Getting Stronger

I held onto the minotaur's horns as tightly as I could. Blood started to trickle down the side of my mouth. Like a heartbeat, every so often electric shocks were being sent through my body. I couldn't hold on for much longer.

The minotaur dug its arms and legs into the ground, using its full strength to pin me further into the wall with its massive horns. Luckily, the minotaur's arms were quite short making it unable to reach me.

Just then, Gary, Monk and Noir appeared from behind it. They jumped on its back and started to climb towards its neck. Gary used his full strength with sword Ki to penetrate the minotaur's thick neck, but instead, his blade completely shattered.

Monk was next with his two daggers. He was using Ki in his legs, enabling him to build up as much speed as possible before he struck. He too went for the neck as it looked like the softest place on the beast. With one swift motion, Monk drove his blades towards the beast's nape, but his daggers were reflected back not even leaving a mark.

The last attempt was made by Noir. Noir managed to sink her teeth into the beast neck, but the beast didn't even seem to react. Eventually, a pulse of electricity ran through the minotaur's body, shocking both Noir and I and causing Noir to instinctively release her grip and retreat from the pain.

"We have to run!" Gary shouted!

"We can't even hurt the thing." Monk remarked.

To be honest, I was surprised the two of them didn't bolt the second the plan didn't work. What was making them stay here? Clearly, we were outclassed and there wasn't a chance we were going to survive this. If they left now, I wouldn't even blame them.

"The second I let go of its horns, it will pierce my body. You two just leave now. Let Noir take you out of here!" I shouted.

"We can't do that! We are all getting out of here alive. This is all my fault to begin with…I was the one who brought us here." Gary insisted.

Gary and Monk then quickly tried to gather their Ki and body slam into the beast hoping it would fall over. When they collided into the minotaur, it felt like they were trying to move a mountain. The beast didn't budge. Another pulse of electric current ran through its body, sending Monk and Gary flying in the air.

The two of them quickly recovered and gave it another attempt.

Watching those two repeat the same thing over and over made an odd feeling rush over me. They didn't deserve to die in a hole like this. There were many humans that deserved a death like this but not those two.

<Would you like to use the skill mana drain?>

"YES!" I shouted.

Suddenly notification screens started to resound like crazy.

<Mana pool +1>

<Mana pool +1>

<Mana pool +1>

.....

<Would you like to use mana?>

"YES!" I repeated.

Suddenly, the mana started to supplement my Ki causing it to grow bigger. I began transferring the newly acquired Ki into my hands. As I was getting stronger, the minotaur's electrical pulses felt like they were getting weaker.

Eventually, it seemed like I was winning in this tug of war with the minotaur. I was able to start pushing it back.

"Hey, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Gary said.

"Yeah, for some reason it looks like the minotaur's getting weaker."

Despite its weakened appearance, the minotaur's physical strength hadn't actually decreased. The use of mana drain had siphoned the beast's mana and I was using that to strengthen my Ki.

Just when it looked like I was gaining the upper hand, the minotaur bucked its head towards the sky, causing me to lose grip and fly into the air. Before my body touched the ground, Noir leaped into the air and caught me, bringing me towards Monk and Gary.

There was a big problem now, I could no longer move. I had been paralyzed from the repeated jolts of electricity sent coursing through my body. The only thing that had kept me going was the mana from the minotaur. Now that I was no longer holding onto the beast, I could feel every bone and cell in my body screaming with pain.

Another snort drew our attention as we noticed the minotaur seemed to have regained some of its electrical powers back.

"We have to leave. Let's just go down one of the holes." Gary said as he indicated the closest one.

We made a break for one of the holes in the chamber with Noir carrying me on her back, but the minotaur saw through our intention and dashed over to block it before we could even make it halfway. The minotaur's speed was vastly superior in its electrically empowered state.

Sprinting on all fours, the minotaur then charged towards us. We all closed our eyes, accepting our inevitable fate.

*Clash*

The room began to shake as if two giants had just crashed into each other. The three of us slowly started to open our eyes. We assumed another beast had come to fight over a free meal.

But what we saw was a human figure. He had a black scimitar held in his hand and a light black leather armour set. You could tell it was forged using beast crystals as every piece looked like it came from a different magical beast. Hi boots made from fur, his chest piece from the hide of a beast.

"Sir K!" Monk shouted.

With unreal speed, Sir K had blinked between us and the minotaur and halted its charge with his scimitar. In a swift, fluid motion, he removed his blade from its horns and slashed down cutting one of the minotaur's horns clean off. The minotaur let out a bloodcurdling roar and reaching down to grasp Sir K by the leg. Unable to react in time, Sir K was swept up and slammed into the ground. Blood shot out from Sir K's mouth.

Seizing the opportunity, Sir K managed to slice one of the minotaur's fingers off, forcing it to let go of his leg. The dexterity Sir K was displaying was impeccable. He needed to have the exact control and strength to pull back at the right time, otherwise he would have sliced his own leg off.

The minotaur reeled back slightly and began charging at Sir K, harnessing its electric power to bolster its speed by a substantial degree. As the beast made contact with Sir K's body, it appeared to phase right through him. The minotaur stopped, also confused by what just happened.

What we thought was Sir K's body was an after image. Sir K was already on the beast's back. Before the minotaur could notice what had happened, Sir K brought his blade down slicing the beast's head clean off.

As the beast's head rolled to the floor, Sir K averted his attention from the beast and started walking towards us.