Chronicles Of The Crafting Hero [REMASTERED]

Tyler sat alone at the table, still bothered by the smell of ale that lingered throughout the tavern. He tried breathing mostly through his mouth, but the smell had become so strong that it almost felt like he could taste it. Every breath left an unpleasant aftertaste on his tongue, making him shift uncomfortably in his seat.

Rebecca had gotten up from her chair and told him she was going to get a cup. Tyler had been surprised that she even had any coins on her, but she explained that she always made sure to keep some hidden deep inside her boots.

Two coins in each boot.

She had taken them off before going over to the owner to buy some ale, leaving Tyler alone at the table while he watched her from a distance. But throughout all of this, countless thoughts continued running through his mind.

He still couldn't figure out why she was another suitable host for the system.

The thought of the system moving on to someone else made his heart beat faster. He knew the system had told him it was possible before, but he still wasn't sure how something like that would even happen.

Even now...

*How would it even move?* he thought to himself.

*When I touched Mike's necklace, that's when the system attached itself to me. But if I fail the quest, how would it move to her? And if it leaves me...*

His eyes dropped toward the table as the thought trailed off.

So far, he had relied on the system ever since he arrived here. It was the reason he had managed to reach this level in the first place. The crafting, the skills, the stats... all of it had come from the system.

Tyler's brows slowly drew together.

Had he really been using the system for everything?

And if he had, what was he actually good at?

The thought left a strange feeling in his chest. He lowered his gaze, his fingers resting loosely against the edge of the table as a small sense of pity for himself began to creep in.

His thoughts were suddenly broken when a wooden cup was placed in front of him.

The ale inside swayed from the movement, rippling against the sides of the cup.

Tyler looked up to see Rebecca taking her seat across from him. She settled into the chair and picked up her own cup.

“You bought one for me?” Tyler asked, surprised.

“Yes. I figured you'd be thirsty after surviving and walking all the way here,” she said, already bringing her cup to her lips.

Tyler stared at his own cup for a moment before picking it up. As soon as he brought it closer, the smell became even stronger. He hesitated briefly, then pressed his lips against the edge and took a small sip.

“Ah.”

The taste spread across his tongue immediately, strong and bitter. He pulled the cup away and set it back down.

“I'm fine.”

“Huh?” Rebecca said, pausing with her cup still in her hand.

“Yeah...” Tyler rubbed his lips with the back of his hand. “I don't really like alcohol, it's too strong”

Rebecca stared at him for a second, her expression slowly changing as though she couldn't believe what she'd just heard.

“Pffft. Ha ha ha.”

She broke into laughter, lowering her cup as she shook her head.

“What are you a kid? How do you mean you don't drink alcohol?”

Tyler frowned, folding his arms over his chest. “I'm not... I just don't drink,” he said.

“Oh, really? Want me to get you some milk instead?” Rebecca teased, taking another sip from her cup. Her mocking gaze remained fixed on Tyler, watching his reaction.

Tyler sighed through his nose. He lowered his arms and placed both elbows on the table, clasping his hands together before resting his chin on them.

“Let's get serious already. Let's talk about what we're going to do tomorrow.”

Rebecca raised her cup to her mouth again and tilted it back, draining the rest in a few quick gulps before slamming the cup down onto the table.

Tyler's eyebrows rose as he watched her. He had expected her to take her time with it, especially after seeing how strong the ale was, but she had swallowed the entire thing almost effortlessly.

“Right,” she said, pushing herself up from the chair. Her legs shoved the chair backward, and its feet scraped loudly against the stone floor. She leaned over the table, her hair falling over one side of her face as she reached for Tyler's cup and took it from him.

She pulled her chair back into place with one hand and sat down again, setting the cup near her.

“We agreed you'd teach me how to use a dagger tomorrow, and I'm gonna have to ask the craftsman to repair this bow that you ruined. But because I don't have enough coins, I'm gonna have to go hunting.”

“But what if the Black Cloud Guild gets here?” Tyler asked. His voice was quieter now, and his eyes briefly shifted toward the people around them before returning to Rebecca.

“I don't think that will happen so fast. We moved even farther away from Aria, plus the Kindred Flame skill will have a harder time tracking us.”

Rebecca took another long drink, keeping her eyes on Tyler before finally lowering the cup.

“They will eventually. That's why we'll have to keep moving.”

“Moving? Where?”

“That's the problem. There aren't many bases close by. We could move to Veridia, but we'd just be closer to them.”

Tyler leaned back in his chair, his expression dropping slightly.

“So we can't go there.”

Rebecca took another long sip and finished what remained in her cup. She lowered it and let out a small burp before setting it on the table.

“By the way, what were you doing at the shop? It looked like you were working there.”

“I was helping out,” Tyler lied.

Rebecca's eyes narrowed the moment she saw him looking away. Instead of meeting her gaze, Tyler stared down at the table, his fingers shifting slightly against its surface.

"He's such a bad liar", she thought.

