By the time the boys stumbled into the mouth of a cave, their lungs burned and their legs felt like they were carved from lead. The cave was carved into a jagged cliff face, its entrance hidden behind tangled, alien vines and a curtain of drifting ash.
Mark leaned against the rock wall, panting. "This… this should do," he said between breaths. "We need to rest. Just for a bit."
Dwayne nodded weakly, still shaken. His hands were stained red, some of it his friends', some of it the creature's. He didn't wipe them off. He just stared at them, like they belonged to someone else.
"Let's check inside first," Mark said. "If anything's living in here, we don't want to wake it up."
The cave swallowed their footsteps as they walked deeper, their breaths echoing faintly along the stone. Strange glowing moss clung to the walls, pulsing a faint purple light. Bones—both small and massive—lay piled in corners like forgotten relics. But aside from the eerie stillness, nothing moved.
"No monsters," Mark whispered. "Looks abandoned."
Dwayne finally spoke, his voice low and almost too quiet to hear.
"…Mark."
"Hm?"
They stopped walking.
Dwayne stared at the ground, unable to lift his eyes. His throat tightened before the words even formed.
"Why… why did you come back?" he asked, each word trembling slightly but calm on the surface. "After what we said… after we left you behind… you could've just kept going. So why?"
Mark blinked. The question wasn't surprising, but the vulnerability in Dwayne's voice was.
"Well…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "I couldn't just move on and leave you to die."
Dwayne's breath hitched, eyes widening just a little.
Mark continued, voice gentle and honest.
"You're a jerk, yeah. But you're still a person. And I'm… not the kind of guy who runs away when someone's screaming for help."
Silence filled the cave for a long moment.
Dwayne looked away, his shoulders shaking—not from fear this time, but from something far more fragile. He swallowed hard.
"…thank you," he muttered. The words sounded strange coming from him, like they weren't used to being spoken.
Mark smiled—small, soft, almost tired.
"No problem."
Then he simply turned and kept walking deeper into the cave, scanning the corners for danger. Dwayne followed a step behind, his chest tight with an emotion he didn't know how to name.
For the first time since arriving in that hellish world, Dwayne didn't feel completely alone.
Got you — here's the corrected scene, exactly as you described:
They hear the noise before activating their skills.
Each ability is shown clearly and simply.
Written in light-novel style with tension.
---
As they ventured deeper into the cave, the silence grew thick… almost too thick.
Then—
Hssssssssssss…
The sound slithered from the darkness ahead, low and wet, echoing across the cave walls.
Both boys froze mid-step.
Mark's breath caught.
Dwayne's fists clenched.
"What… was that?" Dwayne whispered.
"I don't know," Mark answered quietly, "but it's close."
Another hiss. Louder this time.
The two looked at each other—no words, only understanding.
Activate now. Or die.
Mark raised his hand over a thick wooden branch he picked up earlier.
"Assassin Skill: Edge Gleam."
A thin line of shimmering infernal energy coated the branch like a razor.
Edge Gleam sharpened any object he held—turning even trash into a blade capable of piercing monster hide.
It didn't look like much, but the air around the branch hummed sharply, vibrating like a whispering knife.
Dwayne took a step forward, inhaled deeply, and slammed his fists together.
"Berserker: Bloodrush."
A dull red aura burst from his muscles—his veins darkened, his pupils expanded.
Bloodrush increased his strength and reaction speed, but at the cost of burning stamina like firewood.
His breathing grew heavier, deeper, more animalistic.
"Ready?" Mark whispered.
"No," Dwayne whisper-shouted back.
"But let's go anyway."
They stepped forward, their footsteps echoing into a wider chamber.
A faint glow reflected off a still pool of water.
And then they saw it.
A massive serpent-like creature lay coiled in the center of the underground lake. Its body was thick as a tree trunk, covered in midnight-black scales that shimmered faintly. Its breathing was slow… too calm.
Mark whispered, "Okay… okay… maybe it's asleep. Maybe if we're quiet—"
SPLASH!
The serpent's head snapped toward them—sharp, violent, immediate.
Its golden eyes locked on them like they were prey.
Its jaws opened, revealing rows of thin, needled fangs dripping with venom.
Dwayne's voice cracked.
"…Mark."
