After thinking it through carefully, both of them chose Purgatory Mode, each for her own reasons.
Kiala, so as not to fall behind her brother.
Lesliana, because she did not want to lose to the other two.
Danilo raised his hand, and the pile of crystals disappeared.
He approached another mound, and the same thing happened.
One by one, all the piles of carcasses and wood vanished.
Now only the weapons scattered across the ground remained.
— Is that the legendary storage ring? — Pancho asked, his voice filled with curiosity and greed.
He walked up to his father and grabbed his hand.
Only the name and the rank were visible, not the attributes.
— Oh my God… it's Mythical! — he shouted, startling everyone around him.
As usual, Kiala did not care much, out of ignorance.
The others, however, felt their breathing grow heavy.
— Damn it! — Kiala shouted irritably after being startled. — Why are you always like this? You shout about everything and nothing! Worse than a woman!
The curse only slipped out because their father was there.
If he had not been, the insults would have been far worse.
— Old man… this Mythical item… is it really what I think it is? — Pancho asked, half trembling, stuttering and ignoring his sister's irritation.
Danilo nodded, confirming it.
Then he placed a hand on his son's shoulder and activated the Mother–Child Mode of the ring, binding him.
When Pancho realized what that meant, he made an even bigger scene.
After that, Danilo connected the entire group to the ring's Mother–Child Mode.
— You five will collect all the drops. Then go home and rest. You need to recover your energy. Tomorrow, your mission begins, — Danilo said, after selecting the most difficult mode of the mission.
He would face all levels.
It felt as if he were returning to the old days in Azeroth, when he was still young and cleared endless dungeons.
The good old days.
— I want to start my mission now, — Leila said.
— Me too, — Mikaela added. — I'm not tired yet. Starting now would help stretch my muscles.
Danilo looked at the two of them.
He had already expected this. But they needed to rest. They had been resurrected that very day.
At least until he knew whether there would be side effects, he would not take the risk.
After all, those two were now his women. He could not risk anything. Just the thought that, in the future, they would serve him… already made him anxious.
After Lesliana's death, he had not married again, though he had had a few lovers. With his status, that was easy. But none of them even came close to those two—Leila Chronos and Mikaela Morningstar.
— No. You will rest. I know you're eager to grow stronger, but I can't risk anything happening to you. I know you're powerful enough, but before you enter and start the mission, there's something I want to do.
What Danilo truly wanted was to obtain career-change scrolls for everyone.
The idea was simple: with each floor conquered, he would obtain a hidden career-change scroll for each of them.
Although it was possible to obtain such scrolls from special treasure chests, the chances were extremely low.
— Big Bad Wolf, and the egg? After absorbing the blood, did it stop reacting? — Lesliana asked, somewhat worried.
Danilo looked at the half-meter-tall egg in Leiliana's hands and frowned, confused and slightly annoyed.
To be honest, he did not know what to do either. But it seemed everyone expected answers from him, and there would be many cases like this in which he simply would not have any.
Seeing her eyes filled with expectation, he decided to act.
He would cut his own hand and drip blood onto the egg.
If it did not work, he would leave the matter for another day.
The Sky Slayer transformed into a knife. Danilo cut the palm of his left hand, and unlike Leiliana, the blood truly flowed, running down onto the egg.
— How did you do that? — Leiliana asked, stunned. After all, he was supposed to regenerate as well.
Earlier, she had even considered doing to him what he had done to her—ripping off one of his hands.
Since he would regenerate anyway, she wanted to return the pain she had felt. Of course, that was before the speech he had just given. Now the atmosphere was different. There was no longer any way to do that, and deep down, she was genuinely curious.
— I pushed the mana away and cut my hand, — he replied, looking at the rest of the group. They seemed to understand.
Mana circulated through their bodies.
It was through mana that they used magic; it was because of mana that they activated skills, and it was also why they regenerated infinitely.
If mana was pushed away and regeneration was suppressed, then the explanation made sense.
— And why didn't you say that earlier? — she asked irritably.
— It was just a guess. I tested it, and it actually worked.
After receiving the blood, the egg displayed the same patterns that had appeared earlier with Leiliana.
Danilo's blood was also absorbed, and shortly after, everything returned to normal—and, as he had expected, nothing happened.
He resigned himself to the result. Seeing that, there was nothing more he could do. All that remained was to wait for another day.
However, shortly afterward, something changed.
On the surface of the egg, runic patterns appeared again, moving around it like living serpents.
Then, suddenly, Danilo's and Lesliana's mana began to be violently drained.
The suction was so intense that the mana became visible to the naked eye. The egg absorbed everything frantically, like a crazed, starving beast.
Everyone was stunned by that reaction and, at the same time, filled with ecstasy.
It meant that, to hatch the egg, it would not be necessary to use impossible-to-find materials.
Before their eyes, the egg left Lesliana's hands and began to levitate. The glow intensified more and more until, at high speed, it entered directly into Lesliana's womb.
Everyone witnessed the miracle of life with their own eyes.
Lesliana's belly began to swell, stopping at a size equivalent to about twelve weeks of a normal pregnancy.
And that was not the only transformation.
