By: Indumati Eveningnight
There is a man by the name of Gran Mason who had a very sad life in his dingy broken down old house, he was stuck with his family ever since graduating high school, and his abusive father wouldn't let him get a job "because he had stuff to take care of at home" and was basically told, no matter what he did, that he didn't deserve his own life, his own job, or anything, while his dad took no responsibility for the home and forced him to clean up after him. Even after his dad died, he was unable to get a job due to mental toil affecting his mind leaving his home unkempt and the echoes of his dad in his mind still mocking him, just like the time he had as a kid built mazes and dungeons on pen and paper that some of his old friends at school thought were cool but his old man burnt and destroyed them in a rage and said that real men should take responsibility and not mess around with games and fairy tales like the "lazy fruity bums" they are, so he was living alone in a dingy house, unable to pay bills, until one day, he fell asleep, and a fire started in the microwave because it wouldn't stop running out of nowhere...which burnt his house down with him inside of it. He died horribly, painfully, unloved, neglected, and only a few family members showed up as his funeral, who remembered happier times back when he was little and would show them all kinds of mazes and dungeons and monsters they designed for a game they made up, but the man's father had long since destroyed that artwork in fire, sighting "real men don't play with such things". They left an old notebook of previous designs he left him them in his coffin as he was lowered in the ground and they felt sorry that he had lived such a horrid life that they had no idea about.
His soul floated into the void between dreams and awaken...
And he saw a man that looked like a construction worker that looked like a naked mole rat mixed with a foreman as well as another entity that resembled a woman that looked like she was a massive luna moth in humanoid form. The Luna moth-like entity then said, "Ah, you responded to our call." The construction mole-man then said, "Miss Luna told you to give you a blessing to lay a good foundation for ya." The soul was confused. He then said, "But I am dead...what blessing could I obtain now? Besides, I never had been blessed before..." Luna then embraced the soul, calming it and soothing it in her arms and floof which gave a calming aura. The mole-man then said, "I heard ya made all sorts of cool things back when you were a kid, eh? But your dreams didn't quite come true due to the evils of your world. That's why I shall give you the power to make the dungeons of your dreams." The Luna Moth woman then replied, "And I shall give you the power to connect and make monsters, fairies, and spirits after your own imagination." The soul then replied, "Who are you people? Why am I here?" Luna then said, "Ah, our apologies. My name is Luna." The mole-man then said, "And I am the one known as The Constructor, one who watches over the rise and fall of civilizations all across time and space." Luna then replied, "And you are Gran Mason, a precious child in the sight of our goddess" The Constructor then laughed and said, "We are beings that serve the Goddess of Creation and are what you might refer to as...I guess some sort of guardian spirits." Luna then replied, "And Mr. Gran, we wish to have you take part in the Isekai Dream System, to be reborn in another world." Gran then responded, "But why?" Luna then said, "Because part of what our mistress' will is that unfortunate and sad souls in the world, especially kinder more humble souls who have unfulfilled dreams." Gran then said, "It depends...what do I have to do there?" Luna then replied, "Our blessings will give you power to do great things. However, there's no major quest or orders to fulfill, you are free to do whatever you so choose to do." The Constructor then said, "To make or break civilization, to build, to destroy. It's up to you." Luna then said, "To forge friendships and alliances, or not, it's up to you." The stray soul of Gran then said, "Very well. I accept." Luna then said, "Oh, one more thing before you go." The Constructor gave Gran back his old designs and pictures of what he once made. The soul looked happy and said, "Thank you..." Luna then said, "They were important to you, long ago. So we thought it could give you a bit of a flash of inspiration, like back then." The soul took it into his hands and held it lovingly. Luna and the Constructor then opened a portal for him in the center...and Luna then said, "Good luck out there." Gran smiled and went inside...and crossed into the boundaries of a new world...
