“Risk, there's something I want to ask you,” Elisia said, breaking the silence in the quiet cave.

“Say it!”

Elisia couldn't say it because she was afraid that this question would offend Risk. However, there were a few things that had been bothering her all day. She looked at Tevanny, who had been sleeping, and looked at Dao, who was standing at the mouth of the cave. Her eyes returned to Risk.

“I wonder how much you smile these days, especially when you're around Tevanny. Did you guys talk about something fun?” Elisia asked.

Risk surprised and looked away. “What? Really? Maybe it's just your feelings. Why are you asking that?”

“I'm just surprised by the habit of smiling rarely shows me,” Elisia replied.

“I smiled at you too when you finished training,” Risk replied. “Never mind, I don't understand what your question about!”

“Okay. May I change the question?”

Risk nodded slowly and looked at Elisia again.

“When I looked at you, you looked like you were looking at something. I saw it like a log. What is that…, a talisman?” Elisia looked straight into Risk's left shirt pocket.

Risk immediately grabbed his left chest. His eyes widened. “When did you see me do that?!”

“When I woke up and everyone left me in the house. You're the only person who's still close to me.”

Risk was silent for a moment. He got up and walked to the mouth of the cave to meet Dao. Elisia followed him. The cold air from outside the cave greeted them. Heavy rain accompanied by lightning and strong winds graced the girl's vision. Every the cold wind blew her blonde hair a second.

Dao turned to the left. “Uh, Risk? Elisia?”

“What are you doing?” Elisia asked.

“Dao is guarding you guys from any beasts that might come here,” Dao replied. “Elisia isn't sleeping?”

“I'm not sleepy yet, and I'm waiting for an answer from Risk.” The girl glanced at Risk.

“Answer from what?” Dao curious.

Risk patted his left chest twice. Dao immediately nodded his head. Seeing the behavior of her two friends made Elisia frown, but she also couldn't dig deeper into the question. Perhaps she would find that answer after arriving at the village.

“I'll go back inside. I'm getting sleepy.” The girl stepped into the cave.

Elisia leaned against the cave wall in disappointment. She was still curious about the object that was held by Risk. She saw its name as the [Piece of Resistance]. Its name sounded like a sacred object. Elisia thought a speculation about the object, such as the origin of Risk's ability or the object that could save the world.

Heavy thoughts made Elisia sleepy. She wanted to close her eyes, but she couldn't. It was as if her eyes refused to sleep, even though there was nothing strange around her. The air remained cold, and the pendulum continued to transmit heat. She looked at the wall at the end of the cave.

There seemed to be something different about the wall, but it slightly limited her vision because of the dark passage. Elisia tried to close her eyes again, and drowsiness attacked her.

The next morning, Elisia woke up early. They had put the fire out, and the air was very fresh. She looked at the mouth of the cave. The chirping of birds could hear from it. Light entered the cave, allowing the girl to see clearly.

At the mouth of the cave as well, Elisia saw Dao and Risk walking out. She got up to stand up and stretched her muscles. The girl remembered the wall at end of the cave. She approached and touched the wall. A chill shot through her palms. The wall had many cracks and there was a large gap in the middle of the wall. The gap kept popping up the words [Locked] every time she looked at it.

“Risk! Dao! Come here!” Elisia called, who felt something odd about the wall.

Her two friends came over to her. Elisia's exclamation also woke Tevanny up. Risk and Dao stared in astonishment at Elisia, who called out to her.

“What’s wrong?” Risk asked.

“I feel suspicious that this cave wall is a door,” Elisia said as she continued to touch the wall.

“A door?” Dao groped the wall into the cracks.

“What make you think it's a door?” Risk asked curiously.

“Because I saw cracks forming along the top to bottom of the wall. The shape is also straight, not like cracks in ordinary places,” Elisia explained.

Tevanny approached them to mediate this debate. “What happened? Why are you arguing on this morning?”

Risk turned around. “Elisia thinks that this cave wall is a door.”

“Elisia is right. It's a big door,” Dao said, who had finished examining the wall. “But Dao couldn't open it.”

Tevanny walked towards the wall. She pressed her right palm against the center of the wall. Her eyes were closed and her mouth moved like chanting a spell. Everyone moved away from Tevanny and watched her.

“Ao tvear da brisotth tvear del porpenh daoy kar leang saamat ampeubeab saum aoy yeung chaul tow knong noh!”

