The trip through the tunnels started pretty well. They had to fight a bit more than Regina expected, but on the flip side, they also traveled faster.

Gwen’s ‘Bard of Battle’ Class really shone in this situation. She used a song that seemed to have mana woven through it in a strange way to buff the group. It increased their speed and stamina, making it much easier to run quickly through the tunnels, even for the magic users with lower physical stats among them. Regina had already decided to leave any Swarm Drones behind, as they wouldn’t have been able to keep up, but the rest managed pretty well. It helped that all of them were at least at the second Tier by now, although Via and Ira had only Evolved recently.

Janis occasionally used her Haste Spell to help, as it didn’t clash with Gwen’s bard buff too badly. Via and Ira kept most of their magic in reserve to provide healing whenever someone needed it. Although, with their levels, the fighting wasn’t very hard, so there wasn’t too much need for that.

Both Via and Ira actually leveled up once, fairly quickly after they started traveling. They had both chosen the same Class, Drone Assistant. She wasn’t entirely clear how it would develop their ability with magic, but considering how much she had trained with them, Regina wasn’t too worried.

They only started running into trouble a few hours in, when they had already covered at least a dozen kilometers. More likely at least twenty. It was a bit hard to judge distances down here, without any real landmarks to go by. Even the maps that the Delvers had weren’t very exact about that sort of thing.

“How should we proceed?” Gwen asked, glancing at the group.

Regina tugged on her mandible. They were facing two potential ways forward: continuing along their current path, a larger tunnel which seemed to divert to the left later, or a smaller, narrower tunnel going to the right.

“Ada, your impression?” she asked.

“It’s hard to be sure, my Queen,” Ada answered. She was frowning slightly, clearly thinking hard. “But I would recommend going to the right.”

“Are you sure?” one of the other Delvers, a man called Geoff, asked. Judging by his equipment and Class, Dark Daggers, he was a rogue type. He sounded skeptical. “We need to head primarily eastward, and the tunnel we have been using is following that direction.”

“But if we keep following it, we’ll end up going more towards the northeast, even though we need to go southeast,” Ada replied patiently. “I would at least check it out. We can always double back if we find that it gets blocked or veers off in a different direction. This path also looks to be heading upwards, closer to the surface again, so it will be easier to get out if necessary.”

Regina frowned slightly. She didn’t like the idea of doubling back. Then again, they had fought the last monsters a while ago and could move pretty quickly, so they wouldn’t lose a lot of time trying it. And if this tunnel was blocked or changed direction after they had already traveled for a while, they should be able to get another one that took them closer to their goal. There were a lot of tunnels and pathways down here, far more than she’d thought. Monsters like the Tunnelers had been living here for a long time, though.

After a while, Max quietly sidled up next to her. “Are we even sure we can get into the place if we reach it?” he asked in a low voice.

Regina looked at him and shrugged. “Of course not. But I’m getting the feeling there’s more to all this. I’d be very surprised if there wasn’t some connection. And the complex is bound to have at least one back entrance, considering.”

Neither of them specified that they were talking about Galatea’s home or even mentioned Galatea, since they didn’t want to risk the Delvers overhearing anything, but that wasn’t necessary.

“Careful,” Ada said quietly, cutting off their conversation. She’d been walking in front, followed by Owin and Tim, though they all slowed down now.

Regina quickly took a glimpse through her eyes, then hopped to Tim’s to get confirmation. It didn’t take her long to realize why they had stopped.

The tunnel opened up into a chasm. She faintly heard rushing water below, though judging by the echoes and the qualities of the sound, at least most of it was probably an underground stream going through the rock, rather than open to the air. There might also be another underground lake. At the moment, though, she was more concerned with the silky webs covering the tunnel, the gap, and seemingly even the inside of the chasm. The area was downright packed with the stuff.

“Great,” Gwen sighed. “A giant spider nest. Just what I wanted to see here.”

“I don’t see any giant spider,” Owin pointed out.

“Come on, Owin.” She shot him a look. “How often have we run into something like this? You know what it means.”

“No, I mean, I don’t see any giant spiders here, do you? Disregarding the fact that this doesn’t seem to be their preferred arrangement for a lair, you’d expect there to be at least one.”

Regina frowned. She hadn’t run into giant spiders before, and she was not happy, although not surprised, to find out that they were a thing. “Maybe they’re just hiding down there?” she suggested. “They wouldn’t make for very good ambush predators if prey could see them lurking, after all.”

