Chronicles Of The Crafting Hero [REMASTERED]

The wooden carriage rumbled to a stop behind the large, familiar canvas tent of the Hunter Base. Tyler and James hopped down into the dirt, the morning air crisp and cool against their skin.

Before they rounded the corner to the front of the base, James stopped and looked at Tyler. "You should equip that armor of yours and a weapon from your inventory before we go out there. We don't want people to see you using your ability out in the open, remember?"

"Right," Tyler said.

With a quick thought, the dark leather cuirass materialized seamlessly over his tunic, strapping itself tightly across his chest and shoulders. In his right hand, a vertical line of blue light flashed for a split second, and the heavy silver spear materialized into his grip, its polished metal tip shimmering against the golden morning light.

James raised his eyebrows. "A spear?"

"Yeah," Tyler said, grasping the cool metal shaft with his other hand to test its balance. "I crafted this days ago. It has a skill."

"A skill? What kind of skill is it?" James asked, clearly impressed.

"It's called Seven Strikes. When I activate it, the next seven strikes I deal will have increased attack power."

"Oh," James said, nodding approvingly. "That's a great skill. Sounds like a Knight-class skill. Knights are usually the ones wielding spears, too."

"Knight-class..." Tyler murmured. He suddenly held the weapon out. "James, here," he said, offering the spear.

"Why are you giving it to me?"

"I need to see if it works. I want to see if you can use the skill, too. You just said it's like a Knight skill, right? So maybe you can use it."

James’s eyes narrowed in thought. He reached out and grabbed the spear from Tyler’s hands. He shifted his grip, feeling the weight settle perfectly into his arms. *This is a pretty well-crafted spear*, he thought, adjusting his stance.

He waited a moment, then looked back at Tyler. "What now?"

"I... I don't know," Tyler replied, his shoulders dropping in slight disappointment. "I thought that maybe... I don't know."

James handed the spear back, and Tyler gripped the shaft.

"Maybe we were mistaken," James suggested gently. "Maybe it only works for you because you have light and dark mana inside you. I mean, you said you poured both light and dark mana inside the weapon when you crafted it, right? So maybe because I only have pure mana, my body is rejecting the circuit. I don't know."

Tyler looked down at his spear. Maybe he's right, he thought, though a small part of him had really expected something magical to happen.

"Come on, let's go," James said.

They walked around the massive canvas tent, making their way to the front entrance. Tyler took in the familiar sight. Dozens of Hunters were walking around the dirt grounds of the base. They wore heavy armor, carried massive weapons, and moved with a distinct, rugged confidence.

Tyler took a deep breath, the smell of damp earth and oiled leather filling his lungs. *I'm one of them now*, he thought, a rush of pride warming his chest. *A Hunter.*

He smiled, remembering the very first time he had come here. He remembered the sheer, overwhelming confusion and panic he had felt. Now, walking beside James, he noticed some of the passing Hunters eyeing him, taking in his armor and his spear, treating him like an equal.

As they entered the main tent, Tyler noticed it was much quieter than his first visit. There were only a few Hunters sitting scattered on the wooden benches, likely because it was so early in the morning.

He looked toward the main counter and immediately spotted the woman he had seen before—Serena. She was talking to a female Hunter with long blonde hair flowing down her armored back.

"Come back safely," Serena said with a warm smile.

The blonde woman nodded, turning and walking past Tyler and James as she exited the tent.

As the path cleared, Serena's gaze naturally fell onto the two men heading toward her counter. Her smile faded into a slight frown.

*James?* she thought. *I thought he wasn't hunting today.*

Her eyebrows rose slightly as she realized who was walking right next to him. *Wait. It's that man again.*

She vividly remembered Tyler standing in front of her counter weeks ago. His clothes had been torn and bloodied. He had looked completely lost, terrified, and paranoid, his posture screaming vulnerability. But more importantly, another thought flashed across her mind. Tyler was the person who could use subspace magic. He was the first and only person she had ever seen use it, and the impossibility of it had deeply intrigued her. Ever since that day, every time she came in to work, she couldn't help but think about that moment. It had happened so fast, so casually, like it was nothing.

