Arcanis discovers his darker side. (Arc, Kirito, P)

Kirito made his way down the hall without triggering any traps or tests for once. However, at the end of the hall there was a giant double door. He had come this far he wasn't going to turn back now. Kirito would push open the door, his sharingan eyes spinning as he did so to become Mangekyo eyes just as he stepped past the door, eager to get the next part of the test over with.

As Kirito would step into the room the doors would slide heavily closed.  The room though dark before would suddenly become bright and in the middle of the cicular room was A tall figure.  The figure itself stood nearly 10 feet tall.  On it's two horns pushed out of the scalp curling inward.  It's long pointed ears underneath the horns were peirced with the ring of what looked to be a kunai hanging off each ear.  It wore an Anubis like neck decaration that spread down on his left side to the shoulder.  The face of the creature resembled that of a goat with a beard poking down off his face.  Behindhis head a mane of dark blue fur accented the blue of the creatures skin.  The Minotaur looked up at kirito with dark red eyes and shouted a massive roar brandishing a mighty broadsword.  The sword is 6 foot long and is shaped like a cleaver.  (yes this it claimable upon victory)  the Minotaur's massive feet thunders as he stomped the ground brandishing his sword preparing to attack.



This enemy has a health bar.  It's not about how hard you hit him but how many times.  Two swords would spawn next to Kirito.  The handels would already be etched with Kirito's FTG seal.

Kirito stepped into the dark room and it was immediately lit up. The room appeared to be circular with a large 10ft tall blue furred minotaur with dark red eyes standing in the center of the room. It had a large broadsword 6ft in length and shaped like a cleaver that he brandished as he greeted Kirito with a mighty roar. Two swords appeared next to Kirito with his FTG seal already on the handle's. He grabbed one in each hand and prepared for an attack that was sure to come. Looking at Gleam Eyes he could see it had a health bar. This fight was going to be interesting.

It seemed Kirito allowed his foe the first move.  It was a strange choice but not necessarily a bad one.  the beast took one step forward and tensed it's muscles sweeping his arm in a horizontal slash his sword fully extended intending to cleave the small man in two.  the sword would be just in each assuming Kirito didn't move, to cut the boy in half.

Gleam Eyes brought his sword fully extended in a powerful horizontal swing that was sure to cleave Kirito in two if he didn't move. Kirito's battle instincts instantly kicked in. He braced himself while simultaneously raising the sword in his left hand and putting his right arm over his head so that the sword in his right hand would be upside down parallel with the sword in his left so that he could stop Gleam Eyes attack. Once the sword had been stopped, he immediately brought his right arm down in front of him so as to close his two swords like scissors around Gleam Eye's sword while simultaneously taking a step forward and twisting his swords 180 degrees to the right and pushing forward so as to knock the giant sword from the Minotaur's hands. If this worked, Kirito would immediately charge forward at Gleam Eyes for his counter attack. If not stopped, he would slice the minotaur's abdomen first horizontally with the sword in his right hand followed by a diagonally upwards slice with his left sword, spinning 360 degrees to his right and using his momentum to slice horizontally with the right sword 4 inches above the first slice. He used the momentum from the third slice to spin 360 degrees to the right again this time slicing the minotaur horizontally with both swords followed by two simultaneous downward diagonal strikes forming an X and then immediately following the same X with two simultaneous diagonal upward strikes. He then made a downward diagonal slash with the sword in his right hand from the minotaur's left shoulder to his right hip, all in quick succession less than .05 seconds apart from each other.

The minotaur though not as fast as kirito was was no slouch. as his sword was blocked instead of pressing the attach he would pull the sword back to attack again with it. but before he did he used his momentum to swing his fist around and attack kirito's defenseless side. should this connest it would lift kirito off his feet and throw him against the wall. otherwise Kirito's attack would begin. taking a coule slashes the monster would punch Kirito in the face followed by a straight stab with his massive sword.

the monster would have taken quite a hit of damage from that last strike. but the beast would show little indication other than a strange red make for each of the cuts.