She had already begun to notice something about him. Whenever Tyler wasn't telling the truth, he had trouble looking someone directly in the eyes. It was almost as though he couldn't stop himself from giving himself away.

Tyler eventually raised his head and looked back at her.

“So, um, about your parents.”

Rebecca's expression immediately became serious.

“When did it happen?”

She stared at the table, her eyes lingering on the wood as the question seemed to catch her off guard. Her fingers rested against the edge of the cup, moving slightly along its rim while she tried to remember.

For a moment, she said nothing.

Then she pushed herself out of the chair and stood.

“We need to rest for tomorrow. Come on, I'll show you where the inns are.”

" an Inn?" *She's avoiding the subject*, Tyler thought, his brow furrowing as he stood up as well.

Tyler followed Rebecca outside. The cold air of the night pressed against his skin as he stepped out of the tavern. He pulled his clothes a little closer to himself before following the silver-haired girl, gradually increasing his pace until he was walking beside her.

He looked over at Rebecca, but her face remained stern and serious. Her eyes stayed ahead, and she barely seemed interested in acknowledging him. There was something different about her now. She wasn't in the mood for conversation, and Tyler could tell from the way she carried herself that she was either angry or hurt by what he had asked her.

Looking at the way Rebecca behaved here in Lyria, and even at the base, it almost felt as if what he had seen in the forest that night had been a hallucination.

He could still remember how she'd cried, clinging to him while she was unconscious and begging him not to leave. He had felt so sorry for her that he couldn't bring himself to leave her behind. He had to take her with him.

Now, it was almost the complete opposite.

Seeing her like this left a bitter feeling in him. He didn't want to be in Lyria in the first place. He just wanted to leave and return to his normal life. But for some reason he couldn't understand, the thought of leaving didn't sit right with him.

And if Rebecca was right, going back to Aria and continuing to craft and hunt like nothing had happened could put everyone else in danger. The Black Cloud Guild could find him, and if they did, they could be led straight to Hector and Kai.

They could be killed because of him.

Tyler followed beside Rebecca in silence, his thoughts keeping him occupied until the houses around them began to grow more scattered. Up ahead, he noticed a two-story building that was almost as wide as it was long, giving it an almost perfect square shape. Another two-story building stood beside it, while farther to the right was a third building facing the opposite direction.

One of the buildings was lit from inside, warm light spilling through its windows into the dark street. A faint, pleasant smell drifted through the air from it, reaching Tyler even from where he was standing. It smelled like meat, mixed with something else he couldn't quite identify.

His stomach suddenly rumbled.

Tyler's steps slowed for a moment.

Rebecca looked at him.

Tyler's face tightened slightly from embarrassment as he realized she'd heard it. He quickly looked away, pretending it hadn't happened.

Rebecca stared at him for another moment before looking forward again.

She turned right and walked toward the first two-story building. Tyler followed behind her and stepped inside.

The building was lit by candles, their warm glow filling the interior. Behind a counter stood a middle-aged man with a beard and long black hair, watching them as they entered.

“Welcome,” the man said. His voice was a little too soft for someone who looked the way he did. “Do you wish to get a room? We have the regular rooms and the—”

“We’ll take regular,” Rebecca said before he could finish. She immediately placed the coins on the counter.

The man paused and raised one eyebrow when he saw the two silver coins.

“Separate rooms?” he asked, a slight note of surprise in his voice.

“Yes,” Rebecca said. The word came out almost like a breath of annoyance.

“All right,” the man said. He reached for the coins and gestured toward the hallway. “Follow me.”

He walked toward the hallway on the left, taking a set of keys from behind the counter. He stopped in front of two doors facing each other and unlocked them one after the other. The doors had different numbers marked on them, one and two.

Tyler looked into the room marked with the number one. There was a small bed inside, along with a set of blankets folded neatly on top. They looked so thin that he wondered how warm they would actually be. There wasn't even a pillow.

Rebecca immediately stepped into room number two after seeing the small bed inside. The blankets were still thin, but they looked a little thicker than the ones in Tyler's room, and there was a small pillow resting at the head of the bed.

“Don't hesitate to call me if you need anything,” the man said before walking back toward the front of the lodge.

Tyler watched Rebecca enter her room. She sat down on the edge of the bed and slowly kicked off her boots, letting them fall to the floor. The moment they were off, she let herself fall backward onto the mattress, her back landing against it as she released a long sigh of relief.

Tyler stood there for a moment, watching her.

He had expected her to say something after they had traveled this far in silence, but she didn't move or say a word.

He eventually went into his own room and closed the door behind him.

The blue coat he was wearing gave off a faint blue glow before disappearing into his inventory. Tyler then sat down on his bed. It looked very similar to the one he'd slept on in Veridia, but even so, the mattress still felt uncomfortable beneath him.

*I should have taken all that money from Kai*, Tyler thought.

His stomach rumbled again.

He looked down at his open palm, and a sweet golden bun suddenly materialized in it with a faint shimmer. He brought it to his mouth and took a bite.