But right now, that same young man was standing right in front of her again, and he looked completely different.

His body had filled out. He was significantly broader and more muscular than before. He was wearing dark leather armor and confidently gripping a silver-tipped spear.

"Good morning," James said, stopping at the wood.

"Oh! Good morning," Serena blinked, snapping out of her thoughts.

She looked back at Tyler. Her gaze immediately fell to the thick silver chain around his neck, and the dark, square pendant hanging from it. The letter E was stamped boldly into the metal.

"You're a Hunter?" she asked, unable to hide the surprise in her voice.

"Oh, yeah," Tyler said, "I am. I'm an Assassin."

"I see," Serena said smoothly.

Inwardly, her mind was racing. *How is he a Hunter? He even looks completely different. Before, he just looked like an ordinary, terrified civilian. I am absolutely sure he wasn't a Hunter back then.*

"Get me the D-Rank quest over there," James said, interrupting her thoughts and pointing past her.

Serena turned, following his finger to one of the thick parchment flyers pinned securely to the large wooden quest board behind her. She reached up, unpinned the heavy paper, and placed it flat onto the counter between them.

James picked up the heavy parchment and held it out to Tyler. "This is the quest I want us to take. We're going to have to bring back two D-Rank Hexhorn hides."

Tyler took the flyer, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the text. D-Rank Quest. Two Hexhorn hides. His eyes widened as he read the reward at the bottom.

"Seven silver?" he said out loud.

"Yeah."

Tyler looked over at James. "Isn't that, like... a lot?"

He handed the flyer back to James. Behind the counter, Serena frowned, her mind spinning. What is he saying? Most D-Rank Hunters would think that is incredibly low compared to other quests. Just like I thought. He really just became a Hunter.

"No, actually," James said. "It's pretty little compared to other D-Rank quests. Most of them give you ten silver and upward."

Tyler frowned in deep thought. But that's so much money. How is it that it seems like James is struggling?

James placed the quest flyer back on the counter and tapped it. "We'll take this one."

Serena handed James an ink pen, and he quickly signed his name at the bottom of the parchment.

"Are you both taking on the same quest?" Serena asked.

"Yeah," Tyler nodded.

"Well..." Serena hesitated slightly. "You're just going to have to split the money between you two yourselves. You can only officially sign as a Party if there's more than two of you."

"It's fine. We'll split the shares," James said.

"Okay." Serena took the quest flyer, pulled open a heavy drawer behind the counter, and carefully placed it inside. "Please return safely," she said, looking warmly at James.

"We'll be right back," James said. He looked at Tyler. "Let's go."

Tyler exchanged one last glance with Serena before turning away. He noticed her emerald eyes were slightly wide, as if she was deeply surprised by something. He directed his gaze toward the heavy canvas flap at the exit, following James out into the morning light.

As the canvas fell shut behind them, Serena exhaled a long breath. He looks so completely different, she thought. *It's because of James, isn't it? How much did he train him in such a short amount of time? What level is he?*

She remembered Tyler saying he was an Assassin. She straightened up behind the counter, her brow furrowing. *He said he was an Assassin. His badge confirmed it. But why in the world was he carrying a heavy spear?*

Outside, Tyler and James walked quickly away from the base, heading toward the dense treeline in the distance. Tyler carried the silver spear easily in his hand.

"That lady back there," Tyler asked. "What was her name again?"

James looked over at him. "You mean the clerk? Her name is Serena."

A wide grin spread across James's face. "Why do you ask? Are you interested in her?" he asked, his voice holding a playful tease.

Tyler's cheeks flushed hot. "What? No. I was just asking," he said quickly. Inwardly, he thought to himself, She does look beautiful. She looks around my age, too.

"I was just curious," Tyler defended himself.

"Come on, there's no harm in finding her attractive."

Tyler felt a twist of embarrassment in his chest and smiled wryly. The conversation was starting to feel awkward. "She's probably around the same age as you. How old are you again?"

"I'm twenty-two," Tyler answered.

"Twenty-two," James said, nodding slowly. He looked Tyler up and down. "I thought you were younger."

"Why is that?"