Mr. Gran woke up in a small meadow in a forest, surrounded by several beautiful flowers, many resembling wild daisies and blazing stars and with a few trees scattered about. He saw some strange animals resembling large gray squirrels nearby, and near a small pond nearby, he saw a creature that looked like a large male deer with a spotted brown and white fur on it that was sipping water. He looked on at amazement. Such a place would be a good location to make a base, but he didn't want to disturb the natural order for he found it quite beautiful. He then heard a cry ring out in the forest region...it sounded like a young girl crying out for help. Gran knew what he had to do. He had to help that lady, so he ran off in her scream's direction. He heard the sounds of battle as he traveled forth. Then he saw some men in white and gold armor with blood red capes coming towards an elf woman and someone older who were scared for their lives from the men as they were attacking the people the elf was traveling with, who were losing the fight. Gran heard the male older elf say, "We cannot allow them to obtain the Sacred Key." The knights kicked the last of resistance aside and drew close with swords. Gran knew it looked bad for the elves. A voice in his mind and image of The Constructor's words echoed to him, "What will be your foundation, kid?" Gran knew what he must do. He jumped down from the hill and put himself before the knights and the young elven woman to protect them. The captain of the knights sneered at this and said, "Anyone who gets in our way is an enemy of the goddess!" The enemy knights drew near. Gran saw he could summon a monster. He decided to summon his first monster- a powerful bat-like daemonic vampire-like humanoid clad in a bat-themed armored bikini like outfit and having purple and black bat wings and called her forth. The older elf gentlemen winced at seeing it, but then the bat lady then said, "I, The Wings of Night, Alucarda Bathilda, draws near. Master, what shall we do?" Gran then said, "We must protect the elves from these guys." The captain of the knight then responded, "Summoning daemons? Surely a sign of blasphemy! Get them!" Alucarda, however, blasted a dark blast of wind that swept the enemies up in grim miasma that burnt their lungs and rotted their flesh and made them fall one by one. The captain, however, broke formation and charged for Gran with a flying leap! However, Gran saw he could create a trap. And so, he created a steel wire trap that sliced and cut apart the knight's captain. Two remaining knights were shocked by this. One of them said, "No way, Captain Hubert!" The other then drew his sword and said, "I will avenge you!" and then both charged in, however, Gran created a hole beneath them that dropped them into a pit of spikes that impaled them before sealing itself back up. The enemy knights had been defeated. In fact, it was easy. Gran assumed they were more used to fighting those who couldn't resist or defend themselves rather than against anyone with much skill. That or him and his servants were much stronger and cleverer, he wasn't sure which was true. The old elf man then said, "You protected us? Who are you? And how are you able to summon monsters?" The elf lady then said, "And you seemed to have some sort of trap master skill as well." Gran gave some healing potions to Alucarda to help the people who were hurt and injured. Luckily, her and Gran were able to cure most of them before it was too late. Gran said to the older elf and the young elf who were clad in green and black, with the older elf wearing a long robe with a styled leaf-like symbol on the back, and the young elf woman being clad in a short skirt and light feminine armor and carrying a small wand with her styled like a butterfly, "I am known as Gran Mason, I am a dungeon maker. I heard you were in trouble and came to help you." The elf woman then said, "That explains the odd skills...there aren't many like you left in this world. Most of them were hunted down by the Church of Protagonism long ago." The old man then says, "Hmm...maybe you can help us, actually." The elf woman then said, "This will mean potentially aligning with someone who may have ties to the Dark Lord." The old man then replied, "Galedancer, be reasonable. If he can build dungeons, he can help protect the key." The elf woman then said, "First we should make sure..." she then took out a crystal ball and asked Gran to lay his hands on it. She was expecting some sort of dark magic or something but only say a clear night sky under the moon and saw a tower being built into the heavens that protected many. She then said, "A divine sign? From the goddess of creation? Well then, Mister Gran, My name is Robin Galedancer, and this is my grandpa, Lark Galedancer. We are refugees that fled our home because the knights of protagonism claimed the goddess of creation had need of the sacred key to the Celestial Realm. They say it is for a perfect world and necessary to stop the Dark Lord, however, the knights do little but do evil in the name of their quest. They burnt our village when we refused them and have been chasing us down