The Guardian Minotaur

Later that day I was really pissed. The only thing going on in my mind was: monster hunting. it was a Thursday day and I got home early, 4:12 to be exact, as soon as I got home I took off my uniform, ate a lot and slept till 10:00.

“ alright ”

“ YOU SEEN AWFULLY ENTHUSIASTIC ”

“ system. Dungeon ”

“ WOULD YOU STILL LIKE TO VISIT THE GREAT ABYSS ”

“ no. I want something a little more hardcore ”

“ HOW ABOUT THE CRETAN LABYRINTH?, ALTHOUGH I PERSONALLY WOULDN'T RECOMMEND IT ”

“ tell me the level of difficulty in contrast to the great abyss ”

“ THE GREAT ABYSS IS THE MOST DANGEROUS, BUT IT IS ALSO BIG, DEPENDING OF YOUR LOCATION SOME PLACES ARE RELATIVELY SAFE. HOWEVER THE LABYRINTH OF CRETE IS NOT AS BIG ”

“ so... ” I said with a fierce look on my face

“ IF THE PLACES YOU RAIDED IN THE GREAT ABYSS WERE LEVEL 19. THEN THE LABYRINTH OF CRETE WOULD BE LEVEL 50 ”

“ good take me there ”

“ JUST A MOMENT. VALIDATING DATA... LOADING RESOURCES... ”

And in the blink of an eye I was in the labyrinth of Crete. It sure did live up to it's title of labyrinth. It was the most complicated maze I had ever seen, consisting of complex paths, several dead ends, traps and above all monsters.

“ SO WHAT DO YOU THINK ”

“ it's perfect ”

“ YOU ARE CRAZY. YOU KNOW THAT RIGHT? ”

“ I do ”

“ NO HUMAN WOULD... ”

“ shut it ” I said as I materialized my scythe from thin air.

“ “ SO HOW DO YOU PLAN ON SURVIVING ”

“ you'll see. Just watch me ”i said as I smashed my scythe against the walls, creating a loud ringing noise.

Normally in a labyrinth people would try to be quiet so they can sneak past the monsters and get the treasure, but I'm not after treasure. I'm after the monsters. And what quicker way to go through a maze than straight ahead.

“ THIS SHOULD BE FUN TO WATCH ” the system said as I started feeling tremors on the ground

“ they're here ”

On my left was a large scorpion like monster which had broken through the walls of the labyrinth. It stared at me from afar for a while, before attacking me. Without hesitation it attacked me by thrusting it's pincers and tail at the same time. It might have been big but from what I could tell it wasn't intelligent. And almost immediately I ran towards it and jumped onto it's pincers and then almost before I lost my balance I jumped again landing behind it at it's blind spot: behind it's head. And sliced off it's tail. Maybe it was because it was in pain or out of desperation but it was wrecking the labyrinth's walls

“ it's stronger than I am, but it's no problem if I fight calmly while using my head ” I thought

Now that it's tail was gone it was less of a threat to me. After a some time wrecking the wall, it calmed down a bit but it was still mad.

“ next your head ”

And just like the first attack it came at me head on with it's pincers and just like the first time, I used them as steps instead of trying to dodge them and it put me in it's blind spot again, with all the strength I had I delivered a single strike to it's head. And just like that it was over.

“ WELL DONE. I WAS CERTAIN YOU WOULD DIE BUT HERE YOU ARE STILL BREATHING ”

“ wait a sec... I forgot to use appraisal ”

“ appraisal ”

CATEGORY: MONSTER

RACE: SCORPIO

NAME: NONE

TITLE: NONE

LEVEL: 21

SKILLS: POISON SYNTHESIS

“ what... That was a close one, one wrong move and I would have been toast. I don't know how long I can keep this up, I'm starting to get exhausted and if all the monsters here are like this then I might not make it

...what am I saying. I might not make it, I am going to survive this and I am going to get stronger ”

In a matter of moments I regained my composure and was banging the wall again.

“ come on out!!! ” I said banging the walls even louder. And as expected, the bait reeled in a swarm of ants the size of a chicken.

