The sun rise marks the start of my third day in this peculiar world. In the first two days my body has grown stronger considerably and I had discovered some magic.
As I do my morning stretches I consider my options.
Option 1: Since I have not found any other demons or humans around this area I could spend the day exploring the landscape.
Option 2: Since it has not been long since birth and there are many dangerous monsters, I should focus on increasing my strength and increasing my survivability.
“Option two seems safest.”
I decide to go with option 2, since there was no guarantee that upon meeting with other demons or humans they would be friendly. In such a scenario I would be walking into the lion’s den so to speak.
Yesterday I had my ass handed to me by the Minotaur leader. If not for my successful discovery of healing magic I might not have made it out alive. However due to the events of yesterday it means I became aware of the existence of healing magic. Even more importantly I know how to use it and the drawbacks to using it.
Healing magic takes time; it also requires a great deal of concentration on the various areas needing to be healed. The most noticeable effect of healing magic is that not long after use I become very hungry.
Another thing to mention is that upon healing the wound, no scars remain. The wound almost reverts to before the wound even transpired, as if reversing the damage rather than actually repairing it.
If I wish to battle the Minotaur leader I will need to gain more strength and agility than I currently possess. His insane charging speed and ability to instantly change direction seems to be the main features that separate the Minotaur leader from the other Minotaurs. Getting close seems to put me at a disadvantage.
He can throw battle axes at me while I'm in the air but as long as I pay close attention to them, I should be able to avoid them by adjusting my wings and using wind magic. I also have the fireball spell. Though the spell only causes minor burns to the Minotaurs, I can vaguely manipulate it in transit which almost guarantees me a hit.
Since the Minotaur leader will run out of battle axes to throw eventually as long as I can keep up the flying and fireballs I should eventually whittle him down.
“There is one major flaw with this plan.”
I don’t know how many fireballs or up drafts I can create before I run out of steam. If I run out of steam before he runs out of axes my wings become gliders and my movements become predictable, he will then likely get a successful hit with his battle axe throw and I will not be able to heal myself.
“Leading to my inevitable death…”
I need to know how many fireballs it will take to kill him, how many fireballs I can cast and how many battle axes he has at disposal.
After evaluating my plans for today I move into action. I unfold my wings and using wind magic I make my way over to the outskirts of the Minotaur herd covertly.
I begin to experiment using the stray Minotaurs as target practise. Since my strength is many times more than yesterday I can easily avoid its attacks and charges. I imagine the feeling of heat and then imagine that heat consuming the surrounding oxygen to create the fireballs like previously. I then feel the heat move away from me to release the ball of fire.
They tend to panic and block the first strike with their axe which causes their hands to become burnt and drop the axe. The Minotaur then charges at me using the horns on its head. While stuck in the tree I fire the fire balls at various parts of its body and experiment to see how many fireballs are necessary to kill the beast.
After killing around ten of the stragglers and eating their remains I begin to analyse the results.
It seems that around 20 fireballs are necessary to kill a common Minotaur. This can be decreased to around 15 if I focus on vital spots like the heart and head. The most successful strategy is to aim at the eyes first to cause blindness causing them to completely lose their bearing of their surroundings.
It seems my limit is around 50 fireballs, though this has been increasing with each successive kill.
What’s most interesting is that I can fire all 50 fireballs and not feel any hunger until a few minutes afterwards. This implies that the hunger isn't caused by the creating of the fireballs but rather replenishing the mana the fireballs consumed.
This also means it’s impossible to become so hungry from using magic alone for one to collapse, as the body will change its priorities from generating mana, to keeping your vitals and consciousness working after you’re energy supplies drop below a certain level. Perhaps in worst case scenario the body will actually convert the magic back into energy supplies if the body is running critically low.
Though I'm not sure whether the body can reverse the mana generating process so this is just speculation.
“With this it should be possible.”
After analysing my results I decide it’s time for the rematch against the Minotaur leader. I fly into the air using wing magic and fly above the main Minotaur herd.
