** ** ** House of the Fox ** ** **

Kitsune looked around at his current surroundings. He had been in deep thought for a while. His mind was in a turmoil. He couldn’t help second guessing himself every other minute. I didn’t help that he had only this one room to spread his mirthful thoughts around in.

Why… Why did this happen? Was I not clever enough? Am I a failure? How can I even hold the title of a floor boss… I am a failure. I have no one to blame but myself.

He paced around his room. His one singular room. It wasn’t fair. It shouldn’t be like this.

How can… How can all my children have trials for adventures to go through, but I don’t? Have the already surpassed me? They will each have three different trials for adventurers to choose from, but I will not get a single one… This is not fair at all.

Kitsune pouted in his corner and cursed the Goddesses like he had Heard Bastill do a thousand times. He wasn’t sure what the Goddesses were exactly, but he knew they mocked him. After all they constantly allowed the ‘nut munchers’ to walk in this Dungeon. Despite his prayers and enticing the younger blood foxes to hunt them to extinction.

That had been his new favorite game. He would talk to the younger blood Foxes and get them to understand the importance of hunting the ‘nut munchers’ down. Most of the groups he sent were successful, but the ability to hunt freely was stopped by the appearance of ‘flesh bags with iron sticks’ that started wandering the dungeon.

He remembered the first day they appeared. His Blood Foxes where still allowed on the first floor during that time. He had sent two male foxes to hunt down the ‘nut munching’ numbers on the first floor, but they were both killed due to the ‘flesh bags with iron poles’. It didn’t help that they were thrown under the bus by ‘Ruby of Vainglory’. No not ‘Ruby of Vainglory’ that didn’t sound right. She was still his little Kit Ruby. He wouldn’t use her silly little title.

After Ruby had her tantrum, which led to the two fox’s death Bastill made everyone stay in their respective areas. Something about following rules. Which was extremely boring… No one ever came down to the third floor ever. According to Wenet, a pair of five ‘fleshy bags of muscle had finally managed to get to the second floor, but they turned back before reaching any of the Four Winds. He personally liked Eurous the best. He looked delicious with those antlers, but he knew he could never let Wenet know that. He was pretty ashamed of that line of thought.

We do not eat friends, no matter how delicious the rabbit.

It still amazed Kitsune that Wenet laid so many eggs. He thought she was quite promiscuous, but he wasn’t going to judge her. When you are young, have some fun. She had told him numerous times that laying eggs happened without mating with other, but Kitsune was pretty sure he knew a little bit about how those things worked. He wasn’t going to inform her that he knew she was lying. Some people were just insecure about those things, so he would let her pretend to be pure.

I have heard Bastill use the phrase breeding like rabbits before, so I think I would know what is going on. I did after all have my own kids with my sweetheart. I do miss her, and my Jade.

It was time he decided. Bastill needed to be aware of how Kitsune felt, “Bastill, I think it’s time I get my own trials. I already have them picked out.”

** ** ** Dungeon Core ** ** **

He had finally solved the Map problem by creating walls that would shift through four different transitions. He actually moved his walls to make new maze patterns that would make the maps useless. They would change every five hours. The transitions were pretty random as well. He made them follow a random pattern, so no one would know what set up it would be at the start or the evening. In order to achieve this effect, he had ended up learning a new skill called Mana Conditions, which allowed him to place a set conditions and effects from the conditions. The conditions were every five hours, while the effects was one of the four transitions.

The adventurers would eventually map all four of them, but they still wouldn’t know which it was or when it would change unless they monitored it closely. That would help waste more time on the first level. They would no longer just cruise through and right onto the second floor without spending their time appreciating all the racoonoid made statues as they tried to remember which way they came from. He just might end up changing the transitions to new patterns if they figured it out.

Bastill was in the process of setting up the designs for each trial along with the outlines of the effects that he wanted to create. When he came up with the ideas for the effects he would try to design the type of statue that would bring that to life. He was joined by the Gaius who was helping him come up with ideas that fell in line with their sin’s temperament. The Kits were also there to voice their ideas, but he didn’t get very before Kitsune started talking to him, “It’s not fair for them to have trials and for me not to. The ‘meat sacks’ will think I am not clever enough and then I will be forced to kill them. I won’t show any mercy either. You are giving everyone three trials and I don’t have a single one.”

It was good to hear Kitsune talking to him again. He hadn’t even considered giving the boss any trials. He just hadn’t considered it he because he had been too preoccupied with the other projects he had, “You’re right Kitsune. What did you have in mind for your three trials?”

