Chronicles Of The Crafting Hero [REMASTERED]

Tyler lay stretched out on the bed, as he stared up at the ceiling. His eyes followed the uneven lines of the timber planks crossing over one another above him, some darker than the others where the wood had aged differently. The room was quiet now, the faint sounds of the village outside barely reaching him through the walls.

He still couldn't understand how the item he held could possibly be harming the system. Whatever that necklace was, the system kept reacting to it differently than it. He had seen the warning himself, and there had been no strange ambiguity in its message.

*But what did it mean that it didn't make it?*

He shifted slightly and folded his arms beneath his head, using them as a makeshift pillow.

"It was probably just another glitch. That must've been it."

There wasn't much else he could make of it. Eventually, his thoughts began to blur together, and with his eyes growing heavier, he stopped fighting the exhaustion and allowed himself to fall into a deep sleep.

The hours passed quietly.

Outside the window, the stars that had filled the night sky gradually faded as the darkness began to loosen its grip on the world. The deep blue of the night slowly turned gray, and a pale morning light crept through the window, spreading across the stone floor and climbing the walls as the sun rose beyond the village.

"Hey."

A voice reached Tyler through the haze of sleep, distant and muffled as though it were coming from somewhere far away.

"Hey."

He squeezed his eyes tighter and rolled onto his side, barely registering the voice.

"Wake up!"

A hand came down onto his shoulder.

Tyler's body reacted before his mind had a chance to catch up. His eyes snapped open, and his muscles tensed instantly. He grabbed the person's hand with enough force to make the wrist jerk in his grasp. The Terror Dagger materialized in his left hand almost without thought, the crimson blade appearing in his palm as he pulled the person toward him and drove it forward.

"Ah!"

Rebecca's voice finally broke through the fog in his mind.

Tyler's breath caught.

The dagger stopped abruptly, its tip hovering only a few inches from Rebecca's eye. He stared at her, frozen for a moment, suddenly aware of how close he had come.

"Shit, I'm sorry."

The dagger vanished from his hand.

Rebecca tore her wrist away from him and stumbled a step backward, staring at him in disbelief. She rubbed the spot where his fingers had clamped around her, her expression twisted between irritation and shock. A dull sting ran through the joint, followed by a strange numbness that made her flex her fingers experimentally.

"Are you crazy? You almost killed me!"

"I'm sorry, I just..." Tyler ran a hand over his face, still trying to shake off the last remnants of sleep. "I didn't know it was you."

"Who did you think I was?"

Rebecca's voice was sharper now. She continued rubbing her wrist as she watched him, her shoulders tense.

Tyler exhaled slowly and pulled the sheets away from himself, letting them fall into a loose heap behind him as he swung his legs over the edge of the mattress. His bare feet touched the cool stone floor.

"They're just reflexes," he said as he stood.

Rebecca stared at him for a second, clearly not satisfied with the answer.

"Well, be careful next time. Come on, let's go."

She turned and walked out of the room without waiting for him.

Tyler watched her disappear through the doorway. Even without seeing her face anymore, he could tell she was angry. The stiff set of her shoulders and the sharpness in her movements made that obvious.

He rubbed his forehead and sighed.

"Damn, I almost killed her. What is wrong with me?"

The thought unsettled him more than he wanted to admit. He remembered the time he had nearly done something similar with James. He hadn't actually pointed the dagger at him then, but the instinct had still been there. The thought of what might have happened if he hadn't stopped himself made his stomach tighten.

He turned back toward the bed and made it, smoothing the sheets down before getting dressed. As soon as he finished, the Gloomfang coat materialized over his body, settling across his shoulders, followed by his boots appearing beneath him. The familiar weight of the equipment helped him feel a little more awake.

He opened the door and stepped into the hallway.

The inn was already stirring with the sounds of morning. Somewhere farther down the building, he could hear footsteps moving across the wooden floors, along with the muffled voices of people beginning their day. Tyler made his way toward the lounge and found Rebecca leaning against the doorframe with her arms folded tightly across her chest.

Her brow was still furrowed. She looked annoyed.

As soon as Tyler approached, she pushed away from the frame and stepped outside without saying anything. He followed after her, and the two of them began walking down the gravel road that ran through the village.

Tyler increased his pace until he was beside her.

"Where are we going?"

"A place where no one can disturb us. You said you'd teach me, didn't you?"

"I did," Tyler replied, glancing at her. "That is, if you keep your end of the bargain, of course."

"I will."