to kill us to obtain it. That is why we must ask you, are you in league with them or the dark lord?" Gran Mason then said, "I only heard about Protagonism from you. I am from very far away, you see." Lark then said, "In that case, we have need of your services. Now, we cannot pay too much for making a dungeon for us. However, if it is truly capable of protecting our people, we would be grateful." Robin then said, "I can even offer myself to you, if that's acceptable. As your slave-" She was very distraught about this, but Gran then said, "I have no need of that kind of thing, and you don't have to worry about pay. I'll do it. For your people. As it seems you're deeply in trouble. Now..." He decided to use an ability called "Survey" and another called "Analysis", to look for suitable land and to look into the elves and their needs. Robin noticed he was using some sort of magic and was cautious. Gran then said, "I think that meadow from earlier would make suitable land...after all, it seems off the beaten path. As for your needs...it's perfect. A nice clear area with plenty to hunt and gather while having clean water and I can summon fairies and elementals, since you guys have talents in regards to those." Lark then said, "But that's a lost art...how...?" Gran then said, "I think it has something to do with Miss Luna's blessing." Robin wondered what he meant as Luna sounded familiar to her and then she realized, "Lady Luna, the Dream Guardian? In that case, let us go."
Soon, they reached the meadow, which the forest seemed to open to lead them both there. Gran then said, "I think a stronger variant of the Lost Woods Puzzle would be perfect to trap intruders while being welcoming to beings who have connections to fairies." Lark was confused and said, "What do you mean?" Gran then said, "It's a puzzle that basically sets up a maze of multiple paths where to get to the proper path, one must listen for music down the way. However, I can modify it to not include the music, that way it'll be harder. While those who are connected to the dungeon and registered with it will have no trouble and be led to it immediately, or whoever you guys want to come here under your orders." Robin replied, "You can really do it?" Gran started setting it up already. With his powers, he made a magic maze in the woods that led all over the forest while using a magical illusionary fog to set it up. He then said, "For monsters, I shall set up fairies and elementals of things like wood, wind, and water." He then summoned some dryads resembling beautiful tree women with bark like skin fused with trees, sylphs with brilliant colorful butterflies wings and clad in dresses like wind and flowers, and undines that controlled the fog and rain and could purify water with magic orbs and douse things in climate controlled rain, which the sylphs could work with to summon harsh storms by working together while the dryads also controlled various wooden Oakmen to act as defensive guards. The monsters were strangely friendly towards all the elves, despite many of them having reservations about them at first. In fact, some of the elves would tame some of them and command them, as if awakening to lost ancient arts that they once possessed, with the Dryads even providing fruit and undines providing clean water for them. Lark responded, "Incredible. And this is all of it?" Gran then said, "Just the first defensive layer of the plan." Robin then said, "There's more? But it's already so much." Gran then said, "I also will give you magic items too. They will help you summon creatures and some of them are weapons enchanted with magic to help defend yourselves." They saw flutes for summoning fairies when under pressure and staffs that could command plants and bows tipped with runes that could enchant arrows with magic of the choice of the caster, some of them even firing rapid fire shots, and some not even needing normal arrows, and wands infused with the magic of the forest that could turn people into plants. He even created devices that created an illusionary ward that made the village he set up for them seem invisible and non-existent to people even by their touch and senses even! And the village itself was a tree-top village made of carved wood and orchards of plants and running water fused with the natural-looking gates, rails, and fortifications, and each home had doors that opened into trees that led to portals into subspaces inside of a tree-like house they could dwell in. And he even had elementals and monsters work as security forces while maintaining the environment. Robin then said, "This is already enough, surely-" However, Gran then said, "That's just your people's living quarters. I intend to go all out on the actual dungeon to protect the key. The key, he observed, looked like a shining green magical gemstone. He needed to get serious for this, as it's important to keep it out of the reach of dangerous people or greedy adventurers. Gran made sure he had clearance from Lark and Robin to set up some more aggressive monsters and dangerous traps. Robin gave him the go-ahead to continue. Lark was curious to see what he would do himself.
