The Minotaur

The group of about fifteen adventurers were all nervous as they approached what appeared to be a gigantic hedge maze. They were on the estate of a baron somewhere to the East of the guild.

They could hear the call of a bull from deep inside the maze. Asher whispered to Leah, "Stick close to me and follow what I do. These things are smarter than they look."

Asher had spent some time studying up on the Minotaur, deciding whether it was worth them going on the job. He had decided it was if they could get ahold of the hide. It had a weak spot in the back of its neck and that was about it. Most weapons would bounce off anywhere else.

The group set up camp for the night while Asher went over the dangers of the Minotaur. "I have been studying this creature for a while in the library, deciding whether it was worth taking this job. The creature is intelligent. More so than the goblins you've faced up until now. It's cunning beyond what you know. It likely already knows we're here."

"How do we beat it?" Leah asked.

"It's difficult, I'll tell you that," Ashed replied. "Its hide is harder than most conventional weapons. They'll just bounce off," Asher stated, leaving out the part where there was a weak point. He would tell Leah as he felt one of the two should get the hide. Asher also left out the part that of the Minotaur knew they were here, it was already headed their way.

The eerie sound of a bull bellowing in the distance kept getting closer. One of the party members barely managed to get out, "Is it coming this way?" before they heard thunderous footsteps approaching at a fast pace. The large bullheaded creature was wielding a great axe one handed. It picked up one of the guild members with its free hand and bit his head off, blood spurting everywhere like a geyser.

The rest of the party other than Asher and Leah leapt into action. Asher crept around the back of the Minotaur with Leah right behind him. They would be able to get a clean hit on the weak spot at the back of the neck if they timed it right.

Once Asher got close enough, the bullheaded monster swung one arm back and hit Asher with the blunt end of its great axe. Asher was flung backwards over fifty feet.

Upon landing, Asher almost felt like his insides were going to rupture any moment. He coughed into his hand and could see blood droplets. "Lovely," he winced in pain.

He laid there watching the other guild members trying to beat the beast, while he tried to recover enough just to stand up. It looked like Leah had gotten hit from the same blow that took Asher out of the fight, although with less force behind it. She was in better shape than him at least.

Asher watched his fellow guild members fall one by one as he attempted to stand. He knew he couldn't take a hit like that head-on. It would slice right through his armor with the sheer strength the beast had. It was terrifying to say the least and Asher had a thought to flee, but if he could land the killing blow on a creature this powerful, how much power did he stand to gain?

With that in mind, Asher once again crept along. The Minotaur was facing off against a particularly skilled fighter one on one. He just hoped the fighter could keep the beast busy long enough for him to get a killing blow on it.

Asher kept getting closer until the beast tried slashing backwards again, Asher blocked the blow full force. His sword shattered and his arm went numb from the sheer power behind the strike. He slid backwards about ten feet from the hit.

"It must sense danger coming from behind, almost like a sixth sense," Asher muttered. He hadn't read about that ability when he was researching the creature.

Asher knew it was only a matter of time before the fighter lost out in the battle of strength. He gripped the second steel blade strapped across his back and rushed forward. He was confident that he knew the exact path the Minotaur would take with it's swing, having taken two hits that way already. It was a gamble, but so was relying on the last guild member being able to hold it off. Asher signalled Leah to use her new abilities.

Leah held her hands up towards the Minotaur's face and let out a long burst of flame. It was more of an irritation than anything for the monster, but it was also just the distraction that Asher needed. The beast swung out its axe and Asher ducked below the swing. As he came up from his slide, he leapt to the Minotaur's shoulders and stabbed his blade directly into the back of it's neck.

The creature thrashed around and it's axe went flying into the hedges. Over time the thrashing began to die down and Asher could feel the warm sensation just like before. He felt his insides regenerating with the surge of power running through him.

As the beast fell, Asher rolled off it's body. All but three people out of fifteen guild members had died to the Minotaur. It was practically a suicide mission they had been sent on. Even the killing blow made by Asher had been a gamble in the end.

The fighter in question was staring directly at Asher. "Why did you not tell us where the weak point was?"

"I wanted its hide. Perhaps you should research more powerful beasts before you hunt them."

The fighter seemed ready to hit Asher. He was right though. They all should have researched the Minotaur and it's capabilities. The fighter still took a swing at the back of Asher's head and instinct took over Asher's body as he felt the fist coming.

Asher ducked below the fist and twisted his body back into a powerful hook that sent the fighter reeling into the ground. "Interesting," Asher mused. He would have to test it more, but he was fairly certain he had gained the Minotaur's sixth sense ability that let it know when danger was coming from behind.

It would be a handy ability to have in the future, especially if he was fighting groups of enemies by himself. There were no small amount of solo jobs these days for someone at his rank if Leah became too tired to work with him. Asher wondered if he might be able to scout more talent to work with him and form a group of his own. He figured it was unlikely to happen anytime soon, so he didn't pay any kind to that line of thinking for the moment.

Asher had carved the tough hide of the minotaur off and had it in a bag, ready to take it to a leather maker to form it into armor. But first, the three guild members had to make it back to receive their payment.

Colin frowned at the lack of people who had returned and the fighter spilled the beans about how Asher hadn't told them how to kill the beast in order to obtain its hide. Asher never thought he would have such a gut wrenching reaction as when Colin looked at him with disappointment. "Here's the silver, keep the hide, Asher," Colin mumbled.

"I didn't mean for people to die," Asher explained.

"But they did, Asher. It's on you. You researched the creature. You knew it's patterns, it's strengths and it's weakness. Because of your inability to explain what the best strategy was, people died. You can't take that back. You were starting to make a good name for yourself. Once people find out about this, no one will want to work with you."

Asher felt defeated at that very moment. His greed had likely killed any likelihood for progression in the guild. The only person who would be willing to work with him from now on would likely be Leah.

Asher somberly took the money and went to his room. Twelve people had died due to him, that in itself didn't bother him. It was the after effects of what had happened. He didn't want to think about how difficult the next several months would be, trying to build his reputation again.

He heard a knock at the door. "Come in," he said. The door opened to reveal Leah. She snapped, "You idiot. You just straight out told that imbecile everything he needed to know in order to put us down."

Asher nodded. "You're right. I can't argue that. We've climbed two ranks and will likely be locked in place for a while. You've been associated with me too long to not feel repercussions from this as well. The only thing we can do is attempt to rebuild our reputation with the few people who will work with us," Asher stated.

Leah seemed somewhat pleased with the answer he had given. "How will we manage that?"

Asher smirked half heartedly. "We'll work as many jobs as possible with groups. We've been avoiding the bandits for some time now. It might be time we took a look into taking care of them. Getting rid of bandits may gather some favor, however small."

After Asher had said that, Leah left and so had he. He had one stop to make before he went to bed. Rounding a corner, he saw the leather shop.

He handed the Minotaur's hide to the shopkeeper and told him he wanted a cuirass made out of it. There was only enough for that. Once he was done paying the leatherworker he left and went to bed.

A couple of days later, he went to collect his armor and it was glorious to look at in his eyes. The cuirass was built to fit the muscle structure around the pectoral muscles and the abdomen.The worker had etched the image of a bull across the chest of the cuirass. It was almost a dark gray color. With this, Asher would have no issue with his next set of missions. He was ready for his next step.