The true face of the dungeon was apparent to Val as his Heavenly Eye was active, allowing him to see through obstacles.
This dungeon’s true face was a vibrant forest hidden behind the deceptive walls of the Labyrinth.
Val looked at the wall beside him and said, “By breaking this wall, I can get there.”
Attempting to create his own path to the second stage of the dungeon, his hand clenched into a fist and he punched the wall with all his strength.
Bam!
A shockwave burst out from the point of impact, but the wall remained intact, not a single scratch to be seen on its surface.
Val sighed, realizing he was too weak to demolish the structure found in the dungeon.
‘I have no choice but to play by the dungeon’s rules.’
With a flicker of thought, he used the Heavenly Eye to locate the Labyrinth Heart. It was in the center of the Labyrinth. However, every path leading to it was filled with dangerous challenges.
Val’s eyes narrowed as he foresaw the trials he would have to overcome to get there. The road to the heart of the labyrinth was not going to be an easy one.
His mind was still processing the maze’s layout when he turned a corner and came face to face with a hulking Minotaur. It was holding a giant axe in its right hand.
MOOOoooo!
A loud roar escaped the creature’s throat, smoke billowing from its nostrils as it charged at him with the giant axe raised high.
Val was unperturbed by this sight as he had anticipated it. He calmly extended his hand, and waves of blood danced out from him, solidifying and sharpening into the shape of arrows. With a simple flick of his wrist, he sent dozens of these blood arrows hurtling through the air towards the monstrous Minotaur.
MOOO!
The Minotaur swung its axe with a deafening roar, crushing several of the arrows. However, although the swing was powerful, it failed to stop them all. The remaining arrows embedded themselves into the beast’s flesh, causing it to bellow in pain.
Its eyes turned a dangerous red, and Val could feel the creature’s rage growing exponentially with each passing second.
A thunderous “GRAAAA” echoed through the labyrinth, the Minotaur’s roar shaking the walls of the maze with its imposing rage.
Without losing a beat, the Minotaur leapt towards Val, swinging its gigantic axe with the force of a cyclone. Its movements, despite being incredibly swift for a creature of its size, were like a slow-motion movie to Val’s heightened senses. Val was like a gust of wind as he nimbly dodged the incoming attack, slipping past the whirling axe and positioning himself next to the Minotaur’s outstretched arm.
“Aquarius, it’s time to feed.” 𝑜𝑣𝓛xt.𝗇𝓔t
As if materializing from thin air, a sword appeared in Val’s grip. Grasping it tightly, he performed an upward slash with impeccable precision, not giving the Minotaur a chance to retract its arm. The cursed blade sliced through the Minotaur’s thick hide and even denser muscles as effortlessly as a hot knife cuts through butter, severing its arm from its body.
Blood erupted from the freshly created stump, but instead of spraying the labyrinth floor, the crimson fountain surged into the cursed sword, being absorbed by it, slightly filling its rage meter.
The Minotaur’s severed arm fell to the ground with a loud thud, which was deafened as the dungeon monster’s roared in great anguish.
Whoosh!
In a blind fit of rage, the Minotaur swung its remaining arm towards Val, who calculated the trajectory of its attack in a split second and swung his sword with such precision that the sharp blade sliced into the Minotaur’s hand, splitting it in two from the middle.
This caused so much pain to the Minotaur that it cried out in pain once again, but its roar of agony was abruptly cut off as Val’s blade moved again, this time swiftly and cleanly beheading the beast.
The massive body of the Minotaur collapsed to the ground, its once fearful presence now reduced to nothing.
[System Notification: Monster ‘Labyrinth Minotaur’ killed. 216 EXP gained.]
The massive Minotaur lay still, and Val set to work with precision. He began to dismember the beast in search of its cores. His effort was soon rewarded as he pulled a level 2 Strength and a level 2 Stamina core from the creature’s carcass.
These cores would be effective on anyone with Strength and Stamina stats below 30. The usual procedure would be for a wizard to purify them with soul power, reducing the corruption within them before consumption. But Val, being immune to the force of corruption due to his Unfeeling Trait, simply popped them into his mouth and swallowed them whole.
[System Notification: Strength increased to 27. With the boost provided by Aquarius, your Strength is now 31.]
[System Notification: Stamina increased to 29.]
‘It’s not much, but hey, at least it helped me take a small step towards my ultimate goal,’ Val thought.
The increase might seem insignificant, but Val knew better than to underestimate the value of even the smallest gains. After all, “drop by drop, a water pot is filled,” as the saying goes.
These little increments, added up over time, would result in vast improvements. And that’s how he intended to grow, steadily and surely, until he reached the pinnacle of power.
Val then activated his Blood Absorption skill, draining the lifeblood from the deceased Minotaur. The beast’s blood surged into him, increasing his blood bar by several dozen points. Next, he used his Corpse Sacrifice skill on the bloodless carcass, and surprisingly, it only gave him the ability to create a Level 0 undead.
This puzzled Val.
Level 3 to 3.9 dungeon monsters, equivalent to Level 21 to 29 beasts or Level 2 undead, were no trifling opponents. Yet, sacrificing the drained corpse of such a monster only allowed him to create a low-level undead. Why was that the case?
After pondering for a few moments, realization dawned on him.