Then Gran showed the temple off he made. It was massive, like a huge giant cathedral of nature itself fused with a mighty fortress. In fact, the paths that ran through it were like a park at the entrance, then it led into a garden-like world maintained by invisible fairies and elemental spirits that were designed to be friendly to the elves and those they protect, but a threat to any enemy. Man-eating plants, powerful wild-eldritch seeming fae creatures merged with wood and leaves and flowers and even the sun and cloud and fog and rains and butterflies and moonlight, dark caverns with mushroom like fairies and bat like creatures that confuse and suck blood and giant spiders that lurk around corners in ambush...and it had 3 tall levels full of revolving paths controlled by switches and halls maintained by maid like silkies whom the elves made familiars of them while allowing them to maintain the dungeon since they liked their cleaning magic, and puzzles revolving around letting a giant ball break through the floor through multiple webs that led to a swamp like environment in the basement that was full of swamp-like fairies resembling things like frogs and dragonflies and alligators and lilypads and pond scum, and in the boss room, which needed a key, was a giant golem that could reanimate itself from rock and wood controlled by a clever gnome craftsman who protected the only way to the Key. Oh, and the key itself was hidden behind a miniboss that was a giant alraune-like fairy resembling a venus fly trap. All of it rock solid. The elves themselves got along with every creature here and trained themselves and their familiars to be stronger and to bound in a training hall near the village outside of the dungeon to act as a double security force. Robin herself had already become a powerful spirit caller and Lark trained to grow strong and learn powerful magic thanks to Gran also giving advanced magic books as well. Robin then said, "Mr. Gran, you went above and beyond for us..." Gran then said, "Do you think I should do even more?" Lark laughed a bit and said, "If you go any harder, I don't think we could keep up. In fact, many of the people think you're a hero for it all!" Robin agreed, "Hey, Mr. Gran!" She said seriously, but sweetly, "Take a break, alright? You've been at it non-stop." Gran then said, "I need to make sure everything is perfect-" But Lark and Robin insisted he rest in an inn he had helped set up. Alucarda was pleased with this too. She then said, "Master, you did a lot of cool stuff for them." Gran then said, "I think I should re-double the illusion magic-" He seemed rather always on, though Alucarda was making loving eyes at him. She sighed, wondering to herself if he was always on with this, and she said, "Master, I think it'll be fine. Why not relax a bit? Surely, you're tired." Oddly though? Gran felt no tiredness. Yet he then patted Alucarda and said, "Alright, I just am worried I didn't put everything though it's proper paces." Alucarda then pat his head and said, "Hey, it'll be okay. Honestly, you don't need to worry anymore. They already love your work so far. Doesn't it feel good?" He agreed, it did. Alucarda then put a blanket over him, and said, "Sleep, now." Gran then said, "Okay okay, I guess we'll know, if heroes come, how things work."