It seemed he had wounded Kitsune’s ego a little by not giving him trials, “Hmm three trials isn’t enough I have eight dividing rooms between me and the last Kit so convert five of those into trials and they will all be mandatory. None of this choose one crap. They need to complete all five of my trials to face me. If they can’t then they don’t deserve to face me.”

It seemed Kitsune wasn’t going to let making up this slip-up be easy. It was good that he seemed to already know what his trials would be. The hardest part was just coming up with a decent trial after all, “Well that sounds fair. What trials did you have in mind Kitsune?”

He was intrigued at what the most clever creature he had would come up with after all, “First trial. The ‘meat sack’ sees a door with a skull on it and braves himself as he goes inside. The room has low lighting giving it a difficult visibility. There is a deadly arura in the air. The ‘meat sack’ instantly knows that there is the most terrifying creature in the world in the room. A creature unfit for society of any location. As the ‘meat sack’ comes face to face with monster he stares into the eyes of a…”

Bastill was captivated. So far all their ideas had been brought about boringly. With ‘oh could we do this’ and ‘then maybe something that does that’. Everything thus far was put to shame by Kitsune’s elaborate description. He continued to listen to this brilliant trial, “… ugly and most despicably creature to ever walk the earth, a ‘nut muncher’. Now the plan is to…”

Bastill was already mentally gawking at the turn of the trial and interrupted his floor boss, “Wait you just want them to kill one of the Troll Squirrels?”

Kistune snapped back, “This trial is perfect and cannot be changed. If you change this trial at all I will be deeply upset with you.”

Rolling his eyes Bastill agreed, “Fine, fine Trial one is kill a Troll Squirrel. What’s Trial Two?”

The fox continued with a smug mental projection, “Second Trial. The ‘meat sack’ sees a door with a skull on it and braves himself as he goes inside. The room has low lighting giving it a difficult visibility. There is a deadly arura in the air. The ‘meat sack’ instantly knows that there is the most terrifying creature in the world in the room…”

He stopped him, “Kitsune I will put five Troll squirrels in the First Trial if you agree to make the other trials different.”

He was just about to suspect that the fox wasn’t as smart as he originally thought, but then realized that this was probably Kitsunes expectation. He had been out foxed and let Kitsune set up a Trial that will slowly kill off the Troll Squirrels. He knew the fox was put out that his little hunts had been disrupted by the adventurer’s coming in.

Bastill didn’t like the Troll Squirrels anymore then Kitsune did so if this was their fate he would let it happen. He let Kitsune continue on with his trials, but it seemed the fox had used most of his creative sources to illustrate his hate for the Troll Squirrels in the First Trial, “Second Trial, they have to fall in the ‘pit of death’ to pass.”

Kitsune’s trials would need to be negotiated. He wasn’t going to have adventurer’s jump to their death. It was impossible to pass that trial. If they jumped they would die, if they didn’t then they couldn’t pass. It was a paradox. He was suspecting that Kitsune was messing with him, but he wasn’t entirely sure… Maybe the fox really thought this was a fitting trial or maybe the fox just wanted to see what happened. Either way this couldn’t be a trial so Bastill turned the idea down, “Kitsune that isn’t a fair trial. Give me a different idea to work with.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

The fox seemed a little disappointed for not getting his jump of doom trial, but reluctantly accepted the decision, “Fine… It would have been funny though. How about this one! Blades that swing around and the best way to get through is by singing a silly tune and moving with the song! Do you know any dumb songs?”

He was filled with disbelief, “You want people to put their life on the line by using a silly song?”

A proud answer was promptly returned to him, “Exactly! Maybe you do have a good sense of humor. I will let you pick the song since I doubt the ‘meat sacks’ would know any songs by the foxes. The Third Trial shall be a door with multiple handles! I am quite proud of this one. I just figured out how handles work. The trick to this door is only one handle works!”

Bastill nearly lost himself to laughter. He just couldn’t handle the different random trials that the fox had come up with. Kitsune had seen the reward he had given the chicane clan a week and a half ago. It had been information on sculpting doors to make their burrows safer from the other clan. Kitsune decided that since he couldn’t open the doors then the information on how they worked could only be learned if someone skilled taught them. Bastill didn’t have the heart to tell the fox that door handles were easily openable. The addition of multiple door handles probably was to make the task impossible, in reality it would just scare the hell out of adventurers. They would probably be worried that the wrong knob would activate a trap. He just left the trial as it was. “For the forth trial… Everyone must brand my image onto their arm. This is non-negotiable.”

