The spiders were getting smaller for some reason, this made me feel something was wrong, but why was slipping my mind, one of those times when a memory refuses to surface. I paused my advance, trying to remember in the center of one of the cleared areas. If this was an important memory, this could well save my life, but if not would only stall my advance for a bit, no downside unless you count minor irritation really. I stood, deep in thought, the silence of the tunnels permiated only by the light, but rapid clicking of the hatchlings claws against the stone.

The hatchings seemed unwilling to leave the waist high mass of webs, whether that was due to the unexpected acid baths, or normal behavior didn't really matter. Slowly the memory began to become clearer in my head, as I recalled the rather unique trait of this particular species of giant spider. While the hatchlings of course started off small, at a certain size they began to shrink once more as their bodies hardened, turning their cartilage to something more similar to bone, and their soft skin to solid chitin. This could be an issue, depending on multiple factors, such as differences in behavior from their softer kin, and the possibility of being swarmed while only having what amounted to knee length boots for protection. While their size didn't allow them to traverse areas as easily as a normal spider, they could still use their claws the get sufficient purchase on certain surfaces to walk upside down.

The shrinking was only triggered if they reached a certain size, most hatchlings died without ever reaching this stage, but the fact that some have indeed began to enter the adult stage pointed to one of three possibilities. Firstly, enough people may reach this area to sustain them, the second possibility being that they are feeding off of the other monsters of this place, pointing to undead and basilisks not being the only creatures down here, or they are resorting to cannibalism. Of course any combination of the three isn't to be ruled out either.

I looked around the walls and ceiling warily, as it's possible that the adults may be able to blend in against the stones. I may have just well walked into the lion's den covered in cow blood. Looking back the way I came, the way was still clear for now, but it has been a number of hours, and I knew nothing for me was in that direction. I could keep going, and find a shelter of some kind, stop here, making one with earth magic, or head back, and have to make my way back tomorrow... Of course it wouldn't take as much time tomorrow since I would not be waiting for my mind to cool off after the use of magic, neither would I have to wait for the acid to become inert. That being said, the spiders might well replace what I ruined in that time...

Well, better to have to do something twice rather than get eaten in my sleep. Turning around, I made my way back out of this nest. Along the way, I kept my eyes out for an adult, which can leap a good sixty paces at you, being well known to aim for the throat. If I couldn't see in the dark as easily, this would be nerve wracking, since a lantern light only covers about six paces in any direction with any degree of clarity. My thoughts were interuppted but something rather unexpected... the webbing suddenly blocked my way again, as if the floor had moved.

I could make out the lower legs of a skeletal body without it's feet, as if broken off. I gazed at the new wall of webbing that blocked my path once more, the tunnel filled to the ceiling with webbing so thick it looked like snow. Apparently, this labyrinth can move itself around. The question was if this was a matter of time, or an intentional act which could be triggered at random. Theoretically if this was timed, all i would have to do is wait until the tunnel from before returned, but there no way of knowing how long each cycle is, or how many other paths it could place down. Never mind the possibility of a random result equation tied into whatever runs this function of the maze.

I used Magicae Revelare, but found nothing, pointing to a runic construction, as they only gave off magic while activated. That would make this the largest runic construction ever found, by far, with the largest one currently on record being a golem dragon from long ago, left to protect an abandoned city, which used to be the capitol of an ancient elven empire in the far east. Of course, it could go inert within a certain radius from me, which from where i turned back would be about... I'd say a hundred paces, maybe less. At worst that implies this entire place is constantly shifting around me, but in that case the spiders would be getting crushed left and right...

Most likely the entire section here rotates... which means I am much deeper into this nest then I would like to be...

