Descend deeper.

At the bottom of the stairs, you find yourself in a familiar large, stone brick room. There are crates of food, waterskins, and other goods, as well as extra stones and containers of dirt that still need to be removed from the tunnel's construction. There are two exits. To your right is the way you originally came with Rose and the others, when you first discovered your old home was turned into a rest spot. The way you've never gone is to the right, where the tunnel continues onward into pitch darkness.

Strangely enough, the other way is dimly lit by flickering torches in the distance. They don't seem to be moving, so perhaps in that direction, more than just the ant-girls roam. You might have been correct after all in assuming this tunnel is being used by the criminal underworld. That does give you nervous hope, however, as since there are no lights in the direction you're about to head next, it may lead to the most important place of all--somewhere not even criminals are allowed to go. Formica insectrin can see in the dark, whether that be from their eyes or their sensitive antennae. They may not be able to see or even hear you coming, but you don't want to accidentally bump into one.

It takes a moment to find it due to all of your belongings being invisible even to you, but you fish out one of your potions of dark sight and gulp it down before slipping the empty vial back into your pocket. Suddenly, it's as if the lights have been turned on. A wave of green illuminates all around you, and while you can't recognize colours with this special vision, everything is as clear as if the tunnel were filled with sunlight.

You move slowly at first, but you don't want to be down here forever, and the entire point of the elixir is that you don't need to be so cautious. So, you pick up the pace and begin speed-walking down the middle of the tunnel. You do keep your eyes peeled, however, for people and also for traps.

Those ant-girls seemed kinda too silly to manage traversing a tunnel filled with booby-traps though, so it's probably all based on sound. If someone started making a lot of noise down here, they'd probably hear it from pretty far away. Then that person is toast. There's nowhere to run, and there's no telling how many insectrin are down here, as well as constructs.

By your calculations, it could take almost a week to get to Muian's old lair by foot, and using Bunny Hop won't help. The entire point of coming down here is to scout the tunnel itself. You have grown rather quick on your feet, however, and you don't need to worry about the elixir's magic breaking as long as you take another sip when it begins to wane. You know you can do it. You have food and water in your pack, and you have the stamina to last a lot longer than that. You're most likely to run out of potions of dark sight before anything else, but that isn't the end of the world. You just need to steady your mind and remain calm.

You continue to ponder as you move.

If it is that long of a walk, there must be spots for resting. If only I were going the other way. Then I might run into Shadow Garden. But I'm on my own.

Off and on, you march for the entire rest of the day. Before that, your dark sight dissipates, and you're also **** to take another sip of your elixir. Even at night, you can't afford to be seen. Just before you're about to sleep, you hear whispering ahead.

Though you can't see what's coming, you pull up against the wall and listen closely. From what you can tell, it's a group of several formica insectrin talking amongst each other as they make their way back in the opposite direction as you came. Despite their senses, they don't even glance in your direction. You could shout to them and they'd still keep going.

You breathe a sight of relief as they pass, and then you decide it's time for rest.