Khal didn't have any more confrontations after the day he rescued Kitten. He wasn't sure if he was just one of the lucky ones or if he was much better at avoiding danger. Blood week passed with Khal spending all his time meditating and training with master Copper.

Khal had just finished another day with master Copper when he began walking down the hallway. The familiar sight of blood and dead bodies no longer phased him. It was considerably less than the first few days. He preferred to see the silver lining in all of it. The hallways were mostly empty now since at least 300 of the Spiderlings were now dead. Although there was still two times the number of training rooms, many of the Spiderlings realized that it was easier to alternate among themselves and share the rooms. There were still those who felt it was beneath themselves to follow any sort of rules made by Spiderlings but for the most part the killings were minimal.

Just outside of master Copper's room, Khal saw two Spiderlings waiting. Khal instantly got alert as he prepared for a fight. To his surprise, however, one of the Spiderlings said, "We only want to talk" Khal realized right away that the voice was feminine. "It's me, kitten. I haven't gotten the change to thank you for before. If yo-" Khal frowned, sure he had helped her but it was only later that he realized they were after her because she killed one of their allies.

"There is no need to thank me. They were simply in my way," Khal responded, cutting her off. "Oh, well umm." Kitten became awkward, Khal's words threw her off. "What kitten means to ask is if you want to team up, it's far easier in the Hollows that way" the other Spiderling explained to Khal. "And who are you?" Khal flatly asked. The Spiderling stepped forward and slowly bowed towards Khal. "They call me Anvil."

Khal's eyes became intense. He recalled hearing the name in passing. Some Spiderlings considered him a strong contender for a numbered spot. His killing methods were always direct, overpowering his victims before they got a chance to retaliate. Kitten already knew Khal was a numbered. He didn't know if she told Anvil yet but it would be dangerous if he had to fight them both right now. He had no choice but to act a little less aggressive in case of offended either one of them.

"Why? You both seem to be doing just fine without me." Anvil nodded his head before turning towards Kitten, "Yea Kitten, why do we need this guy?" Kitten stood there looking between Khal and Anvil. She seemed flustered and at a loss for words, "Umm, well 'Three' and 'Four' have teamed up recently. I heard that they plan to clear out most of the Spiderlings so that they can be on top at the end of the year. Some say master Totem knew them from before and strongly supports them."

Khal digested the information slowly. If two numbered were working together then there was little that can be done to stop them. Those most in danger were the numbered. Khal just couldn't verify whether Kitten was speaking the truth. The hollows was like that, Spiderlings often lied to get your guard down before attacking. "I'll be more careful then." Khal waited to see whether they would push the issue. If they continued then he would know what their real goal was.

"Do you understand what this means?" Kitten asked a bit frantic now. Anvil sighed before he turned towards Khal again, "I only agreed to team up because Kitten vouched for you, but if you're doing so great alone then there is little for us to do. Kitten let's go." Khal watched Anvil forcing Kitten away. He still wasn't sure if they were speaking the truth but he felt inclined to believe it.

---

Just like that, ten months went by and Khal was now thirteen years old. During this time, Khal spent half of his time learning from the blade master. Khal knew he was a quick study, it had taken him 6 months to learn the intricacies of the blade. He wasn't a blade master yet, but he could last a round comfortably against one, based on techniques alone.

After narrowly escaping death on many occasions, Khal had no choice other than splitting the time spent with the blade master to learn some stealth skills. Stealth was nothing more than breathing exercises at first, but Khal soon learned it was deadlier than the blade. He had even realized that his wind element was well suited for stealth. Not only did the wind cause his speed to increase. It made him lighter, easier to handle the complex movement skills needed to avoid detection as well as evasion. It was for this reason that he opted to split his days learning both and reserving his nights for meditating.

After the last close call with death, Khal realized that 'Three' and 'Four' were now the ones on top of the Hollows. Just last week 'Two' was found dead in his room, apparently ambushed while he meditated. 'One' was nowhere to be found but it was only a matter of time before his room was found. It scared Khal to know that they were now looking for the numbered. More than likely they were also looking for his room but since his blonde hair was always cladded outside his room, it was difficult to tell how he looked.

