Archie got up from the ground and made his way towards the scorpions and spiders. Taking out his dagger, Archie stabbed the spider in its chest and carved its center, hoping to find a core, and when he did, he smiled before moving to the next Insectoid.
After Archie collected all ten cores from the spiders and scorpions, he looked upwards at the dimmer molten webs on the ceiling.
Molten Webs:
Webs made of solidified magma, spun by E-Grade Magma Spiders. Known for its malleability and various applications when activated with fire-affinity mana. This material can be used for various forging applications.
Archie reactivated Thorns, shooting vines upward from his shoulders to free up his hands as he gathered the molten webs hanging above him. After collecting a massive bundle of webs, he placed them inside his spatial ring. Maybe I can use these webs for wiring on the bike, he mused, envisioning them connecting different parts of the bike.
Archie then made his way toward the fissure leading upward to the final floor, where he assumed he would face the Infernal Minotaur.
The steps and walkway looked exactly the same as the one he had used to reach the second floor—veins of magma snaked their way upward, threading through the charred walls. At the top of the staircase stood a pair of double doors, crafted from the same blackened stone and adorned with thin veins of molten magma forming the image of a familiar bull skull.
"Whoever designed this dungeon really needs to work on their creativity," Archie muttered, glancing around. "I mean, Thalindra put together an incredibly detailed jungle temple and a battlefield for her dungeon. What's this designer's excuse?"
Before opening the final door, Archie retrieved another magma hound beastcore and channeled mana through it. Transported to a familiar cave, he quickly located the magma hound and forced its submission with a Taunt.
Archie found himself back in front of the double doors with a newfound surge of heat coursing through him and his muscles swelling.
As he placed the glowing core into his back pouch, Archie noticed that the previous core was still there—intact. Pulling it out, he saw its design had vanished, leaving only a translucent sphere in its place. I'll look at it later; I don’t want to waste the bonus from Soul Bond. Who knows—maybe it’s a labyrinth, Archie thought, sending the translucent sphere into his spatial storage.
Archie placed both his hands on the doors and pushed them open, revealing a short path that led to a large, empty circular platform.
As Archie stepped onto the path, he noticed the magma surrounding both the walkway and the platform; though it was visible, it was far down—likely a kilometer or two beneath where he stood.
While walking toward the platform, Archie observed the intricate designs etched along the pathway. However, he quickly realized that they depicted only four unique scenes. The first showed a baby minotaur standing over the corpse of a deer. The second depicted the same minotaur but slightly larger being captured by people and having a brand seared onto its cheek. In the third scene, the minotaur stood in an arena, wielding a double-bladed axe as it battled lions. The fourth and final scene portrayed the minotaur seated on a throne, surrounded by skulls at its feet, with a bloodied axe resting against the side of its throne.
Just before Archie stepped onto the platform, he received a system notification.
Dungeon of the Infernal Minotaur
Objective 3: Slay the Infernal Minotaur 0/1
A small smile spread across Archie's face as he read the system message. But when he looked around, there was no sign of a minotaur, his smile faded. Is the dungeon glitched? Archie wondered, scanning the platform with furrowed brows.
Suddenly, a blur from above slammed down onto the platform, creating a massive cloud of ash. Unlike the previous dust cloud caused by the rabbit, this one completely obscured Archie's view of its source.
Without hesitation, Archie charged into the ash cloud, determined not to waste any more time. He activated Adrenaline Rush and Thornscourge Expansion, and midway through his charge, he activated Savage Charge.
His fist collided abruptly with the flat side of a double-bladed axe, dispersing the ash cloud around them and revealing its wielder—the minotaur.
Archie quickly found himself flung backwards, his boots scraping against the platform. Archie identified the minotaur, and a smile grew on his face.
[Infernal Minotaur Lv 85]
The minotaur stood at a height of four meters, its body covered in dark, charred fur with streaks of molten orange running through its muscular frame. The sides of its skull were crowned with large, sweeping horns, blackened and scorched at the tips, curving outwards. Its eyes were crimson red and just below its right eye was a brand mark, but different compared to the scene on the pathway. This brand depicts a symbol of twin spears below a crown while the one in the scene was one of a dog being whipped.
Archie activated Savage Charge again, narrowly evading the minotaur's axe swipe and delivering a powerful punch to its torso. The impact forced the minotaur to stagger backward before retaliating with a downward punch. Archie sidestepped, countering with a strike to the minotaur's unarmored thigh, but his fists met resistance akin to striking a wall—its muscles were as tough as industrial cables used to support bridges. His thorns left only superficial scratches, similar to cat scratches.
