System Fall

The Glaive came down again, crashing into the mat of the arena. Part of the flooring collapsed around it, and I surged forward to attack the minotaur. It quickly pulled the Glaive back and dodged into one of the metal cages.

I was having a tougher time than I thought I would.

In the prior timeline, during the Intermediate Tutorial, there was a rumor that the [The Arena of Combat] had cages on the inside. I had seen many cages during my fight already, and the arena itself was broken up into almost a maze of cages. The rumor, though, was that the Obsidian Minotaur had a separate ability beyond its combat prowess that would let it teleport from cage to cage.

I didn’t know the specifics; I hadn't been part of the group that went in to defeat it, and the few who knew had kept the information close.

I wasn't even sure if the monster they’d fought was the same one I was facing or some other variety.

I was pretty clueless as to what other variety

But I was pretty certain that whatever it was, it wasn't this kind of nonsense.

I ran after the Obsidian Minotaur.

I had expected to be thrown into some new area of the mind-boggling maze when the Minotaur and I went through that cage portal together. The problem was, on the other side, the monster was nowhere to be seen.

From where I was, I could see most of the entire interior of the building. I saw stacks of cages surrounding the inner octagon. From what I could tell, I was on the second story of the building. I jumped out of the cage and landed on a platform below.

I was a bit scratched up, but otherwise fine. I took a few deep breaths and stood up. To my right, several meters away, was a pair of boxing gloves with a single key attached. I approached it cautiously, keeping my blade at the ready.

Another realization struck me.

"If it had been anyone else, if it had been a group that came through here, would they still be together? Or would they have been separated by this dungeon cage maze thing?"

The answer was easy enough. I clenched my hands into fists and felt anger rise in me. One look at the sprawling maze around the arena let me know exactly what the answer was. Challengers didn’t matter. It was never about confronting the monster. It was about slaughter, and this maze would have served to easily allow the Obsidian Minotaur to separate groups and take down individual fighters one at a time.

"In the end, even the rules of this game don’t matter to the [Admin]. He just wants people to suffer."

It wasn't that I was some sort of Ally of Justice.

I was just fed up with being toyed with.

Upon reaching the boxing gloves, I picked them up, pondering which direction to take. The maze-like nature of the cages made me question whether just defeating the Obsidian Minotaur was my ultimate goal or what purpose the gloves had. There hadn’t been any kind of notification for guidance, and most of Zagrid's directions leaned towards waiting out the clock.

There was no way for me to keep dodging, evading, and chasing the Minotaur non-stop for that amount of time. Exhaustion and dehydration would get me long before anything else; and even if I managed to hide from it instead, there was no guarantee it wouldn’t find me if I tried to rest.

I had to figure it out.

I grabbed the gloves.

Instantly, the cages around me seemed to become more real, more physical, and turned to a duller grey rather than the dark metal they had been. The Obsidian Minotaur jumped out from one of the newly changed cages with a lethal strike of the Glaive aiming directly for my head.

I dodged to the side and the monster followed up with another pump with a muscular arm. The blow caught me in the stomach, and I flew backwards with an "Urgh". The monster lowered its head, aiming its horns at me to try to gore me.

Clutching at my side, I scrambled out of the way and climbed into an unchanged cage and found myself transported once again.

So long as the monster could maneuver freely between the maze and the cages, I was going to have a hard time. And just like I’d run away to heal, the beast could do the same if I managed to injure it. I had to figure out what to do in advance.

The solution had to do with the gloves and the center of the maze. I was sure of it. That was the point of any game, there had to be a way to win, even if the odds were near impossible. Even if the [Admin] was ruthless and enjoyed human suffering, one fact I would begrudgingly admit was that every scenario had a solution.

I walked around a bit, creating a mental map in my head of the cage maze as I tried to approach its center and locate another pair of boxing gloves. It would be useful to find another and shut down more of the cage portals.

Even as I tried to find more, I didn’t come across another pair of the gloves. When I reached the Octagon, I found in my absence it had repaired itself, and all scenes of the earlier battle were gone. I tossed the pair I had down into the center of the arena, and in response the cages around me all went grey. Instantly, the Obsidian Minotaur emerged with a powerful downwards punch. The arena rocked from the blow, but I was ready and pivoted, weapon raised ready to fight.

The beast stared at me wordlessly before charging. As I raised my sword, our fight started once more. It was enraged without its easy escape route, and I found myself struggling. I couldn’t outmaneuver the powerful creature, and its battle prowess matched my own. My only skill was Magical Resistance, which wasn't particularly useful in a physical battle. I relied on my experience and body, but my body had limits I couldn’t push beyond.

My injuries accumulated and stacked up. Each part of my body was covered in small and shallow cuts. I dodged and evaded as I could, but every time I tried to land a hit, the monster tried to return one on me. None landed with serious effect, but they did build up my Tenacious Vitality went into effect.

I seized the opportunity to collect droplets of my blood with my sword, activating the Berserker Unbound ability as the fight continued. The blade started to glow and thirsted for more.

A sudden idea struck me.

I kicked off the cage walls in a zig-zagging ascent, dodging a swipe from the Minotaur as I soared high above its head. Then I jumped, twisting my body to increase my momentum and the momentum of my sword as I transitioned into an overhead slash.

My sword embedded itself into the Minotaur's shoulder, and using gravity to my advantage, I dragged it down the beast's broad torso, stomach, and hips before the monster brought up a powerful knee attack, sending me sprawling backward.

My back collided with the cage, and I gasped, my eyes aflame with hatred for the monster. I had bitten the inside of my cheek during the tumble, and now my mouth tasted metallic, like coins. I spat out a glob of red-stained saliva and stood up, noticing something in the corner of my vision.

There was another pair of boxing gloves, that hadn't been there before when I had explored this area. It dawned on me then, a clue into just how the maze puzzle worked.

"The next set doesn’t spawn until I after I grab it."

With a surge of energy, I ran, lunged for, and grabbed the gloves, not bothering to orient myself with the relentless monster hot on my heels. Cages nearby turned grey, and I kept running, twisting down a corridor between the defunct cage portals. Then I saw it.

I was trapped in a dead end.

I turned around.

The Obsidian Minotaur stood in my path, its eyes glowing menacingly.

For a moment, I began to doubt my decision to go solo. But only a moment. I was the Lone Survivor after all.

I ran towards it and the beast roared, bringing the Glaive down on the pathway. I dodged kicking off the cage walls and ran past it. This time, I found another pair of gloves and went down a side path.

The Minotaur didn't follow me this time.

I panted, utterly exhausted. Reaching for a small canteen inside my jacket, I unscrewed the cap and took a few sips of water. I had filled it from a tap, thankful that water from utilities didn’t have the same system restrictions as regular drinking water. It was an oversight, not a feature.

It felt like I was halfway through the maze, the previous battle a blur of reaction and instinct.

Could there be some other puzzle at work?

When I got one set of gloves, the Obsidian Minotaur appeared. When I got two, it followed me relentlessly. When I got the third, it stopped, and I found myself alone again. A hazy theory started forming in my mind, and started to mumble to force myself to work through the haze of exhaustion. My Indomitable Will kicked in and helped me to steady my thoughts.