'This Is Not A Regular Dungeon, This Is A Specialised Dungeon.
Rule 1: Only The First 7 People To The Top Of The Dungeon Are Rewarded.
Rule 2: Dying Inside The Dungeon Will Lead To You Being Teleported Out Of The Dungeon.
Rule 3: However, If You Are Killed By A Fellow Venator, You Die.
Rule 3: All Venators Are Set To The Universal Level Of 50.
Rule 4: The Dungeon Has 15 Floors, PvP Will Be Turned On In The Last 5 Floors.
Rule 5: Only Magical Skills Are Allowed.
Rule 6: You Will Receive 1 New Magic Skill Every 3 Floors.
Rule 7: There Is No EXP Gain.
Do You Wish To Accept? [Yes] Or [No].'
Vier clicked the [Yes] Button. Vier woke up inside the dungeon, all around him were cold stone walls with no exit out. Surrounding him was hundreds of other venators who also clicked [Yes].
"Challengers! Awaken!" There was a giant statue infront of all the players, striking the ground with it's long staff. The floor shook, waking up all the other Venators. "Pick your skill!" The voice was being emitted out of the statue, seemingly from its mouth, even though it wasn't moving.
Infront of Vier was 3 cards of rare rarity. 'Pick 1.'
'Skill 1: Homing Flame.
Allows The User To Shoot Out A Fire Ball That Homes In On The Closest Enemy.
Skill 2: Poseidon's Tears.
Allows The User to Form Tools And Projectiles Out Of Water.
Skill 3: Solar Bursts.
Allows The User To Burn Several Enemies At Once From Far Away.'
"These are all pretty good." Vier thought to himself as he sat down with his legs crossed, his hand on his chin.
"I'd recommend getting Solar Bursts, there's plenty of enemies in this dungeon, not so much bosses." A petite voice spoke over Vier's shoulder.
"Who are yo-" Vier turned around and behind him was a small little raccoon who was wearing a sailor outfit.
"Yo! My name is Tanuki! You can call me Nuki for short." Nuki stood with her arms out in a T pose.
"Ta- AHHH!" Vier screamed in a high pitched voice, his screeches ringing through the dungeon walls and echoing. If they weren't awoken by the rumbling of the statue, Vier's scream definitely would have. "ITS A DOG!"
Vier backed up from Nuki, physically recoiling from the abomination infront of him.
"D-DOG???" Nuki too now was recoiling from the thought of her being mistaken for a creature as foul as a dog. "I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW YOUNG MAN, I AM A TANUKI. TA-NU-KI."
"Ta-Toe Mooki...?" Vier stuttered slowly as he let his guard down, saying it in the form of a question, yet not asking for an answer.
"No. Tuh-Noo-Key." Nuki corrected him.
"Tan-Noo-Ki." Vier squinted his eyes, he was never good with names. The first time he had met Kreel, he called him 'Wheel' for 3 years without realising.
"..." Nuki had her arms on his waist. An awkward silence fell onto them. "Sure." Nuki raised a thumbs up with her short little stubs that were her fingers. "Something like that."
"Great, Tan Nooki." Vier smiled as he too gave Nuki a thumbs up.
'Do You Wish To Select [Solar Bursts]'
Vier turned around to his screen, clicking [Yes].
'New Skill Learned! [Solar Bursts]'
"What did you get?" Vier turns around at Nuki, now in a completely different outfit. She is now wearing a traditional Japanese kimono. "What the f-"
"I got [Winter Solstice]. It allows me to freeze people, and like a lot of them." Nuki checked her screen.
"Very well Challengers. The race shall begin NOW!" The entire room started to shake, a giant gate appeared on the wall and opened up. A bright light shined through the door, showering everyone in a warm show of lights. Through the door was a giant field of grass and sunflowers.
'Floor 1 of 30. Floor 1: Sunflower Field.'
As soon as the doors opened, all of the venators started booking it towards the door, wanting to be the first to get to the second level and reap the rewards of the first floor.
"Hey, give me a piggy-back ride." Nuki was clawing onto Vier's jeans, trying to climb up him.
"Why would I do that?" Vier pushed Nuki's face down.
"Cause, the first stage isn't a test of speed or agility, its a test of quick-thinking and adaptability. You might think the goal of the floor is to get to the other side of the room, that's partially correct. However, there's something else that makes this stage exceptionally deadly, especially for the naive."
"W-what?" A man started to scream for help as the sunflowers in the field started to grow upwards and become larger. Sharp and shiny teeth start to emerge from the centre of the flower, creating a large petal like effect with it's teeth. "HELP!" With a single bite, the flower took off the entire man's head. It soon became clear to the rest of the players. They weren't in a normal flower field, they were inside a sunflower field that would eat you alive.
"See? Those dumb idiots." Nuki pointed towards the sunflowers. Although their heads had enlarged and their stems thickened, they were still stuck to the ground and had no mobility. "They might be able to eat me in one bite, but that won't matter if they can't move."
Vier caught wind of her plan and went along with it, he had no other choice but to trust her. He had a weird feeling since she was oddly acknowledable about the dungeon. He just wrote it off as quick thinking.
"C'mon pig! Ride me to glory!" Nuki had climbed up to his shoulders and was slapping and stretching Vier's face, commanding him to run onwards.
"I hate you Tan Nooki." Vier had an unamused look on his face.
"What the hell are you doing?" Ella was next to the two of them. Vier was standing there with a tanuki in a kimono ontop of him, demanding him to move forward. She had a smile on her face, but a concerning one at that.
"I'll tell you afterwards." Vier smiled awkwardly as he quickly ran away from her, not wanting to make it anymore awkward.
As Vier stepped through the portal, the entire atmosphere had changed. The sky was clear and a light baby blue, the sun was shining on him and Nuki.
"What now?" Vier was now stood inside the grass patch, surrounding him was hundreds upon hundreds of sunflowers. "Hello?" Vier turned his head around and Nuki had completely disappeared from his shoulder. "NUKI?!"
"[Winter Solstice]; Let Hell Freeze Over." Nuki was on the ground, with her hands out.
Suddenly, Vier felt a chill run down his spine and into the wound on his abdomen, it hurt slightly.
The grass and sunflowers around the two of them started to freeze. The stems and roots of the nearby sunflowers had now been frozen, making them incapable of moving around.
"You're not half bad." Vier cracked a smile at Nuki as the entire field was now solid ice.
"Run! Now!" Nuki turned around and climbed onto Vier. "The ice last, at most, 2 minutes."
Vier had started running through the frozen field, small shards of ice getting caught in his clothes.
"STOP!" Nuki screamed and grabbed Vier's hair.
"What?" Vier turned around to look at Nuki. Suddenly, he felt nothing below his feet. He looked down and saw a giant gaping ravine. The mud and soil on the edge had nearly slipped off.
"Grab onto me!" Vier looked up and saw Nuki dressed in a skaterboy outfit with a giant propeller hat. "I'll fly you to the end!" Vier slipped into the ravine, barely grabbing onto Nuki's hand. "Lose some weight." Nuki flew over the remaining venators who were falling into the ravine. On the other side of the cliff was Alev, burning through the fields and clearing a path out.
'First Finisher: Alev.'
"C'mon." Nuki flew down and dropped Vier on the other side, running in the same path that Alev had made. As Vier approached the finishing line, Nuki jumped infront of him, claiming second place instead of him.
'Second Finisher: Nuki.'
'Third Finisher: Vier.'