Iyoto Hishida woke up from his tatami floor mattress at the first rectangular beam of light that shone through his window blinds. He had no alarm clock so this was a daily occurrence. Iyoto had been taught to never rely on technology for something nature already provided. He got up quickly and proceeded to get ready for the day.

After getting out of the shower and getting dressed, he trimmed his bangs so that they were perfectly angular like always and then walked to his kitchen. The hallway to it was lined with an array of geometrical pictures.

When he reached the kitchen, he neatly and efficiently made himself breakfast. It did not take him long to finish even while making sure his food was neatly cut before putting it in his mouth, and he was soon out of the door of the house. He made sure his yellow gloves were firmly on his hands and goggles were clear of fog while doing so.

In about fifteen minutes, he was walking through the streets of Atelier City and a short distance away from reaching his destination when he heard the ruckus of a bunch of people laughing and talking. Confused by the unexpected noise, he cautiously turned a corner and was met with an unwelcome sight.

There was a group of thugs wearing baseball attire surrounding the back wall of a gray-bricked building. They were carrying large bags and had spray cans in their hands. Iyoto stepped slightly back behind the corner to listen in on what they were saying.

“What are you even going to tag it with?” One of them asked to another that was holding a spray can.

“The words “green manticore” in giant green letters of course. It’s gonna look so badass and it’ll cover up this ugly eyesore.”

“Yeah, I’ll make sure to take a photo to show to the higher-ups. It’s gonna raise our cred like crazy doing something like this in broad daylight.” Another thug, different from the first one the eavesdropper heard, took out his phone in preparation with a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

As Iyoto heard their plans, his hand twitched but without forming a fist. The wall that they were preparing to graffiti was the same one with the Glass Plane mural on it. It was a weekly habit of his to come here and check up on it for the past half a year.

His heart rate increased as he thought about how to stop them without a confrontation. The young man racked his mind to come to an answer that would not lead to a fight breaking out and eventually decided on one.

The leader of the thugs shook the spray can in his hand as he was about to graffiti over the Glass Plane mural. The image depicted a plane made of blue-tinted glass flying through a sunset-lit sky but with one of its wings missing. This was a painting clearly left unfinished.

Before he could empty the can’s contents on the wall, a sudden voice from behind stopped him.

“Hey. You aren’t supposed to do that.” Iyoto had stepped out from the corner and was now dead center in the middle of the alley way. The stoic look on his face did nothing to display the anxiousness he was feeling aside from a slight sweat bead on his forehead.

The whole crew of five turned to face him with curious glares.

“Sorry, but unless you’re trying to stop us, we’re going to keep on going like we planned.” The leader standoffishly declared.

“That’s right. Tell him how things work Pierre.” His lackey cheered him from the side.

“If you don’t want to get stomped into the ground, you better leave.” The thug scowled and then turned back to face the wall. At the same time, Iyoto made a rapid dash for it. The others tried to stop the young man but he swiftly avoided them all and got right in front of Pierre.

“What the...!?”

Instead of answering him, Iyoto outstretched his arms to his sides with his feet firmly placed on the ground.

“I’m sorry, but this mural is worth more than any respect you could get from defacing it. You should look for somewhere else to practice your art. I suggest you try something a lot more than this if you want to become someone respectable.” Iyoto stated his words as ambivalently and with as less hostility possible but that did not stop the snickering of Pierre’s lackeys.

A vein protruded on the temple of his forehead and he grinned with malice brimming to the surface.

“You calling me a punk? What makes you think you can get off with that?” Pierre snarled at him as he reached into the duffel bag slung across his shoulders. The young prospective graffiti artist pulled out a long wooden bat causing the snickering of all those behind to be shushed.

“Hey, Pierre. That might be going a bit too-”

“Shut it! I’m just going to teach him a lesson is all. Besides, the coach said I needed to get in some extra practice, didn’t he?”

Pierre raised the bat up to Iyoto’s face then reeled it back like he was about to hit a home run. Iyoto remained still while his gaze kept shifting to keep track of the makeshift bludgeoning instrument.

