Chapter 10: The Debt and the Board

  By the time Zeno and Lyra finally left Old Gregor’s food stall, the sun had vanished completely, leaving the sprawling city of Oakhaven blanketed in a deep, cool evening darkness. The narrow, winding alleys of the Lower District were now illuminated by the warm, flickering glow of oil lanterns hung haphazardly outside wooden doors and tavern windows.

  Zeno walked with a heavy, deeply satisfied sigh, patting his stomach. He had consumed an astonishing fifteen skewers of spicy chicken, two massive bowls of steamed rice, and three cups of apple cider. His Iron Stomach passive skill was working in overdrive, breaking down the massive influx of calories and converting them directly into pure, humming physical energy. The temporary buff to his Endurance stat made him feel light on his feet, as if he could sprint all the way back to the Elderwood Forest without breaking a single drop of sweat.

  Lyra walked beside him, her pace relaxed and steady. The meal had clearly done her good as well; the pale, exhausted look on her face had been replaced by a healthy color, and the fierce spark had returned to her emerald eyes. She had successfully navigated the overwhelming disappointment of the lost badger horn and was already focusing her sharp mind on the future.

  "Gregor’s chicken never fails to reset my mood," Lyra said, stretching her arms above her head as they navigated the cobblestone streets back toward the upper tiers of the city. "Now that our stomachs are full, we have business to attend to. The Adventurer’s Guild operates late into the night. It's the best time to look at the quest boards because the scribes post the new requests from the outer farms and merchants right after the evening shift."

  "More quests!" Zeno cheered, his amber eyes lighting up in the darkness. "I am ready. We will find a quest with very bad monsters, and I will punch them, and you will skin them, and we will get fifty silver coins tomorrow!"

  "Let's manage our expectations, big guy," Lyra chuckled, shaking her head. "We need to stick to Rank E or D quests that offer solid, steady pay without risking total annihilation."

  They passed through the invisible boundary that separated the Lower District from the commercial center of Oakhaven. The transition was stark. The cobblestones became smoother, wider, and cleaner. The oil lanterns were replaced by permanent, glass-encased street lamps powered by faint, glowing crystals of light-attribute Tena.

  When they pushed open the heavy double doors of the Adventurer’s Guild, the atmosphere inside had drastically changed from the chaotic morning rush. Groups of heavily armed warriors sat around the large wooden tables near the back, nursing tankards of water or thick, sweet fruit juice, their armor dented and voices low as they recounted the day's battles. The reception counters were mostly empty, save for one.

  "Perfect," Lyra whispered, gesturing toward the far wall. "The boards are clear. Let's go see what tomorrow holds."

  They walked across the polished stone floor, standing before the massive corkboards. The board on the far left was strictly for Rank F requests. The middle board held the Rank E and D requests, the bread and butter of the Guild's lower-tier combatants.

  Lyra immediately focused her intense emerald eyes on the middle board. Zeno stood beside her, his hands resting on his hips. He squinted at the papers. The letters still looked like tiny, confusing ants crawling across the page. He spotted a few drawings—a crude sketch of a wolf, a picture of a shiny rock, and something that looked suspiciously like a very angry potato.

  "Do any of these papers have pictures of a big bird?" Zeno asked hopefully. "I would like to fight a giant chicken. That sounds very rewarding."

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  Lyra snorted, reaching out and gently pulling him back by the collar of his white tunic. "There are no giant chickens, Zeno. And I'll read the quests for you. We are a team now."

  She pulled down three different pieces of parchment and held them up in the dim light of the Guild hall.

  "Okay, option one," Lyra began. "Escort mission. The pay is twenty silver coins, split among the party. Rank E."

  Zeno thought about it. "Sitting on a wagon is boring. And if bandits attack, I might accidentally punch the wagon and break all the merchant's things."

  "Good point," Lyra agreed, placing the paper back on the board. "Option two. Gathering request for giant spider venom. The pay is fifteen silver coins. Rank D."

  Zeno frowned deeply. "Spiders have too many legs. They are creepy. And if I punch them, they will go squish, and we will not get any venom. We will just get spider juice on my boots."