Max cleared his throat. “And what exactly makes this a good ambush? The obvious webs?”

Regina shot him a look and rolled her eyes, but she had to admit that he had a point.

“Many animals living underground would not be able to see, or have very bad eyesight, at least,” Janis said. “Although something like this can still be avoided by echolocation abilities, too.”

“Well, there’s no point standing around here,” Owin said, hefting his shield. Then he started moving forward.

Janis, Max and Via made sure the webs wouldn’t touch anyone, using fire magic and an axe, while Regina stayed in the middle of the group. They quickly reached the edge of the tunnel and the crevice. It was actually larger than it had seemed, big enough that several people could descend at once.

“Is that a dead spider down there?” Janis asked, bending forward to look down.

Ada grabbed the back of her coat. “It looks like it. I wouldn’t assume it’s the only one, though.”

“Quiet.” Regina raised a hand.

Fortunately, they all fell silent. That allowed her to hear the rustling and chittering. Judging by their reactions, even the Delvers heard something.

Owin materialized his barrier again, just in time for the first giant spider to bounce off it. Another squeezed itself from a crack in the ceiling above the crevice, which had been almost completely hidden by the contours of the uneven stone. Several more crawled up from below, spread out on various sides.

Giant Cave Spider — Level 30

Regina narrowed her eyes and almost called on her mana to form a Firebolt, but then paused. She still didn’t have enough to waste it. Reluctantly, she took a step back instead.

As if to make up for it, Janis and Ira both seemed to have the same idea. Several Firebolts rained down on the spiders, dislodging one of them and filling the air with the smell of burnt bugs. One of the spiders screeched.

A throwing knife from the rogue nailed the spider she’d been looking at. At the same time, Max chopped down on the leg of the spider that was furthest up. It tried to stab one of its other legs at him in retaliation, but he dodged the attack. Tim used the opportunity to stab its eye, sending it collapsing to the ground.

“I was just about to point out that they are tougher than they look, but the eyes are a weak spot,” Owin commented. “It looks like that is unnecessary.”

Regina glanced around. She could at least keep an eye out while the others fought. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like another monster wanted to use the opportunity to attack them. But she did find something interesting looking down the tunnel.

“There’s a darker spot down there,” she muttered. She squinted, then waited until Tim was done with his current opponent, a smaller spider, to look through his eyes.

“Did you find something, Lady Regina?” Owin asked.

“Perhaps.” She looked up and blinked. “Good work, everyone.” They’d already killed all the spiders. She stepped closer to the edge, looking down. “It seems like there may be another tunnel here, Sir Owin.”

He followed her, bending down and squinting. “I believe you are correct. A rather large one, in fact.”

“It seems to go in the direction we need,” Janis commented. Then her hand lit up with fire and she tossed it towards the spot in question.

Regina shielded her eyes while she watched Janis torch all the spider webs obstructing their view. Once she was finished, Via climbed down, flapping her wings a bit to generate some lift, though actually flying would be hard in the narrow confines.

“It’s a very regular, smooth tunnel,” she reported. “Clearly artificial.” It seems too small for a subway tunnel, she commented to Regina privately, but maybe some kind of maintenance shaft or accessway for a bigger one?

“Let’s go,” Regina answered.

It took a bit of doing to get everyone down and into the tunnel safely, but luckily, they were all reasonably athletic, and Gwen knew a bard spell that helped with acrobatics. “Interesting,” she commented, running her hands down the smooth surface of the tunnel.

They continued walking carefully, mindful of any further monsters, though they didn’t encounter anything. And after a few meters, it became clear that the tunnel was continuing on in a straight line, as if someone had designed it with a ruler on a drawing board - which might be the case.

"We should be getting close now,” Ada commented eventually.

Regina nodded. Gwen was still speeding them up. It felt a bit odd, like each of her steps was carrying more force and covering a greater distance than it should. But they had been able to travel without having to fight monsters for a while now, with only a short pause for the giant spider nest. That had allowed them to cover a lot of ground. Although she’d found it difficult to keep track of time down here, beyond a rough idea. They’d certainly traveled for hours.

