Traveling to Earth was a hassle. It always was.

Each of the passageways, each of the connections to the World Tree were closely regulated and controlled by the Magecraft Association.

For every instance of travel, one would have to register more than a week beforehand.

Unlike the other realms, Earth only had a single branch of the World Tree. And it was in the capital of the Norteon Union. The only passageway from Midgard to Earth was in Pendragon.

And just forget about bringing weapons or magic items without proper certification.

Of course, for the Virtues and students of the global academies of Magecraft, these restrictions were a bit more lax. And yet, they were still closely watched.

All of this was done for the continuation of the secrecy of magic. All done for Earth.

Even so, Alexander enjoyed it. The prospect of traveling to another realm always made him smile.

And so...

"Why are you smiling?" Anastasia asked as all the Virtues walked through a stone-bricked alleyway.

"We're on Earth," Alexander responded.

"That doesn't make sense."

"Yeah, it does. It's nice here."

Gabriel interjected: "Wrong."

Alexander spat out a sigh. "What's wrong with saying that Earth's a nice place?"

"Just factually incorrect."

"Dude, you can't take an opinion and just say it's wrong."

"Oh, yeah? Watch this." Gabriel laughed at what he said.

Again, Alexander sighed.

The current situation wasn't exactly helping his case. After all, they had been trekking through a labyrinth of buildings, walking through alleyways for the past half hour.

Thing was, it wasn't a labyrinth. They were just lost.

Ahead of Alexander and the others, Lumiel was reprimanding Liam for not bringing the map as she had told him to.

"Okay, but what does Earth have that Midgard doesn't?" Anastasia asked.

Alexander fell silent.

He snapped his fingers. "The liberty statue thing. The Statue of Liberty. Midgard doesn't have that."

Gabriel smiled smugly. "I don't even know what that is."

"Dude, aren't you American?"

"Yeah, but that's not my point. My point is... Everything Earth has, Midgard has more. So it's automatically superior."

"Like what?"

"We still have most of those world wonders or whatever they're called. Like the Colossus of Rhodes, plus the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Lighthouse of Alexandria, stuff like that. Plus..." Gabriel said. "Plus, we still have seven of the great pyramids. Earth only has three. So infinite points for Midgard, zero for Earth."

Alexander mumbled, "Haven't seen any of those, though." He spat out a sigh. "Listen, it's not like I'm saying I'm gonna live here. I know Midgard is better than Earth. I'm just saying. Earth's cool."

"You only think Earth's cool because you don't live there. People don't typically think their hometown or country or realm is cool."

"Midgard's great, though."

Gabriel stared at him. "You're weird, Alexander."

A rare case of Gabriel calling him Alexander coupled with an insult. Alexander smiled at that. "Thanks," he said.

"So, uh..." Leonard said. What country is this?"

"France," Giovanna told him.

"Ew."

Giovanna stared at him. "Dude, I'm half-French."

"...I'm not taking it back."

They turned another corner into yet another alleyway. And again, they turned. Until they encountered the part of town they had been searching for.

As they emerged from the alley, they met the antiquated town.

Giovanna was the only one who could pronounce it properly. Or spell it, for that matter.

And even though they were out of the alleys, they were still surrounded by tall, pale-brick buildings. And standing right before them was a grand monastery. It was pressed against the side of the cliff. It was just as pale as the other structures, but wider and taller, with turrets and spires on each edge.

And as they looked up at it, they found it.

The whole reason for this mission.

Durendal. The Earth-Splitting sword.

It was a simple sword, dug deep into the cliffside. Only about half the blade was visible, covered in rust and earthen dust.

Retrieve the Sword of Earth. That was the official mission given to them by Archibald. This was the first of the missions to retrieve the Holy Swords.

Gabriel turned around.

There were just a few other people on the street, walking, chattering, and going about their day.

"How the hell are we supposed to get that?" Lumiel asked, raising her head at the sword above them.

"Easy," Giovanna said, approaching the wall of the cliff.

"Huh?"

She pressed her hand against the stone. A lateral chunk of stone burst out.

"Giovanna, what the hell are you doing?" Gabriel asked.

"Getting up there."

He sighed, lowering his voice. "Why are you using magic here?"

Giovanna simply stared at him and pointed at the adjacent building. "There's a Screen right over there."

"Oh."

"You really don't think things through, do you?" she asked. "If there's a magic sword here, there would obviously be a separate Screen for it."

"I do think things through, I just don't think properly. At least I'm not like Leonard who doesn't think at all."

"Man, that's just rude," Leonard said with a sigh.

Alexander stared at the wall Giovanna had pointed at. He hadn't noticed it at first, but on that wall was a black square. It would light up with blinking, silver lights. Alexander could tell it was made of some kind of metal.

Screens were complicated devices.

