DISCOVERY PART 5C

Day 446; 0826 (Morning)

Focus: 513

The heavy morning mist spread throughout southern regions of the Forbidden Forest, dying the environment in multiple shades of yellow as rays from the rising sun refracted light across minuscule water droplets floating in the air. All but one area, in a span of hundreds of kilometers, was affected by this fascinating phenomenon, causing quite a scene for anyone or anything observing the land below from high in the skies.

The area in question had created a distinct mar in the mist -- a semi-permanent blemish. It had the potential to lure the curious and adventurous with a single glance. However, venturing towards it would prove dangerous, as it lay in the lands of False Arachne occupied territory.

The flaw in the mist came into existence when an almost never-ceasing patch of black smoke had mixed with the yellow hues of water vapor, producing an olive-green fog that rose towards the clouds like a hand reaching for the stars. It was an uncanny disturbance -- one created by a single man.

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Day 446; 0828 (Morning)

Focus: 513

Dawn’s arrival brought with it satisfactory results. By bombarding the wall throughout the night, 513 had made considerable progress with his siege. His liberal application of blood pitch on the mangonel’s projectiles had sped-up the cremation of the remains still strung-up within the walls. This adjustment in strategy allowed for a speedy breach of containment and the gradual spread of fire.

Now, a large, gaping hole, averaging four times the length of his own body, was etched into the massive wall made of webs. The mouth of the opening -- which 513 referred to as the ‘entrance to hell’ -- was several times taller than its width. Perhaps this was due-in-part to the travel path of the flaming projectiles, which collided with the wall in a low arc; each time the siege engine was adjusted and moved closer to the wall, the height of the mouth increased.

513: “Hmm. The total distance of the hole is roughly fifteen paces. Yet, True Sense tells me that I’m not even halfway through. I can’t help but be impressed by the sheer size of this thing.”

513 admitted, praising the spiders for their ingenuity.

He knew the wall was thick, but due to its construction, he was not able to assess its measurements. At least, not for a while.

513: “Finding clever ways to resolve problems like this one sure is rewarding.”

Words of confession leaked out from his mouth as he surveyed the wall from top to bottom.

To ‘see’ passed the wall, 513 had perched himself on the lowest branch of a tree and used his ability, applying discrimination and narrow constraints to scan across the sea of branches and leaves. By doing so, he was able to ‘view’ the top of the wall without any obstructions.

[It was a good thing the spiders grew lax with the construction process as the wall got taller.] He thought, noting that the amount of webs and solid objects making-up the wall had decreased towards the top.

513: “I’ll make you suffer for cutting corners. Ehehehe.”

In a good mood, 513 hurriedly returned to the siege engine and loaded a new projectile inside the payload bucket. After coating it with generous amounts of blood pitch, he lit it on fire with a few sparks -- slamming two metallic rocks together -- then launched the projectile at the wall.

513: “Ahh. I can never get tired of that sight. I guess my inner arsonist is resurfacing. Let’s hope I don’t unintentionally cause a forest fire.”

Content that the fires from the new projectile would continue the slow process of turning the wall into a smouldering pile of cinders, 513 resumed his own construction efforts.

This time, he focused on stringing-up several spans of bone chimes at varying altitudes and set ranges away from his encampment. The purpose of this task was to remain informed of potential retaliatory attacks from the spiders -- the chimes were a device that would accomplish this.

By midday, the area surrounding his encampment was filled to the brim with traps, early warning systems, defensive structures, and carefully curated terrain. It was at this point that 513 finally took a rest from all the busy-work, lounging next the repositioned mangonel while munching on some cured meat and raw root vegetables.

[The mist is finally gone. Too bad. Now the smell of the burning corpses have returned.] He internally complained. [Well, it isn’t enough to stop my appetite...besides, I’ve finally regained all the muscle I’d lost.]

While feasting away at his dwindling rations, 513 took a quick gander at the rising smoke emanating from the borehole in the wall. His eyes tracked the smoke as it exited the mouth of the hole and rose towards the branches high in the canopy tops. There, he witnessed a peculiar sight -- the suspicious strumming of a thin strand of silk.

Curious, he stood up and narrowed his eyes while peering at the silk strand.

513: “Ohhh. What’s this!”

He excitedly proclaimed.

513: “A development! Finally, I was getting bored performing banal tasks.”

With a quick swig of water from a clay jug, he sat back down and hastily finished his meal. Afterwards, he packed-away the remaining rations he hadn’t eaten back into the sled, then climbed the nearest tree using two short javelins like ice picks to aid him in the ascent. Once reaching a considerable height, he thrust one of the javelins halfway into the tree, then used the remaining shaft as a temporary perch to sit-on.

[I wonder how long I’ll need to wait for before I-] While in the middle of contemplation, the very topic on the forefront of his mind presented itself to him.

A thin, silky thread, invisible to the common eye, vibrated meaningfully across several trees, travelling from far in the distance, in through 513’s encampment, then up towards the top of the webbed wall, where it disappeared into the leaves. Staring closer at the fascinating oddity, 513 carefully observed as distinct pulsations and calculated stalls travelled across the strand in an intelligent manner. This led him to quickly deduce the thread’s purpose.

