“It’s here!” Shouted Nel at the top of his lungs. Narrowing his brown eyes, he twirled the spear and shoved it forwards, trying to poke a hole on the furry face of the monster before him. The speartip, however, bounced off the cow-head harmlessly and made the monster angry. Its mighty bellow giving pause to the assault of Nel and others for a moment. Gritting his teeth, Nel braced himself for any sudden attack from the cornered beast.

“Good job, Nel!” A young woman jumped from his back. She kicked the air with all her strength and propelled towards the monster. The daggers in her hands blazed red, leaving a trail of orange flame behind them.

Nel quickly retreated and then flanked the beast. Aiming at its knee, he gripped the shaft tighter and stabbed with all his strength. Meanwhile, the lady’s blades made a trail of orange lines across the hairy torso of the humanoid beast. Painful roars filled the narrow space where the three warriors confronted the beast. In desperation, it flailed the spiked mace in its hand to keep its attackers at bay.

However, none of the gathered warriors attacking this beast were novices. “Chen, immobilize it,” the woman with the short blades screamed, ducking a mad swing that would have taken her head if it had landed. Kicking the beast’s stomach, she pushed herself away from the range of its weapon’s reach.

“On it!” Chen, a man in his early twenties, shouted. His long yellow hair danced in the wind as he waved a stick -his magic wand- around while screaming the name of the spell he had been preparing for a while. "Confusion!"

A purple beam of light projected from the tip of his magic wand into the eyes of the beast.

Its movements came to a halt abruptly. With glazed eyes, it stood in the middle of a narrow hall, vulnerable to all the attackers flanking it.

The lady with daggers and Nel didn’t stand on ceremony; they launched a flurry of attacks at the beast with their weapons. Nel’s speartip glowed faintly; he bellowed loudly and stabbed at the beast’s thighs. The lady with daggers moved like a cheetah. Her hands became a blur as consecutive orange lines appeared on the back of the beast’s neck. Smoke rose from those wounds as the smell of charred meat filled the cramped space.

“Just a little more guys,” Chen encouraged. He was looking at the beast intently with one eye closed. “Nel, put more effort into your swings. They are not doing much damage. You can’t leave Loui to do all the work.”

“Ah! I’m trying, okay?” Nel grunted. He pulled the spear out of the beast’s thigh with some effort and stabbed again. Sweat poured from his brows and his black hair stuck to his face, but he kept on repeating the same thing again and again.

“How much more of its HP left?” Loui, the dagger girl, asked between her mad slashings. She was in no better condition than Nel.

“Hundred more to go,” Chen replied.

Suddenly, the beast’s body twitched. Its glazed eyes slowly became focussed as it showed signs of waking up. Noticing this, Chen hurriedly took a few steps back and shouted at his companions, “quick! It’s waking up!”

“Nel, use all your strength and attack its waist,” Loui said. Her swings became even faster than before. Bit by bit, she was slicing away chunks of muscles from its neck.

“On it!” Nel acknowledged. He took a deep breath and focussed all his remaining mana into the speartip. Letting out a throaty bellow, he thrust down with all his strength, aiming at the thick waist region.

Mooo!!!

The beast mooed in pain as both Nel’s speartip and Loui’s daggers broke through its spine and neck bones. It flailed like a fish out of water, forcing them both to jump away. Blood oozed from its wounds, creating a small puddle underneath its towering body.

“Five… four… three… zero!! Dead! It’s finally over!” Chen sighed in relief. He flopped his ass on the ground, inhaling oxygen in large mouthfuls. The beast stopped twitching and laid limp on the floor. Nel and Loui also sat down where they stood. They no longer had the energy to even stand.

“Ah! A minotaur is still too much for us to handle.” Loui complained. She was leaning against the wall while desperately trying to regulate her erratic breathing. She had spent a lot of her mana and stamina, leaving her gasping for breath. Even her hands were hurting from those lightning-fast movements she had performed towards the end.

