The cliffs seemed to stretch beyond the horizon.
Thousands of ravines that flowed like streams, cut dozens of kilometers peering into dark abyss.
Black stone. Sharp edges. Natural formations shaped by time and pressure—erosion patterns, sediment layers, mineral deposits exactly where they should be.
Alex's boots found purchase on solid rock. His hands gripped ledges, for some reason resolve was bursting. The air was cool and still, carrying the faint mineral scent of deep stone.
He pressed his back against the cliff face and scanned the descent.
Vertical drops. Narrow ledges. Handholds that required careful testing. Difficult terrain, but comprehensible. The kind of climbing he'd trained for at the academy.
Just stone.
Alex didn't trust it.
— — —
He climbed downward slowly, testing each grip before committing weight.
The clicking had faded to distant echoes—still present, still rhythmic, but muffled now. Separated by layers of stone.
The first cave mouth appeared an hour into the descent.
Small. Unremarkable. A natural fissure in the cliff face, barely wide enough for a person.
Alex moved past it.
Three more appeared as he continued down. Each larger than the last. Each carved by water or time into smooth-walled passages that disappeared into darkness.
He ignored them all.
— — —
The ledge narrowed to nothing.
Alex stopped, evaluating his options.
As Alex tilted his neck, his eyes were greeted by the sun glaring down at him.
As he stared, trying to gather his focus rapid clicks followed, prompting him to submit his gaze.
Ahead: a gap too wide to jump, even with wings in this tight space.
Below: a sheer drop into darkness, no visible bottom.
To his right: another cave mouth. Larger this time. Wide enough to walk upright. The opening was natural—water-worn stone, mineral deposits, stalactites forming where moisture had dripped for centuries.
He could try to climb around it. Search for another path.
But the cliff face offered nothing. Smooth stone stretched in both directions, no handholds, no ledges.
The cave was the only option.
Alex activated Tenebris and stepped inside.
— — —
The passage sloped downward gently.
His shadow-sight adjusted, picking out details in the absolute dark. The tunnel was wider than it appeared from outside, the ceiling high enough that he couldn't sense it. Water had carved smooth channels in the floor. Mineral formations grew in organic patterns along the walls.
He moved carefully, spear ready, each step deliberate.
The tunnel branched. Then branched again. A network, not a passage. The kind of cave system that took millennia to form.
Alex marked his path mentally—turns, distances, notable formations, not daring to scratch this world.
The clicking was gone completely now.
Only his footsteps and breathing broke the silence.
Then—
A skitter.
Fast. Wet. Multiple points of contact.
Alex froze.
The sound came again. Behind him. No—above. No—
Everywhere.
His Tenebris-enhanced perception caught movement.
Something on the ceiling. Something on the walls. Something circling, repositioning, calculating approach vectors.
Multiple somethings.
Alex shifted his stance, spear raised.
The movement stopped.
Silence pressed in.
Then—
It dropped.
— — —
[ ENEMY DETECTED ]
Cave Spider Threat: 2 Existence: 1
Karma: 0
— — —
The creature landed three meters in front of him.
Large—easily the size of a wolf. Eight legs, each ending in hooks that scraped stone. Its body was segmented, armored with chitinous plates that overlapped like scales. Multiple eyes reflected his shadow-sight, clustered across what might have been a head.
No web. No silk.
Pure ambush predator.
It lunged.
Alex sidestepped, spear whipping around in a controlled arc. The blade caught one leg, severing it cleanly. Ichor sprayed, black and viscous.
The spider didn't slow.
It twisted mid-leap, legs repositioning instantly, compensating for the loss. Mandibles snapped where Alex's throat had been a heartbeat earlier.
He thrust upward.
Orionis Sagitta ignited along the spear's length.
The blade punched through chitin and into soft tissue beneath.
The spider convulsed, legs thrashing. One caught Alex's shoulder, hooks tearing through his Ethereal Raiment—the fabric held, redistributing force, but the impact sent him staggering.
He twisted the spear and pulled.
The spider collapsed, legs curling inward.
Dead.
Alex stepped back, breathing hard.
Then movement above.
Three more descended.
— — —
The second one died faster.
Alex was ready this time. Tempus flared—just enough. The world dragged, stretching the spider's leap into something manageable. He sidestepped and drove the spear through its head in one motion.
The third adapted.
It didn't leap. It circled, legs clicking against stone in rapid patterns. Communicating? Calculating?
The fourth dropped directly onto his back.
Weight crushed him forward. Hooks dug into his shoulders where the Raiment was already damaged. Mandibles snapped near his neck.
Alex couldn't reach it with the spear.
He triggered Ascension.
Wings erupted, black feathers slamming into the cave ceiling, into the walls, into the spider clinging to him. The creature's grip loosened just enough.
Alex rolled, spear abandoned, claws forming instinctively.
Frenzy Magic ignited.
He tore into chitin with violet fire trailing from his hands, ripping through armor, through flesh, until the spider's thrashing stopped.
The third spider retreated.
Not fleeing—reassessing.
Alex stood slowly, chest heaving, maddening flames still flickering around his fingers.
The spider watched.
Then turned and skittered into the darkness.
Gone.
— — —
[ SYSTEM MESSAGE ]
Void Entity Slain: Cave Spider ×3 Void Scale: 2–1–0 Elimination Credit: Full
[ ACHIEVEMENT ]
First Elimination: Cave Spider Classification Recorded
[ RUNES DETECTED ]
Diltirio (II) ×1
— — —
Alex stared at the notification.
Diltirio.
Not a rune he recognized. Not from anything he'd studied.
The word felt foreign on his mind—sharp, uncomfortable, like a concept that didn't translate cleanly into understanding.
Alex hesitated.
But Alex knew he had gotten complacent, nothing had threatened him so far but he was still playing into the hands of the city.
So he accepted
— — —
[ RUNES INTEGRATED ]
Affinities Activated:
Diltirio
— — —
There was no grand sensation, other then maybe his hunger settling.
Alex retrieved his spear and dismissed the windows.
His shoulders burned where hooks had pierced. Blood seeped through the Raiment, warm against his skin. Not serious. Manageable.
He'd survived.
But the fourth spider—the one that retreated—
It had learned.
Seen his capabilities. His magic. His limits.
And it had chosen to leave.
Not in fear.
In preparation.
Alex looked down the tunnel where it had vanished, Diltirio making the distance feel simultaneously near and impossibly far.
Deeper into the cave.
Toward wherever these things nested.
He could turn back. Find another route. Avoid whatever waited below.
But behind him was the cliff. The white plane above. The whale's patient, methodical digestion.
And ahead—
The tunnel sloped downward.
Toward something the spiders were guarding.
Or feeding.
Alex moved forward into the darkness, each step bending space in ways he was only beginning to understand.
Behind him, in the distance, the clicking resumed.
Softer now.
Almost approving.