This was too much! Ah! What was this, I could not follow anymore!
I ingested a stone and now a three meters tall minotaur forced me to dig my legs in the hide of his shoulder! Any time I have the mere thought of leaving he grunts and terror makes me clutch harder!
But then he chained himself?! Hello! Realm to monster, worst idea ever! I had to watch him plant human chains in his flesh, lock schakles and when so burdened, even add a harness with a bit on his bull face!
Chained monsters killed insects like me!
Also it weakened them badly and forced them to obey the human who did I say wanted insects like me killed?
And if that wasn't enough, the minotaur then walked right into the deadly desert! Yeah! The place where all creatures die, he just casually walked in there just to have a sandstorm engulf us!
But the worst of it all?! It made sense!
Throughout it all as I clutched for dear life, a flurry of thoughts told me the how and why of that monster's actions! Ah! I was losing my sanity here!
"Hold on! I am dying!"
But of course that beast didn't speak caparace, so I was forced to endure the sand waves bashing us. Ah! Guess what, I have a big chitin shell! Sand is nothing! Even if it pierced me through and through I could take it!
We emerged at a place that was all rocky and dead, with old human temples strewn about along a gigantic pit! A big, big hole with more ruined temples on its cliffs and it went way way way down!
Hashal? Okay divine knowledge, that place was named Hashal.
Can we take a pause now? Please?
The minotaur had crouched to look down the big pit. Even he was so tiny in comparison! He seemed angry and it felt like I could sort of perceive why. Something about there being no monster for him to fight?
Then he got up and turned, because from the calming sandstorm afar a silhouette had emerged.
It wore a cape of bright fur and a feline mask that was all cracked, but also, that creature was super extra powerful! There was literally grass growing under his feet! Yeah! The rock and sand he walked on was gaining life!
Talk about cheated!
Eh, uh, big guy? Lord minotaur? Why are you grinning?
You don't intend to fight that? Right?
Wait don't move toward it!
"Yo!" The creature raised a hand to greet us. "Sorry for being late, I was busy cleaning the mess you guys made."
Okay I was thoroughly lost, and not just by what he had said. Unholy knowledge had fallen on me again and I could tell, that was a human! That was the human I had been looking for! And I even knew how the minotaur had managed to find him!
I didn't know how he had been able to catch up to him but wow!
Quest complete! Eh, human, I have a stone for you!
The minotaur grunted and I very politely made myself as small as possible on his shoulder. Eh, human! Stone delivery would be delayed a bit.
"I'm here for the secrets of Earth. Don't suppose you'll let me get them, uh?"
The human stopped, dropped the mask and removed the brooch holding his cape. A black guy with black and yellow eyes and long black hair coiling all the way down to his back. His body was covered in war paints like crazy.
Adding to the bad news, he had a big snake bound by golden chains on his body! Green scales and looking scrawny with the eyes of an absolute killer! She was struggling, trying to get free and unable!
We had stopped as well, chomping at the bit for a fight I could feel was already brewing.
But wait, there was no way! Lord minotaur, you are chained, you deprived yourself of mana and your hands have no claws! That human wore beasts like us as a collar!
"Who are you anyway?" The human asked.
That made the bull scowl and start walking again, arms curved, flexing a bit. Back hunching forward. He was gaining speed, the human willing to do the same. Please let me leave now!
Great voice, it was nice hearing you!
Ah! At full charge the ground had shaken, only to burst when the both of them met and the human's spirit blades - what even was that?! - had been stopped dead by a punch whose shockwaved formed a crashing wall.
Dodge! Dodged again! The human's blades were well in reach but could not even graze us! How could we move so swiftly?!
Another dodge and we were on the human's side, hook! The punch crashed on him, blocked by his indomitable aura. Ah! He had a spirit armor?! That was so cheating!
Once more dodging his strikes like it was nothing, another hook! And another!
I was only focused on not letting go of the shoulder, it was dizzying just holding here! If my tiny legs were not planted deep in the hide I would have been thrown away from the start!
Yet it had dawned on me that we were not even aiming for the human. Each time our punches actually hit at the snake's chains.
Oh yeah and also! The minotaur was only using one arm!
Both fighters broke off and the human almost yelled:
"You think you are all high and mighty, don't you!?"
He was trying hard to save face but yeah, not a single hit despite having every advantage against an foe that used only half of his assets. How did it feel, human?
The bull only grinned and invited him to approach with both arms open.
And boy was the human willing!
He basically disappeared, vanished from my sight and flashed behind us! At a speed that uncanny knowledge of mine told me was the absolute limit before portals. Ah! The human was trying to kill me now!
Why me?!
But the minotaur blocked his strike with his forearm and watched it get sliced, two deep gashes that overflowed with black blood.
