“They’re… where?” Bartholomew asked incredulously.


    The trip back to The Hopper was relatively uneventful, as none of the roots seemed to see him, even when he passed through some of the sections that had been squashed by them earlier. It seemed that if he stayed below the treetops, even in a cleared area, none of the roots appeared to “see” him. What was exceptionally strange about the entire flight back was the fact that none of the reinforcement monsters seemed to notice him, and he didn’t see any sign of the monsters inherent to the Calamity. There were no Juvenile Dryads, Elder Dryads, or Nature Elementals anywhere to be seen or detected. He thought he would’ve seen at least one positioned around the Treehemoth in defense, but that didn’t seem to be the case, for some reason.


    Unfortunately, that just made him a bit more paranoid with their absence; if they weren’t outside, visibly defending the Treehemoth, then where were they?


    Larek waved in the direction of the massive tree. “Inside the tree,” he answered. “Or perhaps beneath it, based on where I’m sensing thousands of magical signatures.”


    “There’s something inside? Isn’t it a monster?”


    Larek could only shrug before looking at Nedira. She looked equally clueless.


    “Regardless, what that means is that we’ll have to go into one of those holes to investigate,” the Fusionist concluded after a moment.


    Bartholomew immediately shook his head. “I don’t like it. It has ‘trap’ written all over it.”


    “What are we supposed to do, then? Wait around and see if we can find the SIC members somewhere else? Try and kill the Treehemoth – if that’s even possible?” Penelope questioned.


    “Not necessarily, but walking into the body of an enormous monster sounds like a stupid idea,” Bartholomew countered.


    As they continued to argue about a proper plan, Larek was already looking around at the Volunteers and trying to decide just how big of a platform he would need to transport everyone – while still being able to navigate his way through the jungle. In other words, he’d already made his decision.


    Just then, Paluna began to stir from the unconsciousness forced upon her by the injuries she’d sustained, as well as by the subsequent healing. She groaned weakly as she sat up, and even though she was a fairly strong Martial by all accounts, he could see she was struggling with a bit of weakness soon after waking up.


    “W-What happened?” she croaked, before Nedira knelt next to her and offered her some water. After drinking and expressing her gratitude toward Larek’s betrothed, the SIC Martial seemed to look around for the first time since waking. Did something hit us? Why are we—Mygor! Is he alive?”


    “He is, but he’ll likely be in a coma as his body recovers from the healing he had to undergo.” Larek quickly detailed the injuries both of them had sustained while also explaining what had happened – and what was awaiting them inside of and underneath the Treehemoth. “I’m leaving a couple of Volunteers here to protect both of you and the Hopper, while we go to investigate,” he told Paluna after he was done. “If we’re not back in 24 hours, I’ll have the Volunteers cautiously head back to Kilvering, so that at least you won’t be stuck here.”


    “But I can keep going—”


    The Fusionist cut her off with a raised palm. “You might be healed, but you’re not recovered quite yet; I need everyone who is coming with me to be at 100%, and unfortunately, you’re not there yet. Besides, Mygor can’t be moved easily, and I’m not going to leave him here alone. You’ve helped us enough by getting us this far – now it’s our turn to see what we can do to extract the SIC from this mess.”


    The SIC Martial appeared to want to protest further, but her jaw clamped shut when she looked over at Mygor lying on the floor of the Hopper, appearing wasted and drained from the healing. After a few seconds, she nodded as she turned back to Larek.


    “You’re going in no matter what I say, aren’t you?” Bartholomew suddenly asked from behind him, the argument with Penelope having stopped at some point.


    “Yes. You can stay here if you don’t want to risk it, but I’m going in with anyone willing to come. I need a pair of Volunteers to stay here and watch and protect these two,” Larek gestured toward the SIC members, “as well as The Hopper, with orders to leave if we’re not back within 24 hours.”


