Chương 19: Minotaur

CH 19 - Minotaur The sharp horns of the bull-headed monster tilted forward at Grey as it broke into a run, shaking the ground with each powerful step. From its back, it drew a weapon that looked like a tree trunk with dozens of axe blades crudely attached. Grey summoned his scale armor and prepared for the battle ahead. Sarah turned her head, eyes glowing with light. She began assaulting the minotaur with a mental attack. It stumbled, clutching its head and roaring, "AAAAGH!"

"I think you just made it more angry," Jim said sarcastically before stepping up next to Grey. With another roar, the Minotaur swung its huge makeshift weapon horizontally, smashing through the front of the barn and into Jim. Wood splinters went flying as structural support beams crumpled under their own weight. Jim's fists lit up as he responded with a punch at the minotaur's weapon, barely deflecting it.

"GO!" he shouted. The opening from his parry allowed Grey to jump into the fight. With (Boost) at 125%, Grey jumped at the monster, drawing his bone katana from his side. A well-placed slash ripped open the Minotaur's chest, but it didn't do much damage. The beast's END must be high, since Grey's cut only scratched its skin. With another roar, the minotaur swung its weapon at Grey. His bone sword raised up, barely blocking the strike and knocking Grey aside.

He dropped the broken bone katana from his hand and jumped. Mana infused itself into his fist to harden as he punched the Minotaur in the chin with an uppercut. The monster recoiled. A guttural roar ruptured Grey's eardrums, and a concerning amount of blood leaked from both of his ears.

"Sonic attack! Look out!" Sarah shouted. Luckily, nobody else was right in front of the Minotaur when it roared. Sarah was launching various tools and buckets at the monster telekinetically to distract him while Grey recovered from his disorientation. He quickly healed his ears with his ability, and prepared to jump back into the action. Jim jumped towards the bull and punched it straight in the abdomen. The hit knocked the monster back a few feet, bringing the fight back outside. Raccy was nowhere to be seen.

He wasn't really a fighter, and Grey was glad he was out of danger. Grey summoned a bone javelin and threw it at the minotaur.

"Dodge!" he shouted to Jim. Just barely, Jim avoided the spear. The weapon dug into the thigh of the monster, prompting another sonic roar from the beast. The loud explosion of sound shook the barn. Some of the building's structural beams began to crack and bend. The roof of the barn crumpled in some spots as the tall supporting beams began to fail. Sarah spread her arms out and activated her telekinesis to keep the support beams together.

"I have to hold up the barn or it's all coming down! You two keep fighting!" Grey nodded and turned back to the fight. Jim was keeping the Minotaur busy in a slugfest, with the monster opting to use its fists instead of its giant axe. The Minotaur had incredible strength and endurance. It was only lacking in speed. The two friends took advantage of this, jumping in and out of combat to give each other breaks. The more enraged the minotaur got, the more intense the sonic attacks became.

It seemed like nothing they were doing was causing any lasting damage, and the minotaur's stamina wasn't breaking. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Rumbling shook the barn as Joe's firetruck ramped over a small hill, smashing down onto the ground with a crash. Joe pushed the big truck straight into the minotaur at top speed, crushing the front cabin of the vehicle into the monster's sturdy physique.

The truck bounced over the minotaur before coming to a stop. Terrible scraping and rattling sounds made it obvious that the truck took some damage. Joe pulled his way out of the driver's seat, bruised and bloodied, and Ike appeared in the Jeep. Grey took advantage of the surprise attack. With (boost) at 175%, he came down on the skull of the Minotaur with an incredible stomp. The head exploded into a spray of blood and brains.

If Grey hadn't infused a ton of mana into his bones before the attack, he'd probably have turned his own foot into mush. [Minotaur (E): lvl. 15 Slain] +20 exp [Quest: Alpha Dominator]: Progress (3/5) Grey sighed in relief and slumped onto the floor. His mana reserves were dry after that final attack. He threw a mana-candy into his mouth alongside a potion to begin recovering. He leveled up from the fight and allocated his points to MANA and INT. So far, those stats haven't let him down.

Raccy appeared from his hiding spot and helped free the humans while Sarah continued holding up the barn. Once everyone was out, Sarah let go of her telekenisis and the whole place came crashing down. One small mistake, and the building would have crushed all the people they came to save. Sarah passed out, Joe was recovering from his car crash, and Jim was bandaging himself. This fight was pretty gnarly. If Jim and I were still alone, we wouldn't have been able to take this thing down.

"That thing was too powerful, man." Jim sighed.

"Yeah… Was just thinking how those three saved our butts," Grey looked over to Sarah, Joe, and Ike. Grey found some happiness with the new group. They were getting close. Not like they had much of a choice, but working together was making them all into a team. Jim went around to the surviving ex-prisoners, distributing food, water, and clothing. There were about 10 people they had managed to save, and Grey felt a warm feeling in his chest. He felt good about what they had done.

It was a satisfying feeling he wasn't familiar with, but that he welcomed. Once everything was settled, the group set up camp. They discussed what they planned to do moving forward.

"We'll bring these people along with us until we find a safe place for them." Grey said. Sarah agreed quickly, "We have to. We can't leave them here without any vehicles." The firetruck was messed up, bad. Joe seemed pretty sad about it. Thankfully, one of the people they saved was a mechanic before the system hit, and actually got a wish related to engineering.

"When the integration hit, we had no chance against that thing. It was rounding up all the people round here, huddling us up in the barn. Talkin' bout keepin' us as livestock. I think the bull had some serious problems because he never even ate any of us." Carl, the mechanic, told them. Raccy cut in, "I remember my life before the system, and I didn't have any resentment towards humans, but I'm sure something must have happened for him to hate you all so much."

Everyone stayed at the farmhouse for a few days while the fire truck was being repaired. The group they rescued were going to follow Grey and the other until they found a place to live. Ike took a few of the younger guys to various houses to collect more vehicles and supplies. For the most part, these people weren't very strong. They almost all had utility abilities from their wish. This meant that they couldn't hold up in a battle very well, but they would be useful for any settlement.

Wishes that improved farming, cooking, crafting, etc. were the majority. Carl had some sort of intuition towards machinery, and one older gentleman had a combat class. Grey spent his time at the new camp talking with the older fellow. Grey always had a level of respect for elders and was impressed to learn that the older guy had already reached level 12.

"I served in Iran. A crack shot if I might say. My ability sharpened my senses and gave me some psychic ability. I have much higher accuracy now; I can even bend the bullets mid-flight to a degree. I shot the shit outta that crazy bull when he came for me, but his skin was too tough for me to take down." The old man looked off into the distance as he continued his story, "Unfortunately, my family wasn't as lucky as me. They all passed."

"I'm sorry about your family. It's a great thing that you have combat experience; we need all the strength we can get. What's your name?" Grey asked him.

"Gerald." The man said.

"Well, Gerald… Looks like the path ahead is long and unforgiving. Thanks for walking it with us."