Unranked ascension a lit.., p.24
Unranked Ascension: A LitRPG Adventure, page 24
“I... might know a place.”
Chapter 52
The Minotaur
A knowing grin spread across Tiber’s face as he heard Lucius’ words. He took a sip of water from the canteen resting on the coffee table between them before speaking.
“I thought you might be able to point us in the right direction. You’re a very mysterious young man, Lucius. We could do some real damage to the goblins with that stealth ability of yours. Maybe if we’d had you around, we wouldn’t have been put in such a weak position—but it’s too late to complain about that now.”
Tiber leaned back in his seat, glancing over at Maryanne and Whisper before continuing.
“You must have more companions somewhere, don’t you? No one survives alone in this unforgiving new world. Are you willing to explain how you ended up like this, traveling through the forest in the dead of night with a child on your back?”
Lucius ran his hand through his hair as he considered how much to share with his new acquaintances, deciding to keep his story vague for now.
“I have friends. There weren’t many of us, so it wasn’t that hard to escape the city. It will be much worse for your group, that many people will be impossible to hide. We settled down in a farmhouse nearby. This area is the best choice if we want to survive for any long period of time, food will become the most important resource soon. Because of my unique abilities, I chose to scout the area alone. That’s how I ended up finding Maryanne. We were attacked earlier in the day and never had time to find somewhere to spend the night.”
Tiber listened to Lucius’ story quietly, with his fingers steepled together below his chin, paying close attention to every detail the young man revealed.
“I see. Our thinking is the same as yours. We chose to search for a place to relocate out here because of the need to feed so many people. Our current supplies are dwindling, and we’ll need to rely on renewable sources of food soon. Do you know if any of the fields nearby still contain a salvageable crop?”
“Some do, most don’t. There are dozens of abandoned farms around the area, most with large barns as well. If you needed to, you could put a few hundred people in each barn. It wouldn’t be fancy, but it’s temporary. Everyone can build better shelters over time, work the fields to feed themselves, and rely on the soldiers to protect them and hunt for meat.”
Lucius debated himself internally about whether he should bring Tiber and his men to the farm. It wasn’t like they wouldn’t be able to find it on their own anyway, and Lucius liked the idea of turning the area into a human settlement. As he considered the matter, Sense Danger sent a ripple of warning through his chest, and at the same instant, a loud whistle sounded above the house.
Tiber jumped to his feet at the sound, his calm expression replaced by a solemn stare as the lethal longsword appeared in his hand.
“That’s Garrick! We’re under attack!”
Roland and Tiber dashed toward opposite sides of the house, each moving in the direction of a separate exit. This was obviously a tactic they used regularly in order to surround enemies, just as they had done to Lucius earlier. The twang of a taut string being released echoed, followed by the sharp whistle of something cutting through the air, and ending in a sound like a piece of meat being hit with a baseball bat.
MOOOOO!
A deep, loud cry—reminiscent of a cow’s bellow—carried through the chilly night air.
Cracking noises, like a tree snapping in half, came next as the ground trembled. Matriarch’s Fury appeared in Lucius’ good hand as he glanced back at his two companions.
“Whisper! Protect Maryanne!”
Whisper looked back at him with a stern expression as he raised his small, winged arms, clenching his tiny fists in response.
“None shall harm the girl, Father!”
Lucius headed in the direction of the commotion, Garrick’s shouts giving him some clue as to what they were facing.
“It’s a goddamn Minotaur! My arrow barely scratched it!”
As Lucius stepped out the front door, it took him a moment to readjust to the darkness. Even so, he quickly discerned the dark outline of a massive creature, standing five or six meters tall. As his vision sharpened, he saw that while the creature’s body was humanoid in shape, it bore the cow-like head of a bull. Large horns jutted upward, their tips curving forward.
The beast was naked, its shaggy brown hair mercifully concealing its private parts. What the hair couldn’t hide, however, were the rippling layers of muscle, stacked like mountains across its limbs, neck, and chest.
