“Today, we’ll be going over individual and squad-based tactics. You’ll learn how to best fight as a team member and function independently of a larger unit. Any questions?”

“We’re in the Army. Isn’t it all big battles, charging the enemy in formations?”

“Not every fight is a war. And not every war is a fight. There will be times when the only people you have by your sides are the people around you. And even if we’re in a full-scale engagement, what happens if an Archmage drops an [Annihilation Orb] on your unit and you’re the only survivor? Do you just give in?”

“Err…. About that [Annihilation Orb] Sergeant…”

“Don’t worry about that, we’ll cover the five D’s of Dodge-Orb in a later class.”

--Lenorian Army Training. AC 1282.

----------------------------------------

The squad forms up, and we take the entrance leading downwards. Luna leads from the front, and I take Sergeant Smith's former position in the middle. It's just like at basic training, and I feel a bit of familiarity in the role. I quickly shake my head to clear the cobwebs from it. Don't get complacent Crabby. This is a real mission, with real stakes. A mess up here could cost everyone. I glance at the surroundings and then look to the others. Everyone seems a bit jerkier with their movements, more prone to step hesitantly in the tunnel. I try to offer some reassurance over comms,

"Slow and steady everyone."

The movements clear up with my encouragement and I return to the task at claw. I’m not keeping track of the time, but it seems to crawl ever so slowly as we pass into another cave. It's almost a replica of the one above, even including a compressed stone trap. After clearing the area, I try to make a light joke.

"We will not be inspecting the trap box."

I get a few morbid chuckles, and Mina glances at me with a bit of a frown on her face. I guess not everyone can appreciate morbid humor. We pull up to the final entrance and I call for a quick break. There is no telling what might be coming up next so I make the effort to remind everyone that we’re running out of surveyed areas.

"Alright, the next cave below this is the end of the map. From there, we'll be able to investigate and see if there's anything to report. Are there any questions?"

Luna immediately raises an arm and asks,

"What if we see the enemy? What's our priority here?"

I've been thinking about potential courses of action this entire time, so I respond with,

"We'll stay hidden if we can, sneak past them. The priority is to investigate, not get into battles."

Billy is next and says,

"And if we do? What then?"

"We'll try to put them down as quick as we can, keeping stealth. I’ll assess if it's safe to proceed and we'll go from there."

There are no more questions, and for a second I'm confused by the easy questions. Nothing I said should be a surprise, just standard operating procedures. Then I realize that everyone must be as nervous as I am and are asking to fill the silence. Or maybe even to verify what they know to be true. After a few more minutes I get to my feet, and we begin descending the last tunnel into the unknown.

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***

Our movements are quiet as we slink through the bore tunnel leading to the next area. Even here, the light blue glow moss is still shining, allowing us to somewhat see in the water. And yet... ahead of us, the illumination seems to fade to purple. I lift a claw, calling for a halt as Luna slinks forward. Shortly thereafter she’s calling me to join her, and I move ahead to see what the problem is.

As I swim down the tunnel, a strange shift grows in my perception. The purple light is coming from an area just ahead of us, and as I get closer I see what she's worried about. Up front, a clear line of separation splits the moss in two. There's an almost perfect line displayed and for a second it appears almost artificial. And yet, on our side, the moss is the familiar blue color, and on the other.... the plant is completely red.

The interaction between the two colors is what is causing the purple coloration in the water. As I join Luna we huddle down, inspecting the new discovery. She whispers to me,

"Is it just another kind of moss?"

I shrug, unsure. Telling her to hold position I inch closer to the line separating the two areas. I'm barely half a crabby length away when I'm able to clearly resolve the differences. The plant life looks remarkably similar, almost completely the same, except for the altered coloration. Though, as I inspect it, I notice the line of red moss is slowly creeping into the blue side, converting it to a duplicate of itself. I send Luna a message,

"I think the red side is corrupted. It's encroaching on the normal moss and slowly taking it over." I consider for a moment and then make a decision. I say,

"Hold your position and keep your eyes open. I'm going to try to interact with the red side, see what it does."

