On the way to Raswen, Kylie bumps into Cain, a cleric cursed with chains. Both seek Madame Zinala - Kylie for dream interpretation, and Cain for curse-breaking. They head to Raswen together. At Zinala's residence they meet Leela, Zinala's apprentice, and two men also waiting on Zinala. Once Kylie and Cain go in to see her, Leela uses Jinn, one of the merchants to knock out his companion Michael. Jinn is then used to tear down the Veil just as Kylie is about to be told the meaning behind her dreams. After tearing Kylie a new one, Jinn goes on to try and finish off Zinala, but Kylie uses her Lethiace (after much deliberation) and freezes him up, breaking the connection between him and Leela. Cain is freed from the worst of his curse by Zinala, and casts Revive on her. Madou arrives on scene to support Leela, but Cain starts to cast Holy Palm in their general direction. He and Leela are forced to retreat, leaving Cain and Kylie to recuperate. Eventually, Mike wakes up and after he is updated, he takes Zinala with him back to his community. Cain is told his chains will tighten over time, growing even worse than before, and Kylie is informed that she has a brother to find. Both Kylie and Cain will be able to find people who can help them in Spherea. Madou and Leela decide to keep an eye on Cain and Kylie.

On the way, Nemi, a Kijin thief, joins the party. Heading into Kori Village, the party discovers that an Aquafall has hit it. They enter the ruins of the village and encounter the one-eyed Rik and the mute Lac, a brother pair. Kylie heads off to destroy a rock blocking trapped villagers from daylight, and Cain - after healing injured people - heads off to the fields with Nemi. Kylie breaks the rock and finds out the Glamia Queen is running amok in the fields where Nemi and Cain are at. Meanwhile, Nemi and Cain run into Rik and Lac and rescue them from the clutches of the Glamia Queen, but Nemi gets paralysed. Kylie saves the day just as Rik is in trouble. Afterwards, Cain heals Rik's damaged eye. While resting at the inn, Cain and Kylie have a short heart-to-heart about trust issues. Before the chapter closes, we catch a glimpse of Madou and Leela, and subsequently Abel and a mysterious companion, who talk about their next plans and also about the possibility of Cain's participation in what impeded the assassination of Zinala. The very idea of Cain's involvement seems to incur Abel's wrath...

The party runs across Seia and Rince, other Lethian Knights, while tackling a sandworm in the desert. Seia has the whole party join the Annual Grand Oasis Ball, giving reason for everyone to dress up, eat expensive food and dance. Unfortunately, a Danrir rebel group stages a silent ambush. Their hostage: the Raiz. Their demand: a certain item. Nemi and Rince pair up to go against the sniper team hiding in the ceiling, while Kylie and Cain go down to the basement to stop the item exchange. Nemi and Rince manage to get up onto the roof and take out the snipers one by one. However, Kylie and Cain come across a nasty surprise and find a dead Danrir rebel and captain of the guard. Sho appears, causing infernal trouble for the Kylie and Cain duo. Risky tactics are employed before Kylie finally takes Sho down enough to force him to retreat via smoke bomb. On the roof, Madou turns up and whisks Sho away with him before Rince can take him down, though Nemi manages to poke Sho with a sleeping needle. The Raiz escapes from the episode unscathed, and the team regroups to recount the details of the evening, ultimately leading to Cain and Kylie sharing more about their pasts to one another.

The party reaches Spherea Falls, whereupon they split up temporarily after a slightly awkward first meeting with Isaac, the Bloodfinder. Kylie gets sent on a mini collection quest while Cain blesses ores in exchange for an item. Nemi gets caught up in a well conspiracy that involves slave trade and a mysterious guild called Zirconia. After getting trapped in a Lapia Oak cavern, Nemi meets Michael (the Danririn from the first chapter), who is also trapped inside. Together they work to escape the cavern and save the trapped villagers. Meanwhile, Cain finds out that the cursebreaker Zinala told him to find is dead, and Kylie finds out that her brother is in Jem Citadel. Eventually, Nemi and Mike make it out of the cavern and happen upon Kylie. Michael explains that is now tracking Leela. The slave traders Nemi initially got caught up with try to con Cain down the well, but Cain is rescued by the others in the nick of time. The group decides to officially form a party. When Kylie notes that Mike and Nemi get along well despite being opposing races, the two only then realise that the other is their rival race. The Lapia Oak water masked their sense of smell. This leads to Some Awkward, but results in a truce. Kylie and Cain have a one-on-one talk later in the evening, and Cain confesses to Kylie that he tried to kill his brother. Kylie also shares with Cain that she had an LCF back in Halehurst. Madou overhears this conversation, and decides to do some sniffing around.

