Free Web NovelChapter 10: The Coiling Darkness
Gabriel didn’t waste any time leaving the General Store with the mask resting in his inventory like a newly acquired secret.
He slipped through the crowd with relative ease, feeling the invisible weight of expectations.
The virtual sun was at its highest point, tinting the sky in shades of orange and violet. He knew it was time.
He took advantage of a narrow, seldom-used alley near the outskirts. Hidden behind some stacked crates, he pulled out the jester’s mask.
The object felt cold to the touch, almost alive. He carefully placed it over his face; it fit perfectly, as if it had been made for him.
The exaggerated, disturbing smile remained fixed, completely hiding his features. Then he pulled the dark hood over his head, covering his hair.
The transformation was subtle but effective. He was no longer just Gabriel—he was a shadow with a mocking smile.
Without wasting any more time, he headed toward the abandoned mine.
He ignored any setbacks along the way: groups of players arguing over routes, street vendors shouting their offers, and even a pair of wild wolves prowling near the forest. He advanced with determination, saving every second. The adrenaline was already surging through his veins.
The entrance to the mine appeared before him like an open mouth on the mountainside.
Dozens of users were gathered there, forming noisy teams. Excited voices planned strategies, assigned roles, and checked inventories.
Gabriel passed among them like a ghost. Some looked at him with curiosity, others with disdain. "Another lunatic going in alone," someone muttered.
He didn’t react. He had no intention of teaming up with anyone.
In front of the eroded stone arch, the system displayed the warning:
______________________________
Do you wish to challenge the Dungeon: Abandoned Mine in solo mode?
Warning: Extreme difficulty. Estimated survival rate: 16%.
_____________________________
Gabriel accepted without hesitation.
The world twisted around him. Dark colors enveloped him, and suddenly he was inside.
Narrow tunnels, damp walls dripping cold water, the smell of rotting earth and ancient minerals.
The darkness was almost absolute, broken only by faint phosphorescent veins in the ceiling. The air weighed heavily on his lungs.
He took a few seconds to adapt. He immediately tried to extend his senses: hearing first, catching distant echoes of claws and wingbeats; then sight, sharpening his vision in the darkness.
He equipped the new daggers, feeling their perfect balance in his hands. He was ready.
The first enemies didn’t take long to appear. Deep Rats, large and aggressive, with greasy black fur.
Along with them, blind bats that flew erratically and emitted disorienting screeches. The synergy was cruel: the rats bit from below, the bats disoriented from above.
Gabriel moved like a shadow. He leaped onto a rat, driving a dagger into its skull with lethal precision. There was no real blood, only a gray fluid that evaporated.
A bat attacked him; its screech pierced his ears and blurred his vision. He rolled across the damp floor, ignoring the dizziness, and sliced its wings mid-flight.
He adapted quickly. Every cut was efficient, every movement calculated. His agility shone in the confined spaces.
After several intense fights, a notification echoed in his mind:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
LEVEL INCREASED
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He leveled up to level 5!
Class skill unlocked: [Blood Trail]
The description appeared immediately. He could mark enemies with a minimal blood trail, revealing their exact position in real time, even around corners or in total darkness.
Gabriel nodded under the mask. Perfect for hunting and avoiding ambushes. He tested it right away on an injured bat.
A blinking red dot appeared on his mental map. He advanced with renewed confidence, clearing the first level almost flawlessly.
The tunnel descended sharply. The second level greeted him with walls covered in bright mineral veins.
Here appeared the Mineral Vein Spiders. Translucent creatures that blended with the rock and shot webs hardened like wire. Gabriel tried his previous pure-speed tactic. But it failed terribly.
A web caught his arm, tearing flesh and causing burning pain. He retreated while bleeding, cursing between his teeth.
He had to adapt. He used the environment: he knocked down stalactites, created distractions with sounds and movements, and jumped between cracks, using his agility to the fullest.
Every spider he killed cost him sweat and more wounds, but his determination never wavered. When he completely cleared the level, two notifications flashed:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
LEVEL INCREASED
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
LEVEL INCREASED
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
His body ached. Superficial wounds covered his arms and torso, but physical recovery was surprisingly fast. Even so, mental fatigue was starting to build.
He took a deep breath and continued.
The third level was a wider chamber, filled with remains of rusty wheelbarrows and abandoned tools. The vengeful ghosts of the Miners appeared: ethereal figures with faces deformed by suffering.
There weren’t many, but they adapted, merging and attacking from impossible angles.
The fight became prolonged and exhausting. Every ghost destroyed released a scream that chilled the soul. One passed through his shoulder, leaving a mortal cold that ran through his body.
His face twisted in pain, but he didn’t give up. He spun, slashed, and finished them with growing efficiency.
When the last specter dissipated into black smoke, the enormous doors of the final boss materialized before him, carved with reliefs of serpents and massive mountains.
Gabriel sat against the wall, panting. He took the necessary time to rest and meditate.
He mentally reviewed every mistake and every success. He felt his body slowly recovering, and when he finally considered himself ready, he stood up and pushed the doors open with both hands.
The boss chamber was vast, illuminated by red crystals that pulsed like living veins. In the center, coiled on a mound of bones and minerals, lay the creature: the Renewed Coiling Dark One.
A nine-meter ancient black serpent with oily scales that gleamed and yellow eyes full of malevolent intelligence. It was the executioner of countless players.
Gabriel gripped his daggers tightly and began circling it, maintaining eye contact. The hiss filled the air, accompanied by the hypnotic thud of its tail against the stone.
The serpent attacked first. Its body extended like a whip, trying to coil around him. Gabriel rolled with exceptional precision, feeling the wind of the movement brush against his back.
The bloody battle erupted.
He aimed for the weak points that many had paid dearly to discover: gaps between scales, the eyes, the base of the tail. He threw a dagger that blinded one of the yellow eyes. The serpent’s roar shook the chamber.
The tail struck him squarely in the side, slamming him against the wall. Ribs cracked. Blood filled his mouth. The pain was blinding, but he got up.
They exchanged wounds in a brutal dance of wills. Neither was willing to surrender.
In a desperate but calculated moment, Gabriel waited for the serpent to rise to attack.
He slid beneath its enormous body and slashed the soft, vulnerable underbelly with both daggers. The weapons sank deep and stayed there, lost in the flesh.
The serpent writhed in agony and confusion.
Gabriel had no time to hesitate. Using the momentum of the movement, he took out his Rare-rank Black War Axe from his inventory. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
With a shout loaded with all his fury, exhaustion, and determination, he brought the weapon down with brutal force on the exposed neck.
The blade cut through scales, flesh, and bone. The serpent’s head twisted with a wet sound, still hissing weakly. The colossal body convulsed for a few seconds before going still.
Gabriel fell onto his back on the cold floor, drained of energy.
His breathing was ragged, his body covered in wounds, sweat, and blood. Every muscle burned. The pain was overwhelming, but a deep satisfaction flooded him.
Then, a bright golden light illuminated the entire chamber. A dungeon reward chest materialized in front of him, floating slightly and pulsing with contained power.
Gabriel dragged himself toward it, leaning on one elbow. His trembling hand touched the golden surface.
The system began to notify him of the rewards obtained, but at that moment he could only manage a satisfied expression in his exhausted state.
He had won. He had finally managed to overcome the fearsome creature of horrors.
And he knew, deep down, that this was only the beginning of something much bigger.
The disturbing smile carved into the mask seemed wider now, as if it shared in his victory.
