15 Years Ago, Outside Omni Empire, The Dungeon, Floor 25.
"Hey leader! We found something!"
"Can't you guys call me Dan like you used to? I'm not used to being called leader since it was something you all decided on."
"Ahahaha. Sorry, but we all thought it would be more interesting to call you leader."
A tall, burly young man had a hint of displeasure on his face as he couldn't get his friends to call him by his name.
He was carrying his favorite black katana on his back, while wearing a set of custom-made steel armor.
Although he looked much more handsome and sharp compared to his older appearance, the powerful aura he emitted didn't change at all.
Next to him was a beautiful young girl, who resembled an older version of Mary. Her lustrous brown hair was flowing neatly down to her shoulders, giving her a gentle appearance as she stood next to Dan.
However, her appearance totally didn't match her wild personality, as she would never miss out on any of their quests or adventures.
"Hey Helen, are you sure you don't want to stay home? I don't want anything to happen to our treasure."
"Not this again... Ever since it was confirmed that I'm pregnant with your child, you keep telling me to retire as an adventurer."
"But…"
"No buts! Besides, after a few more months, I won't have time to do this anymore once my belly becomes too big. And when our baby is finally born, I will need to stay at home to watch after her anyways, so at least let me go on one final adventure with you guys."
"..."
"Please, Dan? I promise I'll give you some extra service once we go home…"
As Helen quietly mentioned the last part to Dan's ears, his face turned red as he unwillingly gave in to her request.
The rest of their party members had moved on ahead of them, so Dan hoped they weren't able to catch what she had just said. Otherwise, he knew he would get teased by them for hours.
Unfortunately for him, he was a bit too optimistic as there was a busybody in his party, who was always ready to pick up on gossip.
"Aww. Leader, you must want to end this fast and go home to enjoy your love session with Helen, right???"
"...Myla, don't tell me you used your [Zone Detection] skill to eavesdrop on us again…"
Due to her class as an Advanced Scout, along with her enhanced hearing abilities from her race, Myla was one of the reasons why their party had promoted so fast; clearing quests with record-breaking speed.
She was a demi-human, with cat ears sticking out of her short black hair.
By synergizing her racial abilities with her class, she was able to perceive everything around her within a certain radius.
"Ahaha. You two can't flirt in secret when I'm here."
Even though vanguards like Dan would normally be at the front of the team, he knew he could trust his other vanguard to lead the way.
Their party, Light Flash, was exceptionally well-known for being one of the best A-ranked adventurer parties.
One of the requirements to achieving A-ranked was to acquire your advanced class, and all of the members in their party had already reached it.
As one could guess, Myla's original class was Scout, and she became an Advanced Scout within a few years since she became an adventurer.
Dan's class was originally a Swordsman, and he became a Weapon Master in less than a year, causing his peers to label him as a prodigy.
As Dan and Helen caught up to the rest of his party, they stopped in front of a stone door.
A total of 12 people, from two parties of six, were currently standing in front of the door, waiting for the elf in Dan's party to finish deciphering the mural.
The other party, Crimson Night, along with Dan's Light Flash, had discovered this hidden passage a week ago, and after holding a strategy meeting, they decided to explore it together on this day.
"What's up? Is this door the only thing you guys found at the end of the hidden tunnel?"
"Yes, leader. Although if you weren't so lovey-dovey with your wife, you would've reached this door at the same time as us."
"..."
Dan knew he was going to keep getting pestered by the rest of his party, since Myla wasn't the type of person to keep her mouth shut.
"So, Eldun, how's your progress with the mural over there?"
In Dan's party, Eldun was a rearguard with the class, Advanced Archer. He was also responsible for deciphering any foreign languages they encounter in their adventures, due to his knowledge from many years of study.
Currently, Eldun was focused on unraveling the mysterious words on the mural on top of the stone doors.
"I'm halfway there, leader. Give me a few more minutes."
