Face to face with the gigantic snake, Danny had no clue what to do. He looked up and down the snake humongous body without moving.

'How the fuck am I supposed to kill this thing! It's at least forty feet long! Maybe even more! ‘

As exaggerated as that may sound, he is right. The snake was 42.5 feet long as well as three feet wide and three feet tall! It was outrageously huge! It stared down at Danny with piercing red eyes, it's midnight black scales glistening in the dying sunlight. Night was on its way.

'Ok Danny, it's all gonna be alright. It's just a snake, it's a big snake but it's still just a snake. As long as I don't move it can't see me.’

The two looked at each other for a few more seconds. And then tragedy strikes! The huge viper flicks his tongue out, trying to smell the human it's just found. Danny, being so close to the snake, got a face full of viper tongue! The tongue went up and down Danny's face and went back inside the snake's mouth.

Danny was struck with fear. He knew what was about to happen.

HISSSSSSSSS

The snake lifts his head up into striking position and opens its mouth wide, showing off it's fangs and letting loose a ear splitting hiss!

[Will power check: Will power is too low. Dear debuff added]

[Instinct check: Instinct is too low. Reflexes and judgement are down by 20%. Panic debuff added]

One thought raced through Danny's mind. 'Run! Run! Run! ‘ He couldn't make a single movement though, it was as if his primal instincts of survival were locked down. He couldn't move, he could barely take a breath. He gripped his dagger tight but he couldn't do anything with it. Seconds passed like minutes.

From above, the viper was giving him a condescending gaze, as if he was nothing compared to such a great being. The snake revelled in this moment. The fear and terror emitted by the human was delicious to the snake. But all good things must come to an end. The snake opened its mouth again and was about to strike down at the miserable human.

Danny unconsciously took a step back as the snake was baring its fangs! He takes another step as the snake strikes and trips over the dead pig! He falls and the snake strikes right over his head, its fangs hitting nothing but the tree!

Danny fell straight on to the pig's three inch tusk, bringing him out of his panicking stupor.

'Run!’

And run he did. He ran and ran. He ran with death on his heels, never looking back. He was sure at any second that he would die. When the sun disappeared he finally stopped running, not because he wanted to, but because he fell into a hole. His endless running came to a stop and he was laid out unconscious from the exhaustion as well as the fall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Several hours later

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Fuck, what the hell happened? All I remember was seeing that huge ass snake and the poof, my mind went blank. Where am I at anyway?.’ Danny tries to get up but he falls right back down. He scrambles around and tries to get his bearings. With no light and no idea of where he's at he gets scared. He was never a timid man but when you face unbelievable circumstances alongside the cold reality of death, your mind starts to crumble. It crumbles and reshapes and takes a new form. That's what Danny's going through. The dark tendrils of terror work their way deep into his unstable mind, making him question his sanity. He breaks down and shrieks like a dying widow.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

In the darkness, he bellows and yells, he screams and sobs, he wishes to be dead. But in that darkness there is a light. A deep purple light, it's comforting and soothing. It pushes the darkness and fear out of his mind. He crawls towards the purple light. He painstakingly crawls to it. It takes every ounce of everything he has just to make it. He crawls closer and closer and when he finally reached it a surge of relief and new found courage washes over him.

With that courage, he feels energy flow inside him. He calms himself and discovers that the system sent him information about the item.

[The left hand of Saeva Timere]

[Type of equipment: Necklace

Grade: Blue

Prerequisites: Will power: 15

Offense: None

Defense: None

Abilities: Fearless, Berserk

Remarks: Saeva Timere was an adventurer, captain and drunk. He knew no fear. He ate fear for breakfast. He was fearless to the bone. Rumors say that he was possessed by a berserk demon, others say he just drunk too much]

[Fearless: Increase your willpower by 25%. All willpower checks are decreased by 25%.]

[Berserk: If instinct check fails, apply berserk debuff instead of panic debuff.]

“Huh, so is that why I'm not afraid anymore? Fuck, I hated that. I felt helpless. From this day forward I will never feel that way again! You know why system?”

[.....]

“Because I have the Left Hand of Saeva Timere!”

Down in the darkness of the hole, he still couldn't see. It was still night. His ankle was hurting and he couldn't see at all. There was only one thing that he could do. He fell asleep! What was there to fear? He had the Left Hand of Saeva Timere! He was fearless!

~~~~~~~~~~

A few more hours later

~~~~~~~~~~

Light was finally showing in the dense jungle. In the center of the jungle, in a deep hole was a man that fell asleep. Asleep in the dangerous jungle! Where anything and everything was out for blood! How dumb could this man be? Well…….Let's find out!

'Daylight, about fucking time!’

From the morning light Danny could see the details of the hole he was trapped in. It was six feet deep and not very long or wide, about three feet each. He could also make out the details of his savior, The Left Hand of Saeva Timere! The necklace was actually a skeletal hand with a deep purple jewel set in the back of it. He plays with it a little bit and finds out all the joints and fingers still work.

‘Whatever black magic this shit uses that keeps it together is fucking awesome, I need some of this! Anywho, I gotta get out of here and kill that slimy worm! It's going to due today, I can feel it and I've already got my plan’ An evil smirk flew across his face at that time.

Danny was about average height, but still he couldn't climb up out of the hole. Exhaustion from yesterday as well as having nothing to eat has left him weak. His mind raced through ideas, simulating and running through the possible errors until finally he comes up with something. He grabs his canteen and knife out of his bag, taking a big gulp then beginning his harsh work to dig footholds into the wall he was facing. With his dagger, he cut out several footholds allowing him to climb up and out of that god-forsaken hole.

When he reaches the top he grabs his canteen again and drinks some more out of it, allowing himself a little rest.

His right ankle was swollen, probably from the fall. ‘A minor setback’, he thinks to himself. But in such a place any setback, minor or major, could mean death.

Begrudgingly, he gets up and sets off at a limp. He limps further into the jungle, searching for his newest victim. His dagger was sheathed in his belt and he carried a rock in each hand. Finally, after an hour or so of waltzing through the humid jungle he sees his prey. Not the viper but a group of the wild pigs!