Tower Awakening: I Have Limitless Potential Trait

Chapter 4 – 1st Floor: The Forgotten Catacombs (2)

Daniel leaned his back against the cold cave wall and slowly released his breath. His chest heaved up and down as he gasped for air. Outside the narrow crack, the horrifying sound of clattering bones and clicking jaws had completely faded away. He waited a few more minutes just to make sure.

Once the silence returned, he allowed his tense muscles to finally relax. His left shoulder still throbbed from the dagger cut, but he was alive. He had survived the ambush. He touched the wound on his shoulder gently, wincing at the sharp sting. The warm blood on his fingers was a harsh reminder that this was reality, not a virtual game. If he died here, it was over. There would be no respawn point, and he would never see his mother or Olivia again.

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. As his breathing slowed down, he started to notice his surroundings. Initially, he thought this was just a shallow hole in the wall, a simple hiding spot to escape the undead monsters outside. But as he looked behind him, he felt a faint, cool breeze brushing against his face. It was strange. If this was just a dead end, there shouldn't be any wind blowing from the inside.

His eyes, now slightly sharper due to the extra point he added to his perception stats earlier, peered into the darkness. The crack didn't stop a few feet in. It turns out the cave he simply entered as a hiding place was a mysterious place. There was a long path that could lead him somewhere, and it looks like the path has no end on it.

Since he was curious about inside the cave, he then heading towards. He tightened the grip on his rusty sword, using it almost like a walking stick in the dim light. Every step he took was careful and measured, making sure not to make any loud noises. The air inside the tunnel grew heavier and colder the deeper he went.

He trailed his free hand along the stone walls to keep his balance in the dark. The texture of the walls slowly changed from raw, jagged rocks to smooth, almost polished stone. It felt extremely unnatural, as if something enormous had carved this path intentionally. His willpower stat helped him push down the rising anxiety, but he couldn't shake the heavy feeling of being watched by the darkness itself.

He didn't know that horrible future gonna hit him. When he deep towards into the path, the narrow tunnel began to widen. The oppressive darkness slowly faded away, replaced by an eerie, faint purple glow coming from some unknown crystals growing on the high ceiling. He stepped out of the tunnel and found himself standing at the edge of a massive cavern.

He looked around the cavern and instantly froze.

The sheer scale of the place was breathtaking, big enough to fit a whole football stadium inside. But the size of the room wasn't what stopped his breathing.

In the center of the giant room, he see a big creatures sleeping on a ground. It was a monstrous beast, easily the size of a two-story house. Its body was covered in thick, dark scales that looked harder than solid steel. Huge wings were folded neatly against its back, and every time the creature exhaled, a small cloud of black smoke escaped its nostrils, carrying the sharp and suffocating smell of burning sulfur.

Before he could even process the terrifying sight in front of him, multiple transparent screens suddenly popped up in his vision, flashing aggressively with red warning borders.

[You arrived at the Secret Boss Room.]

[Warning: Extreme danger detected. The entity level far exceeds the challenger's current capabilities.]

[Warning: The Secret Boss woke up from his sleep.]

His heart stopped.

Down in the center of the cavern, the massive beast stopped its rhythmic breathing. A deep growl vibrated through the floor, shaking the very stones under his feet.

Slowly, the creature shifted its massive head and opened its eyes. Two giant, glowing yellow slits pierced through the dim light, locking onto his tiny figure standing at the entrance. The terrifying pressure emitting from those eyes was suffocating, pinning him to the ground like a heavy weight.

Knowing that, he immediately run back to the initial place.

He didn't even try to be quiet anymore. He sprinted back into the narrow tunnel as fast as his legs could carry him. His heart pumped blood so hard he could hear it ringing in his ears. He ran blindly in the dark, hitting his shoulders against the jagged rocks, completely ignoring the pain and the new cuts forming on his skin.

He stumbled a few times, almost dropping his rusty sword, but forced himself to keep moving. He could feel the phantom heat of a giant beast staring at his back. The pure fear of being eaten alive fueled his tired legs to move way past their limits.

He didn't stop until he saw the faint light of the initial labyrinth corridor. He threw himself onto the ground near the entrance of the crack, panting heavily. He curled up, waiting for the cave to collapse or for a giant claw to reach in and crush him.

Seconds passed. Then a minute.

Nothing happened. There was no roar, no shaking ground, no sea of flames.

He cautiously looked back down the dark tunnel. It was completely silent. After reaching the initial place, he then realize that big create not following him so he could relax. Luckily, the Secret Boss only opened his eyes and close back his eyes. To a monster of that size, a human with a rusty sword was probably not even worth the effort. He was just an annoying ant that had accidentally wandered into a sleeping lion's den.

The adrenaline slowly left his system, leaving him completely exhausted. His muscles ached, and his clothes were drenched in cold sweat. But because of that incident, he was frustating and complain to the tower. The sheer unfairness of this death game crashed down on him. How was anyone supposed to clear the first floor if there was a literal dragon sleeping in a hidden cave?

He looked up at the ceiling of the dark cave and yelled, "Are you crazy?! Why would a big creature like that you put into the first floor?!" his voice echoing slightly in the small space with a high tone.

He waited for a response, half-expecting the Tower to give him some sort of explanation or at least a system penalty for yelling. Realizing tower system only gave him silence moment, he could only sighed. Complaining to a magical tower wouldn't get him anywhere. It didn't care about fairness; it only cared about survival.

He needed to focus on surviving. The secret boss room was a complete dead end, which meant he had to go back out into the main labyrinth. He took a few more deep breaths to steady his shaking hands. He tightened his grip on his rusty sword and crawled closer to the narrow entrance.

He decided to check outside the cave. Is it safe from him to get out now? he think, slowly poking his head out of the crack to look at the dark corridor, praying that the group of skeletons had truly moved on.