    Bartholomew sighed dramatically before carrying out those suggestions, pointing toward two Volunteers who didn’t look happy at having to stay behind, but they also didn’t argue. Larek had already gone back to his platform planning, but soon came to the realization that it would be extremely difficult to stay beneath the top level of the trees in a platform while navigating through them all; they were too close together to make a typical platform that he might design work, and while he might be able to simply chop his way through, he felt that there would probably be a better solution.


    The solution was actually a lot more simple than he expected. While, at least lately, he’d primarily used his ability to create animated Pattern constructs to form clones of himself, that didn’t mean he couldn’t still make monster constructs – which required a lot less focus to keep around, especially in larger numbers. With his Aetheric Authority Skill now at Level 11 and Beast Authority at Level 65, he could make a lot more monster constructs than he used to – more than enough to create one for each member of his group, though with what he had in mind, he wouldn’t need one for each person.


    Within seconds, he was already at work feeding Aetheric Force into his new monster constructs, and he formed them just outside The Hopper, where they would be ready for his group to ride. In less than a minute, he had more than a dozen formed, so that when they finally arranged to leave, they were waiting right there for them.


    “So, how are we going to—whoa! Get back!” Penelope exclaimed as soon as they moved outside of the vessel to see 6-foot-tall, 12-foot-long, cat-like creatures with dark fur waiting for them. Their semi-transparent appearance and the subtle glow about them made it obvious that they were his constructs, but their appearance was likely a shock.


    Before anyone could attack his creations, Larek spoke up. “These Felis Stalker constructs are going to be our rides. Hop on; two per Stalker,” he said, before grabbing Nedira around the waist and setting her on top of the nearest construct, which had sunk down to be easily accessible. The others did the same, and Larek made them all look at the shocked Volunteers as if impatient for them to get moving, and he hid a smile at their reaction.


    He thought he would have to encourage them further, but fortunately Bartholomew started moving after clearing his throat. “Alright, mount up! If we’re going to be stupid and rush straight into what is undoubtedly a trap, we might as well do it in style.” He easily hopped up onto the back of the Stalker nearest him, which eventually got everyone else to move hesitantly onto the constructs, two to a mount. Larek swung himself up behind Nedira once he saw everyone had managed to get up on top of the cat-like beasts, and with a shouted, “Hold on!” he ordered all of his constructs to follow.


    The speed that he’d seen the Felis Stalkers demonstrate back in the southwestern Calamity, while attacking Penelope and Vivienne’s group, was in full effect here as they raced through the jungle. With their high agility, they were able to slip through the trees and undergrowth as if it wasn’t even there, nearly blurring with the way they raced forward. Their speed wasn’t as fast as if he was controlling a platform underneath just himself, but it was certainly much faster than any platform he could create that could handle the other people accompanying him.


    The flattened portions of the jungle that had been the result of numerous roots trying to crush him in his search for the magical signatures of the SIC were already starting to repair themselves, as the effect of the Treehemoth and the Calamity was working overtime this close to the central Aperture. Fortunately, it was still sparse enough that it allowed him and his group to tear across the largely open area, the cat-like constructs deftly leaping over the felled trees and brush as if it was flat ground, allowing them to make even better time.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    In less than 10 minutes of flat-out racing, with everyone remarkably holding onto the backs of the constructs without any of them falling off, they finally reached the base of the tree where the jungle thinned out and stopped before the enormous trunk. Larek ordered the cat-like beasts to slow down to a stop before quietly telling everyone to dismount.


    “That,” Penelope said once she practically jumped off the Stalker, “was both one of the most incredible and one of the most scary experiences I’ve ever had the pleasure of suffering.” Her shaky legs as she stabilized herself on the overgrown jungle floor were mirrored in the stances of many of the others, including Nedira as she desperately held onto him. There were a few, such as Bartholomew, and Larek himself, who didn’t seem too affected, but the majority of them were panting as if they had run the whole length of the jungle themselves.


