"I've been wondering, why'd you end up inside a treasure chest, Verdra?" I asked the little creature that had recently decided to reside on top of my head.
I was starting to get bored. I'd been walking through this long corridor for about an hour, yet we hadn't encountered a single monster or even a branched path. It was just a long-ass corridor with nothing interesting in it.
"Gwii…" came a meek, half-hearted response from above. I could feel her slowly lifting her head.
"You've been sleeping up there? Man, I'm impressed."
"Gwii…" came another half-hearted reply, this one with a hint of confusion.
"It's nothing. Sorry if I disturbed your nap. You can go back to it," I said, patting her head reassuringly. Not even thirty seconds later, she dozed off again.
"If my foster father saw how fast you fall asleep, he'd be cursing and shouting like a madman right now…"
My foster father was… let's just say he had a few loose screws in his head. He had serious problem with insomnia. When he couldn't sleep at night, he wouldn't let me or my foster mother sleep either. He'd shout at us, forcing us to listen to his drunken rants about how much his job sucked while downing cheap liquor.
The worst part was my foster mother. She was so infatuated with him that she always did whatever he told her without question.
What a toxic couple, I often thought during those times.
After the deaths of my birth parents—by some godforsaken reason unknown to me—they now became my guardians. The only thing I knew was that my foster father was my birth father's older brother.
Not long after my parents' deaths, my foster parents moved into my parents' house, turning my daily life into a living nightmare.
They weren't physically abusive or anything. It was just… they constantly reprimanded me over the most unreasonable things. Calling me "a waste of space" or saying "the world would be better without your existence," something around those lines.
They'd get angry if dinner wasn't ready when they came home from work. They complained about me wasting money on "unnecessary" cooking ingredients, yet yelled at me for how bland my cooking tasted. It's not like I was good at cooking in the first place.
They even forbade me from playing video games entirely, saying I should doing something more productive. What a hypocritical statement.
If it were up to them, I'd never consider going back to that world.
The elfs promised they'd send me back to my original world if I successfully collected the Evil Dragon's essences. They said it was a necessary material for a reverse summoning ritual, but in reality, it was just one of the materials needed to refresh the seal on whatever that was sealed in here.
They also promised that even after returning to my world, I'd retain the powers I gained in this one. I planned to use those powers to kick my foster parents out of my parents' house. A pretty psychotic idea from most people's perspective, I know—but I didn't care, I despise them.
That was the plan, at least. Before I got sidetracked and fell in love with the elven Princess.
I mean… how could I not? I was just a naïve young boy back then—maybe even now. She was supportive, very kind to me, and on top of that, she's stunningly beautiful. There's no adolescent boy could escape that vixen's grasp.
In the end, though, I chose to return to my own world. Because honestly, there was someone there I really wanted to meet again. And that was how I ended up here.
Even if I'd decided to stay in this world, I'm absolutely positive the elfs would've found a way to lure me into performing that cursed ritual anyway. It didn't really matter. Either way, I was doomed from the moment I was summoned into this world.
Remembering how easily I'd been manipulated by the elfs made me despise myself. But amidst all that, my birth mother's words always echoed in my head.
"Most important of all, be kind to yourself."
That's why I decided to redirect this massive surge of self-hatred toward everyone who betrayed me. That was my own way of being kind to myself.
I wouldn't restrain myself anymore. From now on, I'd do whatever I wanted—and I'll make sure that no one would even dare to stop me from being kind to myself.
After walking along a slightly curved path while lost in thought for several minutes, I finally saw the end of the corridor. A door about 3 meters tall embedded there. I assumed it would lead to a staircase to the next floor.
Of course, it wasn't that simple.
Standing guard before the door was a monster—a Minotaur, but unlike the ones I'd faced before.
The previous Minotaurs all had dark-orange bodies. This one was bright red. Worse, it wore steel chest armor and a helmet that covered its entire head except for its horns and eyes. Unlike the others, it wielded a large-headed halberd instead of an axe.