They were used all over the Nine Realms to hide magical activities from the world. Within a set radius of their activation, the interior of the Screen would be obscured. That way, civilians wouldn't be able to witness whatever magicians would be doing.

"Yeah, I still have no idea how Screens work," Alexander said. "Like... how? Y'know?"

"It's..." Lumiel paused. "It's complicated. I don't know."

Giovanna took in a deep breath, before another chunk of stone burst from the cliffside. She was making stairs, rising all the way up to the center of the massive cliff, all the way up to the sword.

It took less than a minute for those stone steps to reach the top. "Alright," she said. "Let's go."

The Virtues began to step onto the stones. Until... "Nope," Anastasia said. "Nope. Not going."

They all stared at her.

"That's more than twenty meters up," she said. "I'm not going."

"Ah." Alexander remembered. She was afraid of heights. He gave her a thumbs-up and stepped onto the stone stairway.

The others simply gave shrugs and mumbles and accepted it.

It was only a matter of seconds until they reached the sword.

Gabriel went on ahead and grabbed it. He wrapped his hands around the resulted weapon and pulled. It didn't budge.

He took in a deep breath and pulled on it again. It showed no signs of movement. Gabriel swallowed his saliva as he let go.

Immediately after, he gripped the hilt once again. Once again, he pulled the sword. Once again, he couldn't make it budge.

"You sure this isn't some 'sword in the stone' scenario?" Leonard asked. "Like only the chosen one can pull the sword out?"

Gabriel grit his teeth. "Shut... Up!"

With another shape breath, his hands slid off of the sword and he began to fall back. A stone burst from the steps.

If Giovanna hadn't created that stone, he would've fallen off.

He swallowed his saliva and simply nodded at her.

"Gabriel, why don't you-"

"Leonard. Shut up," he said, gritting his teeth once again. He glared up at the sword. "I'm getting this sword out right now."

With another deep breath, he wrapped his fingers around the rusty hilt once again. "3... 2... 1!" he shouted, yanking the sword from the cliff.

Pulling the blade from the stone cliff was harder than he had expected. "Well, that was easy," he muttered, panting.

Alexander squinted as he stared at the blade. He walked up to Gabriel. "Wait, let me see it, " he said.

"Huh? Why?"

"Just give it."

Gabriel let out a sigh and handed him the sword.

As Alexander held it in his palms, he paused, his eyes scanning over the sword. "This... This isn't it," he mumbled. "This isn't the sword."

Gabriel furrowed his eyebrows. "Wait, what?"

"How can you tell?" Lumiel asked.

As Alexander swallowed his dry saliva, he muttered, "I... I don't know. But..." He turned the sword over, and as he stared at the flat edge, he took in a sharp breath. With that, he bashed his fist against the flat of the sword.

Chunks and shards of steel and stone flew out like strewn confetti, leaving nothing more than a wooden hilt and fragments of the steel sword.

"What the hell did you just-"

Alexander smiled and looked up at the others. "It's supposed to be indestructible. Right?"

"Wait, wait, wait," Leonard. "What the hell does this mean?"

The Virtues fell silent.

Archibald had told them this was the sword. Hell, the legends behind Durendal said this was it. Just as the legends said it was indestructible.

"Alexander, if you really destroyed the sword, I swear-"

"It wasn't it," he said. "I know it wasn't."

Lumiel spat out a sigh. "We just spent like forty minutes walking through this town. And it was all for nothing?"

"Shut up," Giovanna said. "Wait, that's rude. I'm sorry. But just- Everyone, stop talking."

"What? What is it?" Gabriel asked.

Giovanna stared at him. "Hey. Shut up." She pressed her palm against the side of the cliff. With her hand against the indentation left the sword, her eyes widened.

"Wait a minute," she muttered.

"What?" Gabriel asked again.

"There's something here."

"Is it- Is it another sword?" Leonard asked.

Again, Giovanna shushed them. The Virtues fell silent.

Her eyes lit up. "It's like a room. A cave, kind of."

Giovanna wasn't exactly proficient at sensing magic energy. But what she could sense was the earth. She could feel through stone itself. And she could see what her eyes couldn't.

After all, this was through her very earthen magic.

She smiled. "I'm gonna open it up," she said, pressing her other hand against the cliffside. Her verdant eyes widened, brimming with zeal. With a deep breath, the stone began to tremble. The quivering grew, louder and rougher, until... It opened.

The stone burst apart, caving into the cliff. And with that, it was unveiled. A grand cavern that must spread across the entirety of the mountain.

"Well, damn," Alexander said, marveling at what had been hidden.

Gabriel was the first to step through. "So, basically," he said. "This pretty much confirms Durendal's here. Gives them a reason to conceal this whole thing," he muttered.

