The hospital had 5 floors so it was a hell of a lot of stairs even just getting to the boss but when I finally reached the last few stairs leading to the roof's door I took a break. I had picked up another can of cola that I had been lugging around in the pocket of my gym shorts all the way up here and gulped it down.
Still tasted like heaven even more so since I chose the non-diet option I figured I might be about to die anyway so what's the point of watching my sugar intake, plus I could make out the bones in my arm so I definitely needed to fatten up. I swore to myself that if I made it out of this alive I would buy myself so much fried chicken it would make my stomach explode.
I finished the can and just left it beside me, stretching out on this dingy, dimly lit staircase actually taking a second to relax and take a breather to enjoy my second chance at life.
But at some point the relaxation ends and the stalling begins.
I was going to die. I didn't want to but I didn't think I could really stop it either.
Come on there has to be some plan I can make, some steps I can take to ensure I win.
Theseus may have entered the minotaur's lair with nothing but the golden thread but it didn't mean I had to.
The second Theseus crossed my mind an idea came to me. It might not work but it's not like I had any other choice right now.
Within the hour I returned back to the door. It said it was alarmed but I figured much like the elevator it wouldn't work so I pushed on the bar to open the door to my death.
I could see it it was maybe less than 60 feet from me. Curled up in a bed made of bones.
Bones that probably came from the others who came before me.
But hey it was asleep that made this a whole lot easier I put down the gym duffel bag that I had taken from the locker room about 30 minutes ago and grabbed the syringes I'd put in.
It was hard to wield syringes in both hands whilst one was covered in the golden thread but I managed.
I snuck up to the giant minotaur avoiding all the bones littering the roof. Now I was closer I could see how intimidating this thing looked.
It was about twice the size of the other minotaur's Id been fighting, its horns were much bigger and looked more like a slight crown. It held a golden ring going through its nostrils and all along it's furry body were scars and patches of fur that had been ripped out. Clearly this thing had earned the right to sleep on the roof.
So why don't I help him to sleep a little more. I had no idea where the best place to stab this thing was so I went for it's back thinking that I could at least have a second or two to run before it turned around and killed me.
I inserted both needles and injected them in. I held my breath and I waited.
Well if it's too tired that works out better for me I snuck back to the door and took out two more syringes from the bag and snuck back.
I did this about 5 times and then on the sixth time of coming back to the minotaur with the syringes I stood on a bone and it crunched.
I was frozen in fear. Sweat came from every pore in my body. I had to completely force my eyes to look in the direction of the minotaur.
It was still asleep.
I thanked every god I could think of including, when I looked down at my thread covered hand, Dionysus.
I injected those last two in and knew that those were the last I had. I had been injecting him with a lot of anesthesia this entire time and my plan was simple. Earlier when I had remembered Theseus I remembered that he had pummeled a sleeping minotaur so I just had to make sure that it kept sleeping whilst I killed it.
I snuck back to the bag for the last time and retrieved my knife and snuck back. After all the practice I had done against minotaurs I had gotten killing them down to a fine art.
I even knew their weaknesses, I had remembered seeing a documentary on farming where they had talked about 'sticking' which is when you cut into a bull's neck and sever the tendons in the neck and chest to kill it quickly.
The minotaur's skin is much too thick for a clean cut with such an unsharp blade so I usually had to punch them a few times until I managed to cut all the way through.
I cut into the minotaur bosses neck and got through a few inches until it began to stir, its ears began to flick and it's snout started to wriggle. I decided I wouldn't hit it until it actually opened it's eyes.
A few more inches through and I had decided to just do it as quickly as possible. A few more I was over half way now and the minotaur began to kick it's legs and it's odd humanoid monster hands.
Just a few more and the minotaur was now thrashing around and it nearly hit me quite a few times.
A few more inches and now I was nearly done just one more knife stroke ought to do it. It's eye was looking at me. It was half closed but it's red and orange coloured eye was looking directly at me.
It kept thrashing about but other than that the fact it wasn't already killing me was strange.
I knifed the last few inches and blood began to seep even more than it had been and now it's eye was fully open looking at me.
So I punched it again and again and again and again and again.
