Chapter 10 - The Subway Tunnel Was Not Low Risk
At 9:14 p.m., Eli climbed through a maintenance door beneath Riverside Station with Maya and two other cultivators.
Jace Moreno was a broad-shouldered mechanic at Body Tempering IX.
Priya Shah was a nursing student at Qi Gathering I.
Eli was Body Tempering II.
The team leader looked at him.
“You’re the new guy?”
“Emotionally, yes.”
The tunnel smelled like rust, water, and electrical fire.
Their bounty was simple: clear six corrupted spirit nests.
The first nest contained four spirit rats.
The second contained nine.
The third was empty.
Maya stopped.
“That’s bad.”
Eli’s system agreed.
[NEST ABANDONED DUE TO PREDATOR PRESENCE.]
A metallic scraping came from deeper in the tunnel.
Jace raised his hammer.
“What predator?”
Something stepped into the emergency lights.
Six feet tall.
Long arms.
A face like cracked porcelain.
Subway tokens embedded in its chest.
Priya whispered, “Fare Wraith.”
Eli checked the bounty board screenshot.
“Low risk?”
Jace sighed. “They lied.”
The wraith screamed.
All four fluorescent lights exploded.
Eli’s phone lit the darkness.
[BOSS ENCOUNTER]
[FARE WRAITH — QI GATHERING II]
[TEAM SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 63%]
Then another line appeared.
[HOST SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 22%]
Eli stared.
“Why is mine lower?”
May you like
[YOU ARE THE WEAKEST.]