Vibrations formed. The wall moved. The gap opened wide, and gave rise to a path decorated with strange stone lighting. Tevanny smiled when she saw the spell was working. It amazed everyone to see Tevanny's action in proving that the wall was a door.

“As expected,” Tevanny muttered.

Dao accidentally listened to Tevanny's words. “So, Tevanny already knew it was a door?”

“Seeing the door of this cave made me remember something, but because the sleepiness was weighing on my eyes, I couldn't say it.” Tevanny inhaled some air.

“Then, that spell?” Elisia answered.

“That is not a spell, but the ancestral password to open this door. This door leads us to the cleansing path, which is a shortcut to the village of Grasswood. Only people with a pure heart can pass this path. For anyone who has a dirty heart and enters this path, they will stick there until all the impurities in their heart are clean.” Tevanny took her first steps down the path.

Everyone had doubts about the path, because the passage looked mysterious, with tiny balls of light flying through it. Elisia tried to enter, following Tevanny by closing her eyes. After taking a step, Elisia opened her eyes. Nothing happened. She felt her heart feel cleaner and her mind clearer.

“Don't you want to come along?” Tevanny invited Risk and Dao.

The two of them packed up their things and walked down the path. Their hearts felt cold. Dao could even sense a strange energy entering his system, but it gave him strength. Risk also lured Gray to come along.

They continued their journey down the mysterious path. Balls of light followed and guide them along the way. Inside the passage, their eyes spoiled by the rocks that glowed. Elisia touched the stone, an energy flowing through her body. Her pendulum also didn't show any activity. Everything was calm. The stone also had a name.

[Stone of Forgiven]

“Is this route often used by people on their way?” Elisia asked.

“The ancestors of the village of Grasswood often used this path as a shortcut to go to the forest. They did meditation to attain the highest level of purification of the heart in here. However, this path had been forgotten by the next generation, including me,” Tevanny explained. “But I always study mystical things in Grasswood, so I know about this cave.”

“That's why my heart feels calm when I'm here,” Risk praised. “Then what were you saying earlier?”

“The sentence for asking permission to go through this route. I can't say the meaning of that sentence, because only Grasswood natives can open this path,” Tevanny replied.

They continued to follow Tevanny, passing through the mythical path without hesitation. The deeper they went, the calmer their hearts would be passing through it. Elisia felt calmer than before. All the strange memories swirled in her head and became more and more real, though some of them were still blurry.

In that vision, Elisia was in a magnificent palace, in a spacious room. Elisia turned her head to the left. There was a dressing table with all the cosmetics and make-up on it. She couldn’t sway her body within those memories, but just looking at it was enough.

Someone opened the door slowly. A girl from the bed ran to her, then hugged her. Elisia noticed the girl's features, very similar to hers. The woman in her arms gave the girl a necklace. It seemed to be a luxurious necklace, and Elisia could see its gleam. The woman's face was clear. Elisia was wide-eyed, even though she didn't know the truth about who the woman was. She also saw the symbol of the country sewn into the woman's clothes.

“Is that a symbol…, Gwelissa?” she muttered.

Suddenly, her consciousness pulled back to reality, as Risk called out to her while patting her right shoulder. Elisia held her head and shivered at it. She turned to the person who called.

“Looks like this place makes your mind fly freely because it's so calm,” Risk said.

“What are you calling me for?” Elisia asked.

Risk smiled. “About the thing you asked about yesterday. It's a talisman that makes my body immune to any attack and makes my wounds heal quickly. I can't say where I got that thing from, but you can say that–”

“Say no more! I think it's best not to know the origin of your belongings. It is enough to know that it is a valuable item for you.” Elisia looked at Risk with a smile. “Sorry if I bothered too much about your personal privacy, especially asking about your relationship with Tevanny.”

Tevanny surprised and looked at Risk with a straight face. Risk held the back of his head.

“Hmm, actually…, I liked you from the first sight. You make my heart feel happy while being near you, after a long time of being gloomy and dark. But I don't think I can have a deeper relationship with you,” Risk admitted.

Tevanny's face reddened. She lowered her gaze with an embarrassed face. Elisia felt an unusual condition of love, causing another strange memory to swirl in her head.