I lost myself in it. I was so desperate I needed to survive to go back to my life, my family and to leave this stupid dungeon finally. I just kept hitting it.
I hit it so much with my golden thread wrapped hand it had become blooded and I had missed the clear notifications.
Finally one of the skulls I was standing on fell and I slipped all the way back down to the bottom of the beast's throne.
It was then I finally came to my senses. I could feel how crushed and broken my hand had become so I had to cradle while crying, not just because of the pain but also because I needed to let out all of my emotions.
After a very long time I wiped away my tears and looked around me. The barrier around the hospital still was not gone.
Now that I'd come back to my sense I realized it probably had to do with the notifications so I looked at those:
{Skill: Defense (Bronze Rank) Permanently unlocked}
That was for killing the boss but what were the others for…
{Theseus – Demigod, Hero, Athens king and Minotaur Slayer – has acknowledged your victory}
{Ariadne – Lover of Theseus and wife of Dionysus – has acknowledged your victory}
{Dionysus – Greek God of nature, harvest, fertilization and wine – has acknowledged your victory}
Holy shit gods are real now!
{Theseus gifts you a skill: Focus (Iron Rank)}
{Ariadne gifts you a skill: Intelligence (Bronze Rank)}
{Dionysus gifts you a skill: Inventory (Silver Rank)}
{Dionysus gifts you an item: Ever Flowing Wine}
{Dionysus will destroy the dungeon are you ready: Y/N}
Holy crap! Is it Christmas already 3 permanent skills and 2 of them are higher ranked than anything else I've seen.
I check my status to make sure:
{Name – Zane}
{Level: 15}
{Skills: Time Loop (5 Seconds), Inventory (Silver Rank), Focus (Iron Rank), Intelligence (Bronze Rank), Strength (Bronze Rank), Defense (Bronze Rank), Agility (Bronze Rank), Dodge (Bronze Rank), Unarmed (Bronze Rank), Weapons (Dirt Rank)}
{Temporary skills: Acrobatics (Bronze Rank)}
Well hopefully I can earn a semi comfortable living with all this so I never even need to think about a dungeon again. I look at my inventory it has 64 slots and one of those is being taken up by a very old looking silver bottle of wine that is closed via a stopper which is attached to its neck.
I pop the stopper and drink. Man that's some really nice stuff. I decide to test if it is never ending or not by drinking quite a lot of it and then shaking it about. It was still filled to the brim.
"This is the greatest gift I've ever been given! If there's anything I can do in return Dionysus I will"
{Dionysus acknowledges your debt}
I would have argued that I was just being nice but I was really really drunk. This wine is some powerful stuff!
I was about to get the place destroyed but then an idea along with a smile came to me…
Standing at the front entrance to the hospital I hit yes on Dionysus' notification and the barrier seems to just shatter and I can see the sunshine hitting me instantly. My eyes may take some adjusting for bright light I guess.
I can hear birdsong in the distance but more than that I can hear people chattering and bugs taking off nearby.
This focus skill is amazing! I was sad to have to destroy my acrobatics skill but I guess not everything could come with me. I took another giant couple of swigs from the wine before clumsily putting it back in my inventory.
If I was going to actually see the world again I was going to do it with some liquid courage in me.
Unfortunately for me, the second I took a drunken step outside into the fresh air I was surrounded by people wielding swords, magic and bows.
"Who are you?! What happened to the dungeon?!"
"Well hello to you too! Have manners completely disappeared since I've been gone?!
The guy wielding the shiny sword in front of me sort of wavered. It seems he was taken aback by my response.
"Umm hello. Now who are y-"
"No no no! Now you say you're name before asking for mine."
"Uhh ok I'm Karson and umm you are?"
I could tell he was really struggling here so I decided to stop making fun of him.
"I'm Zane Mack," I said recalling the name that had been on my patient chart.
"Well what happened to the minotaur dungeon."
"I destroyed it…"
Suddenly there was a frenzy of chatter around me. Apparently I wasn't supposed to do that…
"You're coming with us." He said putting shackles around my arms and legs.
The second he did it became harder to take notice of things like I had been doing and the world seemed a little more dull. I guessed these shackles were some kind of item that could nullify skills.
"Ok Karson but first say please."
That was when the asshole knocked me out.