The cave was breathing.
At least, that is how it appeared to Eren Kael — every distant drip of water sounding like a heartbeat, every gentle stirring of the cold air like lungs filling. He moved with his back arched, footsteps slow, his boots barely disturbing the damp stone.
Darkness pressed in from all sides. The only light came from patches of ghostly-blue fungi clinging to the walls, their dim glow turning the cavern into a place that felt more dream than real.
Dripping black hair clung to his pale face. His red pupils caught the fungi's glow and held it, as though two sparks smoldered in the dark.
He wasn't lost.
He was hunted.
That sensation—the primitive shiver down the back, the knelling of muscles into position without permission—was too strong to resist. He'd felt it before, up in the dungeons above, where prey waited in shadowed corridors. But here… the air was heavier. Was more oppressive.
He stopped.
A stillness had been broken on the lake. Not a wave, not a disturbance—merely a ripple, as if breath caressed the water's surface.
His eyes focused on the black water.
And then it came.
An enormous shape rose up from the depths. Its shape was water-distorted, but size alone was enough to make his blood scream with instinct. Silver eyes crested the surface, slit eyes like a snake's, unblinking and fixed on him. Scales of obsidian-polished mirrors glowed as the water ran off them.
Eren's knuckles tightened around the chunk of coarse rock in his fist. It wasn't a weapon—desperate as forged in his hand.
No jerky movements. He could feel the waiting from the creature.
The snake did not have to wait long.
Its head lashed forward in a shine of black scales and curved teeth. The water shot up, and for the moment, all noise was gone except the pounding of his own heart.
Eren's body moved before his mind did. He sprang to the side, tasting the blow zip past close enough to muss his hair.
{Ding!}
Combat Adaptation Triggered
Reaction Speed +12%
Condition: Evaded fatal strike.
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Stone shattered where he had stood, shreds scuttling across the ground. The snake recoiled to strike once more, its body writhing with unnatural speed.
Eren rushed forward.
He knew predators. You didn't give them space—you took it away. The serrated stone he held broke the air and penetrated the left eye of the beast.
It howled. It was a low, rumbling noise that vibrated in his ribs, a copy of a landslide echo. Green ichor streamed from the wound and burned his skin where it splattered.
The snake's tail lashed.
The punch struck him with the force of a boulder. His breath was extinguished, his feet leaving the ground, and he smashed into the lake with a force that broke through his bones.
The cold was live. It clawed at him with sharp ice claws. He struggled, reaching for the surface—
—and halted.
He wasn't drowning. His lungs took in air as if water itself was air.
{Ding!}
New Trait Acquired: [Aquatic Respiration]
Breathe underwater forever.
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The depths were no longer mysterious to him. Sight cleared to the point where each ripple, each tremble of the snake's coils was clear. The creature wrapped itself about him, its single remaining eye glinting.
It struck.
This time, Eren didn't step back. He twisted away under the charging head, letting its weight by-pass, and folded his arms around the meaty muscles at its neck. His legs entwined around the scaled body, holding him in place as he brought the stone up again.
The serrated edge bit deep into the back of its head. He pressed it deeper, through the pain in his palm when he hit it on the rock. The serpent's thrashing grew wild, coils thudding on the water with enough force to churn the lake into a storm.
{Ding!}
Pain Tolerance Increased.
Grip Strength Increased.
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The serpent slowed. Its coils relaxed, its eye dissolved to nothing. It slid down into the depths, vanishing into the darkness below.
Eren was released and floated towards the surface.
The air in the cavern was stale-tasting when he broke through, but air nonetheless. He hauled himself onto the shore, coughing up water that no longer existed—it was just a part of him now.
The serpent's body floated a ways off, green blood trailing into the black like an extinguished beacon.
{Ding!}
Predator Defeated – Abyssal Serpent (Young)
Rewards:
Trait Gained: [Enhanced Muscle Density Lv.1] (+15% Strength)
Increased Adaptation Potential
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Eren clenched his fingers. The power was there, coiled up beneath his skin like a newly risen predator. He could sense it, waiting to be summoned.
His own reflection in the shadowy water made him glance away—his pupils had shrunk into predator-seeker slits. They were almost reptilian.
A soft exhalation left his mouth.
".Good enough."
He turned away from the corpse and moved deeper into the cave.
The hunt had not ended.
The muted sound of falling water followed him through the cave.
Each drop echoed like the tick of a clock, counting the seconds since the serpent's death.
Eren's boots sloshed on the damp stone as he found a dry patch near the wall. His breath was steady, though his heart still pressed against his chest.
The stone he'd used as a weapon slipped from his hand, rebounding off the ground. His knuckles were shredded, skin ripped open in thin lines.
No pain — not yet. His system was still too pumped to register it.
He leaned back against the wall, letting the gentle glow of the fungi bathe his face. His red pupils caught the light again, but now… there was something additional in them. A deeper sharpness.
The voice in his mind from before repeated itself — mechanical, devoid of warmth, without inflection.
{Ding!} – New Ability Acquired: Aquatic Respiration
He closed his eyes.
"…Status."
The word was barely more than a whisper.
[SYSTEM STATUS PANEL – OPEN]
Name: Eren Kael
Race: Human
Level: 1
Vitality: 100/100
Stamina: 67/100
Talent: Absolute Adaptation(EX) – The capacity to rapidly adapt And Evolve at an absolute, without restriction.
Attributes:
Strength: 8
Agility: 7
Endurance: 9
Perception: 8
Willpower: 10
Abilities:
Aquatic Respiration – Breathe underwater indefinitely. (Acquired: Survived constriction and drowning attempt by Abyssal Python)
Serpent's Instinct – Augmented reaction speed and movement anticipation versus quick, constricting enemies.
Swordsmanship Lv.1 – Basic understanding of blade manipulation and strike precision.
Skills:
[Basic Slash] – A clean, controlled blade attack with increased precision.
[Deflect] – Deflect an incoming melee attack with minimal effort.
The panel hung in front of him, translucent but heavy with presence. Its gentle hum thrummed in his mind.
He looked at the numbers. They could grow — but not through cheating. No divine favor. No instant power.
Just the grind.
Just the pain.
The new abilities, though… those were a different story. They weren't reinforcements to his strength or speed. They were lifelines, branded into his skin the moment he pierced the python's killing intent.
He tightened his fist, remembering the crushing coils and the dense weight of water pressing down.
Without Aquatic Respiration, he'd be rotting on the cavern floor by now.
{Ding!}
Notice: Abilities are unlocked through direct survival of lethal environments.
Current Location Threat Level: Tier 10 – Catastrophic.
His face stretched into a slight smile. "Catastrophic," he whispered.
If the system was rating this place that highly, things were about to get worse.
Much worse.
Beyond the glow of the fungi, the cave yawned into darker darkness. Something out there stirred — massive, deliberate.
He pushed off the wall, the water swallowing the noise of his footsteps.
The panel faded, but the phrase Catastrophic Threat branded itself into his mind.
He wouldn't need to see it again to know he'd have additional powers by the time he reached the next safe zone.
If there even was one.