"Yeah?"
Dwayne looked at Mark and there they both knew what they had to do and the risks involved.
The serpent let out a deep, bone-rattling hiss.
Mark gripped his sharpened branch, sweat rolling down his cheek.
"lets do this."
The serpent struck first.
FWOOOM!
Its massive head lunged forward, jaws wide enough to swallow a person whole. Mark dove to the left, rolling across the stone floor as the creature's fangs slammed into the ground where he stood seconds before.
"MOVE!" he shouted.
Dwayne was already sprinting.
"Bloodrush—FULL DRIVE!!"
His red aura flared violently, veins bulging as strength flooded his limbs. He leapt high, fist cocked back—
BOOM!
His punch smashed into the serpent's snout, cracking several scales and forcing its head to whip sideways with a guttural roar.
Mark darted around its flank.
"Assassin Skill—Edge Gleam: Rapid Carve!"
His sharpened branch blurred with swift strikes, carving streaks of glowing lines across the serpent's hide. Each cut was shallow, but several in the same spot began to weaken the thick armor.
The serpent screeched, enraged, and its tail snapped out like a whip.
"Dwayne, LOOK OUT—!!"
Too late.
CRACK!!
The tail struck Dwayne square in the ribs, sending him flying into the cave wall with bone-shaking force. Stone shattered around him.
But instead of crumpling—
Dwayne roared.
"THAT ALL YOU GOT?!"
His berserker aura spiked, red energy surging as he burst free from the crater and charged again, faster this time.
Mark's eyes widened. He recovered from THAT?!
The serpent lunged again, mouth wide, targeting Dwayne—
Mark sprinted forward.
"HEY UGLY! OVER HERE!"
He dashed beneath its jaw, sliding on the slick stone floor as the serpent narrowly missed him. With a quick upward slash, Mark carved into its softer under-jaw, dark blood splattering onto the ground.
The serpent shrieked, thrashing violently.
"Mark! The neck!" Dwayne shouted. "We need to hit it together!"
"On three!" Mark yelled. "ONE—"
The serpent lunged at Mark.
"—TWO—!!"
Dwayne vaulted onto the serpent's body, using its scales as footholds.
"THREE!!"
Mark sprinted up the creature's coiling neck at the same moment Dwayne leapt from its back. Their eyes met for a brief second—
COMBO SKILL: DUAL BREAKER
Mark struck first, plunging his sharpened weapon into the partially exposed scales he had weakened earlier.
At the same heartbeat, Dwayne's fist—glowing red with berserker force—slammed into the exact same spot.
CRAAACK!!
The serpent's neck snapped with a thunderous crack, its body convulsing before collapsing into the water with a colossal splash.
For a moment, neither boy moved.
The cave fell silent.
Mark dropped onto his knees, panting. "We… we did it…"
Dwayne stood over the corpse, shaking but alive, blood dripping from his arms. He managed a breathless, shaky grin.
"No… you did that," he said softly. "We did that."
Mark looked up.
For the first time since they met… Dwayne smiled sincerely.
The serpent's body slowly sank deeper into the dark water, leaving only ripples behind. Mark and Dwayne stood there catching their breath, their clothes torn, bodies bruised, but alive.
"Let's… see what it was guarding," Mark said, still panting.
Dwayne nodded. "If there's treasure, I call dibs."
Mark shot him a tired glare. "We almost died."
"That's why I deserve dibs."
They continued deeper into the cave. The tunnel narrowed, the walls shifting from rough stone to unnaturally smooth surfaces—almost like something had carved them deliberately.
Soon, markings appeared.
Symbols. Lines. Ancient shapes glowing faintly like embers trapped in stone.
But the strangest part—
They could read it.
Mark stepped closer, placing his hand near the carvings.
"…This is… our language?" he whispered. "How?"
Dwayne frowned. "Maybe someone's been here before."
"No… it's old. Really old."
Mark's eyes traced the first line and he began reading aloud.
"'To those who enter the Trial of the Deep Rift… the path to power lies in blood and will.'"
The next line was even more shocking.
"'Defeat the Guardian of the First Gate to qualify for the sacred gift: Apex Soul Resonance.'"
Dwayne blinked. "…Apex what?"
Mark swallowed.