Seia has a rather bad feeling as Kylie's party continues their journey across Fracture Pass, above which a Passing Aqua floats. They come across a Preservation Passage, where Cain explains some of Archaeia's history through the Redemption Murals. Criers attack the party, and Renault is found cowering in a room. Kylie offers to escort him to safety. Renault suggests a shortcut; Ren, Leela and Sho are lying in wait for the party there. They ask for Freesia's journal and Cain, but as the party refuses both demands, force is resorted to and Renault reveals himself to be Madou. Madou teleports Kylie out of the area, leaving Leela to face off against Mike, and Sho against Nemi. Kylie and Madou fight, but Kylie loses. Meanwhile, Nemi beats Sho using risky tactics, while Mike and Cain take care of Leela. Ren and Cain talk heatedly as Madou forces Kylie to use her Lethiace, awakening dark memories and triggering an LCF. The resulting blizzard blasts everyone apart, but Cain manages to reach Kylie and calm her down. Ren disappears with Leela and Sho in the chaos, and Nemi manages to keep safe Jinn's soulstone during the icy assault, to Michael's gratitude. Carrying the unconscious Kylie, the party comes across Madou, who asks to tag along. He has some of Alvonce's research in exchange for their compliance. Finally, Seia realises he has some unfriendly company while travelling across Crystal Sands.

Ophelia fights Seia and gets him to implode, literally. Meanwhile, Kylie refuses to sleep and puts off going to find her brother in Jem Citadel for several days. During this time, Ren is grounded by the Queen in the Holy Capital while Abel sulks. The party eventually confronts Kylie, and Cain manages to get her to open up enough to admit that she's afraid to face her mother in her dreams. After feeling comforted enough, she finally drifts to sleep and learns that the dreams of her mother were caused by a Spirit Marking left on her soul; proof that her mother was actually a Silver Mage. Kylie learns that her mother had tried to kill another Silver Mage in Halehurst, leading to the sacrificial circle that would have used the Serpamia Flare silver magic spell against him. Upon waking, Kylie takes the first step to accepting her past, and in doing so unlocks her Lethiace once again. Zinala's daughter, Lenna, helps to heal the wound that Kylie caused Cain back in Fracture Pass, and promises to help interpret Alvonce's research. Erimia's elder gives the party a new long-term quest: to look up the closest Original Lapia Oak and check its status. Madou and the Elder both mention, at different points, the fact a Lethian Knight appears to hold a special 'key' to helping Archaiea on the whole. At the end of this chapter we discover Seia isn't quite so imploded after all, but this leads to Ophelia questioning whether he - or any other Lethian Knight - is 'human' at all...

The party must take their World Guild Level Certification tests in order to gain access to the Upper Tier area where Kylie's brother is supposed to be. The party encounters a helpful Saeren named Archer while looking for directions. Michael and Jinn switch control every so often, forcing Nemi to reconsider her stance on the Danrir. Madou helps Cain gain a couple of levels so he can pass the level ward before temporarily leaving the party, but not before insinuating Cain might be a Silver Mage - though Cain denies it. During breakfast at the tavern, the party gets caught in a bar brawl that appears to have been manipulated by Zirconia so that they would all get carted off by the authorities. Kylie drops her blood crystal, and Sir Bradley's (the Defender of Jem Citadel) son, Briar, picks it up. It turns out his bodyguard, Lyn, is Kylie's long-lost brother. Cain has a dark episode in the holding cell while Kylie meets with Sir Bradley, who a prominent member of Zirconia paid a visit to earlier in an attempt to bribe him in exchange for Cain. Sir Bradley's intentions remain in silhouette as he gets Kylie to participate in the tournament in exchange for a chance to win her party immediate freedom. Nemi and Jinn are attacked one-sidedly by another (familiar) member of Zirconia before being saved by Archer. Archer seems awfully fearful of what might happen in the tournament, and wants the party to get Kylie out before it's too late. Meanwhile, Seia and Ophelia are surprised mid-journey to Aen Luce by an oddly behaving Lapia Oak...