  Lyra grimaced. "Agreed. Gross and impractical. Okay, option three. This one is a subjugation request from a farmer on the western outskirts of the city. The pay is twenty-five silver coins. Rank D."

  "Twenty-five!" Zeno’s eyes widened. "What do we have to fight? Is it a Wyvern? I will try very hard not to blow it up."

  "Not a Wyvern," Lyra said, tracing her finger over the messy handwriting. "It says... a small pack of Iron-Shell Beetles. Maybe five or six of them have nested under the root vegetable fields and are destroying the harvest. They are the size of large dogs."

  Zeno tilted his head. "Beetles? Like the little bugs that roll dirt?"

  "No, Zeno. These beetles have incredibly thick shells naturally infused with earth-attribute Tena. Normal swords bounce right off them. It usually requires high-level fire magic or heavy blunt-force weapons, like a war hammer, to crack their shells." Lyra looked up from the paper, a slow, calculating smile spreading across her face. "Zeno, your Heavy Punch... it uses pure kinetic force, right? It's not a blade. It's an impact."

  Zeno held up his right fist, examining his calloused knuckles. "It hits very hard. Master Shifu says it is like dropping a very large rock."

  "Exactly," Lyra said, her excitement building. "If you can crack those shells with your fists, I can finish them off with my daggers by slipping the blades between the cracked armor plating. It's the perfect matchup. And the best part? The bounty is purely for extermination. We don't have to harvest the shells."

  "Which means it doesn't matter if I break them into tiny pieces!" Zeno finished her sentence, a brilliant, excited grin spreading across his face.

  "Yes, you don't have to hold back nearly as much," Lyra nodded. "We can clear that nest in half a day, claim the twenty-five silver, and be back in the city before sunset."

  Zeno nodded enthusiastically. "Let's do it! I am ready to smash the big bugs!"

  Lyra marched over to the only occupied reception desk. Sitting there was an older scribe, desperately scrubbing at a massive, horrible black ink stain that covered a highly important ledger. It was the exact spot where Elara had dropped her quill earlier that day in sheer panic.

  "Excuse me," Lyra said politely, sliding the parchment across the counter. "We would like to register for the Iron-Shell Beetle extermination quest. Party of two. Lyra, Rank E, and Zeno, Rank F."

  The older scribe stopped scrubbing. He slowly lifted his head, revealing bloodshot, incredibly stressed eyes. He looked at Zeno, recognizing the messy-haired boy who had dragged a dead Rank D badger into the hall hours ago.

  "Please..." the scribe whispered, his voice trembling as he looked between the quest paper and the teenager. "Please tell me you are not going to bring me a dead dragon tomorrow. Elara ruined the primary ledger, I am completely out of Form 8-C for unsanctioned engagements, and my hand is cramping. Please, just kill the bugs and leave the pieces in the dirt."

  "We promise!" Zeno said cheerfully, offering a bright thumbs-up. "We will make them into very small pieces!"

  The scribe let out a whimpering sigh, stamping the back of the paper with a heavy thud. "Registered. Good luck. Bring a heavy hammer."

  "We brought something much better," Lyra smiled, grabbing the stamped paper and turning back to Zeno.

  As they walked out of the Guild hall and stepped into the cool night air of Oakhaven, Zeno felt a deep sense of purpose settling into his chest. Before he followed Lyra toward the cheap communal sleeping halls they had agreed to share for the night, Zeno closed his eyes and concentrated for a brief second. The familiar blue window flickered into existence in the darkness.

  [Name: Zeno]

  [Age: 17]

  [Class: Novice Pugilist]

  [Tena Capacity: 450/450]

  [Tena Control: E+]

  [Attributes]

  Strength: 25

  Agility: 18

  Endurance: 30

  Intelligence: 4

  Wisdom: 3

  Luck: ???

  [Skills]

  Iron Stomach (Passive) - Level MAX

  Heavy Punch (Active) - Level 4

  His control was slowly inching upward. His punch was getting stronger. The journey of a thousand chapters was just beginning, and tomorrow, Zeno was going to show the Iron-Shell Beetles exactly why his fists were better than any hammer.