[Insert Gojira Lyrics]

Day one of side questing is done, so let's get through this Sealed Cavern!

We enter the cave northwest of Tomra and come to a locked door. As we were told, Luca's Pendent will open the gate. We have now allowed Golbez to enter the save, so it just makes sense that I left. The first battle in here gave my team Silence, and I had no Echo Herbs. I stocked up in Giott's Castle and gave it another go. This cave is painfully long and filled with monsters. I'm beginning to remember why I hated combat in elementary school. None of the enemies should strike fear into you, but I'd suggest you run if you come across two Chimera Brains. Those guys love to spam Blaze, which does fire damage on the whole team. Edge will not survive two of them, and the rest of the party isn't in good shape either. It's just easier to Smoke/Escape. There are many, many doorways through the caves. All of which are traps. Fortunately, the fights are very easy and a free 5000 EXP. I never took damage in any of them, but I do wonder what Ninth Dimension does. Do take note, if you don't kill them while they're weak, the doors will summon a Yellow Dragon to fight for them. YD gives a lot of EXP and has a chance of dropping rare items, so it may worth a fight.

Navigating is done through the trap doors and several ropes strewn around the place. Some chests are only found on the otherside of the ropes. Any that lead to a dead end has a quick turnaround. Most of the monster doors lead to empty rooms, but there are a few treasures and a Save Point behind a few, as well. Since they're so easy, there is no reason not to fight them.

At the bottom (B5), we find the Crystal Chamber. The final Dark Crystal is just hanging out, totally unguarded. We grab it and exit the room. As we start to cross the bridge, we sense a disturbance in the air. The room begins to rumble, and the wall behind us grows closer...and closer..and closer still! This is Demon Wall. It has a simple gimmick, easy looking strategy, but a terrible secret. For the entire battle, it will slowly approach the team. It will not attack, but it, slowly but surely, grow ever closer. I was a little too preoccupied to count how long it took, sorry. When Demon Wall reaches us, it begins to use Crash, which inflicts instant death on one character at a time. During its march, attack with all your might. Have Rosa Haste everyone to get started, and Rydia should use Leviathan for nearly 7000 damage. Have your physical attackers do what they do. I was unable to slay the abomination before it got to me, so Cecil died. Forgetting I had him Drawing Attacks, I did not revive him, so Rydia died. I keep trying to revive him but failed every time. In theory, this could have gone on for a while, but you should try to avoid this state. I've read Slow works, so use it along with Berserk. With Rydia and Cecil dead, everyone gained two levels off the EXP, so there goes Cecil's MC EXP privilege. We now get to walk our way back to the top of the cave! As we get to the exit, the room turns purple, and a voice echoes around us.

Golbez!

He instructs Kain to steal the Crystal and join him again. Cecil and Rosa try to convince him otherwise, and it seems to work. But suddenly, Kain knocks down Cecil, taking the Crystal with him. Everyone wonders why Kain did that, but then Golbez talks to us, saying this was always his plan. He let loose the "leash" just for something like this. The whole team then watches as Kain leaves with the thing we were instructed to protect. Seriously, they just stood there and watched. Kain even had his back to us. I'm beginning to see why people aren't fond of FFIV in 2021.

We return to Giott, and our disappointed dad is disappointed. He worries about what's to come and mentions a prophecy. It's the same prophecy we learned about in Mysidia. Giott is shocked that Mysidia exists and asks us to go there. The Elder must be praying for something related to that dragon! The problem is, the hole to the surface is still sealed. We hear a voice from behind us and see Cid is feeling better. When we tell him the problem, he decides to make a drill for the Falcon. We then cut to everyone standing on the airship's deck while Cid hammers at the air. At one point, he runs over to stop Edge from hitting on Rydia. Sometime later, Cid passes out again. We all return to the infirmary, where Cid finally acknowledges his age. We wish him well and set off towards the surface! The drill works, and we can continue side questing!

Main quests are for losers. First up is back to Fabul. If we talk to Yang's Wife (who doesn't have a name yet), she begins to cry over what happened to Yang and the Sylphs. She hands us a Frying Pan and tells us to hit him with it. Before going back to the Underworld. Take the Enterprise and hovercraft to Mythril. Nearby is the Adamant Cave. There's a mini man inside that will exchange a Rat's Tail with the legendary Adamantine! The Rat's Tail was found in the Feymarch if you recall. Make the switch and return underground. Fly to Kokkal's Smith and give him the ore. His spirits will be lifted, and he'll return to his forge. He'll also take our Mythgraven Sword, which is the blade Paladin Cecil starts with. It'll take a while, but we can get Cecil's second or third best weapon when he's done. Go back to Yang and, against the Sylph's wishes, hit him the pan. He'll wake up and joke about his wife. Seeing that we're down a man, he tries to join the party again. Edge convinces him that he's still injured, and the Sylphs want him to stay as well. Rather than gives us Yang, the Sylphs teach Rydia how to summon them. It's is a mediocre heal, but I won't say no to utility.

We can now head to Mysidia, where the Elder is waiting for us. We see the prophesy again and meet up at the top of the Tower of Prayer. A cutscene happens where we see it unfold. A massive airship rises from the sea near Mysidia. It turns out the dragon wasn't an ancient myth but the actual continent of Mysidia. It's shaped like a dragon, you see. The Elder informs us the Lunar Whale is a space ship that teleports us from Earth to the Moon in the blink of an eye. He knows this because a voice told him while it rose. So it looks like we're heading to the Moon...

...tomorrow!

This is a reminder to myself to return to Kokkal. The Excalibur has been forged.