Chapter 11 - I Fought a Monster With a Mop Handle
The Fare Wraith moved faster than anything that tall had a right to move.
Jace blocked the first strike.
His hammer flew twenty feet.
Maya hit the creature with a flame talisman.
It burned.
It did not care.
Priya shouted, “Core in the chest!”
Eli’s system highlighted a black subway token beneath the creature’s ribs.
[WEAK POINT CONFIRMED.]
“Cool. How do I reach it?”
[IMPROVISE.]
Eli hated that skill name now.
He grabbed a broken mop handle from a maintenance cart.
The wraith knocked Maya into the wall.
Jace tackled it from behind.
“NOW!”
Eli ran.
Body Tempering made every step feel cleaner than the last.
He planted one foot on a bench, jumped, and drove the mop handle into the cracked porcelain chest.
The black token shattered.
The wraith screamed and collapsed into gray smoke.
Eli landed badly, rolled twice, and hit a trash can.
Maya coughed.
“You okay?”
“I have defeated public transportation.”
The system rang.
[BOSS DEFEATED.]
[CONTRIBUTION: 31%]
[REWARD: QI SEED]
[LEVEL UP: BODY TEMPERING III]
Warm energy entered his lower abdomen.
For the first time, Eli felt qi.
Not metaphorically.
A tiny spark rotated beneath his navel.
Maya stared at him.
“You formed a qi seed?”
“Apparently.”
“That normally takes months.”
His phone buzzed.
[NEW MAIN QUEST]
Form your first meridian circuit within 7 days.
[FAILURE PENALTY: QI SEED COLLAPSE.]
Eli sighed.
May you like
“Of course success has homework.”