This time, Elisia was in a bigger room, like a hall. A man grabbed both of her shoulders from behind, then extended his hand. She took the hand, then pulled her to dance. They twirl gracefully under the soft strains of the violin and piano. He looked at the more mature face of the man in front of her, a smile etched on him. Elisia felt happy when danced with him, although she didn't know who it was yet. She also saw the same symbol as her previous vision.

They pulled Elisia back into reality as everyone stopped their steps. Apparently, they were at the end of the line. A stone wall blocked the path. Tevanny held the wall and chanted again.

“Saum arkoun del ban samaeat behdaung robsa yeung. Saum aoy yeung chakchenh pi phlauv nih daoy santiphap!”

The stone walls shook and sank to the ground. The light from behind the exposed walls dazzled their eyes. After the shaking stopped, they could see the trees that greeted them from the mystical path. They stepped out slowly. Finally, they had crossed the path of cleansing sin.

Elisia got a message in front of her face.

“Achievement unlocked: Across the Sacred Line”

“Reward : Max HP limit + 20, Stamina Limit +10”

.

Gray, which had been in the silence since then, immediately barked happily and ran to the tree to pee. Elisia looked at the surrounding trees, looking familiar to her. She also heard voices that differed from when they were in the forest.

Tevanny broke through the bushes to make sure, and her body immediately froze. Everyone approached the 26-year-old woman, and they also stunned. Finally, they had arrived at Grasswood Village!

The expanse of sugarcane and rice fields stretched out, plus small huts that decorated the scenery. They got out of the trees and headed straight for the path beside the rice fields. They stepped into the slightly soft rice field, bunds carefully.

Dao felt that their position was close to Tevanny's house, remembering that Dao had once helped people harvest in the fields. From a distance, Dao saw a huge building in the middle of the field. The robot man realized something.

“We are almost close to home!” Dao immediately ran to the building he saw was a harvest storage warehouse.

Everyone followed him in a hurry. They struggled through the path. They finally arrived at the warehouse. Dao immediately greeted a few cultivators who were talking.

“Hey, farmers!” Dao greeted.

The two farmers turned and approached him. “Hey, Dao!”

“Finally, we could reach this village again after traveling in the forest,” Dao said, “And, we brought people you must know.”

Dao showed Tevanny to the two farmers. They were silent for a moment, then dumbfounded. The farmer whispered something into the other farmer's ear, and the farmer ran to the village's main road. Dao and friends astonished.

Dao approached the farmer. “What did Farmer say to him?”

“That's Tevanny, right? Tevanny, the village beauty?” The farmer asked.

“Yes, sir. I'm Tevanny,” Tevanny answered happily.

The farmer walked up to Tevanny and hugged her. She shed tears. After that, she looked at Tevanny's face with tears in her eyes.

“Finally, you returned to the village after missing for a month. Tivet was anxious about you,” The Farmer said.

“I miss all of you, and Tivet too. Is he at home?” Tevanny asked.

“Mr. Choy was running to call him,” The Farmer said. “Maybe you can go home first to rest. You must be tired during the trip.”

“Thank you. Tell Tivet, I'm home.”

Dao also lead Tevanny to return to her house, which used by Upgrade and his friends. They entered the main road and strolled. Everyone, especially the villagers, looked at Tevanny with an expression of disbelief. The woman felt uncomfortable until Dao and Risk walked in front of her to covered her body.

A moment later, they arrived at the house. Elisia saw Rhino, who was nailing a log. She immediately ran and called her friend. Rhino felt called out and turned to Elisia, who was running. The girl landed in Rhino's arms.

“Elisia, I’m glad you came home!” Rhino said happily.

“I'm glad to come back and meet you,” Elisia replied.

Rhino let go of the hug and saw his two friends with Tevanny. His eyes immediately fell on Tevanny. The woman was uncomfortable again with Rhino's look, who looked surprised. Rhino even approached Tevanny curiously.

“Who's this?” He asked.

Risk approached them both. “Introducing, this is Tevanny, Mr. Tivet's older sister!”

Rhino froze for a moment until he finally came to his senses. “Ooohh…, So you're Tevanny? Tibet tells a lot about you. Introducing, I'm Rhino, a defender!”

“Pleased to meet you!”

“How about we go in and have some tea? I made too much tea this morning.” Rhino walked to the house.

Suddenly, Upgrade came out of the house after overhearing a conversation outside. He approached everyone.

