If the previous tunnel had looked abandoned, compared to the current one, it looked newly built. Holes or detachments of the ceiling and walls could be found throughout its length, but what most worried them were the cracks, because they couldn't see the end of some of them.
They advanced a few meters in one of the directions to place alarms, and then began to travel the tunnel in the opposite direction.
"This is worse than I expected," Jato frowned, a man-mole in his fifties and level 44.
"Yes, it is a complete disaster. Something lives here and owns this tunnel, and we must find out what. We need to know what we face before anything else," nodded Fita, a woman-mole of similar age, level 45, and who was the chief of the expedition.
"The maintenance team will hate us when we take the tunnel," a younger and level 42 woman-mole teased.
Everyone smiled at that observation. They knew the old Dome, as good a person as grumpy. He would be complaining for days while repairing the tunnel, but first they needed to reclaim it.
"This crack is also deep," sighed Diko, the youngest of the expedition, a man-mole of level 40 and 25 years.
The others nodded before repeating the operation for the umpteenth time, which consisted of partially sealing it. Eldi entered with a group to put a Rock Wall and protect the works. Then, the others were responsible for accumulating dirt and stones, if any, and setting alarms. It was a provisional work to protect their progress, but later they would have to deepen in those cracks, at least to seal them with more resistant materials. For now, the essential thing was to make a recognition, and try to take the foreigner to the other side. However, they couldn't enter the crack, as something blocked it, a huge brown ant level 34.
"A watching ant!" one of them exclaimed.
They hadn't been able to hear it, for these ants stood still, watching and being fed by their companions. And, fulfilling its job, the ant used its ability to make a strong blow on the ground with its two front legs, raising the alarm.
"Let's get out of here! Let's go back! Eldi, a wall!" shouted Fita.
He created a Rock Wall to block the ant, and they all ran away. In fact, the explorers-mole didn't fear the ant, but the alarm it had sounded. Eldi didn't ask, but given his experiences, he had a clear idea about what they were worried.
However, of little use was their hurry. Soon, all the alarms began to activate, warning them that there were enemies stepping on them, and they soon found ants in the passages, getting in their way. They managed to dodge the first ones, but more were arriving.
It wasn't a good idea to face them in the wide tunnel, where the number advantage would become more apparent. Therefore, they took refuge in a crack that they had inspected before, and that ended at a depth of about forty meters.
"We have to endure while digging a tunnel. Jato and I will stay behind to give you time," Fita assumed.
It was his custom. The young had to survive.
"And why don't we face them? They can only enter one at a time, and we can fight two by two. It will take time, but we can repel them," Eldi proposed.
"You don't understand it. There are hundreds, and they won't stop. The weapons will break before they'd give up," Diko contradicted him, and all agreed with Diko.
"I faced some like them a while ago. They were hundreds and I almost didn't succeed, but in the end I managed to win. Your weapons are better than before, and I have many in reserve. I think we will have enough. Besides, didn't you want to try how much your weapons could endure?" he proposed with a challenging smile.
And while his fellows-mole were looking at each other and doubting, Eldi created three Frozen Walls, forcing the first level 35 ant to cross them, and he himself went forward to face it. He knew its movements, they were the same as the other time, and he easily dodged it to the amazement of his companions. The main difference with the previous occasion was the ants' skills, but neither that of communicating, nor that of coordination, nor that of detecting movement were useful against him.
"I'll take care of the next ones. Watch their movements. Once you get used, they are easy to dodge."
The mole-people rarely face the ants, fearing their revenge and their numbers. Those insects can even spend weeks to invade a tunnel if they know their enemies are there. Therefore, they hadn't even considered standing up against them, but they soon believed in the words of the foreigner. His movements showed that he didn't lie, that he had already done it once, and that, with their help, it would be even easier.
The basic tactic was not to let the ant pass beyond the Walls, causing them to damage it continuously, and to attack its legs. Once immobilized, it was an easy prey. And although they wielded spears and not axes, so they couldn't cut them so easily, they soon devised strategies to sink them into the ground, and attack the confused ants.
They took turns, fighting two by two, and Eldi alone, because his coordination with his teammates was bad. And although at first they were reluctant to that plan, soon everyone wanted to be in front and face the ants, so at the end, they took turns after each ant.
Eldi was always leeching with his blessings and with the walls, except when sleeping. Then the fight was a little more difficult, but everyone had already got used to their enemies' movements, and the biggest draw back was that they had to wait for the ants to take out the remains of the fallen ones, because the assistant didn't work without Eldi's orders.
They spent three days there, in which some beings-moles were encouraged to try other weapons. And even some of them felt they had a natural affinity for them. And while most of the spears were extremely damaged, Eldi fulfilled the promise and lent them what he had crafted for him.