As the minotaur lunged with its axe, Archie leaped back, landing ten meters away. But the beast was relentless; it kicked off the ground, charging at him.
Archie’s eyes widened at the sudden skill. In retrospect, he shouldn’t have been surprised due to the name of the minotaur’s race. Archie's back bent in a near-impossible arc to avoid the flaming strike, the leaves of his mask incinerated.
Snapping upright, Archie closed in once more, activating the Lesser Ice Reinforcement enchantment on his gauntlet and unleashing a rapid barrage of punches to the minotaur’s right leg. He managed eleven strikes before retreating—not from a weapon, but a torrent of fire. The minotaur roared flames, catching Archie’s back and left foot. Rolling quickly, he extinguished the flames on his back, but his foot wasn’t as lucky—the heat had melted through his boot and nearly all of his foot. "Fuck!"
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Using his right foot, Archie maneuvered to dodge a storm of attacks. Fire-breathing interrupted every gap in the minotaur's assaults, preventing any attempts to reenter its guard. Worse, his left foot was useless, its flesh and bone melted away. Pouring mana into regeneration, Archie began to repair his injuries, though it would take time. He directed mana to the vines wrapped around his injured foot, using them as makeshift support.
Archie kicked off the ground, dodging another axe slam, channeling more mana and stamina into Adrenaline Rush, the steam around him tinged red. He struck the axe, activating Retaliation, leaving a deep imprint of his thorn-shaped knuckles. An idea formed as he jumped back, narrowly escaping another flame attack.
He evaded swipes until the minotaur’s axe struck the platform, giving Archie a chance to unleash Relentless Flurry. After the tenth punch the axe was covered in spiderweb-like cracks but still held together.
Archie just needed to land one more hit for the axe to break, and if anything, gaming had taught him that patience is a virtue, or something along that line, he never really listened to gaming advice.
Archie dodged its strikes, waiting for it to slam its axe down one more time. Eventually, the minotaur repeated its combo, ending with its axe slamming down. However, the moment the axe slammed down, it shattered, surprising both Archie and the minotaur.
Seizing the moment, Archie activated Savage Charge, appearing before the minotaur's face. He channeled additional stamina into his strikes, unleashing a powerful flurry of ice-infused blows directly at the minotaur's face.
This time his strikes left no scratches – rather they left lacerations across its face.
Feeling the call of gravity, Archie landed on the ground for a moment before dodging backwards.
The minotaur cradled its face in pain, dropping its axe’s handle on the ground. Archie quickly ran towards the handle and picked it up. Shit, this is heavier than I thought, Archie thought, making his way towards one end of the platform.
Archie then chucked the large wooden handle off the platform and watched it plunge into the magma below.
Archie quickly turned back to face the enraged minotaur, its fur now ablaze and its body growing larger. Oh, shit! Archie thought as it expanded to a towering ten meters in size, lifting its right foot high into the air.
With a powerful stomp, the third of the platform beneath its foot trembled and cracked. Archie dashed toward the center of the platform just as the minotaur prepared to slam his right foot again.
With a large crack, a third of the platform broke off and the minotaur looked winded. Archie quickly activated Savage Charge and flung his fists, vines wrapping around its horns and propelling him faster towards it.
Archie focused on making the thorns on his knuckles sharper as he released a flurry of punches at its face, puncturing through its thick skin with newfound ease. Archie quickly grabbed its large nose ring with his left arm just before he felt the call of gravity.
Using his new anchor, Archie drove his fist through the minotaur’s right eye, relentlessly striking through its eye socket as its fluids covered Archie. He ignored its pained bleating and the surge of flames erupting across its body, focusing on maximizing as much damage as he could.
Suddenly, Archie felt himself being pulled away. However, he refused to leave empty-handed. With a final wrench, he tore the nose ring from the minotaur. Tumbling through the air, Archie hurled the ring into the magma below before landing in a crouch.
He activated Savage Charge and barreled straight at the minotaur, his fists pounding into its face. Ice-coated puncture wounds spread across the right side of its massive face. Suddenly, the minotaur's body glowed with a red aura as it moved with renewed fury. It caught Archie with both hands. Focused on channeling mana into his attacks—balancing nature-attuned mana with normal mana for his ice enchantment and tending to his nearly healed foot—Archie failed to notice the minotaur’s sudden surge of strength.
