DISCOVERY PART 5A

Day 445; 1047 (Morning)

Focus: 513

For 513, the coming days seem to pass-by like a vortex of noise; blurry and incoherent. His lonely march of annihilation teetered close to an obsession. His thoughts, a revolving door of determination, guilt, and confusion. He often wondered how far he was willing to go, and most importantly, why.

He questioned the reasoning behind his growing fondness for cruelty and his disposition for violence, but all his self doubt would evaporate every moment he looked closer at the environment around him.

Since entering the more sickly parts of the forest, the ground below his feet remained soaked with the blood of countless lives. Their bodies, missing without any trace. The air had become stifled and constrained as the smell of death permeated through every facet of the local landscape; the stench of rot and decay recklessly left to ebb and flow like a winding river. Entrails and odd-colored discharge painted the scenery, splattered across the surface of endless trees and boulders.

Having grown tired of the depressing views surrounding him, he looked far beyond the presence of the withering trees and battle gouged landscape

There, at the very edge of the visible parts of the decaying forest, was a maze of latticework that rivaled large scale construction projects that 513 had seen previously on Earth. The webs making up the intricate pattern work were deceptive in nature. While aesthetically pleasing to the eye, touching such delicate looking threads would result in injury.

513: “...even roses have thorns...”

Muttered 513 while he admired the duality of the latticework’s purpose.

In the end, the webbed structure was nothing but a collection of fake, tangible clouds made up of razor sharp wires.

[They’ve stepped up their schemes.] 513 thought to himself.

Throughout 513’s journey the spiders had done what they could to prolong his advance. From their well fabricated hellscape that greeted 513 upon stepping into their territory, to their trap and ambush filled machinations set up to hinder and kill 513 during his travels, the False Arachnes were determined to keep 513 out of their territory. As such, their level of plotting grew as their experience rose.

However, that wasn’t enough to stop 513. For 513, his journey was one of survival. His warpath was derived from his need to prevent and eliminate the spiders’ encroachment to his current way of life. Doing so was the only way he could guarantee his own relative safety in the future.

And so, rather than shy away from the collection of webs filling the spaces between the sickly trees, 513 pressed forward.

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Day 445; 1048 (Morning)

Focus: 513

513: “Hmm…”

Surveying the land ahead, 513 halted his advance. His gaze landed on a towering structure several hundred steps away. Its size was quite abnormal, causing him to ponder its origins.

Removing his helmet, he vigorously scratched his head before slapping his cheeks. [Nope, still there.] He thought while staring at an immeasurable wall devoid of any light.

The wall appeared to stretch endlessly on either side of him, climbing to the canopy tops as-if trying to devour the sky. Its nature was oppressive. Its appearance, intimidating.

He stood in silence for quite some time after re-equipping his helmet -- observing, planning, and strategizing. He had never encountered such a structure before, so he erred on the side of caution and prepared for the worst outcome.

Stroking his dishevelled beard, he mumbled quietly to himself.

513: "It's likely another trap. It'd be best to treat it as such."

Planting his feet firmly on the ground, he cleared his mind, took a deep breath, then pulsed True Sense. The ability radiated-out towards the ominous-looking structure in a narrow cone, rippling through solid objects like a wave without a force behind it.

[Clever.] He mused. [This must have taken them quite some time to build.]

True Sense had revealed to him a dense mass made from tightly woven threads. The threads adjoined solid objects -- namely trees, boulders, and ground debris -- together into an imposing mass that blocked any form of light from escaping or passing through.

Intrigued by the structure’s construction, he pulsed True Sense again. But to his dismay, no additional information could be gathered.

[So, even after modifying my ability to extend its range, I am unable to 'see' through this wall.]

513 surmised that the structure was so thick, that even his unique ability could not penetrate through it all, similar to light.

513: "Hmm...I should throw something at it."

He declared.

Using the bladed edges of his shield, he cut through the entanglement of webs blocking his path; although the webs themselves could easily cut through bare skin, they strangely had no effect on his self-made gear -- perhaps due to the materials used in their construction.

He soldiered on, relentlessly hacking through the sharp webs as-if chopping-down dense brush in a jungle. Eventually, he found what he was searching for -- a hefty rock to throw at the wall.

[Ahhh, that's perfect.] He thought while bending down to pick up a rock the size of a watermelon. [Now, to see what type of treachery they've planned for me this time.]

He whimsically hurled the rock into the air as-if throwing a discus. While in flight, it barrelled through wave after wave of haphazardly strung webs, conveniently opening a path straight for the wall. Several intricately designed lattices were also destroyed in the process, triggering a multitude of traps.

Nets made from thick silk, fell from the treetops, blanketing the land below in a sheet of extra-strength adhesive, while a number of pitfalls revealed themselves hidden underneath thin layers of leaf litter and dirt. Tensioned spikes tucked-away between the creases of trees sprung forward, puncturing the ground where their intended targets were supposed to be, while kinetic projectiles randomly shot-out from their staging areas the moment the latticework they had been attached to were severed.

513 saw all of this while comfortably leaning against his sled filled with supplies.

513: “Hmm. Nothing new...just more of it.”

He muttered out loud.

In his experience, the traps created by the False Arachnes had steadily grown in complexity over-time. At first, they were crude, consisting mainly of trip hazards like randomly placed depressions in the ground, or tensioned rods that swung at his feet at high velocity. But the further he pushed into their controlled territory, the more their methods evolved to hinder his movements.