"Cavea Principalis Terrae"

Two walls of earth enclose around me, cutting me off from the outside world in this section of the tunnels, safe from the spiders for an hour or two, but if im not careful I'll suffocate myself. I take this time to have a nap, and think over my options, and what I have run into thus far. At least one basilisk is in these tunnels, a creature able to turn entire armies into little more than decorations, with little more than a glance. I have run into a singular undead giant, judging by the giant worm it was a parasite undead, a corpse made to move after death by a magical parasite, typically a normal corpse eating creature that leeched off the magic which would have animated the corpse. With how many spiders are around me, there is a thriving population of them, hinting to a great many other creatures to serve as their prey. Giant spiders will prey on anything they can trap, overpower, or even just find. The habit of scavenging means that these spiders will try to eat the undead, but unlike a normal corpse it wont just stand there and be eaten, while also being immune to the venom.

Supposing this entire labyrinth is large enough to be a thriving ecosystem with these large monsters in such a great number. That would mean the labyrinth is extensive, and ontop of that, the ability to move entire sections of this structure hints to it's intricacy. I have yet to run into a mechanical trap, but rather monsters seem to be used as the traps, not that it would be wise to simply stop watching for the mechanical variety. The sheer amount of webs in this section hint at how many spiders are present, allowing them to utterly dominate an entire area. By the petrified kinderfalk, and the skeleton just outside, I am not the first to go through this trial, and they are not adverse to simply letting you die down here.

I am aware that an entire armor set may be distributed throughout this maze, having found a sword, and greaves. The question in this case would be where these items will be found. It stands to reason that they are either scattered about randomly, or systematically. On the chance it is systematically, the two locations the items are most likely found at are in the center, or on the outskirts. After the three rooms I have already found, important items can be found in these rooms without fail, from water, to equipment. Given the lack of food to be found, it is possible they expect you to eat the creatures and plants found within. As far as the plants, I feel confident in regards to that, due to my extensive reading, but I hadn't bothered to research edible animals or monsters, as I was more interested in botany.

I took a swig from my waterskin, and took out some dried meat. I think this is my first time actually relaxing all day. By the father this was mentally draining, keeping alert at all times, casting spell after spell, and now wracking my brain trying to solve an enigma likely honed and perfected to confuse people. With a sigh, I turned over to take a second nap, after this I have to get going once more.

Once more, I work my way through the waist high webbing, opting out of the wall of webbing for obvious reasons. Thankfully there haven't been any adults so far, at the very least none that have attacked me, or I've noticed. Turning a corner, I saw a light just out of view through a curving tunnel, likely from some sort of flame by how the light wavers. As I drew near to it, I remained cautious, remembering the petrified girl, this may be a far more recent body, or another recruit for this challenge.

Either way, it isn't exactly unlikely that this is dangerous. That being said, a recently made body may have supplies, and another recruit would make any fight much easier than it would be if I remain alone. At the very worst, it is another basilisk victim.

I peered around the corner, and only saw a lantern... a single lit lantern set on the floor... What?... I stood there, listening, thinking that maybe there was a cubby somebody was sleeping in, or hiding (rather horribly). My efforts rewarded me with the sound of quick shallow breathing from somewhere out of sight, to which I moved quickly, finding of all things a small winged humanoid bug thing, clutching it's chest, where a comparatively large gash sat.

I gently picked them up, the small figure too feeble to open it's eyes as it weakly tried to escape my fingers. I examined the little thing, finding the gash to have apparently been made by a tiny blade, as the cut was clean. By their behavior, they have lost alot of blood, so hopfully there is no toxin in the wound, because some moss should be able to stop the bleeding. Looking around, some was along a nearby wall, some normal garden veriety moss. Gently padding some into the wound with some dirt will stop the bleeding, so hopefully, barring toxin or weak constitution, this should save their life.

Having done so, I looked over the small figure for any other injuries, finding none. To give an idea of how small this figure was, the gash now covering over half their chest would be a papercut to me. Despite being well aware how hard it could be to guess a humanoids age, and having no idea what race this individual belonged to, I would guess by their features that they would be equivalent to a child. That being said, the insectoid features made this rather hard to tell even that much.