After finding the Minotaur leader amongst the crowd I begin the assault. I start by casting fireball at the leader’s eyes; however it seems the leader spotted the fireball at the last second and managed to duck behind a fellow Minotaur causing the common Minotaur to get burnt instead.
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“Damn.”
It seems he has spotted me, he roars, signalling the other Minotaurs to move away.
That’s odd for some reason I could understand the intentions behind his roar. It was as if the will behind his words were transferred into my mind somehow.
“Is this telepathy?”
Though it’s not exactly telepathy, it’s more like an inbuilt translator.
Before I get too distracted with my latest discovery I prepare my next fire ball. But while preparing he sends his first battle axe soaring into the air over to me.
“That’s some crazy arm strength.”
After successfully dodging the attack by manipulating the wind under my wings I manipulate my fireball slightly, changing the trajectory back on course.
The Fireball hit’s the target. What’s more I managed to catch him off guard and successfully managed a strike to the eyes.
“Bull’s eye! Literally…”
It seems he wasn't expecting the fireball to change trajectory. It’s my lucky day.
After staggering around a bit holding onto his eyes he regains his balance and picks up his battle axes. He then throws his battle axes towards me once more.
“Isn't he blind?”
I continue to use wind magic to navigate around his axes. It appears that even though he has not completely lost his eyesight, his accuracy has severely decreased. Only around a third of his axe throws are now on target.
I continue to throw fireballs at him, however after getting hit by the fifth fireball he begins to take a more defensive approach. Likely due to his axe supplies starting to run low and he can’t afford to take too many hits from the fireballs in case his movement gets impaired.
He taps his foot against the ground three times and begins avoiding my fireballs by using his ridiculous charging technique.
“This is a pain.”
I had only hit with around half of my fireballs, and now he’s done this it’s reduced to about a quarter. His axe throwing rate has decreased a bit, but it is definitely an unfavourable situation.
The battle continues until he finally runs out of breath with all his charging. He had taken a total of ten fireballs and not only had he ran out of axes but also he had run out of stamina. His charging stops and he slowly staggers around on the ground.
“Finally!”
He’s a perfect target; I was beginning to get quite worried. I continue to spam fireballs, only now he can’t avoid them. The fireball land one after another until he finally collapses dead on the floor.
All of the other Minotaurs witnessing their leader fall to floor decide to flee and disperse into the surrounding forests. While gliding down I noticed that some were fleeing into the direction of a Cerberus.
Even though the battle seemed one sided, I had been almost completely drained of mana. If he kept up his charging for much longer it could have been very dangerous. Perhaps I should have slowed my fire rate upon his defensive manoeuvre until he tired. Since there are other Minotaur herds in the surrounding areas I will take that into consideration.
Upon landing I begin to tuck into my well-deserved meal with great vigour. It was extremely satisfying to say the least. The quality was of a much higher standard compared to the other Minotaurs. I was shocked that there was such a big difference from members of the same species.
It seems that the stronger the opponent the tastier the meat.
Upon completing the consumption of the Minotaur leader I felt a strong surge of strength from within me. I feel many times stronger than before, I even feel confident that if I encountered a Minotaur leader again that I could stand a chance in close combat.
Feeling excited by my new found strength I decided I would put it into practise on some of the fleeing Minotaurs.
“The Hunt is on.”
The corners of my mouth curl up into a demonic grin as I take flight.
Instead of dodging the Minotaur’s charges I faced it head on. Just before it impacts on my body I swing my fists towards its face and knock it into the floor with great force. Blood then starts to form a pool around its dead body. I then proceed to eat my earnings.
I managed to kill and devour most of the fleeing Minotaurs. I didn't kill all of them because some had wondered dangerously close to some strong monsters. Little do they realise that by putting themselves in danger they actually ended up being amongst the few to survive.
In awe at my new found strength I take flight once more and head towards the tree I previously spent the night. The sky was darkening and I was growing tired.
While flying towards the tree I hear a large roar coming from the direction of the volcano.
For something to make such a thunderous roar, even I feel a dark chill down my spine. Fortunately the tree is in the opposite direction to the volcano.
I go to sleep thinking about the ominous roar.