## Chapter 28: The Clock and the Crimson Claw
The silence of the Whispering Caverns wasn't peaceful; it was a heavy, damp blanket pressing down, amplifying the scrape of boots on wet limestone and the rhythmic drip of water somewhere in the unseen depths. Kelvin adjusted the heavy blue-striped pack, the weight trivial thanks to his **VIT 32**, but he maintained the posture of someone carrying a significant burden. He followed Silas and Vera, the Crimson Claw's rearguard, their helmet lights cutting stark beams through the gloom. Ahead, the rest of the team moved with disciplined precision, their own lights bobbing like fireflies in the vast, echoing darkness.
The air hummed with a different tension now, not just the oppressive silence, but the unspoken weight of the 24-hour rule. Every World Gate pulsed with unstable energy. If a Hunter team didn't breach it, clear the emergent dungeon of its core threats, and stabilize the spatial anomaly within a day, the contained chaos would spill out. The Gate wouldn't just remain; it would *erupt*, unleashing its monsters and environmental hazards directly into the surrounding area – a dungeon outbreak. It was why the Association scrambled teams, why porters like Kelvin existed, and why even D-rank delves carried an undercurrent of desperate urgency. Failure wasn't just mission abort; it was potential catastrophe.
This pressure was felt even here, in the damp chill of the Whispering Caverns. Kael's voice, calm but carrying clearly via the team's comm-beads (Kelvin had been given a simple receiver earpiece), cut through the silence: "Remember the clock, Claws. Sweep efficient, secure the node. We hit the 18-hour mark before entry. We have six hours. Bren, Mika – point report."
"Tunnel widens ahead, Lead," Bren's deep voice rumbled. "Phosphor-lichen increases. No contacts yet. Footing stable."
"Copy. Advance. Eyes sharp. First whisper of sprites, light 'em up."
The team moved forward, the tunnel opening into a larger chamber. Stalactites hung like stone fangs, dripping water into shallow pools that reflected the beams of their lights. Strange, mushroom-like growths pulsed with faint bioluminescence. Kelvin's enhanced **PER 15 (17)** caught subtle scuttling sounds high in the shadows near the ceiling, sounds the D-ranks seemed to miss. *Glowbats*, he identified silently. Docile unless provoked, but a swarm could be disorienting.
Suddenly, a section of the cavern wall near Jax and Finn *shifted*. What looked like a moss-covered boulder detached itself, unfolding into a hunched, humanoid figure roughly four feet tall, composed of loosely packed, wet stones and glowing green moss. Its eyes were deep pits filled with swirling, muddy water. A **Rock Sprite (D-Rank)**.
"Contact left! Sprite!" Jax yelled, bringing his mana-rifle up.
The sprite hissed, a sound like gravel grinding, and hurled a fist-sized rock with surprising speed. Finn snapped his energy shield up just in time. The rock *thunked* against the shimmering barrier, cracking into pieces.
"Engage!" Kael ordered, his voice sharp but controlled. "Contain it! Don't let it rally others!"
Mana-rifles whined, firing precise, low-yield pulses of blue energy. The bolts splashed against the sprite's rocky hide, chipping stone and sending sparks flying. It staggered but didn't go down, its muddy eyes flaring with anger. It scooped up more rocks.
"Flank right, Jax!" Lyssa commanded, her own rifle barking. "Finn, hold shield! Torin, suppressive fire above in case it has friends!"
The team moved like a well-oiled machine. Jax darted right, forcing the sprite to turn. Finn held the shield firm against another rock volley. Torin scanned the ceiling with his rifle. Vera and Silas, guarding the rear with Kelvin, kept their weapons trained on the flanks and rear tunnel, vigilant for ambush.
Kelvin watched, impressed despite himself. This wasn't the desperate, brutal efficiency he used in the Proving Grounds; this was controlled, tactical elimination. They weren't overpowering the sprite; they were overwhelming it with coordinated fire, denying it space and opportunity.
Bren, the point man, hadn't fired yet. He waited, a compact concussion grenade in his hand. As the sprite turned to face Jax, exposing its back, Bren pulled the pin and underhanded the grenade perfectly at its feet.
*THUMP.*
The blast wasn't deafening, but it was concussive. A wave of force rippled out, shattering the sprite's loosely packed form into a shower of gravel and wet moss. The muddy eyes sputtered and died. **<< Rock Sprite Eliminated >>** Kelvin almost heard the **System** chime in his head, though it remained silent here.
"Clear!" Bren reported, already scanning for the next threat.
"Good work," Kael acknowledged. "Mika, sweep for core fragments or unusual moss. Bren, watch the ceiling. Jax, Finn, reset. Porter Vance, you good?"
"Good, Lead," Kelvin replied, keeping his voice level. He hadn't flinched, hadn't dropped the gear. He'd just observed, the power within him a sleeping giant.
They moved on. The caverns lived up to their name. Faint, discordant whispers seemed to drift on the damp air – not voices, but the sound of wind through distant fissures, water echoing in unseen chambers, the settling of ancient rock. It played tricks on the mind. Kelvin, with his heightened perception, could filter it better than most, but he saw Vera tense slightly, her knuckles white on her rifle.
They encountered Glowbat swarms twice – clouds of fist-sized, furred creatures with large, luminous eyes. The team used sonic emitters attached to their rifles, emitting high-frequency pulses that disoriented the bats without killing them, sending them fluttering chaotically back into the shadows. Efficient, non-lethal unless necessary.
They navigated treacherous paths along deep, echoing chasms, using grapnels and reinforced lines to cross gaps. Kelvin followed Silas and Vera's lead exactly, making no show of his own agility. He hauled the heavy pack across the line hand-over-hand, the strain feigned. He saw a cluster of faintly glowing blue crystals embedded in a wall – low-grade mana crystals, likely their objective. Kael marked the location for retrieval on the return trip.
The tension remained, a constant companion alongside the whispers. The clock was ticking. Kelvin felt it acutely. Six hours wasn't much time for a complex cave system, even for a D-rank team. He understood the pressure driving their efficiency. He'd seen the aftermath of an outbreak at Elara's school. He wouldn't wish that on anyone.
As they pressed deeper, the air grew colder, the whispers more insistent. They entered a section where the phosphorescent lichen died out, plunging them into near-total darkness, reliant solely on helmet lights. The tunnel narrowed, forcing them into single file. Bren led, then Mika, Kael, Lyssa, Torin, Jax, Finn, Silas, Vera, and finally Kelvin.
It was here, in the oppressive dark and confined space, that Kelvin's senses screamed a warning a fraction before the team's scanners beeped frantically.
"Contact!" Bren yelled, his light swinging downwards. "Cave Fisher! Multiple! Floor and ceiling!"
Emerging from fissures in the damp floor and hanging stalactites above were creatures that looked like nightmarish crossbreeds between spiders and crustaceans. **Cave Fishers (D-Rank Variant)**. They were the size of large dogs, with chitinous, grey-black shells, multiple spindly legs, and long, whip-like appendages ending in barbed, bony hooks. Their mandibles clicked hungrily in the sudden silence after Bren's shout.
One dropped from the ceiling directly onto Torin, who was mid-line. Its hook lashed out, aiming for his neck. Torin yelled, bringing his baton up desperately.
The Crimson Claw's discipline held, but the confined space was their enemy. They couldn't spread out. They couldn't bring rifles to bear easily without risking hitting each others.