James smiled nervously, looking forward again. "You just look a little younger, that's all."

Inwardly, James thought, He acts a little younger for his age, too.

James cleared his throat, the playful energy instantly vanishing from his voice. "Anyways. Get ready," he said, his face turning entirely serious as the metallic ring of his silver sword unsheathing filled the air.

They left the dirt paths behind and finally crossed the threshold into the dark, towering forest of the monster zones.

The massive green trees immediately swallowed them whole, the canopy blocking out most of the sunlight. Tyler was instantly on guard, his grip tightening on his spear as his eyes darted around the thick underbrush.

"Look out for anything," James instructed in a low voice.

"Oh, yeah," Tyler said softly, keeping his voice down. "I wanted to ask you something. Do you know where I can find an Ada's tree?"

"An Ada's tree?" James glanced around the dense woods. "There's one right there." He pointed the tip of his silver sword slightly to their right.

"Oh," Tyler said in surprise, the tip of his spear dropping slightly. He looked over at a massive tree with a very wide, thick trunk and large, flat, pointed green leaves. His eyes narrowed. "Huh."

"They are pretty easy to find in the monster zones. Do you need it for something?"

"Yeah," Tyler said, walking directly toward the trunk. Yeah, I think I passed a ton of these when I was first transported here, he thought.

With a thought, the heavy silver spear disappeared into his inventory. In the same breath, a sharp iron sword materialized directly into his empty hand.

He looked back at James. "You don't mind if I take some branches, do you?"

James checked their surroundings carefully. "We're not that deep in yet. Go ahead."

"Thanks."

Tyler stepped up to the tree and swung the iron blade like an axe, driving it hard toward a thick, low-hanging branch. He fully expected to have to hack at it a couple of times. But as the iron bit into the wood, the blade sheared cleanly through the entire branch in a single, effortless swing.

The heavy wood fell and crashed against the damp earth with a loud thud, its leaves rustling violently in the quiet space.

"Oh," Tyler muttered in shock. He looked down at his hand, flexing his fingers. That's right. I leveled up.

Moving quickly, he started climbing the lower parts of the trunk, slicing through thick branches with single, powerful swings. He tossed them down, storing them into his inventory one by one. After he had gathered enough, he hopped back down into the dirt, dismissing his iron sword.

"Alright, let's go," Tyler said.

"What do you plan to do with those?" James asked as they resumed their trek deeper into the forest.

"Oh, it's simple, really. I plan to craft a bow with it."

"A bow?" James raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Did you need that many branches? How many bows are you going to craft?"

"Just one?" Tyler said.

"One bow? With all of that wood?"

"Yeah," Tyler said, sounding a little hesitant. "The system said it needed 'a lot of wood.' It didn't even specify exactly how much, so I thought I could just take as many branches as I could carry."

"Oh," James said.

Tyler glanced at James's silver sword. There were a few small scratches along the flat of the blade, but it still looked incredibly new, only a few days old.

"If you want, I can make a sword or armor for you," Tyler offered.

James shook his head. "No, don't worry. I'm fine with this sword for now. And this armor is pretty durable, so don't worry about it." He looked over at Tyler with a reassuring smile. "I'll tell you when I need one."

Tyler looked down at the dirt, a pang of guilt hitting his chest. *But he's leaving in three days.*

They kept walking in silence, stepping carefully over thick roots and patches of mud. After a long while, Tyler looked over at James. "We haven't run into a single monster yet."

"Yeah. It's because we're actively avoiding their territories."

"We are?"

"Yes. You've just been blindly following me without noticing," James chuckled quietly. "Why do you think I keep making these sharp turns?"

"I don't know, I thought you were taking us directly to them."

"I was avoiding them. We don't need to waste our energy fighting monsters that aren't listed in the quest. It's just draining. You'll get completely exhausted before you even run into the monsters you're actually looking for."

James paused, giving Tyler a serious look. "But remember, monsters move around too. Don't expect them to just stay perfectly inside their territories."

"Yeah, I remember."

James sighed. "Good, because—"

Before James could finish his sentence, he heard Tyler's breath violently hitch. In a flash of movement, Tyler sprang forward.