The Minotaur had knocked over a small tree and was now stomping on it just below the leaves. With a grunt of effort, it gripped the tree with its thick arms and lifted hard, snorting angrily. The tree stood no chance against the creature’s raw power. Its leafy top snapped away, leaving the Minotaur holding a staff-like weapon perfectly suited to its massive size.
Roland and Tiber had cautiously approached while the monster was occupied, hesitating as they debated whether to engage the beast or attempt to escape.
Twang.
The sound of the bowstring echoed through the air once again, much louder than before. A glowing arrow blasted through the corner of Lucius’ vision as he kept his eyes locked on the threat. The Minotaur glanced upward toward the noise in an incredibly unlucky coincidence, allowing the empowered arrow to strike its left eye.
MOOOOOO!
An ear-splitting bellow tore from the creature’s mouth as it staggered back a step, its thick, meaty fingers reaching up to grasp the vibrating tail of the arrow lodged in its face. With a savage yank, the beast ripped the projectile free, tearing out its own bloody eye in the process. It held the gore-soaked shaft up before itself like a macabre lollipop, staring at the ruined organ dangling from the tip. Snarling, the Minotaur tossed the grisly object aside and glared down at the humans with its remaining eye, clenching its massive fist. Without hesitation, the monster raised its weapon high and slammed it into the ground between them with a thunderous crash.
The floor rippled unnaturally from the impact, sending a wave of earth flooding out rapidly in all directions. Tiber nimbly dove over the wave, but Roland wasn’t as quick footed as his leader. The moving wall of earth crashed into the large man, dragging him along with it as it surged across the ground into the forest before collapsing. Roland was left half-buried but mostly uninjured, struggling hastily to free himself.
The Minotaur held the tree up in front of its face, shielding its remaining eye from incoming arrows, as it lumbered toward Tiber with heavy, earth-shaking steps. Lucius activated his Aspect and rushed forward to flank the creature as the splintering log came crashing down toward Tiber. The soldier was forced to retreat—dodging the tree itself wasn’t difficult, but avoiding the shockwave required him to move further from the epicenter. Tiber dashed back just far enough for the wave of earth to fully form, then dove over it again, charging forward before the Minotaur had yanked its weapon free from the ground.
A massive, muscular leg swung through the air toward the advancing soldier. Tiber rolled forward beneath the kick and thrust his sword up between the beast’s legs, aiming to inflict a grievous wound. Before the blade could land, a long whip-like limb, tipped with a puff of fur, lashed down from the Minotaur’s back. Tiber hadn’t accounted for the tail in his plan of attack. He was forced to clumsily redirect his strike, turning the blade to defend against the approaching limb.
The tail struck Tiber’s powerful blade with incredible force, so much so that the appendage was severed in a single swift motion. But the heavy tail continued its forward trajectory, slamming into Tiber’s chest and striking his head. The blow knocked the soldier to the ground, disoriented and gasping for breath, just as the Minotaur’s massive cloven hoof came crashing down above him.
Chapter 53
The Minotaur II
Lucius’ heart pounded against his ribs as he watched the tragedy about to unfold. He was too far away to intervene, and Whisper was still inside, guarding Maryanne, leaving him unable to command the mythical creature’s shadows to save the fallen soldier. As the massive hoof descended within inches of Tiber’s head, the soldier’s instincts took over. A blast of white mist erupted from the edge of his sword—not aimed at his enemy this time, but at himself. The shockwave hurled him backward in a desperate bid for survival.
A trail of spit flew from Tiber’s mouth as he blasted himself backward with his own attack, narrowly escaping the death looming above him. He rolled across the ground several times before regaining his footing, sliding backward and carving two lines through the leafy forest floor with his heels. Jamming his sword into the earth to halt his momentum, he looked back toward his enemy with clenched teeth, shaking his head in an attempt to clear the dizziness.
The Minotaur chased Tiber, but Lucius had gotten close enough to use his new combination of Piercing Throw and Dimensional Manipulation. He aimed for the back of the creature’s knee, sending Matriarch’s Fury streaking through the air like a lightning bolt.
Through effort, you have raised Piercing Throw to level 2.