“Take this, you bastard!” Pierre swung the bat with almost all the strength he could muster but Iyoto quickly ducked his head which led his aggressor to stumble. After Pierre regained his balance, he swung a few more misses at Iyoto who avoided all of them narrowly as to not waste any movement.

While Pierre was fuming at not being able to hit him, Iyoto was only thinking about how to get past the others and lead them away from the mural. His eyes darted back to it with a lengthy look.

A sucker punch came from his blindspot and slammed into his face. The disruption was enough to allow Pierre to finally land a strike on Iyoto right in his ribs.

“Ughh!”

The black-haired young man recoiled as he was instantly mobbed by the others and thrown to the ground.

When Iyoto looked up, the thugs were all looking at him with conceited looks on their face as if they had proved they were stronger than him. Pierre had his wooden bat resting on his shoulders with a smug grin on his face.

“This is what you get for messing with the Green Manticores!”. Pierre gripped the bat with both hands and raised in the air, preparing to come down with it. Meanwhile, Iyoto breathed in deeply and muttered solemnly to himself.

“I’m sorry, sensei.”

The bat came down.

“Yo! What’s the deal here ganging on someone with five people?”

A voice called out from the alley’s entranceway and Pierre stopped mid-swing. They all looked over to see a young man with dark brown eyes black hair wearing a red and black sweatshirt. He had a scowl on his face and his hands in his pockets.

“Who’s here now? You want a piece of us too? You’re gonna end up-” His words stopped mid-sentence as Allen came rushing towards them at alarming speed.

Two of the other thugs ran to intercept him but Allen quickly slugged one of them in the face with a previously concealed fist so hard it made his nose bleed. While that one was treating his wounded nose, Allen barely dodged a hit from the other and continued forward. The punch grazing him enough to leave a small scratch.

Two more tried to stop him but he was able to duck under their arms. Unlike Iyoto’s nimble evasion, Allens was more clumsy with him still getting scraped by their limbs but all that mattered was getting past.

‘I can’t waste a moment.’ Allen’s thoughts raced quickly.

The only Green Manticore member in front of him now was Pierre.

“Looks like you guys are the ones that need be put in their place!” Allen yelled out.

“You fucking bastard!” Pierre raised the bat up again to swing at Allen.

“Wha…!”

Allen elbowed him in his solar plexus with enough force to knock the wind out of him. Instinctively, Pierre released the bat from his hands and clutched his sore chest. The wooden item landed naturally in Allen’s hands and he rested it on one shoulder as Pierre skulked away to the others.

“I don’t know who you think you are, you piece of shit but you’re about to wish you never met us…” Pierre and the others' eyes widened as they realized something.

“Wait, you’re that lame punk from the other day. You out to get to revenge or something?”

“Nah, you idiots. Who in the world would just sit back as someone’s getting jumped right in front of them?”

“Trying to be a tough guy now? You should’ve fell back like last time. You’re gonna get that beating you owe us and then some along with your pal over there. You think you’re some kind of badass with that in your hands but all of us have bats on us!” Pierre gestured to his lackeys who were all pulling out wooden bats. Allen cautiously looked them over and grit his teeth. Allen then pointed his bat at them.

“You think that’s gonna scare me? Go ahead and come at me. I might not be able to take you all out, but I’m damn sure going to be able to hit at least one of you with this in the skull. So whoever wants to be the unlucky dude who gets their blood spattered all over the pavement, walk up.”

The smirks on the Green Manticore’s faces faded as they weighed their chances. Their grips loosened as they thought about how much pain they would be in for if they happened to be the one who ended up on the receiving end of a hit from their bats.

“Hey Pierre, this isn’t worth going to the hospital. This guy is obviously crazy.”

“Yeah, I’m not getting my skull caved in for a gang we just joined a few weeks ago.”

All of them started groaning words of protest about continuing the fight while Pierre glared at Allen with rage. He eventually grunted and clenched his fists.

“You guys are right, we gotta go to practice anyway. But you, you better watch your back, because the next time you run into us, you’re going to end up missing a few teeth.”

At those words, Pierre turned away and walked away from the mural with the rest of his posse.

