The party was surprised to hear such loud footsteps approaching their camp. Thinking it might be an enemy, they readied themselves for a fight. They were even more surprised when they realized that a familiar thing was approaching them. It was that golem that blocked their path to the sage. Speaking of which, the golem was actually carrying him in his arms. As soon as they got near the stunned party, the sage bid the golem to lower him down to which it followed the orders. "Traveling these days is a lot more different than in my days, don't you agree?", the sage said in a joke manner. Kelin, finally getting some blood in his head, had asked what was going on and why he was there. The sage answered that he had a major business with the heroes. Firstly, he congratulated them for vanquishing the first Fiend and restoring the Earth Crystal back to normal. He could already sense the earth healing back to normal. Then he went to explain the main reason of his visit. "My fellow sages are gathering for an important meeting across the ocean in the Crescent Lake City. They have invited both me and you to attend so I am here delivering the invite." The party tried to get more details, but the sage admitted that he had none. Then others have asked him what about his home. The sage answered that he had already sealed the entrance to it and he was sending his golem Maxlo to guard the passage again. He then went on to ask the party if they would be willing to escort him back to Melmond since they could be traveling together. No one opposed this since they had the same destination in the end and they had no problem adding in one more companion. After this they took the traveling bag from the golem, bid him farewell and started their journey back to Melmond. Along the way, sage was talking about his life story to whoever wanted to listen. Along the way some shadows and wolves did try to attack the wagon, but they were no threat. Sage lamented about how he was unable to stop the party from attracting the monsters. Confused by this they asked him to explain more. They finally found out that because they keep slaying monsters they keep attracting more of them due to the animosity present on them from all the slain monsters. The party and sage were quite surprised at this as they weren't aware of it all this time.
After arriving at Melmond, they were received as heroes by the entire city. Any unease that was there before was now gone as the earth had visibly started to heal. The damage to the city would need years to heal, but that was okay because now they had future. Celebrations were in full force as banners across the city celebrated the heroes that saved it from doom. There was even a special surprise for Kelin. As part of the gratitude towards the person that saved the city, Duke Emeric Mehlis was to officially anoint him as a Knight of the Order of Dusk. Surprised at this, he tried to arrange a meeting with the Duke to protest this, but his busy schedule had prevented that from happening. So in the end an impromptu ceremony was held at the Ducal Palace where he was to be appointment as a knight. At the ceremony he followed the procedure through. However, when it was time for him to give the sword to the duke while he was kneeling, he hesitated. Duke, thinking the knight hadn't heard him had repeated his request. "Ahem, knight Kelin Cooper, may I please receive your sword?" Kelin, after a long pause, answered: "No, I must refuse, my liege." This shocked everyone present in the hall. Duke, confused at his answer, asked him: "Why?"
"Because I saved this city as a Warrior of Light, not as a member of the Order of Dusk."
"Oh? And what is the difference, if you don't mind enlightening us?"
"When I received my powers, it was at the expense of me deserting the order and abandoning my vows. I don't feel like I deserve this honour after doing that."
"While it might have been seen as cowardly at the time, you have proven that you were right to follow your decision though. That takes bravery rarely seen today."
"It may be so, but it still came at the price of dishonouring everyone who had taken thise vows before. Besides, even if I accept this, I would still be breaking my vows. My vows are to defend the citizens and the Duchy, but as much as I want to remain in my homeland, there is a world out there that needs to be saved."
"So you are saying that no matter what you will not be accepting what is dutifully yours?"
"No, my liege."
"Then I will accept your refusal on one condition."
"Which is?"
"That one day you will return here and accept your reward regardless of what happens."
"But what if I perish before that? Or I decide to settle in another land?"
"I am waiting for an answer, o brave warrior."
"... Very well then. I accept your condition."
"Thank you. (To the audience present in the hall) Our brave warrior saw through his weakness and his flaws and saw in himself someone unworthy of the prize others have granted him. In order to achieve his redemption from abandoning his vows and to become the person other believe him to be, he will continue his journey of saving the world. May he one day be serving as the paragon to other knights following in his footsteps. May I receive a praise for this man's character and prayers for his continuous success in the future." At this the whole hall cheered and the party continued, despite the main reason for it falling through. Here, Kelin met with many important people responsible for running the Duchy. Many of them offered their gratitude to the local hero who saved the country. Eventually he was dragged to meeting he wanted to avoid: a meeting with the Knight Commander Riemann and surprisingly his friend the sage Sadda.