[If this goes on for much longer, the sophistication of their handiwork will soon rival my own.] He contemplated. [I sincerely hope I am wrong.]

The rock he had thrown towards the wall of webs eventually lost its momentum and crashed into the ground. It appeared considerably smaller than before, likely due to its contact with the razor-sharp webs. Upon rolling to a stop, it triggered another trap, causing the ground below it to violently erupt, upheaving dirt, debris, and launching sharpened fragments of wood, stone, and bone into the air.

513: “...well, that one’s new…”

He said in surprise.

513: “A shrapnel trap...I need to be careful.”

Feeling cautious, 513 spent the rest of the morning launching head-sized rocks towards the wall of webs, further clearing the path of dangerous traps and hindrances.

That said, he needed a more reliable approach.

While hurling rocks, he formulated a loose plan -- one that allowed him to reach the wall safely, breach it without getting too close, and leave room for improvisation if the plan failed.

The brainstorming session didn’t last long, and by midday, the first part of the plan was decided.

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Day 445; 1200 (Midday)

Focus: 513

513: “An encampment, that’s what I need.”

He said, excited by the prospect.

[Fortifications, traps, triggers, warning systems, a weapons cache, artillery, a command center…] 513 mentally listed every aspect that he wanted to tackle, including nonsensical ones, like building a barracks or a tech lab for upgrades.

513: “...but what I need right now is a siege weapon...hmm...a mangonel is probably the easiest torsion catapult I can produce with the materials I have with me.”

With his mind set, he anchored his sled to the ground with some rope and wooden stakes, then searched through his provisions for useful materials. By doing so, however, he uncovered a few pieces of equipment that he would rather not address.

[I forgot about these...why do I keep finding shiny armors inside of disgusting creatures? Sometimes I feel like I’m looting drops from boss-level monsters...surely someone, at some point, produced these items...]

After a brief moment of pondering, he set the sparkling, pristine pieces of metallic armor aside, then retrieved an assortment of materials from the sled -- including a few planks of Tree Mimic bark, spider silk rope, and an adze with a blood bone cutting edge.

With plenty of material and tools at his disposal, he quickly began construction, starting with the siege engine’s chassis.

Using the adze, he shaped the planks of timber into proper assembly pieces, notched the ends to form simple lap joints, then adhered the timbers together with bone glue and dowels. He would have preferred using more intricate joinery like scarf joints or dovetails, but doing so would have taken too much time, and he didn't have precision tools at hand.

[This is great, my woodworking skills are paying off!]

As the build progressed, 513 intermittently flung pebbles into randomly targeted trees, causing their bark to dimple and shatter. Afterwards, he would pulse True Sense, creating a composite image in his mind of anything within a few dozen steps of his location.

From the intel gathered by his ability, he mentally noted every tree that he had damaged, then carefully observed whether they had moved or not. He continued this crucial exercise up until the siege engine’s completion, at which point, all trees within close proximity of his general location had been damaged and heavily scrutinized.

This activity had become standard practice for 513 after meeting the Tree Mimic. He didn't want to repeat his mistakes, nor rely heavily on True Sense.

Once he confirmed that no hidden enemies were nearby, he took a few steps away from his work area, and proudly inspected his handiwork.

513: “Ehehehe.”

He chortled while gently patting the fully-assembled mangonel as-if it were a tamed beast.

[I can’t wait to see you in action.] He mused while ogling at the siege engine with wide-eyes.

After a brief, sentimental moment, 513 dragged the siege engine towards an ideal location facing the wall. Once in position, he cranked the tension arm down to the desired angle, loaded the payload bucket with a large rock wrapped in spider silk webs soaked in animal fat, lit the rock on fire, then released the restraining rope, launching the flaming projectile towards the wall of webs.

As the rock sailed through the air, pieces of spider silk splintered from the burning rock, leaving a trail of floating flames in its wake. The floaters acted like fiery wisps, capriciously dancing in the air until eventually making contact with the latticework of webs strung between the trees.

As a result, the webs immediately caught fire, causing the flames to uncontrollably spread in every direction. This brought about an inadvertent chain reaction that gave birth to a hulking firestorm that incinerated everything leading-up to the wall.

[Oh, fuck…wait, this is a good thing.] 513 reasoned.

He watched-on as the entire forest was momentarily engulfed in flames. The roaring heat pushed him to his knees and threatened to vaporize his sled, but knowing that it was only temporary, he remained calm.

The flames climbed-up the treeline and spread outward like a visible ripple of force, only stopping once all the spiderwebs in the area had been turned to ash.

Dark smoke, smelling of burnt hair, swirled between the trees as pockets of hot and cold air clashed with one another. Eventually, the smoke rose towards the canopy tops, leaving only the foul odor behind.

513: “Hmm…”

513 pondered.

He had taken up a stature similar to the 'The Thinker'' -- his chin resting on his fist as he sat next to his sled. While still in contemplation he glared at the webbed wall, wondering why it had remained unharmed.

After some more pondering, he came to a conclusion.

513: “A fire gap...so the spiders are aware of their inherent weakness. This is rather disconcerting, but...I cannot deny that it was not unexpected.”

His opinion on the matter was pragmatic. The realization left him unsurprised that the wall of webs still stood tall, unharmed by the flames.

513: “At least I no longer have to deal with traps...well, except for the pitfalls.”

After saying so, he loaded-up the mangonel with another rock and resumed his bombardment -- this time, aiming for the wall itself.

---Chapter End