After an initial investigation of Roven, with adventurer’s and citizens alike assessing the damage, Doran and the church’s head priest stood aside and talked while Lydia took Cyrus and Abby inside the holy building to tend to their injuries. While the two religious men spoke, Carlyle flew down to Doran’s feet and dropped the traveler’s bags. The swordsman was grateful for Silvern asking the bird to fetch the bags as they all checked over the village. Doran reached down for his bag as he spoke.

"Do you have someone who can repair the damages, sir?" The pale man asked while he looked through his belongings, picking up his hefty coin purse. "And how much money do you suppose it would take?"

"There's a local lumberer not too far from here that often does repairs after sudden storms." The priest replied after scratching his chin. "He'll help us I'm sure. As for the cost... We'll have to gather up as much money as we can from the villagers, I'm guessing that it will take at least twenty silver to repair the homes that were damaged. As well as another sixty each for the two homes that were burned to the ground."

Doran was surprised to hear that making a new home would be so cheap, but assumed that the homes were on the small side due to Roven being more of a working village. He opened his hefty coin purse and reached into its gold and silver contents, the priest looked at the bag with wide eyes and wondered where he got those funds.

"Here, use this to repair your homes," Doran said as he took out a single gold coin as the priest looked at Doran with shock. "It should be more than enough."

"I couldn't possibly take that!" The middle-aged holy man responded. "It's far too much!" Doran chuckled as he looked at the stunned man.

"Consider this a donation to our humble church, use the remaining change to fortify your town with a wall of some sort. I insist." Doran firmly placed the coin in the other man's hand, the father thanked his fellow Fioran follower and quickly stepped inside the church.

"That was a nice thing you did, Doran." The swordsman turned around to see Silvern walking over to him, the dark elf had a relaxed smile on his face and looked as though a huge weight was taken off his shoulders. "Thanks for taking care of Becky, you're a good guy." The slender elf looked around the bustling village before asking Doran where Cyrus went.

"He, Lydia, and Abby are in the church, a man named William told them to wait there until he was done making an ointment for their burns."

"Oh yeah, Rosanne was out gathering herbs. We’re lucky that the herbs she was gathering can be turned into burn curatives." Silvern laughed at the happy coincidence before looking at Doran's large purse. "What's up with that sack you have? The other one looks so empty that even a beggar would feel bad for you."

"These are coins donated to the Fioran Church." Doran replied as he closed the purse. “During our travels, citizens of towns and villages would offer their currency and this turned into a donation bag of sorts. I only use it if it would benefit the church or other believers though, it’s not mine to spend as I see fit after all.”

"I would kill for the chance to have that much money in my pocket," Silvern replied, laughing at the swordsman’s selflessness. The elf turned to Becky, who was currently lying on her back with a herd of children rubbing her belly. The once vicious wolf looked like a giant puppy that was all too happy to get some attention from such a large crowd. Silvern laughed before calling over his giant pup, Becky slowly rolled over and walked over to the elf and Doran with a slight limp while some of the kids followed close behind her. Despite the obvious discomfort, the massive wolf looked at her owner with wide eyes and walked with as much of a happy trot as she could.

Once Becky met with the two men, she looked down at Silvern and Doran with an affectionate gaze and a happy pant. Her giant tail wagged fast enough for a strong breeze to blow back some of the children's hair as they giggled behind the canine. The dire wolf turned her gaze to the swordsman next to her master and gave Doran a single, strong lick to his face, her tongue took up all of Doran's face and caused his bangs to stand up thanks to wolf slobber. The dark elf laughed as Doran slowly wiped his face of the animal’s drool, saying that Becky liked him. The swordsman couldn't believe that this was the same beast that attacked Cyrus and chased down a flaming beast, now she was acting like a giant puppy and making Doran feel like he would need two or three baths..

"Thanks for taking care of my girl," Silvern said, tears welling up in his eyes. "Thank you for helping my baby girl!" Silvern shouted as he hugged Becky's massive front leg before sobbing uncontrollably. "I'm so sorry the mean monster hurt you baby, I'll give you extra portions at dinner tonight."

The great wolf looked down at Silvern with eyes that almost looked like she was telling her owner to toughen up and to stop doing this. The bird Carlyle appeared to be hiding his face with his wings, as if he was embarrassed. Clearly this wasn't the first time Silvern has cried over his animals, Doran cleared his throat to get the slender man’s attention and asked if Becky had been treated yet.