When they were firmly out of sight for a few moments, Allen let out a much-needed exhale and let the wooden bat fall out of his bandaged right hand. Iyoto took note of it being fully healed since the last time he saw Allen only a week ago.

“That could’ve ended badly. I’m glad I spotted you all while I was doing my morning run.”

Iyoto looked up at Allen in awe. Allen had been able to do what he wanted to do with barely any confrontation as well. However, he wondered what Allen’s reason for protecting him and the mural was.

“Hey…Iyo, right? Can you get back up to your feet?” Allen inquired.

“Oh, yeah. To be direct, those thugs didn’t pack much of a punch.” Iyo got up relatively quickly and stopped clutching his chest that had been hit by the bat.

“On another note, my name’s ‘Iyoto’ not ‘Iyo’.”

“Is it? But ‘Iyo’ is a lot cooler don’t you think?” Allen responded absentmindedly

“Hmm, it’s shorter, only has two syllables, and similar to the popular greeting of ‘yo’. I can see the backing behind your argument.” Iyo acknowledged the soundness of Allen’s statement.

“Uhh..alright then.”

“Also, thank you for helping me and keeping this mural from being vandalized by those guys from just now.”

‘So that’s what this was about?’

“If I recall correctly, Iyo. You said something along the lines of this mural not being all that great. Why would you go so far out of your way to protect something you feel that way about?”

Iyo averted his gaze before looking back and sighing.

“To be direct, it’s kind of complicated. This mural was done by my sensei and caretaker, Hisato Takamura. But he never go to finish it.”

‘Never got to finish it, huh. Why do I feel like I know exactly what that means?’ A memory flashed of Allen hearing about Osvald’s uncle. Allen realized how much he wanted to know about Osvald’s current condition but that seemed futile with no way to contact him. He focused his attention back on the current conversation.

“An unfinished work can still have its merit.”

“A fragile glass plane with a missing wing that can only fly in circles... How could that not be a sorry sight to see?” Iyo bluntly replied.

Allen shrugged his shoulders.

“I guess you have a point, but if it’s worth you protecting then it can’t be that terrible. People tend to only go so far to protect things that are precious from what I’m aware of.”

“I see…so what you’re saying is that my food…is also a precious work of art?”

“What?” Allen blurted out in confusion. Iyo also looked slightly confused.

“It’s just that I would also protect any food I made fiercely as well, so I don’t think that’s all it takes to make something valuable.”

“I see your point.” Allen scratched his chin nervously.

“I guess that line didn’t make as much sense it did in my head. Well, make sure you have a better plan for defending what’s valuable to you than being a punching bag regardless. Trust me, thugs like that aren’t the type to just get tired and leave when they’re done beating you up.”

“I’ll be sure to take that into consideration.” Iyo replied monotonously and Allen began walking away.

“Okay, I’m going get back to my run. If you ever feel like returning the favor, just stop back Coffee & Chronicles and buy something.”

With those words and a wave, Allen left. Now, it was just Iyo standing in front of the mural that he continuously watched as if everything was as it should be.

***

Later that day, close to dusk, Allen and Nera were standing in front of an old and large gothic eight-story building that looked like an old hotel out of a horror movie.

“You sure this is the place lackey?”

“That’s what Glenn told us.”

“But it’s not even in the Underworld.”

Allen shrugged his shoulders as walked up the large wooden doors and he thought about how he had never seen a hotel door that did not have glass doors.

“This building must be incredibly old. Maybe it was made before they even thought magic needed to be hidden.”

‘Do you even know who “they” are?”

“Nope, but I’m assuming you don’t either.” Allen snidely remarked as he was about to knock on the inn’s door. Before his fist could reach it though, the door suddenly swung open.

“Hello! Are you two a part of the Virtuoso I requested to come today?”

They were greeted by a man only a little bit older than them with dark brown hair and gray eyes and a slight goatee.

“Uhh, yes. That would indeed be us.” Allen stammered out trepidatiously due to his surprise.

“Well then, come on inside, the name’s Liam Ware.”

Allen and Nera walked through the doorway and into the rectangular lobby of the inn which was surprisingly filled with more modern furniture than they were expecting. Besides the furniture, the walls, ceiling, and floor were all made out of a material resembling dark wood. The floor itself was mostly covered in scarlet and gold rugs while up ahead large ceiling fans provided the place with a decent amount of air conditioning.

