A Certain Guild Master's Memories (1)

Going back in time to when Bell left the Guild Masters' office.

The Guild Master sat in his chair staring into the air as if remembering a fond memory.

"Really that kid can already defeat a Demon, even though the Demons are stronger. You really did chose someone worthy Alice. It won't be too long now." the Guild Master smiles as he leans back in his chair with a smile and stares at the ceiling while recalling one of the turning points in his life.

As he sits in the chair remembering the good old days he says to himself. "On that day you came into our world, you acted like a normal human, you sang songs for me on my birthday, you helped me with my depression, and we both fell in love. But when they attacked you and sealed you, you told me not to worry, to forget everything, and to not get involved. How could you ask that of me?"

A single tear falls as the Guild Master sinks into the endless embrace of a heartwarming memory.

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Unknown Dungeon - Unknown Time

"Zach, are you done daydreaming?" the voice of a man in his late 30's echoes throughout the floor.

"Yeah yeah, Mark. I hear you."

While getting up from the dark and dirty dungeon floor bodies of monsters all around us disappear as they enter the storage bags mark and I have.

"Zach, I've always wanted to ask, why do you stare at that ring of yours at almost every chance you get?" Mark questions me as he looks at the ring on my finger

"I'm pretty sure I've told you the story before, no matter how many times you ask the story is still going to be the same. One day when I was 5 it was just there on my finger and it wouldn't come off. After my parents tried their best to take it off they decided that there wasn't anything wrong with it so they decided to just not worry about it." I answer agitated as I look down at the ring again. Why can't I read that last word, the more I try to read it the more it blurs.

'Appraisal'

Item: Ring of the Fated One

Rating: SSR

Description: A ring that leads the one who's fated with ',',',',',',.

Effects: Gives the unique skill "Increased Growth Rate" Cannot Unequip,

We continue onto the last floor of this unknown dungeon. It was found 3 days ago and our A rank party had to clear it first to determine the dungeon's rank.

"Even though these monsters are A-ranked monsters they all have the lowest level's I've ever seen an A-Rank Monster have, even the boss is an A rank monster but it's only level 1." Mark says as he looks through the final room using his Appraisal skill. The skill is really rare so only Mark and I have it in the guild. We decided to form a party because we have this in common.

"This entire floor just gives me a bad feeling altogether. Let's get rid of this boss and go back to report." I reply to mark while readying my sword.

"Still, monsters are supposed to have skills but so far none of them have had any. This is suspicious." Mark says as we rush to finish off the boss and all of its minions.

After defeating the boss and its minions we put all of the monster corpses into the storage rings. While mark puts the monsters he killed in his storage bag I check my status for the first time in a while.

'Appraisal'

Name: Zachary Rode

Titles: A-Rank Adventurer, Dungeon Conqueror V, Demon Slaughterer, Sword Genius

Race: Human

Age: 40

Class: Sword Saint

Level: 121

Strength: 121

Agility: 121

Endurance: 121

Intelligence: 55

Wisdom: 55

As the Boss' body disappears into the storage bag the entire dungeon starts shaking violently.

"Hey is there an earthquake or something?" Mark asks as he covers his head from the rubble falling from the above dungeon floor.

"It's fine, this happens whenever a dungeon is cleared for the first time." I answer since I had experienced this before.

After the shaking stops, Mark looks around the dungeon boss room and points towards a hole in the room's wall and asks, "Has that hole always been there?"

"Not that I've seen. Maybe it's one of those secret rooms we've been hearing about. I hear the monsters in there give rare drops and a treasure chest at the end of the room that may contain a rare potion that increases your physical abilities."

"Then let's head in, same rules as usual. Whoever gets the drop will keep it."

On Mark's suggestion, we head into the hole in the wall.

Walking through the hole in the wall we follow the path until we reach a room that is completely dark. The light from the boss room only reaches the entrance.

'Light'

Upon using the lifestyle spell light, the previously dark room becomes illuminated and a giant magic circle covers the floor. In the middle of the magic circle is a woman laying on the floor unconscious. Looking closer the woman is remarkably beautiful, her hair is golden brown. Upon walking closer to the woman the magic circle lights up the room while it activates with the white light engulfing everything in sight. After some time the light dies down and the woman is already standing.

"How long are you going to stare at me?" a feminine voice echoes in the surroundings as I notice that the woman was now conscious.

"Why are you here?"

As she looks at me with a deadpan face the light from my lifestyle magic reflects off the ring on my finger as it shines in the woman's eyes.

"You... that ring, where did you get it?" A commanding tone comes from the unknown woman.

'What is this, her demeanor changed when she discovered the ring. Maybe she knows something about the ring.' I think to myself as I decide that it wasn't harmful to tell her.

"When I was around 5 years old one day it just showed up on my finger. I've kept it with me ever since."

As she hears my story she continues to stare at the ring.

"Should we head back to the town? Our guild master will probably want to speak with you and get a report written down." I ask as I hand her some extra clothes I had on me, they may be men's clothes but they were larger than her so they should do for now.

"Sure. My name is Alice. What's yours?"

With Alice following after Mark and I, we leave the dungeon and head towards the City.