The darkness was absolute. Alonso stood still for a moment, relying solely on his EM Domain to sense the environment around him. There was no light down here, and his eyes were practically useless. He focused on the faint vibrations in the air and the ground, every small disturbance pinging in his mind like a radar.
The tunnel stretched straight ahead, about seven meters wide. Not too small to feel claustrophobic, but narrow enough that every step forward sent a low echo bouncing back toward him. He walked cautiously, each footfall measured, his muscles tensed in anticipation of an attack that could come at any moment.
He loaded a stone into his sling, keeping it ready in his hand.
The silence was unnerving. No skittering, no distant movements—just an oppressive stillness that pressed down on him like a weight.
Suddenly, his EM Domain picked up the faintest disturbance—a fast, approaching object. Luckily, he had his Fake Reality active at all times, with his decoy walking slightly ahead. The projectile missed him just slightly, passing through his decoy and slamming into the wall behind with a sticky sound.
Alonso remained calm, focusing on the direction from which the projectile had been launched. He calculated the trajectory based on the angle and speed, his mind racing through the numbers.
"Got you," he muttered under his breath.
With precise movement, he swung the sling and let the rock fly in the direction of the spider. A loud clang echoed through the tunnel as the stone connected hard with what he assumed was the spider's body, the impact reverberating off the walls. But it wasn’t enough. He sensed the creature stirring again, preparing for another strike.
"Persistent bastard," Alonso said, his grip tightening.
Another projectile whizzed by, narrowly missing where his real form had been moments before.
He quickly loaded another stone, his body still hidden by the EM cloaking, and launched it toward the target. The sound of the rock hitting the carcass was louder this time, the spider stumbling under the impact but not yet down. Alonso remained calm, calculating the spider’s movements again.
One more.
He slung his last rock, the projectile sailing through the dark tunnel before hitting with a dull thud. The vibrations in the air stopped.
The spider was down.
Alonso stood still, his body tense and ready for another attack, but nothing came. The silence returned, thick and oppressive, but no more projectiles or movements followed. He exhaled slowly, feeling the tension in his muscles ease slightly.
Still cloaked, Alonso walked forward cautiously, sling reloaded and decoy always active, just in case. He reached the area where the spider’s body should have been, but something was wrong. His EM Domain couldn’t sense the carcass. The spider’s body seemed to have disappeared, or—
"EM cloaking?" Alonso thought, scanning the area. But he trusted his calculations. The spider had to be there.
He crouched down, feeling around the ground with his hand. For a few moments, there was nothing but smooth rock, but then his fingers brushed against something small and round. The familiar rush of energy surged through his body as he absorbed the orb.
> Stage 1 - 2.674%
"So, spiders are of the white type?" Alonso murmured to himself, standing up. "Like the worms and the humanoids, leaving nothing but an orb behind."
"Besides being white, I believe they also have EM cloaking. You never managed to detect them in your Domain, and they were well within range," Houston added.
"Creatures undetectable to EM senses in a place where you can’t rely on sight?" Alonso shook his head with a half-smile. "Difficulty is definitely ramping up."
"You're surprisingly casual about this," Houston chimed in. "Considering that all that saved you was Fake Reality. If that spit of web had hit and immobilized you, you’d have been done for. No escape. I guess that’s one of the reasons people prefer tunneling groups over going alone."
"It’s not like I had a choice, Houston," Alonso replied, adjusting his sling. "And as you said, with Fake Reality, I can handle a couple of spiders easily enough."
"And what about when it doesn’t work? Right now, you have creatures you can't detect using your EM senses. What happens when you face creatures that can bypass your cloaking, or see right through your decoy? Creatures like... Chiara, for instance."
Alonso remained silent for a moment. "I just have to make it better then," he finally said, his voice steady. "A better decoy, a better cloaking mechanism, a better detection system... and a new skill for when none of that works."
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He moved forward, deeper into the tunnel.
Suddenly, his EM Domain flickered. Another disturbance.
His decoy moved ahead, drawing out the attack, and sure enough, a thick strand of sticky webbing flew past, aimed directly at it. The projectile missed Alonso by mere inches again, sticking to the wall behind with a wet splat.
"EM cloaking for sure," Alonso muttered under his breath. These spiders were invisible to his senses, but not to his intuition. His decoy had saved him again, but as Houston had pointed out, he couldn’t rely on that forever.
