Basement Dungeon ~Poor Siblings become the Strongest and Enjoying Exploration~

　We are now ready for today’s boss fight.

　I put my hand in the jar.

　Obviously, I’m not making pickles. Another item dropped from the Golden Skeleton I had defeated earlier was this jar. At first, I thought it was an ordinary jar, but I was stuffing it with drop items that I couldn’t carry as a substitute for a bag on my way home, something strange happened.

　As soon as I put things in the jar, the things inside disappear. And when I put my hand in the jar again, I somehow knew what was inside.

　The storage-type item that I finally dreamed of appeared. I was so excited, and after eliminating about thirty stampedes that I found by accident while experimenting with the chain, I put all the dropped items into the jar and lifted it up to take it home.

　It was really heavy. The original jar weighed a few kilograms. Now it’s hard to lift even with my increased stats. While I somehow understood the effect of this jar, I decided to throw away some of the contents and go home until it was heavy enough not to interfere with the battles.

　When I go home, I use a bucket and a scale to experiment with the effects of this item. Well, you get the idea. I put a weight in the bucket and weighed it, then I put the same amount of weight in the jar and weighed it. Unfortunately, it seems that my prediction was correct.

　The jar can hold more than it appears to, but the weight does not decrease. The capacity of the jar is not known. In other words, if there is no limit, it would be possible to create something with a terrifying degree of density. Theoretically.

　But we don’t need such a thing for personal use. It was the moment when all the things in our house can be placed within thirty centimeters cubed (27,000 cu-cm or 0.027 cu-m or 1 cu-ft). For some reason, even things that would never fit through the mouth of the jar could fit. As soon as it touches the entrance of the jar, it becomes smaller and smaller as if space is distorted and it goes into the jar.

　You can imagine it like that. The image is similar to seeing something beyond an open fire or your vision during a heatwave. By the way, it seems that living things cannot enter.

　Aside from that, I took out my equipment and other necessary items from the jar and carefully cleaned it before putting it on. Then I went out into the garden to start working on our sparring.

　We used to spar in the basement at first, but now that both of us have improved our skills and basic physical strength, we decided to do it outside because we would instantly run into a wall if we did it in the basement. No weapons. We don’t have any neighbors, and it’s a walled garden, but if they find us and report us, we’ll be in trouble.

　So after some jumping, kicking, and punching, we got our breathing under control. We checked our gear again.

“Today, no matter what happens, we end with one boss battle.” (Kei)

“All right. If it’s the same as last time, you can run away, so brother, don’t get hurt first.”

　We exchanged a few words and went into the dungeon. The path we took was only a few meters before the transition, so we didn’t encounter any monsters. The transition took us to the fifteenth level, and there was a large gate in front of us.

　I didn’t bring a backpack today, but rather a pouch that would stay close to my body, so I didn’t need to organize my stuff. On my waist are my black wolf knife and the machete I’ve been using. In my pouch are three potions. And in my hand, I hold a hoe. Hal also held her nail bat firmly behind her.

“First, let’s see what’s going on. Let’s go.” (Kei)

　I touch the gate and it slowly opens with a heavy thud. Gradually, I could see what was inside. It was like a cave, but one that could be rampaged through with complete ease. There is a space the size of a school gymnasium. And in the middle. The boss sits on a rock growing out of the ground with its eyes shut.

“Minotaur.”

　As soon as I stepped into the room, the boss’s name appeared in my mind. The cow-headed man, who was about three meters tall, opened his eyes.

　There was still more than ten meters between us, and the Minotaur slowly stood up, never taking its eyes off us. At the same time, its large arms, as thick as a man’s torso, easily lifted an overly large ax that was lying next to it.

　As it swung the ax upward to show off its massive body, the ax began to glow reddish-black. I could feel the overwhelming power building up in the ax, and cold sweat began to drip down my face. No matter how much of a boss it is, it will be difficult to close the gap of more than 10 meters between us. Since its body is unchanged, it doesn’t use any skills to increase its mobility. So in order to move, it has to move under its own power. There is no way it can reach us. But I felt a stirring in my chest.

“Guuaaa!” (Minotaur)

　Goosebumps dotted my skin and the Minotaur swung down the ax. A flow of force seemed to extend towards us from the ax as it hits the ground.