They have two antennae atop their head, similar to a moths in how they seemed like two white feathers atop their head. I could make out six different eyes, one set of which sat atop the figures head, and resembled an insects, with another set on either side of the lower jaw, and the remaining where they would be on any other humanoid. Their jaws seemed to be in six parts, four of which forming what looked like mandibles, the other two making a... somewhat normal looking mouth... lots of needle-like teeth, and no apparent tongue. Though the normal-ish ones did have normal lips. From what I can tell, the mandibles started farther back on her head then a human jaw would. Hair seemed to cover their entire body like fur, with what looked like chitin on their joints, and chest, looking alot like light infantry armor in that regard.

Their hands each had four digits, their feet resembling a birds in how two were in front, two in back, appearing able to grasp things. Aside from the moth wings and rather creepy mandibles, there was the minor matter of their having eight limbs, two pairs of legs, and two pairs of arms. The wings had a pattern with two large red eyes that glowed slightly in my shadow, the chitin being a dark purple, and the rest of the body was a dark grey. All in all, this individual was nothing like anyone else I have seen...

At a guess, from what little I know about folklore, this person was a Fae. Much like the faea themselves, Fae is the general term for various forms of humanoids with multifarious humanoid features. The various forms of faea are the most common variety, but there are also the dryads, nymphs, minotaurs, and the like. However, their are old tales of "pureblood" fae, creatures which embody the very aspects of nature themselves, life forms of pure magic. Many philosophers theorized that it was some old name for the elementals, but there has never been proof. Of course, I could just be going mad at this point from the stress...

I gently set this fellow down, closer to the lamp so that they might stay warm. Hopefully this wouldn't be a sad moment... or a mistake... Not all fae, such as the aformentioned minotaur, were not exactly friendly. Infact, the minotaur was rather against it's bovine appearance, in that it had the same diet as an ogre, that being anything which bleeds.

Some time later, as I was trying my hand at cooking a hatchlings leg over the lamp, having removed the glass, I heard a small gasp of pain from the little figure. Looking over, I found a rather bleery eyed face peering at me, speaking of which, their eyes were all a solid black, like small opals. When I looked at them, they flinched, likely due to how the fire flickered in my eyes or something. They tried to scoot closer to the wall, two hands and feet held weakly up to fend me off, the others doing their best to drag them away.

"Do you understand?", I asked, trying the language of the faea (Aranae), however got no responce.

I tried three other languages I barely knew, such as goblin, some broken draconic (which earned me a flinch), and some barley understandable giant, the latter two being self taught. Finally, with a sigh, I just offered them a hatchling leg, which seemed to make them hesitate, though their facial features made it impossible to tell why. After a bit, I just set it down next to them, and turned back to the one which was left cooking... and was now burning.

I tried to blow out the fire, but it just kept smoldering, and there is no way I am wasting water to put it out. I just broke the burning part off and ate the rest, which surprisingly enough tasted alot like lobster. Maybe a bit more sour, but not nearly as bad as I was prepared for. Looking over, the little one was digging in with gusto, tearing chunks off the cartilage and not bothering to chew. It seems they at least arn't going to run off and leave me alone again. This is the longest I have gone in a number of years without so much as humming, never mind talking, and found that my voice had become rather coarse in only four, maybe five, days.

Between us, we finished off six of the eight legs, two for them, four on my end. Really, I am still iffy about the main body, which hid a venom gland somewhere which held a large enough dose to kill an entire team of horses... Fuck that, I will stick to the legs, not as if their is a shortage around here.

They and I now sat in silence near the lamp, they were relaxed as if this was a luxury lounge, and not a cave system filled to the brim with deadly monsters. On my end, I stayed alert, this little one was both barely the length of my hand, and injured, they would both be helpless, and no help to me if I end up the one ambushed. Given the lamp, and the fact they were cut open when I found them, somebody may well return, either to ensure their death, or have a misunderstanding and attack me to protect them.

If the former, than I need to stand as a protector, if the latter, I would do well to dodge like hell. Given how they were alone, it is fair to say there is only one other either way, otherwise they would have left somebody to stand watch... That being said, they are rather small... maybe I missed them?