Their conversation faded as they continued along the road. The village was already becoming busier as the morning settled in. Hunters moved between the buildings with weapons strapped across their backs or hanging from their belts, while villagers went about their routines, some carrying baskets, others talking among themselves as they passed. The air was cool and fresh, carrying the faint smell of damp earth and wood smoke from nearby homes.

Tyler looked ahead.

The village gradually opened into a broad valley, and beyond it rose an enormous forest. Trees so large that they seemed almost unnatural stretched from one side of the horizon to the other, their dense canopies forming a dark green mass that appeared to swallow the land the farther it extended. Even from this distance, the sheer size of the forest was intimidating.

"Are we going to that forest?"

Rebecca shook her head.

"No. We're just going near it. You can't train inside a monster zone. It's too dangerous for that."

Tyler looked at the distant wall of trees again.

"That's the monster zone?"

"Yes. We're passing the quest hall right now."

She pointed toward the building beside them.

Tyler turned his head and saw a wide, two-story structure with sturdy wooden walls and a large entrance. A handful of hunters were gathered outside, while others moved in and out through the doorway.

*Oh, so that's where we take quests.*

His attention remained on the building for another moment before realization suddenly struck him.

His eyes widened.

"Shit."

Rebecca looked over at him.

"What?"

"I forgot to complete the quest for killing those Dracos at the base. I didn't bring the hides in."

Rebecca's expression relaxed slightly.

"Ah, well, too bad. Your signature's probably expired by now. Someone else might've taken the quest. Besides, you can't go there right now."

"I know."

They continued walking, the quest hall disappearing behind them.

After a short silence, Rebecca glanced toward Tyler.

"By the way, that skill you used back there to take those Draco hides, what kind of skill was that?"

Tyler looked at her.

"It's just one of my skills. It's subspace magic."

Rebecca's eyebrows rose immediately with visible suspicion.

"Subspace magic? What kind of subspace magic skill does that? You made their skin disappear from their bodies. Also, how come you didn't just do that before you killed them? It would've been the quickest way to deal with them."

Tyler looked ahead again.

"I can't just use it on living things."

Rebecca's expression shifted as the explanation finally seemed to make sense to her.

"Oh."

She stepped forward, her eyes still on the road ahead.

"So that's why you didn't use it on those guys."

Tyler's eyebrows rose.

"Are you talking about the guild members?"

"Yes. It could've been so much easier to deal with them."

Tyler stared at her for a moment.

*She thought I could use that kind of skill on people?*

The idea made him uncomfortable.

*Even if that were possible, I wouldn't even do it. It's disgusting and inhumane. Why would she even think of something like that?*

He studied Rebecca's face, looking for some sign that she regretted saying it or had even noticed how disturbing the suggestion sounded to him.

She simply continued walking beside him, her expression calm, her eyes fixed on the road ahead as though the thought of using such a skill on another person had been nothing more than a practical solution.

He fixed his gaze ahead as they continued walking. The village gradually disappeared behind them, replaced by open ground and the towering trees that marked the edge of the monster zone. The farther they went, the larger the trees seemed to become, their thick trunks rising high above the surrounding land and their roots pushing up through the earth like the backs of enormous buried creatures.

After several more minutes, Rebecca finally slowed down.

"We're here."

She stopped beside one of the enormous trees.

Tyler came to a halt beside her and looked up.

His eyes widened in awe.

The trunk was enormous, easily around five meters across from where he stood. It rose so high that Tyler had to tilt his head back just to see where it disappeared into the canopy. It was at least twice the height of a palm tree, perhaps even more from where he was standing, and its thick branches stretched outward above them, spreading into a dense mass of green leaves.

Even the roots were massive. Several of them pushed out of the ground around the base of the trunk, some thicker than either of Tyler's arms. Their surfaces were covered in deep green moss, giving the entire tree an almost otherworldly appearance.

Tyler slowly looked around at the other trees surrounding them.

He had never seen anything like this before.

"Let's start," Rebecca said.

She reached down to her hip and pulled out a small silver dagger. The weapon looked old and worn, with scratches running along the blade and a simple handle that had clearly seen better days.

Tyler hadn't even noticed it was there.

"Where did you get that?" he asked.

He knew she hadn't been carrying it before.

"I bought it from another hunter while you were asleep. I brought it with my last coin."

She held the dagger in front of herself, examining it briefly before looking back at him.

"I figured if you wanted to teach me, I had to have a dagger of my own, right?"

"Yeah, but..." Tyler glanced around.

They were standing in a relatively open area near the edge of the monster zone. The enormous forest stretched out behind Rebecca, while the open road and surrounding land remained visible from where they stood.

