It took them three days going with about the same routine, and her checking the magical treasure map once they were in the safety of their shelter to finally realize it. And so, Sophia had an announcement to make:

"Guys! We need to talk." She declared simply while she kept staring at the map only she could see.

Everyone answered her call at once, though with varied enthusiasm.

"The map reveals that what we thought was us walking in a straight line is actually us walking an arc of circle, on a stupidly huge circle." She declared simply, waiting to get their first reaction before going any deeper.

"Define stupidly huge?" Michel asked straight to the point.

"By keeping pushing at the same speed, it would take 5 weeks to get back to our initial position. To give a fitting image: If we were running around a clock, we barely made the trip from twelve to eleven, anti-clockwise." She tried to provide the most information possible in the most efficient manner.

"So that's what we are dealing with on this floor!" Paolo finally reacted. "Assuming we are progressing at about half of average walking speed, we should have crossed the 120 kilometers already. That means that to our current knowledge, our playground for this floor is a freaking alien space station, of 1440 kilometers of circumference, 229 kilometers radius."

Yep, count on Paolo to do the math and put it back into the context of their current theory. They already had proof that the giant structure they were in was sapient-made.

"So we are on an alien space station the size of a dwarf planet." Moana summarized before dropping her venom: "It's not that I don't share your enthusiasm. But how knowing that is going to affect us, exactly?"

Michel, Paolo, and Sophia all exchanged a meaningful look and decided to ignore her. Of course, the subject was purely theoretical. They weren't even sure that was the entirety of the station. But if the fifth floor was going by the same logic as the third: start at the edge, progress toward the center, then that information let them project into the future and how many weeks, instead of days, it was going to take them.

A minimum of six days walk in a straight line, if or rather when they would find a crossroad in their path, to reach the center of this floor was indeed one extremely valuable piece of information.

"I already hate this floor," Lono commented, shrugging, before he went humoring his sister for them, truly one Saint of a man.

"So what do you think?" Michel turned the table and asked her.

"Supposing a fair amount of people survived the last two floors, we should soon be sharing the floor with a thousand teams, if not already. That's barely 14 kilometers across from one starting point to the next. So how come we made our way through 120 kilometers and found no evidence of other team passage? Or did we dive in too early, despite all the time prep?"

"I think you are reading too much into it." Michel temporized, letting her questions sink in and the three of them mulling it in silence for the best of the three minutes before he added:

"People on the past floor really liked the city, most planned to stay there, scavenge what they could, and celebrate for a week. We left on day two. So that's five days for them, but ten for us. Even then, people are not that reckless to get out without prep anymore. The terminally stupid are already dead. Plus there is the zero gravity argument. I remind you that, the main argument before sighting that spider was to know whether or not there would be breathable air."

Sophia had completely missed it. But even trying to be less self-absorbed and more social for the sake of the team, she knew she was far from ideal as a leader.

Yet, that also responded to her question: They were far too early.

★☆★

Their errance through the floor lasted for five more days before they finally found it: The junction point away from the starting ring of the station, leading deeper inside the floor.

"What do you think? Would there be spiders there too?" Lono asked hopeful.

But Sophia couldn't give him the answer he had been hoping for. Although the area around that entrance had been suspiciously clean, compared to the rest of the floor so far, there was no way to know what to expect of that new corridor, aside from the fact it appeared to be straight and to go in the right direction.

"Only one way to find out," She winked before they started moving in.

Sophia had been ready for the webs and spiders to make a comeback a few minutes in, but it didn't happen.

One hour later, they were still waiting for an ambush that wasn't coming or a new enemy to make its grand debut but still nothing. Then two hours turn into four and then eight, without a single incident.

And then, they reached the other end, and it turned out that the corridor had been a sort of safe zone.

"Wait!" She stopped everyone suddenly inspired, "We might have a unique opportunity for camping here. This place is basically a safe zone and Prince might need a break."

The tressym looked startled, confused, and torn with mixed feelings. Yet, he was the first to respond as professional as ever:

"Are you sure? I appreciate the feeling but I did promise to have you covered for the duration of this floor. And I still very much intend to keep that promise up."

"We were not going to keep at it for more than three hours top anyway. Plus we could use a longer break before diving back in." She justified. "Plus, it's merely a suggestion that I'm putting to the vote."

"Okay, but we are going to need watch duty, just in case, and to discuss logistics." Michel pointed out.

"Everyone is going to get a bad night so we can preserve your familiar's feelings?" Moana lashed out. "I'm obviously against this stupid decision but I'm going to be outvoted, again."