Further on in front of them were two grand staircases that curved to opposite ends of the lobby and led to the second floor of the building, Inbetween those staircases, was a lone golden elevator. Allen glanced to his left side to see the inn’s counter while to his right was a long hallway.

“This is a pretty nice place you got here. It doesn’t seem like any specters have come through recently.” Allen stated.

“Yeah, this place doesn’t even look like it’s any worse for wear.”, Nera added.

“Oh, that’s because this part of the dungeon was used to give Traversers who frequented a place to stay.” Liam explained

Allen's eyes widened.

“Wait, you’re saying this place used to be a dungeon? Like the kind in video games that are packed with monsters?”

Liam nodded his head with folded arms. His expression beam with pride.

“Yeah, this place was built around the 19th century to lower the number of specters in the area.”

“So, you’re saying Crafters created a dungeon filled with monsters to get rid of monsters. Something’s not adding up here, Jolly.”

“Jolly?” Liam was confused by the sudden moniker.

“It’s because of your skull and crossbones bandana.” Allen elaborated which caused Liam to look up to the green accessory on his head.

“Oh, right. Glad it stands out so much. Anyway, the answer to your question is that dungeons aren’t originally made with specters already in them. Crafters instead create them to draw in specters and keep them trapped in so they can be dealt with more easily by Traversers.”

“If that’s the case, then how do they go about attracting them and what keeps the specters from just leaving?”

“Glad you asked that. Dungeons are usually radiating mana outward into the surroundings to call specters to them. Once the specters get in, barriers will activate any time they try to escape from them. Then, the Traversers come in to finish the job. They’re basically like giant fly traps.”

“So that’s how it is. Sounds kind of elaborate but also insanely cool to me. I always wondered why video game “dungeons’ were called that when the monsters were in charge of them most of the time. Maybe these “monster traps” is the reason.” Allen pondered the correlation between the two with a slight smirk.

“Hmm, I could see that. Wouldn’t be the first time something from the magical world got an unfitting translation to the mundane one.”

“Funny story, I figure the dungeon is what you want us to clear out, right? We heard this place was swarming with specters which made it unable to have any guests.” Nera spoke up about their knowledge of the request.

“You’re correct about that, there are some stairs that lead further down to the basement and from there you can get to the building’s underground labyrinth where the specters are still contained. The labyrinth is sealed and is no longer attracting specters to this location but you can probably infer how much of a safety hazard having a den full of monsters under your establishment is.”

“Roger, so you want Virtuoso to go in there and take them out. We’ll be able to do exactly that depending on how much you pay us.” Allen proclaimed with unabashed greed.

However, at the mention of payment, Liam’s averted his eyes somewhat.

“About that, I won’t be able to pay you much since I’m sort of low on funds.”

“Huh? Then, how could you afford this mega large inn in the first place?” Nera questioned.

“That’s because it was a hand-me-down from my father’s old employer, an old wealthy Traverser. My father used to be the groundskeeper of this to keep it spick and span. The Traverser was nice enough to pass it on to my father along with a generous fraction of his wealth. After that, my father decided to dump this place on me and use the money he got to travel around the world with his new wife.” Liam slumped his shoulders after telling the two all of this.

“So your father gave you a literal dungeon to take care of. Doesn’t seem like he’s getting a mug anytime soon.”

Liam chuckled at Allen’s joke and continued.

“Well, it’s gonna take a while to spruce up but this is my first big break and I have big plans for this. Anyway, where’s the rest of your team?”

“Rest of our team?” Allen and Nera said in unison.

“Yeah, you’re going to need a team of four, a Cascader, a Shader, a Mixer, and a Detailer.”

“Excuse me, but what are those?” Nera asked with a disgruntledly confused look on her face.

“How do you not know this? They’re the four main roles Traversers take on when going into Expanses or Dungeons. The Cascader keeps specters from getting away, the Shader breaks down their weakness, the Mixer prepares potions for the team, and the Detailer, which is most important for exploring a dungeon, looks out for traps and allows the team to navigate effectively through any maze-like area.”

