"The results are in" Hina walked out of a room
"And" Souta got up with an anxious look on his face
"Though you have in human feats, your body is still that of a human" she replied "in short, fatigue"
Souta exhaled in relief "thought it was something serious"
"Still, remember that when you go raiding, so you don't end up a sitting duck" she flicked his forehead
-----
"Souta you're back from your raid, you've even got a lot of crystals are you getting something for Hina tomorrow" Ai asked, Souta was a bit confused as to what tomorrow was and proceeded to ask.
Ai shocked pulled him close and told him that tomorrow was Hina's birthday, "Huuuuuuh" Souta immediately panicked because he had nothing special planned for her and soon began to grovel begging for Ai's assistance.
"Fine come to the adventurer's guild thing tomorrow morning" She suggested
"Thank you very much" he screamed as he ran out of the adventurers guild
[The Next Day]
Hina groaned as she slowly opened her eyes only to see Souta up in her face, "Happy birthday Miss Hina". A bit flustered she panicked and rushed to the other end of the bed
"Don't scare me like that again" she exhaled "also thanks" she smiled. Souta tells her about his increase in profits and that he would love to take her out for her birthday.
"Date with Souta" she murmured as an erotic look appeared on her face
"Hina are you ok" Souta asked
"Completely fine" she replied while trying to hide her excitement "let's meet by 6"
----
"SOUTA" Ai called out only for him to look back and see her putting on a mini skirt and an off-shoulder to top it all off which caused him to turn red. "What's wrong Souta aren't you feeling well" She asked coming even closer, "I-I'm ok let's get going" Souta stammered while diverting his attention away from her.
They both arrive at Eris's shop to see if they could find anything special for Hina. Souta quickly remembers the last time he came to Eris's shop and explains to Ai that he doesn't have enough money to afford anything inside the shop but was still forced to come with her. While searching for a gift he bumps into Hina and Akiko.
"Miss Hina what are you doing here" he asked looking a bit surprised
"N-n-nothing I just came to see my good friend Eris" She stammered
"I thought you were here for shop—"she quickly silenced Akiko, grabbing her by the hand and running out of the store " See you by 6 Souta"
At the end of the day, the best thing Souta could afford was a pendant but was still having second thoughts on getting it because it was a bit cheap and he wanted something expensive and beautiful not just for Hina's birthday but to thank her for all she had done from him.
"Listen Souta it doesn't matter if it's expensive or cheap as long as it's from your heart and I'm sure Hina would love this" Ai said which encouraged him to buy the pendant. It was 5 in the evening Souta quickly rushed out to the spot he and Hina were supposed to meet.
"Souta sorry hope I didn't make you wait long?" She apologized
"It's cool I just got here" He replied with a smile on his face.
They both set into town and had a lot of different snacks along the way, they even took a mixed bath and watched the fireworks go off at night when suddenly Souta pulls out the pendant and puts it on her neck "Happy birthday, Miss Hina" he wished her with a smile on his face. "Thank you" She replied while hugging him.
[One Week Later]
[CLANG] Souta's sword clashed with that of a Minotaur which pushed him a bit backward. The Minotaur charges towards Souta with its horn aimed at him but he quickly grabs the horn and twists in causing its head to rotate backwards. One of the Minotaur quickly pops up behind Souta
"Spirit of Light" Akiko Mutered, causing a bright light to appear temporarily rendering the minotaur's sight useless, allowing Souta to easily take down the minotaur.
"Souta you must be more careful on high levelled floors like these" Akiko lectured picking up the crystals and transporting them to her interdimensional storage
"Yeah yeah" he smiled nervously taking down another Minotaur.
"Your recklessness will get us into trouble one of these days" Akiko sighed
The whole place started rumbling and out of nowhere, a giant Minotaur showed up over 10ft tall and wielded a huge blade giving a loud battle cry before. It charged towards Souta slamming its huge blade into the ground.
The impact caused the whole area to crack and eventually sink luckily Souta was able to avoid the attack by leaping into the air "Wow a boss-level monster. You don't get to encounter them oft—huh?" he noticed his legs had been grabbed by the Minotaur; the Minotaur forcefully pulls him down and slammed him into the ground. It picks him up again slamming him into the other part of the floor and finally tossed him into the wall.
"KEUK....!!!" Souta coughed up blood and soon began to fall unconscious.
"Souta" Akiko ran to him and placed her two palms over him "HEAL!!" she castes a spell on Souta which healed every one of his injuries "Are you ok" she asked
"Thank you Akiko" Souta slowly got up "That bastard isn't an ordinary monster"
"What do you mean" Akiko asked
"Nevermind" Souta replied "He's just like the orcs I fought in the past" he thought to himself "there's no time to think about this now" Souta shook his head
The Minotaur picks up its sword marches towards Souta and instantly blitzes into thin air suddenly appearing behind Souta. Souta pushes Akiko out of the way and blocks the attack with his dagger causing the very floor on which he stood to sink inside, he dashed out of the dust cloud looking for the minotaur.
"ABOVE YOU!!!" Akiko shouted only for him to look up and see the minotaur crashing down on the ground which caused a few boulders to float up.
The minotaur plants his sword into the ground and leaps up a bit kicking pieces of the smashed boulders towards Souta who managed to avoid all when suddenly the minotaur crashed into Souta with its horns and used them to lift Souta off the ground and the moment he came back down was punched in the stomach which damaged a few organs and forced him to cough up a huge amount of blood.
It approached Souta and picked him up the minotaur said trying to squeeze the life out of him
"SPIRIT OF LIGHT!!!!" Akiko screamed, using the spell to blind the minotaur
"ROOOOOOAARRRR!!!!" the Minotaur tossed Souta aside and shook its head in confusion while going on a rampage
Breathing heavily Souta slowly got up, the minotaur partially regained its vision and charged towards Souta.
"Aaaaargh" Souta screamed as he ran towards the minotaur, dodged its attack and landed a powerful hit that drove his right fist through the Minotaurs stomach "Tell death I said hello" he grinned as he watched the Minotaur fall to its feet.
Suddenly, Souta felt a bit dizzy but was caught by Akiko "Are you okay Souta?" she asked looking at Souta who was all beat up and looked like he was about to die
"Yeah" Souta laughed nervously
"Thank goodness" she smiled
"That was no ordinary floor boss" He thought to himself as he got up and looked at the corps which didn't seem to turn into crystals or disappear.