    Despite the incredible speed and sharp movements of the Felis Stalkers, though, everyone had survived and been able to hold onto the constructs without any problems. He couldn’t help but think that if all of them hadn’t unlocked their Martial side, which came with Strength and Agility stats, there might have been more than one that might have fallen off and seriously hurt themselves.


    While they recovered, Bartholomew walked up next to Larek and watched as periodic monster reinforcements arrived and were let inside large holes in the bark, which closed after they had entered.


    “So, what’s the plan? Blast our way inside?” the former SIC member asked with a shake of his head, showing that he still didn’t agree with what they were doing, but was willing to do what it took to save the thousands of SIC members nearby.


    “No; that would probably be considered an attack on the Treehemoth, and I’d rather avoid having to fight my way inside. Instead, I’m going to try something else.” He explained his plan to the entire group, and while it was undoubtedly dangerous, no one else had any other suggestions for another method of entry.


    It took another minute or so before everyone seemed to have fully recovered from their journey through the jungle, and by that point, Larek had located his mark closing in fast. A large, 6-legged, green-furred bear lumbered up toward the Treehemoth, and Larek followed after it as it arrived. As he expected, a large hole opened in the tree trunk, allowing the bear to enter, but before it could close once it passed the threshold, the Fusionist used his Pattern to form an arch inside the hole, propping it open. Almost immediately, he could feel the pressure of the trunk pushing against his construct, but he held it in place by pumping more of his Pattern Cohesion into it, strengthening it – at least temporarily.


    “GO!” he shouted, straining as he kept reinforcing the arch. Figures blurred past him as his group, remounted on the Felis Stalkers, shot inside, and he followed after them as soon as the last of them were inside. A few feet past the threshold, he stopped reinforcing the arch he’d created, and a second later it cracked and shattered, the thick trunk slamming down with so much force that it shook the ground underneath their feet.


    Or, to be more precise, it shook the smooth, wooden tunnel they suddenly found themselves inside. It was dark inside the tunnel, but a few simple Illuminate stones that the Volunteers possessed were all it took to light their way and reveal that their pathway ran straight, but it quickly descended at a fairly steep slope. Before the Illuminate Fusions ruined his night vision, Larek was fairly certain he saw a subtle green glow in the far distance, but he couldn’t be entirely sure.


    “Alright, we’re inside. Now what?” Penelope asked, looking down the steep tunnel.


    Everyone looked at the Fusionist, but he deferred to Bartholomew. “I can sense all of the magical signatures down there,” he said, but added, “but I have no idea what we’ll find once we arrive. There’s too many unknowns, so I’ll leave it to you to handle the advance.”


    The former SIC member took charge immediately, arranging everyone as they began moving quickly—but safely—down the tunnel. While Larek didn’t think there would be any dangerous obstacles on their way, Bartholomew wasn’t taking any chances and was obviously still convinced that this was a trap. Despite the Protection of the Void Fusions surrounding them all, he wanted to be prepared for anything that might show up.


    Contrary to his worries, their travel down the tunnel was uninterrupted, as the smooth, wooden corridor was perfectly uniform, with no alcoves where monsters might be hiding to ambush them, and there weren’t any of the “traps” that he was expecting. Then again, Larek couldn’t really blame him for being cautious, as no one had ever entered the body of a giant monster before, so anything was technically possible.


    After about 20 minutes of making their way through the tunnel, it became obvious to everyone that something was lighting up the end of their journey downwards, and all of the Illuminate Fusions were deactivated. Once his vision acclimated, the greenish glow that he’d been convinced he’d seen became extremely prevalent, and the illumination from the glow reached all the way up to his group.


    At one point, when they were about 100 feet from the end, which didn’t really show much other than a wooden wall across from the opening, with the glow coming from the right, Bartholomew stopped everyone.


    “Larek, can you send your Stalkers down first?” he asked softly, breaking the relative silence that had accompanied them on their way down. Talking or making deliberate noise to alert anything that might be awaiting them down below was conjointly agreed on to avoid as much as possible. “I’d rather they test the waters, so to say.”


