The cavern groaned with the weight of silence. Quinn stood at the center of a jagged stone platform, his rebar weapon balanced loosely in his hands, every nerve alight with the quiet dread that only comes before something colossal arrives. The torchlight sputtered from sconces embedded in the walls, their flames guttering as though the cavern itself exhaled in anticipation.
The System's cold text still hovered in the corner of his vision, unyielding in its simplicity.
[ New Trial Initiated: The Berserker's Test ][ Survive the Champion of the Horde ][ Reward: High-grade Fragment ]
Quinn swallowed. He had asked for this. Chapter 6's reckless gamble, his deliberate hunt, had awakened something larger than himself. A fragment stronger than any he had seen yet pulsed at the cavern's heart, its glow feeding the air with raw pressure. And like an alarm bell, it had summoned the guardian.
The stone beneath his boots trembled. A deep, slow rhythm echoed through the chamber like the beating of a war drum. Each thud rattled through his chest cavity, shaking marrow and thought alike. Dust sifted down from the stalactites overhead.
Quinn braced himself. He had fought trolls before, if "fight" was the right word for stabbing a dying one in a collapsed ruin. That encounter was raw, desperate, and half-chance. This one would be different. This one was alive, enraged, and built for war.
The cavern's shadows shifted.
It emerged.
First came the stench—rank, sour, and unmistakably alive. Then the bulk, a silhouette so massive it seemed sculpted from the cavern itself. The troll ducked beneath the archway, shoulders scraping stone, its matted fur clotted with dirt and streaks of old blood. Its eyes glowed red in the flickering light, pupils narrow and hunting.
Quinn's fingers clenched tighter around the rebar. His heart thundered, not from fear, but from the sharp edge of exhilaration. This was what gamers lived for: the boss fight, the showdown where death and victory balanced on the same blade.
The System confirmed the nightmare.
[ Berserker Troll – Level ??? ][ Status: Enraged ]
The creature roared, a sound that shook the cavern like an avalanche. Torch flames sputtered out. Darkness rushed inward, broken only by the glow of Quinn's fragments and the red fury of the troll's gaze.
He moved. Not rashly, not blindly. Every step was measured, every breath steady. His fragments thrummed in his veins, whispering their gifts: strength, perception, silence. He slid sideways, circling, keeping the troll's bulk in sight.
The troll's first strike was no warning. Its tree-trunk arm swung in a brutal arc, pulverizing stone where Quinn had stood a heartbeat before. Shards exploded outward, one grazing Quinn's cheek with a sting of blood. He landed in a crouch, lungs burning, but a grin curled his lips.
"Too slow."
The Shard of Insight burned bright in his mind. The troll's movements weren't random rage; they followed brutal patterns. Each shift of its weight telegraphed a blow seconds in advance. Each exhale rattled before a charge. His gamer brain mapped the patterns like a raid boss fight, instincts aligning with experience.
But this wasn't a game. The troll's second strike ripped a boulder the size of Quinn's torso from the wall and hurled it. Quinn dove aside, rolling across jagged stone, feeling the air split as the projectile smashed where he had stood. Dust and gravel rained over him.
[ Health: -12 ]
He hissed. Even a near miss chipped away at his vitality. A direct blow would end him.
The troll bellowed again, the sound rattling through Quinn's skull. He pushed himself to his feet, fragments pulsing. The Shard of Silence dulled his footfalls. The Shard of Strength filled his limbs with borrowed force. The Shard of Insight sharpened every twitch of movement around him.
This was winnable. Risky, deadly, but winnable.
The troll lunged, shaking the earth. Quinn darted forward, rebar clutched tight. At the last instant he veered left, sliding under the beast's swing, the rebar screeching as it tore a line across the troll's thigh. Black ichor splattered the stone. The troll's roar grew higher, furious, disbelieving.
[ Damage inflicted: -87 ][ Critical Spot Identified ]
Quinn's grin widened. Not invincible after all.
The troll slammed both fists into the ground. The cavern quaked. Quinn staggered, balance faltering, and a massive foot crashed down where he had stood. The shockwave flung him aside, his ribs aching from the impact. He coughed blood into the dust.