He quickly loaded his sling and fired in the direction of the web. The stone sailed through the air, and the familiar thud echoed as it hit its mark. The spider reeled back, but it wasn’t down yet. Alonso launched another stone, then a third, each one calculated to hit based on the faint vibrations the creature made as it moved.
> Stage 1 - 2.701%
The orb absorbed into him, and he pressed on. More spiders appeared as he continued, each one moving faster, their attacks coming more frequently. The tunnel seemed to pulse with life now, as if the creatures were being drawn to him. Not only that, but he noticed the once wide passage had started shrinking as he moved forward, the walls now just 5 meters apart.
Something he absolutely did not like.
Another spider shot webbing at his decoy, but this time, instead of a single attack, Alonso detected a second shot coming from another direction. Fortunately, he had already calculated the possible trajectories of the spiders based on the distance from his decoy and the angles of attack. The shots would miss him 90% of the time, and for the remaining 10%, he could dodge with minimal movement.
"So we went from one to two now," he muttered, his voice low but focused.
In any case, it meant he had to be more cautious. The situation demanded more precision, and mid-combat, he had to quickly chip away at the nearby rock face to gather additional ammunition for his sling. It took more time, but eventually, he managed to kill both spiders, the 19th and 20th, with well-aimed shots.
> Stage 1 - 2.836%
>
> Stage 1 - 2.839%
“What are your thoughts, Houston?”
“Same as yours. There has to be more to this than meets the eye. After all, it’s clear this tunnel is the way to the next challenge, yet everyone is still stuck in the Oasis, and they only venture in groups of seven.”
“It could be the length. What if this tunnel goes all the way down the island? That would be a nearly 800 km tunnel.”
“That can be covered in less than 3 days by any skilled group. It makes no sense for them to stay inside two days only to go back.”
“Then what if... the tunnel goes beyond the island. What if this tunnel connects to another island, or another trial much farther away?”
“That’s a strong possibility. The longer it is, the harder it becomes in terms of food and fatigue. As we’ve seen, the spiders keep coming, and the further you go, the more frequent the attacks.”
“So teams venturing in probably take turns. Some carry food and water while resting, and others fight, switching out when needed.”
“Probably. The other strange thing is the tunnel getting tighter as you go. There has to be more to that.”
Alonso paused for a moment, thinking. “Do you reckon there are more creatures in this tunnel besides the spiders?”
“If I had to guess, I’d say no. The leech, the worm, the panther, the scorpion, the falcon, the sharks, and the spiders. That’s seven creatures altogether. And for some reason, whoever designed these trials seems to favor the number seven. So unless we reach the next scenario, I wouldn’t expect any new creatures.”
Alonso remained silent, pondering the implications as he continued to move forward.
Suddenly, his EM Domain picked up another disturbance. But… it wasn’t the familiar sensation of web being thrown; it was the ground—subtle, almost imperceptible movements in the earth beneath him. The vibrations were faint but fast, eight tiny pulses coming closer.
Without thinking, Alonso moved his decoy even closer and stepped back, just in time to feel a powerful tremor disturb the air where his decoy had been standing.
The spider had gone for a melee attack.
Alonso's heart thundered in his chest, the rapid pounding reverberating in his ears. His breath, shallow and sharp, escaped him in ragged bursts, each inhale a struggle against the constricting air. His throat felt tight, his lungs craving more oxygen than they were receiving. Every nerve in his body was screaming at him, yet he stood frozen, his muscles tense and coiled.
Less than two meters away, it lurked. He couldn’t see it. He couldn’t sense it. But it was there, crawling just beyond his perception, a nightmare shrouded in the dark. His EM Domain, usually a lifeline in the face of the unknown, was blind to it. His mind raced, grasping for some way to anchor himself to reality, but there was nothing. The spider was there, and yet it wasn’t.
His pulse quickened. He swallowed hard, feeling the dryness in his mouth, the lump forming in his throat. Sweat trickled down his back, cool against the tension knotting his shoulders. His hand, trembling, tightened around the sling, but his fingers felt numb. The fear was sinking in—deep, gnawing, a raw kind of fear.
The silence pressed down on him, thick and suffocating. Time seemed to stretch. His mind screamed at him to move, to run, but his body wouldn’t obey.
Alonso felt truly vulnerable. The true horror of no longer being in control.
Then, in a flash, the spider halted its attacks on the decoy. Without warning, a wet, hissing sound sliced through the dark.
Whoosh.
The spit of web shot toward him.
"Alonso!"