"Since that decision concerns Prince, I'm going to follow his vote." Paolo simply shrugged. It would be uncomfortable in many ways, especially for those who awaited the return of gravity to go to the toilets. But they would live.

"Me too," Laconically announced Lono.

And so, it was all up to Prince, who looked even more uncertain now that the decision was entirely his to make.

"Mirrik?" The winged cat called, trying to transfer the decision back to her.

"That's your choice to make. I won't be disappointed whatever you choose." Sophia encouraged the tressym "I just wanted to create a precedent in case we might encounter another one such 'safe-zone.' Feel free to make use of it whenever you need."

Prince looked around at everyone's faces, trying to read what they truly wanted, but aside from Moana who kept her displeasure clearly plastered on her face, no one else was betraying anything. The team was more important than individual comfort, and sometimes, a member had to get first, because their needs were simply greater.

"Thanks. I'm okay for now. But I appreciate the option would still be open, whenever possible." He finally said, still with mixed feelings.

Stolen story; please report.

And so they left the safe corridor and kept pushing.

★☆★

The next two rings they had visited on their journey to the center of the station had been about the same.

But it had not been true of the fourth ring and its big window that let enter the light of an alien sun. Here, plant life had taken over the station. And with it, competitors to the spiders that still encroached their path here too.

"Wow," Paolo said, in a direct mirror to his reaction to the first-floor underground flora.

"Wow indeed," Sophia repeated as a private joke. "Sounds like whatever alien race built this, they need vegetables in their diet too. The thing is: why evacuate everything else but not the plants?"

"Don't forget about the local fauna." Paolo reminded her, "In the past, there must have been a zoological ring too. The spiders and the other animals must have broken free from wherever it was. As for why? Maybe the station was still under construction and we are seeing the first finished ring? Or maybe that was a station studying 'alien' life from their perspective, and they shut it down when things went sour? Who knows?"

The view however was breathtaking: a jungle in a tube, basking in the sun of outer space, and the station itself.

"The station is a freaking armillary sphere?" Moana exclaimed.

And this time no one had anything to retort. The design of the station was prodigious. But unnecessarily complicated. Sophia had not realized they had unknowingly rotated while proceeding from one ring to the next. But since the spiders always avoided the area entirely, something must indeed be going on, like, the unknown rotation causing vibration or damage to their webs that prevented them from settling there. Was it an answer? Were the spiders vulnerable to certain vibrations? To overstimulation? Or what is simply a difficulty they couldn't surmount in their quite notable invasive efforts?

But back to the present, with new visibility and environment also came more challenges. There was more light but there were also more predators hunting into the light to watch out. There was a lot more life and things to see, but it was even more demanding attention. They were back on the second floor but on steroids, as they could not exclude that other animals here might have magic abilities too.

"It's cool. I was starting to feel claustrophobic." Lono said, sounding relieved.

But it must be a question of light and perspective since their space was no larger than it was before.

"This floor was starting to feel redundant." Michel finally commented too "And though this is no better, I would rather not let me fall under a false sense of safety. Best way to drop up dead."

That was one valid way to see the glass half-full in regard to new enemies.

From Sophia's perspective it was a bit grimer: Dropping one's guard to an unknown monster was a surefire to die.

But heck, that was difficult: lots of beautiful and cute animals that seem completely harmless and very damn petable. How couldn't a single one of those creatures not be the real deal, instead of a nasty trap? But, well, anyway, the heartless system would probably not allow anyone to keep pets at the end of the floor, unless it properly recognized and validated it, most probably with a boon that was painfully hard to get.

Anyway, most pets were unethical, eating a lot of food and participating in that false sense of security Michel casually warned about. They were within the tutorial. And it totally wasn't that the grape was sour cause she couldn't get it.

But it looked like it was her time to speak once again, as they had all stopped and turned to her for guidance.

"Three-dimensional jungle huh?" She said, still incredulous.

All sorts of plants, all overgrowing their pots or whatever it was keeping their soil together were gravitating in the middle of the room, their roots an intertwined mess keeping them all together, all facing the sun, while the spiders had claimed the shadow of the tree roots as their new home.

"I won't insult your intelligence by pretending otherwise: I don't know shit about any of this. And I personally know I would have had a harder time on the second floor without the help of Michel and his former team. So if anything, he probably knows better than I do how to proceed."

And so Michel stepped on and quietly took the lead without any complaints.

"The way I see it: three-dimensional jungle? That's potential threats coming from anywhere. Very much like the second floor, but with a lot less water. And thankfully we won't have to build a bunker anti-wyvern as our shelter in between risky explorations," he looked at Prince appreciatively saying this. "And then, we have a completely overpowered scout as our beloved leader. What can possibly go wrong? So I suggest we explore just enough to decide where to set camp and start upgrading our future base of operation defense just in case. I'm not concerned about marble, it's obviously stronger than anything we can come up with, but still on a magic timer. So off we go!"

