Kelin were slashing them and Lewyn was punching them to death. By the time their opponents were finally dead, everyone was covered in blood and exausted. They had no desire to continue looking so they retreated back to outside, cleaned themselves and rested up. The next day they went for another attempt.
This time they went the eastern path and they have managed to quickly find the stairs to the second floor. That floor was ruled by bats, gargoyles, ogres and spiders who have made their nests in there. After last day's encounter, they felt like these opponents were nothing more than nuisance. At least they managed to recover some gold and items stolen from Melmond. Among them was a beautiful coral sword made by Kelin's father. He was sure he wanted to bring it back to his father. After another long search they found the stairs to the next floor in the southeastern part of the cave. On the next floor bats and undead were the ones calling the shots. As the party continued to explore the floor, they kept finding more treasure stolen from the city. As they wandered in through a hallway and entered a room, they found an unusually large bat. As they looked around to see, the bat started speaking as he transformed. "All things in this world are destined to end in death. The seal cannot be undone, and so the earth shall rot." As he finished his transformation into a pale young man, he continued: "You cannot alter the destiny. Mere mortals cannot kill the undying!"
As the party stepped forward and readied themselves for a fight, Kelin exclaimed: "Stay back. This is mine and Rosch's fight." Lewyn asked: "Are you sure?" to which Rosch answered: "Yes, stay back." Lewyn and Mari acknowledged this so they retreated back. As Kelin was approaching the vampire, he threw a small pouch at the vampire. The vampire gladly catched it while mocking Kelin: "What's this? Did you idiots really think some dumb garlic would stop?" He was laughing so much he didn't even bother dodging Rosch's Fire spell. By the time he realized what happened next, he was at the wall wailing in pain as whole of his body was burning up and his arm was missing. Rosch had no trouble piercing him through and making him pinned to the wall. "This is for Steve." Vampire tried to grab him with his remaining hand, but it was sliced by Kelin's sword. As vampire tried to realize what was happening, he heard: "That was for every civilian you killed. And this is for my master, YOU BASTARD!" The last thing that vampire had seen was an angry warrior going for his neck. As the head rolled around, the body disappeared into the mist. The Warriors had won. And they took revenge while at it. "Was it worth it?" Lewyn asked both of them. They didn't need to answer as their faces were enough. The beaming smiles was the answer.
They looked around the room they just fought in. They discovered a chest with a star ruby in it. While they weren't too sure what to do with it, they still took it. They went through the door that was behind the vampire and after a short hallway they discovered a room with a stone slab on the floor. It was clear they had to somehow move or destroy the slab in order to continue, but nothing they tried succeeded. As much as they didn't want to, they admitted defeat and returned back to the surface. Along the way they discussed what just happened. Kelin revealed that a small pouch full of nitro powder was made for him back in Melmond. He wanted to have a secret weapon against the vampire. While Mari commented that her Dia spells could work just as well, they have agreed on trying this in case more vampires showed up. They couldn't carry too many pouches and it would have turned them into explosives in case someone used fire spells on them so they agreed this was for vampires only.