"William should be by in a few minutes with the burn medicine, we should get you looked at too.” Silvern said as he stopped his crying and gave a strong sniff. “You were stabbed a few days ago, then there's the matter of my whip injuring you."

"I'm fine, there's no need to concern yourself with me."

The elf looked at Doran with pure confusion, the religious man noticed his new friend’s concern and turned around to show his back to Silvern as he lifted his shirt. The blonde haired elf saw that where a stab wound should be, was a perfectly normal back. There wasn't so much as a scar. Doran repeated the process by rolling up his sleeves to expose his arms, the lashes Silvern had given him were already healing.

"Just what are you?" Silvern asked. Doran shrugged off the question by saying that he was a humble child of Velina. Before Silvern could ask his question again, a young man carrying a basket walked over to the adventurers.

"Mr. Silvern, I have some ointment for Becky." The man said as he pulled out a small, glass bottle from the basket. "Just a little of this and she'll be good as new in a few days."

Doran looked at the man and realized he was the same individual who was putting out the fire with his blue liquid, the swordsman remembered he had yet to thank him for that strange substance that no doubt saved the village from further harm.

The human man appeared to be in his early twenties and had a more average build when compared to Doran or Silvern, his light brown hair was pulled into a small ponytail with his long bangs free. He held himself in a rather meek manor, as though he was always nervous and was afraid of being yelled at. His white sleeve shirt had its long sleeves rolled up to leave his forearms exposed and his brown pants still had dark stains at his feet from when he was ankle deep in the lake. Around his waist was a tool belt which held a large assortment of tools, bottles, and plants, Doran couldn’t tell if he was an apothecary or just a gardener.

"You must be Doran," the young man said as he looked at the swordsman. "Cyrus speaks highly of you, thank you for defending our home, sir." He gave a polite bow before turning to the church and quickly darted inside, eager to deliver what he had.

"That's William," Silvern said, expecting the question. "He's the town alchemist, still learning but he's enthusiastic about his craft. Abby sure loves the medicine he makes, that’s for sure." Silvern had Becky lie down as he prepared to unwrap and tend to her leg. "Can't help but feel a little bad for him though..." Silvern said quietly, his face showing some pity and left Doran confused as to what he meant.

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Cyrus and Abby both sat in a back room of the church as Lydia spoke to the shield fighter about what happened. The room acted as the village’s medical area and had several beds ready in case anyone was hurt, luckily they weren’t needed thanks to Cyrus’ quick defense. The spearman and beast woman sat on the same bed as the latter explained her situation to Lydia.

Abby had left four days ago on a job to eliminate a group of Flame Elementals before a large fire happened, apparently some had just formed and were weak so it should have been an easy task. The report also said there were only twelve in total and all were C Class and would have been easy to snuff out, but when she had arrived at the location there were three A Classes in the group. Abby was able to deal with all the weaker elementals and was even able to defeat one of the stronger ones on her own, but the combination of fighting fifteen elementals on her own was fairly taxing and the fact she had to keep a forest fire from happening divided her attention even more. She wasn’t able to find a proper opening for the final two and wound up fighting them for two days straight.

While Abby was complaining about how she was going to demand more than three silver coins for the job, Cyrus was impressed that the woman next to him still had enough energy to curse and talk about money. After three days of combat with multiple A Class threats, he felt like he would be asleep right now if he was in her shoes.

"I'm always surprised by your kind, Abigail," Cyrus said in astonishment. The woman quickly turned her head and grabbed Cyrus by his collar.

"It's 'Abby' to you," Abby said with a growl, her eyes showed immediate anger. "There's only two people who can call me that, you're not one of them." Lydia laughed and asked Abby to let go before apologizing for telling Cyrus her real name. Abby released her grip on the frightened man before asking for Cyrus to clear up what he meant by "her kind".

"I only mean, I've seen members of the Beastman race in action and have heard stories about what they can really do, I'm honestly envious of their skill." Cyrus replied with a kind smile. “I’m sorry if my words came out wrong, I ain’t too good with speaking sometimes.” Abby laughed and thanked him for the compliment, either letting the near racist comment pass or showing that she was only upset by being called ‘Abigail’.

Lydia pulled her hair back into a bun while the two continued to chat, Abby asking Cyrus questions about his travels. After Lydia’s bun was pulled tight, she told the pair to get ready for treatment as she suspected the ointment would be with them in a moment.

As Cyrus began to take off his chest piece and under shirt, he saw that Lydia's now exposed ears were shaped rather strangely. The edges of her ears were rough and jagged as though they were cut at one point and healed improperly, the white scarring only added to the spearman’s assumption. The blonde woman turned her face to Cyrus, as though she could feel the man’s stare. She didn’t seem offended, but the tanned man took it as his own sign to look away.