Tyler's eyes shifted toward the forest.

"Won't the monsters come out and attack us?"

"No. They're much deeper in the forest, almost half a kilometer in. We don't have to worry about them coming this far."

Tyler looked back toward the village.

A few hunters were making their way along the road in their direction. He watched them approach, his shoulders tightening slightly.

He wasn't used to training with people around.

Most of the time, he had practiced somewhere isolated, where nobody could watch him struggle or see him make mistakes. Even when he had been training with James, there had been a sense of privacy to it.

Here, anyone passing by could stop and watch.

Tyler looked at Rebecca.

"Not here."

She blinked, confused.

"What?"

Tyler pointed past her.

"What about all the way over there?"

Rebecca turned around, following his gesture.

A little farther away stood another enormous tree, separated from the others near the edge of the monster zone. It looked as though it had grown slightly apart from the rest of the forest, standing alone in the open space.

It was smaller than the massive trees surrounding it, but only by comparison. Its trunk was still thick enough that it would have taken several people standing side by side to wrap their arms around it, and its branches reached high above them.

Rebecca looked back at Tyler.

"That one?"

Tyler nodded.

"Yeah. We can train there."

They both moved toward the tree ahead, its enormous trunk casting a broad patch of shade over the ground. When they reached it, Rebecca turned toward Tyler and settled into a fighting stance. She gripped the silver dagger in her right hand, the worn leather around its handle pressing against her palm, while her left hand curled into a fist and stayed raised close to her face. Her eyes remained fixed on Tyler as she waited.

"I thought you said I'd teach you. You already want to fight me?"

"If you want to teach me, you have to see what I'm doing wrong."

Rebecca suddenly pushed off the ground and rushed toward him, catching Tyler by surprise. Her boots scraped against the dirt as she closed the distance, and she swung the dagger sideways toward his throat.

Tyler took a single step backward.

The blade swept harmlessly through the space where his neck had been only a moment earlier. She immediately pulled her arm back, her shoulders turning with the motion as she prepared another attack. She thrust the dagger straight toward his gut.

Tyler stepped back again while tilting his body slightly to the left. The dagger passed right beside his abdomen, close enough that he could feel the movement of air against his clothes. To him, the attack was painfully slow, and every motion she made seemed obvious before she even completed it.

The moment her arm extended past him, Tyler seized her wrist with his left hand. His grip tightened around it before she could pull away, and with his right arm, he rammed his elbow sharply underneath her wrist.

Rebecca grunted as pain shot through her arm. Her fingers immediately loosened around the dagger, and the weapon slipped from her hand.

Before it could hit the ground, Tyler caught it.

Rebecca stepped backward, instinctively clutching her injured arm as the pain continued to radiate through it. Her eyes widened when Tyler suddenly moved toward her.

She barely had time to react.

Tyler stopped himself at the last instant. The dagger's edge had already touched the skin of her neck.

Rebecca instinctively grabbed his arm, her breathing quickening as she stared at the blade resting against her throat.

"You're too clumsy. It's like you've never used a dagger in a fight before."

Tyler removed his hand from her throat, and after a moment, Rebecca slowly released his arm. She glanced down at the dagger in his hand, then at her own wrist, still throbbing from the strike.

*That was so fast. I didn't even last 20 seconds.*

Frustration and embarrassment washed over her at the same time, and she felt the heat rising into her cheeks. Tyler noticed her reaction.

"But still, not bad," he said. "If it was someone your level, you would have lasted a bit longer."

Rebecca felt some of the frustration leave her.

Then Tyler smiled at her and turned the dagger around, carefully holding it by its blade before extending the handle toward her.

"That is, if the person you're fighting doesn't know how to use a dagger at all either."

"Ugh."

Rebecca snatched the dagger from him, her fingers tightening around the handle as she glared at the weapon.

"How do I do it properly?" she asked, her tone filled with frustration.

Tyler looked at her for a moment, then his eyes dropped toward her feet. “First of all, your stance was wrong.”

Rebecca frowned. “What?”

“Your feet are too close together, and you’re standing too upright.” Tyler stepped closer and carefully adjusted her position, nudging one of her feet farther out with his boot before lightly tapping the back of her knee. “Bend your knees a little. Not too much. You need to be able to move without shifting your whole body first.”

Rebecca lowered herself slightly, watching him as he continued. “Keep your back straight, but don’t stiffen it. You want to stay loose enough to move naturally. And your left hand shouldn’t stay glued to your face. Keep it up, but let it move with you.”

She adjusted her arm and looked at him. “Like this?”