A quiet acknowledgement is all I hear, followed up by a, "Be careful Crabby."

Nodding, I move forward until I can reach out and touch the moss with my claw. As I reach out, I find myself hesitating. I only have two claws.... but I have eight legs. Pulling my claw back, I turn to the side and slowly push a leg forward. Ever so slowly, I lower it until it lightly touches the red moss. I tense, ready to move and react to anything. Nothing seems to happen though, and I retract the leg. Heaving a huge sigh of relief, I do my best to examine the end of my leg. It appears to be fine but as I move to set it back on the sea floor, a slight discoloration draws my attention. A tiny scratch is present on the armor and as I look closer, I can almost see an abrasion. It's as if I dragged the metal harshly over a scratchy surface. I call back,

"I think the red moss has an abrasive quality. Other than that, I don't see any other dangers. Moving forward for further testing."

I brace myself, and then scuttle into the red side. I stand motionless in the water, senses straining to determine what is going on. And there, at the edges of my perception, I can feel a tiny vibration. I look downward and see the moss slowly moving, rubbing against the metal covering my legs. I move back to the blue side and do a claw motion for us to retreat to the others. As we huddle up, I brief them on what I discovered.

"Alright everyone. It seems like there is definitely enemy up ahead. The moss has already turned and has a low danger rating. Even still, to be safe, Bill, Billy and I will take to the water, preventing us from walking along the moss floor."

One of the brothers raises a claw,

"Without a firm surface to brace against, our armaments will be limited. That... and we're not really good swimmers."

I nod, I kind of have the same problem. I can't come up with a better solution though, and if we have to move a bit slower than so be it. That figured out, I kick off the tunnel floor and hover in mid water, using my manipulation skill to aid in stabilization. The brothers do the same, though they appear to be more unwieldy than myself. From there, we move out, intent on further exploration.

Minutes pass, and we pass through the purple border area. Even here, the light is still dim, and the red hue lends every shadow an ominous quality. I find myself jerking once or twice at potential threats, only to realize that it’s just my own imagination. I’m not the only one, and I can see the unnatural light begin to fray everyone’s nerves.

Our unease is gradually lifted as a bright light begins to grow up ahead. As the shadows are chased away we slow down and I join Luna in scouting. We swim forward and I realize we've almost reached the next room. As we swim closer, the light grows brighter and brighter. Unfortunately, it's an intense red color and it begins to hurt my compound eyes. I'm having trouble with the light and have to draw my attention to the ground to alleviate the pain. Finally, we're close enough to look through the exit where I see a bizarre sight.

The room is almost completely clear of any natural rock formations, the walls gently curving upwards to a dome. The red moss is everywhere, but they are not the source of the brilliance. I take a quick look, and then avert my gaze when I do I see the source. Thousands of tiny red jellyfish float in a singular mass in the water. Each jelly shines from within, with a red luminescence that sears their image into my brain. I glance again and note that the bloom has shifted.

Another glance and I can make out what they're doing. The bloom is gently orbiting, moving in a circular formation around the entire circumference of the cave. As I try to figure out their purpose, I purposefully look at the surrounding area. Below them, directly beneath their tentacles, appears to be another borehole. From what I can make out, it looks to go straight down. I wave a claw to retreat and meet up with the others. Taking a second to collect my thoughts I brief everyone on the situation.

As I finish, Wilhelm asks,

"Charge through?"

Mina gives him a gentle whack with her fin and says,

"That won't work. We don't know what they’re capable of. And they've obviously been placed there to guard the ingress point."

Wilhelm nods and I chime in,

"The plan is the same as before. We'll try to remain under stealth and sneak beneath their tentacles. It didn't seem like there was a bunch of room between them and the floor so it might be a narrow fit. We reach the hole, and then we'll descend that way."

Plan confirmed, I take a deep breath of water.

Here we go Crabby.