In the beginning, the relationship among the Spiderlings was weird, to say the least. They didn't trust each other and only ever listened to the orders of official members of the Black Recluse. It was difficult to trust someone when you couldn't even see their faces after all. Majority of the Spiderlings would go about their day training on their own or only interacting with each other during sparring sessions. The rest of the time they spent plotting on killed each other or the numbered.

Now, after ten months together, 'Three' and 'Four', now called 'Two' and 'Three' respectively, had managed to manipulate most of the Spiderlings using fear. The death toll had skyrocketed leaving only fifty Spiderlings alive. Those alive were the strongest but also the luckiest. Majority of those alive had sided with 'Two' and 'Three' to hunt those that resisted. The hunt for the numbered had lasted especially long before they finally caught 'Two'.

Today, Khal was just finished practicing his blade techniques. All Spiderlings needed to enter one of the training rooms to use the weapons. Carrying weapons through the hallway was prohibited. Khal walked down the hallway as he usually would. He had never exchanged words with any of the Spiderlings since Kitten and Anvil so many months ago. Just as he began walking, he could feel the area directly around him change. Although the hallway was sparse with Spiderlings, there was still a considerable amount of them around. Khal noticed one person moving strangely behind him.

Kitten had left a deep impression on him during their match. He had thought a lot about cognizance ever since then. Although he wasn't at the level where he could manipulate people's senses, he could perceive at least two meters all around him. Today was no different. Using his cognizance, Khal was able to detect someone following him. Grinning to himself, Khal continued for an hour. The further down the hallway he went, the lonelier it became. Since the majority of the new batch never bothered living so far away, it was difficult for Khal's stalker to continue without hesitating. Khal felt the man slowing down a little before deciding to continue.

Since there was at least twenty men under the new leaders of the Hollows, the remaining thirty were easy prey. This had caused many of the Spiderlings to form groups whenever they went anywhere. Sadly, none of the groups ever numbered more than five people. The man had assumed Khal to be one of the easier ones since he was alone.

The stalker continued to follow Khal all the way to the dirt rooms. Khal hesitated only slightly before he suddenly cladded the sole of his feet before embedding it with wind element. His stalker had no time to react before he was attacked. Khal closed the distance with ease as he sent a chop towards the man's neck. Not expecting the sudden attack, the man didn't even get enough time to flinch. It didn't take long before a long red line was drawn alone the man's neck. Khal's blade master had proved to him that he didn't need a blade to cut. By using his cladded bare hands, Khal could slice cleanly through the man's throat, causing him to gasp for breath as he stared at Khal in horror. Who would have known that Khal would become so strong in such a short space of time? It must be known that Khal's stalker was one of the stronger followers of 'Two' and 'Four'.

Khal searched the Spiderling for any valuables before dragging his body into one of the unoccupied dirt rooms. Making sure there were no other Spiderlings following him, Khal disappeared along the hallway, leaving the man in the dark room in his own pool of blood.

---

Khal was shaken up by the time he reached his room. Although he became more alert during his time at the Hive, it came at a cost. His mental strength was strained time and time again. If this continued, especially while in the hallways, it could cost him his life. He knew he needed to do something about it before the strain causes him any problems. I can't continue like this. I need to give them a reason to fear me....

Khal began to sort through the items he got from his kill. He smiled ruefully as he withdrew a maginite pendant. The pendant had a picture of a little girl. Khal wasn't sure what relationship she had with his stalker, but he was sure he cared for her deeply. Khal tried his best to deal with the burden of taking lives. He knew everyone he killed had relationships just like he did. A loving mother or father, or maybe a brother or sister. It was inevitable but Khal wasn't numb to it. Not yet anyway.

Khal decided that the only way to take his mind off it was to meditate. He closed his eyes and crossed his legs before taking a deep breath. Lately, Khal's meditation did little to increase his spirit power but it helped to clear his mind of the constant death around him. He knew his stagnancy meant that he had reached the minor bottleneck between Senior Knight second and first-class.