He stopped staring and removed his upper armor, revealing a body that was well toned through clear years of fighting or training and was decorated with a multitude of pale scars Scars from cuts, piercings, bites, claws, stabs, burns, and many more. Lydia looked at Cyrus in shock for a moment as she felt a sharp sting of pain and sympathy, she had seen rough looking bodies before in her years of adventuring, but this was something else. Just what kind of life did Cyrus have? His back, chest, and arms told the story of a man who had fought in more battles than even the most seasoned general and struggled to survive several of them.

Cyrus turned his armor in his hands to see how the back looked, there were several holes burned into his well worn leather gear with one being about half the size of his head. He imagined his back didn't look much better and was almost glad he couldn’t see it, though the scent of burnt skin still clung to his nostrils.

Abby didn't have any burns under her armor, what little she had given her choice in defensive gear, and merely sat in patience. The beast woman turned her head to the wall where her shield and Cyrus' spear rested, Abby's shield showed more scratches and dents from her battle earlier that day and wondered how long it would be before she would have to replace the round piece of metal. She glanced at Cyrus' spear and noticed that the thick cloth that covered the spear's head was undamaged, while the ropes that held the fabric to the spear were badly burned and were in need of replacement. She thought about how strange it was for the spear fighter to leave his weapon covered while he fought the elemental and Silvern, why would he hinder his own weapon like that?

Before she got a chance to ask Cyrus her question, the door to the back room opened and the nun Cyrus had saved stepped through with the small basket from earlier that day in her hands.

"Sorry for the wait, everyone." Rosanne said softly, her face grew red once she noticed Cyrus and began to speak more nervously while avoiding eye contact. "William delivered the ointment a moment ago, I also retrieved some sturdy rope like you asked, Sir Cyrus. Excuse me then!" The woman practically threw the basket into Lydia's arms before rushing out of the room and quickly closing the door. The blonde woman held back a laugh at the sister’s actions as Abby gave the spearman a knowing smirk.

"Well then, a certain someone seems to have left quite the impression on our dear Rosanne." Lydia said joyfully. Abby let out a loud laugh in agreement, saying that it was no surprise after the stunt this "certain someone" pulled. Cyrus, on the other hand, simply sat in confusion at the women's words as Lydia passed a bottle of ointment to Abby. The gentle woman readied another bottle as she asked for the scarred man to turn his back to her. "This will sting a bit, dear."

"Oh please, Lydia," Abby scoffed, wincing as she treated her burns with the salve. "The man took a blast from an A Class Flame Elemental, I think he can handle-" Abby's statement was suddenly cut off by Cyrus shouting out in pain, she quickly looked to the black haired man and saw his eyes were wide open as Lydia applied a finger’s worth of ointment to his burnt back. The tailed warrior practically rolled her eyes when she realised that the man was just a baby when it came to the medicine.

"Apparently not." Abby sighed as she continued treating her own burns. After the pair’s burns were treated, Cyrus told Abby and Lydia that he would meet them outside after he was done re-wrapping his spearhead. The muscular woman picked up her shield and passed the man’s heavy weapon to him, she could see how Silvern would have trouble moving the pole arm. She was more surprised how Cyrus could just carry that weapon on him at all times.

“Take your time, Cyrus, the guild isn’t going anywhere.” Lydia gave the man another warm smile as Abby had just left the chapel’s back room. The blonde woman followed suit and left the visitor alone in the room as he pulled his under shirt back over his now gauze wrapped torso before laying his pole arm on a nearby table.

As he pulled on the burnt rope’s knots, an image of a lake from a distant memory appeared in his mind. On the water's surface was the silhouette of two people looking down at the water as they had a hopeful conversation.

"So, it's agreed?" One of the people said. "After all this is over, we'll find the kingdom?"

"Yeah." The second individual said in response. "I'm sure that if that kingdom was able to help make Granis, the I'm sure that it can help improve the world."

"And here I thought I was the dreamer."

"What can I say? You've rubbed off on me."

The image left Cyrus' mind as he finished tying the new rope around the odd leather cover to his spearhead. He thought to himself that there was a promise he had to keep and now that he had found the Blue Star Guild, he was a step closer. The man picked up his spear and opted to carry it in one of his hands as his back still stung from both the burns and the ointment.

