_*]:min-w-0 !gap-3.5" style="border:0px solid">The passage narrowed as they descended, the sunlight from Floor 3 gradually fading behind them. Alexander led the way, primary light source held high, casting long shadows that danced along the rough-hewn walls. The air grew cooler with each step, carrying a damp, mineral scent that reminded them of Floor 2's tunnels, but more intense, more ancient.

  "Watch your footing," Alexander called back. "Ground's getting slippery."

  The transition was subtle at first—the gentle slope becoming steeper, the walls closing in, the ceiling dropping lower—until suddenly, the passage opened up and they found themselves standing at the edge of darkness far more absolute than anything they'd experienced in the Undergrowth Tunnels.

  Riva whistled softly. "Whoa. This makes Floor 2 look like twilight."

  Alexander raised his light, but the beam traveled only a few meters before being swallowed by the bckness. The darkness here was different—denser somehow, almost hungry.

  "Enhanced lighting protocol," he said, activating his secondary illumination sources. The others did the same, creating a small isnd of visibility in the vast dark. "I thought we knew darkness from Floor 2, but this is a whole different level."

  They moved cautiously forward, the ground beneath their feet transitioning from packed earth to smooth stone. Droplets of water fell somewhere in the distance, each spsh echoing strangely.

  "The acoustics are weird," Riva whispered, her voice bouncing oddly before fading. "Sound doesn't travel like it should."

  "Cave systems create acoustic anomalies," Valeria said, her voice clipped and professional despite the tension evident in her stance. "The tunnel roots on Floor 2 absorbed sound, but these stone walls reflect and distort it."

  Alexander stopped suddenly, raising his hand for halt. "The darkness techniques we used in the Undergrowth Tunnels aren't cutting it here. We need something better."

  "What do you mean?" Riva asked. "We handled Floor 2 just fine."

  "This is different," Alexander replied. "The darkness is more complete, and we're burning through light sources way faster than pnned. Those roots on Floor 2 gave off a faint phosphorescence—there's nothing like that here." He turned to face them, his expression serious in the harsh illumination. "We need to level up our darkness adaptation. Everyone, lights off."

  "You want us to go darker than this?" Valeria protested.

  "Just for thirty seconds," Alexander assured her. "We need to reset our eyes and ears to this environment. Floor 2 was the tutorial for darkness—this is the real thing."

  Reluctantly, they extinguished their lights one by one. The darkness that enveloped them was absolute—a complete absence of visual input that was almost dizzying.

  "Don't panic," Alexander said calmly into the bckness. "Listen to my voice. Now focus on what you can hear."

  At first, Elijah heard only his own heartbeat and the nervous breathing of his teammates. Then, gradually, other sounds emerged from the darkness—water dripping in complex patterns, the subtle movement of air through distant passages, tiny scratchings of unseen creatures.

  And beneath it all, the whispers.

  They were different here—not the gentle, drifting murmurs of the meadow but sharper, more focused. In the perfect darkness, they seemed almost directional, coming from specific points rather than everywhere at once.

  ...left passage floods during cycles...

  ...colony nests in the high ceiling junction...

  ...follow the salt trace to find the wide cavern...

  Elijah stiffened, the whispers clearer than they'd ever been before. He almost responded aloud before remembering the others were present.

  "Now, everyone take a deep breath through your nose," Alexander continued. "What do you smell?"

  Elijah forced himself to focus, pushing the whispers to the background. The air carried multiple scents—minerals, moisture, something organic and slightly sweet, like decaying pnt matter.

  "I smell something growing," Riva said. "Like wet mushrooms."

  "There's water ahead," Valeria added reluctantly. "Mineral-heavy, probably a small pool."

  "Good," Alexander said. "Thirty seconds up. Riva, lowest light setting only."

  A faint glow illuminated their circle as Riva activated her light at minimum power. After the complete darkness, even this dim illumination seemed substantial.

  "Our eyes adapt to darkness, but we reset that adaptation every time we use bright lights," Alexander expined. "From now on, we use minimum illumination unless absolutely necessary. And we develop a rotation—one light at a time, to conserve resources."

  "How are we supposed to fight like that?" Valeria asked skeptically.

  "We learn," Alexander said simply. "Cave-dwelling creatures probably have advantages in darkness. We need to develop our own."

  Over the next hour, Alexander led them through a series of exercises that built upon what they'd learned in Floor 2—but with greater intensity and precision. They practiced navigating longer distances with eyes closed, identifying teammates by the sound of their movements, and detecting subtle changes in air current that might indicate connecting passages.

  "The Undergrowth Tunnels were our training wheels," Alexander expined as they practiced. "We need to master this completely now."

  Throughout these exercises, Elijah found the whispers becoming increasingly insistent—far clearer than the faint murmurs he'd occasionally caught on Floor 2. During a moment when they were practicing moving in darkness, he felt an overwhelming urge to turn right rather than continue forward.

  ...danger ahead...nest disturbed recently...go right...