I edged closer just enough for my skill to appraise it and avoid aggroing it.
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Minotyrant
Lv: 97
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"Lv97!?" I grumbled. "This dungeon needs a serious balance patch."
I mean… come on! This was only the second floor. In other dungeons I'd been through before, second floors were usually populated with monsters below Lv10, with the occasional Lv15–20 at rare change. How did a Lv97 monster end up here?
Well… the previous Minotaurs were also over-leveled for a second floor, but still!
"Gwii…?" Verdra screeched groggily, startled awake by my grumbling.
"Gwii?"
"There's an enemy over there." I pointed toward the red Minotaur.
"Gwii…" She squinted her eyes. After a few seconds, she suddenly screeched excitedly.
"Gwii! Gwii! Gwii!"
jumped off my head, she suddenly flew straight toward the red Minotaur.
"Hey—what are you doing!?" I tried to stop her. "Don't rush in recklessly like that!"
But my warning fell on deaf ears.
"Gwuoo!" The red Minotaur bellowed and began charging toward Verdra.
She landed once she got close enough to the monster. Suddenly, a dark fog swirled around her tiny body, completely engulfing her. The fog thickened rapidly, spreading outward. In just a few seconds, it vanished.
In its place stood a quadrupedal creature about 2 meters tall, with a body nearly 5 meters long from head to tail. Its entire form was covered in vermilion scales. Two massive horns curved backward from its lizard-like head. A pair of large wings stretched from its back, their wingspan likely exceeding 4 meters. A column of razor-sharp spikes ran from the base of its tail all the way to the tip.
"Woah! Verdra, is that you?" I asked in awe.
The creature bent its long neck sideways until its eyes met mine, then grumbled and nodded.
"Grrh."
"Wow… you're so cool. But isn't your body a bit too big for this corridor?"
Verdra had transformed into a full-blown dragon. She really was too big for the corridor—but it didn't seem to bother her.
The red Minotaur halted in its tracks, clearly intimidated by the sudden appearance of a big dragon.
"Grrh," She rumbled reassuringly, as if saying, Leave it to me.
She turned back toward the Minotaur and opened her mouth wide. A small fireball formed, gradually growing larger—until it suddenly vanished.
Her body dropped to the floor.
She wasn't a dragon anymore. She was back to her chibi form.
"I should've known it…" I facepalmed internally. "Of course you don't have enough mana to conjure something that big."
"Gwii…" she screeched weakly, lying flat on the ground. She must've run out of mana and get mana sick as the result.
When your mana runs low, dizziness sets in. If you keep draining it, your head starts to hurt like hell, followed by nausea or even unconsciousness. Mages call this phenomenon mana sickness. It feels pretty similar to when I keep using my psychic powers after my brain load exceeds 70%.
"Ghuoo?"
Not wasting the opportunity—though it looked confused—the red Minotaur lunged at Verdra with unexpectedly high speed for its kind, raising its halberd high into the air.
"Crap!"
I sprinted toward Verdra as fast as I could, then dove forward and grabbed her, rolling across the floor just before the Minotaur's halberd slammed down.
*Crumble* *Crumble*
"Argh!" I grimaced in pain.
It hurts! It hurts!! It hurts!!! Damn it—he got my leg!
My right leg was gone from the knee down, splured out a violent burst of blood. The Minotaur's massive halberd left a deep crater in the floor, with my severed leg lying nearby.
Propping myself up, I quickly ran my index finger through the shop menu, buying 3 items.
"Gwii! Gwii!" Verdra screeched guiltily, as if apologizing.
"It's okay… Argh…" I reassured her, holding back the pain. "Drink this quickly, then get back on top of my head!"
I handed her a mana recovery potion(low), which would recover her mana by 25% to help with her mana sick.
I also hastily drank an Elixir of life and an Agility boosting potion(Mid), it'll increase my Agility by 50 points.
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Agility: 102 + 50 (expires in 300 seconds)
—————————
Elixir of life costs 100000 Currencies. Mana recovery potion(Low) costs 4000. Agility boosting potion(Mid) costs 7000.
