Chapter 6: The Girl with Crimson Hair

  The Moonglow Mushroom did, in fact, taste exactly like dirt. Cold, slightly damp, glowing dirt.

  Zeno’s face scrunched up in profound, bitter disappointment as he swallowed the magical fungus. He stood completely still in the quiet clearing, waiting for the severe stomach cramps the Guild receptionist had confidently promised him. He waited ten seconds. He waited twenty seconds, his hands resting on his hips.

  A familiar blue window chimed into existence, floating gently in his field of vision.

  [Skill Activation: Iron Stomach (Passive) Level MAX]

  [Host has consumed a low-grade magical botanical. Toxic elements neutralized instantly. Minor Tena essence absorbed into the core.]

  [Tena Capacity temporarily increased by 5 for 1 hour.]

  Zeno patted his stomach affectionately. "Iron Stomach is the best skill," he decided aloud, tying the cloth sack of remaining mushrooms securely to his belt. "But roasted duck is still much, much better. I will not eat any more of these glowing rocks. I will sell them to the Guild and buy a very large, sweet cake."

  He turned to leave the quiet clearing, leaving the loudly snoring Armored Hound behind in the dirt. He had successfully completed his very first Guild quest. He felt a massive swell of pride expanding in his chest. He was a real adventurer now. He was Rank F, which was fantastic, and he was already bringing home the loot.

  Just as he stepped his right boot over the large white log to return to the main path, a sharp, deafening sound echoed through the whispering trees. It wasn't a monster's roar or the howling of the wind. It was the distinct, violent metallic clash of steel striking something incredibly hard, followed immediately by a frustrated, highly energetic human shout.

  Zeno perked up instantly, his amber eyes widening. The sound came from much deeper within the woods, perhaps half a mile to the east. Master Shifu had always strictly told him to mind his own business unless the business was actively blocking the road or trying to steal someone's lunch. However, the shout sounded incredibly urgent, and Zeno was undeniably curious.

  He quickly changed direction, his boots stepping silently and swiftly over the dry leaves. He moved with incredible speed, his high physical endurance allowing him to jog effortlessly through the dense, tangled undergrowth without breaking a single drop of sweat.

  As he neared the source of the chaotic noise, the pale trees began to thin out drastically, revealing a wide, rocky ravine cutting deeply through the forest floor. Down in the center of the dusty ravine, a desperate battle was taking place.

  Backpedaling frantically away from a towering wall of solid rock was a young woman. She looked to be around Zeno’s age, perhaps a year older. She wore light, flexible leather armor dyed a deep, practical forest green, and a dark grey traveler's cloak that was currently torn and frayed at the hem. She had short, spiky crimson red hair that flared out fiercely in all directions, and bright, intense emerald green eyes that were currently wide with a mixture of absolute focus and mild, creeping panic.

  In her hands, she held twin curved daggers tightly. A faint, swirling pale-green aura coated the sharp blades—she was actively using Extension, flowing her wind-attribute Tena into her weapons to increase their cutting power.

  Her opponent was absolutely massive. It was a badger, but a badger the size of a small merchant's wagon. Its thick fur was bristly and tough, colored in alternating stripes of pitch black and dark, muddy brown. Protruding menacingly from the very center of its forehead was a jagged, beautifully sharp crystalline horn that crackled with raw, chaotic earth-attribute Tena. This was a Giant Horned Badger, a territorial creature far more dangerous and resilient than the Armored Hound.

  "Stay back, you overgrown, ugly rug!" the girl shouted, her voice sharp and clear, echoing off the ravine walls. She lashed out aggressively with her right dagger, sending a pressurized arc of sharp wind—her green Tena—hurtling toward the beast.

  The wind blade struck the badger's thick hide with a loud thwack, but it barely left a shallow scratch. The badger let out a deafening, chattering roar that shook the loose pebbles on the ground, lowered its massive head, and charged forward with terrifying speed. Its crystalline horn glowed fiercely, preparing to skewer the agile girl against the unyielding ravine wall.

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  The girl with the crimson hair gritted her teeth and braced herself, crossing her twin daggers in a desperate, last-ditch defensive block. Her green aura flared brightly, but Zeno’s keen eyes could see it was heavily flickering. Her energy capacity was running dangerously low.

  Zeno didn't stop to think. He didn't analyze the situation. He just acted.

  He leaped fearlessly from the high edge of the ravine, dropping fifteen feet straight down into the rocky clearing. He landed heavily, squarely between the charging badger and the cornered girl, his boots cracking the solid stone beneath him upon impact.

  The girl gasped loudly, her emerald eyes widening in absolute shock at the sudden, impossible appearance of the messy-haired boy in a simple white tunic. "What are you doing?! Get out of the way! You don't even have a weapon, you idiot!"

