The place didn't resemble anything, the ground and the sky were snow-white and the light seemed to be coming from all directions, illuminating this whole ethereal dimension.

Here, there was a middle-aged man surrounded by twelve small figures, each had a unique appearance but they all looked harmless due to their size. One had long tentacles and hidden eyes while another was a boy made from white stones that looked like metal, he was holding a round golden shield, waving it around playfully.

"There are a lot of attributes but none are easy to master. However, only a few are considered universal ones because they're the ones which made the world as it is."

The man raised his hand, above which a red and shiny fire symbol appeared, it was followed by a blue water mark, an earthen yellow stone, and a green runestone symbolizing wind.

"Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind. The four main elements… now, anyone wants to try?"

All twelve maintained their silence, some not understanding his words and others were simply shy. After a short period of time, a timid girl that had a skin made of wood and hair made of green leaves stood up and walked up to the man. She pulled the shiny symbols toward herself and meticulously followed his detailed instructions.

For the man or the spectators, the concept of time didn't exist. Maybe a second passed or maybe a thousand years, no one knows.

"Marvelous! As the first one who succeeded, I shall name you Dmitra 'Mother Nature'. Do you like it?"

Once given a name, the girl became a woman and the aura around her became stronger, fascinating the rest. Dmitra smiled at the man and retreated to the back, letting the others try as well. They didn't know what gratefulness or happiness is but the more they listened to the man, the stronger and more sentient they became.

They also chose a different path than Dmitra, they wanted to be unique and distinguishable. An inordinate amount of time passed and, one by one, each of the twelve gained something new and refreshing. The last person was peculiar and the most fascinating because he was the first to talk.

He had two small horns protruding out of his forehead and a light blue skin, a large black cloth was covering the entirety of his body. He faced the man, pointed at a black thing behind him and said:

"What's that?"

Hearing the young voice, the man was shocked beyond belief and spent some time collecting his thoughts. The boy wasn't impatient and calmly waited for the man to answer, which he did.

"That's a shadow."

*****

Not long after taking down Noktox, the Red Tower declared the end of this short event.

*The required number of contestants have been met. You will shortly be teleported to the 8th floor; 'Hide and Seek'."

Arthur and Lucy remained in a party, however, the moment they vanished from the 7th floor, everything was canceled, meaning they can't join hands for the next task, unfortunately.

Unlike last time, they weren't put in the Waiting Room but were directly teleported to the 8th floor, which was a world dominated by an eternal obscurity. It seemed ghastly and eerie with the night sky, the dense fog, and the rustling black bushes. Basically, it was a world out of a horror movie, at least that's what it looked to Arthur.

*On this floor, the hundred contestants will be evenly split into two groups, Seekers and Hiders. Every Seeker will get a piece of paper with the name of his target, and he needs to find it within an hour. For fairness purposes, the Hiders will be given thirty minutes to hide, in the meantime, all the Seekers will not be able to move or see. To proceed to the 9th floor, you must either find your target within the allocated amount of time or never be found.

Any Seeker who finds the contestant Losha Alpenwatcher will proceed directly to the 10th floor and will be awarded 3,500,000 points. Good Luck.*

Arthur felt a piece of paper in his hand so he looked at it. Only a few short words were written but were enough to explain his role. He was a seeker and his target was the Shaman that belonged to Maxine's team. With his vast arsenal of skills, Arthur shouldn't have any problem. There's the Space Bender title which makes him invisible, and that is without counting the Stealth skills obtained from countless thieves.

On the other hand, Lucy was a Hider so she immediately started looking for a secluded and unnoticeable spot. Maxine, 'X', G'am Tir, and Celes were all hiders whilst Forne, the Void Behemoth, Zodiak, Xyktia, and many others were tasked to seek their targets.

The tower didn't mention if fights were allowed or if the hiders can escape. Arthur didn't know if he just needs to find his target or physical contact is necessary, everything was so vague. It would be foolish to just consider it a normal hide and seek game as it's a floor inside the Red Tower and there's bound to be things that arise from out of nowhere.

Slowly but surely, thirty minutes quietly passed and, at last, Arthur was able to move and see his surroundings again. Due to the fog, the vision was severely limited and not even his special eyes were able to bypass it.

The first thing Arthur did was enter an isolated dimension with the help of Space Magic, then he transformed into a transparent and ugly creepy. Less than a minute after the countdown started, Arthur was already roaming this ghastly place and looking for the shaman.

He didn't know how big this place it but considering there are only a hundred contestants, it shouldn't be as big as the 7th floor, for example.

***

"… Teacher, it's not a simple hide and seek game, right?"

The Joker laughed while nodding his head:

"Of course not! There's gotta be something unexpected and thrilling!"

Saly glanced at the monitor and asked: "What's the unexpected thing?"

In response, he handed the little girl, which she inspected only for it to explode, sending small red fireworks in the air. As she didn't expect this, Saly fell on her butt, bewildered.

"Surprise surprise! Hahahaha why would I tell you? It's more fun when you don't know."