Chapter 36: A different kind of payment plan.

Zyra looked at both of the men in the room. Neither of them looked like a starving, desperate man. The people down at the food court had described Magnus as a broke, miserable guy, but these two practically smelled like high grade stones and expensive wine.

He must not be here, Zyra thought to herself. But his boss is definitely here. Recaldo wouldn’t have run here in panic otherwise.

Before she could say a word, Achilles let out a sharp, loud whistle.

With a rush of wind, a massive Silver Eagle flew through the wide window, its sharp claws gripping the top of the chair right next to Achilles. Its feathers were like steel blades, and its honey brown eyes glared at Zyra with pure hostility.

"Easy Achilles." Hunt said to his cousin.

Beauty sounded an alarm. [Warning! Host, an unfriendly beast has been detected! It is highly aggressive!]

Zyra didn’t panic. Her eyes suddenly glowed with a faint, mysterious light as she activated the soul sight. Instantly, the eagle’s soul data appeared in front of her eyes like a food menu.

Beast Type: Spear Eagle

Strengths: High-speed diving, razor-sharp beak, can pierce armor and break necks with strong claws.

Weaknesses: Has a terrible memory, brittle wing-joints, and a shameful, uncontrollable addiction to golden-fat salty worms.

A weakness like that was almost too easy. "Buy some worms, just a handful." She had not seen the system shop, but she knew it had food for different beasts.

[That will be five resonance points.]

"Use."

The transaction was completed quickly. Zyra secretly pulled a small tin can out of her sleeve that had come from the system shop. She popped the lid and tossed a handful of fat, juicy, wriggling salty golden worms right across the floor.

The terrifying, majestic Spear Eagle froze. Its fierce eyes locked onto the squirming worms. Forgetting its master, forgetting the mission, and forgetting all its dignity, the giant bird let out a happy shriek and dove towards the floor. It began gobbling up the worms like a starved chicken.

"You poor thing, is your master starving you" Zyra asked.

Achilles stood, staring in anger, his hand still on his weapon. His mouth hung open so wide you could have dropped an egg inside. He could not believe his eyes. His top-tier, killer beast had just been completely defeated by a handful of dirt-cheap bugs.

"Hey Silver," Achilles stammered, pointing a shaking finger at his bird. "What are you doing? I feed you premium food. Spit that crap out and stop embarrassing me."

The eagle didn’t even look at him, busy happily chewing.

Zyra gave a small, innocent shrug. "Don’t blame the bird. My snacks are just really hard to resist."

Hunt let out a soft laugh, he could not remember when he last saw something amusing. Silver was a proud bird, that only ate medium to high level worms. They had to be the size of a grown man’s hand. How has it been seduced by what looked like small earth worms?

Zyra’s face turned serious. She looked at the two men and stepped closer. "Now, if you two don’t want to end up pale faced and closer to the grim reaper like Recaldo here, you should just give me what I want."

Achilles recovered from his shock and let out a loud, mocking scoff. "End up like Recaldo? Miss, nobody in this room cares if Recaldo lives or dies, he is a means to an end. Now you...tsk tsk. You must be very brave, very desperate or very stupid, little girl. You walk into my office and threaten us? How do you even think you’re getting out of here alive?"

Zyra looked at him, her expression stone-cold. "How I get out is my business, not yours to worry about." She paused, her voice steady. "I am here for Magnus."

Achilles blinked. "Magnus?"

"Yes," Zyra said, nodding seriously. "I have a need for his services. And I am ready to set up a payment plan to buy out his contract from you."

Achilles burst out laughing. It was the funniest thing he had heard all week. He finally took his hand off his gun and shook his head. "Look, young lady, I don’t know who you are, but you are a hoot. If you weren’t a woman, you’d already be a corpse. I’ll give you one single chance because I’m in a good mood. Leave right now. Otherwise, you’ll be the one meeting the grim reaper with Recaldo."

She sneered. "I am sure I will live; I am friends with the grim reaper. Can you say the same?

Hunter chuckled.

Achilles asked through amusement. "Why do you want Magnus?"

Zyra didn’t see a reason to lie. "I want to hire him as my personal bodyguard. I want him to teach me how to fight...no, how to survive in the post apocalypse."

Achilles turned his head sharply to look at his cousin. He saw it immediately.....a tiny, rare spark of genuine interest in Hunt’s cold eyes. He felt a splash of cold sweat hit his back. Oh no. This can’t be good.

"Hunt... Hunt, don’t do anything stupid," Achilles whispered urgently.

But Hunt ignored him. He slowly stood, rotating his shoulders, like a beast coming out of slumber, after a long winter.

The moment he lowered his head to look at her clearly, Zyra’s breath completely hitched. Her heart began to pound so violently against her ribs that she thought it might actually break through. Her face grew hot under her scarf.

What is wrong with me? Am I nervous? This man is making me nervous?

Suddenly, Mrs. Munch’s voice popped into her head. ’Zyra, watch out for those pretty boys. The ones that make your heart pump for absolutely no reason just by looking at them...they are pure trouble!’

Zyra swallowed hard, her green eyes locking onto his piercing blue ones.

To make matters worse, Beauty in her mind suddenly went wild. Virtual fireworks started exploding all over her vision in bright pinks and reds.

[Ding!] Beauty’s digital voice squeaked with extreme excitement. [Host! Would you like to form a lifetime bond with this beast?!]

Zyra was completely confused. She screamed back in her mind, Are you crazy? The only beast here is that stupid eagle eating worms, and I definitely don’t want it today! Cancel!

Beauty shook her little head furiously. She pointed at the live image of Hunt’s handsome face was being displayed with a giant red heart around it.

[No, Host! You misunderstand! This is the beast I am talking about!] Beauty yelled back.

Zyra blinked rapidly, her brain completely short-circuiting. Was the system broken? Was it malfunctioning? Why on earth was it calling the man standing in front of her a beast?

Before she could even begin to solve this riddle, Hunt took another step forward. His heavy, commanding gaze never left her face.

"I am Hunter Magnus," Hunt said, his deep voice echoing in the quiet room. "The great fighter you are looking for."

Zyra’s jaw dropped.

But Hunt wasn’t finished. He tilted his head slightly, a small, dangerous smile playing on his lips. "And I want a different payment plan. I want to marry you."

The room went dead silent.

Zyra’s breath hitched so hard she nearly choked on her own saliva.

Right next to them, Achilles choked on air, his eyes bulging out of his head as he stared at his cousin like he had just grown a second head. What am I missing? he asked himself.