"Wait, what are you doing!?" James yelled.

"It's a slime!" Tyler shouted back, already meters away and closing the distance fast.

"Tyler, wait!"

In the distance, nestled among the thick green bushes, Tyler had spotted the round, pulsating, gelatinous blue body of a slime. Above it, the glowing blue System panel hovered clearly in the air:

[SLIME LEVEL 27]

*I was right*, Tyler thought, adrenaline flooding his veins.

Instantly, the heavy silver spear materialized into his grip. He planted his boots hard into the dirt, stopping his momentum completely. Using the kinetic force of his sudden halt, he pivoted his hips and threw the spear forward with absolutely every ounce of his new strength.

The sheer, explosive force of the throw kicked up a gust of wind, rustling Tyler's hair.

The silver spear tore through the air like a bullet. Before the Slime could even begin to react, the polished tip sank effortlessly through the thick blue gel. The heavy spearhead violently rammed directly into the dark core, shattering it into a dozen pieces.

The Slime let out a weak, pathetic chirp before instantly disintegrating into a shower of fine blue dust, scattering over the damp grass.

Tyler let out a breathless laugh, turning to look at James. "I think I got it."

James sprinted up to where Tyler was standing, his chest heaving. "Don't just run off like that!"

He looked over to where the Slime had been, and his eyes widened in absolute shock.

Half of the heavy silver spear had completely buried itself deep into the damp earth, the impact cratering the dirt around it. The Slime’s core was nothing but scattered, jagged glass.

Tyler rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I didn't mean for that to happen."

James stared at the buried weapon. "Yeah... just be more careful next time. Alright?"

"Yeah," Tyler said, actively avoiding his gaze.

James exhaled a slow, disbelieving breath. *I can't believe I'm actually telling someone to take it a little easier on a monster.*

He looked at the scattered shards of the core. Judging from the size, this was definitely an E-Rank Plus. And yet he defeated it in a single blow from a distance. He shook his head. Why am I not surprised?

"Alright, come on. Let's go," James said.

As they turned to leave, the silver spear vanished from the earth, leaving behind a deep, dark hole in the dirt, and instantly materialized safely back into Tyler's right hand.

James physically bobbed his head backward in surprise. "You can do that?"

"Yeah," Tyler said casually. "It's just like taking it from my inventory. Though it's only limited to about a fifty-meter range."

"Fifty meters... still, that is a very great ability. It could easily count as a skill. It's not a skill, right?"

"No," Tyler said. "Just part of the System."

James shook his head and continued walking, with Tyler closely following behind.

"Some of the things you can do that the System doesn't consider skills look exactly like them," James muttered.

"Yeah," Tyler agreed. He looked down at the silver spear in his hand. Staring at it with intent curiosity, a small identification bar popped up next to the shaft:

[DURABILITY: 100%]

Tyler smiled in relief. Awesome. The durability didn't even drop by a single percent. I was right. Common weapons have way more durability than basic ones.

As they ventured deeper, Tyler started to hear the rushing sound of a flowing river cutting through the trees ahead. He noticed the air temperature beginning to drop, a cool mist clinging to the leaves.

"Are we near the river?" Tyler asked.

"Yes, we're close," James said, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. "The Hexhorn Territory is just over the river, but we're only getting near the edge of it. We're not going right into the center of the territory. That way, we won't get outnumbered."

Suddenly, a low, guttural growl vibrated through the brush to their right.

Both Tyler and James snapped their heads toward the sound. Tyler immediately gripped his spear with both hands, lowering his stance. James’s knuckles turned white as his grip tightened on the leather hilt of his sword.

Three Gloomfangs slowly stalked out from the dense bushes, their sharp teeth bared.

There was a Level 14, which was the smallest of the pack. Next to it was a Level 22, noticeably larger and more muscular. But in the center was the was a Level 30 Gloomfang, bigger than the rest

Their light blue fur rippled, catching the patches of sunlight that pierced the canopy as all three of them began to slowly, methodically stalk toward the two men.

Tyler's heart rammed violently against his ribs.

"Alright," James said, his eyes locked on the Level 30 beast. "Get ready to attack."