The Roar That Changed Everything.
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The sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon, casting a golden hue over the fields.
I was crouched low, pulling at a stubborn weed near the cabbage rows.
The earth was warm beneath my fingers, the kind of warmth that comes from years of care, my father's care, passed to me.
Then I heard it.
A roar.
Not the kind of sound a wolf or a wild boar makes, not even close. This was deep and thunderous, like the sky itself had ripped open and was screaming.
My heart seized.
I looked up.
And I saw it.
A massive creature barreled out of the forest beyond the hill, standing nearly three times my height.
It had the body of a man, but twisted and enormous, muscles bulging like coiled ropes.
Its head… that of a bull. Horns sharp like daggers, blood splattered across its chest, and its eyes… red. Furious. Wild.
A Minotaur.
I froze, my breath caught in my throat. My legs trembled. I couldn't run. I couldn't even scream.
"MATEO!!"
That was the first sound I heard after the roar.
My father's voice.
He was running faster than I'd ever seen him move in my life.
His long white hair whipped behind him, his red eyes blazing not with fear, but fury.
He was holding something.
A weapon. A sword. One I'd never seen before. It had been hidden. Until now.
"Hide! Mateo, go! Now!" he shouted.
My instincts kicked in.
I dove behind the shed and peeked through a crack in the wood. My fingers gripped the edge until my knuckles turned white.
The Minotaur saw him. It roared again, louder this time, shaking the very ground beneath us.
Then they collided.
Steel clashed against muscle.
My father moved like I'd never seen fast, agile, and precise.
For a human, he fought like a beast. Every swing of his blade was filled with desperation and strength.
He aimed for the knees, the neck, the heart.
The Minotaur swung back with a rusted axe and its own massive fists.
The ground cracked beneath their feet as they fought, like gods dueling in the fields we once harvested.
"RAAAGH!!" My father bellowed, slashing across the Minotaur's chest, blood spraying.
But it wasn't enough.
The Minotaur backhanded him, sending his body flying into the side of the shed.
The entire wall shattered on impact
I screamed but bit down on my hand to keep quiet.
He stood up again.
Bleeding. Staggering. But he stood.
"Come on then!" he growled, spitting blood. "You're not taking my son."
They clashed again, my father ducked a swing and drove his blade deep into the creature's side. The Minotaur howled and rammed its horns forward, piercing my father's shoulder.
I gasped.
He didn't stop with one final roar, he gripped the hilt of his sword and plunged it straight through the Minotaur's chest, twisting with every ounce of strength he had left.
The beast let out a final, dying scream and collapsed.
Silence followed.
For a moment, I couldn't breathe
Then I heard him. My father, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Mateo… come here…"
I stumbled out from hiding, legs shaking. I ran to him, past the bloody corpse of the Minotaur, past the torn-up field.
He was lying in the dirt, surrounded by shattered wood and broken dreams
His shirt was soaked in blood. His arm was twisted wrong. His breaths came in shallow gasps
"Dad… no… no no no…" I knelt beside him.
He smiled. Weak, but real.
"You're safe… that's all that matters."
"No! You're going to be fine, okay? I'll get help, I'll"
He reached out, placing his hand on mine. "Listen to me."
I did.
"You need to go inside… pack food, money. Take the old satchel by the bed. You remember where Orario is, right? The labyrinth city."
I nodded, tears streaming down my cheeks.
"Go there. Find a Familia. Someone who will protect you… Someone worthy of your strength."
"But I don't want to leave you," I choked. "Please…"
"I know," he whispered. "But if you stay, you'll die too. And I… I won't let that happen."
I squeezed his hand. "You said we'd stay together."
He coughed, blood on his lips. "I didn't know the world would be this cruel again."
I bent forward and hugged him, careful of his wounds. "I love you."
"I love you too, Mateo. With everything I have."
His hand weakly reached up to my cheek. "Your mother… she'd be proud.
You're strong.
Like her.
Brave."
His voice began to fade.
"Don't look back.
Promise me."
"I promise."
With trembling hands, I ran into the house, I grabbed bread, dried meat, and a waterskin.
The coin pouch is under the floorboard, the satchel he mentioned
I threw in an extra shirt and a small carving knife.
I didn't stop to cry, I couldn't.
When I came back outside…
He was gone.
But he was smiling.
I knelt beside him one last time and whispered, "I'll make it. I'll survive."
Then I turned. I walked away from everything I knew. The field. The farmhouse. The place where I was reborn
And I didn't look back
The forest was darker than I remembered. Every snapping twig made me flinch I had my carving knife in hand, but it felt like paper compared to the Minotaur's axe my small frame moved quickly, weaving between trees and shadows.
I traveled for hours. Maybe days. Time didn't feel real anymore. Only the promise did—Orario. The labyrinth cit
I remembered the stories my father told me. Of the gods and their Familia. Of adventurers who fought monsters beneath the city in the Dungeon. Of heroes.
I wasn't a hero.
Not yet.
But I was still alive.
And that had to mean something.
Each night, I camped beneath the stars, using the fire-starting flint my father taught me to wield
I rationed my food, always alert. I drank from creeks and slept with my knife beneath my blanket
And all the while, I kept his voice in my head.
"Find someone who will protect you. Someone worthy of your strength."
I didn't feel strong.
I felt broken.
But even broken things can still move forward.
The forest changed as I moved deeper into it.
The trees grew denser, older. Shadows clung to every trunk, and the air felt heavier.
I was far from the fields, now far from home
I hadn't seen another person in days
I traveled by day, hid by night. My body was sore, my feet blistered, but I kept moving.
My father's words echoed in my mind like a heartbeat:
"Find someone who will protect you… Someone worthy of your strength."
But the world had other plans
It happened late in the afternoon, just as the sky was turning orange.
I was walking along a game trail when I heard the low growl
I turned and saw two pairs of eyes in the underbrush glowing hungry
Goblins.
Filthy, green-skinned monsters with jagged teeth and rusted knives
They lunged at me before I could run. I barely had time to draw my carving knife
The first one slashed i dodged, barely, and stabbed it in the shoulder
It shrieked and stumbled back, but the second goblin caught me off guard, clawing across my arm.
I cried out and struck blindly, my knife lodging into its neck
It went down
But the first one was still coming. I grabbed a stick or anything and swung wildly The goblin slashed again i blocked with the stick, but it snapped in two I fell backward, breath ragged, knife lost
Just as it lunged, I grabbed a sharp stone and slammed it into its face.
Again.
And again.
Until it stopped moving.
I lay there panting, heart pounding in my ears, blood on my arms. Mud on my face my hands are shaking
My knife was broken The blade had snapped clean in half
And I was alone
I dragged myself to a small clearing and slumped against a tree My satchel was lighter now less food, less water The world had teeth, and it had begun to bite.
I pulled out the last bit of bread and dried meat. My hands trembled as I unwrapped it
I looked at the sky stars are beginning to peek through
I was still alive.
Barely.
But alive.
And tomorrow, I'd walk again.
Toward Orario.
Toward something, anything that wasn't this i took a bite and closed my eyes.
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