As Cyrus stepped out from the back room, Rosanne stopped him in order to offer her thanks with a red face and hoped that he would visit the church if he ever needed anything. She still seemed to have trouble looking at the adventurer but he didn’t seem to notice.

"It wasn't anything big, sis." Cyrus replied, giving her a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Anyone would do the same, I'll be sure to stop by to say 'hey' every so often." The sister cleared her throat and quietly led the spearfighter to the chapel’s entrance before opening large doors for her visitor. Cyrus was greeted by Abby and Lydia waiting for him, they decided to be patient before meeting back with Silvern and Doran.

“Come on, lover boy.” Abby said jokingly, causing the tanned warrior to give her another confused look. “We gotta go meet with your buddy before Shorty bores him to death.”

“Silvern isn’t that bad when it comes to his pets, Abbigail.” Lydia responded as Cyrus caught up with them.

“I bet you four copper that he’s crying over Becky’s injuries right now!” The beast woman said as the trio began walking. “If it’s not that, then he’s gushing over them like an overly proud mother.” She was, in all seriousness, joking. There’s no way that elf would be that concerned over a burn.

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"Oh, come on!" Abby shouted as the trio from the church walked towards Silvern and Doran, she saw that the dark elf had tears running down his face as he pet one of Becky's massive legs. "Are you still crying over that burn?!"

"Of course I am," Silvern replied with a sob. "One of my babies has been hurt!" The short elf returned to his crying as Doran looked embarrassed to be near the scene. The tailed warrior groaned as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Shorty, I have seen that dog of yours take a lance through the throat, and she still managed to rip off that guy's arm before biting through his helmet. I think she can survive a small burn on the leg!" Silvern stopped his crying and began shouting at the tall woman for being insensitive, to which Abby began shouting back at him for being a baby.

The two began to get into each other's faces as they continued to shout, it honestly looked like a pair of siblings arguing over a toy to both Doran and Cyrus. As the two guildmates continued to shout and bicker, the two travelers could only watch in awkward silence while Carlyle and Becky looked at the blonde woman as if they were expecting something.

Lydia's kind face slowly grew stern and her gentle air was becoming that of an irritated mother. She pulled her wand from a leather strap on her waist and pointed it at her bickering guildmates.

"Tier One: Blue Splash," Lydia said aloud. In the air in front of her wand, a blue light appeared and shaped itself into a large, intricately designed magic circle with an icon in the shape of a teardrop. A ball of water shot out from the circle’s center and flew at the bickering pair at shocking speed. The sphere of water burst just before making contact with either of the guild members, drenching the pair from head to toe and causing them to cease their arguing. Abby and Silvern held both their aggravated stances and angry faces before they ever so slowly relaxed and turned to the castor of the spell.

"We have guests in front of us," Lydia said in a disciplinary tone. "Act like proper Blue Stars and finish this later."

"Yes, Lydia," Silvern said as he took off his gloves to wring them out.

"You got it, ma'am." Abby replied, quietly complaining about how she had just gotten dry.

Cyrus and Doran looked at the scene with a little more confusion and wondered if everyone in the guild was this colorful, the swordsman was sure his friend would fit right in if that was the case.

"Excuse them," Lydia said as she turned to her guests as they shook their stunned faces. "They're not always like this I assure you." Lydia returned her wand to its leather strap and regained her soft smile. "I believe we've kept you waiting long enough, allow us to escort you to our home." Lydia, Silvern, and Abby walked further into Roven as Becky and Carlyle traveled on either side of the trio, with Cyrus and Doran following close behind.

The group walked further into the village until they reached the beginning of the forest where Cyrus and Doran fought Silvern. Doran paused and asked where they were going, after all they were leaving Roven at this point. Lydia stopped and looked back at the confused swordsman, only replying that the guild rests in the forest forward before she began walking again.

The two travelers continued to follow their escorts, with Doran holding an air of caution. After the group walked past the location where Silvern met the two travelers, Cyrus and Doran noticed that the forest floor slowly began to be replaced with moss covered bricks. Remains of root wrapped, stone pillars dotted their new location in place of trees, save for one large oak that was placed in the center of the stone covered area.

As they all walked around the large tree that had broken through the bricks, Cyrus saw a banner hanging from one of the branches, the flag had the same star crest that Lydia and Abby had. Below the flag was a set of stairs that led down into the earth. The Blue Star Guild members stopped at the top of the stairs before turning to their guests.

"Here we are," Lydia said, proudly. "Welcome to the Blue Star Guild."

"Your hideout..." Cyrus said with a raised eyebrow. "Is a catacomb?"