Alphonse: "Surprised to see you have turned the honour. I thought you trained and waited all you career for this."
Kelin: "I can see I am still not accepted among others despite my achievements. I would prefer to at least redeem myself this way."
Sadda: "How generous of you. You have trained this man well."
Alphonse: "You should praise his late master for that. Anyway, it seems I have no choice but accept your decision. Make us proud then."
Kelin: "I will. Now, about you two. How long have you known each other?"
Sadda: "Since our childhoods. Ah, to be that young again. Why must time be cruel?"
Kelin: "You don't blame the Goddess?"
Sadda: "Nah. If she wanted me as an elf, she would have made it so."
Alphonse: "Yes, if he should blame the Goddess for something, he should blame her for how he turned out."
Sadda: "You still on about that?"
Alphonse: "I am just saying that you and Lilith could have been a nice couple if you wanted to."
Sadda: "As I keep telling you, Al, that would never have happened. I much prefer a life of wisdom and books. Besides, I don't think Duke would like to hear about you complaining about him marrying your sister."
Alphonse: "Nah, he knows that already."
Kelin: "Um, should I even be here to listen this?"
Alphonse: It's just a talk between old friends, that's all. Besides, I hear you have romantic ambitions of your own."
Kelin: "And where did you hear thar?"
Alphonse: "The ships have started to use that channel you helped to create so we have been getting news a bit faster now. You lot have been busy these past months. At this point you weren't only in Hoshido by now. Isn't that your new destination?"
Sadda: "Yes, it is. They even called me to go with them."
Alphonse: "I pray for your success there, whatever the task may be."
Kelin: "Thank you, Sir."
Alphonse: "I also hope you succeed in your romantic advances. You sly dog."
Kelin: "You know about that too?"
Alphonse: "Don't think I haven't noticed what you meant by settling in other lands. Now show what you are made of and beat your rival."
Sadda: "Give poor boy some rest, Al."
Alphonse: "Like I will take advice from who doesn't care about romance."
Kelin: "It could be worse. I could take advice from Lewyn over there."
Alphonse: "Why did you have to mention him? Now I feel bad."
Sadda: "He is his fellow warrior after all."
Kelin: "And one that is gathering support for his claim."
Alphonse: "You have got to be kidding me. So the rumours about potential Calatian restoration under Marciano rule are true?"
Kelin: "It seems so. I do believe he can count on support from Cornelia, elves and dwarves. Pravoka might be too far and too weak to support it right now."
Alphonse: "Oh, perfect. Just perfect. Just when we thought they were assigned to the pages of history, here comes a hero Marciano to save the world and restore his clan. Unbelievable. And so close to our doorstep, too."
Kelin: "So maybe it's time we drop the grudge with them? After all, no living remembers what happened back then."
Sadda: And maybe you should do it before it starts interfering with the official politics of the realm? After all, clan Marciano might have been only a desert clan once, but if they successfully restore the kingdom, who do you think Emeric will support? His knights, holding on to a grudge set by a dead woman or a restored kingdom with a rightful king ruling over it? Hm?"
Alphonse: "... Fine. Maybe we should think this over."
Kelin: T"hen I say: Here's to the future! Cheers!"
Sadda: "Cheers!"
Alphonse: "Cheers!"
After the night spent in partying and a full day's rest, the party along with Sadda boarded the Sea Queen and set off for the Hoshidan port of Izumo, the most eastern port on the continent of Feinan. The journey was uneventful except for sahagins who tried and failed to board the ship. Without any issue they were granted safe passage and moored in Izumo.