“Oh. Sorry to say but we don’t have any roles like that. Much less four members. Two odd jobbers is what you get, Jolly.” Nera declared with a cheeky grin.

Liam sighed dejectedly. “If that’s the case, I very well can’t just let you guys go in there so unprepared, but, since you came all this way, I’ll at least you two clean out the basement. That place gives me the heebie-jeebies.”

“As long we’re getting paid, I’m fine with that too.” Nera responded with a nonchalant nod from Allen.

“Yeah, it might be nice to go on a more relaxing job for a change.”

“That’s good to hear. Before I forget to mention this, you might run into someone else here but make sure not to say anything about all this magic business.”

“They’re just a normal person? Got it, we’ll keep our mouths shut about anything crazy.” Nera proclaimed.

Liam’s next move was to lead them to the stairs that went down to the basement. As they walked through the long hallway that had been to Allen’s left. They spotted a kitchen with someone already eating at a table.

“Wait, what!? What are you doing here?” Allen exclaimed.

The young man eating at the table simply raised a hand up in greeting before making sure he swallowed the piece of pie he had cut out for himself.

“Hey, Allen.” Iyo then continued eating his food.

“Don’t just leave it at that. What’s going on?”

Liam looked confused for a moment before realizing what was going on.

“Oh, you must be the one who helped him out earlier today. He told me all about it at work. That was totally badass of you. To fill you two in, me and Iyoto go way back and we work at the same landscaping gig together. He’s been helping me fix up the inn too.”

“All I did was scare off some loser thugs that were ganging up on Iyo. Didn’t expect to meet him again here of all places. That’s an odd coincidence but small world I guess,” Allen stated as he brushed the back of his hair. Meanwhile, Nera walked right up to Iyo and reached out a hand.

“I thought the guy he mentioned before would be about as disheveled as he is but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Thanks for keeping my lackey on his toes. He’s a bit of a slacker when I’m not around. My name’s Nera. I’m sure it’s nice to meet me.”

Through thick goggles that made his eyes imperceptible, Iyo looked curiously at her at first then shook her hand in response.

“So, you’re Allen’s boss. To be direct, I was under the impression that he was more independent. You must be a really respectable woman.” Iyo told her as he shook her hand.

“Wow, this guy’s really a people person. It’s a good thing Allen showed up when he did. Who were the thugs bothering you anyway?”

“I’m not sure. Seemed like Allen had run into them before and they said they were a part of something called “The Green Manticores”.” As Iyo conveyed this information, Nera’s grip on his hand suddenly tightened with crushing force.

“The Cores!?”

“..Ow.” Iyo uttered with an incredibly delayed reaction which made Nera release his hand in realization.

“Sorry, just hadn’t heard about them in a long time. You two better be careful if you run into them.”

“You shouldn’t be too worried. All it was were those guys who were giving me trouble when we first met.” Allen reassured.

“Those losers again, huh? They’re definitely low on the totem pole then. It’s better to be safe than sorry though. They could always go cry to their higher-ups and those guys shouldn’t be taken lightly.”

“Hmm, I guess so. I’ll just cross the bridge when I get to it. For now, let’s get to the basement and deal with that.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Liam chimed in. He then looked over to Iyo.

“I’ll be back in a few dude. I’m just going to show these two downstairs.”

The taciturn young man nodded and continued eating his food. The pie in question seemed to be a freshly baked apple pie in a square shape which Allen found odd.

As they walked further down the hallway, Liam told the two something in a hushed voice.

“Iyo’s always been pretty particular about things. Hates anything hazy or murky and is a bit of a neat freak which is probably why he wears those goggles and gloves all the time.”

“That’s clear to see.” Allen replied flatly.

***

It took them a short while more to reach the stairs and descend them all the way to the basement. Allen and Nera’s eyes were wide as they took in just how spacious its interior was. The place was also filled with all sorts of retro and antique items. The most noticeable feature of the place was a large metal door at one end of the circular room.

“You sure this is a basement and not an auditorium.”