After three hours without any signs of overcoming the bottleneck, Khal got up to practice his stealth skills. He began using wind walk, a spirit arte skill he developed on his own after practicing various stealth techniques from master Viper. Wind-walk allowed Khal to embed wind element just on the sole of his feet. It required more concentration and precision to accomplish. It was great for making him more agile without disturbing the wind currents too much.

Next, Khal cladded the floor, just below his feet, to strengthen the dirt. This made it more difficult to disrupt the terrain as he used his wind-walk along his room. Using this combination, Khal reduced the noise and speed of his movement, but the control and concentration needed to pull it off for long durations were just too much for him.

Just like with master Copper, Khal couldn't quite get the hang of any of the skills that needed too much concentration and precision. He was lucky master Copper never asked him to perform the battle arte on more than one occasions.

Cough, Cough!

Khal heard his only neighbor suddenly. He sounded hurt. Khal remembered the time he mistakenly entered the room and nearly lost his life. He continued to listen some more before curiosity got the better of him. He was already on his way toward the room when he noticed footprints in the dirt. Using wind-walk, Khal made his way just outside the room. None of the rooms at the Hive had bolts on the doors, and as such, it was easy for anyone to enter or exit. The only reason none of the Spiderlings bothered to do so was that entering another killer's domain was akin to suicide. Nobody could be sure who lived in a particular room. If the killer was an elementum, then the intruder would be dead before he knew it. It was therefore too risky to enter a room without prior knowledge.

Khal had been lucky his first time. He had suspected that his neighbor was stronger than him. If he entered the room again he was sure that he would die. Khal pressed his ear against the door and listened more attentively. He could hear the man's labored breathing. Khal's intuition told him he should help but after spending so long in the Hollows, there was none he could really trust. He reasoned the pros and cons of intervening. He remembered that if his neighbor wanted he could have killed him before. I should help him. I owe him that much.

Khal picked up a dirt rock from nearby a held the door ajar before throwing the rock inside the room. Suddenly, numerous earthen spikes from above and below were shot out at neck-breaking speed. Khal was relieved that he didn't try to enter carelessly. The sound in the room stopped. Khal wasn't sure if the Spiderling was now unconscious or preparing to attack again.

"It's only me, your neighbor," Khal said quickly in case the man rushed out to attack. Khal waited, listening for the smallest of movements. He heard the man move slowly, it sounded as though he was crawling. "I'm only here to help. If you need any, I would be more than happy to." There was quiet again. There was no response, leaving Khal unsure of his next step. "I'm going to enter now, please don't attack."

Khal waited another second before he threw another rock inside. Seeing that the area was now safe, Khal entered the room carefully. To his surprise, the entire room was filled with blood. A group of four spiderlings was impaled on the walls of the room, dead. Their blood still fresh, ran down the wall slowly until it gathered together in the middle. At the side of the room, his neighbor laid there unconscious. Khal assumed that he must have used what remained of his strength in his last attack.

Quickly, without bothering to waste any more time, Khal lifted the man on his back before embedding himself in wind element. Khal wasn't sure if the Spiderlings that planned this ambush were all dead or not. He preferred not to take any chances. He left the room, with the man in tow, down the hallway. Khal used his wind-walk as best as he could with the added weight. The further down he went, the darker the hallway became.

It wasn't long until Khal reached the end of the hallway where it branched into two. Strange, I always thought the hallway was one straight path. Khal decided to choose a path at random before entering. He continued onwards until he could feel that he was no longer in the Hollows. These were underground tunnels. Khal could see bats and giant worms at the sides of the tunnels. Realizing that it was safe for the moment, Khal placed the Spiderling on the dirt before addressing his injuries. He looked at the man's stomach and notice a large gaping wound. Luckily the injury hadn't gone all the way through to his intestines, else there would be little Khal could do. Khal ripped a piece of his shirt off, just enough to apply pressure to the man's wounds.