Afternoon sunlight filtered in through the long stained windows of the manor's sitting room. The warmth was gentle, yet Cain still felt the cold tension from the earlier confrontation lingering in the stone walls. Halric was gone, but the echo of his disdain still clung to the air.
Callum sat by the hearth beside Calanthe, both relaxed for the first time in days. Their mother, Lady Meressa, poured tea with a calm grace that spoke of quiet strength. She was beautiful—not just in form, though her sharp cheekbones and emerald eyes betrayed where her children got their striking features, but in presence. Her voice was warm, but carried weight. The kind Cain instinctively respected.
He said little, content to listen.
"So," Callum said, setting his cup down. "What happened after we left?"
Meressa smiled faintly, brushing a lock of red hair behind her ear. "Your father had to face reality. Without you or Calanthe in the house, and the townsfolk increasingly uneasy, he needed help managing affairs. He made me an official advisor. Gave me the authority he never granted me before."
Calanthe snorted. "More like he was afraid of being outmaneuvered."
"Possibly. But he listens to me now. And he allows me to see the reports."
Cain leaned forward slightly. "The supernatural problems. They started recently?"
Meressa's expression turned serious. "Increased significantly over the past season. At first it was just minor hauntings, strange weather shifts. But recently… people have gone missing. Animals found flayed, trees blackening overnight."
Cain's fingers twitched.
[System Access: Active Quest Log - Hiltstead Region]
Selected Quest: "Roots Beneath the Orchard" (Epic) Description: Unnatural corruption is spreading from the village orchard. Locals report dying trees, missing farmhands, and creatures in the soil. Cause unknown. Investigation and elimination required.
Rewards: 100 Crowns | Elven-Crafted Mantle (Rare) | 2 Stat Points | Mutagenic Root Sample | Codex Update: Plant-Based Undead
Cain narrowed his eyes.
"We'll take care of it," he said suddenly.
Meressa looked up.
"Callum and I," Cain clarified. "The local jobs, and this one—the orchard. Something is wrong beneath this village. I intend to dig it out."
"You're not doing that alone," Calanthe said quickly. "I can handle myself."
Cain raised an eyebrow. "These jobs aren't exactly clean."
"I'm not afraid of mud, dirt, or bugs," she said dryly.
Callum laughed. "Says the girl who once rolled in a pig pen trying to find a hedgehog."
Calanthe blushed. "That was for science."
"You were five," Callum grinned.
Even Cain smirked. The mood lifted for a moment.
The trio spent the next day sweeping the remaining active contracts.
Calanthe took point with Cain on the Fog Over Lake Drelnor case, using flame spells to clear dense mist hiding a drowned revenant. Cain handled the killing blow with his blade coated in specter oil.
[Quest Completed: "Fog Over Lake Drelnor"] Reward: 50 Crowns | Mistcore Fragment | +1 Alchemy Ingredient Slot
Callum led the team into the hills for the Hollow Creek Haunting, where a wailing spirit had bound itself to an abandoned shrine. Calanthe purified the site with a ritual flame while Cain held the spirit in place with Yrden.
[Quest Completed: "Hollow Creek Haunting"] Reward: 70 Crowns | Ethereal Shard | + Reputation: Local Clergy
Together they followed blood trails to retrieve the Missing Child: Donovan, taken by a forest troll. Cain negotiated, giving the troll old rations and earning its cooperation rather than slaying it.
[Quest Completed: "Missing Child: Donovan"] Reward: 60 Crowns | Codex Update: Rock Trolls | Trait Progression: Diplomacy +5%
By the end of the third day, the villagers no longer whispered as Cain walked by. Some even nodded. Children peeked from behind doors, curious more than afraid.
Cain stood that evening near the orchard.
Blackened trees reached upward like claws. The wind carried a scent of rot.
He tightened his cloak.
"This is it," he murmured.
Callum unsheathed his blade. Calanthe lit her palm with orange flame.
Cain opened his interface.
