Ryuta quickly went over what he noticed as he increased his vigilance-
'It's faster than but its movements are large and clunky, its power and strength is… well monstrous'
Recalling the short moment when his attack was "flicked", yes, "flicked", the monster neither blocked nor parried his attack.
It met his attack with it own casual swing, a swing that could have taken his life if he was even just a little bit less aware of his state-
'What a fucking monster…'
Ryuta thought unaware that he, a level 1 adventurer, with a strength that barely reached 300, was capable of easily disposing monsters, only meeting his match on the 15 floor and of all the monsters it was the minotaur-
Many adventurers could easily dispatch this monster, but- those were all individuals who had reached level 3 and above.
It has to be noted that few people could reach level 2, much less level three and so on.
Now, Ryuta, a mere level 1 was capable of reaching the point where he could at least take an attack from the minotaur-
Albeit a casual attack- but an attack nonetheless, and still survive-
Unscathed at that!
This was a feat in and of itself but Ryuta, unaware of this felt a tinge of annoyance as he stared at the minotaur-
'I could have dispatched this cow-human hybrid easily back in the world of Fate…'
He recalled the chimera's he had slaughtered to craft some of his more powerful weapons-
But, to compare a chimera, a low class existence, an amalgamation of random beasts, without any magical nature- to a monster created by a dungeon that even Gods are wary of…
This was nothing more than the result of a lack of information and understanding-
But for now-
'I need to survive, and the only way-'
Ryuta's eyes flashed with a crimson light, his body glowed with a light of dark crimson.
Vertical veins manifested on his skin, his body covered in these markings but the armor he had on covered these markings.
As his body was covered in these markings, Ryuta felt an extreme pain course through his body.
'Crap- its a hundred times more painful… but-'
His eyes opened wide, the crimson glow shone even brighter and at the same time, underneath his chest plate, a bright light shone on his chest, atop the palace where his heart was.
'5 minutes… that's my limit- but it's enough-'
Blood dripped from Ryuta's nose, he didn't even bother wiping it as his senses had sharpened to the extreme-
'Existence Reinforcement'
It was a spell that he had created, one that allowed him to raise his existence to the next level.
The conception of this spell started when he met a certain "Black Dragon", it was a chance meeting, one that he didn't expect but it led him to create this self-harming spell.
Without a fate like that of Shiro or other existences like those who wield true magic, Ryuta could only choose to take the path of a dead apostle or one of self-harm.
He chose the latter.
This spell, its basis being reinforcement, forcefully elevated his own existence.
With this spell, he was able to match the heroic spirit of the saber class, the strongest class of heroic spirits, in combat.
But, this spell had a huge downside-
The forceful elevation of existence did not come without consequence, he was using up his OD directly to sustain the spell, at the same time, the enhancements ate away at his OD.
Normally, spells would convert OD to prana, but this spell directly used OD, life essence, and the forceful elevation of existence…
It caused damage to his own body, not only was it painful, it also drained his OD.
Fully aware of his own body's state, Ryuta did not need to see any display or status bar to understand his limits.
He had five minutes, if he could not defeat the minotaur in those five minutes-
'I'd probably die'
So with his mind resolved to take this risk, he quickly rushed towards his foe-
His body was enveloped in crimson light, eight swords followed behind him like wings, his crimson katana drawn and a plethora of gems flew alongside him towards the minotaur-
*ROOOOAAARRR!!!!*
The monster, mindless as it was, roared before charging at Ryuta at a speed that barely matched him-
'Good- I'm faster but-'
Ryuta dodged the punch of the minotaur by a hair's breadth, his blade shifting upward as he did a quick, elegant and clean cut upwards.
His movements were tight and did not waste too much space, Ryuta dodged as he cut the monster, to an observer Ryuta and the minotaur had just passed each other but keen eyed individuals would notice the subtle and deadly movements of Ryuta's blade-
"Damn it-"
But Ryuta was not impressed, the minotaur roared once more, angry as a large cut appeared on its arm-
"I was aiming to sever that arm…"
Ryuta had tried to cut the arm cleanly, separating it from the elbow, but-
The cut was large but shallow, the minotaur was bleeding, but it was not at a rate that would kill it in a few minutes-
'Change of plan-'
His strength was lacking, the blade was strong, his speed was greater, his dexterity much more so, but what he lacked was power-
The minotaur's skin was tough, but-
'This is not my first rodeo with a stone skinned monster-'
Not letting this failure stop him, Ryuta quickly dashed towards the Minotaur, not wasting a second as he aimed for the beast's neck-
Although it was slow, the minotaur could tell what Ryuta was planning as it tried to block the humans attack but-
*BOOM*
A jewel, telepathically controlled by Ryuta, had exploded on the minotaur's face. It's eyes, no matter how tough could still be irritated-
"GRAAAAA"
The monster screamed in pain as it covered its eyes and using the tiny gap-
*slash*
His crimson blade cut at the monster's neck leaving a shallow wound but a wound nonetheless.
The minotaur felt the cut as it tried to attack Ryuta but another explosion occurred, this time on the ground it was standing on-
The minotaur's body shifted, it tried to stabilize itself and Ryuta took that opportunity to cut at the monster again-
*slash*
But this was not the end, the eight blades glowed with crimson light, shooting for the spot that Ryuta had cut-
*slash* *slash*
*slash* *slash*
As the wound increased-
*stab*
[BRAND - Punishment Staff]
One of the swords stabbed into the wound and Ryuta's katana glowed with crimson light, transforming into an ornately designed black staff.
As the staff landed on the hilt of the sword that had stabbed the minotaur, a shockwave erupted pushing the sword deeper into the minotaurs neck-
"Groa-"
The minotaur tried to scream but Ryuta's body erupted with bright blue lightning, channeling the power to the staff, the lightning travelled through the staff to the blade and into the minotaur-
The blade had stabbed deep into the neck of the monster, blocking its airways the minotaur could not scream and before it could even do anything it was already being burnt inside out-
Ryuta had moved quickly, his actions decisive and efficient.
He had no hesitation in his actions, the pain did not hamper his movements as he quickly dispatched the monster that had ragdolled him-
As the monster died, Ryuta immediately used his remaining energy to quickly grab the monster and dash- up the stairs and back to the 14th floor.
With the body of a minotaur in two, Ryuta reached an isolated spot in the 14th floor, he set up a temporary formation as he deactivated his reinforcement-
"Gah-"
As the reinforcement spell was cancelled, Ryuta coughed up a bit of blood, his body crumpling down as the fatigue overcame him.
'One minute… 54 seconds…'
It took him less than a minute to dispatch the monster, the rest of the time was used to drag it to the 14th floor.
Now, although Ryuta was in an awful state, he had still survived but-
'I guess that's my limit'
He thought as he moved towards the minotaur's body, his crimson katana manifesting once more and using it, Ryuta started to cut through the minotaurs body-
'So dying means that their skin loses its toughness… is it magical enhancement?'
Finding the skin of the minotaur not as tough as when he fought it, Ryuta started to think again about the implications of such a discovery.
He quickly found the magic stone and as he found took it out, the minotaur started to turn to ash but as it vanished, a horn had appeared-
"What luck a drop item"
He mused as he observed his current haul.
Ryuta assessed his current condition-
'Covered in blood, internal energies none, muscles… ripped to shreds, probably a few cracks in my bones but it's not something rest and a few restoration spells couldn't fix'
He did a quick calculation and decided-
'Time to head back'
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[email protected]/lonelymountainsage