Minotaur?

Li Yu felt a bit disappointed, but he treated the aimless stroll as a way to familiarize himself with the city. Once the time was right, he headed to the vegetable market to pick up groceries for dinner.

By the time Li Yu returned home, the sky had turned completely dark. After finishing his meal, he went back to scrolling through videos.

As time ticked by and Li Yu remained engrossed in his screen, a sudden explosion rocked the area near his home.

The blast startled Li Yu, and he rushed to the window to look toward the source of the sound.

"A gas explosion?" Li Yu couldn't help but frown at the sight of flames shooting into the sky.

After a moment of thought, he decided to go check it out. With that, he grabbed his Tang dao and dashed out.

The neighborhood where Li Yu lived consisted of ordinary residential buildings, and because of the explosion, many people were out watching.

Some, like Li Yu, were heading toward the blast site, and without exception, everyone was armed.

It seemed everyone had the same idea: they were hoping to see if they might encounter some kind of monster.

Li Yu completely suppressed his presence, moving through the shadows. Because of this, hardly anyone noticed him.

Arriving silently at the scene, Li Yu heard the sounds of combat before he even got close, which made him quicken his pace.

The explosion had occurred in a small park, a place where elderly people and children usually played. It wasn't large, roughly the size of ten standard soccer fields.

Upon reaching the site, Li Yu saw a group of people surrounding a Minotaur nearly three meters tall on a basketball court.

Li Yu was stunned when he saw the beast; it was clad in armor and brandishing a massive axe.

"Minotaur?" Isn't that a monster from Greek mythology? A bull-headed man!

Watching the crowd struggle to take down the beast, Li Yu silently backed away.

More and more people were joining the fray, all eager to carve out a piece of the Minotaur for themselves.

Even though some had already been injured, the Minotaur was still handling the crowd with ease.

It was clear from this that the Minotaur's strength was far beyond what Li Yu could currently contend with.

Li Yu retreated to a deserted spot in the distance to continue watching, as the explosion had drawn an ever-increasing crowd to the scene.

He could already hear sirens; it wouldn't be long before the patrol teams arrived.

If the crowd couldn't take down the Minotaur by the time the patrols arrived, then it would no longer be any of their business.

Since he couldn't participate, he might as well take this opportunity to learn something in secret.

There were many people involved this time—mages and martial artists alike—a perfect learning opportunity that Li Yu couldn't afford to miss.

Activating Kenkeiko, Li Yu began to carefully observe the various techniques used by those fighting.

If he could learn a few more talents, that would be even better; Li Yu wouldn't turn away anything, good or bad.

Unfortunately, he didn't manage to learn any talents; it was as if his eyes were being picky.

This subtle sensation felt incredibly strange to Li Yu. Is this for real? Can his eyes actually reject talents?

Or perhaps, those people's talents weren't being fully displayed, unlike the way Kato Megumi and Yukino Yukinoshita had demonstrated theirs right in front of him.

Just as Li Yu was pondering this, his peripheral vision caught a familiar figure.

Asuna Yuuki... Li Yu was surprised to see her. Does she live around here too? She actually ran over here as well.

Li Yu hesitated but didn't go over to greet her, choosing instead to keep his presence hidden and continue his observations.

Let her be; he shouldn't let it distract him from learning various magic. His mind was already filling with a wealth of magical knowledge.

The sensation of knowledge entering his brain was addictive, so he had no interest in investigating whether she lived nearby.

"Gaaah!" Just as Li Yu was focusing on his studies, a faint sound drifted from the greenery beside him.

The noise instantly snapped Li Yu back to reality, and he turned his head toward the source.

Through the dim park lights and the night, Li Yu spotted a small creature crouching in the bushes.

It was trying its best to hide its form, as if terrified of being discovered, its entire body huddled within the small patch of landscaping.

Li Yu's eyes lit up when he saw the thing, but he quickly calmed himself down.

Is there only one? Or are there several? And what kind of monster is this? Although Li Yu knew something was hiding there, he had no idea what kind of entity it was.

After a moment of thought, Li Yu remembered Asuna Yuuki and quietly slipped away from the spot.

Without any intelligence, Li Yu felt it was better to find someone else. Wasn't Asuna Yuuki right there? The two of them should be able to handle it!

At that moment, Asuna Yuuki was also on the perimeter, watching the crowd surround the Minotaur. To be honest, she really wanted to join in.

But there were too many people, and everyone wanted to kill the Minotaur to claim its magic stone.

This resulted in a chaotic situation. If she rushed in rashly, she would likely draw the ire of the others, so she had to suppress her urge to jump in.

Just as she was watching, someone tapped her on the shoulder. Her hair stood on end, and she instinctively pulled away, her right hand instantly flying to the hilt of the sword she carried.

"Li Yu?" Asuna Yuuki was stunned when she saw who had tapped her; she hadn't expected it to be him.

"Follow me!" Li Yu gestured with his blade, said that, and turned to leave.

Asuna Yuuki frowned at the sight, but after a moment of thought, she followed him.

Once she caught up, she looked at Li Yu with a puzzled expression and asked, "Classmate Li Yu? Where are we going?"

"I discovered monsters over there, though I'm not sure how many. Let's work together to take them out!" Li Yu quickly explained the situation.

Hearing this, Asuna's eyes lit up, and she immediately replied, "Okay!!"

Her tone was eager; after all, she had never fought a monster before, and now she finally had the chance.

At the same time, she felt a little nervous, fearing that she might encounter a monster she couldn't defeat even with all her might.

Li Yu led Yuuki Asuna back to a corner of the park. Upon arriving, Li Yu lightened his footsteps and silently tossed his scabbard aside, drawing his weapon.

Watching Li Yu's actions, Asuna instantly understood that they had reached their destination. She silently drew her own sword and followed Li Yu with light, cautious steps.

When they were close enough, Li Yu signaled to Asuna, showing her exactly where the monsters were located!