The Minotaur's Trial
"Th-that master...."
After that, I kept wandering through the maze. Along the way, I took down a ton of monsters. Massive boars, snakes so long they made anacondas look like a joke, that sort of thing....
Beating them leveled me up big time.
If I'd just been grinding normal dungeons, I wouldn't have gotten this strong so fast. Obviously impossible.
But it came at the cost of risking my life every second. Still, the gains were worth it.
Solar Blade Enhancement
The Solar Blade, which had been about 5cm long, doubled to around 10cm. Like a paring knife for apples or tomatoes. But as I learned from the harpy, its power was beyond imagination.
'No items dropped, though.'
The one downside? This dungeon didn't drop any loot. Like it was designed to suck up EXP greedily and nothing else. Would've been nice if expensive gear rained down too.
'Anyway... it's been awfully quiet lately.'
This dim maze had been noisy as hell before— the racket was actually a blessing, letting me know when monsters were coming. But for some reason, it had gone dead silent. And that scared me more.
'This is new.'
Did that mean I was facing a serious threat now? Tension thick in the air, I took two or three more steps...
You've come at last, little knight.
A deep, resonant voice boomed, shaking the entire cave with its grandeur.
Are you prepared to face your greatest trial? If so, come forward.
The overwhelming pressure was on another level from anything I'd faced before. But I couldn't stop here. That thing was probably the boss, and if I didn't kill it, I'd be trapped forever. No thanks. I'd take it down and get home.
Good. Then face me.
A brilliant light exploded like when I fought the harpy, banishing the darkness. And what I faced was...
A bull. Bipedal, 3 meters tall, wielding a massive double-headed axe. Yeah, that had to be a Minotaur. It huffed hot breath from its nostrils.
Here I come.
With a tone like a declaration of war, the Minotaur leaped high. Insane jumping power. A 3m behemoth like that had to weigh hundreds of kilos, and with that long axe, it was tons...
Blocking was suicide.
'The ground cracked!'
I barely rolled forward in time. The axe slammed down where I'd been, splitting the floor. A split-second slower, and it'd have crushed my skull. Damn it!
Not bad, nimble one...
But its attacks were comically oversized. Its side was wide open, so I stabbed there, slicing deep into its flank.
Schwick! Chunks of flesh tore free. Blood sprayed like a fountain, but the Minotaur swung its fist at me like it was nothing.
'One hit and I'm dead.'
That fist telegraphed huge too. Blind spots everywhere. I stepped in and struck.
'So just don't take that hit.'
Master's lesson worked here too. Big moves create openings. And the Sword Ghost's Eye showed me exactly where to hit.
Huuuuh!
I carved steady cuts into that bulky body. Soon, it was visibly struggling with my attacks.
'My moves are getting sloppy too. This'll be a war of attrition—keep 'em tight.'
To topple that giant, I had to chip away at its stamina. No bursting all at once. Precise strikes. No feints—just lethal cuts that made blood pour from the bull's body. Soon, guts spilled from the gashes.
Impressive!
Desperate thrashing? The Minotaur roared, muscles bulging even bigger. Power boost? Wider swings for sure. But slower. That's why track athletes don't bulk up too much.
'Perfect.'
This fight was making me stronger. And something was dawning... Enlightenment? Swordsmanship pinnacle? Whatever. Keep this up, and my talent would explode.
Take this, challenger!
The huge axe spun toward me, chillingly fast... But my leveled-up dynamic vision let me dodge the arc. Finisher? Flank stab, twist the blade 360 degrees—guts spilled out.
Kuhk... Hah, splendid.
Bit cowardly maybe, but the Minotaur didn't complain.
A true hero's... material. Far beyond a failure like me. But beware—that mad wizard, for his own amusement... will trap you here like he did me.
The bull fell silent forever. Unlike other Babel monsters.
No time for reflection—I escaped that damn darkness. And got my reward...
◈ A feather imbued with the power of Odin, lord of frenzied rage, greatest mage, and war god.
◈ Unlocks traits by level.
◈ LV 10:Wild Hunt descends upon the earth.
◈ LV 30: ???
◈ LV 40: ???
◈ LV 50: ???
◈ LV 80: ??
Some insane loot, but before I could check it out, I got sucked somewhere else...
'Where's this?'
I opened my eyes in the dojo. Usually you'd pop out at Babel's entrance, but the constellation watching me must've dropped me here as a service. What grace.
'Three whole days passed? Oh god.'
Wonder what Master would say. Would she be mad? Better play it safe and stay put...
'Ah, she's here.'
Speak of the devil—I sensed her presence right as I thought of her. I bolted over.
"Master, I'm back."
"...!"
No intent to scare, but popping out like that made her eyes go wide, body jolting.
"You!"
Did she think I was dead? She reacted like a ghost had returned.
"I got dragged away suddenly too... Sorry, Master."
"...No. Nothing to apologize for."
Surprisingly, no big emotional outburst. Kinda cold, actually. Didn't worry much, huh? She was always yapping about wanting to fuck me.
"Good thing. One more day late, and I'd have stormed Babel."
"Uh... Can you even do that?"
"With a divine artifact, yeah."
She said it dead serious.
Babel's constellations are basically immortal. Tough bodies that last till the universe ends. But even they can die—by divine artifacts.
If her teammate hadn't been critical, Ryu Ga-eul would've killed the Sword Ghost. The constellations felt a twinge of unease.
OneEyedMage sighed heavily before continuing.
The scornful title rang true; the constellations nodded.
Odin was a god of wisdom too. Stirring the Sword Saint wasn't wise. Good call—it worked out.
"Uh... four weeks already?"
"Yeah, term's up."
Ryu Ga-eul was focused on the next phase.