Lumiel swallowed her saliva. Her palm burst with pale light.

She clenched her fist and launched the light forward. She took in a deep breath, before launching an orb of light across the cavern. It lit up the following dozens of meters.

Again, she swallowed her saliva. "That's a lotta distance," she muttered. She turned to Alexander.

"Alexander, go get Anastasia," she said.

"Huh?"

"Just go get her. We'll need someone with spatial magic," Lumiel said, still fixated on the grandeur before her.

Alexander spat out a sigh and exited the cavern.

It was then that he noticed how high up they were. He took in a deep breath and swallowed his saliva, along with his fear.

Even from that height, his eyes met Anastasia's.

He gestured her to come over. She shook her head.

Alexander repeated the gesture. Again, she shook her head.

He sighed and hurried down the steps. "Come on," he said, still standing on the last step as he extended his hand at her. "We're gonna need you for what's up there."

Still, she shook her head.

"Can't you just open a Connection up there? That way you won't have to climb up."

"Yeah, but-" She paused. "Wait, that'll work, actually. Damn, why didn't I think of that?" she mumbled to herself, before letting out a sigh.

And with that, she disappeared.

"Well, damn," Alexander muttered, letting out a sigh and beginning to climb back up the steps.

Within seconds, he had arrived to see the rest of the Virtues standing still.

"Why haven't you guys moved?" he asked.

Gabriel pointed at his feet. Just a few inches in front was a line dug into the ground.

"What?"

"None of us want to cross the line," Lumiel said.

"It's just a line. Right?"

"Well..." Gabriel said. "It's not exactly a good sign."

Alexander spat out a heavy sigh. "Is this some kind of symbolic stuff? Some myth?"

No one responded.

"...Guess I'll just go," he said. He let out a breath and shut his eyes as he stepped over the line.

Nothing happened.

Alexander smiled and turned back to the others. "Y'see that? Nothing happened," he said.

The cavern walls lit up with blue light.

"What the hell?" Alexander muttered, his eyes wide as he let out a soft gasp.

Before long, the light began to take form. The form of a human.

Still, all the Virtues could do was stand still and in silence.

"Welcome," the newly-formed human spoke.

Anastasia stared at it in confusion."What the hell is going on?!" she whispered.

"I don't know!" Alexander whispered back.

Leonard swallowed his dry saliva. "Is that a hologram or did the light really just take physical form?"

"It's physical," Gabriel responded, just as Lumiel said, "Hologram." They squinted at each other.

"So how are we supposed to figure this out?" Giovanna asked.

"I'm not going near him," Liam said.

Alexander chucked a rock at it. The rock passed through. "Hologram," he said, letting out another sigh. "Man, you guys are just scared of everything today, huh?"

"Shut up, Demon-Born."

Alexander simply smiled and moved forward. He took a single step and locked eyes with the man of pale blue light.

The man was elderly, with a long beard that covered the tunic he wore. His tunic was covered a long cloak. His head was almost completely bald just as he had sunken eyes. And yet, what stood out the most of its existence was the simple fact that it had no legs.

This apparition floated and hovered above the ground, with nothing standing beneath his waist.

Alexander swallowed his saliva. "Hi."

"I presume you're here for the sword."

Alexander nodded.

"You cannot pass."

"And why's that?"

"I swore to protect the sword, so that it may never fall into the wrong hands. Frankly, no one has come for it. So I assume my reputation is that profound. And so, you children are the only ones foolish enough to test me. You should be wary, however, for I am-"

"Yeah, I don't care," Alexander interrupted.

"Huh?"

Alexander scratched the side of his cheek. "I just... just don't care. Sorry. If I have to fight you, I'll do it. Just don't monologue. It gets annoying, y'know. So it's best if we just get this over with."

The apparition scowled. "You dare?!" he shouted. He took in a deep breath and calmed down. "Very well. We were to fight, anyway."

His legs had finally formed. A with it, a sword on his hip. He quickly unsheathed it and took a step back. "Come. I shall show you the power of a knight. The power of a spirit."

Alexander still remained unfazed.

Lumiel stared at them. "So are we-"

"Yeah, I can handle this. Just stay there," Alexander said, giving them a thumbs-up. He rolled up the sleeves of his jacket and faced the ghost.

The spirit raised his blade above his head. And from there, he let out a battle cry and dashed at Alexander.

Alexander smiled as he clenched his fist and drenched it with magic energy. And the second it got close enough...

He drove his fist into the appiration's chest.

But he never hit anything. His fist simply passed through the pale blue figure.

The ghost cackled. "You fool! You cannot harm me!" the spirit laughed.

And from there, he plunged his blade through Alexander's chest.

And just as Alexander's fist passed through the figure's chest, the sword passed through Alexander's.