The [Extraordinary] blade sank into the beast’s flesh without resistance, like a hypodermic needle piercing the soft skin of a child. It lodged itself deep in the joint of the knee just as the Minotaur put its weight down to step forward. A sickening crunch followed as bone and cartilage ground against the sturdy metal, causing the creature to lose its balance and topple forward. Its remaining eye widened in shock as the ground rushed up to meet its face.
The monster thrust its hands forward, catching itself in a pushup position against the ground. But the instant its palms touched the earth, a gleaming bronze shoulder crashed into the side of its face like a freight train—Roland had rejoined the fight. The brutal strike left the creature reeling, too disoriented to rise, as Lucius and Tiber closed in from opposite sides.
Tiber displayed his formidable strength and agility, leaping into the air and bringing his blade down on the Minotaur’s remaining eye, while Matriarch’s Fury embedded itself in the uninjured knee to kneecap it a second time. Lucius felt a flood of healing wash over him, enhancing what Roland’s ability had given him.
Despite its injuries, the Minotaur swatted at the humans with its free hand, then raised the broken tree it was wielding and slammed it against the ground. The impact triggered its ability, forcing all three combatants to retreat to avoid the spreading wave of earth.
With a brief moment of reprieve, the beast tried to rise, letting out a deafening bellow as it realized it was both blinded and crippled. Lucius took a step back, gripping his weapon tightly as he felt a powerful surge of magical energy gathering within the monster’s body. His stomach twisted with horror as he watched a dripping lump of flesh sprout from the bloody stump where its tail had once been. The bubbling, expanding mass quickly grew into a full-length replacement. The same grotesque regeneration was taking place in its ruined eyes—and across every other wound they had risked their lives to inflict.
“Shit!” Garrick shouted in anger as he fired an arrow toward the rapidly healing eyes of the Minotaur, but the creature reacted to the noise and turned its face away just in time. The arrow struck the back of the beast’s head and was stopped by its thick skull. When the archer realized the beast had returned to full strength, he hesitated, unwilling to continue the fight.
“We’re gonna end up dead before we can put this bastard down! We need to escape!”
It had become clear that this was an unusually strong enemy. Its sheer size and strength, combined with its ability to regenerate crippling wounds, made the Minotaur an exceptionally tough foe. Roland glanced over at Tiber for direction when he heard Garrick’s words, only to see his leader shaking his head. Tiber advanced once again toward the monster as he gave Garrick his answer.
“No! I won’t risk fleeing through the forest blind—not until we are out of options! We just need to land a killing blow. It can’t regenerate if it’s already dead!”
Lucius remained silent as the soldiers discussed the situation, though he agreed with Tiber’s conclusion. If they attempted to escape and ran into another powerful creature in the forest, they could end up surrounded and forced to fight both the Minotaur and the new enemy at the same time.
Lucius let his stealth fall away for a moment as he shouted out a suggestion.
“If you’re willing to draw its attention, I might be able to land a killing blow!”
Tiber narrowed his eyes, shifting his gaze to Lucius before swiftly returning it to the enemy. He looked back just in time to avoid the wave of earth racing toward him, leaping over the ripple as he responded.
“Do it!”
Lucius nodded and gave one more instruction before fading from sight with his aspect.
“Keep it under the trees!”
Lucius raced behind the monster, unleashing Piercing Throw as rapidly as he could to build power through Assassinate. The three soldiers looked on as his attacks failed to inflict any real damage, again and again. Doubt crept across their faces—it seemed Lucius was either unable to do what he had promised, or was intentionally stalling. An angry scowl twisted across Garrick’s face as he watched his leader narrowly duck beneath a massive tree limb swung at him like a baseball bat. The Minotaur’s strike tore past, sending a sharp gust of wind that ruffled Tiber’s hair.
Garrick continued trying to harass the monster with arrows, his frustration mounting. He was already exhausted from overusing his talent, so he was left with mundane attacks that were incapable of harming the beast. The feeling of helplessness only fueled his rage as he turned his ire on Lucius with a snarl.
“What the hell are you doing? You tried that attack ten times already—it’s not working!”