"Sure."
Seeing as how they have some time to kill, everyone was busy checking on their equipment and consumables, to make sure they're fully prepared to tackle whatever it is behind this door.
"Hey Leo, how are your wife and kids doing at home?"
Leo, with the Advanced Fighter class, was the second vanguard in Dan's party.
He was the second in line successor to the Loaz Continent.
Demi-humans made up more than 90% of the total population of the Loaz Continent, and the royal family were always part of the lion race.
Since Leo wasn't the crown prince, he was given permission to go on adventures all over the world.
"I'm done."
Eldun proudly spoke up as he turned around to face the others.
"So? What does it say?"
"I'll simplify the message. To the ones who are seeking the Revival Jewel - courage, strength, wit, and luck are needed to pass the five perilous trials."
"Oho. Revival Jewel, eh?"
Nearly everyone was hyped after hearing about the treasure at the end of the trials.
However, Dan wasn't as excited as them. He knew that in the Dungeon, every legendary treasure had an equally difficult test that one needs to pass in order to obtain it.
With Helen being pregnant with their child, he didn't want them to face any unnecessary risk, even though the reward is tempting.
Just based on the name of the treasure, he guessed it was related to giving somebody a second life if it was true.
"Helen-"
"Dan, I know what you want to say, and I'm not gonna listen. This will be my last adventure, so let's make it a good one, okay?"
"Sigh...."
Since she didn't want to listen, he could only do everything he could to protect her and their unborn child.
The first trial involved defeating an endless wave of monsters, which lasted for hours, while the second trial required them to kill a boss-level monster.
The two parties only incurred a few injuries and scratches during those two trials, which were quickly healed from the use of potions and skills by Crimson Night's healer class.
The third trial occurred in a relatively large space, where they had to escape a labyrinth within a certain time frame.
This trial was where the first few casualties occurred. For some reason, the three people who haven't reached their advanced classes struggled the moment they set foot within the labyrinth.
They felt like their bodies became at least ten times heavier.
Although the others thought it was weird, they just ignored it and told those three to do their best to catch up with them while they went ahead to find the exit first.
After an hour passed, the 9 people who left the labyrinth heard a painful agony from the depths of the labyrinth.
The remaining members of Crimson Night all wanted to go back to help the others who fell behind, but they were unable to enter the labyrinth again, as if an invisible wall blocked their advance.
Dan's party was focused on the fourth trial ahead of them while all that was going on.
Although Helen was hesitating about something, seeing the three members of Crimson Night unable to return to the labyrinth, she gave up in the end.
An unspoken rule for adventurers was that you should only worry about your own party members, because putting your teammates at risk to save others was an illogical decision.
Who would party with somebody that would forsake your life for a stranger's life during a life or death moment?
Those adventurers trying to be a hero of justice should become a knight instead, since nobody would be willing to trust them with their lives.
The fourth trial involved crossing a long corridor, which were filled with traps hindering their way.
After successfully dismantling those traps which took them a few hours, another mural appeared at the end of the corridor, on top of the fifth trial's door.
Since half of the mural was damaged, Eldun was only able to decipher the part where you need to offer a drop of blood.
However, Myla and an Advanced Treasure Hunter from Crimson Night had used their [Treasure Perception] and [Inspect] skills at the same time to peer into the room ahead of the fifth trial.
Due to their curiosity, they discovered some treasures far behind the fifth trial, such as the Revival Jewel, Crystallized Fairy Tear, and other artifacts.
They were only able to inspect the details of the Revival Jewel, while the rest of the items had their descriptions hidden away, perhaps due to their low levels or something else.
Item: Revival Jewel
Description: Can resurrect anybody back to life as long as their death was recent
- ???
Just reading the first description had already caused those two to become excited, leading them to subconsciously ignore the second description which couldn't be read.
As each of them took turns to offer a drop of their own blood, there was no reaction from the door.