When he woke up, Robin greeted him with breakfast, and Alucarda greeted him with tea. Gran went for the breakfast first, and Alucarda leered back at Robin as if jealous, and then Gran took the tea and said to them, "Both of you are so thoughtful, thank you." Alucarda smiled and said, "No problem, master." Mr. Gran then said, "You don't have to call me that, Just Gran will do." Alucarda agreed. Robin then said, "Heroes are coming...we saw them try their hand at the illusion maze, that "Lost Woods" puzzle." Gran then looked into it with his own security. Sure enough, he saw several adventurers in a small group on the screen. The main leader, a swordsman, said, "This new dungeon just popped up not too long ago. The church reported there's dangerous monsters in the area following their failed attack, and their leader fears it could be the return of the Dark Lord." The female sorcerer of the group then said, "Because they failed to get the key from the elves?" The shield bearer of the ground then said, "Strange though, right? This dungeon only started to exist a couple of days ago, and there's so many strong monsters. On top of it, I think we're lost. Every path leads nowhere, and monsters keep swarming us with magic." Then one of the dryads came and attacked the group by throwing a bunch of exploding apples on them that knocked the shield bearer aside and struck the sorceress hard enough to send her flying. The swordsman tried to fight the dryad by going for flame slash, but an Undine appeared supporting the dryad and hit him with a high-pressure water jet that knocked him down the path, causing him to get separated from the party! The sorceress then said, "No...we can't die here..." The tank tried to get up but was bound in vines and branches. The sorceress in desperation tried to get out an escape crystal, and said, "We have no choice! We have to retreat!" The shield bearer then said, "I know right? These monsters are way too strong for our level! Where did they come from???" The party then warped away...all three of them. Robin then said, "Should we let them go?" Gran thought for a moment and said, surprised, "Huh, it's way more effective than I thought." Robin then said, "They certainly got sent packing!" She laughed a bit and said, "First invasion repelled!" Gran wondered if the adventurers wouldn't tell others...but he was surprised...they seem to be taking orders from the church. Gran decided he needed to investigate this more. Robin then said, "Mister Gran, you seem worried. Is everything okay?" Gran smiled a bit, and said, "How much damage? Anyone hurt?" He tallied up the losses and damage, but it was minimal. He then said, "I like this result." Robin then said, a bit sad, "A shame they got away." Gran then said, "How strong were they?" Robin replied, "A small B-Rank Group. So pretty strong and skilled. A rank or higher are considered strong though." He wondered how many A or higher rank there were and if they would be a problem. He decided to meet with Lark back at the library...
Lark then said, "A's and higher are scarce these days. After all, adventuring is dangerous work, and most of the guilds are under church control. So...by that estimate, you've created a very strong dungeon that is not easy to penetrate by any means, let alone clear. In fact, a high rank dungeon means few will attempt it and it will spread to the elite that something powerful is coming...I wouldn't be surprised if they really did think it was even the return of the "Dark Lord" they fear so much." Gran thought about this. It could be troublesome if the church though him a villain and knew his face. He decided he would make a mask to disguise himself later as part of his plans. Lark then said, "Oh, and I would like to thank you. A strong dungeon is good for our people. In fact, it's fantastic. Now, how about you head to the Mountains Next? The Dwarves there have problems with keeping their key safe, and are holed up and holding the line, but it won't be long before they're conquered. I will give you a letter. For my old friend there." Gran took the letter respectfully and read it. He then put it in the "item box" which was part of his skill set, which Gran learned was a common skill among many. Gran pondered spacial magic a bit...maybe he could use it to create his own personal dungeon? In fact, a pop-up came up that told him he could make a "Subspace-Dungeon" he could take and make a large-scale dungeon inside and store his monsters in. He tested it by calling Alucarda inside of it. He noted that it existed in it's own time-space. However, Gran wanted a more permanent, physical space to make a name for himself. Lark warned that the mountain path was under hooman control, and thus, church orders. However, Gran had a plan. He wished to pass himself off as an adventurer to gain information and build a reputation enough to get elite access into his opponent's inner workings. He considered setting out tomorrow...and leaving the dungeon in Lark's hands, since he was the wiser of the elves and their acting leader, and Gran knew with his age, he shouldn't do much fighting and should be advising and doing management instead, and only engage if necessary. Lark agreed, saying, "Ha, you think age will keep me down?" Robin then said, "Your health..." Lark then said, "I can nuke em! Just like those young ones try!" Robin then said, "Please consider it would be bad if something happened to you. After all, our people rely on you for what you've taught them." Lark then said, "Hmm...alright. Well, I'll keep it going. But first, Mr. Gran, make sure you're prepared, ya?" Gran decided to spend some time doing some final fine-tining before getting ready to leave.