Tyler studied her stance for a moment before nodding. “That’s much better.”

Rebecca tightened her grip on the dagger. Tyler noticed immediately. “And loosen your hand.”

She frowned. “Why?”

“Because you’re gripping it too hard. You’re supposed to control the dagger, not choke it.”

Rebecca glanced down at her fingers and reluctantly loosened her grip.

“Good. Now move.”

She stepped forward, and Tyler moved backward with her. “Again.”

She stepped forward once more.

“Now backward.”

Rebecca followed, but her balance shifted awkwardly and her back foot dragged through the dirt.

“Don’t drag it,” Tyler said. “Lift your foot and place it down properly. You need to be ready to move again immediately.”

She tried again, this time keeping her footing under control.

“Better.”

Tyler continued moving around her, making her change direction without warning. Whenever she leaned too far forward, he corrected her. When she became too rigid, he told her to relax. When she allowed her stance to narrow again, he quietly pushed her foot back into place. At first, Rebecca struggled to keep all of it in mind at once, but after repeating the movements over and over, the corrections began to settle into her body.

“Now faster.”

Rebecca increased her pace. Her boots pressed into the loose soil as she moved, kicking up small bits of dirt while Tyler shifted from side to side in front of her.

“Don’t look at the ground. Watch me.”

She raised her eyes.Tyler moved right andRebecca followed.

He shifted left and she turned with him.

“Great.”

A faint smile appeared on her face.

“Still too slow.”

The smile disappeared instantly.

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

Rebecca clicked her tongue and tried again.

They repeated the drill until her movements began to look more natural. His dagger materialised then raised his dagger and gave her a small gesture to attack.

Rebecca stepped forward. Her first strike was cleaner than before, and when Tyler moved away, she recovered without losing her balance.

“Try again.”

She attacked but Tyler avoided the blade.

Rebecca immediately followed with another strike, refusing to give him much space. He caught her wrist and redirected the attack before stepping away.

“Again.” She came after him.

He moved aside.

"Try Again.”

She attacked once more.

“Faster.”

Rebecca gritted her teeth and pushed herself harder. Her footsteps became quicker, and the movements Tyler had corrected began to flow together instead of feeling like separate things she had to think about. Her attacks were still rough, but she was no longer throwing herself forward carelessly every time she struck.

After several more exchanges, Tyler stepped backward and watched her advance.

“You’re improving.”

Rebecca didn’t answer. Her breathing had already become heavy enough that she had little interest in wasting it on a reply.

Tyler shifted to the side. She followed and He moved again.

The air had begun to warm, and sweat gathered along Rebecca’s forehead and temples. Her breathing grew heavier with every repetition, while the muscles in her legs and shoulders slowly started to burn. Even so, she kept moving whenever Tyler gave her another instruction, refusing to slow down unless her body forced her to.

Tyler noticed something else as he watched her attacks.

“At least you always aim for vital spots.”

Rebecca hesitated for a moment. “What?”

“The first time you attacked me, you went for my neck. Then you went for my chest.”

She looked at him with an annoyed expression. “That’s because those are vital areas.”

Tyler smiled. “Exactly.”

Rebecca’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“If I actually stab you, the training is over.”

Tyler’s smile widened. For some reason, he found it amusing when she got annoyed with him.

“Then don’t stab me.”

Rebecca let out an irritated breath and came at him again.

This time she was noticeably faster. Her feet dug into the soil as she closed the distance, and her dagger moved with far less hesitation than it had earlier. Tyler slipped aside, but Rebecca immediately turned after him, continuing the attack instead of stopping when she lost her original angle.

“Your getting good at this.”

She attacked again.

Tyler blocked and she immediately recovered.

Her breathing was now loud enough for Tyler to hear clearly between their footsteps and the rustling leaves overhead. Sweat ran down the side of her face, and damp strands of silver hair clung to her forehead. Her forearm began to ache from the repeated movements, while her legs grew heavier with every step, but she continued coming after him whenever he created distance.

Eventually, exhaustion began to slow her. Rebecca stopped and lowered the dagger slightly, bending forward as she drew several deep breaths. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, and sweat glistened across her skin.

Tyler looked at her for a moment.

“You’re fast.”

Rebecca lifted her head.

“But you need to be faster.”

Before she could respond, Tyler stepped closer and held both palms out in front of her.

Two steel boots suddenly materialized in his hands.

The weight dropped into his palms immediately. Tyler could feel how dense they were, the steel pulling against his arms as he held one in each hand. They were extraordinarily heavy, but with the strength he had now, he was able to hold them without much difficulty.