“Apparently you guys have gone home, and you brought Elisia home.” Upgrade glanced at Tevanny. “Is she Tevanny?”

“Yes, I'm Tevanny,” Tevanny answered for the umpteenth time.

Dao approached Upgrade and gave him a sample of Kryptadium stones. “Dao wanted to give a rock sample to Upgrade, and Dao also found an interesting sample.”

“Come in! You guys must be tired.” Upgrade stepped into the house. “Dao, put that sample in my room!”

They entered the house. Tevanny saw it filled her house with men she just met, but she didn't mind. The woman had heard a lot of information from Risk. They entered the dining room and Risk pulled out chairs for Tevanny and Elisia.

“Now you two sit down. I'll make tea for you.” Rhino rushed to the kitchen.

Elisia saw the happy expression of Tevanny, who could finally return to the village. The girl was also happy to be reunited with her friends. Their adventure in the Grasswood forest would be one of Elisia's precious experiences.

Rhino brought the tea and served on the table. Tevanny and Elisia took a sip. The bitter taste of the tea, plus the distinctive aroma of it, made the drink taste delicious. Tevanny even finished her tea until there was nothing left.

“Your tea is very good. How did you make it?” Tevanny asked.

“I only brew tea that is still fresh from the garden near the forest, then serve it while it's warm.” Rhino replied.

“Sorry if we used your house. Tivet asked us to stay in this house until we killed Forgotten,” Risk said.

“It doesn’t matter. You are the heroes of this village. If everyone hears about your success, they will throw a big party for you,” Tevanny replied.

"We don't need a big celebration. Seeing your smile free from the monster's shackles is already quite a payoff,” Upgrade said from behind. “Besides, we still have to figure out how to defeat that creature."

Risk smiled. “Perhaps you should ask Elisia, since she was the one who killed Forgotten.”

Upgrade surprised. “Really? Elisia, is that true?”

“Risk is right, but I can do none of that without the role of Dao, Risk, and Tevanny. They are also heroes for this village,” Elisia replied. “I want to tell you something that you will definitely dislike.”

“What's that?”

Elisia turned to Tevanny. The woman just nodded. Elisia took off her jacket and rolled up the sleeves of her dress so that her right sleeve exposed. Small stones appeared to grow in one spot of the skin.

Upgrade surprised and approached Elisia anxiously. He examined Elisia's arm, feeling it with her hand until she felt that the stone was real.

“Elisia, what happened to you? Is that real?!” Upgrade asked incredulously.

Elisia looked down. “Yeah, I got stabbed by that rock in the Forgotten cave and got infected right away. The rock had pierced my arm just as I woke up in that cave.”

“I'm infected too.” Tevanny showed the stones growing on her waist. Its size was bigger than Elisia.

Upgrade looked at the two of them seriously. Then he walked into his room. Elisia and Tevanny surprised. It seemed they would get special treatment. Suddenly, the front door opened and someone entered the house. Everyone turned their heads, including Tevanny and Elisia. Tevanny and the person looked at each other, then the person approached Tevanny.

“Sister? Is that you?” He asked.

Tevanny shed tears of joy. “Yes, Tivet. It's me, Tevanny.”

They hugged each other tightly. Both of them couldn't hold back the tears anymore. Everyone moved, especially Elisia. The girl felt that she had become a savior and a bringer of happiness for everyone. She held the pendulum to pray that the village would always be at peace and safe.

They let go of the hug and looked at each other with tears in their eyes.

“Sister, I really miss you. I'm afraid the monster will eat you and I'll never see you again,” Tivet said.

“Don’t say that! Your sister is strong. I can take care of myself,” Tevanny replied. “If I don't meet Elisia, Dao, and Risk, maybe I won't be able to go home, and the monster will come again.”

Tivet turned to Elisia and company, then he bowed for a long time. “Thank you for saving my sister. You are heroes for your bravery in taking down the monsters that plague our village.”

“There's no need to thank us. We are just travelers on our way to a destination,” Risk replied.

“Dao only does as friends do. Dao is ready to help anyone,” Dao replied.

Elisia walked over to Tivet, who was staring at her. “We help because we want to. We actually want to apologize because we troubled you by coming to this village,” Elisia said in a rather low tone.

“No, we have great respect for the services of the heroes who protect this village. We will make a big celebration for you.”

“What?!”