  He hesitated, recognizing this as stronger than the vague intuitions he'd felt in previous floors. He whispered to Alexander, "I think we should check the right passage."

  Alexander gave him a curious look. "Why? We mapped the left one as our primary route."

  Elijah struggled to find an expnation that wouldn't sound crazy. "Just... a feeling. Like back in the root tunnel maze. The acoustics seem better that way."

  His brother studied him for a moment, then nodded. "We'll try it."

  As they redirected their exploration toward the right-hand passage, Riva suddenly froze. "Hold up," she whispered, extinguishing her light completely. In the returned darkness, they heard it—scratching, skittering movements from the passage they'd been about to enter.

  Alexander slowly activated his light at the lowest setting, directing it forward. The beam caught multiple reflections—eyes, at least a dozen pairs, belonging to pale, spider-like creatures the size of small dogs.

  "Nobody move," he breathed.

  The creatures hissed softly, their eyes gleaming in the dim light, before retreating further down the passage they'd been about to take.

  When they were gone, Valeria turned to Elijah with a suspicious look. "How did you know?"

  "I didn't," he said truthfully. "Like I said, just a feeling about the acoustics."

  She clearly didn't believe him, but Alexander intervened before she could press further. "We need a system for situations like that. Hand signals won't work in darkness."

  They developed a series of short, specific sounds—a quick double-click for stop, a soft whistle for danger, two short taps for confirmation. They practiced until the signals became automatic, no longer requiring conscious thought.

  "Cave formation ahead," Riva called softly, her voice barely carrying to the others. They'd adopted a new movement pattern—Riva scouting fifteen feet ahead with the primary light, Alexander next with light off to preserve his night vision, Elijah third with emergency light ready, and Valeria guarding the rear with periodic backwards checks.

  The passage widened into a modest chamber with a ceiling high enough that their lights couldn't reach it. Water had shaped this space over countless years, creating smooth, flowing contours in the stone.

  "We should map this," Alexander said, activating the echo-mapping device they'd purchased in the vilge. It emitted a series of pings, which bounced off the walls and returned to create a basic three-dimensional rendering on his interface.

  As they moved deeper into the chamber, Elijah felt the whispers changing again, now coming most strongly from a narrow fissure to their left.

  ...light garden through the narrow way...

  ...safe resting pce beyond the squeeze...

  He hesitated, recognizing how the whispers here seemed clearer, more deliberate than they had been on previous floors. He moved closer to Alexander. "I think there's something interesting through that crack," he said quietly, nodding toward the fissure.

  Alexander gave him a knowing look. Ever since Elijah had confided about the whispers he sometimes heard, his brother had learned to trust these insights, especially after they'd helped avoid that colpse in the Undergrowth Tunnels. Alexander didn't ask for details anymore—he just nodded. "Riva, can you check if that's passable?"

  The scout approached the opening, examining it critically. "It's tight, but we can make it through one at a time. Want me to see what's on the other side?"

  Alexander nodded. "Just a quick look. Standard return time."

  Riva slipped through the fissure with practiced ease. Silence fell as they waited for her return, the darkness seeming to press closer around their small bubble of light.

  Three minutes ter, Riva's excited whistle came from the crack. "Guys, you've got to see this!"

  One by one, they squeezed through the narrow opening, emerging into a space that made them collectively gasp.

  The chamber beyond was illuminated without any of their light sources. Patches of glowing blue-green fungus covered the walls and ceiling, providing enough ambient light to see the entire cavern. The fungal growth created patterns like consteltions against the dark stone, reflecting in a still pool of water at the chamber's center.

  "It's beautiful," Elijah breathed, staring up at the bioluminescent dispy.

  For the first time since entering Floor 4, they could see their surroundings clearly. The natural light cast soft shadows that danced as tiny air currents disturbed the fungal patches. The water in the central pool was crystal clear, revealing a sandy bottom dotted with small, glowing stones.

  "This changes everything," Alexander said, already mapping the chamber with their device. "Natural illumination means we can conserve our light sources."

  Valeria was examining the fungus with her testing kit. "Non-toxic, according to initial results. We should still avoid direct contact until we know more."

  As the others explored the chamber, Elijah found himself drawn to the far wall, where the whispers seemed to converge. A pattern in the fungal growth there seemed almost deliberate—less random than the consteltion-like arrangements elsewhere.

  ...you begin to understand...

  ...darkness shows what light conceals...

  He didn't realize he'd spoken aloud until Alexander appeared at his side. "What did you say?"

  Elijah blinked, momentarily confused. "I... nothing. Just thinking out loud." He gestured at the glowing fungus. "This is going to make exploration a lot easier, isn't it?"

  Alexander nodded, though his eyes remained thoughtful as he studied his brother. "Yeah, it is. Good call on checking this passage." He cpped Elijah on the shoulder. "Come on, let's help map this pce properly."

  As they joined the others in documenting the bioluminescent chamber, Elijah couldn't shake the feeling that the whispers were leading him somewhere specific. For now, though, they had found a safe haven in the darkness—a first step in mastering the challenges of Floor 4.