Tsukuru held his left arm out at the side, and activated his Ability.
The sound of electronic interference could be heard, and pixels could be seen forming in his hand.
The pixels clustered together, forming what looked like a mason jar with a metal lid.
There was a bright flash of light, and the jarcame into existence.
While the jar was clear and transparent, it could be seen filled to the brim with a black liquid.
Tsukuru lobbed the jar into the air, throwing it right into the Minotaur's path.
The glass jar shattered on impact, covering the ground in a small, black pool.
The second the Minotaurs foot came into contact with the black pool, she came to an abrupt and sudden STOP.
The Minotaur felt her whole body being jerked back.
Looking down, she saw her foot stuck in the pool.
To her, it felt as if she had just stepped into thick mud, like a bog.
She tried to lift her foot up, but it took tremendous effort, and it only lifted up a few inches.
Additionally, the black liquid rose up with her foot, sticking to it and stretching like an elastic, adhesive GLUE.
She felt like a fly that had just unintentionally landed on a strip of FLY PAPER.
"What the hell…is this stuff?!" she grunted, her voice straining as she pulled HARDER.
She heard the sound of electronic interference again a short distance in front of her, soon followed moments later by the sound of shattering glass, and a thick, viscous substance on her left leg.
Shifting her attention from her right leg to her left.
There, she saw that her left leg was now alsocovered into the strange, black liquid.
She was now fully anchored into place, unable to move either leg.
"It's tar," Tsukuru replied, causing the Minotaur to look over at him. "Specifically, Black Birch Tar."
Tsukuru aimed the barrel of the Scordana Gunblade at the Minotaur's left leg, just below the shin.
The sound of a gunshot rang out, and the Minotaur felt a sharp, piercing pain in her lower leg.
It was quickly followed by the leg buckling under her immense weight, forcing her to take a knee.
As she fell on her knee, her lower leg came into contact with the tar, causing her to become even more stuck.
Tsukuru smirked.
"Your body may be able to tank my shots, but you still needyour body's muscles intact," he replied. "All that strength is meaningless if you are incapable of using it."
Rather than getting angry, the Minotaur burst out laughing.
"So instead of attacking me, you attacked my body, huh?" she asked in an amused voice. "Well, I certainly didn't expect that!"
Tsukuru smirk widened, and he repositioned his Gunblade.
This time, aiming at the left side of her chest.
The sound of a gunshot rang out, and the Minotaur felt a sharp, piercing pain in her chest.
Tsukuru saw a deep wound appear on her chest.
He then fired another shot.
Another gunshot rang out, and the Minotaur felt the piercing pain intensify.
Tsukuru saw the chest would get even bigger and deeper.
He fired one more shot.
This time, when the sound of the gunshot rang out, the Minotaur's eyes widened, as she felt her heart being pierced.
Her whole body stiffened, before she fell straight on her face.
She hit the ground like a meteorite, creating a loud shockwave and making the ground shake.
Tsukuru stared at the downed Minotaur.
After a second, she exploded into pixels.
Seeing this, Tsukuru lowered the Gunblade, and let out a deep sigh.
"Damn," he muttered, slumping his shoulders. "It took me three whole shots to penetrate her ribcage and pierce her heart. It's a good thing that I didn't aim for her brain. It would have probably taken a full cylinder to penetrate that skull."
Tsukuru let out a deep exhale, as he felt a sudden weightfinally lift itself off his shoulders.
He closed his eyes, and his posture relaxed.
"Fucking…Finally," he muttered.
That Minotaur had been the bane of his existence in this Arena ever since he beat Wave 3.
"...You doknow that you're just going to have to beat her again the next time you come in here, right?" Reiju asked.
Tsukuru froze for a moment at Reiju's words.
He then quite literally deflated like a balloon.
'Wow,' he thought back with a tone of bitterness. 'Way to ruin my good mood, Mom.'