“ appraisal ”

CATEGORY: MONSTER

RACE: GIANT FIRE ANT

NAME: NONE

TITLE: NONE

LEVEL: 13

SKILLS: FIRE BREATH, EXPLOSIVE SUICIDE

“ fire breath. Come on what are they? Dragons and what's with explosive suicide ” I said

As the ants looked at me with menacing glares. It was clear that they looking for a fight.

“ there's one, two, three, four, five and six. This shouldn't be a problem, after all they're just oversized ants ” I thought but that didn't seem to be the case. And in a few minutes my shirt was in pieces and all covered in blood, but that wasn't the least of my problems the issue here was the explosive suicide: whenever I delivered a fatal blow to an ant they would explode just before they die. There's still four left... If they explode just before their death, the that means:

“ I just have to kill you in a single hit ” I said grinning from from ear to ear.

I grabbed my scythe even tighter and ****** my blade directly into the head of the closest ant.

“ well, what do you know? It didn't explode ”

I had found out their secret. And they were cowering in fear. As they retreated

“ oh no you don't. Get back here, I'm gonna kill you ” I said with a twisted smile on my face.

And like the ants they were. I killed them one after the other.

“ huh huh huh huh huh huh, it's so hot in here ” I said taking off my shirt which was already ruined by the cuts, blood and flames.

Even third degree burns couldn't stop me from pushing forward, but even I was still human and I knew I had limits so I stopped for a little rest.

“ system how long has it been? ”

“ 5 HOURS 49 MINUTES AND 47 SECONDS ”

“ I've already taken this long so no point trying to scale the dungeon quickly. I might as well take a break ” I said as I sat down with my back against the wall. I didn't dare sleep but at least I got rid of some fatigue.

“ system. How long has it been? ”

“ 6 HOURS 9 MINUTES AND 24 SECONDS ”

“ alright. Back to work ”

“ YOU MEAN BACK TO BANGING ”

“ is it just me or have you gotten friendly with me? ”

“ IT'S JUST YOUR IMAGINATION ”

“ if you say so ”

“ back to banging!!!! ” I said as I struck my scythe against the wall. And just as planned it reeled in something good.

“ appraisal ”

CATEGORY: MONSTER

RACE: GROUND HOG

NAME: NONE

TITLE: EARTH SPLITTER

LEVEL: 16

SKILLS: EARTH SPLIT

“ wow, first time I've seen a monster with a title. This should be fun ”

And like the boar it was it came charging head on. It's stats were pretty high but it was as dumb as a rock. I lept sideways picking up my shirt from the ground.

“ I've always wanted to try bull fighting. But this'll do ” I said as I taunted the bull with my hands holding my scythe and shirt at the same time. As planned it still came charging, and just like the scorpion I jumped off it's head and wham, next thing you know there was a scythe in it's head.

“ these things sure are dumb, but I wonder what it'll taste like ” I said as I cut off it's tail and used that dumb fire spell the system taught me to roast the piece of meat.

“ Invoco magnam creationis flammam, cumm mea mana in oblatione. Arde, lucens sicut stella matutina, et semitam meam illumina. ”

“ YOU'RE ABUSING MAGIC ”

“ come on a little pork roast never hurt anyone ”

“ YOU NEVER CEASE TO AMAZE ME ”

“ hey ish there anyway I can shtore all this meat? ”

“ YOU CAN USE YOUR AUTHORITY TO CREATE A VOID WHERE ITEMS CAN BE STORED ”

“ sweet. So how do I do that, I don't need to say some lame *** spell right ”

“ THAT WILL NOT BE NECESSARY. JUST THINK ABOUT CREATING A VAST SPACE, AN ENDLESS VOID WOULD BE IDEAL BUT I DOUBT YOUR MIND WOULD BE ABLE TO CONJURE UP SOMETHING OF THAT LEVEL ”

“ how's this ” I said imagining the infinite void of outer space.

