Several more hours had passed since our encounter with the mimic, and we've had many more of such experiences, albeit with different monsters such as more orcs, more lizard-men, and even some undead creatures.

These monsters proved to be reasonably easy to handle, and the undead had been even more so as I only had to brandish Bloodsport and activate dread aura to stun them in place while dealing killing them. 

There was one or two royal undead who the fear effect didn't affect much, but they too did not pose much of a problem, leading us to the current situation. 

"Well, that's a boss room if I've ever seen one," I remarked with a raised eyebrow while staring at a gigantic wooden gate full of decorations depicting monsters fighting humans. 

"Oh, yeah? What makes you say that?" Briar sarcastically asked, causing me to turn around, giving her the middle finger, which she merely reacted to by chuckling. 

"Shall we?" I asked as I turned to look at the door again. "It's not like we have anything better to do," Briar replied, rolling her eyes at me. 

"Well, in that case...," I said with a smirk as I turned to look at Briar. "Ladies first," I added with a mock bow, earning a middle finger from the blonde for my effort. 

"Men...," Briar murmured with a sigh, shaking her head as she walked past me, pushing the wooden gate open. 

I shrugged my shoulders as I followed behind her as she opened the gate and walked inside into the darkroom. "Wait for it...," I remarked with a smile as I turned to look at the doorway behind us.

"Sure enough," I added with a chuckle as the door closed shut, leaving us stuck inside the room as torches all around the place began lighting themselves on fire.

The torches themselves were on pillars in the center of the room, or maybe a hall would be a better description of the place, creating a lit path towards the end of the chamber to a giant stone throne. 

And better yet, the throne wasn't empty, and a gigantic humanoid creature with the head of a bull that had a muscular, tall body covered in red fur, carrying an equally enormous axe.

"Wasn't this thing supposed to be in the fifth level?" I asked with twitching eyes while gazing at what I could only assume to be a minotaur. 

"Is there no end to how useless those townies can be?" I added with a sigh as I materialized both Bloodsport and Snowhite in my hand, trying and failing to read the monster's stats.

"Apparently not," Briar replied with a smirk, quickly turning her two arms into metallic blades. 

"Foolish Intruders!" the minotaur said in a deep, thundering voice. "Prepare to face my wrath!" it added as it stood up from the throne, brandishing its axe. 

"It even speaks, just great," I remarked with twitching eyes as I covered myself in aura armor, preparing for the incoming fight. 

"Well, it wouldn't be a proper boss battle without a few words from the host, would it?" Briar commented from the side with a smirk as she lowered her stance, preparing to lunge at the monster.

"Whatever," I replied with an annoyed sigh as I manipulated Snowwhite to take the shape of a desert eagle pistol, immediately taking aim and shooting three energy bullets.

"I will make you regret your leisure demeanors, humans!" the minotaur said, emphasizing the word human as if it was an insult while swinging its axe to block my energy bullets. 

It then roared savagely, showcasing two rows of sharp teeth, and charged at us at an incredible speed, causing Briar to smirk as she did the same, running towards the monster while scraping her arm blades against each other. 

I stayed in the same spot, taking aim and shooting more bullets as Briar finally reached the minotaur, jumping into the air to dodge a swing of its enormous axe. 

The minotaur wanted to attack Briar while she was in the air, but it noticed the bullets flying from behind the blonde and towards it. The minotaur ignored Briar for a second as it swung its axe again to block the energy bullets, leaving it vulnerable for a fraction of a second.

And Briar took advantage of that, sprouting a pair of fleshy wings and maneuvering herself in the air to get past the monster's arms, to slash at its unguarded neck. 

The minotaur noticed this and quickly took a step backward, but Briar's blades still managed to cut his chest right in the middle, creating a bloody red line gushing with blood on its torso. 

The minotaur roared in rage, swinging one of its enormous fists towards Briar, who was still midair, trying to recover her posture, leaving her unable to dodge. 

However, the monster's fists did not connect as three energy bullets came flying from behind Briar, hitting his hand and exploding, which created a small shock wave that sent Briar flying away from harm's way.

"That has to be the worst way to save someone!" Briar exclaimed with a smirk as she got up from the ground after crashing into it, thanks to my timely rescue. 

"Not like I needed saving anyway," she added as she ran her finger on her elbow, wiping what little blood was there and licking it with a crazed smile, causing the minor cut to disappear. 

'And it's not like I needed more convincing that you're a fucking crazy bitch, anyway.' I felt my eyes twitch at Briar's maniacal display as she charged towards the monster again.

She quickly reached the monster and launched herself into the air, face forwards with her arms protecting it as she began to spin like a drill.

"Die human!" the minotaur exclaimed while swinging his axe downwards at the approaching Briar, but she quickly moved to the side with a flap of her fleshy wings.

Briar's quick dodge put her past the monster's defenses, and she managed to cut a chunk of flesh from its side as she flew past the minotaur from the side, causing it to shriek even more loudly in pain.

In immense pain and rage, the minotaur decided to ignore my presence, turning around to chase after Briar, which was the last mistake the monster would make in its life. 

I dismissed Bloodsport, turning Snow while into a great sword and promptly converting half of my energy into an aura clone as I charged towards the monster's vulnerable back. 

I channeled most of my remaining energy into augmenting my speed and strength as I finally reached the minotaur, burying my Snowwhite into its back while moving it left and right, creating a hole in the monster's back.

I then dismissed Snowwhite as well, stepping the minotaur's back and jumping away as my clone stuck its hand into the bloody hole I created, immediately exploding. 

The monster had time to shriek for one last time before exploding into many pieces of flying flesh, innards, and bones that immediately turned into light particles, fusing together and turning into a bracelet.

[Berserk Bracelet: Grants the ability to get into a rage-induced frenzy while increasing the strength parameters by two minor grades.]

The bracelet itself was a metallic chain with a bull's head in the center, making it relatively simple but not bad-looking, nonetheless.

"You got another nice souvenir." Briar looked at the bracelet in my hand with a pout on her face as she began walking towards me. "It's yours if you want it," I said with a shrug as I threw the bracelet towards her. 

Although the increase in strength would be helpful, the downside of entering a rage-induced frenzy made it a two-edged sword that was more likely to cut me than whatever I was pointing it at if I'm not very careful.

In conclusion, there was no way in hell I would use this thing, not now nor ever. 

"Someone is in a generous mode today," Briar remarked with a raised eyebrow alternating her gaze between the bracelet and myself. "Not really," I replied while shrugging my shoulders. 

"That thing has a side effect that I don't like," I honestly added while shaking my head as she would figure that out by herself sooner and later, which would needlessly antagonize the blonde. 

And antagonizing Briar is something I didn't want to do as we were currently in the same boat, so I needed to keep my relationship amiable with her until we managed to clear the dungeon at least. 

"I appreciate your honesty, at least," Briar remarked with a chuckle as she put away the bracelet in her pack back while smiling. 

Briar tried to say something else, but suddenly more torches began lighting up in the chamber, revealing the hall's exit and interrupting her speech.

"These over dramatic cliches are getting old rather quickly," Briar remarked with a sigh while watching the said exit, a wooden gate similar to the one we came through, open wide.

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