Though Michel had handed back authority almost immediately, he did give one clear objective to the group:

Time to get out there and start searching for a temporary base of operation.

★☆★

Trying to climb through floating islands only held in place by the roots under it was one hell of hazardous terrain, living up perfectly to its second-floor equivalent. But that new chapter in their zero grav experience so far had a bit of a guilty pleasure of fantasy escapism to it.

Simili-avian creatures were desperately flying from tree to tree, freneticly flapping their wings, and occasionally bickering, as if they would die going 5 minutes without food. The traffic of 'birds' to any food stop never stopped and their feeding routes were drawing abstracts on the transparent edge of their world, as well as projecting shadows upon them.

And then, came the nasty critters: the trap ambusher raccoon-like burrower. That weird cat-dog intermix that attacked them from above. Or that strange-maned snake with a tail splitting in two halfway through its body.

They lived through all with not many injuries, nothing she could not fix with a quick group Song of Healing anyway. But that snake bite had them worried for a moment that it might be venomous. Until Prince categorically confirmed it wasn't. So far, Prince's skills as a poison expert had merely served to supplement their food with whatever could be found and confirm they were at no risk of dying from the bite of a predator. But one day, it might indeed save lives.

And then, they finally found their spot. A clearing of the right size on a colossal floating piece of dirt, surmounted by a solitary giant tree and crowned by a few dwarves. There was just enough place within the grove of dwarves to settle there and reinforce the already quite fortified position. And its last advantage was also its only glaring weakness: it had the best view of the sun and the station's sky.

And so they settled there. To their new "Hope it's Temporary" camp.

★☆★

Paolo had probably not been wrong when saying an entire zoological ring must have been imported here on the station. Cause scouting and spotting out threats to avoid as well as the best path to avoid them had proven a mammoth task. Her system list had now over several hundred entries, only the two dangerous, only the too dissimilar to be classified under the same entry.

She had yet to find the next exit point they had been hoping for.

But she had found a place to relocate two days away for "Hope it's Temporary".

It took her a three-day trip back and forth all alone but knew her companions would take more. But at least, in the suspended forest, she had been free from the spiders and their anti-stealth instinct. At least, so long she stayed under the light, the spiders would somehow shy away. That was good to know. And something she was completely about to abuse later on. But revenge was better served cold and it was time for the team's happy reunion.

In her absence, the place had really turned into a fearsome defensive line of pointy sticks, aiming menacingly at the empty sky. But she understood. The goal was to protect from unknown enemies with limited resources. What's more threatening than the literal back of a porcupine, afterall? So they did it on scale.

"Hi Everyone!" She announced herself, entering the shelter. "I've seen you have been busy."

"Sophia!" Moana greeted her cheerfully of all people. Before shouting once more: "Guys. Hurry up. The boss is back."

That change of attitude was surprising but maybe it was the aftereffect of leaving Michel as Second-in-command.

He had a clever mind and was responsible. But he was also sly and shroud. Clearly, he was a Rogue who had picked his primary class wrongly and they both knew it. And his way to handle Moana's excess, Sophia honestly didn't want to know. If it made Moana like her leadership instead, she would call it a good disciplinary action, and an option she would keep in mind in her toolkit.

"Hi Miirik," Prince shook up as he probably had been lazing around, indulging in his self-pity since even before her departure.

"Hi, Prince? Everything's alright?" She greeted him back cheerfully.

"I'm wonderful." He beamed back. "And I'm starting to get it: your roundabout way of doing things. I'm feeling energised and my mind is clear."

So it took three days and a half for Prince to experience the effect of having a break? Sophia had no idea what to think of it. He would probably have a heart attack if she ever mentioned the concept of weeks-long holidays.

"Sophia!" Paolo greeted her next. " How are you? Is the mission a success?"

"Hello! I'm fine, thanks. Mission failure but I found a nice place to relocate two days ahead and secured a path to it."

"Qui va piano va sano," Paolo said and shrugged.

"What?" Sophia reacted, unable to understand.

"Something my dear father like to say." He explained grimly. "It says to go slow and quiet in order to keep a healthy pace."

It was one shady way of seeing things. It did not seem to merely recommend prudence, but also discretion, unlike most variants of the same saying.

"Hey! Sophia! What's up?" Lono greeted her back.

They shared a handshake and a nod but exchange no further.

And then, Michel finally came in too, silently handwaving.

You don't know how glad I am to have you back. We need to talk

And so that's concluded their touching reunion.