It was around this point that Minotaur had fully disappeared, the pool of black tar began to pixelate, before it too vanished.
A series of four System messagesappeared in front of Tsukuru.
[You have defeated an Infantry-Rank Elite Pawn-Grade Minotaur. 500 XP received. First Time Killing an Elite Pawn-Grade Video Summon in the Battle Arena. 1000 Bonus XP awarded. First Time killing a Minotaur in the Battle Arena. 2500 Bonus XP awarded. XP: 7330/8000]
[Wave 10 is now complete.
You have received 5 Battle Points.
Battle Points: 9
You have received 1000 Gold.
Current Balance: 2,440 Gold
You have completed Wave 10 of the Battle Arena. 1000 Bonus XP awarded.
[XP: 8330/8000. Level Up. You are now Level 11. XP: 330/9400
You have received a Stat Point
You have received 2 Summon Points
You have received a Skill Point
You have received 8 Pawn Points
You have received a new Racial Slot.
Racial Slots: 4/6]
[The Exchange Corner has been updated. New items are now available for purchase.]
Tsukuru raised an eyebrow in confusion upon seeing the last System message.
'Wait,'8 Pawn Points'?' he thought. 'Don't all of my Summons just eachget a single Pawn Point each time I Level Up?'
Reiju's voice piped in to answer his question.
"Actually, I changed it so that you just get a single Pawn Point per Summon for each Level Up," she replied. "That way, you can just assign the Pawn Points among your Summons however you want."
Tsukuru thought for a moment as he took in this information.
That did sound a lot more stream-lined. And it stopped his Level-Up System messages from being so bloated.
Seeing that the Battle Arena's "Exchange Corner" had been updated again, Tsukuru brought it up to look at the new items.
He also figured that he might as well buy some of the "Stat-Boosting Pills"while he was there. He did have 9 BP after all.
The first item he noticed was one placed between the "XS XP Candy" and the "Strength Pill".
It was another"XP Candy", possessing the same triangle shape and light-blue coloring as the "XS XP Candy", but was slightly larger.
[S XP Candy
A piece of candy packed with energy. Consuming it will grant you 800 XP.
Cost: 4 BP]
Tsukuru narrowed his eyes upon reading the info box.
'Well, I guess that is slightly better than the 'XS' XP Candy,' he thought.
The next new item was located directly under the "Agility Candy". It was a silver pendant in the form of a heater shield with the upper torso of a knight in the "knight sentry pose" embossed on it, bulging outwards.
[F-Rank Amulet of Armament
While unarmed and not wearing any armor, the amulet will manifest a suit of ethereal armor around the user, as well as forming an ethereal sword in their hand. The armor and sword are as solid as true armor and weapons, but are virtually weightless. Armor and Weapon are equivalent to Basic-Tier Beast Gear.
Cost: 10 BP]
Below it, there was a quiver for a bow, but it was modeled after an ornate cornucopia, and was made of expensive-looking leatherwith gold metal at the top and bottom, forming ornate shapes. There were also a metal hook on both the top and the bottom of the quiver, connected by a long, strap made out of brown leather, allowing it to be worn on one's back.
[Quiver of Unlimited Ammunition
A somewhat mysterious arrow quiver that somehow never runs out of arrows.
Cost: 20 BP ]
Next, there was a silver ring with glowing, blue runescovering its surface.
[Ring of Exponential Growth
When equipped to a System User, it increases the wearer's XP Yield by 50% and doubles all Level-Up Point-Based Rewards. In exchange, the wearer's Stats will be reduced by 20%.
Cost: 20 BP]
Finally, the last item showed an image of the Minotaur Tsukuru had just defeated.
[Minotaur Summon Race
Unlocks the Minotaur Summon Race and adds it to your Video Arsenal [It does not use up one of your unused Racial Slots]. Adds 1 Elite Pawn-Grade Minotaur to your Video Arsenal.
Cost: 60 BP]