Chronicles Of The Crafting Hero [REMASTERED]

[THE NIGHT BEFORE]

The tavern was a chaotic wall of noise. Thick smoke and the sour smell of spilled ale hung heavy in the stifling air. Dozens of overlapping voices shouted and laughed over the clattering of wooden mugs. A few women sat comfortably on the laps of patrons in the booths, while others leaned against the sticky wooden counter, ordering another round of drinks.

Tucked away in the dimmest corner of the bar, Nathan and Nigel sat together at a small, scarred table. They were completely engrossed in their conversation, laughing loudly.

They were identical twins, both sharing the same short blonde hair and sharp blue eyes. The only distinct difference between them was Nathan’s left ear, which had a jagged chunk missing from the top cartilage.

"I beat the crap out of him. Who the hell did he think he was anyways? Huh?" Nigel said, laughing as he leaned over the table.

"Oh yeah?" Nathan asked, a sly smirk on his face. "What did you two do with his wife?"

"Nah, I couldn't do anything. The guards showed up before anything happened."

Nathan burst into a loud, mocking fit of laughter.

Nigel scowled, his pride stung. "What? It was two guards."

"So what? You couldn't handle two guards?"

"Hey, the guards in Oldria are no joke, alright? Most of those guys are C-Ranks."

Nathan’s laughter abruptly stopped. "Oh shit, really?"

"Yeah," Nigel said, lifting his heavy wooden cup and taking a long drink of his ale. He slammed the cup back down onto the table and wiped his mouth. "Anyways, the guards show up, right? And I immediately activated my skill and got out of there."

"I thought you said they were C-Ranks. They didn't catch up to you?"

"No," Nigel said, a smug look crossing his face. "I activated an ultimate skill."

Nathan violently coughed, choking on the sip of ale he had just taken. He thumped his own chest, wheezing. "Your what?"

"Yeah," Nigel said with a wide grin, leaning back and folding his arms across his chest. "I got an ultimate skill."

Nathan stared at him in disbelief. "When?"

Nigel leaned in close, lowering his voice over the noise of the tavern. "Remember when I killed that guy? That other C-Rank?"

"Yeah. I know. I mean, you nearly died. I told you we shouldn't rob places like that."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, but that's when I got it," Nigel said, shrugging dismissively. "I didn't want to tell you because I wanted to surprise you, but... meh, what's the use?"

Nathan opened his mouth to respond, but the words died in his throat. His blue eyes widened, fixing on a spot near the tavern entrance, and he completely froze.

"What?" Nigel asked, his grin fading. He turned his head to look behind him, and his own eyes instantly widened in shock.

Bernardo had just entered the tavern.

"Is that..."

"Yes, it is," Nathan whispered to his brother.

Bernardo stood near the heavy wooden door, the dim tavern light casting harsh shadows over his frame. A thick scarf was pulled up tight, covering the entire lower half of his face. Slowly, he reached up and pulled the dark fabric down.

"Hey," Bernardo said, his voice terrifyingly raw and raspy.

"What... the fuck?" Nathan breathed out, his hands gripping the edge of the table. "How the hell are you still alive? We thought you were dead."

"That's because you left me to die. But here I am," Bernardo said, his voice strangely calm over the din of the tavern.

Nigel scoffed, a sneer twisting his face. "So what? You expected us to stay and die for you? You're the one who got us caught in the first place."

"Yeah," Nathan added, glaring across the table. "We almost died 'cause of you."

"So you're admitting it. And you're not even gonna apologize, huh?" Bernardo said.

Nigel looked at his brother, and Nathan looked right back at him. Simultaneously, they both burst out into a loud, callous fit of laughter.

Nathan slammed his hand on the sticky wooden table. "Apologize? Fuck off. Why the hell would we do that?"

Bernardo watched them laugh, his eyes cold and unblinking above his scarf. *No honor amongst thieves, huh?* he thought.

A dark, tight smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. "Seriously. You guys are idiots," he said out loud.

Nathan immediately stood up, his chair scraping violently against the floorboards. "What the fuck did you just call us?"

A few people at the neighboring tables turned to look at the commotion, but most of the tavern patrons just ignored them and continued drinking.

"The Black Cloud Guild," Bernardo muttered.

Nigel and Nathan both froze. Their angry expressions instantly vanished, replaced by serious, tight-lipped frowns as they recognized the name.

"What about them?" Nigel asked, his voice dropping low.

"They caught me," Bernardo said. He slowly reached up and pulled off his right leather glove, tossing it onto the table.

Nigel and Nathan stared. Three of his fingers were completely missing, leaving behind jagged, poorly healed stumps.

"Damn," Nigel breathed out.

"What the hell does that have to do with us?" Nathan demanded, though his voice had lost its aggressive edge.

"Remember the guy you attacked that time?" Bernardo asked, pulling the glove back over his ruined hand. "The one you robbed? You took at least two gold coins from him months ago."

"Yeah. What about it?" Nigel said defensively.

"That guy was a member of the Guild."

"What?" Nigel choked out.

"You're lying," Nathan snapped. "That guy didn't even have their mark. Plus, he was weak! The Black Cloud Guild doesn't take anyone D-Rank and below, you know that."

"You dumbasses," Bernardo said with a dry chuckle, running his gloved hand down his scarred face.

"What's so funny?" Nigel asked, his fists clenching on the table.

"That was the Vice Captain's son."

"What?" both brothers said in unison, the blood draining from their faces.

"Yeah. You should have killed him when you had the chance."

Nigel kicked his chair back, stood up immediately, and lunged across the table. He grabbed Bernardo roughly by the collar of his coat. "Why the hell are you telling us all this? Did you rat us out?"