"Okay… so no hugging distance," he rasped, pushing himself upright.
The troll sniffed the air, catching his scent. Its red eyes fixed on him, narrowing. It charged, head lowered, tusks glinting in the dim glow.
Quinn sprinted. Not away, but toward the cluster of stalagmites near the cavern's left wall. His enhanced perception guided him through the dark, weaving between sharp stone spires. The troll thundered after him, smashing formations apart in its path. Each crash rained stone fragments around Quinn's head, but he pressed on.
At the last second, he pivoted.
The troll lunged straight into the thickest cluster of stalagmites. Stone cracked. One shard speared through the troll's shoulder. Its roar of pain split the air. Quinn didn't waste the chance. He leapt, rebar flashing, and drove it deep into the troll's exposed joint.
[ Damage inflicted: -212 ]
The beast howled, flinging itself sideways, tearing free of the stone. Quinn clung to the rebar until the momentum hurled him loose. He hit the cavern floor hard, pain lancing through his side, but his grin never faltered.
This was working. Slowly, painfully, but working.
The troll turned, blood running black down its arm. Its breathing came ragged, furious. Then something shifted. Its muscles bulged, veins black and pulsing with unnatural light. The System's warning flickered.
[ Berserker State Initiated ][ Damage x2. Speed x1.5 ]
Quinn's smile faltered. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
The troll blurred forward. Its speed doubled, its strikes faster, wilder. Quinn barely ducked under one claw that would have decapitated him. The next blow clipped his shoulder, sending fire down his arm.
[ Health: -64 ]
He staggered, clutching his side. The troll loomed, its shadow swallowing him whole. For the first time in the fight, Quinn felt a sliver of doubt.
Then the System whispered again.
[ Fragment Activation Possible ][ Combine: Shard of Strength + Shard of Insight? Y/N ]
His eyes widened. "You can do that?"
[ Confirm Combination ]
He didn't hesitate. "Yes!"
The fragments in his chest burned, threads of energy intertwining, pulling tighter, fusing into something new. His body shuddered under the force. The cavern seemed to sharpen, every edge of reality cutting into clarity.
[ New Fragment Formed: Predator's Instinct ][ Function: Enhanced Strength + Predictive Reflex ]
Quinn exhaled, a laugh breaking from his chest. "Now we're talking."
The troll struck again. This time, Quinn didn't dodge late. He moved before the beast's muscles even tensed, sidestepping with uncanny precision. His rebar whistled, stabbing into the troll's exposed ribs. The creature shrieked, clutching at the wound.
Quinn pressed the advantage. He darted in and out, every movement guided by predictive reflex, every strike sharper, surer. The troll bled heavily, black ichor pooling on the cavern floor. Its swings grew desperate, uncoordinated.
Quinn was no longer surviving. He was hunting.
Minutes stretched like hours, each clash echoing through stone. At last, the troll stumbled, its legs buckling. Quinn planted his feet, raised the rebar high, and with a final roar of his own, drove it straight through the troll's skull.
The cavern shook. The beast convulsed, then collapsed, stone trembling beneath its fall. Silence followed, broken only by Quinn's ragged breathing.
The System's text glowed before him.
[ Trial Complete ][ Reward Granted: High-grade Fragment ]
A shard hovered above the troll's corpse, pulsing with radiant power. Quinn staggered toward it, his limbs trembling, his grin feral. He reached out and pressed it to his chest.
[ Fragment Acquired: Shard of the Berserker ][ Function: Temporary Burst of Strength and Endurance ]
Quinn leaned back, laughing through bloodied lips. "Worth it. Every damn second."
The laughter faded as another notification blinked.
[ Hidden Condition Triggered ][ You Have Been Observed ]
Quinn froze. His eyes darted around the cavern, scanning shadows. Nothing moved. No patrols. No footsteps. Yet the sense of being watched wrapped around him like a noose.
He tightened his grip on the rebar.
"Who's there?"
The cavern answered only with silence.
But above, beyond the rock ceiling, unseen eyes lingered. Watching. Calculating. Waiting.
The game had changed again.
[ New Quest Unlocked: Survive the Watcher ]
And for the first time since his arrival, Quinn wondered if he had pushed too far, too fast.