A brief silence ensued as we now stood in front of the massive circular-shaped opening in the hill, leading into a void of darkness.

Even I could feel the mana particles in the air flooding against my face, resembling the presence of a tornado, from within the cave, so I couldn't even imagine what Leo was feeling.

Taking a step forward, Leo muttered.

"You're not lying..."

Shrugging my shoulders, I now pointed in the opposite direction, where we had come from, and said.

"I saw Serena go that way if you still want to follow her."

Leo could be considered morally righteous, but he had just met those girls not even two weeks ago.

Alternatively, real and undiscovered mana dungeons in this world were extremely rare, to the point where one being found would break every major news network in the world.

Mana dungeons could be raided multiple times, their locations being worth millions of gold coins alone to guilds, but only the first time would they drop extremely rare loot and chests.

Loot dropped from these dungeons sold for billions of coins and could range anywhere from D to S-rank.

There was only one way to gather mana artifacts in this world: receive them from dungeons.

They could be made by blacksmiths, imbued with mana using stones from demonic beasts, but authentic ones were exponentially more powerful.

As I took a step into the cave, Leo began stuttering, his hand being forced.

"Y-you, how d-"

Nodding my head, I simply looked back and said.

"You're lucky I took you here, you know?"

Even if his mind hadn't yet made a decision, his body subconsciously followed mine as the two of us entered the darkness within the cave.

As we entered, the world around us seemed to tear apart as fragments of the walls around cracked like glass, pouring onto the floor and leaving gaps in space.

For a moment, I found myself in a pitch-black void, surrounded by shining stars, my body burning apart under the pressure.

Then, in the next moment, shadowy figures began forming around me, hiding away the black void from sight and creating a new scene.

Around me now lay...an ancient coliseum, towering for miles into the air and covered with vines.

Massive stone arches rose from the jungle floor, cracks split the weathered stone-brick walls of the coliseum, and the seats were completely empty.

The air was thick, smelling of damp earth and moss, while shafts of pale light barely snuck through the top of the coliseum, casting a gloomy atmosphere.

Standing atop the stone platform in the middle of the abandoned coliseum, I glanced to my side where Leo stood with his sword.

Simply unsheathing my Dao, I smiled and pointed to the opposite side of the platform, where a figure almost quadruple the size of us stood.

"I've done some research: the boss's name is Asterion, also known as the Greek Minotaur."

With two protruding horns atop its head, a height of more than 12 feet, and a perfectly trained frame with eight abs bursting out of its exposed stomach, the minatour moved forward, exposing itself to the light.

Each step it took sent a tremble through the entire ground, causing me to stumble forward slightly.

Standing on two feet, the minatour had a massive battle axe in its hand, the length of six feet, while gazing at us.

It had the head and tail of a bull and the body of a human.

Pointing to the curved torns atop the minatour's head, I said, turning to face Leo, who had a solemn expression.

"Focus on its horns. Its mana power is concentrated there. You can attack however you like; I'll adapt."

In reality, there was no need for me to adapt.

I had personally written and researched Leo's art, combat style, and every one of his movements.

With all the sword training and knowledge in my head, I could easily incorporate that information to create a footwork routine to perfectly complement his style.

Simply glancing at me for a moment, Leo nodded his head before awkwardly saying.

"We're talking after this."

Not giving me a chance to respond, he sprinted forward, but at that moment, the minatour's entire body became outlined by a blue hue.

Mana strengthening.

The process of taking mana in from your surroundings, circulating it through your body, and using it to strengthen your skin barrier.

It was the final thing that first-years at Four-Axis would learn, after mana manipulation and mana blades.

Seemingly sensing something off, Leo jumped backward, and at that moment, the minatour's axe crashed down to the ground.

Diving to the right while Leo leaped left, I narrowly avoided the axe, watching it break through the stone-ground and embed itself within.

But, without even wasting a beat, the minatour immediatly withdrew its axe and took aim at Leo, who was sprinting at its leg.

Yet, as Liam looked upward, seeing the looming shadow of the massive battle axe, I screamed.

"CONTINUE!"

Unlike with the fairies, only three holographic lines appeared from the battle axe.

Because of the axe's heavy weight, the minatour could only perform so many attacks at a certain position, decreasing the quantity of lines.

Running toward the lines, I placed my sword horizontally above me, feeling a massive pressure crashing against my body a moment later, as if a tsnumi had hit me directly.

Yet, I managed to hold the axe off.

In front of me, Leo reached the base of the minatour's body and swiped his katana at its leg.

Yet...nothing happened.

Leo's katana, which had mercifully swiped through powerful opponents before, like Haerin and Magnus...simply bounced back, like a bouncy ball hitting the ground.

Letting go of my sword, watching the axe crash down without anything to block it, I stumbled forward, narrowly avoiding being crushed, and screamed.

"BREAK THROUGH!"

There was only one way we could win this fight.

Liam would have to learn how to apply his mana-cancelling attribute, his innate ability, to not just his eyes but his entire body.

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