    “Sure.” Without another word, the Fusionist sent all of the constructs ahead of them and instructed them to investigate what was down below. At the same time, he attempted to see if his own senses could make out what was ahead, but the Corruption coming from the Treehemoth, especially as they were inside of it, was so thick that he couldn’t definitively point anything out. At this point, there were only two things that he could tell for sure. One, the central Aperture was located somewhere above his head, approximately a half-mile or so, indicating that they had descended quite a distance already. And two, the magical signatures of the people – which were a bit blurred at this point with so much Corruption around – were still ahead of them somewhere, but they were much closer than ever before.


    When nothing popped out to suddenly attack the Felis Stalkers below, Bartholomew decided that they might as well check it out themselves. Approaching as a group, Larek was as prepared as possible with his Pattern Cohesion for any constructs that he might need to create, and he had his halberd out in his right hand and his VED staff in his left.


    At the end of the tunnel, the elevation flattened out, and as they stepped down onto the horizontal surface, they were able to see the source of the greenish glow for the first time. Along the smooth wooden walls were thick, green vines that grew all along the flat surface seemingly haphazardly, with each of them seemingly emerging from the ceiling and disappearing into the floor. Each of them had a steady, external glow, similar to a bioluminescence, and this glow was magnified many times, making the area nearly as bright as the daytime sun outside. With it, they were able to see that the squarish shape of the new tunnel they entered ran off to the right for about 150 feet before it dog-legged to the left. Strangely enough, they could see that the way ahead was slightly darker than the tunnel they now found themselves inside, but there was something else different about it, as well.


    Larek’s senses were finally able to marginally make out what was ahead, if only because it felt like a vast emptiness. Not an emptiness of magical signatures or Corruption, but it was as if there was a massive empty space – and it was chock full of magical signatures.


    A moment after they reached the bottom, a noise behind them revealed itself to be a large Elk with sharp, metallic antlers barreling at them, and everyone turned around to defend themselves, but before anyone could preemptively attack it, the Elk turned away and shot quickly toward the end of the square tunnel, disappearing around the corner a few seconds later.


    “Well, I guess that means we’re in the right place?” Nedira asked, and Larek could only nod. Without further ado, they all cautiously traversed the length of the tunnel, eventually coming to a stop just before they turned the corner. It was the Fusionist that stopped them this time, however, because the closer he got to the vast emptiness he sensed ahead, the more he felt a wrongness that made him incredibly uncomfortable. It was unlike anything that he’d experienced before, and it made him hesitate to move any closer for some reason.


    “Does anyone else feel that?” he asked softly after he urged them all to stop. Unfortunately, all he got were confused looks and head shakes, and he strained his ears to see if perhaps it was something that he heard that was affecting him, as he knew his hearing was better than everyone else’s. It was only after a few seconds of listening that he realized what was wrong.


    Despite there being thousands of magical signatures of what he assumed were SIC members, as well as perhaps tens of thousands of weaker sources of Corruption that he could only assume were the monster reinforcements, or perhaps the Calamity’s own monsters…


    …there wasn’t a single sound coming from around the corner. The only things he could hear were the breathing and soft swishing as his group stood and adjusted their weight on their feet, and the creak of hands clenching tightly against melee weapons or staves.


    Now thoroughly creeped out from the lack of any aural stimuli, he did his best to dismiss his concerns and feelings of uncomfortableness as he nodded toward Bartholomew to proceed. He even sent his Felis Stalkers ahead and around the corner, but again nothing seemed to happen to them.


    Moving around the corner as a group, they all arranged themselves across the entrance, peering out into the massive space that Larek had certainly sensed, but nothing could prepare him for what he was actually looking at.


    “Yep, definitely a trap,” Bartholomew muttered as he, too, was caught by the sheer strangeness of the sight before them.