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[h2]Huladuras - Rejector of Everything[/h2][b][color=darkred]Chapter 0 - A Rude Awakening[/color][/b][hr]
Responding to your reply - both verbal and action - the Minotaur Monarch let out an excited grin and a short grunt before meeting your charge with one of his own. Their left arm was raised in anticipation of your attack, and met your hammer right at the base of its head. As they collide, the Beast twisted their wrist and grabbed your weapon, locking it in place before forcefully yanking it and you towards themselves. He was aiming for a headbutt.

Your opening gambit was a dud as the Beast's movement were way more refined than his brutish looks, but you were no slouch either. Using the momentum from your opponent's pull and your weapon's leverage, you coiled your body and jumped - avoiding the beast's charge and positioning yourself on their blindspot. Then, using gravity as a boost, you launched a drop kick at the beast's cranium.

The Minotaur reflexively cocked their head sideways to avoid the blow, but his position was simply too awkward to avoid the attack entirely. Your drop kick hit the Beast straight at their left shoulder with a resounding shockwave. You were surprised at how much power you exerted with that one attack - leagues above what an average mortal should be able to - but what shocked you more was the hardness of which the Minotaur's thick hide and solid muscle was. It was as if you were hitting a slab of steel. Sinewy, flexible slab of steel, if there were ever such a thing.

[color=darkred]"Hmph. Not bad,"[/color] the Beast commended you, right before he grabbed your leg and spinned you around with the intention of slamming you straight to the ground.

You quickly kicked the beast's palm with your other leg to avoid the worst, and thankfully it worked. The Minotaur's grip loosened and you managed to twist your body out of their intended trajectory - flying sideways instead of downward. You landed safely twenty feet from your opponent, relatively unscathed aside from minor scrapes here and there as you skid around on the floor.

You then rose on your feet in preparation for a follow up attack, yet what greeted you were not the Beast - but rather your own weapon. The hammer head crashed on the ground just inches before you, breaking and creating small stalagmites over the obsidian floor. Sweat trickled down your face. Had you took a second longer to get up, your head would have been crushed.

[color=darkred]"You said you were no prodigal son,"[/color] a voice boomed, breaking your moment of daze. [color=darkred]"Then tell me, [i]what[/i] are you?"[/color]