Meanwhile, at the Church of Protagonism, the adventurers that escaped came in, hurt and battered, and gave their report. Their leader than said, "We have a big problem. The new dungeon that appeared in the Great Endless Forest is potentially S-Rank." The head priest, a man in a blue and white clergy room with a monocle and a bishop-like hat like the chess piece, then said, "What? But how? It literally just appeared out of the blue, and it's S rank?" He thought to himself and said, "This means The Dark Lord is already making their moves. However, we have thin resources due to looking for the 7 Gems of the 7 Virtues. If one of them is there, and the elves are in a dungeon, they must have made a contract with the Dark Lord. We have no choice but to consider that all of the, aside from the one we already possess in the King's Hands, could have already fallen into his hands." The leader of the adventurers then said, "But sir, the only S-ranker left who's available is..." The head priest then said, "The People's Heroine. The Valkyrie. However, until we confirm the threat, we cannot just send her out." The adventurers then said, "We'll talk to the guild about sending scouts." They quickly got healed by the local nuns, in exchange for a small donation, and then left to talk to the guild leader about this. The head priest wondered if maybe, just maybe, the adventurers were exaggerating, but he couldn't deny he had sent a team under the church to get the key and they had not returned. He suspected the worst, that something went wrong when they fought the elves to obtain it. However, a dungeon suddenly appearing in their territory so quickly, as if in a couple of nights? That would suggest that someone was around who could make dungeons...and that someone could be someone in league with or maybe the dark lord Arachne herself. Whatever it turned out to be, he needed to be cautious of whatever vile, evil, monstrous creature this could be. He just needed to confirm it first. Luckily, the guild master is a loyal friend of his, so surely there wouldn't be a problem...but he worried his influence wasn't as effective as it used to be in some of the smaller towns, such as near the mountains were the church wasn't widely accepted yet. He then sighed and said, "I wish we had the resources...but...maybe we can send some of our A-rank Paladins and Clerics, to see for themselves. Ooh maybe we can work together investigating it with the scouts. After all, we have to be careful here." When the guild master came by later, the guild master was a gruff older man with a beard who was an experienced yet retired berserker. He then said, "What is it you want now?" The head priest then said, "They made you aware right?" The guild master boasted and said, "Ha, those guys are amatuers. We're sending some real fighters out there." The head priest then said, "Actually, we need a scout for now. And we need to be careful. We're talking about something potentially dangerous." The guildmaster then replied, almost mockingly, "They probably just got in over their head with a puzzle and overwhelmed is all. After all, they mentioned some sort of magical maze?" The head priest then said, "Must be some sort of elf magic, maybe. I am concerned because the team sent to get the key should have gotten it by now." The guildmaster smiled a bit and said, "Very well, we'll send a scout out there, but it's up to you guys to provide support and check out the place. After all, we received reports that the dungeon is quite deep." The priest was unconcerned by this and had a tough paladin and a high level cleric accompany one of the Adventurer Guild's strongest A-rank fighter and an A-rank scout with an assassin/thief background. Then, they were given their orders by the head priest who said, "This is important. We need to know what we're dealing with and how strong."