I'm going to be broke after this fight—but being broke was better than being dead.
This Minotaur was fast. Unlike its previous counterparts, dodging its attacks would be difficult. Worse, our position was terrible—we were sandwiched between the locked door and the red Minotaur.
After my leg fully regenerated by the Elixir of life's effect and Verdra finished her potion, I stood up.
She climbed back onto my head as instructed. I quickly froze a bottle of water, forming several ice shards, then launched one at the back of the Minotaur's ankle.
As expected, it did no damage.
"Alright. I'll summarize the strategy," I whispered as the Minotaur turned toward us again. "After my signal, cast a smokescreen. I'll handle the rest. You can do that much, right?"
"Gwii…" She nodded meekly, still clearly shaken by her mistake.
The moment the Minotaur turned its head, I fired several ice shards toward its eyes. It deflected them effortlessly by lowering its head, letting the shards strike its helmet.
"A clever one, aren't you?—Now, Verdra!" I shouted.
"Gwii!"
Thick smoke instantly filled the area. I removed my remaining shoe to minimize the sound of my footsteps, then tossed it along with several empty vials at random directions to draw the Minotaur's attention.
Smokescreen was a simple and easy-to-use fire magic that created dense smoke around the caster. With her Lv10 fire magic, I believed Verdra could use it easily.
Even though I couldn't see through the smoke, my mini map showed the monster's position. Combined with my Third-person view, I could detect even the slightest movements inside the smoke by seeing from above.
The red Minotaur moved toward one of my diversions.
I dashed silently. With my temporarily boosted Agility, I reached its position in no time. The Minotaur suddenly turned, as if it had anticipated me, with its halberd ready to swing.
But before it could, Verdra fired a small lightning bolt at its hand, stunning it briefly.
I seized the opening, grabbing its waist with both hands and freezing its lower body as fast as I could.
< Cryokinesis Lv2 ~> Lv3 >
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Brain load: 86%
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"Ugh…" I staggered, a sharp headache pounding through my skull. My hands were half-frozen from the intensity of my Cryokinesis, hazy mist emitting from them.
"Thanks… you really saved me there. Ow, ow, ow… I can't feel my hands." I backed away slowly. "You can dispel the smokescreen now."
"Gwi." The smoke began to fade as she nodded.
Once it cleared, the red Minotaur was now lay on its back, its body frozen solid from the stomach down to its shins.
"Gwuooo!" It roared and tried to throw its halberd—
Too late.
I launched two ice shards, straight into its eyes. Loosing its cool, it didn't even attempting to dodge my attack, piercing its eyes cleanly, drawing agonized moans.
Well… it was completely cool now. I'd literally frozen half its body.
"Gwuooo!!!" The red Minotaur screamed, clutching its eyes and dropping its weapon.
I waited for my headache to subside and for my hands to thaw before picking up its weapon.
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Minotyrant's Great Halberd
Lv: 100
Class: Epic
Special effect: Disturb the flow of mana hit by this weapon and deal a second blow with the same power as the first impact shortly after.
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"So that's why I heard a second impact when my leg got severed…" I muttered. "It's lighter than the Minotaur's axe, though still two heads taller than me. Still, I'm taking this."
"Gwii…" Verdra apologized? softly—that's how I see it.
"I told you, it's okay. Just make sure you learned something from this," I said, rubbing her head.
"Gwii! Gwii! Gwii!" She chirped happily, nuzzling my hair affectionately.
"Haha… just know your limits next time."
"Gwi."
"Alright. Let's finish this."
I raised my newly acquired weapon and swung it down with all my strength. Because of our massive Lv gap, the blade only went a little over halfway through the Minotaur's neck—but the halberd's special effect finished the job without any problem.
< You have slain a Minotyrant. exp+xxxx >
< Lv up x15 >
< Maximum Lv is increased to 97 >
< Hp and stamina is fully recovered >
< You received 970 Currencies >