“Who came up with this bright idea? Ah yes! It was Loui!” Nel said sarcastically, lying spread eagle on the floor. He was even more tired than her. His role in the team was to keep the monster’s attention focussed on himself. He had to watch his every step and make sure no mistakes were made. He couldn't even go too far from the monster’s eyesight, lest it shifts its attention to Loui or Chen. It was a stressful job.

“Sorry!” Loui groaned. She looked ashamed.

“Relax guys!” Chen butted in. “Look on the bright side; we’ve managed to kill this rare beast. We’re now rich!”

Both Loui and Nel’s eyes brightened. They stared at the corpse of the monster with excitement.

“How much is one of these worth?” Nel asked curiously.

“From my estimation, we are getting at least a few hundred thousand off its intact corpse,” Chen said. He couldn't wipe the grin off his face the whole time. “Can you believe it? A few hundred thousand credits!! We are going to get rich!”

“I suggest, instead of selling it directly, we put it up for auction,” Loui gave her two cents. “A Rank-II beast’s intact corpse is a rare commodity. Its supply couldn't meet the demand. We might even get millions if we put it for auction.”

“I think we should better sell it to the government,” Nel, who was listening to them all this time, quipped in. “A minotaur is rare even among Rank-II beasts. We might be able to earn something for our group. Who knows, maybe we can officially register this time. What do you guys think?”

Suddenly, both Loui and Chen went silent. They looked at each other and then at their hands and feet. Nel frowned. “What happened?” he asked. The way his two friends behaved was not normal. He had been with them for far too long to know when things were wrong.

“Err- listen to us, Nel. It’s not that we didn't want to tell you this-” Chen stuttered. He appeared struggling to find the right words. Nel’s heart sank to the bottom of his stomach.

“What do you want to say, speak your mind,” He urged his friend, who excelled in crowd control and appraisal.

“We are about to join Aries Guild,” Loui dropped the bomb. Unlike Chen, her personality was straightforward. She would often speak her mind without a filter, causing a lot of headaches for Chen and Nel during negotiations. “They scouted us last month. We are leaving the town this week.”

“What?” Nel asked, disbelief. He switched between Chen’s awkward look and Loui’s long face. They were not joking. A sour feeling welled up in his heart. He felt both abandoned and cheated. It was a pill hard to swallow.

“Why did you two not tell me until now?” Nel enquired. His tone carried a hint of bitterness, which his two friends immediately caught on.

“Sorry! We were planning to, but we never got the chance…” Chen said, sounding apologetic. Loui had already gone silent, not daring to utter a sound. Knowing her straightforward nature, she was afraid she would say something unnecessary and hurt Nel. It was better to let Chen do the talking.

“...” Chen panicked after seeing how silent Nel had been. He quickly added, “We have asked them to give you a spot as well. They said to think about this matter.”

“Co-congratulations, both of you,” After a brief silence, he squeezed out those words through his gritted teeth. Of course, due to having his back turned to them, they didn't see it. As for the guild’s words about giving him a spot, Nel didn't take it to heart. He already knew that no big guild will be willing to hire him.

“Alright, let’s haul it over. I’m feeling tired. I need some rest.” Nel said as he stood up.

“Okay,” Loui agreed as she stood up, followed by Chen. Chen took out a red-colored rope from his backpack. Nel and Loui wrapped it around the minotaur’s torso. They each held on to the rope, dragging it along the smooth pavement of the dimly lit hallway.

No one talked throughout the journey. Soon, a swirling yellow portal appeared in the distance. The exit was near. Nel felt emotional when he realized this was probably his last time raiding a Dungeon with his friends. He stealthily looked at Chen and Loui before letting go of a sigh.

He didn't blame them for following their career. He was only sad that he couldn't join them. He was also blaming himself for being unlucky. Unlike them, he didn't have a naturally awakened Skill, making him seem less appealing in the eyes of those star guilds.