Deep within the earth, there was a cave filled to the brim with white, silken threads. Resting in the center of the cave, there was a massive caterpillar with an odd number of legs, three stumps on its body indicating some had been sliced off. Its eyes were closed, and it grew in size as it took in deep breaths, shrinking in size as it exhaled. A string vibrated, and the caterpillar let out a muffled snorting sound, but its eyes remained closed despite the nonstop motion of the string. A while passed, and a second string vibrated, causing the caterpillar to groan and wiggle in its sleep. A third string vibrated, and a deep sigh came out of the caterpillar as its eyes slowly opened.

Geomi blinked her eyes a few times before stretching out her legs, touching various parts of the silken web she was resting on. “So many?” she muttered to herself as her body rose. She scuttled forward, and despite her large size, she moved swiftly, leaving the cave in an instant, arriving at a void filled with threads. Behind her, roots of a massive tree could be seen, and in front of her, beyond the range of her threads, there was only darkness.

Trapped within the silk near the roots, there were four people, each wearing an insignia indicating the factions they belonged to. One man, whose insignia looked like a bundle of flames, shouted, “Guardian of the first floor, under the orders of the Fire Lord, release me!”

Geomi blinked and turned her head towards the other people. The Frost Lord, the Shadow Lord, the Lightning Lord, they had all sent people to the first floor using illegal methods. What had happened in the tower recently to garner the lords’ at the top of tower attentions? There was going to be a war with another tower, yes, but wars, although uncommon, weren’t enough for those figures at the top to take action.

“Guardian of the first floor, know your place! Who are you to stop the representative of the Lightning Lord?”

Geomi stared at the explorer who had just spoken. Then, the caterpillar’s face split open into a massive grin. Geomi crawled on the silken threads at a leisurely pace, arriving at the Lightning Lord’s representative. “Know my place?” Geomi asked, towering over the immobile man trapped within her silken web. “Who are you to break the rules of the tower? There are proper channels to enter the first floor.”

The representative stiffened upon seeing Geomi’s facial features up close, but he clenched his fist and sneered upon remembering whose insignia he wore on his chest. “Rules are for the weak. The Lightning Lord is more than capable of ignoring them.”

“But you aren’t,” Geomi said and laughed. Her mouth widened, and she plunged her head downwards, engulfing the trapped man. There was a muffled scream, but the sounds of tearing threads and slurping drowned it out as Geomi swallowed him whole, eating her own silken threads that were wrapped around the man as if they were noodles. Geomi raised her head towards the void beyond her web. “Behave yourselves. The tower has rules for a reason.”

The three remaining explorers that had been sent down by their lords struggled, unleashing their power to break free from Geomi’s web. The caterpillar snorted, and her body disappeared as a dense fog surged out of her, washing over the explorers. Their movements gradually slowed to a halt, and Geomi turned her head to the side, looking at one of the massive roots behind herself. “The advancement exam’s testing ground?” she muttered. “Why would they be headed there?”

***

“How many times have I told you to stop putting me in there? It’s not cool!”

Tafel held the shouting melon-shaped egg away from her face, fully extending her arms. “I take you out to see new sights, don’t I?” she asked, gesturing at Kim Hajun, who sighed and once again waved his flaming sword. “Isn’t that all you need?”

“I don’t just need to see it! I need to experience it!” Garlic said, flashing repeatedly with red lights to indicate his anger. “If you put me in there one more time, I’m really going to snitch on you to my mom! I’ll have you know she can be really, really scary!”

Tafel half-heartedly grunted in agreement.

“You don’t believe me?” Garlic asked.

“It’s probably because you’ve threatened to tell your mom for a while now,” Stella said, flying over and taking a seat atop the egg. “There’s a lot of posturing coming from you, but there’s no action, you know? What’s the phrase?” Stella tapped her chin as if lost in thought. Her head tilted to the side, and she looked down before grinning. “Big egg but no yolk?”

The melon-shaped egg dimmed. Then, it flashed repeatedly with different colors as expletives streamed out like flowing water. Tafel frowned, and the silver light on her horns that hadn’t quite faded yet glowed brighter, causing the portal beside her to widen. “Alright,” Tafel said, her voice barely audible over the cursing egg. “You know what I said about swearing.”

“Wait!” Garlic said, letting out a blinding white light. “I’ll behave! I’ll really behave this time!”

Tafel squinted her eyes at the melon-shaped egg, and it stopped flashing. She stared at it some more. Surprisingly, Garlic stayed silent for longer than five seconds. Her horns dimmed, and the portal slowly shrank, but Garlic still didn’t say anything or create any lights. Tafel sighed as she tucked Garlic underneath her arm, letting the portal shut. She blinked and turned her head to the side. “Ah, I forgot to take out the food.”

Vur pursed his lips and walked up to the temple made of green blocks with holes in them. When the wind blew past, whistling sounds rang out, creating different melodies depending on the strength of the breeze. “Maybe there’s a way to open the temple without food,” he said and clenched his hand into a fist upon arriving at the temple’s gate. He drew his arm back and punched the gate, causing the whole temple to shutter. It sounded like someone had let out a scream of pain due to the impact’s vibration traveling through the holes in the walls. Vur narrowed his eyes. A tiny dent had appeared on the gate. He nodded and drew back his fist. “Again.”