*I am so hungry. I didn't eat a damn thing the entire day.*

He chewed and swallowed before taking another bite.

*Now that I think about it, did she eat anything at all?*

Tyler stopped eating for a moment.

He hadn't seen Rebecca eat anything since they left.

He swallowed what was left in his mouth, stood up, and walked back toward the door. He opened it and stepped into the hallway before walking over to Rebecca's room.

He raised his hand and knocked.

“Who is it?” she asked from inside.

“Have you eaten anything?” Tyler asked.

There was no answer for a while.

“Yes, why do you ask?”

“I got something for you.”

Tyler heard quick footsteps approaching the door before it opened.

His eyebrows rose when he saw Rebecca.

She wasn't wearing her top armor anymore. Instead, she was wearing something similar to a white tunic. It fit her fairly tightly, with a set of laces running down the middle.

“I bought you some bread.”

“Bread?” she said, her eyebrows rising slightly.

Tyler lifted his open palm. A faint shimmer of light gathered above it, and a golden bun slowly materialized in his hand.

“Oh,” Rebecca said, her eyes following the fading glow around the bread.

She still wasn't completely used to seeing Tyler use his skill. The sudden light stood out even more in the darkness of the night, illuminating his hand and the front of his coat for a brief moment. Tiny particles of light lingered around the bun before gradually fading away like dust motes floating through the air.

“Thank you,” she said, taking it from him.

Another shimmer immediately formed in Tyler's palm, and a second bun appeared.

“Take two. You won't get full, but that's all I have.”

Rebecca looked up at Tyler, then down at the second piece of bread in his hand. After a brief hesitation, she reached out and took the second one from him.

“Thanks,” she said, drawing the word out slightly. Her voice sounded uncertain, almost as if she wasn't quite sure how to respond to the gesture.

“All right. See you in the morning,” Tyler said before turning and heading back toward his room.

Rebecca watched him leave before closing the door behind her. She looked down at the bread for a moment, turning it slightly in her hand before taking a bite.

She slowed almost immediately.

The taste was nothing like she had expected.

The bread was incredibly fresh. It wasn't cold, but it wasn't warm either. Somehow, it still tasted as though it had been baked that very same day. The texture was soft enough that it nearly broke apart in her mouth, while the sweetness of honey lingered across her tongue. As she chewed, the smell of it rose faintly toward her nose, making her mouth water.

She swallowed and took another bite.

*This is pretty good*, she thought.

Meanwhile, Tyler had already finished his own bread and sat on the edge of his bed, resting his elbows against his knees. He wasn't particularly tired. In fact, he already knew that sleep wasn't going to come easily tonight.

By now, he had gotten into the habit of tinkering around with the system whenever he had some free time. There were still so many things he didn't understand about it, especially after everything that had happened recently. Questions kept circling through his mind, and he hoped that, for once, the system would actually give him some answers.

Tyler sat up slightly and focused.

The system panel appeared in front of him, its familiar window displaying his current stats.

SPECIES: HUMAN

NAME: TYLER EVANS

RANK: C

LVL: 58

CLASS: CRAFTSMAN

HP: 280/280 MP: 218/258

STR: 282 AGI: 242

DEF: 244 STM: 237

SKILLS: WEAPON CRAFT-LV2, ARMOR CRAFT-LV1 ACCESSORY CRAFT- LV1, ALCHEMY-LV1, RUNECRAFT, RUSH LV2-MC20, CHAMBER-MC:50

RUSH-MC:40

PASSIVE SKILLS: WEAPON MASTERY-LV1, ASSIMILATION, MANA SIGHT,PRIMAL SUBJUGATION MANA ABSORBTION

EXTRA POINTS: 40

He looked down at the extra spare points displayed at the bottom of the panel.

*40? That's a lot. If I had used them in the battle, it could have ended faster*, he thought.

The memory of the battle came back to him, and after thinking about what had happened, Tyler shook his head and sat up straight. The panel disappeared from in front of him.

*The battle would have gone the same way even if I had used them. I didn't want to kill her. She saw that I was on the defensive and took advantage of it. She even wanted me to fight, but I couldn't bring myself to kill her.*

Tyler leaned forward and pressed both hands against his eyes. The room disappeared behind his palms, leaving him staring into complete darkness.

"I did it again. I killed someone. Just like that."

He remembered the blow he'd landed against Ben. He could still remember the sheer force behind the strike, the way it sent Ben flying and crashing through multiple trees. The memory remained clear in his mind, but there was something about it that didn't sit right with him.

It wasn't remorse.

At least, not in the literal sense.

Tyler slowly lowered his hands from his face. The room looked slightly blurry for a moment, his vision taking a few seconds to settle before everything became sharp again.

He didn't feel sorry for Ben. He didn't feel the same guilt he had felt when Bernardo died, someone whose death he hadn't expected.

But even so, the lack of guilt bothered him.

Tyler sat quietly on the bed, staring at the floor as he tried to make sense of the feeling.

“What would James even say about this?” he muttered to himself.