The ghost couldn't harm him either. Alexander stared down at the glowing blue sword in his chest. He raised his head and glared at the spirit.

"You're just a ghost. Sit down."

Its face grew contorted with fear and simply moved to the side. "You may pass," he nervously muttered.

Alexander squinted at it.

That was unexpectedly easy.

And from there, they continued on.

Giovanna and Anastasia were the ones in the front this time. Both of them could sense the surrounding space, and so, both of them led the group.

They marched on through the cavern, turning corners and even going up and down stairs that shouldn't be there to begin with.

"Man, how large is this cave?" Leonard groaned, after just a few minutes of walking.

"Have you guys ever noticed how most of our missions involve a lot of walking? It's weird," Lumiel said, her hand still glowing with her own light, even while the cavern walls still radiated their own.

She continued. "Seriously, even on our first mission, we had to climb like a dozen flights of stairs. It's crazy. All of it."

It wasn't long after that they encountered the shrine.

Right before a wall, the pale altar stood. And on that altar were three swords, each of them dug deep into the stone.

"Why does it always get increasingly complicated?" Lumiel complained.

"Lotta complaining around here," Gabriel said, approaching the swords.

"Shut up, Gabriel."

Gabriel fell silent.

He stood before the three swords and simply stared at them.

"Well, this is nice," Liam said, standing next to him. "Three free swords. Doesnt even matter which one's Durendal. They're all pretty cool," he said.

On the side of the shrine, placed deep within the stone walls, was a plaque.

"What's the point of a plaque?" Anastaisa mumbled as she read it. "They couldn't have put a simple sign in front of the shrine?"

She continued reading it, mumbling to herself, until she finally understood what it meant. Her eyes widened.

Anastasia dashed over to the others. "Wait!" she shouted. "You can't just pull out the swords," she said.

"Why not?" Liam asked, his hands already wrapped around one of them.

"According to that sign over there," Anastasia said, pointing at the wall. "Basically... If you pull out the wrong sword, this cave will collapse."

Leonard smiled and nodded. "So like in Indiana Jones, huh?"

"Huh?" Giovanna asked.

"I don't think that's what happened in Indiana Jones," Alexander said.

Leonard stared at them. "Listen, I never even watched it. I don't know what I'm talking about."

"You never know what you're talking about, Leonard," Gabriel uttered.

"Hey, listen-"

Liam cleared his throat. "Got it."

They all turned to him. In his hands, he held a sword in a leather sheath. Just like its hilt, the scabbard was adorned with ornate gold. And just like Excalibur, a large gem sat in its pommel. Unlike Excalibur, however, the gem wasn't a deep azure, but rather it glimmered with golden light.

"Liam, what the hell did you just do?"

"Relax, if it wasn't the real sword, the cave would've collapsed, right?" he asked, a thin smile growing on his lips.

Well... He was right.

The others let out a collective sigh as they stared at him.

"Exactly," Liam said, tossing the sword to them.

Leonard caught it with both hands. "So why is it called 'Earth-Splitter'?" Leonard asked, marveling at the sheathed sword.

"Apparently," Alexander said. "If you use it to slash something, it becomes capable of splitting mountains."

"Cool." He began to unsheath the blade.

Alexander rushed over and slammed the blade back into its scabbard. "Jesus Christ, Leonard."

"What?"

"Now's not a good time to test that out."

Leonard stared at Alexander, and then at the sword. "Fair enough."

"So who gets the sword, then?" Lumiel asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Like... Anastasia has spatial magic. And this sword can cut through space. So it makes sense we give it to her. But... Giovanna has earth magic, and y'know, this is the Sword of Earth. So..."

Liam walked over and took the sword. "Problem solved," he said.

The others stood in silence.

He gave them a thumbs-up as he began to leave.

"Well, you cant exactly argue with that," Alexander said, staring at Liam as he walked away.

Lumiel laughed. "Hey, at least this was relatively quick," she said.

"Of course, it was," Leonard muttered. "This isn't some basic series where the characters get sidetracked for like seven or eight chapters. Or the whole book is a single quest."

"Leonard, stop being meta. It's not even funny," Gabriel complained.

"Not funny to you," Leonard said, smiling as he stared at the cave wall.

Anastasia leaned to Alexander, whispering, "What's he doing?"

"He's staring at the camera. Y'know... Breaking the fourth wall." She sighed, muttering, "So stupid."

"So," Lumiel began. "We should just get out of here, right?"

"Yeah, we should. Typically, this usually the part where we somehow get stuck or captured or something," Alexander said.

Anastasia smacked his shoulder. "Don't start with that, too," she said.

Alexander smiled. "Yeah, I know. But it's accurate, actually. Stuff always happens at points like this. Let's just get out of here."

Anastasia smiled and nodded. With the echoing clap of her hands, they disappeared.