513: “I knew it! Ahahaha. So that’s what they are doing!”

He laughed to himself while stroking his dishevelled beard.

[They never cease to amaze me. These spiders have even developed a method of non-verbal, long-distance communication. I bet their use of the silk thread is similar to Morse Code.] He thought. [Which means...the level of urgency has increased...damn, should I make another siege engine to double my efforts?]

The new development both humbled and pressured 513 into considering new actions. He feared that the False Arachnes’ explosive advancement in tactics would eventually catch him off-guard. As he contemplated what to do next, he secretly vowed to himself to never fall into complacency.

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Day 448; 1316 (Afternoon)

Focus: 513

After a few more days of constant bombardment, 513 finally breached through the wall of webs. For his celebration, he immediately launched two dozen consecutive volleys of flaming rocks into the wall without pauses between loading. He did this as a means to widen the completed tunnel while simultaneously deterring the enemy from approaching the breach in the wall.

513: “After this, I move-in.”

He muttered to himself.

Previous to completing the task of breaking through the wall, 513 had sniped several hundred silk threads used by the spiders as communication lines. It was an easy activity to complete, as it only required the tossing of small rocks to completely sever the lines.

[If I were to make a calculated guess, they are still watching me from afar as they always have. But with no lines of communication available in the vicinity, their methods of contacting the other side is most definitely hampered.] Thinking to himself, he continued his train of thought. [If they so choose to attempt to scale the walls while I’m present, they will be dealt with swiftly and harshly.]

While deep in contemplation, 513 readjusted the siege engine's target location, then headed towards the sled filled with supplies. Once there, his body moved on its own -- as if pre-programmed with a set objective -- and rummaged through the contents of the sled, looking for secondary and back up weapons to carry on his person.

He did this for three reasons: [1] he anticipated a large retaliation force to attack him while exploring the bored out tunnel; [2] the False Arachnes overshadowed him in hand-to-hand combat -- the spiders had a massive reach advantage and projectile attacks; and [3] losing or breaking weapons in the midst of battle was inevitable.

When he had finished equipping weapons onto his segmented leather armor and utility belt, he moved to a clearing and performed a mobility test.

513: "Hnnngh…"

Grunting, 513 flailed his body around as if trying to attack an apparition. With a random assortment of misplaced kicks and punches, he swung at the air in wide, sweeping arcs. When he finished the exercise, a wide grin appeared on his face.

513: "Hmm. Yea, this will do."

Content with the level of mobility he was able to achieve with the gear he carried, he returned back to the sled and reorganized the mess made from his earlier rummaging.

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Day 448; 1519 (Afternoon)

Focus: 513

513 stood in silence as he watched the raging fires within the webbed wall quiet down and eventually extinguish from lack of fuel. Although he still had to wait for the dark, noxious smoke to pass before entering the tunnel, his level of readiness was already at its peak.

Aside from secondary weapons attached to his armor and belt, each of his hands had a designated primary. For his left hand, he carried a spear-sword roughly two and half meters in length, of which one meter was reserved for the spearhead; a meter-long blade around the length of a longsword. In its current state, the weapon laid staked to the ground as the remainder leaned against 513’s shoulder.

For his right arm, he carried a redesigned offensive shield which would allow the manipulation of pole weapons with both hands without many restrictions. He named this custom shield type a 'Severing Shield' as its design was a hybrid of the Roman Scissor and European Kite Shield.

While inspecting the shield gripped with his right hand, he thought to himself. [Hopefully this combination proves less clunky in practice.]

The shield looked like a giant blade that covered his entire forearm and extended two hand lengths beyond his fist, forming a sharp point ideal for thrusts.

In truth, 513 had only simulated the practicality of this particular long spear and shield combination in his head. He still hadn’t put the shield through any meaningful combat exercises. With that said, he saw great potential in the severing shield, as it merged the defensive prowess of the kite shield with the offensive demeanor of the scissor.

After examining the rest of his gear, including the flame resistant fur cloak he wore over his armor and supply pack, he slowly made his way over to the tunnel's entrance.

513: "No movement yet...hmm. At least the smoke’s gone."

He observed while pulsing True Sense beyond the tunnel's entrance.

Other than the residual crackles and pops from cooling cinders, the only noise in the vicinity came from the crunching sounds created by 513’s footsteps.

[It can't be helped. There is no way I can approach silently with this much burnt debris on the ground.]

Upon reaching the mouth of the entrance, he stared up at the uneven hallows and crevices made by the fires and let out a soft whistle in amazement.

513: "God damn. This is taller than I imagined."

As he proceeded into the tunnel, the darkness that crept from the walls reached out to submerge 513 in gloom. The further he walked into the tunnel, the more he felt like he was traversing the interior of an ancient cave system. One where the walls resembling melted glass and splattered paint, appeared more sinister than what eyes could see.

While examining the tunnel, he thought to himself. [What a strange domain.]

---Chapter End