What was that? Unholy knowledge? We had made sure the humans' blades would not hit the chains? I didn't get it at all!
Dodge, dodge, hit! Another wound on the chest, dodge and hook! The human went for a flurry and immediately paid for it! Jab! Jab! Jab once more! His feet had practically lifted from the ground at that punishment!
Kick! Even though the mystical aura protected him, that was enough to send him crashing on the sand.
We were about to charge him when he rose his hand and an elemental snake appeared! Very, very big, a glowy spirit beast dominating the place that plunged on us! Ah!
The minotaur raised a finger, traced in the air and a magical trail followed. Wait, magic? Lord minotaur, you could do magic?!
An instant later the elemental was chained too. Big black chains going through its body and tearing the energy out of that thing.
The snake on the humans' shoulders started to hiss furiously.
And the elemental broke into pieces, then vanished.
"Okay, I am impressed!" The human had got up, all smiling. "That reminds me, I was so impatient to punch your face, I forgot the presentations! I'm Nzinga, the kitten-wiper!"
We only scoffed in response.
"Alright, I'll call you Korion then!"
In an instant we were in melee again!
Ah! A spirit sword skimmed my shell so close I swore I felt a touch of death! Our opponent dashed so fast he was like a ghost! Blades swinging and lunging from everywhere at once!
We had fallen back on the defensive, dodging madly like a demigod! Even then, shallow wounds opened on the minotaur's skin. Fight back! Hit him again! Or was the human too fast and trying would leave us open?
A feint! We pretended to stumble, let the human exploit the gap and, punch! Once more shaking the golden chains without leaving even a mark on them.
And meanwhile the two human blades had pierced lord minotaur's belly!
Black blood spurted from the bit, but the beast only grinned. The snake had already lunged to bite us, missed but barely and got caught by our second hand!
Then we were the ones biting!
The humans felt the bull's restrained maw close on his shoulder, crack the spirit armor and the bones under! He screamed! Slashed with his blades still in our belly but only made the flat teeth bury deeper in his flesh!
He was puncturing our whole torso with his swords! Trying desperately to hit our heart while his whole body throbbed from the pain! His arm went limp and meanwhile the snake was choking from our clutch!
Before our fist demolished him the human blasted our head with a spell and jumped back a good few meters away!
He was bloodied, a whole side of him hanging by a thread. We were reeling as well! Ah, no, I was fine, and the snake had fallen back to her master as well.
But how could we still stand with wounds like that?! Our chains were torn apart and our belly cut open in multiple parts, let alone the gashes at our ribs! Lord minotaur was shredded!
Yet he was smiling. His beastly eyes burned bright.
Before us the human was busy healing himself. Did he have like infinite mana?! It was taking time, but we were letting him. Was it our wounds keeping us at bay? No, not even! The minotaur just... let him!
Then, that human tried to heal his snake as well, but she hissed and resisted.
So, we stepped forward. One step. And another.
The human looked at us like we were death incarnate. Just a stumbling bull, a mass of muscles bloodied and weakened that was almost laughing at his face.
Ah! His expression changed completely!
Now the human's eyes had this steely resolve, all pretense and defiance gone, replaced with a killing intent.
He attacked! We met him with both fists, shook the ground with our hooves and blocked his attacks with sheer shockwaves! And even with that we were forced to leap away or get crushed, only to have him pursue and lash out!
Forget defense, all of his energy was focused on speed while building up for the killing strike!
We were getting lacerated! The chains shattered on our body, which should have actually made us stronger but we slowed down instead!
Both blades crossed on lord minotaur's head and tore it so hard as to expose the skull!
We screamed! Tumbled back and that was the opening the human had been waiting for!
Ah!
His sword lunged! Counter! Our punch crossed it and turned magic against him! Counter! His second sword turned magic against us! Counter! First arm parrying the first blade, the second fist crossed the other! Counter!
It felt like the whole realm had accumulated in that tiny space when the snake lunged.
She got met by the minotaur's horns and in that last counter all the invisible cracks the golden chains had endured got hit at the same time. They shattered! A free snake with death in its fangs passed near our head, just over me, and went crashing on the rocky ground.
A series of hit followed that forced the human back enough to break off the melee.
Behind us the snake lay reeling. She was free, she was deadly and pissed to no end but also so weak now! She hissed at us and we returned only a glare.
I could feel the minotaur drooling at the idea of fighting her!
But she took the hint and fled. So we turned back to the human who, shaken, still readied for more.
And we, in turn, opened our hand and let black blood flow from our open wounds, melt under it to form a pole that turned to metal. We had... a polearm in our hand? With a curved blade?
We could have had a weapon the whole time?!?