From a door with multiple knobs to physically branding the image of Kitsune onto their arm. He didn’t know what to do with this fox. He tried to come up with a clever argument to prevent this trial, “Hmm well maybe we should choose a different trial, because if they have already done the trial then it would be pointless if they had to do it again.”

The fox appeared to be thinking it over before he replied, “Fair point, but if they already have it then they are worthy, but if you are really concerned about it then I will make sure none that receive my branding will survive. Zero lives will be spared. That is a good plan. The last trial, number five, they must give me something of theirs. Hmmm, yes that will do nicely. I do deserve gifts.”

At this point Bastill wasn’t going to even begin to argue with the fox. Kitsune had made up his mind so Bastill began using the new ability Mana Conditions, which he learned while creating the transitioning maze walls, to create the five trials. He used the ability on Trial Four and Five to make sure the conditions were met. On the third trial he just sculpted a door with a thousand door knobs. It would probably terrify people, but in the end it would just be harmless. For the first Trial He moved the Acorn Statue into the room and had a door open and let in more Troll Squirrels. The door would close when people were inside or if there was already five Troll Squirrels inside. This Mana Condition would allow the room to probably fill back up. In the second room he sculpted blades that would swing in complex patterns, but to the tune of a common song.

He decorated the First trial door with a skull in the shape of an acorn. The door didn’t need any further instructions as the adventurers would figure out what they needed to do without much nudging. They were the type of people that attacked creature in front of them without too many questions.

The second door had lyrics on it.

‘The adventurer left the town to go on an epic quest,

he rode by horse and followed the sun far into the west,

and indeed by each and every goddess he was surely blest,

with his sword in hand and shield on back and armor on his chest,

not a man in town could beat him they say he was the best,

he went to fight the dragon kind in its very nest,

they didn’t like his company he was no welcome guest,

now he’s bit in half, bleeded out, and now will lie in rest.’

It was not a cheery song at all. The worst part was that the tune was really upbeat. He felt bad for whoever had to sing these lyrics while going through the swinging blades. They would not be in very high spirits when they met the fox.

Next was the third door which he detailed an image of a door knob and a skull around it. Maybe the humor of the door knobs would brighten their spirits. Next was the fourth door which he sculpted out a detailed picture of a branding. Inside of a branding sculpted and laid in a hot stone barrel that was kept scorching by Atmosphere Mana Control. The fifth door had a detailed explanation explaining that an item of worth needs to be placed inside an empty chest that would be in the next room.

Kitsune went to explore the rooms after Bastill taught the fox the song’s tune. With Kitsune preoccupied he went about creating the Elites Trials. As he was busy brainstorming with the king and the Kit’s he couldn’t help but use part of his mental energy to wonder what he should do about the fourth floor and what creatures it would house.

He enjoyed making these puzzle’s and traps. He had found out that he couldn’t completely cut off his core from adventures. He had tried early when he was making the new transitions for the maze. It seemed he wasn’t able to completely cut it off. He also couldn’t make impossible conditions for the doors to open. He had experimented while making Kitsune’s Trials. He had to admit it was fair. He was able to create life, so it was only fair that he was bound by rules that made his core accessible otherwise he would be invincible entity.

Since his body was essentially the dungeon as a whole with the crystal being his mind it made since why he couldn’t cut it off from the rest. It would be essentially like cutting off circulation to a human’s head, which as science dictated didn’t work well if you were trying to keep it alive.

** ** Alice Everglade ** **

Alice and her group had arrived at the dungeon entrance as the first adventuring party a week and a half ago. Their task was mapping out the dungeon for the later groups coming through. Being the first group to arrive had helped the rise in standings with the other groups that came after. There were now five groups that went into the dungeon every day.

The official report of the guild about the change in entrance location had been that the dungeons must have cut off itself from the other part of the dungeon, which would completely sever its connection according to the report. It was a good thing that the dungeon managed to connect back to the surface when she had been inside, because they apparently couldn’t live for very long without a connection to the outside. It was a miracle that it had lived at all. There were records of dungeons closing their entrances only to be excavated later and absent of creatures.