After Gleam Eyes' attack was stopped, he pulled his sword away and used the momentum to punch Kirito, making him fly into the air. As soon as the punch connected, Kirito would drop the sword in his right hand. Kirito was only knocked off his feet by Gleam Eyes' punch for about 3 seconds before disappearing in a yellow flash and appearing next to the sword he had just released, snatching it up and continuing with the previous attack. When the last slash was finished, Gleam eyes punched Kirito in the face, sending him backward about a foot and followed with a straight stab with his giant sword. As the stab began, Kirito quickly released the sword in his right hand, switching to a reverse grip and using it to slide along the edge of Gleam Eyes' sword so as to deflect the attack. As the stab passed Kirito, it brought the minotaur closer to him, leaving him open to an attack, which Kirito took full advantage of. He used the full momentum of the minotaur's stab to bring the sword in his right hand in a slash along the length of the inside of Gleam Eyes' arm, releasing the sword so that it would curve around the minotaur's neck and end up in the air behind it's head. Kirito would then disappear in a yellow flash, appearing in the air where the sword was behind the minotaur's head and grabbed the sword again in a reverse grip. While still in mid air, Kirito would rotate 360 degrees horizontally to the right, slashing the back of Gleam Eyes' neck twice before dropping to the floor and switching his grip on the right hand sword back to normal, preparing for his next assault.

The slashes cintinued to drain the health bar floating above the beasts head. Arc watched from his perch resisting the urge to go down and help his student. He knew what the minotaur was capable of. Arc could feel the mangekyo sharingan going wild in his head. He had been working on a new technique but if he released it he wasn't sure it was up to the point where he would be able to control it yet.

The Minotaur after being slashed from behind hunched over as if in pain but instead it kicked out in a back kick. Kirito would now see just how large the things feet were as if the blow landed would easily send him flying and knock the wind out of the guy, possibly cracking s few ribs.

After Kirito's last strike to the back of the Minotaur's head, it bent over as if in pain. Kirito, having already prepared for an incoming attack, was ready for what came next, or at least partially ready. The minotaur had obviously not bent over in pain as one of it's very large hooves was now being sent straight at Kirito. Kirito had just enough time to pivot 90 degrees on his right foot so that the edge of Gleam Eyes' hoof grazed his chest, leaving a deep cut and a broken rib on his right side and making him take a step backward. Even though he was in pain, he spared no time in his counter strike. When the minotaur's hoof was completely past him, Kirito brought both swords down with all his strength, intending to sever the hoof from the leg. If he managed to sever the hoof, he would then spin 360 degrees to the right, making 2 horizontal slashes with his swords on the remaining portion of the leg followed by 2 upward slashes by both swords and then 2 downward slashes forming an X with both swords. He would then switch to a reverse grip and make 2 upwards slashes in an X followed by stabbing both swords downward into the leg and using the momentum to vault himself upward over the swords in a front flip motion, grabbing the swords in a normal grip and bringing them down the minotaurs back in two parallel slashes. Once back on the ground, he spun 360 degrees to his right making two horizontal slashes with his swords followed by a diagonally upward slash with his right sword followed by a diagonally downward slash with his left and then finally a straight jab at the minotaur's lower back with both swords simultaneously.

The attacks were relentless and the Minotaur had no time to react in between the onslaught of attacks. It fell to it's knees and shattered into nothingness. “Good job Kirito, you beat the boss....but you went the wrong way. The Minotaur was just kept down there as a challenge. You have to back track your way back to the ravine.” Arc's voice would hold a hint of pride as he was capable of suppressing his urge to release the jutsu building in his eye.

