NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Into the Ruins
The boy's name was Ronan.
He led Eleanor through the dense forest, his breathing ragged, his hands trembling. He was young—too young to be out here alone. But desperation made people reckless.
"How many monsters?" Eleanor asked as they moved.
Ronan hesitated. "T-There were three when we ran. But more could've come."
Eleanor's jaw tightened. She had barely killed one monster. Three? That was pushing it.
Still, she had made her choice.
The trees thinned, revealing ancient ruins—massive, crumbling stone pillars and weathered archways, half-buried in the earth. A sickly blue mist hovered around them, giving the place an eerie glow.
Eleanor's instincts screamed danger.
[Warning: Low-Level Dungeon Detected – Ruins of Aramoth]
Her stomach dropped. A dungeon? She wasn't ready for this.
But then she heard it—a faint cry echoing from inside.
A child's voice.
She doesn't have time to hesitate.
Eleanor clenched her fists. "Stay close."
Ronan nodded, his eyes wide with fear, and they slipped inside the ruins.
Inside the Dungeon
The air was damp and cold. Cracks in the stone let in slivers of moonlight, casting long shadows. The deeper they went, the stronger the smell of blood became.
Then—footsteps.
Eleanor pressed herself against a pillar, pulling Ronan down with her.
A creature shambled into view.
It was humanoid, but barely—gray, rotting flesh stretched over twisted bones, its face an empty void where its eyes should be.
[Gloomwalker – Level 3]
Eleanor barely breathed. Undead.
Her fingers itched for a weapon she didn't have. A rock wouldn't work this time.
Ronan's breathing was too loud. If the creature heard—Too late.
The Gloomwalker's head snapped toward them.
It let out a hollow shriek and charged.
Eleanor reacted.
She ducked low, sweeping her leg out and kicking its knee sideways. The bone snapped with a sickening crack, and the creature collapsed with a screech.
[Skill Activated: Adaptation]
[Analyzing enemy weakness…]
A flash of insight—the skull. Blunt force. Destroy the brain.
Eleanor didn't hesitate.
She grabbed a loose stone from the ground and slammed it into the creature's head. Once. Twice. Three times.
The Gloomwalker let out a final, rattling hiss—and stilled.
[Gloomwalker Defeated.]
[+75 EXP Earned.]
Eleanor exhaled.
She was still alive.
She turned to Ronan. "Where's your sister?"
He pointed to a doorway up ahead. "In there."
Eleanor wiped the blood from her face.
"Stay behind me," she said, stepping forward.
Because now, she wasn't just fighting for herself.
She was fighting for someone else.
And she refused to fail.