“Jump to the side!” (Kei)

　　Before I could even think about it, I shouted and jumped to the left as hard as I could. At the same time that I jumped left and Haru jump right, a torrent of power runs through the place where we were standing. What remained was a large crack on the ground.

“Guaah!” (Minotaur)

　After the Minotaur made the first move, it runs through the place where the slash passed without opening giving an opening, and approached us.

“[Speed]” (Kei)

　I used it on me and Haru, and we distanced ourselves from the Minotaur.

“Oh, [Bomb] [Decaple]” (Haru)

　Haru noticed something and sends ten magic shots at the Minotaur, but it is swept away by the swing of its large ax. It only receives a few minor burns that hit its body. By the way, [Decaple] means ten times.

“Hey, the retreat is blocked. The Minotaur is pretty smart.” (Kei)

　The current situation seems pretty bad. Haru and I were separated by the first attack, and our way to retreat was blocked.

“I’ll go in as usual. The magic won’t have any effect, so I’ll focus on distracting it.” (Kei)

　As far as I saw from the previous attack while holding my hoe and plunging into the Minotaur, the difference in power between me and it is much higher than when I fought the Hobgoblin. If I get hit even once, I will be split into two.

　That’s why I’m not planning on getting hit. The difference in power is so huge even trying to parry it will result in me being blown away. I have to avoid all attacks. There is no room for attacking it. The only window of attack is at the moment where it defends against Haru’s attack.

　The movement of his eyes, the bulging of his muscles, the timing of his breathing. I force myself to keep track of everything and dodge the attacks.

　The attacks are so fast that I almost feel dizzy, but the moment I do, death awaits me. I duck and wait desperately for that moment. The moment is prolonged for a long time until Haru’s magic comes flying.

“Borther [Bomb] [Decaple]” (Kei)

　When the ten magic attacks gathered in one place unlike from before, they pierce the face of the Minotaur and cause an explosion. The Minotaur is tough. Even if it receives magic head-on, it is still calm. But the purpose is to blind it. In battle, if it closes its eyes, we will almost certainly win. And the face of the Minotaur is wrapped in smoke, making it impossible to see around. A chance to win.

“I’ll slash of your head. [Chain]” (Kei)

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　The slash is transmitted by the chain so that it passes through the eyes and into the body.

　The hoe went right for the eyes of the Minotaur without a moment’s hesitation.

　The hoe was caught by the Minotaur’s hand just before it sliced through the eye. The slash was transmitted and caused numerous scratches on its arm, but it brushed it off as if it was only annoyed by it. It kept its grip on the hoe.

　As a matter of course, the other side of the hoe was still held by me. It would be a light but not deadly attack for us. I couldn’t even hold on to the hoe and was blown away at a tremendous speed. The hoe was also shattered.

“Broootheeer!” (Haru)

　I heard Haru’s panicked voice. I’m fine, my bones aren’t broken. I stood up and poured all three potions over my head. As the pain drained from my body, my agitated mind cooled down.

　That’s why I realized. The current behavior of the Minotaur was clearly strange. In the past, monsters would always run at me when their view was blocked. However, this Minotaur did not even panic but instead accepted the hoe as if it knew where it was going to be attacked.

　If the cow’s current behavior is part of the monster’s original behavior, it’s a bit poor. That’s why we need to experiment.

“Haru, throw a bomb!” (Kei)

　When instructed to throw something she never had, let alone a bomb, Haru became panicked. That’s no problem. It’s just that I went out of my way to make sure that she wouldn’t act badly, so I gave instructions that would make her confused and unable to move. But…

“Minotaur, you understand our words, right?” (Kei)

　I asked the Minotaur. As soon as I instructed Haru, he took a step away from her and held his ax like a shield. It was as if he was protecting himself from the blast and debris.

“Why do you know about “bombs”?” (Kei)

　Hal seemed to have noticed and approached me, nail bat at the ready.

“That’s the knowledge of the dungeon? Well. If you have the intelligence to understand people’s words, you’re not our enemy.” (Kei) [T/N: So Kei used the Japanese word “bakudan” for bombs instead of the spell which is written in katakana. Apparently, this boss knows Japanese.]

“Then, let’s go for round two, shall we?” (Kei)