After leaping onto the small island surrounding the colossal tree in the center of the lake, Ard, Pyria, Mirea, and Milia stood looking up at the incredibly dense canopy above them.

"So, how exactly do we get the seed?" Milia asked.

"We have to pray here first and state our purpose for asking for the seed. If the tree is willing, a fruit shaped like a silver apple will fall from above. That fruit is the seed and the answer to our request," Pyria answered.

"That's right. I've read about that fruit in ancient books," Mirea added.

"Let's begin," Ard said.

The four of them immediately knelt before the massive trunk and closed their eyes. The world fell silent, and the only sound was the gentle rustling of leaves in the breeze high overhead. Unable to wait, Milia peeked with one eye. She gasped and quickly shut her eyes again; etched into the bark of the trunk, she had seen the massive face of a wise old man with a long beard.

"Um... I saw a face on the tree trunk," Milia whispered.

"Oh no... did you open your eyes?" Pyria asked.

"I'm... I'm sorry," Milia replied.

"It's okay. Just keep going," Ard said.

They returned to their silence. As evening began to fall, a sudden "thud" echoed as something hit the ground in front of them. Opening their eyes, they saw four silver apples, each about the size of a fist, lying on the grass. They felt a wave of relief that their efforts had worked. But when Ard knelt forward to pick one up, his hand was hit by a jolt of electricity. The fruit was shocking him, leaving him confused. Looking up, he saw the face of the wise old man in the bark staring at him with a smile.

Then, the old man's eyes shifted toward Milia. Instantly, Ard, Pyria, and Mirea turned to look at her. Milia remained still, kneeling with her head bowed behind Ard. Naturally, Ard turned back to look at her.

"Milia, you try coming forward," Ard suggested.

"Y-yes," Milia replied.

Slowly, Milia crawled forward until she was right in front of the scattered silver apples. With a trembling hand, she reached out and picked one up. She wasn't shocked. Milia felt relieved, but suddenly, the apple in her hand began to grow and stretch, transforming into a beautiful sword. It looked a lot like Exelion, but it was different—much thinner like a rapier and longer. Milia's eyes went wide. She slowly turned to look at Ard, Pyria, and Mirea, only to see the other three silver apples vanish into thin air. A heavy silence followed.

"Um... why did it turn into a sword?" Milia asked.

"Because when you opened your eyes, you were thinking of something. Your wish was granted because you saw the face of the Elder of Gaias," Pyria explained.

"Huh? Is that... how it works?" Milia asked, bewildered.

"What did you ask for? I prayed for a cure to lift Goddess Ophelia's curse," Pyria said.

"Same here. I asked for the same thing," Ard added.

"Me too. I wanted to start processing the medicine right away," Mirea chimed in.

The three of them turned to look at Milia. Her face went pale with fear because she knew exactly what she had been thinking.

"Well? What did you ask for?" Pyria pressed.

"Um... to... to help Ard," Milia whispered.

"Haah... alright. It is what it is. We should head back to the village," Ard said, standing up.

"Wait... does that mean... we failed?" Milia asked.

"Pretty much. It's okay, we'll find another way to break the curse. Maybe the Dragon God knows something," Pyria replied.

"Stop worrying about it. Let's set up camp first. We'll leave in the morning," Mirea said, standing up.

"Come on, stand up. Let's put up the tents together," Ard said with a smile, reaching his hand out to Milia.

Milia didn't move. She stared at the thin, elegant sword—long like a rapier—held in her hands. Her face suddenly went white. She turned toward the tree and held the sword up.

"Hey! I don't want this sword! Trade it back for the fruit to break the curse!" Milia shouted, her voice thick with anxiety.

Silence returned. The only sound was the rustling of the leaves above, even though the wind had stopped.

"It's okay, Milia. Come on, stand up. I'll help you," Ard said softly, still smiling.

"But we failed because of me," Milia said, her eyes welling up with tears.

"Um... guys, look at this," Mirea said, pointing at the trunk.

