Chapter 16: The F-Rank Hero and the Missing Liyern

The sun had begun its slow descent beyond the great mountains flanking the kingdom. Warm golden light spilled across the rooftops of Elaris as the marketplace quieted and lamps flickered to life. The scent of spices and soot lingered in the air. But Kai, full of cheese bread and still beaming from his new adventurer badge, was far from ready to call it a day.

He stood outside the guild hall, eyes lit with fresh ambition. "No way I'm going to bed without completing at least one quest," he declared to no one in particular, his hands on his hips like some second-rate superhero.

He stepped back into the Adventurer's Guild, which had quieted slightly but still buzzed with low murmurs and clinks of gear. The quest board stood tall like a sacred shrine, a massive oak frame packed with parchment—some old, curling with age, others new and glittering with magic-infused ink.

Kai marched up to it and scanned for the biggest, baddest quest he could find.

"S-rank... nope... A-rank... hmmm..."

Then his eyes sparkled as he noticed something glimmering at the very top corner.

"Z-rank?" Kai blinked. "That's a thing?!"

Sure enough, a solitary sheet marked Z-RANK: Lich King Containment Protocol hovered behind a spell-sealed glass slot. Its letters were scrawled in crimson ink, and Kai swore the paper itself pulsed.

Kai grinned, practically bouncing toward the front desk. "Hi! I'd like to take this one!"

The receptionist from earlier, the same one who'd let him slide on the fee, glanced at the quest, then at him.

She let out a full belly laugh.

"Kid, no."

Kai blinked. "But—"

"It's against guild policy for rookies to take anything above D-rank. You're still in probation."

Kai frowned. "Come on! I'm fast! I've got—uh—stamina! I beat three cheese breads in under a minute!"

She snorted, amused. "That's not a combat stat."

"But I'm—"

"No."

Kai's shoulders slumped. She dug into a drawer and pulled out a tiny, half-crumpled quest slip. It was pale green and looked like it had been printed by someone in a rush.

"Here. F-rank-plus. Go find a Liyern."

"A what?" Kai asked.

She shrugged. "No one knows. The request came from a farm on the eastern edge. You'll have to figure it out when you get there. Think of it as a scavenger hunt. Welcome to adventuring."

Kai took the paper like it was diseased. "You're really gonna do me like this?"

She leaned in with a smirk. "You still owe me for that 'one-two-thirteen-fifty' routine. Think of this as karma."

Kai locked eyes with her again.

"Stop trying to win me with those eyes," she teased.

"I wasn't—okay, maybe a little."

He shuffled away, glancing at the flimsy paper in his hand. F+ Rank: Find and Report Location of Liyern. Issued by: Old Man Tendo of Cliffside Farmland.

"Liyern," Kai muttered. "What is that? A bug? A bird? A disease?"

The evening wind tickled his hair as he walked through the outer gates of the capital toward the eastern farmland. Lamplights lit the road like amber stars. Kai stuffed his hands into his pockets, the quest slip tucked in his teeth.

As the stars began to shimmer overhead, he whispered to himself:

"Zetsu might be doing A-rank quests... but I'm about to solve the mystery of the legendary... Liyern."

He struck a dramatic pose in the moonlight.

A nearby dog barked.

Kai blinked. "Tough crowd."