The Kingdom of Hoshido was unique in culture department when compared to other Feinan nations. Separated from other nations by vast mountains and large river valleys, it had very limited contact to other civilizations until the advancements of sea travel. It were Hoshidans who gave the continent its name as they were first to explore it fully. Organized by clans, their structure was quite similar to the dwarves with the main exception of the Kazama royal family. In the current age the Queen Iroha Kazama was the one ruling from the Sumeragi Palace in the Crescent Lake City with limited power as she needed the support of majority for any major decisions. Unfortunately, one such problem existed now. Hoshido hasn't avoided the troubles plaguing the world as tribes of minotaurs, trolls and other beasts now plagued the land. While normally this wouldn't have been an issue, the sudden awakening of Mount Gulg has thrown everyone into chaos. According to the sages who have already gathered there, this awakening was caused by the Fiend of Fire and was not natural, causing western clans from sending any support until this is solved. This was the situation the party had found themselves into when they arrived at the Crescent Lake City.
After resting at the local inn, they along with Sadda were brought to the field outside the city where the meeting of the Great 12 Sages was being held. There they have found a lot of useful information about their quest to save the world. The Fiends of Air and Water had already awaken long before this meeting. 400 years ago the Fiend of Air awoke and, after destroying the civilization in the sky, had remained there all this time. 200 years ago, the Fiend of Water had awakened and, after sinking the Shrine of Onrac, had remained there all this time. The Fiend of Fire had awoken unexpectedly after the death of Lich and had started Mount Gulg's eruption. It was theorized that this was due to Lich's death, but they couldn't confirm it. Also there were reports of places of power that were somehow connected to the Fiends and that needed some investigating. But the first priority was now the Fiend of Fire. If the party could vanquish it, they would be able to gather the support of every nation in Feinan, a feat unrecorded until now. In order to achieve this, the sages had a surprise in form of a canoe that the party could use to travel through Hoshidan rivers. While their wagon could carry the canoe, the wagon couldn't fit on the canoe. When they asked Sead what did he thought, he answered that if they needed to, they could just leave him behind and return to him when they were done. With this the party had accepted the mission to investigate Mount Gulg.
After a short shopping trip in which Mari got herself books for Stona, Protera and Invisira, they rested at the inn one last time. The next morning they went for the northern coast of the Crescent Lake. With one last goodbye from Sead and with their bags full of supplies for the journey, they had set off. Since the reports of large monsters in rivers were common, Kelin had decided to switch his Rune Blade for the Coral Sword they have recently found. His father had said it was great to use against aquatic creatures, a theory he quickly proved when two hydras had tried to attack the canoe. Also, as it turned out, the sages had a nice surprise prepared for the party in form of their canoe. Whenever an enemy who threatened the party appeared, ice beneath the canoe froze down and created a small surface where they could easily fight in close combat. The party, especially Kelin and Lewyn, were really grateful for that, especially as it seemed the ice wasn't slippery as usual. Once combat was over, the ice quickly melted the party was able to continue. Along their way to the Mount Gulg, they have encountered many hydras, crocodiles, piranhas and even an Ochu. While the party was quite experienced by now, they still struggled as these were brand new enemies to them so they had to learn their patterns now. Regardless, they have successfully reached Mount Gulg.
While the climb to a cavern wasn't too bad, the heat inside was quite intense and that was the least of their problems. The floor seemed impossible to pass through as melted ground prevented the party from going through there. While the party was discussing their next move, Lewyn surprised everyone by going to walk across the molten ground, seemingly not caring for his life. Before they managed to stop him, Lewyn was already walking above it, seemingly without burning up though you could have seen that he wasn't enjoying his walk. After returning back to safe ground, others have asked him why he was so stupid. Lewyn said that he was testing to see if Goddess would have helped them by providing the ability to safely get across this. He noticed that his crystal was shining so he thought about trusting her. Hearing this, each of them had checked their crystals and they were surprised when they saw that theirs were shining too. While Rosch and Mari were still hesitant, Kelin went next testing his crystal by walking over the molten ground. When he returned back to safe ground, he was of the same opinion as Lewyn. This wouldn't have been a pleasant time as walking over it was very tiresome and they couldn't stand on it forever, but at the very least they were able to continue with their mission. Despite their protests, Mari and Rosch had no choice but to follow them and so a very exhausting exploration had begun.
