I stepped forward toward the altar. My footsteps echoed in the dim hallway. The only source of light was the torches on the walls. They flickered the amber glows as I passed along.

 

I came to a stop near the altar and took a good long look at what’s on there. The object on the altar emitted a golden light. I had to squint to get a good look at it.

 

There, I could see it. It had the shape of a heart—a golden heart. It looked glossy and shiny. There were no blemishes or scratches anywhere.

 

Amazing. 

 

Despite being buried deep into the underground labyrinth for more than a thousand years, it still looked as good as new. There was no damage or any sign of old age at all.

 

So this was it, huh? The most cherished magical item in king Sharron’s collections. Legend had it that some of the items in his collections could even destroy a nation or even rival gods.

 

If what the legend said was true, then the item in front of me—King Sharron's most cherished item—would have the power like that. If the legend was true, though.

 

I reached out and picked it up with both hands. Carefully, gently, lifted it up and lined it on my eyes level. I took a good look at it. 

 

It was beautiful to say the least. I could feel its smooth surface from the palm of my hands. It looked so precious. It was as smooth as a sword forged by the infamous blacksmith, Indra. No, it was even better than that.

 

I kept caressing it lovingly. Sure, it was beautiful, but I still didn’t know what it could do. Did it really have the power to destroy a nation? To rival god?

 

Well, I guessed, I could only find out. But right now, I needed to get out of here first. I was confident in my ability, but I still didn’t want to fight my through too hard while carrying a precious ancient object like this. 

 

I knew it was very durable—heck, it was durable enough to survive thousands of years of solitude and came out with no scratches to be found—but my teacher said to never let your guard down no matter what. The moment of carelessness could lead to failure or even get one killed. 

 

I suddenly felt a bumpy surface on the tips of my fingers. 

 

What’s this?

 

I tilted the golden object and took a look at its base. It had some kind of engraving on it. It was a shape, no, two shapes entwined together. 

 

One was a shape of a circle attached to an arrowhead. The other was a shape of a circle attached to a cross.

 

An ancient language? What were these symbols?

 

I tried to decipher it but I couldn’t. I’d never seen such symbols before, so I had no idea what it implied. 

 

Weird. I was a veteran adventurer—an S-Rank, top rank there was—and yet, here I was, standing here and couldn't even figure out the seemingly simple symbols on an object.

 

During my long years of being an adventurer, I’d been through a lot of ancient places like this, and had seen a lot of ancient languages. I could decipher them all, no problem. 

 

I’d learned it throughout my long experience how to decipher such languages. You could say that I was a master of languages, not in theory but in a practical kind of sense.

 

Anyway, I couldn’t decipher these seemingly simple symbols. It looked simple enough but I couldn’t understand it.

 

Thinking so, a smile appeared on my face, and I began to chuckle. I shook my head and let out a satisfied sigh.

 

This was it, wasn’t it? I almost forgot it already. The fun of being an adventurer was to explore and learn new things.

 

I’d been an adventurer for a very long time, so I’d already unraveled a lot of mysteries of this world. I’d thought about retiring because my life had become dull and boring. There was nothing new for me to learn anymore. There was no excitement.

 

But this, this object in my hand, was proof that there were still a lot of things for me to learn in this world. There were still a lot of mysteries for me to unravel. The sense of wonder while wandering into the uncharted territory made my heart race in excitement.

 

This was it. A fun adventure.

 

I smiled and let out a happy sigh once more. I decided to get out of here for now and inspect this object afterward.

 

Though, before I could turn around, the golden heart-shaped object in my hands suddenly emitted a golden light so strong that it blinded me for a second.

 

I closed my eyes in reflex and held the object away from my face. But the bright light even pierced through my eyelids, making me see a golden white instead of darkness.

 

What’s going on? What happened?

 

I suddenly felt a warmth in my chest, then it spread throughout my entire body. It enveloped me, the strange yet extremely comfortable warmth. It was so comfortable that it could put me to sleep.

 

No, I couldn’t. If I gave in now, it would be no good. 

 

I couldn’t fall asleep in such a place. 

 

I needed to get out of here. 

 

I needed to…

 

The last string of my resistance died down, and the darkness engulfed me whole. My consciousness started to drift off to the land of slumber…

 

———

 

“Mmm…” I groaned and slowly opened my eyes. It was blurry, so I blinked once, then twice.

 

I sat up, rubbed my eyes, and shook my head to clear off the drowsiness. Looking around, the first thing I saw was the torches on the wall. 

 

Where was I? 

 

I remembered going on a mission, and then… what’s next… hmm…

 

Oh right! Then I suddenly discovered the labyrinth. I was so excited and decided to go inside and explore. Then there was this collections of King Sharron…

 

Wait… King Sharron? Collections? Ancient objects?

 

Then it finally came to me. My eyes went wide open, and I went into an alert mode. Swiftly, I looked down at my hands. It’s gone. The object was gone. W-Where was…

 

Wait… what’s this?

 

My eyes landed onto something else. Something I didn’t expect. Something that was even more shocking than the extremely valuable ancient object suddenly disappeared on me.

 

A sense of panic hit me. 

 

A sense of intense panic that I hadn’t felt for a very long time hit me like a sucker punch in the gut.

 

No, it wasn’t about an ancient object. It wasn’t about that anymore. The sense of panic came from something else entirely…

 

Looking down at my body, what greeted me was a pair of watermelons wrapped tightly by a black tunic. The watermelons were so big, and the tunic was so tight; it made me feel suffocated, but that’s not the point… 

 

No, that’s not the point at all!!

 

“W-W-What’s going… on?” a feminine voice came out making my eyes go even wider than before!

 

I-I reached my hands and touched my throat. N-No… t-this couldn’t be…

 

A sense of fear that I hadn’t felt for a very long time since that last battle with The Dragon King Yamarr crept into my very soul. My body started trembling as if I was standing naked in the snowy mountain.

 

I was cold, extremely cold, but also hot at the same time. The coldness in my soul and the heat in my heart collided and left me with a sense of intense panic.

 

I bought my trembling hands into my sight and took a good long look at what I’d become.

 

No… this couldn’t be…

 

Without any hesitation, I ripped my tunic open. Two gigantic soft mounds that I thought were a pair of watermelons sprang out and bounced and jiggled freely as if feeling delighted at receiving their freedom for the first time.

 

No… this familiar sight. I-I’d seen it before, though it was in a different perspective.

 

B-But now… i-it was here, down here right below my collarbones. 

 

N-No.. I was…

 

Then, an ear-shattering roar suddenly rang out in the hallway. 

 

It was a very loud and menacing roar that could inspire fear upon anyone who heard it. The echo in the cavernous hallway only served to intensify its menace.

 

Still drowning in the sense of panic and fear, I slowly turned my head around and looked at where the roar came from.

 

The roar turned into a growl as the gigantic shadow launched at me at full speed.

 

I was unresponsive. The sense of panic and fear from before made my body go numb. I couldn’t react in time. 

 

It came closer and closer at the speed of a dragon breath. It leaped up into the air casting a huge shade of shadow over me.

 

Then, it finally came down, aiming to rip my throat apart….