“ Y-YES ”

“ sometimes I'm shocked at my own power ”

“ OH SHUT UP ” the system said in a sarcastic way.

“ what's that ” I said as I heard the ground shake. It grew even louder by the second.

I could hear the walls being torn down and it was coming closer

Then the final boss emerged from the broken walls, a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man with a giant axe and a golden ring on it's nose.

“ appraisal ”

CATEGORY: MONSTER

RACE: MINOTAUR

NAME: Asterion

TITLE: GUARDIAN

LEVEL: 49

SKILLS: BERSERK, IRON FIST, STEEL HOOVES, AXE MASTERY GRADE D+, STRENGTH BOOST, SPEED BOOST, HORNED STRIKE.

“ gulp... It's... Strong. And this is the first I've seen a monster with a name and weapon. But... I can't turn back now, I promised myself I would get stronger. ”

It was two times my height and I could visibly see steam coming out from it's nose as it breathed.

“ what is your name, human ” it said in a deep voice as it look down on me from above.

“ it can talk, which means it has intelligence ” I thought to myself. All things accounted for, this guy seems pretty dangerous.

“ Louis ”

“ very well. Louis, I am Asterion let us battle to our hearts content without holding back ”

“ what is he talking about ” I thought to myself

He was a tricky opponent because because brute strength wasn't all he had going for him, he was also skilled with a weapon.

“ prepare yourself ” he said as he ran towards me with his axe above his head. I had pretty much expected that he would attack that way. And I was able to dodge by leaping backwards. And as I looked at the ground I was grateful I hadn't tried to deflect his axe with my scythe. At the point where his axe hit the ground there was a huge crater, and I was starting to panic.

“ there's nothing to be scared about. I just need to think this through rationally... Just breathe ”

Before I knew it the second attack came crashing and I only managed to escape because my body moved instinctively.

“ are you just going to keep dodging or are you going to fight me like a man? ”

“ ok. From what I can tell it attacks with a strike from above so if I can dodge by going sideways I should be able to take out it's legs ” I thought. But I was dealing with a monster that was intelligent.

Much to my surprise it attacked with a horizontal slash from the left to right.

“ damn it. This isn't going too well. I can't keep dodging forever and my stamina isn't unlimited either. I just need an opening to get one in on his weak spot: his legs ” I thought

“ stop dodging!!!!! ” he said

From the look of things he was pretty pissed and started adding more force to his swings.

“ so this is strength boost ” I thought

At that moment all I needed was an opening. My skills had a time limit with a long cool down period, so they weren't something I could afford to use recklessly. And as the minotaur struck the ground with his increased strength, i noticed it took a while for it to pull it's axe out of the ground. I had finally found a weakness. And I only needed to wait till it's next attack vertical swing.

“ moooo!!! ” he said as he swung his axe from above.

I had finally gotten an opening, as soon as the axe hit the ground, I activated strength augmentation, as i hopped forward and struck my scythe into his knee and in that split second with the scythe already inside his knee I sliced it open.

“ I've crippled him, now his attacks should be limited. ” I thought

It may have been half man but it couldn't change the fact that it was still half bull, so like the bull he was he literally came charging at me head on. Running on with both his legs and arms

“ I see, so he's walking on all fours now. Then that leaves his back open, so if I can pierce his chest from behind and hit a vital organ then I should be able to kill him ” I thought

So I like I did earlier with the scorpion and lil piggy. With strength augmentation still in effect, I stepped on his head and at the right moment jumped off, striking his chest from behind, but at the moment I thought it was all over, he kicked me in the chest with his hooves breaking almost every rib in my body. If I didn't have the perseverance skill I probably would have been dead.

We both looked at ourselves from a distance as I coughed up a lot of blood.

“ it seems this is where all ends ” he said

“ yeah. For you ” I said as I grinned

After a few seconds his eyes began to close and his mouth began to foam.

“ poison scythe ” I said

“ well done. You truly are the chosen one ” he said before falling to the ground.

“ you were by far the strongest opponent I'd ever faced. Thank you, for allowing me to grow stronger ” I said

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