Their first encounter was with four horned devils who kept spewing Fire spells at the party. Seeing this, Kelin switched back to his Rune Blade in hopes of having an easier time killing them. The rest of the first floor was spent fighting against more horned devils and sphynxes who were awaiting for the party on top of safe ground. Thankfully, the party quickly found the stairs to the second floor. They were luckly as they discovered a room next to the stairs so they didn't need to walk on more magma for now. They found many treasure chests, containing weapons and mythril armour for Kelin as well as loads of gil. These chests were guarded by fire elementals who were probably awakened by the Fiend of Earth like in the Cavern of Earth. In addition, the long hallways were patrolled by scores of horned devils, ogres, hyenadons, anhkegs and hill gigases who all needed to be defeated in order for party to advance. For the first time in a while, Mari was feeling like she might run out of magic as she kept casting Curas and Healagas. However, for the first time they had planned for that. In their bags were Hi-Potions, better version of regular Potions that they bought back in Crescent Lake City. In addition, Mari also acquired for herself a lot of Ethers, potions that artificially restored magic in mage's body. With their exploration done, including exploring a completely useless corridor, they went down to the next floor.
The fourth floor was nothing more than just a straight hallway filled with scorched earth and some enemies patrolling it. It was easy for the party to kill all enemies standing in their way, but the heat exhaustion had started to kick in. As soon as they found the stairs and descended down the next floor, they had to take a short rest as soon as they saw what was in front of them. A room filled with magma. While the enemies have thinned out and their resistance to the effects of magma had remained intact, the constant exposure to the heat have started to influence the party. While they have managed to find their way which was taking the stairs up to the previous floor, they have spent way too long searching for the next set of stairs. After finally finding them, going down and finding a chest room, they have decided to take a longer break. It was warm enough not to feel like they were being cooked alive. They didn't care the chests there only held an eye needle and some gil. They just wanted out of there. Mari took this opportunity to take several ethers for herself. She was starting to run out on magic as she kept casting Curas and Healagas to make the journey more enjoyable. They rested for an hour and, as much as they wanted to stay, they pressed on. Soon they have found another treasure room, where they have a nice surprise, an ice sword and a shield. As soon as he had taken them in his arms, Kelin felt a little better by the presence of something cold in his arms. These items ended up as a great choice to be wielded as the rest of the way was mostly guarded by fire hydras, hellhounds and lava worms. Ice Brand and Rosch's Blizzara worked greatly against them. Then they finally reached the last floor.
After climbing down the stairs, they noticed the unusual layout of that floor. Eight hallways leading down into 8 rooms. Thinking one of these rooms must have contained the Fire Crystal, they searched all of the rooms. While most of them were a bust, one of them had contained a big treasure. A flame mail that was resistant to icy conditions. While this wasn't useful in the current conditions, they decided to take it with them. In the end they have found the room with the Crystal in them. Realizing the layout of the room was similar to the one of Earth Crystal, they have decided first to prepare properly for the room. Rosch and Mari used their healing spells to get the party into shape and then they used ethers to restore magic. Now fully prepared, they stepped forward. A voice addressed them. "So, you are the ones who defeated the Fiend of Earth and arose Marilith from her slumber..." Hearing this, the party focused on the red ball in front of the drained out Fire Crystal which started to transform. When this was over, in front of the party stood a red snake with female human torso and six arms with a sword in each of them. Looking at the humans in front of her, she angrily sneered as she said: "The power of the burning flame is mine and mine alone! Those who would oppose me shall burn in hellfire!" At this she leapt into action and tried to attack Kelin who managed to hold her long enough for Mari to cast Protera and Rosch to cast Haste on Lewyn. His flurry of punches forced her to defend. Mari used this chance to cast Invisra. Marilith now had to contend with opponents that she could barely see and she dealt with them poorly. Another Lewyn's flurry, now even more buffed with Temper, and Kelin's slash were more than her to make her bleed heavily. Angrily she tried everything to kill her opponents, but none of her blades had found the target. As she was laying down panting like the wounded beast she was, Rosch dealt the final blow as his Werebuster sliced through her neck like knife through butter. It was over. Her body disintegrated into flames and magic. The party's hardship was nearly over. All they had to do now was to restore the Crystal. And so Lewyn approached the Fire Crystal with his own while others were praying. Just like in the Cavern of Earth, by the end of the prayer the Crystal was restored and shone brightly. Seeing the teleport circle behind it, the party took everything they have found in the dungeon and left.