"I didn't have a choice. It was either that or my life."

Nigel growled and threw a heavy, vicious punch straight at Bernardo's nose.

But as his fist met Bernardo's face, something entirely unnatural happened. Bernardo didn't flinch. His skin didn't even ripple. It was almost as if nothing had touched him at all. Instead, the air between them warped. An invisible force violently rebounded outward.

Nigel let out a choked gasp as his own face twisted. His nose cracked sideways, snapping as if he had just been hit by a heavy iron club. The raw force of his own punch hit him squarely in the jaw, sending him stumbling wildly backward until he tripped over his chair and crashed hard onto the floorboards.

"Nigel!" Nathan shouted, scrambling to his feet. He lunged at Bernardo, swinging his fist as hard as he could at the man's jaw.

The exact same thing happened. Bernardo just stood there, perfectly still.

The invisible force rippled, and Nathan felt the brutal, bone-jarring impact of a punch strike him directly in the face. His head snapped back, his vision flashing white as he stumbled backward and collapsed onto the ground next to his groaning brother.

"Brother," Nigel groaned, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the floor. "What the hell is this? What did you do?"

The tavern had gone completely silent. Everyone at the bar had stopped talking, their attention fixed entirely on the three men in the corner. People murmured and pointed at the strange sight.

A waiter quickly pushed through the crowd, looking panicked. "Please, no fighting in the tavern! Settle your business outside, alright?"

Bernardo smiled calmly behind his scarf, fixing the collar of his coat. "No, it's alright. We're not fighting. These boys just happened to hurt themselves."

"What the hell happened?" one of the patrons muttered loudly.

"I don't know," another man replied, squinting. "I thought I saw the other guy punch him, but he's the one who got hurt."

"What? That sounds absurd."

Nathan wiped the blood from his lip, staring up at Bernardo in absolute horror.* What the hell is that? A skill? But... what kind is it? I've never seen anything like this before.*

Nigel stood up slowly, groaning as he clutched his broken nose. Nathan scrambled up right beside him, both of them keeping a terrified distance from Bernardo.

The waiter shot them a severe glare. "Alright. If I see you fighting again, I'm going to have to call the guards." He turned on his heel and rushed back to the safety of the counter.

Bernardo calmly pulled out a wooden chair from the neighboring table and sat down.

"Sit down," he said, his voice casual, as if nothing had just happened.

The brothers exchanged a fearful look before slowly sitting back down across from him.

"How did you do that?" Nigel asked, his voice trembling as he wiped more blood from his chin.

"I was given dark mana," Bernardo answered simply. "So I got a skill."

"What?" Nathan asked, completely shocked.

"But that's dangerous. You didn't go insane?" Nigel asked, his eyes wide.

Bernardo shook his head. "Listen. The guild already knows that you guys were the ones behind that robbery months ago."

"Yeah, because you told them," Nigel spat bitterly.

"I had no choice. It was either that, or I was going to die. You would have done the exact same thing in my situation."

The brothers remained quiet, unable to deny it.

Bernardo leaned forward, lowering his voice again. "I was caught by Violet."

"The assassin, Violet?" Nathan asked, the remaining color draining from his face.

"Yeah."

"That's bullshit," Nigel said, shaking his head in denial. "Violet's one of the most powerful known assassins out there. Why the hell would she have been after you?"

"I was surprised myself," Bernardo admitted. "But it seemed like she and the Captain knew each other, so he must have sent her. Though it sounded like she came on her own volition."

He remembered her cold voice echoing in the alleyway: 'It's not easy to get under the Captain's nerves.'

*They must have known each other for some time*, Bernardo thought.

"How did they even know each other?" Nathan asked.

"I don't know," Bernardo said. "But listen. I know what you're thinking. You think you might run away. But you and I both know that no one has ever successfully escaped from Violet once they're a target. We can't. I don't even know how she found me."

"We can at least try—" Nigel started.

"No," Nathan interrupted his brother, shaking his head grimly. "He's right. As far as everyone knows, each and every one of Violet's targets dies. I heard one guy almost escaped, but even though he was heavily guarded, he was found dead the next day."

"But she gave me a chance," Bernardo said, interrupting them both.

"First, she gave me three days to collect all the cash we stole from them. I failed and ran. But she still found me, all the way out in Lyria. I was surprised she didn't kill me. Instead, she offered me more days. Probably because of the Captain."

"Really?" Nathan asked, a glimmer of hope returning to his eyes.

"Yes," Bernardo nodded.

Inwardly, Bernardo’s mind raced with panic.* She hasn't showed up yet. I don't know why, but I can't tell them that. I'll just have to collect the money using their help. I can't do it without them.*

"Since we're in this together now, we need to help each other out," Bernardo said out loud. "I already have one gold coin worth of silver."

"Whoa!" Nigel said, his eyes going wide. "How did you get that?"

"I robbed a noble. And managed to escape. I was just lucky."

"How much do we need to get?" Nathan asked nervously.

Bernardo took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Ten gold coins."

"Wait," Nigel said, completely stunned. "You want us to get a thousand silver?"

"Yes," Bernardo said. "That amount was my fault. I heard the guild lent people money."

"So, I thought I could take it and disappear. I thought the loan shark couldn't find me. But then this happened."

"You stupid bastard," Nigel hissed.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Nathan demanded in disbelief.

"I know it was stupid of me to do that, but it happened."

"It happened?" Nigel repeated, slamming his fist down on the table again.

Nathan quickly extended a hand, stopping his brother before he tried to throw another punch. He looked back at Bernardo, his face pale.

"How long do we have?" Nathan asked.

"We have three days. Otherwise, we're dead."