"Wha... who are you? Are you some kind of wizard?" stammered Bob.
The man did certainly look like a wizard. He was wearing a loose, bottle-green robe and a pointy, wide-brimmed hat of the same color; he had a long, white beard that went down to his knees; and he was carrying a long, wooden staff, with a luminescent green crystal on the end.
"To answer your question, no, I am not a wizard. Technically, my wizarding license was recently revoked because I tried to use my magic to turn stock bonds into gold. Lead is too expensive these days, so I decided to turn some of these useless stock bonds into something valuable. Unfortunately, I got caught, so now I'm not allowed to use any higher-level magic until my license is reinstated. In the meantime, I'm using lesser spells to protect ducks and other waterfowl, as part of my parole. Oh, and my name is Grondlefshmnir the Verdant, or Gron for short."
"Yeah... sorry for kicking the duck. I was just a bit confused. I mean, how else am I supposed to get into this mansion?"
"Oh, the mansion? Take this," replied Gron, handing Bob a key. "This is a magic key. It should unlock any door. Use it wisely. Oh, and while you're in there, could you find my car keys? I seem to have lost them, and that mansion seems to attract lost items. I'd look there myself, but I can't leave this duck unguarded, and he simply refuses to go in there."
"Sure thing. I'll let you know if I find anything."
Bob held the key up to the mansion's large door. He heard the loud *clunk* of the lock's mechanisms turning, and the door slowly creaked open.
"Well, here goes nothing," Bob said to himself as he crossed the threshold. Once inside, he saw a huge grand staircase in front of him, spiraling upwards. To his left was an ornate maple door with a valuable-looking handle. Its companion to the right was blocked by a heavy piece of fallen wood. Before he could do anything, however, the large double doors behind him slammed shut with an epic *THUD*.
His only means of egress blocked, Bob had no choice but to continue inwards...
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