Later, the Head Priest's A rank team made it through the entire lost woods puzzle, but they were already worse for wear and running low on resources. Not to mention the Paladin was poisoned and the Priestess of the group was already running low on many. There were a lot of strong monsters, including screaming mandragoras that got added not too long ago by Gran, and more venomous insects to make honey for the elves known as "Killer Needles" who constantly swarmed and poisoned the team. Then they saw the huge fortress before then and a seemingly empty area before it. The Paladin then said, "Where is the elves? Where's the key? Surely, we can't take much more." The scout then said, "There's powerful magic in the area, they could be nearby. I'm more concerned about that fortress though. It looks like a massive tree-like palace. It's almost as big as Yggdrasil itself." The priestess then chugged a mana potion and was exhausted, but still willing to fulfill the mission, "This place is rough. And that whole maze was definitely not there earlier. In fact, I think there's more monsters than the report said." The fighter then replied, in a gruff rather upset voice, "If I have to fight another mandragora, I feel like I will scream." The scout then said, "And there are powerful fairies too...with strong magic. Worse, they're organized. I noticed they worked together with the monsters and used tactical tricks to fight against us. That is definitely unusual monster behavior." The fighter than said, "Shall we head for the fortress next? I feel like something is there. The key could be inside." The team limped on and took their time to recover before heading inside. And what they found was even more nightmarish, despite what the opening hall being so open and beautiful suggested. As they past through the garden, they were still being chased by sylphs and elves working together to shoot them with magic arrows and blades of wind, and the man eating plants and dryads nipped and snapped and sent poison and exploding apples at them, the paladin was already down and eaten, having been captured and swallowed who by a man-eating plant known as a "Venus Deathtrap". The scout vomited as he was ripped in half by the man-eating plant, and the fighter tried his best to fight an elf at close quarters, but the elf played a flute and summoned sylphs that blasted a harsh gale that blew him away while hitting him in the shoulder with a poisoned arrow, forcing his retreat down into a cavern, thinking he could lose the elf there. The cleric panicked as he started to slump over from the poison and tried to heal him as they wandered to a small cave like area...but the myconids appeared and blasted paralyzing spores on them that left the cleric unable to move, and around the corner, the fighter escaped by the myconids but ran into a giant man-eating "Bloody Widow" spider and was webbed up and dragged off into the shadows where the scout could still hear his screams as the Bloody Widow started to liquify his insides and suck them out. The cleric tried to get away as she struggled against the paralysis, but the myconids quickly poisoned her to death with a cloud of toxic spores which she choked on and vomited her blood and guts out until she died. The scout had lost their team! This fortress...it was a highly dangerous dungeon, and the scout had a feeling that they barely scratched the surface! Then an elf came towards her ready to fire an arrow towards her heart and a myconid was ready to paralyze her from behind, and the other path had a massive man-eating spider behind it. So the scout decided to use their magic crystal to escape!
The scout then quickly ran to the church to give a report, eyes full of fear, and then quickly, in panic and fear, to give her report. The Scout recounted how the team that was assigned to her was wiped out and how there was a fortress past the lost woods maze that wore them down, and how the elves not only worked with monsters, but also could summon fairies to their side and had helped to take them down! The head priest was in a panic. The elves and monsters working together? A massive forest fortress?!? And a lost woods maze protecting it too? The head priest was horrified. The church quickly used a crystal to make sure she was telling the truth, which showed green, for truth. The head priest quickly let the guild and the church know the horrors...and that the forest' lost woods was bad enough to be at least A-rank, but this fortress that was clearly protecting the key was an S-Rank Dungeon if he ever heard one. This threw the church and guild into a panic. They decided that no one was allowed to go until they could mount a counter-offensive and get together a very strong skilled team together. The head priest even made sure the elders were alerted of it. The head priests contacted everyone they could and said that A and S ranks needed to address this now. After all, the elves and the key are clearly protected by something formidable, dangerous, and foreboding! And they were surprised that something like this could spawn quickly! They were already talking about the rumors of the return of the Dark Lord Arachne herself. They wondered what sort of vile, monstrous creature or great evil daemon would be responsible for this?
A short time later, in a local guild hall, in a small town just outside of the forest in a small town mostly populated by hunters and craftsmen, there was a guild hall where a couple of mysterious people would come in. And they looked like a hooman in a mask who wore a black cape and a worn top hat, and a young lady who was clad a red and black mage outfit with a bat brooch. The guild hall owned said, "What can I do for you?" With most of the guild not really paying attention. After all, they were both worn and shabby looking, and the young lady looked like a beginner mage. The male hooman, who is actually Gran Mason in disguise, then said, "I would like to register, as an adventurer, along with my teammate."
End of Part 1.