She had felt a little hesitant to attack the Blood Foxes on the very first day but knew that they wouldn’t hold any restraint against her. They didn’t run into to anymore Blood foxes on the First floor. There were just large humanoid racoons that they had divided into two categories: Spearmen and Brawlers. The official name for the creature was said to be Racoonoid, which was provided by the walking librarian in her party. His name was Ralph and he specialized in Analyzing magic with a few team support spells. The Two different types of Racoonoids were never seen together, which she found odd. She preferred going up against the Brawlers, because their individual actions were easier to handle then the recently unified spearmen Racoonoids.

Then of course they had Isadora Bechdel, who was the healer, and could talk the ears of a snake. There was also an archer named Valerie, who was quite reserved and refused to gossip with Isadora or even talk to anyone. She was however a great shot with her bow when they needed her most so no one berated her for the lack of socializing. Then lastly was the barbarian meat head Derk McClain who was the only person that was still with her from her last party. He had said something about liking her Moxy and stuck with her after the others went onto more important matters.

Derk had become a level thirty-three and went up a rank to C, while Alice was level twenty-four and had made it up to the ranks of D. The other members were just about to break into the C ranks with all levels in the high twenties. They were excited to have a dungeon to plunder and develop their skills and levels daily. It became harder and harder to level up the higher you went.

There were only two difficult parts of dungeon diving. The first was that Alice had been elected the leader, which was new for her. The second was the four identical nude statues of her in the entrance. The first day she had seen them she had spent thirty minutes outside the dungeon refusing any of the teammates to go inside. She was also awarded the notification that her special prize had been rewarded to her.

How are nude angel versions of me a reward??? Well at least they made me look pretty hot…

She had been confused as hell on how the dungeon created statues at first, but then several teams had near encounters with groups sculpting. They would here the carving of stone, but the time they arrived at the scene they would only see a furry behind rushing out of the room. In the end it was written in the report that the racoonoids were secretly sculpting, which given the numerous sculpting’s throughout the first level made sense. It also helped them learn of the different creatures within the dungeon.

She was still amazed at the material and finesse that they put into creating her statues and the Dungeon Goddess, which was also in the beginning room. They were on an entirely different tier of craftsmanship. She still had to slap Derk from time to time when he began drooling in the first room. He could be quite insufferable quite often with his arguing, but she had to hand it to him that he was a skilled berserker.

She was currently working her way through the base camp that made up the newly formed Dungeon Town. It was little more than a couple dozen tents so far, but more folks were arriving each day to add to the range of eclectic jobs. The first to arrive had been her party, cooks, and some builders. She stopped by the half-finished forge to pick up her armor and spear that she had left last night for some repairs.

The builders that had come were masons, carpenters, construction workers, stone cutters, and lumberjacks. They spent most their focus constructing a forge that was for the blacksmith that had come later. Despite being half built, it was still able to be used. It had proved to be an important endeavor and was the most used function in the camp besides the cooking area.

Every few days new groups of adventurers had shown up, along with merchants that bought up all the materials from the Dungeon Dives. Prices were currently ridiculous. The items the merchants had brought such as whetstone, arrows, several common weapons, and common household items would end up costing more than they would anywhere else. Once several jewels were recovered from the dungeon everything in relation inflated, leaving adventurers bartering a gem for two blankets and a couple quivers of arrows. Several groups would leave the merchants with tears for forgetting to bring several common items with them.

The cooks were the only reasonable ones here, as long as you didn’t piss them off. Alice stopped by for a bowl of stew made from herbs and meat from the dungeon. As long as you brought the bodies of monsters back and gave them to the cooks they would add credit to your account and let you eat several meals with that recorded amount. They would even give you back any interesting items such as bone, claws, and pelts.

The cooks appeared to be fully focused on advancing their craft and making connections. Many adventurers would let the cooks keep odds and ends of the animals if asked as a show of comradery. This would give you more credit and more often than not higher quality meals. Derk had taught everyone in the camp a valuable lesson about respecting and befriending the cooks after he demanded for a meal on the first day. He had yet to receive an unburnt meal to this date. Although Alice felt slightly bad for his treatment she still found it hilarious. It was a good way to teach manners to someone that was more brutish then civil.

It was about time to head into the dungeon again. They had to make a new map last night after theirs was destroyed. For some reason she had this unnerving feeling that the dungeon hated maps. Not that the dungeon was alive, but sometimes she had strange feelings about it. Like how the statues were made and how the creatures fought beside her once. But she couldn’t dwell too much on those silly ideas. She had a dungeon to explore and she was going to complete the second floor today!

Remember don’t take the Northern or Southern path on the second floor. My goddesses that was hell.