The Delver was showing clear signs of exhaustion by now, with her hair plastered to her head with sweat and even her hands shaking slightly. She hadn’t really participated in the fighting, so she’d been able to rest during those times. But Regina knew she was probably almost exhausting her mana. In contrast, Regina herself had gained a few thousand points of mana since their departure, and her mana was still climbing up steadily. She was tired, too. Her End stat wasn’t that high and they’d kept up a demanding pace. But she was also feeling much better as her mana recovered.

“This tunnel is strange,” Max muttered, quiet enough she was pretty sure the Delvers wouldn’t be able to hear him. “It’s almost like an underground road, but not big enough for a train, is it? And why would there be one leading straight towards our destination?”

Probably something for the complex Galatea was brought to, Regina answered. I imagine they might have needed supplies, and if they hid it in a populated community, an underground access makes sense. But who knows? I doubt we’ll ever find out.

“There is a door coming up,” Ada reported.

They slowed down and advanced cautiously, but it seemed they didn’t have to fear attacks from monsters. Regina supposed that made sense, considering this was just an empty cavern going from this door to the spiders’ lair. She could tell that they were very close now, at least as close to where she’d talked to Galatea as the tunnels her hive had dug. The feeling of the mana in the surroundings was the same.

As they approached, it became clear that while the metal wall and door blocking the tunnel were similar to what they’d seen before, they were in much worse condition. They still blocked off the tunnel, of course, but the material looked almost corroded, as if the passage of time had withered it, but without actual deformation or rust. Regina almost got the impression that it had been in its present state for a while. I guess what mana surges might do to things varies.

“How will we get in?” Gwen asked. She eyed the door. “Do you think bashing our way in will be feasible?”

“That is Ancient material,” Owin replied. “I doubt it will be easy. Besides, we do not know what might be behind it. If it is anything like what we just faced, that might be a bad idea. And I am not sure if we want to announce our presence to whatever might be inside, either.”

“I guess you have a point,” Regina muttered. After a second of hesitation, she stepped up to the door. Ada and Tim moved out of her way.

She could tell the door had been secured with a keycard and fingerprint sensor in addition to its lock, even if the casings were hard to recognize. Of course, the problem was that even if it still worked, none of them would be allowed in.

“Can you just Conjure some acid to eat through this barrier and let us enter?” Tim asked quietly.

Regina frowned. “Maybe, but I wouldn’t bet on it.”

Instead, she turned her attention to the walls. They were in worse condition than the door itself, to the point that the metal covering was almost peeling off the side of the tunnel at the intersection. Regina started taking it off and looking for wires. She was sure she’d seen people do that in movies, even if she couldn’t recall the actual details.

“What are you doing?” Owin asked, sounding irritated. “If it was that easy to get Progenitor facilities to open — Well, you can’t just push on the right things.”

“I know, and it wouldn’t have power anymore, anyway,” Regina responded calmly. “It looks like this might have been battery-powered, but …”

She paused and cocked her head as she examined what she was seeing. She wasn’t exactly an electrician, but at least she got a rough idea of where the connections went. She could also sense it faintly. She’d noticed that mana reacted slightly differently with different materials, and it was a lot more pronounced here. She remembered Alianais’ explanation and knew that these electronics had probably been shorted out by a mana surge. But it was still there, noticeable enough that she’d felt it even from a short distance away. Twisted mana, perhaps, but traces lingered.

“This is odd,” Janis muttered, stepping closer and almost bumping into Regina.

She couldn’t help but agree, though. At this point, I might as well have gone with the acid idea, but at least it’s interesting.

“Are you done playing around with this?” Owin asked. “I’m not sure how you know anything about this - or think you do - but clearly, that mechanism hasn’t worked for a long time.”

Regina sighed. “I guess you’re right. Step back, please.”

As a precaution, she made herself some sheets of plastic first, to isolate things in case there was still some electrical charge slumbering here. Then she started carefully Conjuring acid to eat through the weak spots. She tried several kinds, and occasionally paused for Max and the others to help her pry a bit of metal loose. It took a while, but eventually, she had essentially isolated the mechanism that would let the door open.

“Alright, let’s push on this. Here, and here.” She glanced at the others and raised an eyebrow, waiting until they’d taken position. Then they pushed open the door.

It was clearly almost rusted, but it did move. She winced at the creaking and groaning. So much for a stealthy approach, but I guess it could be worse. Besides, she didn’t want to dawdle too much, in case Galatea was in danger and needed help.

At least this time, there were no guns or anything to interrupt them or stop them from entering.