Ard and Milia turned to look. Words were beginning to appear on the bark, carved neatly in raised letters. Ard squinted; the text was written in Ancient Elven. Naturally, Ard, Milia, and Mirea couldn't read it. Pyria stepped forward, her expression becoming very serious as she translated the script. Suddenly, her face lit up with joy. She looked at Milia, then at the sword in Milia's hands.

Then, Pyria looked toward the tree and whispered in Elven, "Thank you, Elder Gaias." She turned back to Milia, who was still kneeling on the ground.

"The name of that sword is Wilgram. It's a blade of wind and water that can be used to shatter any curse, in addition to being a weapon... it seems we were wrong to worry," Pyria said cheerfully.

"S-so... we actually succeeded?" Milia asked.

"Yep. We totally succeeded," Pyria answered.

"Hick... hick... huaaaaaa!"

Milia burst into loud, sobbing tears while clutching Wilgram to her chest. Ard knelt on one knee and placed a hand on Milia's head as she cried.

"Great job, Milia. Thank you," Ard said.

Milia didn't say a word; she just kept nodding through her tears, and finally, the tension in the air completely dissolved. Once she calmed down, they started pitching the tents Ard had pulled from his dimensional storage and built a campfire. Milia, Mirea, and Pyria sat in a circle around the flames. Milia handed her sword to Mirea. Unlike Exgrandal and Exelion, Wilgram could be held by anyone without any issues—it didn't suddenly become as heavy as a mountain.

Mirea immediately stood up and examined the sword with intense focus, clearly awestruck by the beautiful weapon in her hands. She turned the blade over and back, testing it with a few quick slashes that sent ripples of wind through the air. She even took a moment to test it further by sparring with Pyria, successfully slicing right through Pyria's fire magic.

Afterward, the two of them studied the hilt and the intricate carvings on the golden handguard, which looked as if it were crafted from solid gold. Milia simply watched them; a sense of pride radiated from her face, though she still seemed stunned by the reality that she now possessed a sword in the same league as Ard's Exgrandal and Eva's Exelion. After Mirea finally sat back down,

"This is incredible. It's absolutely stunning, but how do we actually use it to break a curse?" Mirea asked.

"According to those ancient carvings, you just have to thrust it in, and the sword will force the curse out," Pyria answered.

"Wait... thrust it? Like, we actually stab the person?" Milia asked, sounding confused.

"No, it probably means stabbing the curse itself. Looking at the attributes of this blade, it's likely a mystic sword that can pass through a human body... though I'm certainly not brave enough to test that theory," Mirea replied, still studying Wilgram.

"Maybe. I honestly don't know for sure, but my father might. We can just ask him when we get back to the village," Pyria suggested.

Mirea handed the sword back to Milia, and the three of them looked around.

"Where's Ard?" Mirea asked.

"Um... over there," Milia replied, pointing toward the edge of the lake.

They turned to see Ard standing by the water with his back to the girls and the tents. He was staring down the path toward the village where they had come from, occasionally looking up at the breathtaking stars in the sky. Pyria stood up to go to him, but Mirea caught her hand and shook her head.

"What is it?" Pyria asked.

"Just leave him be. He came here once with Elder Elidyr, your mother Velvet, and Bledvolf, the ancestor of the barbarians. He's probably remembering his journey from 3,000 years ago. Let's just wait here," Mirea explained.

"You're right. Okay, I understand," Pyria said, sitting back down.

Finally, the three of them just sat in silence, watching Ard from a distance as the campfire crackled and danced before them. Ard stared straight ahead, and for a moment, the past bled into the present. He saw himself as Ashton and Eva as Esmeralda, sitting across the way with Elidyr, Velvet, and Bledvolf. They were camping together, joking and laughing around a fire.

He remembered the way Elidyr and Velvet would bicker constantly while he and Esmeralda just watched, and how Bledvolf would desperately try to play the peacemaker. Every memory of his companions from that journey three thousand years ago flashed through his mind. A faint smile touched Ard's lips, and he looked up at the stars.

"Elidyr, Velvet, Bledvolf, this time Eva and I are going to finish everything. You can rest easy up there," Ard said in his heart.

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