“Good one, Allen. But no, this place was supposed to be an area where many Traversers would gather before going down to the deeper levels of the dungeon through that giant metal door over there.”

“And now it’s just being used to store old VHS tapes.” Nera added as she walked over to a pile of tapes on the ground to the side of the stairs.

“Hmm, there’s even a TV and tape player over there. You could have a fun movie night here.”

“Nera, we’re not here to goof off.”

“Yeah, you think I don’t know that?” Nera’s response earned her a glare from Allen which she readily returned.

Liam looked back and forth between the two of them and decided to not add fuel to fire.

“Alright, since I’d like to stay here as less as possible, I’ll leave you guys to it. There are some labeled boxes scattered around I want you to finish packing and arranging. After that, I want you to gather any magical items you can locate.”

“You can’t do that yourself?” Allen asked.

“No, I’m not a Crafter. My family worked for Crafters which is why I’m familiar with magical society.”

“So, despite being a non-Crafter, you want to manage an inn that’s also a dungeon. Seems like that’d be more trouble than it’s worth if things go wrong.”

“Don’t worry. I have other people helping me out.” Liam answered wryly. The man then went up the stairs without elaborating further.

“Strange guy.” Nera noted out loud.

“I get a similar vibe, but I feel like I would be a hypocrite if I said that.”

***

After finishing packing the labeled box which took some time, Nera decided to take a break and walked over to the VHS tapes. Allen lightly protested but was too tired to seriously put up an effort stop her from placing a tape into the player hooked up to the TV. The movie that turned on was a horror movie about some kind of strange mutated quadrapedal monster with one eye. They had gotten to the scene where the monster was chasing a group of people down a mysterious tunnel.

At the same time, Allen had continued working to gather any items with mana. He was having a hard time finding even one when he spotted a trickle of magical energy coming out of an old chest. Allen slowly opened it and found an antique mirror that he promptly picked up.

“Allen, what are you doing? It’s almost getting to the good part where the monster catches everyone.”

Allen looked back at her and grunted at her laziness before looking at the mirror only to be bewildered when he realized there was no mana coming from it or the chest at all.

‘What? I know I felt some magic coming from here.’

Allen looked around to see if he missed anything when he heard Nera exclaim again.

“Sheesh, this monster is so fucking dumb! Isn’t it supposed to be able to hear people’s heartbeats? I could track them all down just by hearing their breathing.”

“Your sense of what’s easy is so off.” Allen commented dryly as he walked over to the box she had prepared beside her own makeshift seat of a stack of old newspapers. He sat down with a great fall that let out a thud.

Simultaneously, the monster that was rushing through the dimly lit tunnels on the TV stopped in its tracks as if alarmed by a noise

“Huh? Did it spot someone?” Nera inquired with her eyes glued on the screen.

‘Wow, you really eat this junk up.” Allen jeered which made Nera limply wave at him to shut up. Once again, the horror movie monster acted oddly and started pacing around in no clear direction.

“What is it doing?”

The monster leaped at the screen with its one eye seemingly glaring straight at them. However, the two were completely unfazed. They both had blank looks in their eyes.

“Impressive, a cheap jumpscare and a cheesy one at that.” Allen dismissed the monster’s actions and got up to look for more magic items when something he could not simply overlook happened. The monster’s singular eye followed his movements exactly.

‘No way. I must be reading too much into it.’ This was Allen’s initial rationalization but as he kept moving and the eyes kept track of him, it seemed too uncanny to be a coincidence. Nera was noticing the same thing as well.

“Wait, is this movie some kind of convoluted prank?”

The moment she stated that, the monster roared and the whole basement shook. The next image that was shown on the screen was the monster running down a tunnel. As it continued to get further and further down it, they began to feel the vibration of footsteps that got steadily stronger. Eventually, the monster reached a large metal door that looked very familiar to them.

“Allen, that’s the door to the labyrinth. You don’t think that monster is actually coming from there, right?” Nera brought this idea up while looking at Allen with unease.

“Of course not, that’s just a movie. There’s no way it’s actually happen-’ His words were stuck in his throat as he saw the visage of the four-legged cyclops in the reflection of Nera’s violet eyes. The monster’s breath was right at the back of his neck.