Kirito had defeated the minotaur with some minor injuries but it seemed he had chosen the wrong path. Arcanis' voice could be heard announcing he needed to go back to the ravine and choose another route. Before leaving, Kirito had activated his sage mode since Isobu was STILL gathering nature energy and healed his wounds before releasing it. 'Thank you for gathering that nature energy for me Isobu. I fell I may need it again in this maze. Would you mind gathering more for me please?' he asked the Sanbi in his mind. 'I will do as you wish Kirito. Be careful and do not forget you have my power to aid you as well should you need it.' was the response he received as Isobu began gathering nature energy for him once again. Kirito then summoned his Susano'o which picked up Gleam Eyes' giant sword and Kubikiribocho before it disappeared, storing them for later use. Kirito then performed the Ram hand seal and created 2 sheaths on his back which he sheathed the swords in before turning back to the ravine. Once he got back to the oddly well lit cavern, he examined the walls lining the floor of the ravine once more. He didn't find any other doorways or exits of any kind which made him wish he had had the forethought to place his FTG seal on the cliff above. Now he had to get back up there to search the walls above.

Kirito withdrew his raijin kunai and threw it to stick in the top of the cliff face where he had originally jumped down from. He disappeared in a yellow flash to reappear atop the cliff, grabbing the raijin kunai. Now back to where he had started upon entering the ravine, he decided to examine the wall where the door he entered from was. He found what he was looking for 70 meters to the right of the door and 50 meters high up on the wall. He once again used his raijin kunai to get through the door, throwing the kunai through the door then teleporting to it and snatching it out of the air. Once through the door of his newly chosen path, Kirito would begin walking down the long corridor. He wondered to himself what the next obstacle he needed to overcome would be.

Kirito continued to walk down the hallway that he had chosen. This particular hall way was less a tutorial on using the FTG jutsu and more on the ability to problem solve and escape traps while working your way through the halls. This hallway slanted upward slightly which being underground would be a relief probably. The hallway went on for a long while ever slanting upward.as he walked though the slightest slightest unnoticable gradient of fully lit went to stumbling around in the dark over the 1 km that he would have to travel down this hall. There would be enough light to see the curves of the path but one would have to really look to not stumble over the stones that occasionally littered the floor. This hall way like the cavern seemed hewn from the stone itself. The door at the end would be the same as the ones that required the dagger to be placed in a slot.

As Kirito walked down this tremendously long hallway it seemed to slant upwards getting gradually darker until he hit a point where it was so dark that he was barely able to see the curvature of the floor and had to really focus to see everything else. Upon coming to the end of the corridor, Kirito found a door the same style that needed his kunai to be stuck in a slot in order to open. He gave a sigh before starting to examine the walls on either side, gradually making his way back to the entrance to the corridor as he looked for the slot that triggered the mechanisms for opening the door which was surely to be hidden somewhere knowing Arcanis.
[TWC: 4743. Claiming FTG-2k words, Gleam Eyes' sword, 1 Raijin kunai, 2 katana with Kirito's FTG seal on the hilt, 4700ryo and 2743 words toward something else.]

Approved

Reapproved

WHAT A TWIST. The door was powered by a pressure plate.  The light filtering in from outside would be blinding as he had spent so much time in the dark just now.  Arc would smile and transport himself to kirito and smile beamingly at his apprentice.  “Congrats you found the back door.  If you ever want to go through again there are more levels.  Good job and you can keep the weapons.”  Arc would then leave as there was a pretty big tournament coming up.  But he would take Kirito along for the ride.

“Before we go though...” Arc had to do some preliminary work including copying Kirito's eyes and taking a pint of his blood.  He would place the eyes in the sealed chamber with the other ones.  “Sorry bud I need them for research.”  he would then bonk his head on Kirito's in a friendly manner before wrapping his arm around Kirito's shoulder and heading to the bijuu training island

[exit]
TWC 4268

3000 finishing off Tsutsumuaisu
1000 for third tomoe

4200 ryo

The door had seemingly opened on its own, letting in the outside light which temporarily blinded Kirito. Standing beyond the door was Arcanis. He offered his congratulations and said if he enjoyed the maze he was welcome to come back again as there were even more levels. He then announced he could keep the weapons. Before leaving, Arc made a copy of his eyes and took a pint of his blood, apologizing and explaining he needed them for research before they both left together for Bijuu Training Island.
[exit]

Approved