It was a race, a raging bull against a flying man, who would catch up?
Mark inched close to the door, he could practically touch it when a bash on his back sent him flying away to the side.
The Tainted Minotaur had flung a piece of the ground at him. The strike disoriented Mark and sent him meters away from the door, but he still remained afloat, the Wind of Euses his trusty aide.
His back roiled with pain and he was certain that it had been bruised, it was such a miracle that he didn't pass out from the blow and he concluded that his increased stats must have been what saved him.
The man bull charged at him once again, a charge most predictable. Mark zoomed upwards using the Minotaur's head as a leverage to throw him upwards.
He immediately took for the door once again. The Minotaur noticed this once it stopped its charge and executed the same move he had stopped him with previously.
Blocks of earth flung at Mark, however this time was different, he had been expecting them. He spun around, freely and lightly, like a swan swimming through a lake–avoiding every blow that crept close to harming him.
BOOOM BOOOM BOOM
Pieces of rock crashed beside him telling the force at which they struck the ground.
His mind was strangely still, like a ripple across a still lake, his eyes were only fixed on the door, quest and loot be damned, his life was worth much more.
The Minotaur snorted in frustration and anger, it seemed to be an endless pit of them both, and then it took to run.
'Just a little more'
BOOM BOOM BOOM
The flying rocks had stopped and it was the Minotaur's hooves that shook the ground this time around.
It ran with all of its might, tearing through the wind that blew opposite its direction, its horns appearing like impending spikes to its target.
'There'
Mark's right hand held the edge of the white rectangular box which was his ticket away from this hell, it was vaguely concrete to the touch but now wasn't time for observation or admiration, he had to move along or risk getting skewered.
He turned back to see the raging Minotaur coming at him, its head riddled with visible large veins, and Mark could swear he could see its anger as a red aura around it.
He quickly turned back and went through the door. A white light that blinded the Minotaur momentarily signified his passing.
"Raggghh!" It roared, the sound was like a cry of frustration, a wail. It rubbed its fingers over its eyes, trying to abate the pain.
It beat the ground in anger, like the frenzied beast that it was, and then something happened.
Its body arched and its muscles tensed, getting bigger and bigger until the skin above couldn't contain all the mass and tore, exposing the red flesh underneath.
Its back, limbs, torso, everywhere aside its face burst with flesh and a new red skin, its blue skin on its face hung lifeless on its head.
It doubled in size, and so did its horns, more than a Minotaur now, it looked like a raging demon. It tried to pass into the door but the door flashed and rejected him, throwing him back.
It roared once again, and then began beating the ground.
Striking and striking, sinking the spot it struck and digging out the soil.
On the other hand, Mark found himself in a new place, a new surrounding.
It was dark, and empty, with multitudinous specks of light around and distant, illuminating the area. Mark slowly fell, the Wind of Euses giving him balance and control, he looked below and saw a white hole which he suspected held the next trial.
Then a noise invaded his sense of serenity, it had him tensed and anxious for he did not expect enemies or challenges in this strange, viscous environment.
He turned around, darted his eyes back and forth, using the little light he was given, but there was nothing, there was no one. Then he decided to look at the notification.
Ding✓
[You've achieved the Bonus Objective for the Action and Serenity in the Ruin quest]
[You've been rewarded +10 stamina]
"Action and Serenity in the Ruin Quest, when did that happen?"
He noticed that he couldn't hear the sound of his voice in this new place.
He willed up his system sheet.
[Ability] [Skills] [Map]
[Affinity] [Stats]
[Quest]. [Inventory]
[Quest: Action and Serenity, Man vs Man Bull]
"So these are the quests I have undone, Man vs Man Bull seems impossible, at least to current me, perhaps I'll go back once I get the Temple's treasure and get even stronger, that Awawk bird too, I want that map."
"Hmmm… This is sorta interesting, I move my mouth and I hear nothing, I like it." He chuckled.
'It's just the novelty, nothing more."
In his silly state of existence, as he sunk down the seemingly endless channel of viscous black, he felt a warble through the space, and his body shifted slightly to the side.
He looked upwards to where he felt the shake had come from.
'I suppose it's nothing.'
Then there it was, again, and he was pushed to the side again.
The vibrations became stronger and frequent, it was like something or someone was beating on the space from outside.
"What the hell is happening?!" At this time, he was nearing the white entrance below.
Then there was a violent ripple, one that sent him down even faster.
He looked up, certain that something or someone was responsible for this new phenomenon.
He couldn't see much with the little light, except…
'An arm.'
A large arm jutted from the black space, squirming around like it wanted to grab a hold of something.
It withdrew and then the vibrations got stronger and violent. Two arms appeared in the empty space at a distance, but by this time, Mark got swallowed into the portal, and his environment changed.