Garrick’s complaint fell on deaf ears, and his bearded face turned red as he watched Lucius continue using the same useless attack, completely ignoring him. Now Garrick was convinced they were being tricked. Maybe the kid was using the Minotaur to take revenge on them for what had happened earlier.
Meanwhile, Lucius continued stacking his Assassinate bonuses as the Minotaur chased Tiber and Roland around. He only stopped when he saw that the soldiers were beginning to become exhausted. If he did not finish the monster off soon, someone would end up dead.
“Tsk. That will have to be enough,” Lucius whispered under his breath as he bent down and shot up off the ground toward the tree in front of him.
Swiftly leaping between limbs as he climbed, rising higher until he could see the top of the Minotaur’s head as it followed the soldiers. Now, it was just a matter of waiting for the right moment to strike.
The beast seemed to realize it needed a new tactic and stomped toward a nearby tree to fashion a second weapon. Unfortunately, it picked the very tree Lucius was climbing. His eyes widened in disbelief as he saw the monster lift its thickly muscled leg and slam its hoof into the trunk. As the tree groaned and fell, Lucius was forced to leap, snatching at a nearby limb as he dropped. The branch snapped under his weight, releasing a sharp burst of fresh pine into the air. Fortunately, it slowed his fall just enough for him to catch hold of the branches below, narrowly avoiding an embarrassing plunge back to the ground.
Tiber darted behind the distracted creature as it focused on the tree, but when he moved in to strike its flank, the Minotaur’s newly regrown tail lashed through the air, forcing him back. Within moments, the beast finished crafting its weapon and turned to face the soldiers, now wielding a massive staff in each hand. It struck the ground with them one after the other in an alternating rhythm, sending wave after wave of heaving earth surging toward Tiber and Roland.
The increased intensity of the attacks, combined with the mounting exhaustion of the men caused them to make mistakes. Roland missed his mark and was soon trapped in a wave of earth for a second time. This time, however, the creature wasted no time exploiting the man’s vulnerable state, charging toward him as it raised a staff up high with a cruel smile. Roland pulled himself free from the layers of earth, but not before the Minotaur arrived above him. The blood drained from the bald man’s bronze face as he looked up at the beast’s wicked grin. It was too late.
“No!” Garrick shouted, reaching out desperately as he watched the horrifying reality unfold. The Minotaur stood over Roland with one hand raised high, seconds stretching into an eerie silence. Roland looked up in confusion as the stiff muscles in the creature’s arm slowly relaxed, and the heavy weapon slipped harmlessly from its fingers. Only then did they see Lucius, standing atop the beast’s shoulders, his hands clenched tightly around the hilt of a sword buried to the guard in the Minotaur’s skull.
Chapter 54
Novis Taurus
You have defeated Novis Taurus level ??
Congratulations! You have defeated a novel creature and received 1 [Rare] grade item upgrade!
You have reached level 23. You have 25 attribute points available for distribution.
Roland and Garrick were both taken by surprise, gaping slack-jawed at the scene before them. Only Tiber wore a sly grin as he caught his breath. Lucius clung tightly to Matriarch’s Fury, using the sword as a handle as the massive body of the slain creature tilted forward.
“Move!”
Tiber’s shout snapped Roland out of the fugue state brought on by his near-death experience. Scrambling on all fours, his hands tore through the dirt and leaves as he clawed his way across the ground. At the last second, he rolled onto his back, pulling his legs up to his chest just as the Minotaur’s sharp horns gouged deep holes into the earth in front of him. Gasping for breath, Roland stared at the massive head looming inches from his feet—it had been a dangerously close call.
Lucius casually stepped off the falling head a moment before it crashed to the ground, landing beside a wide-eyed Roland. He yanked Matriarch’s Fury free from the skull, accidentally releasing a gush of blood and brain matter that sprayed into the bald man’s open mouth and eyes. Grimacing, Lucius looked away as Roland doubled over, coughing and gagging, and scratched the back of his head awkwardly as the awful stench of the creature’s bodily fluids hit his nose.