Her golden eyes became lighter.
Her appearance grew more dignified and more ethereal.
It meant only one thing: her bloodline was awakening.
Meanwhile, at Danilo's house…
— That stone you mentioned… does it really have the power to grant any wish? — Nzinga, his daughter, asked.
Her gaze was fixed on him, and there was a hint of anxiety in her voice.
— Yes… I believe so.
— Taking into account the results of the research that circulated in my past life, an incomplete wish stone could raise a talent from class (SS) to (SSS).
— Talent is something innate. It shouldn't be possible to evolve it. At least, no method had ever been found. There were several cases in which the use of wish stones was suspected.
— For example… there was a couple. They were an incredible duo. No one knew their true identities, because they wore masks.
— The man possessed ocular powers, and the woman used chains. Many believed they were the strongest, because almost all the records of the Celestial Tower were broken by them.
— And no one ever managed to defeat them. The woman controlled thousands of chains. Those chains had the ability to seal and absorb magic, turning her into a true infinite-mana machine. She became known as the Chains of Destiny.
— As for the man, he was called the Eye of God. Through his eyes, he could control anyone. He could see through the eyes of others. And much more.
— The tragic end of that duo was caused by arrogance. They allied themselves with the monsters. When the attacks began, it was discovered that they were allied with the enemy, and the man died in the end.
— I don't know what happened to the woman afterward… but she reappeared possessing her partner's powers, his talent, and even his profession.
— I believe she killed her own partner and used a wish stone to take everything that belonged to him.
— So… the stone truly has incredible abilities.
— Yes, — the daughter replied.
— And how can we obtain one? — the mother asked, thinking deeply.
— There is no exact confirmation on how to obtain a wish stone, but the most commonly mentioned way is through the Novice Mission, and the talent must be above level S, with a perfect completion.
Nzinga reflected on her daughter's words, and hope blossomed in her chest.
She possessed two talents—one (SS) and one (SSS).
So, for her, it was possible to obtain a wish stone.
Suddenly, right in front of the children, their mother vanished from the room.
— She disappeared? — Evandro said, startled.
— That was the Novice Mission. Everyone has to face the Novice Mission, and if they complete it, there will be rewards, — Suzeth said to her siblings.
— Judging by how hurriedly she left, she must be truly desperate to obtain that wish stone, — Tiago said.
Selma, as always, merely observed her siblings.
She already knew what her mother wanted to do.
Deep down, they all knew.
— If you were in her place, wouldn't you do the same? — Selma said, looking at her brother.
Everyone fell silent.
— Whatever she wants to wish for, it won't change anything in her life right now. Everyone hates her. She's selfish and cruel, and everyone around her despises her. So whatever she wishes for will be in vain, — Evandro said, trying to suppress the panic quietly growing inside him.
— You didn't quite understand what I said earlier, — Suzeth said, looking at her three siblings, sadness filling her tearful eyes.
— The wish stone can grant any wish. Any. Even going back in time. Do you understand?
Her voice was heavy with sorrow.
Then it hit everyone.
Their mother was desperate to fix everything from the very root.
After all, she was now practically hated by everyone she loved. And if there were a chance to go back in time and do things differently?
Unfortunately, by going back and changing things, the mistakes of the past would be erased.
And they themselves were living proof of those mistakes.
— No… no… she wouldn't dare do that. She can't, — Evandro said in terror, clutching his head. — She can't… she can't…
He began to cry, repeating the words over and over.
The others cried as well.
The idea of ceasing to exist—or of never having existed—was terrifying.
Deep down, they all knew that if they were in their mother's place, they would do exactly the same thing.
Once again, they all thought about their lives and their actions, and realized there was so much to apologize for—especially toward their parents.
They had distanced themselves from both their father and their mother.
The mother told them the whole story.
How she had approached their father out of revenge, and how she later fell in love with him.
But it was already too late.
The mistake had already been made, and there was no way to change it.
She begged for forgiveness.
She begged them not to distance themselves from their father.
But the fear and shame they felt every time they looked at him were too great.
The guilt of carrying a secret they knew was a ticking time bomb—one that would eventually explode.
And when it did, they would all be gravely hurt.
The fear of being hated by their father made them leave him first.
Although they understood their mother's regret, it came too late.
And the most terrifying part was that, if it had come earlier… none of them would have existed.
Shame.
Guilt.
Terror.
That was what drove them away from their parents.
Except for Selma, who clung even closer to her father.
— Don't worry. Based on what I discovered in my past life, the Novice Mission is extremely difficult. I couldn't even complete mine, which was level A. Imagine Mother's, which is level SS, — the eldest sister said.
Everyone calmed down after hearing that.
— Those who manage to complete it usually have rigid military training. Or their talent is very weak… because the stronger the talent, the greater the challenge.
They all nodded in agreement and fell silent, lost in their thoughts.
No one wanted to say anything else.
Suddenly, five people appeared in the room.
One man and four women. Three of them were stunningly beautiful. Two were particularly peculiar, with wings and fox tails.
Among the group, they recognized two people.
And there was something even stranger.
They were all covered in blood.
— What are you doing here?