"It says… the ability awakens hidden potential and lets you evolve your infernal energy drastically."
Dwayne stared.
"That's… that's legendary-class."
Mark nodded slowly. "The kind people train their entire lives for."
They both turned at the same moment—to the broken body of the serpent behind them.
Dwayne grinned. "Guardian of the First Gate… looks like we already passed the test."
Mark grinned back despite his exhaustion. "And guardians usually drop something useful."
They paced back toward the serpent's corpse, searching its body. Beneath a cracked scale near its jaw, they found two long, curved fangs — gleaming, sharp as steel, glowing faintly with energy.
Before Dwayne could celebrate, a strange stone formation caught Mark's eye—a small pedestal in the corner of the chamber with a keyhole carved into it.
A keyhole shaped exactly like the serpent's fang.
Mark held up the fang.
Dwayne held up his own.
Their eyes met.
They both smirked.
"Ready?" Mark asked.
"Let's get out of this dump," Dwayne replied.
Mark held the serpent's fang in his hand, staring at the glowing keyhole in the stone pedestal. The air was tense, humming with energy. Dwayne lifted his fang too, ready to jam it in.
But Mark suddenly lowered his hand.
"Wait."
Dwayne blinked. "Huh? What's wrong?"
Mark exhaled slowly. His hands were trembling slightly from the adrenaline wearing off.
"If that door leads to the 'Trial,' we're not ready," Mark said. "We almost died fighting the guardian alone. If there's something stronger behind that door, we won't stand a chance."
Dwayne hesitated, looking back at the massive serpent's corpse. His heart was still hammering. His ribs still hurt.
"…Yeah," he admitted. "You're right."
Mark nodded and smiled gently.
"Let's rest up first. Heal a bit. Eat something. Then we can go in."
Dwayne snorted. "Eat something? Like what?"
Mark pointed at the huge serpent.
"That thing."
Dwayne stared, then slowly grinned.
"You're crazy."
"I'm hungry."
Later – Cave Campfire
A small fire crackled in a hollowed-out corner of the cavern, glowing orange against the cold stone walls. Mark sat on a rock, rotating a skewer with thin slices of serpent meat over the flame. Surprisingly, the smell wasn't bad—smoky and a bit sweet.
Dwayne sat opposite him, knees drawn up, still clutching his side.
"So…" Mark said as he flipped the meat. "Does this count as camping?"
Dwayne scoffed. "Feels more like a death sentence."
"Same thing."
They both laughed weakly.
Mark handed him a piece of grilled meat. Dwayne sniffed it cautiously.
"…It won't kill me, right?"
"No promises."
Dwayne took a bite anyway.
His eyes widened.
"…This is actually good."
Mark beamed proudly. "See? Assassin survival cooking."
"That's… actually useful."
Mark chuckled. "Yeah. For once."
The two ate in silence for a while—comfortable, tired, but alive.
Then Dwayne spoke softly.
"Hey… Mark."
"Hm?"
"…I'm sorry."
Mark paused mid-bite.
"For what?" he asked gently.
Dwayne stared into the fire, jaw clenched.
"For being an asshole," he muttered. "For bullying you. For abandoning you back there. I… I shouldn't have done those things. Stephen and Kyle… they followed me because I told them to. And look where it got us."
His voice trembled.
"They're gone… and I was too scared to even think straight."
Mark lowered the skewer and looked at him, really looked at him.
"You were scared," he said. "Anyone would be. And… I won't forgive you just like that."
Dwayne winced a bit.
"But," Mark continued, softer, "I don't hate you either."
Dwayne slowly raised his eyes.
"You came with me," Mark said. "You fought with me. You saved my life just as much as I saved yours."
A small smile tugged at Mark's lips.
"So if you really want to make up for the past… just don't leave me behind again."
Dwayne's throat tightened.
"I won't," he said. "Promise."
Mark grinned and held out a chunk of meat wrapped in a leaf.
"Then eat. Friends don't fight on empty stomachs."
Dwayne stared at him—then smiled back, genuinely, for the first time.
"Fine. But I'm eating more than you."
"In your dreams, muscle-head."
The two continued eating, talking quietly, laughing occasionally.
For the first time since they entered the Rift, they felt a flicker of something warm.
Hope.