the grey elf u remove by talking to the old man at the beginning and than the potion lady who will give u the potion to get rid of the elf, who then becomes ur free healer.
To beat the minotaur is a long fight. I use Falcons and am level 19. I am still using the anciet armor i got at level 8. To beat him with my setup all i do is hit him for a full combo after he does his BIG axe swing where he gets it stuck in the ground. after my combo finishes i run around him to dodge his little hits and hit him only 2 MAYBE 3 times than run agian to dodge his next hit. Whenever he does the big hit agian i unleash another combo on him. When his armor breaks let loose 3 combos on him and run around agian and repeat. It will take a while and he will get u sometimes. i would recommend having a nice stack of potions on you.
I also have the guardian skill up it is very helpful on this boss and to have all the time.
I hope this helps u guys it took me bout 10 trys to figure this out, and about 3 trys to beat him.
PS. DONT GET HIT BY THE CHARGE.... thats what always killed me cause he does enough damage to kill me in 1 charge.