Tower Arc | Rivalry Awakens
Location: Tower – Floor 3, Entry Zone: Verdant Maze of Grief
Time Since Entry: 1 Hour
"Welcome to Floor 3: Verdant Maze of Grief."
Objective – Reach the Memory Core at the maze center.
Conditions: Mental clarity is vital. Do not succumb to illusion flora.
The surroundings looked like paradise, but felt like despair. The air was sweet with honeyed sorrow, and every step felt like it weighed on the soul.
Ankit stood at the head of the formation. Behind him, his chosen Blackhunt party—Kaido, Riya, Asha, and two new recruits—stood silent, unnerved.
"This place..." Riya whispered, eyes flickering with faint sparks, "feels like it's alive."
"It is," Asha confirmed. "The flowers here don't kill the body first. They consume the mind."
They moved in formation, every footstep deliberate. Tower Floor 3 wasn't about brute force—it was a psychological labyrinth designed to drown climbers in their regrets, their failures, and their doubts.
Suddenly—
"Ankit Kumar. I expected you'd charge into the Maze like a storm."
A voice drifted from the mist ahead. Soft. Confident. Venomously calm.
Out of a moss-coated archway stepped a man clad in silver and gray, his Soulmark glowing like a serpent tattoo around his neck.
🌪️ Enter: Raunak Vritra – "The Silver Serpent"
He hadn't changed since Floor 2.
That same calm arrogance. That same sadistic smile. But now, his aura was even sharper—like a blade wrapped in silk.
Name: Raunak Vritra
Guild: Ouroboros Circle
Soul Weapon: Naga's Fang – A living silver whip that extends into hydra-headed serpents
Progression Level: 51
Known Bloodline: Serpent Devourer (Epic-grade) – Grants enhanced reflexes, venom affinity, and mental charm resistance
Reputation: Opportunist. Genius strategist. Eliminated his own team on Floor 2 during a survival trial—legally.
Kaido's fists clenched. "You again."
Raunak smiled. "You should thank me, really. That beast on Floor 2 you conveniently survived? I herded it your way."
Riya's hand crackled. "Say that again."
"Easy," Ankit muttered. "He's baiting us."
But Raunak was already circling slowly.
"This floor isn't about strength, Blackhunt. It's about memory. Emotion. You… care too much. It's adorable. But here? That's weakness."
He stepped past a dying flower and caressed its petal. It shriveled into ash.
"Let's see which cracks first—your resolve or your precious bonds."
With a bow and a grin, Raunak turned and disappeared into the left corridor of the labyrinth. His whip hissed as it slithered behind him.
🌑 Moments Later – Team Blackhunt, Rest Stop Inside the Maze
They settled near a glade of quiet moss.
"Why didn't we strike?" Kaido asked.
"Because he wants us to," Ankit replied. "This is a maze of grief. We waste energy, we lose clarity. We fall."
Ankit stared into the reflective petals of a flower nearby. For a moment, he saw his parents—standing in the courtyard, proud.
Then the image turned. A funeral. A casket.
He blinked. It was gone.
"Floor 3 tests more than muscle," Ankit said. "It tests your ghosts."
Asha added, "Raunak will weaponize that. Be ready."
📜 Profile Interlude: Raunak Vritra – Rival Climber
Guild: Ouroboros Circle
Tower Record: Fastest to clear Floor 1 (5 days), Floor 2 (9 days)
Soul Trait: "Twinned Mind" – Can remain emotionally detached even under mental attacks
Rumored Past: Son of a criminal syndicate in Delhi. Rose to power by betraying his own bloodline. Entered Tower not to become a god, but to rewrite what gods mean.
Ankit knew this much: Raunak wouldn't kill without reason. But he would destroy reputations, relationships, sanity—anything that made you you.
⚔️ Final Scene – A Warning from the Maze
As night fell in the floor's endless dusk, the group reached an intersection between three paths.
All of them pulsed with illusion mist.
One path showed a glowing tree.
Another showed Ankit's mother waving to him.
The third was completely dark.
"We split into pairs," Ankit ordered. "We test one path at a time. Return in 30 minutes. No risks beyond that."
As they prepared to move, a whisper came from behind them—not human, not beast.
Just one word:
"Traitor..."
Riya turned first. Nothing.
Kaido growled. "This place is cursed."
But Ankit stared long at the empty darkness.
Because that voice…
It sounded exactly like Toni.
And he wasn't even here yet.