[Quest Activated: "Roots Beneath the Orchard"] Difficulty: Epic Objective: Investigate corrupted root system, eliminate source, and survive
He exhaled slowly. "Time to dig deep."
The orchard was silent, unnaturally so. Even the birds avoided the twisted canopy. The moment Cain stepped past the broken gate, his medallion began to hum against his chest.
"The roots here," Cain said softly, crouching near the base of a rotted apple tree, "they're not just dead. They're cursed."
Callum knelt beside him, brushing aside a patch of mold-riddled soil. Beneath it, something pulsed. Not like life. Like hate.
Calanthe stood back, hands glowing with a soft, flame-tinted aura. Her eyes scanned the canopy above and then the earth below.
"I can feel a binding circle under the orchard," she murmured. "Something's using leyline bleed to anchor itself. Could be a burial. Could be a seal broken in pieces."
Cain nodded. "We'll need to go under."
They found the entrance near the northern edge—a half-collapsed well, its stone cracked and blackened. Runes had once been etched into its rim, long since worn away.
[Quest Update: Entry Found - Subterranean Ruin Detected] Objective: Descend into the buried shrine beneath Hiltstead Orchard
Cain turned back to the others. "We go in tomorrow at dawn. I want prep time."
Callum gave a short nod. Calanthe raised a brow. "Finally. Someone who plans ahead."
Back at the manor, Cain laid out a small war room within their shared quarters. A local map spread across the table, with alchemical notes, monster taxonomy scrolls, and sign diagrams scattered like a scholar's siege plan.
Cain adjusted a series of sketched root patterns on parchment. "If this is an ancient shrine, we might be dealing with a Leshen variant—or worse, a Dryad remnant corrupted by necromantic bleed. Either way, expect ranged spells, root-based traps, and illusion magic."
Calanthe studied one of the scrolls Cain passed to her. "Where did you learn all this?"
Cain shrugged. "Reading. Observation. A bit of instinct."
Callum chuckled from where he was polishing his blades. "He means he never sleeps."
Cain gave a wry smile. "Sleep is for when I'm not one bad step from getting impaled by evil shrubs."
The rest of the evening passed in focused work.
Cain ground herbs into paste, stirring them with mountain honey and blackthorn ash.
[Alchemy Success: Rootbane Oil Created] Effect: +25% damage vs. Root-based creatures. Duration: 30 minutes
He then brewed a secondary salve using frostcap and raven's breath, sealing it in vials.
[Potion Crafted: Veilbreaker Elixir] Effect: Temporarily reveals magical illusions and enchantment zones. Duration: 2 minutes
Callum assembled throwing knives and reinforced his Quen glyph with a double-inscribed steel circle for better mana flow.
Calanthe, meanwhile, conjured small flame constructs and bound them to silver rings.
"Wards," she explained. "One-time use, but they'll counteract nature-based paralysis. I made three."
Cain accepted his without hesitation. "That could save our lives."
She looked at him sideways. "Still think sorceresses should stay out of the mud?"
"I said the work was dirty," Cain corrected, "not that you couldn't thrive in it."
Her smile was amused, but genuine.
By candlelight, the three reviewed the final plan.
Cain tapped the northern marker. "We drop in from here. I'll scout first. Callum follows close. Calanthe stays central and covers both sides with her wards and spells. If we encounter resistance, retreat to the root-hollow exit point."
Callum leaned in. "What about the binding magic?"
Calanthe answered. "I can disrupt the circle for about thirty seconds. That's your window to break whatever physical anchor exists."
Cain added, "Leshen hearts, necrotic bones, corrupted root cores—something will be pulsing with power. Find it. Destroy it."
[Strategy Locked: Subterranean Assault Plan A] Bonus: +10% Coordination | Reduced Ambush Chance
They looked at one another, not as friends, but as operatives in a war none of the village would ever see.
Cain leaned back and exhaled.
"Dawn comes early," he said quietly.
Callum smirked. "Then we beat it there."