  "Weapons are very heavy," Zeno replied casually over his shoulder, offering her a bright, comforting, and completely inappropriate grin. "And I have fists."

  The Giant Horned Badger did not halt its furious charge. It saw a new, unarmored, and seemingly defenseless target standing in its path and actually accelerated, its glowing horn aiming straight for Zeno’s chest.

  Zeno planted his feet firmly on the rocky ground, his stance wide and unmovable. He didn't have the luxury of time to try the precise 'needle' trick again. He needed to completely stop a wagon-sized beast moving at full speed. He drew a deep breath, pulling the heavy, suffocating Tena directly from his core.

  For a single, breathless fraction of a second, the Suppression Stone resting against Zeno’s chest flared red-hot and faltered under the sheer pressure.

  In that microscopic window of time, an aura leaked out. The girl behind Zeno felt her heart suddenly seize in her chest. A terrifying, monstrous pressure descended upon the entire ravine. It was an overwhelming tidal wave of ancient, dense power that made her knees instantly weak and the air feel as thick as lead. It was a presence so vast it defied logic. Then, just as fast as it had appeared, the stone stabilized, and the terrifying ocean of energy vanished, replaced once again by the pathetic trickle of a capacity of 50.

  But the energy Zeno had successfully pulled into his arm was more than enough. His right fist erupted in a blinding, roaring aura of pure, condensed blue energy. It didn't look like a spark; it looked like a furious miniature sun trapped violently around his knuckles.

  "Heavy Punch," Zeno announced casually.

  He stepped forward, meeting the charge head-on, and drove his glowing blue fist directly into the exact center of the badger's glowing crystalline horn.

  For a single heartbeat, the entire forest went completely, eerily silent.

  Then, the shockwave hit. The explosion of blue and brown energy tore violently through the ravine. The girl behind Zeno had to throw her arms up and brace herself just to shield her face from the sheer, hurricane-like force of the wind pushing outward.

  CRA-CRACK!

  The badger's supposedly unbreakable, highly durable crystalline horn completely shattered into a thousand glittering, useless pieces. The concussive force of Zeno's punch didn't stop there; it travelled relentlessly through the beast's thick skull and straight down its spine. The massive animal was physically lifted off its feet, its forward momentum entirely and brutally reversed. It flew backward through the air, tumbling head over heels, until it crashed heavily into the opposite wall of the ravine, thirty feet away, creating a web of cracks in the stone.

  It slumped to the ground in a giant heap of bristly fur, completely and utterly knocked out cold.

  The blinding blue aura around Zeno’s fist vanished instantly, leaving only a faint, wispy trail of smoke rising from his knuckles. He shook his hand out, wincing slightly. "Ouch. That rock on its head was very pointy."

  Behind him, the girl with the crimson hair slowly lowered her trembling arms. Her twin daggers slipped from her grasp, clattering loudly against the stone floor of the ravine. She stared at the unconscious, massive beast, then stared at the back of the teenager in the white tunic. Her emerald eyes were stretched so wide they looked like they might fall out of her head.

  She quickly tried to sense his Tena, her mind scrambling for an explanation for the monstrous pressure she had felt a second ago. But as she focused, all she felt was the pathetic, dim output of a capacity of 50. It made absolutely no sense. Did I hallucinate that pressure? she thought wildly. Is he hiding his strength, or is he just a freak of nature?!

  Zeno turned around, picking up the cloth sack of glowing mushrooms that had fallen from his belt during the jump. He dusted it off carefully, making sure none of his snacks were crushed.

  "Hello!" Zeno greeted her cheerfully, holding out his empty hand in a friendly gesture. "I am Zeno. I am an adventurer! Rank F! Do you like roasted duck?"

  The girl stared at his bright smile. She looked at his extended hand. Then, she slowly turned her gaze to the shattered remains of the Giant Horned Badger's horn, which was now nothing more than glittering, worthless dust scattered across the ravine floor.

  The shock in her emerald eyes slowly, but surely, melted into a look of absolute, fiery fury. Her face turned as red as her spiky hair.

  "Duck?!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, her voice echoing violently off the stone walls. She marched forward and pointed an accusing, trembling finger directly at the shattered horn. "Are you completely out of your tiny mind?! Do you have any idea what you just did, you absolute idiot?!"

  Zeno blinked, his smile faltering as he tilted his head in pure confusion. "I... I stopped the big angry rug from poking you?"

  "That was a fully intact Earth-Core Crystal Horn!" she yelled, throwing her hands in the air in sheer exasperation. "It was the rarest drop in this entire forest! It was worth at least fifty gold coins on the black market! You didn't just punch a badger, you moron! You just punched my rent money, my food money, and my new armor into useless, glowing glitter!"

  Zeno looked at the glittering dust on the floor, then looked back at the furious girl, completely lost. "But... it was very pointy. I was helping."