"What are those?" she asked, out of breath as she straightened herself.

"These are the metal boots I created. They're pretty heavy, but I want you to wear them. They'll help you become faster. I actually trained with them to get as fast as I am." Tyler placed them on the ground. "They're not easy to get used to, though."

"Okay," Rebecca breathed.

She sat down on the ground and removed her boots. But when she tried to lift one of the steel boots, it felt as though it had been stuck to the earth. Her arms tensed as she struggled to raise it, and after a moment, she finally managed to move it.

She stood up and slid her legs into the heavy boots.

"Great," Tyler said, giving her a thumbs-up with a playful smile.

*He's enjoying this,* she thought, glaring at him. *And how the hell is he not tired? He doesn't look tired at all. He was moving just as much as I was, but even faster.*

"All right. Now I want you to run from this tree." Tyler pointed toward the enormous tree behind them with his thumb. Then he pointed toward the area where they had trained earlier. "All the way over there, all right? And I don't want you to stop, no matter what happens. I want you to touch one of those big trees over there and come back here. If you stop to even take a break, we're not training."

Rebecca looked toward where Tyler was pointing before trying to lift her feet. She grunted as she felt the full weight of the metal boots, but she managed to raise one foot and take a step forward.

"Wow, you're pretty weak."

"I'm not, all right? I'm just tired. If you wanted me to run, we could have started with these things," she said, taking another step.

"I said running, not walking."

"I'm trying," she grunted.

Tyler put his hands on his waist as he watched her start walking faster and faster. It wasn't quite running yet, but she was beginning to move at a steady jog.

*I knew she could do it. I just needed to get her tired first before I used them. She is a C-rank, after all.*

Rebecca ran and ran. The metal boots felt extremely uncomfortable around her feet, squeezing her toes together until the confined feeling became almost claustrophobic, but she kept going, pushing herself to increase her speed.

As she ran, her chest began to burn and her steps became increasingly clumsy. Tyler noticed from afar and raised a hand over his forehead, narrowing his eyes as he watched her.

*Is she gonna fall?*

"No, not yet," she muttered to herself. She straightened her posture and kept running.

*I'm not even halfway there. I can do this. If I fail, it'll all be for nothing.*

She continued running, each step becoming more difficult than the last, until she finally reached one of the enormous trees. She slowed just enough to touch the rough bark before turning around.

Tyler watched her start running back.

She was still moving, but she had become noticeably slower.

*This is gonna take forever,* he thought.

He eventually sat down as he waited for her. Watching Rebecca struggle across the distance brought back a memory of when James had trained him almost the same way. A smile appeared on his face at the thought.

*Is this how James felt?* he wondered with a quiet chuckle. "The old man has patience. I gotta give him that."

The Terror Dagger disappeared into his inventory as Tyler continued watching Rebecca.

Many minutes passed. Eventually, she was only about twenty meters away from him.

"That's it. You're almost there," Tyler said with a smile.

Rebecca wasn't running anymore. In fact, she was barely walking. One eyelid hung lower than the other, and she looked as though she was struggling just to remain conscious.

Tyler noticed her condition and called out, "Okay, we can stop."

"No," she said.

"It's okay you can stop, Rebecca."

"You told me to reach it. I'll reach it."

Her voice was raspy, as though she hadn't had anything to drink in days.

Tyler watched her for a moment.

She passed right by him, and her fingertips brushed against the bark of the tree beside him.

"You did it," Tyler said, a little surprised.

Rebecca turned toward him. Sweat clung to her skin, covering her entire body as though she had just come through a storm. Strands of silver hair stuck to the sides of her face.

"I told you I'd do it," she breathed.

Her eyes rolled back, and her balance suddenly gave out.

"Hey!"

In an instant, Tyler became a blur. He caught her before she could hit the ground, his arms quickly steadying her collapsing body.

She had completely exhausted herself.

He carried her toward the shade of the enormous tree and slowly lowered her onto the ground. He stood back up and looked down at her.

"She pushed herself too hard," he muttered.

He sighed, scratching the back of his head.

Watching her like this brought back memories of himself. He remembered doing the same thing, fighting until his body could barely move because he wanted to become stronger. He had wanted to stop being the useless person he once believed himself to be. He remembered that determination, that ambition, but more than anything, he remembered the sadness and pain that had come with it.

He knew why Rebecca was fighting so hard for this, but seeing her now made him realize just how determined she truly was.

Tyler looked down at her unconscious body, watching as her chest slowly rose and fell with each shallow breath.

He couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her.

Tyler’s smile widened. For some reason, he found it amusin