The beast began to squeeze, crushing Archie’s body. Archie flooded himself with more mana and stamina, straining every muscle to resist. Thorn-covered vines spread across his body, fed by nature-attuned mana and covered in ice, creating a protective barrier. As he struggled, time passed. For how long, he did not know. But Archie did not give up and eventually, it was rewarded. Archie noticed a gap below him widening; the minotaur's hold on him was weakening.
With a final surge, he pried the minotaur's hands apart just enough to slip through. Dropping to the ground, he sprang back up and, in a risky move, shot vines from his hands, anchoring them to the minotaur's legs. He sprinted around the beast, keeping his distance and dodging blasts of flame, weaving his vines tighter and tighter until they wrapped around the creature entirely.
Archie yanked the vines with all his might, causing them to snap around its limbs and immobilize the minotaur. With another sharp tug, it toppled forward, slamming onto the platform, dazing it, and breaking its power boost.
Wasting any time Archie poured nearly all his mana into his gauntlets and vines, transforming his vines into hardened ice. From his storage, he retrieved an Effigy of Strength and shattered it with a mana-infused string, feeling a surge of adrenaline course through him. Grinning, he dashed toward the platform's edge, dragging the struggling minotaur along.
With one final step, Archie leaped off the platform, pulling the minotaur along with him. The minotaur desperately tried to burn through the ice-encrusted vines, as its feet dangled over the edge.
As Archie fell, he arced beneath the platform, dangling upside-down and his vines still wrapped around the minotaur; straining his shoulders and biceps to their limits.
Releasing a guttural roar, he activated Taunt, momentarily stunning the minotaur. In that brief moment, Archie gave a final tug as the last remains of his Soul Bond was about to end. A loud crack echoed as the minotaur’s shins snapped in two. The lack of resistance from the minotaur sent it plummeting off the platform.
Archie was not unscathed; both of his shoulders were dislocated, and his bicep muscles had torn. He now began to plummet headfirst toward the magma pit, unable to move his arms. Desperately, Archie extended vines from his feet, drawing on the last remnants of his mana reserves—only a few hundred points remaining.
As he fell, the ground rushed up to meet him. A hundred meters... sixty meters... twenty meters... ten meters... five meters... two meters...
Archie came to a sudden stop just one meter above the magma pool. A nervous chuckle escaped him as he glanced over his shoulder to see his legs anchored by a vine still attached to the platform. Checking his mana reserves, he let out a dry laugh—he had just four points left. Guess I’m putting all my free points into Wisdom, he thought, chuckling at the irony.
***
Archie waited until his shoulders resocketed themselves and the torn tendons of his biceps repaired before beginning to climb back up. When he finally pulled himself back onto the platform, he collapsed onto his back, limbs splayed in a star-like position. Taking a few deep breaths, Archie turned his attention to the notifications he had previously ignored.
*[Infernal Minotaur Lv 85] has been slain – XP has been given. 1105 Tutorial Points given*
*Your Class has reached Lv 65– Points allocated, +4 Free Points*
*Your Race has reached Lv 64– Points allocated, +3 Free Points*
*Dungeon of the Infernal Minotaur*
Objective: Slay the Infernal Minotaur ✔
Reward: Amulet of Infernal (Rare) & Minotaur Hide Leggings of Resilience (Rare)
Dungeon will automatically close in 0:9:29:42
Wondering where his rewards were, Archie looked on the platform where he saw both items lying on the floor.
Getting up from where he laid, he walked towards the items and Identified them.
Amulet of Infernal (Rare):
A crimson amulet filled with the blood of an Infernal Minotaur, pulsing with dark energy during combat. As the wearer takes damage, their physical defense will increase. Once the wearer’s health drops below 30%, they become engulfed in Infernal Flames that damages all nearby, except the wearer. Effects: Soul-Bound, Self-Repair & Infernal Shroud. Provides: +50 Str, +20 End, +10 Vit. Status: Excellent. Requirements: Lv 60+ & Humanoid Race.
Minotaur Hide Leggings of Resilience (Rare):
A rugged, dark-hued pair of leggings crafted from the hide of a powerful Infernal Minotaur. The hide retains the minotaur's natural toughness, offering exceptional physical defense and offense. Effects: Soul-Bound, Self-Repair & Minotaur’s Resilience. Provides: +70 Str, +40 End, +20 Vit. Status: Excellent. Requirements: Lv 60+ & Humanoid Race.