Wielding their axes, three men around the ages of thirty and forty are walking along the forest one summer morning. One of the men is holding the reins of a pair of healthy horses, which are pulling a wooden wagon carrying hemp ropes and a newly sharpened hacksaw.
Those men are lumberjacks. Their jobs are to cut trees for their wood. After cutting down and trimming the fallen trees, they would place them on the wagon for them to carry the logs to the nearby town to be used for various purposes, such as materials for construction and fuel for the furnaces and stoves.
The forest is filled with monsters, a mindless and ferocious magical being. But the area of their working spot only had weak monsters, and they are physically strong enough to fend off some.
"Hm?"
As they are walking, the man who holds the reins notices that the horses suddenly stop marching. Not hearing the sounds of their hooves anymore, the two other men turn around.
"What's the problem with them?"
"I don't know. They suddenly stopped."
The horses have been their companions with their work for years. However, it is the first time they see them act strange. From the looks of it, the horses seem to be terrified of something.
The man then tries to pull the reins in an attempt to make the horses move, but the horses don't budge. He applied more strength in his pull, albeit it only made the horses pull their necks.
"Hey! What's your problem?! Move!"
"Neighhh!"
"Whoa! Calm down!"
When he forces himself more, the horses then raise their bodies and cry, which makes the man lose his balance and fall to the ground. The two rush to the horses in order to keep them cool, but their efforts seem to be ineffective as the horses continue resisting.
"Did you feel that?"
"An earthquake?"
In the middle of calming down the frantic horses, the men then suddenly feel the earth; it seems to be shaking. At first, the earthquake is weak, and in an instant, the shaking intensifies so terribly that the men stumble on the ground.
"What the hell is with this earthquake?!" One man yells as they duck. "It's so strong!"
The earth terribly shakes and the trees sway. Though they do not see it, the men hear some snapping noises coupled with crashes; a few of the trees have fallen down due to the intensity of the quake.
A minute has passed before the disastrous earthquake comes to an end. The three men stand as the shaking subsided. Upon scanning the area, the results of the calamity unfold before their naked eyes.
"What the hell just happened..." A man pondered.
"Hey, everyone. Looks like something big is there."
A man points his finger in a certain direction as he sees something. The other two take looks at what he is pointing at, and their eyes widen in shock.
"What the hell is that thing...?"
"I don't know, man. But there is one thing I am sure of: that thing was not there earlier..."
Around a hundred meters from them, there is a huge structure that suddenly and mysteriously appeared in the place. It is so massive that it could be seen over the sea of trees they certainly used to know as a place without any man-made structures.
Out of curiosity, one of the men walks deeper into the woods and tries to approach the mysterious object.
"Where are you going to?" Asks one of the men.
"Of course, I'm going to see what it is." He turns his head and responds. "I know you two are curious as well. We are in the same boat here."
They know themselves that they are quite wanting to quench their curiosities. In spite of knowing nothing about how dangerous that can be, the two men eventually let their curious minds win and give it a go.
"Ugh... fine."
"But if things get a little dangerous, we have to back out immediately."
"I got it."
Upon drawing up to a conclusion, the lumberjacks go deeper in the woods to check what just happened there. They have no idea what they will find there or what will happen to them.
As they walk in caution, their minds are racing with emotions such as fear, anticipation, and excitement. Every one of their steps intensifies their feelings, but they are brave men and have survived multiple life-and-death situations. They are not going to back out unless it is necessary.
The nearer they get to the structure, the better the image of the mystery. At a certain distance, they get a grasp of the structure and have a clearer vision of it.
"What the hell is this thing...?" A lumberjack opens his mouth in shock.
When they are a few dozenmeters from the alleged source of the shaking, they can see a massive structure protruding from the earth. It is surrounded by fallen trees and is covered by dirt.
The structure is all black and seems to be made out of durable rock. What is strange about it is that it is shaped like a pyramid. A pointed tip and smooth surfaces.
The size is also absolutely massive. From the lumberjacks' estimation, the pyramid is around fifty meters high, and each side is a hundred meters wide at the base. They also think that the whole thing is bigger than what they can see.
"I am not sure if I am right since I haven't seen one," one of the lumberjacks spoke. "But I think this is what they call a dungeon."
"A dungeon? Like where the adventurers make their money. The place where monsters continuously spawn?"
"I said I am not sure, so I could be wrong."
"Even from this distance, I could feel some eerie feeling about that damn thing." The man shivers. "I don't care if it is a dungeon or something else. It's better for us to report it to the city."
"I agree."
Afterwards, the news that the woodcutters reported to the nearest town quickly reaches the heart of the kingdom.